Chapter 196: She Hasn't Fallen Yet, She's Still Attacking
If Yu Xiaogang's words had filled Tang San and Dai Mubai with ecstatic relief, then Zhu Zhuqing's reaction was the complete opposite.
She had truly gone all in.
The moment Xiao Wu dashed off, soul power surged through Zhu Zhuqing's entire body.
It was unclear whether she intended to intercept Xiao Wu or launch another attack.
But in the end, she stopped.
Not because she had given up
But because Han Li's voice echoed in her mind through the Mental Link, delivering a crucial message.
"Relax. Ye LingLing isn't there."
Even as he transmitted the news, Han Li's expression was a little strange.
To be fair, he had played some role in this outcome.
But it wasn't because Ye LingLing had been dragged off by three excited girls for a shopping trip due to his return.
No this was sheer coincidence.
Over a year ago, when he had traveled to the Slaughter City with his group, he had left some auxiliary cultivation enhancing medicine for Ye LingLing, passed along through Dugu Yan.
Ye LingLing had not wasted those resources.
Last night, she had returned home for another medicinal bath, and just this morning, she had sensed an opportunity to break through to Rank 40.
Right now, she was in seclusion, advancing to the next level.
She had even officially taken leave from the academy.
And just like that
Dai Mubai's last glimmer of hope was utterly crushed.
Tang San, having sensed the shift in soul power behind him, glanced at Zhu Zhuqing warily.
Seeing that she remained standing in place, not attacking again, he subtly let out a breath of relief.
So she still has some sentimentality left… she didn't go all the way.
Watching Xiao Wu's figure vanish into the distance, Tang San finally had a moment to inspect his own hands.
And the moment he did
His breath faltered.
The precision of his Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon wavered for just an instant.
Meanwhile, Dai Mubai continued devouring Oscar's sausages in desperation.
Tang San's Mysterious Jade Hand was ruined.
In the urgency of the moment, he hadn't even registered the damage to his hands.
But now
Now that he saw them
For a fleeting second, a dangerous thought crossed his mind.
I should have just let Zhu Zhuqing kill him.
His Mysterious Jade Hand was no longer a jade hand it had become a jade striped hand, marred with deep, bone revealing gashes.
Blood seeped through the cracks but was forcefully held in by his soul power.
The once flawlessly smooth, gem like surface of his palms was now covered in fractures.
Ten years.
He had spent over ten years cultivating this technique.
And just like that
It was gone.
Sure, at its peak, Mysterious Jade Hand was as hard as rock.
But its main function had never been defense.
It was toxin resistance.
And now?
Hah. Resistance?
With his hands full of cracks and gaps, what was he supposed to resist?
And if he wanted to restore it?
Repairing a damaged Mysterious Jade Hand was exponentially harder.
By his estimates
Just to recover to his previous level would take at least fifteen years.
As for reaching perfection?
Even he didn't know if it would be possible anymore.
Half his strength gone.
For a moment, Tang San's heart filled with murderous intent.
But he forced himself to take a deep breath.
No.
Now isn't the time.
Not yet.
Zhu Zhuqing.
Dai Mubai.
And his so called "honorable teacher," whom he had always respected as a father figure.
Fine.
Fine. Just fine.
I will remember this. All three of you are on the path to death.
Subtly
His grip shifted ever so slightly.
Time felt unbearably slow for everyone involved except for the two spectators, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong.
For the rest, every passing second was an ordeal.
One minute.
Three minutes.
Five minutes.
All eyes were glued to the entrance of the training grounds.
Even Dai Mubai despite wanting to vomit from all the sausages he had consumed was staring intently.
Just as they were about to reach their breaking point
A pink figure appeared at the entrance.
Xiao Wu.
Their savior.
She was running full speed, rushing to them, her chest heaving as she tried to catch her breath.
But instead of reacting, everyone just kept staring at the entrance.
She paused for a second, quickly realizing what they were waiting for, and hurriedly spoke.
"Ye LingLing isn't at the training grounds. But I met Senior Qin Ming he said she's in the middle of a breakthrough and took the day off. She's not in the academy today."
The moment those words left her mouth
The entire training ground fell into absolute silence.
Even Dai Mubai stopped chewing.
"She's not here…?"
"She's not here…"
"Not here…?"
The words echoed in their minds.
But Xiao Wu continued, as if trying to offer some comfort.
"But don't worry! I already asked Senior Qin Ming for help he's gathering other Healing Type Soul Masters from the academy as fast as he can! Just hold on a little longer!"
"Just hold on a little longer…"
"Hold on… just a little longer…"
Those words repeated in their minds.
Dai Mubai closed his eyes.
Then
He swallowed the sausage in his mouth.
There was no point anymore.
He could already tell.
His injuries had healed.
But whether or not… he could still use it
That was a different matter entirely.
And then
A voice, cold and unyielding, echoed across the training field.
"Zhu Zhuqing."
Dai Mubai spat out Zhu Zhuqing's name with venomous hatred. At this moment, he truly wanted to kill her.
But unfortunately for him, he was still barely mobile. More importantly, he needed to change into new pants before he could even think about standing up. Right now, he didn't dare to exert any force if he made one wrong move, his injury could worsen.
