"Zhu Zhuqing, if you come back to my side now, I can forgive you," Dai Mubai offered.
"Ptooey! Who's forgiving whom here? You're an attempted rapist!" Before Zhu Zhuqing could even respond to Dai Mubai's unbelievable words, Ning Rongrong spat in disgust.
"Let's begin."
Zhu Zhuqing was a woman of decisive action and few words. Strength was the only truth that determined who had the right to speak.
Martial Soul Possession!
The moment the Hell Civet possessed her, Zhu Zhuqing's entire aura changed. She was like a dark maiden who had walked straight out of hell. Three Spirit Rings—yellow, yellow, and purple—materialized beneath her feet.
A three-ring Spirit Elder!
A jolt went through Snake Grandma Chao Tianxiang. This girl looked several years younger than her own granddaughter, yet she was already a three-ring Spirit Elder. Moreover, she could sense that the third Spirit Ring that appeared around the girl was of extremely high quality, far stronger than that of a normal Spirit Elder.
"So you dared to fight me because you just absorbed your third Spirit Ring. It's useless. There's still a seven-rank gap between us," Dai Mubai snorted.
"Boss Dai, don't be careless," Tang San couldn't help but remind him.
"I know what I'm doing," Dai Mubai nodded. Just over a month ago, on the back mountain of Shrek, he had forced Zhu Zhuqing to jump off a cliff to save herself. He refused to believe that this Taoyuan Academy was so freaky that it could cause her strength to skyrocket in just one month.
White Tiger Possession!
Three Spirit Rings of the same yellow, yellow, purple configuration also appeared beneath Dai Mubai's feet.
"White Tiger Light Wave!"
Dai Mubai took the initiative, launching a powerful blast of white light from his mouth.
Zhu Zhuqing's figure flickered, moving like a phantom through the forest. Dai Mubai's light wave couldn't even touch her.
[First Spirit Ability, Hellish Thrust!]
When Zhu Zhuqing's figure reappeared, she was at Dai Mubai's rear flank.
"White Tiger Protective Barrier!"
Dai Mubai's body shuddered, and a shield with white tiger markings enveloped him, actually blocking Zhu Zhuqing's thrust. His large hands immediately tried to grab her, to restrain her.
Unexpectedly, Zhu Zhuqing's reaction speed and agility were no longer comparable to what they were a month ago. With a slight flick of her wrist, she skillfully dodged his grasp, leaned back, kicked his fist, and leaped dozens of meters away.
Dai Mubai rubbed his slightly trembling wrist, his dual-pupiled eyes nearly overlapping. "Zhu Zhuqing, it's useless. Agility-type Spirit Masters fear defense the most, especially someone like me who cultivates both defense and power-attack."
"I absorbed this White Tiger Protective Barrier specifically to counter the agility of your Hell Civet. In the future, when we join forces against Zhu Zhuyun and Davis, this ability will increase our chances of victory."
"If you turn back now, it's not too late," Dai Mubai said in a low voice.
"If you had said this a month ago, I might have actually been deceived by you. I probably wouldn't have even become a disciple."
"But now, that is impossible. Even without joining forces with you, I will still win. Besides, that is a struggle within your Dai family; it has nothing to do with me. This engagement... I will annul it sooner or later," Zhu Zhuqing said coldly, her resolve now firm as steel.
"Third Spirit Ability, Hellish Cross Slash!"
The purple Spirit Ring around Zhu Zhuqing flashed, and her aura underwent a subtle transformation, as if she had become an emissary from hell itself.
A bizarre, hellish hexagram pattern simultaneously appeared at Dai Mubai's feet. Two incredibly powerful, black and red intersecting slashes of energy surged before her, radiating an overwhelming sense of dread.
Seeing this cross slash, Zhao Wuji, Tang San, Chao Tianxiang, and the others were all startled. The aura emanating from this spirit ability was simply too terrifying, no weaker than a normal Spirit Ancestor's fourth spirit ability.
"What's going on? Why can't I move?" Even Dai Mubai's face was filled with terror. Just as he was about to dodge, he discovered he was completely unable to move, trapped within the hexagram on the ground.
"Grandmother, what's happening? That Dai Mubai seems unable to dodge," Meng Yiran asked.
"This should be a control-type spirit ability. But I also find it strange. All control abilities, especially for low to mid-rank Spirit Masters, require some form of contact—Martial Soul contact, spirit ability contact... there should be time to anticipate it. But I didn't see her Martial Soul make contact. That hexagram appeared instantly, giving no time to evade... wait, could it have been just now!"
"Boss Dai fell for it," Tang San said, having figured it out.
"Third Brother, what happened?" Xiao Wu asked.
"I don't know the exact effect of Zhu Zhuqing's spirit ability, but I think she used her Hellish Thrust just now to leave some kind of control mark on Boss Dai."
As a control-type Spirit Master himself, Tang San had seen the trick.
Su Ran glanced at Tang San faintly. This Tang San, having lived two lives, was indeed more perceptive than ordinary people.
The third spirit ability, Hellish Cross Slash, which came from the Bloodthirsty Hell Wolf that Su Ran had specifically chosen for Zhu Zhuqing, could temporarily elevate her netherworld power to hell power, allowing her to unleash a cross slash with immense dark destructive force. At the same time, it summoned a hellish hexagram. While inside the hexagram, the damage taken from the cross slash would be increased by 30%.
If the opponent had been marked by one of Zhu Zhuqing's other skills, it would also trigger a hard control effect—Hexagram Death Immobilization. Once immobilized, the opponent would be unable to move for three seconds.
By the time Dai Mubai noticed a pinprick-sized wound on his body glowing with a dark light, it was too late for him to wonder how Zhu Zhuqing had broken through his defense.
"White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"
"White Tiger Protective Barrier!"
Dai Mubai reacted quickly. In that instant, he cast two abilities on himself: one to greatly enhance his physical attributes and another to create a shield.
But even so, as the Hellish Cross Slash flew toward him, his body was sent flying with a loud boom, crashing through and snapping several large trees in its path.
"Boss Dai!"
The members of Shrek were horrified.
When they found Dai Mubai in the jungle, a shocking cross-shaped wound was carved into the center of his chest, extending to his arms and abdomen. It was a bloody mess; he was severely injured.
Pfft—
He then coughed up another mouthful of blood.
"Teacher, I did it! I really did it!"
"That skill just now was the new spirit ability I obtained. It's called Hellish Cross Slash!"
"It only took me one month to surpass Dai Mubai! This is all because you taught me so well! You're the best, most amazing teacher in the world! I could just die, I adore you so much!"
This was the first time Zhu Zhuqing had ever used the Hellish Cross Slash, and it had defeated Dai Mubai in a single blow. She was ecstatic. She ran over to Su Ran and, unable to contain her joy, gave his mask a quick kiss.
"Zhu Zhuqing! What do you think you're doing?!!!"
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing excitedly kiss Su Ran's mask, Ning Rongrong's eyes widened, and her face turned green. She was even more agitated than Zhu Zhuqing.
(End of Chapter)