In the Star Dou Great Forest, after about half a month of cultivation, Ning Rongrong finished her training and slowly opened her eyes.
"Fully recovered, more or less."
She lightly exhaled a breath of turbid air.
Ning Rongrong stood up from her cross-legged position. Feeling the clear, refreshing natural air of the primeval forest that soothed the heart and lungs, her mood was better than ever before.
Now she stood at the pinnacle of the continent's power. Apart from the Divine Realm, there was no longer any need to fear too much or tread on thin ice with every step.
Such ease and freedom had taken her more than ten years to achieve.
More than ten years!
How many stretches of ten years does a person even have in life?
From awakening her martial soul at age 6 until now at 20… well, roughly 20 years old.
Judging by the timeline, this was about the period in the original story when the Shrek Seven Devils headed to Sea God Island.
"Heh, Sea God Island." Ning Rongrong thought of the Deep Sea Demonic Whale King's handiwork and shook her head.
"That place outsiders call the Devil Island has long since vanished with the wind."
Ning Rongrong raised both hands and gently patted her cheeks to rouse her spirits.
"No, I still can't afford to get complacent."
Many big shots had ended up losing because they got cocky after failing to finish off their enemies, only to be turned around in a comeback.
"First, plan out the possible enemies, then eliminate them one by one."
"The Asura God of the Divine Realm is probably one. On the mortal plane, Tang San and Zhu Zhuqing are opponents worth watching."
But compared to these, what Ning Rongrong was most concerned about was still what the Evil God King had mentioned.
The Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena might be influenced by the Dragon God's dragon soul.
Of course, this was ambiguous. The Evil God King belonged to the camp of the five Great God Kings—his words weren't necessarily trustworthy. Still, she had to prepare for the worst to avoid being caught off guard later.
"I hope nothing goes wrong."
After thinking it over, Ning Rongrong decided her next destination—Star Dou Great Forest.
The Evil God King's vague statement, combined with the fact that Bing Di's Ice Palace contained a wisp of the Kindness God King's divine sense, made it worth checking the Divine Realm's situation.
Gentle breezes brushed across her face, lightly fluttering her clothes. Ning Rongrong gazed in the direction of Star Dou Great Forest.
Her fingertip lightly traced through the air where it touched.
Space trembled and slowly peeled apart.
In a moment, a spatial gate large enough for a person to pass through formed.
Ning Rongrong stepped inside. In the blink of an eye, she arrived in the sky above the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest.
"Bi Ji and Di Tian haven't returned yet?"
Her perception easily covered the entire Star Dou Great Forest. Apart from the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena, probably no one could hide from her.
Di Tian hadn't returned, which meant he was most likely still in the Dragon Valley. Bi Ji was probably in the Heaven Dou Empire.
"I suppose when I told them before going into seclusion that the Divine Realm can no longer observe the mortal world, it changed their plans quite a bit!"
Ning Rongrong didn't dwell on it too much. Entering the fearsome primeval jungle of Star Dou Great Forest felt just like coming home.
With a few flashes, she directly appeared at the edge of the Lake of Life.
"Xue Di should be right here."
Around the Lake of Life, faint frost lingered without dispersing, clashing with the original scenery.
Even without close observation, one could tell something was wrong here—let alone…
Ning Rongrong lightly sidestepped to dodge the attack, grabbed the hand reaching from behind, pinched its wrist, then gently circled around. Her other hand rested on the attacker's shoulder.
"I'm telling you…"
Before Ning Rongrong could finish, the green-haired girl twisted her body. Opening her mouth with bared tiger-like fangs, she bit down hard on Ning Rongrong's arm.
"Ahh! It hurts!"
The green-haired girl staggered and fell to the ground, her mouth full of shattered teeth and bright red blood.
After several "ptooey ptooey ptooey" spits, she finally expelled the broken teeth from her mouth.
Ning Rongrong released the captured wrist and looked the green-haired girl up and down. "Bing Di, I didn't know you, the dignified Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, were actually a dog."
"You're the dog! Is your arm made of diamond or something?"
Bing Di looked furious. She hadn't used much strength—hadn't even used soul power—yet her teeth had shattered. Was this even scientific?
She had only wanted to leave a tooth mark as a lesson.
In the end, her own teeth were gone, and her mouth was filled with foul blood that hurt like hell.
"Alright, alright, little scorpion, behave."
Ning Rongrong reached out and pressed down on Bing Di's head. Bing Di didn't resist—after all, she couldn't beat her anyway.
"About what happened in the Extreme North, I assume you've heard. I helped you all resolve it, didn't I?
"The Abyss matter is over. There's no need to be so angry at me, right!"
She hadn't been able to leave seclusion in time to handle the sealing in the Extreme North, forcing Xue Di and Bing Di to evacuate. That was Ning Rongrong's fault, and there was no point arguing otherwise.
"Hmph!" Bing Di reached up and swatted away the hand pressing on her head. She always felt like the other was petting a cat.
"If it weren't for Xue Di's Ice Palace having a special use, all the soul beasts in the Extreme North would have been wiped out. Do you know how panicked I was at the time?"
God-level opponents, several Limit Douluo and quasi-god realm powerhouses.
Fortunately, Xue Di had broken through to the god realm and, with the divine artifact in hand, managed to lead the vast majority of the Extreme North's soul beasts in retreat.
But she herself had suffered severe injuries.
The opponent's weapon, the Heavenly Sacred Split Abyss Halberd, ignored defense and even affected the divine soul.
Even ordinary healing soul masters—Ning Fengzhi or Bi Ji included—couldn't treat it.
That was why Xue Di had no choice but to come to Star Dou Great Forest and use the special properties of the Lake of Life to speed up her recovery.
"I'm really unhappy with you, but… thanks for the Extreme North thing." Bing Di pursed her lips.
"As expected, you and Kurumi really are alike—both tsundere types."
Ning Rongrong chuckled. She raised the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda in her hand. Light from the pagoda shone out and fell onto Bing Di.
Moments later, Bing Di's teeth grew back with crisp, snapping sounds.
"You're the tsundere one. I'm not like that Dark Devilgod Tiger you tamed." Bing Di said angrily, "Even if you healed me, I won't thank you."
"If I can help heal Xue Di, you still won't thank me?" Ning Rongrong smiled.
No wonder Xue Di didn't particularly like Bing Di—it was like raising a tsundere little sister.
How could there be any feelings beyond familial ones? What little there was probably wasn't even normal.
"Then… maybe just a tiny bit of thanks. Just a little."
Bing Di spoke subconsciously, then realized and widened her eyes.
"You said you can heal Xue Di? That's soul damage—are you sure? You're not scheming something else, are you?"
"Even if I were scheming, you couldn't stop me anyway." Ning Rongrong spread her hands.
Bing Di: "…"
Sure, the words were true, but couldn't she at least give her some face?
She was the overlord of the Extreme North, the Ice Emperor—did she have no dignity?
The chill around the Lake of Life grew heavier. A faint figure appeared on the surface of the water—a woman in pure white clothes as white as snow, though her face looked somewhat pale.
"Xue Di, you don't look too good."
Ning Rongrong's gaze passed over Bing Di to the white-clothed woman not far away.
The instant the woman appeared, she seemed to merge perfectly with the surrounding nature.
She looked at Ning Rongrong for a moment, her tone flat: "You've become stronger again. Truly unbelievable."
"Mm. Power is just power, but I also have people I want to protect." Ning Rongrong said with a gentle smile. "If your strength is weak, no one will listen to what you say."
"Whether in the human world or the soul beast world—isn't it all the same?"
(End of chapter)