While Dai Mubai struggled to change his clothes, Oscar and Yu Xiaogang finally got the full picture of what had happened from Tang San.
However, for some reason, both of them felt that Tang San's voice sounded strangely cold.
Yu Xiaogang, in particular, had a creeping chill running down his spine.
After Tang San also ate one of Oscar's healing sausages, Dai Mubai finally finished changing.
Ma Hongjun, too, had completed his role as a clothes hanger.
Throughout the entire process, he had kept his back turned to Zhu Zhuqing.
He was still shaken.
Even the way he stood was unnatural terrified that if he moved the wrong way, she might give him a similar treatment.
Silently, he shuffled behind the others, using Dai Mubai's body as a shield.
Gone was his usual temper and lustful gaze.
If the situation weren't so tense, he might have bolted already.
The group reassembled, facing Zhu Zhuqing once again.
She stood there, calm and composed, sneering at them with open disdain.
But this time
None of them dared to approach her.
Oscar, at some point, had already distanced himself from the group, quietly stepping over to stand next to Xiao Wu.
The atmosphere grew heavy.
No one spoke.
For a long while, no one dared to break the silence until Dai Mubai finally snapped.
The stabbing pain from his lower body only fueled his rage.
"Zhu Zhuqing, you venomous woman I won't let you go! You will die for this!"
"Oh? Then go ahead kill me."
Zhu Zhuqing gave him an unimpressed glance, completely unfazed.
She took a step forward.
And immediately
All of them including Dai Mubai stepped back.
"This? This is the great revenge you were talking about?"
Zhu Zhuqing scoffed.
"And do you really think I fear death? The moment I decided to attack, I already accepted the consequences. It's just a life, isn't it? Come on, take it if I can drag you down with me, I'll have done something worthwhile."
"What's wrong? Not attacking anymore? Afraid?"
Her cold gaze swept over them, as if peering into their very souls.
"And the rest of you why so quiet?"
Her voice was sharp, mocking.
"Come on, Tang San. Aren't you good with words? Keep going. Tell me what you wanted to say. What do you need me to do? If I don't cooperate, what can you do to me?"
"Where's your hidden weapons? Weren't you supposed to be good at fighting? I'm standing right here. Kill me."
"And you Fatty. Why are you hiding in the back? Didn't you always love staring at women? Or am I just not pretty enough for you?"
"Enough, Zhu Zhuqing!"
Yu Xiaogang suddenly shouted, his voice trembling with self righteous anger.
"You have already committed a grave mistake, and yet you still dare to act so arrogantly?! Do you even realize where you are?! Do you even know what you've done?!"
Perhaps standing behind Tang San gave him a false sense of security.
For a brief moment, Yu Xiaogang's courage returned.
He even adopted the posture of a "righteous mentor," his face twisted into a look of supposed disappointment and grief.
But before he could continue his self important speech
"Shut up, you pathetic failure."
Zhu Zhuqing cut him off coldly.
"Don't think I don't know this whole situation was instigated by you."
"A worthless, rank twenty nine failure like you what makes you think you have the right to speak to me this way?"
"Haven't you always preached about respecting those stronger than yourself? Isn't that what you always say?"
"By strength, you are the weakest one here even Fatty surpasses you. By status, you are nothing but a discarded waste of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan."
"So tell me, where do you get the nerve to talk to a noble like me as if we are equals?"
"We call you 'Master' out of courtesy, but do you really think anyone here actually respects you?"
"Ask anyone aside from Tang San, who you've tricked into blind loyalty, does anyone here look up to you?"
"Master? Ha! You're nothing but the biggest joke in the entire Soul Master world!"
Yu Xiaogang's face turned purple with rage.
But Zhu Zhuqing wasn't done.
"Your so called 'Ten Core Theories of Martial Souls'?"
"Anyone with half a brain and a decent background already knows it's stolen knowledge, riddled with flaws."
"No such thing as a waste martial soul, only waste soul masters?"
"Then why don't you practice what you preach? Admit it you are a failure!"
"Why did you choose Tang San as your student? Why not take in another talentless reject like yourself to prove your theories?"
"Is it because you can't? Or is it because you don't dare?"
"A rat like you belongs in the sewers. You shouldn't be shamelessly basking in the sunlight, pretending to be a person."
Perhaps because she had held back for too long
Now that she had finally let go, Zhu Zhuqing's words poured out like a raging flood, relentless and scathing.
And Yu Xiaogang
The ringleader of this whole disaster
Was her primary target.
"You… you… you !"
Yu Xiaogang's face was bright red.
He couldn't even form a response.
"Pathetic."
Zhu Zhuqing took a deep breath.
Her entire body felt lighter.
A thrill of satisfaction ran through her veins.
Meanwhile, beside her, Ning Rongrong's eyes sparkled as she stared at Zhu Zhuqing with pure admiration.
It was as if she had just met her friend for the first time.
She was utterly awestruck.
"Finally… someone dared to say it out loud."
At that moment
A voice echoed from the entrance of the training field.
"What's going on?! Where's the injured?!"
Qin Ming's voice rang out as he hurried inside.
Behind him was a Healing Type Soul Master he had brought along.
(End of Chapter)
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