"Huff..."
"Huff..."
On the playground, Zhu Zhuqing's eyes were tightly closed, her heart as calm as still water, banishing all distracting thoughts.
She slowly inhaled air into her lungs, guiding her soul power to rise slowly from her dantian, flowing along the paths of her meridians, allowing her soul power and breath to merge.
When her lungs were full, Zhu Zhuqing paused slightly, letting the soul power circulate fully within her body.
Then, she began to slowly exhale, expelling the turbid qi from her body. At the same time, she once again guided her soul power back to her dantian for sedimentation and storage.
As her shoulders trembled, a dense halo of soul power slowly covered her entire body.
Sand, dust, and wood chips floated gently around her, as if drawn by an invisible force, slowly revolving around Zhu Zhuqing, continuously spinning, forming a strange little vortex.
Gradually, a wind began to pick up on the playground.
If Lu Feng were here, he would have recognized at a glance that this was the breathing method Yu Tianheng had used.
The next moment, Zhu Zhuqing's eyes snapped open. Her sharp claws shot out, swiping fiercely at the air in front of her.
"Rip!"
A sharp sound tore through the air, as if space itself had been rent open by this fierce attack.
"Wow! Zhuqing, you're amazing!"
On the sidelines, Ning Rongrong clapped her hands happily as she watched Zhu Zhuqing's agile figure.
Zhu Zhuqing looked at the residual electric light on her hands and nodded slightly. "This Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's breathing method really has something to it. It can increase my explosive power by about thirty percent."
"I wonder what the legendary 'Breath of Thunder Style' is like," Zhu Zhuqing put away her martial soul, wiped the sweat from her forehead, and sighed with emotion.
Hearing this, Ning Rongrong covered her mouth and smiled, "That's something only the direct descendants of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan can learn. Yu Xiaogang? Him? He probably couldn't even get into the clan's martial arts hall."
"Rongrong, the Grandmaster is Tang San's teacher, after all. You should be a little more mindful," Zhu Zhuqing couldn't help but advise, hearing Ning Rongrong call him by his full name.
"Hmph, who asked him to lecture me last time!"
Ning Rongrong pouted and said proudly, "My dad, Grandpa Sword, and Grandpa Bone have never even lectured me. What right does a level 29 Soul Grandmaster have!"
Zhu Zhuqing looked at her little sister and sighed helplessly. She found that Ning Rongrong was just like a cat that needed to be petted in the right direction; she responded to soft persuasion, not hard force. If she was forced to do something, it would backfire.
At this moment, Ning Rongrong took Zhu Zhuqing's hand. "Alright, alright, for your sake, I'll give him some face. From now on, I'll just call him 'that guy'. That should be fine, right?"
The two were talking and laughing when a staggering figure walked over from the school gate.
"My! Who is this? Why do they have a pig's head?" Ning Rongrong exclaimed in an exaggerated manner.
Zhu Zhuqing looked closely and saw that the staggering figure was actually Ma Hongjun.
His clothes were torn in many places, his eyes were bruised, a trace of blood hung from the corner of his mouth, and his round, fat face was completely swollen.
"Fatty, what happened to you? Don't tell me you got into a fight over a girl and got beaten up?" Ning Rongrong chuckled, looking at Ma Hongjun's miserable state.
"What do you mean, 'fight over a girl'? I clearly saw that girl first."
As he spoke, Ma Hongjun squeezed a tear from the corner of his eye. "Wuwuwu, Fifth Sister, Sixth Sister, I'm so disgraced this time."
In order to manage the students, Yu Xiaogang had adopted a military-style system, assigning numbers to the students based on their age.
However, although Ma Hongjun was older than the two girls, he had succumbed to Ning Rongrong's 'tyrannical might' and had always called them 'Sister'.
Just then, the other three boys also walked out of the cafeteria.
"Fatty, who beat you up like this?" Dai Mubai's voice was clearly tinged with anger.
"That guy's name is Bu Le. He's a four-ring Soul Ancestor."
Ma Hongjun rubbed his bottom and said with a mournful face, "Boss Dai, you have to stand up for me. He wasn't just kicking my butt; he was clearly slapping your, Young Master Dai's, face."
Hearing this, an angry light burst forth from Dai Mubai's evil eyes. "A mere Soul Ancestor dares to hit you? In all of Suotuo City, who doesn't know that you, Fatty, are my, Young Master Dai's, little brother!"
He grabbed Ma Hongjun. "Let's go. Fatty, you lead the way. We'll go and take a look right now. Little San, Little Ao, are you two coming?"
Tang San nodded. "Teacher said we are a team, so we should naturally advance and retreat together."
"That's right," Oscar chimed in. "Although I'm just an auxiliary system soul master, since Fatty got beaten up, how can I, as his brother, stand by and do nothing?"
