Upon hearing the system's quest, Meng Bei's eyebrows twitched slightly.
What did this system take him for? Since this soul beast was killed by Zhu Zhuqing, the spirit bone naturally belonged to her too. Did it think he would monopolize Zhu Zhuqing's spirit bone?
Really, even if he wanted this external spirit bone, he would definitely exchange it with Zhu Zhuqing for something of equal value. How could he possibly take it for himself!
The system really misunderstood him.
However, since there was a quest, he could go along with it.
Time passed, and night fell.
A notification sound rang in Meng Bei's mind.
[Ding! Side quest "Hunt soul ring for Shrek team member Zhu Zhuqing" completed. Third soul ring age increased by 1,000 years.]
At the same time, Zhu Zhuqing slowly opened her eyes. Yellow, yellow, and purple soul rings appeared around her body in sequence. She had finally finished absorbing the soul ring and successfully broke through to the Soul Elder realm.
"Xiao Bei, I'm done. Let's go!"
Zhu Zhuqing said to Meng Bei.
Her voice was quite pleasant, just somewhat cold.
"Sister Zhuqing, don't leave yet."
Meng Bei called out to stop Zhu Zhuqing.
He stepped forward, took Zhu Zhuqing's hand, and produced the Ghost Head Teal's external spirit bone.
Zhu Zhuqing was initially frowning because Meng Bei had directly grabbed her hand, but when he brought out the spirit bone, her attention was instantly captivated by it, unable to look away.
The purple spirit bone glowed with waves of mysterious light under the moonlight, making Zhu Zhuqing's blood surge and her heart pound.
"Xiao Bei, what... what do you mean by this?"
Zhu Zhuqing asked with both anticipation and anxiety.
Meng Bei was very satisfied with Zhu Zhuqing's current expression. He held her hand and said very seriously: "Sister Zhuqing, this is actually an external spirit bone that dropped from that Ghost Head Teal just now. Since you killed that Ghost Head Teal, according to the rules, this external spirit bone should belong to you!"
Saying this, Meng Bei lifted Zhu Zhuqing's palm and without hesitation placed the spirit bone in her hand.
[Ding! Side quest "Return Spirit Bone" completed. Obtained random wing-type external spirit bone.]
Zhu Zhuqing's heart was pounding as she looked at the spirit bone in her hand, feeling extremely excited.
This was an external spirit bone—there were only a few such precious items on the entire continent. If she absorbed this external spirit bone, her strength would definitely improve rapidly, and then she and Dai Mubai would certainly increase their chances in the imperial succession competition.
At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing was deeply moved by Meng Bei, because he could have completely hidden the origin of this spirit bone from her and kept it for himself, while she would have been completely unaware of its existence.
But the result was that Meng Bei had unhesitatingly given her the spirit bone that was already in his hands.
Such righteousness made Zhu Zhuqing almost suspect that Meng Bei had some other agenda, especially since he was still holding her hand.
Meng Bei quietly watched the excited Zhu Zhuqing. He silently retrieved the 50,000-year Blue Feather Sky Eagle left arm bone that had been rewarded by the system before, then grabbed Zhu Zhuqing's other small hand and placed this spirit bone in her hand as well.
"This, this is!"
Zhu Zhuqing's expression completely changed. She looked at the other spirit bone in her hand in shock, then at Meng Bei. Her heart was instantly in chaos, especially since Meng Bei's large hands were still ambiguously holding both of hers.
She quickly tried to pull her hands away but couldn't.
"Xiao Bei, what do you mean? I'm Mubai's fiancée. There's no possibility between us."
Zhu Zhuqing said anxiously and weakly.
Her gaze was evasive, not daring to look at Meng Bei.
Actually, Meng Bei's conditions met her requirements quite well.
His talent, strength, and appearance were all first-rate.
Moreover, she had no feelings for Dai Mubai. There was a time when she had thought about it—during the period when she first teamed up with Meng Bei, that was when she was closest to him.
If during that time she had chosen to abandon Dai Mubai and instead chosen to wander the world with Meng Bei, that wouldn't have been bad either.
It was just that it was too late to say anything now.
Meng Bei already had two women—Rongrong and Dugu Yan. What she hated most was unfaithful men, so how could she possibly join in now?
Unless Meng Bei forced her, otherwise even if he gave her another spirit bone, it still... still wouldn't work!
Zhu Zhuqing thought this in her heart.
However, Meng Bei was looking at Zhu Zhuqing with some surprise. Of course, he was deliberately holding her hands and not letting go, aiming to test the little cat's attitude.
However, the result was somewhat surprising to him. Although he was still being rejected, he somehow felt that this little cat's attitude toward him was a bit strange.
Meng Bei thought about it and still let go of her hands.
One should work with proper rhythm and not be too hasty.
At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing looked at her released hands and felt somewhat incredulous—this was different from the scenario she had imagined.
Then she heard Meng Bei say:
"Sister Zhuqing, what are you thinking? How could I possibly be interested in you!"
Zhu Zhuqing was stunned, then felt extremely angry. She thought to herself: What?
You, Meng Bei, clearly were thinking that way, but now you won't admit it and even say things like "How could I possibly be interested in you!" to belittle me. This is really too much!
Thinking this way, Zhu Zhuqing angrily held up the Blue Feather Sky Eagle spirit bone in her hand and questioned: "Meng Bei, you say you never thought that way, then what do you mean by taking out this spirit bone? Are you saying you want to give this spirit bone to me for free?"
Zhu Zhuqing said angrily, her cheeks puffed up, her cat eyes wide, and the cat ears on her head constantly twitching back and forth due to intense emotional fluctuations, looking very cute.
Seeing this angry little cat in front of him, Meng Bei couldn't help but laugh.
Seeing this, Zhu Zhuqing became even angrier and questioned:
"What are you laughing at!"
Meng Bei said: "Sister Zhuqing, you look so cute when you're angry!"
Zhu Zhuqing was instantly furious and said: "Fine! You still say you're not interested in me. I'm going to tell Rongrong!"
Saying this, Zhu Zhuqing threw the spirit bone back and turned to leave.
Meng Bei quickly grabbed Zhu Zhuqing's arm.
Zhu Zhuqing turned and shook him off, saying: "You unfaithful guy, don't touch me!"
Meng Bei helplessly waved his hand and said: "Sister Zhuqing, it's not what you think. I just want to exchange spirit bones with you."
Zhu Zhuqing's steps paused, and she stopped.
"Exchange spirit bones?"
Seeing this, Meng Bei picked up the spirit bone in his hand and explained:
"Sister Zhuqing, this is a 50,000-year Blue Feather Sky Eagle left arm bone, very precious. Although it's still not as precious as your external spirit bone, Sister Zhuqing, everyone knows that external spirit bones need time to grow and can't provide too strong a strength increase to the host in the short term."
"But my spirit bone is a genuine 50,000-year spirit bone. As long as you absorb this spirit bone, besides bringing a large amount of soul power, it will directly provide the host with a spirit bone skill equivalent to a 50,000-year soul skill. This should be very helpful for your future participation in the Star Luo Empire's royal competition, right, Sister Zhuqing?"
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