The story continues far ahead on Patreon. If you enjoy the adventure, you can unlock all the latest chapters and stay ahead by supporting there.
Link: Patreon.com/lord-of-myths
X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X---X--X--X---X---X---X
Six years have passed, and Yun Ming has grown from the little boy he once was into a handsome young man. The current Yun Ming possesses long eyelashes that would make any woman jealous, eyes as bright as stars, and a straight nose. Paired with his refined and gentle temperament, his appearance can only be described as perfect.
Furthermore, the broad shoulders, wasp waist, and long legs he developed from years of spear practice make him someone women would find hard to forget after just one glance.
Besides the changes in his appearance, Yun Ming's cultivation as a Spirit Master has also greatly improved. He is currently a Spirit Elder at the thirty-fifth level. Originally, with Yun Ming's talent and his own tireless efforts, he should have already become a Spirit Ancestor. The reason for the slow growth of his spirit power lies in 'Sovereign's Descent (Absolute Dominance)'!
In his previous life, Yun Ming already possessed his first Soul Core when he began cultivating 'Sovereign's Descent (Absolute Dominance).' The Soul Core's ability to accelerate cultivation, coupled with the full supply of top-tier resources from Shrek Academy, helped Yun Ming forcibly avoid the slow cultivation speed characteristic of 'Sovereign's Descent (Absolute Dominance).'
However, in this life, Yun Ming does not have the Soul Core from his previous life. Although the Breaking Clan is decent, its resource supply is definitely far inferior to what he had in his previous life. Under these objective circumstances, the cultivation speed of 'Sovereign's Descent (Absolute Dominance)' has become a bottleneck for Yun Ming's spirit power cultivation.
However, Yang Wudi is quite satisfied with Yun Ming's cultivation speed, perhaps even particularly satisfied. This speed is already fast enough for this era.
This trip to the Star Dou Great Forest is also because Yang Yi needs to hunt a spirit ring to break through to the thirtieth level. Yun Ming was feeling a bit bored in Yinchuan City and, seeking a change of pace, came along to play and hunt some 'wild rabbits' to eat. After all, while the food at home is nutritious, he can't really specify which Spirit Beast he wants.
A quarter of an hour later, Yang Yi finished adjusting his breathing and began absorbing the Mystic Spirit Python spirit ring.
Yang Hong and Yun Ming were protecting him nearby, but not long after, Yang Hong and Yun Ming heard a faint commotion coming from the nearby dense forest. There were cries and footsteps of scattering birds and beasts, as well as subtle sounds of movement and fighting among the trees.
Yun Ming heard the sounds getting closer to the three of them. To prevent it from affecting Yang Yi's absorption of the spirit ring, he said to Yang Hong.
"Uncle Hong, I'll go see what's happening."
Yang Hong didn't think the commotion was too big. The people or beasts fighting over there shouldn't be too strong, and they were indeed heading in their direction. He agreed to Yun Ming's request and earnestly instructed him.
"Alright, be careful!"
Yun Ming nodded to Yang Hong, then exerted force in his legs and rushed towards the direction of the sound.
In the dense forest not far from Yun Ming, a black-clothed Girl who looked about eleven or twelve years old was moving through the trees like a nimble and agile black cat.
The Girl was about 1.65 meters tall with long black hair draped over her shoulders and fair skin.
Her extremely voluptuous figure was somewhat incongruous with her age. If one didn't look at her face, she might be mistaken for a grown woman, especially her magnificent bosom, which would attract the attention of all men.
In contrast to her curvaceous figure, the expression on the Girl's face was very cold. It was a coldness from the heart, a pure coldness. Her pair of black eyes didn't even carry a trace of vitality, filled with despair and unwillingness. This somewhat clashed with her originally extremely beautiful face.
Judging from the wounds on the Girl's shapely and slender limbs, as well as her actions of occasionally looking back to observe her pursuers, the Girl was being hunted.
"Swoosh ~"
Just as the Girl turned her head to observe the path ahead, an arrow covered in cyan Spirit light rapidly flew out from the dense forest behind her, shooting towards the Girl.
By the time the Girl heard the sharp whistling sound of the arrow rapidly approaching, she had vaguely sensed the sharp spirit power on the arrow behind her. The Girl didn't even have time to turn her head. She could only twist her waist according to her senses, trying to avoid this attack.