Hearing this, Dai Mubai patted the two on the shoulders. "The Dean said that not daring to cause trouble is a mark of mediocrity. Today, we'll let that damn Soul Ancestor see the strength of us 'Four Swordsmen of Suotuo City'!"
As he spoke, the group strode towards the outside of the campus.
They did not call the two girls. Since they were going to an entertainment venue, it was naturally more appropriate for the boys to go.
Looking at their departing backs, Ning Rongrong said, somewhat tempted, "Zhuqing, how about we go and join in the fun?"
Zhu Zhuqing frowned. "What's so good about watching a fight over a girl? Besides, it's that kind of place."
Hearing this, Ning Rongrong immediately pouted, took Zhu Zhuqing's hand, and said coquettishly, "Good Zhuqing, let's just go and take a look. I'm so bored staying at the academy all day."
Zhu Zhuqing shook her head helplessly and patted Ning Rongrong's hand. "Let's go. I really can't do anything with you."
About half an hour later.
Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong arrived at a row of single-story houses, their brows furrowed.
The houses were only three meters high and looked somewhat dilapidated. A pink lantern hung at the entrance of each room, and under the lanterns stood several heavily made-up, gaudily dressed women.
"Ah~!"
At this moment, a miserable scream came from a remote corner. Dai Mubai's curses could also be faintly heard.
The two approached and saw Dai Mubai and the others surrounding a middle-aged man, beating him incessantly.
The man had dark skin, was slightly fat, and was about 1.6 meters tall. His right hand, which had originally been wrapped in gauze, was now completely twisted and deformed.
At this moment, Dai Mubai waved his hand and said, "Alright, let's go. Fatty, this guy is in a much worse state than you."
Ma Hongjun was still not satisfied. He lifted his foot and kicked him hard a few times, muttering hatefully as he kicked, "That's for hitting me, that's for hitting me. That's for saying my... was small."
Soon, looking at the completely unconscious man, Ma Hongjun finally felt much better.
"Big brothers, thank you all for today. If there's anything you need from me, Fatty, in the future, just ask. As long as I can do it, I won't refuse."
Dai Mubai chuckled lightly. "No need for thanks. Just don't mention you're my little brother in the future. Going to this kind of place and visiting brothels, you're really disgracing me!"
Tang San looked around and frowned slightly. "Fatty, Boss Dai is right. It's better to come to this kind of place less in the future."
Ma Hongjun scratched his head and said with a simple and honest smile, "Third Brother, I don't want to either. But when this evil fire comes up, I can't suppress it."
The group left the brothel, talking and laughing.
"Tch, how boring. Zhuqing, let's go too," Ning Rongrong said with a lack of interest.
She had originally thought it would be a fierce, evenly matched fight, but as soon as she arrived at this place, she had completely lost interest.
"Woof, woof, woof."
At dusk, a dog's bark woke the unconscious man.
"Ouch, my back."
The man struggled to prop himself up from the ground, but after several attempts, he couldn't get up.
Suddenly, he caught sight of two figures walking out of a room in the distance. He channeled a trace of soul power and, forcing himself to stay alert, shouted, "Lao E, Tianya, I'm here!"
The sound of casual chatting suddenly stopped, followed by a burst of hurried footsteps. Soon, two figures arrived in front of the man.
"You... you're Bu Le?"
The one who spoke was a tall man with broad shoulders and wild, long hair. However, a pair of small eyes completely ruined his perfect figure.
"Bu Le, how did you end up like this?"
The other person quickly came to Bu Le's side and crouched down.
This person was short and thin, so thin that he seemed to be only bones. His eyes, however, were very large, shining with a sinister light.
The skinny man's hands quickly felt all over Bu Le's body. "Such ruthless methods. The joints of all four limbs are dislocated, and two ribs are broken. It will take at least a few months to recover."
"Tianya, avenge me!" Bu Le grabbed the skinny man's hand and said viciously.
The skinny man nodded, raised his right hand, and with a flash of brilliant green light, a sharp blade appeared in his hand.
At the same time, a full five soul rings appeared.
One white, two yellow, and two purple. Although the soul ring attributes were ordinary, he was a genuine Soul King powerhouse.
The skinny man raised his nose and sniffed hard. "Four men. One of the auras is as lewd as Bu Le's."
"Hee~!"
A sharp glint suddenly shot out of the skinny man's eyes. "Bu Le, were there girls among the people who beat you up?"
Bu Le managed to stand up and said with a chiding smile, "No? Tianya, that dog nose of yours, did you smell some prostitute from the brothel again?"
"That's strange. The two auras I smell are with those four men," Tianya said, puzzled.
"Oh? Tianya, are you sure?" Bu Le's eyes suddenly lit up, and he said with a lewd smile, "In that case, why don't we go and collect some interest first."
Hearing this, the other two looked at each other and immediately burst into lewd laughter.