After Ye Cheng said a lot of righteous words, emphasizing that humans and soul beasts should cooperate to fight against the abyss—otherwise, there would be no future—he turned to ask Zhu Zhuqing if there was any particular reason for her visit. As expected, Zhu Zhuqing was diverted and began to explain her gains from this retreat, and her plan to return to the Star Luo Empire to reorganize the empire and break the bad culture that had been passed down for thousands of years.
After hearing that Zhu Zhuqing's strength had soared to the level of Limit Douluo, Ye Cheng did not seem surprised. He simply said, "If it were in the past, with your Limit Douluo strength, you could indeed travel across the continent without fear. But now it's different."
"What do you mean, teacher?" Zhu Zhuqing showed a puzzled look.
"I can vaguely feel that in this world, besides me and the Sea God, there are other God-level powerhouses," Ye Cheng said solemnly. "I suspect that those God-level beings are soldiers from the Divine Realm. So you must be careful on this trip!"
"Teacher, you mean that those lower gods are now in the Star Luo Empire?" Zhu Zhuqing's expression turned serious.
"I'm not sure where they are, and I can't be certain whether these God-level powerhouses have taken the Star Luo Empire for their own use, or if they have some conflict with it," Ye Cheng replied, shaking his head. "But since you're going, just to be safe—take this with you."
After speaking, he stretched out his hand. A gorgeous light gathered, and a long sword with a white jade handle and a crystal body appeared in his hand. It was the artifact Feihong Sword, transformed from his weapon spirit!
Ye Cheng slowly handed the Feihong Sword to Zhu Zhuqing and said, "If you encounter an enemy you cannot defeat, holding my sword will temporarily grant you the power to rival the gods."
After becoming a god, his martial soul had turned into a divine weapon, one that possessed immense power. As long as he authorized it, even an ordinary person holding the divine weapon could wield mountain-splitting, sea-parting power.
Of course, once the divine weapon was lost, the ordinary person remained ordinary. This power was not inherently theirs, only the power of the weapon.
The stronger the wielder, the more of the divine weapon's power they could draw out. Conversely, the weaker the holder, the less of its true strength they could unleash.
With Zhu Zhuqing's current power, wielding Ye Cheng's Feihong Sword meant that even when facing a god-level opponent, there was no need to panic. It was her enemy who should be afraid.
Holding the Feihong Sword with both hands, Zhu Zhuqing's confidence soared. When she heard him mention that god-level beings might be lurking in Star Luo, the unease in her heart vanished.
With the divine sword in hand, she was fearless.
"Be careful," Ye Cheng said finally.
Zhu Zhuqing nodded solemnly.
Star Luo Empire.
The cultural customs of this empire differed from those of the Heaven Dou Empire. They revered strength. Led by the royal family, they had established an extremely brutal and barbaric competition system.
Every emperor who wished to ascend the throne had to defeat his brothers. Only after fierce, bloody competition could the final victor inherit the crown.
The emperor who ascended the throne through such a ruthless selection—regardless of anything else—was undoubtedly strong. He would maintain Star Luo's harsh tradition and continue the cruel competitive system.
Zhu Zhuqing was born into the Zhu family, which possessed the Nether Spirit Cat martial spirit. It wasn't considered a top-tier martial spirit, and the strongest person recorded with it had only reached Soul Douluo.
But this spirit had a unique trait—it could fuse with the martial spirit of the Dai family, the royal family of Star Luo, which was the White Tiger. Thus, the Zhu family had always been a vassal of the royal family. Every woman in the family could only marry a man surnamed Dai, losing all personal freedom.
And today, Zhu Zhuqing returned.
She came back as an Limit Douluo, carrying a divine weapon on her back!
She returned to shatter the chains of fate and break the rules that had bound her people for thousands of years.
Star Luo City.
The capital of the Star Luo Empire.
It was home to countless nobles and officials. The very heart of the nation.
After so many years, Zhu Zhuqing returned once again—but her state of mind had changed drastically.
Back then, she was lost, her world shrouded in darkness, with only one flicker of hope—finding Dai Mubai, and fighting together, hoping for a slim chance of victory.
But now, looking back, she found that mindset laughable. Pitiful. Pathetic. Her vision had been limited to that small, confining world. If she hadn't been fortunate enough to meet her teacher and become his disciple, Zhu Zhuqing was certain she would've spent her days in Shrek, slowly fading into the background.
She would have continued fusing spirits with Dai Mubai year after year, letting go of her grievances, forgiving his betrayal and weakness, and resigning herself to being nothing more than his support.
Such was the fate of Zhu family women.
Whenever people praised the royal family's martial fusion skill—the Nether White Tiger—they only marveled at the power of the White Tiger. No one ever thought: without the seemingly insignificant Nether Spirit Cat, how could there be a Nether White Tiger?
Zhu Zhuqing walked through Star Luo City.
She carried the Feihong Sword gifted by Ye Cheng on her back, its divine edge concealed within a simple sword box. From the outside, no one could tell what treasure it held.
As the capital, Star Luo City was crawling with spies. Every unfamiliar visitor was watched closely, and Zhu Zhuqing was no exception.
Ordinary people may not have recognized her. She wore simple clothes, had changed her hairstyle—it would be hard for strangers to identify her. But to spies trained in intelligence gathering, they would recognize her even if she turned to ash.
After all, she was someone frequently appearing in future prophecy videos. A dazzling figure in the times to come. Honored with the title "Asura Goddess."
Most importantly—she was from the Zhu family.
That identity alone was enough to attract attention.
From the moment she stepped through the city gates, the hidden agents sprang into action. Her presence was reported up the chain of command, and soon, the high-ranking officials of Star Luo City knew—Zhu Zhuqing had returned.
In that moment, many minds stirred. But most were thinking about how to build a good relationship with her. No one dared entertain hostile thoughts.
She was the disciple of a god. Offending her meant offending a deity. Who could bear such a price? Not even the royal family.
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