"Bang ~"
The arrow stirred up a cloud of blood mist.
After briefly overlapping with the Girl, the arrow passed by and directly struck the large tree in front, making a muffled sound. In the end, the Girl failed to completely dodge this arrow. This attack came too quickly, and the time it took for the Girl to sense the attack was also a bit slow.
It was impossible to completely dodge it. Fortunately, the Girl's Beast Spirit intuition saved her life. Although the arrow opened a large gash in the Girl's waist, it didn't directly hit a vital point.
The Girl's face was pale, caused by massive blood loss. However, in order to survive, the Girl could only cover her waist wound and continue running. However, the injured position on her waist greatly affected the Girl's movements. In less than half a minute, she was caught up by the pursuers behind her, who blocked her path.
There weren't many pursuers, only four people: one Spirit Ancestor and three Spirit Elders. The leader was a woman of eighteen or nineteen years old. This woman's face had a seventy percent resemblance to the face of the Girl being pursued, and she was also a great beauty. She was tall and slender, wearing a black, tight-fitting combat suit.
The taut combat suit outlined the woman's proud figure. Although she wasn't as gifted as the Girl at such a young age, she was still enough to stand out among her peers.
When the leading beauty saw that the Girl opposite her was injured in the waist and bleeding non-stop, a trace of heartache flashed in her eyes. She frowned almost imperceptibly, but when she thought of her own family's situation, the trace of heartache in her eyes faded, turning into a look of jest and mockery. The beauty's red lips parted slightly, and her charming voice, like the clear singing of a nightingale, rang out.
"My good little sister, I'm going to be sad if you suddenly leave without saying goodbye. You should quickly come back with me!"
To others, these were warm words of concern between sisters, but in the Girl's ears, they were like the whispers of a demon, finally adding some Emotion to the Girl's lifeless eyes.
However, these Emotions contained anger, fear, hatred, and so on, without a single positive feeling. But that's right. The woman opposite the Girl, who claimed to be her 'older sister,' didn't know how many times she had assassinated her over the years. It would be strange if she had good Emotions. The Girl's clear and cold voice rang out, icily.
"Zhu Zhuyun, stop pretending here."
"Go back and continue playing your cat-and-mouse game with you?!!"
The black-clothed beauty, Zhu Zhuyun, wasn't angry when she heard her younger sister's direct verbal counterattack. She only said playfully.
"Since that's the case, then you should—"
"Go to hell!"
When she said the last three words, the surrounding atmosphere became solemn. But before she could act, a Spirit Elder guard beside her shouted.
"Who's there?"
Before the words could fade, the guard's second yellow spirit ring lit up, and the longbow in his hand was drawn directly. A cyan light arrow shot rapidly towards a large tree to the side and behind the black-clothed Girl.
"Swoosh ~"
Yun Ming, who was hiding behind the tree and observing the situation, was also a little surprised to be discovered so quickly. Although Yun Ming hadn't deliberately restrained his own spirit power fluctuations!
But with Yun Ming's extremely high degree of control over spirit power, his daily spirit power fluctuations were extremely subtle! It could be said that the guard on the opposite side was quite capable of discovering him so quickly. Should he say that he was worthy of being a trusted guard of the Star Luo Zhu Family's eldest daughter?
As for why he knew the other party's identity, the Girl's Hell Civet Spirit, Zhu Zhuyun's name—if Yun Ming still couldn't guess, then he had wasted all those years of general knowledge classes on the Douluo Continent!
So, judging from the age of the other black-clothed Girl, she should be Zhu Family's Third Miss, Zhu Zhuqing.
Just as Yun Ming was thinking about the identities of the others present, the arrow was already close at hand. Subsequently, Yun Ming sensed the sharp aura of the arrow. He tapped his toes and flashed out from behind the big tree, dodging the arrow and appearing before the Zhu Family's group at the same time.
[Note: Zhu Zhuqing is not the heroine, and Yun Ming will not join Shrek, staying for no more than ten days in total. The only the purpose is to connect Yun Ming with Shrek and stir up internal struggles. After her work is over Zhu Zhuqing will not even be mentioned again in the novel.]