Chapter 55: Dugu Bo: My Home Is Gone! | Bai Lu: You Didn't Call Me for Mining! | The Difficulty of Hunting a Soul Ring
The next day, at dawn.
Dugu Bo flew stiff-faced toward the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well.
At this moment, his mood was extremely foul.
After all, no one would feel happy seeing their carefully raised cabbage being rooted up by the piglet of someone they knew.
"Forget it. Children have their own fortunes. At least Yu Tianheng is the young master of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect. He's considered a genius."
"I should focus on researching the antidote. Otherwise… sigh."
He comforted himself as he slowly descended into the valley entrance.
Boom!
Passing through the poison array, the moment he saw the empty, barren scene before him, it was as if he had been struck by lightning.
The valley, once lush with herbs and brimming with spiritual energy, was now in utter ruin.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well stood there alone, but all life around it had vanished.
Every single herb had been dug up clean.
The medicinal garden he had painstakingly cultivated for years, the countless rare herbs he had planted, and the foundation of all his toxin research were gone. All gone.
He had returned home.
But his home had been robbed.
In that instant, how could he not understand—
Yesterday's letter was not a prank. It had been a diversion to lure the tiger away from the mountain.
"You… bastards…"
Dugu Bo trembled with rage, his emerald eyes blazing with monstrous fury.
The calm he had barely regained was shattered instantly.
"Who?!"
"Who did this?!"
His furious roar echoed throughout the valley.
Terrifying Jade Phosphor Serpent Emperor poison erupted like a volcanic blast!
Where the poisonous mist passed, vegetation withered instantly. Birds and beasts fled in terror.
Through clenched teeth, his voice dripped like icy water from the Nine Nether Springs.
"No matter who you are… if I catch you, I will make you wish for death and never receive it!"
—
'I'm going to die. I'm actually going to die of embarrassment!'
Zhu Zhuqing felt like she might perish from sheer shame.
Yesterday, she gained immense benefits from the Ice and Fire body tempering.
Before hunting her fourth soul ring, she had deliberately sought out the merchant she previously entrusted to acquire ten-thousand-year whale rubber.
She managed to obtain five high-quality ten-thousand-year whale rubber blocks.
Thinking she might as well make one last push before departure, she decided that any improvement was worth it.
She reasoned that after undergoing Ice and Fire tempering once and having used ten-thousand-year whale rubber before, her body now had resistance. Refining alone should not pose a major issue…
So she did not call Bai Lu, who was busy in the spiritual sea.
She refined it alone.
The result…
Poor technique. She tried to play a mining game but failed to mine properly.
Instead, she overheated the mining machine.
This strange situation directly alarmed Master Lu, who had been busy in the spiritual sea.
"What on earth are you doing… what the hell?!"
When Bai Lu manifested in youthful form and saw the overheated "machine," the girl clinging to the cold bathtub while desperately "searching for precious ore," he was utterly stunned.
"Playing Gold Miner without calling me?"
"Looks like I really need to discipline you properly!"
With an indignant expression, Bai Lu gave her a firm smack.
One could imagine how mortified Zhu Zhuqing felt the next morning.
"It's not the first time. Don't be shy."
Bai Lu gently comforted the girl who refused to open her eyes.
"Yah~ stop moving!"
Zhu Zhuqing grabbed the wandering hand on her body.
"It's only human nature. Just a reflex."
Bai Lu showed no embarrassment.
"Next time you play this kind of game, don't do it alone. Remember to call me."
"I just wanted to become stronger."
Zhu Zhuqing felt wronged. Being caught mid-refinement was humiliating enough.
What hurt more was—
"My left hand still didn't transform."
"That's normal. It'll only get harder from here. The quantity and quality of whale rubber required will keep increasing."
Bai Lu was not surprised.
If it could grow infinitely without limit, that would be absurd.
"Then… should we go to a coastal city later to look for more ten-thousand-year whale rubber?"
Zhu Zhuqing still wanted to push once more before hunting her fourth soul ring.
"No need for now."
Bai Lu shook his head.
"Unless we can get a massive supply, further transformation will be difficult."
"That time is better spent searching for a suitable soul beast."
"Alright…"
Zhu Zhuqing nodded, hesitating before speaking softly.
"Um… can you change back into my appearance?"
Bai Lu smiled.
"What? Feeling shy? Or missing your own body cushion?"
"It's not… it's…"
Her pretty face flushed red.
"You… you're pressing against me…"
"Huh? Is this clone that realistic?"
Bai Lu looked surprised.
"Stop changing the subject."
"Relax. We're on the same side. No firing for now."
"For now?"
"Yes, for now."
The atmosphere in the room was, for a time, rather "harmonious."
After the clone dissipated and she dressed herself, Zhu Zhuqing returned to her usual cold and aloof demeanor.
She packed lightly and headed south without hesitation.
Though Sunset Forest had ten-thousand-year soul beasts, their numbers were limited and their cultivation insufficient.
Moreover, Dugu Bo was likely still furious. Better to stay far away.
As for Tang Hao, there was less need for concern.
In a single day, Zhu Zhuqing traveled over a thousand li and arrived at the Star Dou Great Forest.
Without delay, she plunged into the forest, beginning her search for a suitable soul beast.
Not long after entering, three 1,000-year Rock Armor Pythons burst from the dense woods and launched an attack at the seemingly fragile girl.
Blind fools.
Zhu Zhuqing's eyes turned cold as she activated her Dark Gold left hand, then delivered a heavy punch toward the python's head.
"Bang!"
Scales shattered, and blood splattered.
In a single exchange, the python's skull caved in, and its massive body was flung backwards.
Bang! Bang!
It smashed through two large trees before falling into eternal sleep.
No soul skill used.
One-punch kill.
As the soul ring condensed, the Slaughter Skull warmed slightly, drawing a yellow soul from the corpse and absorbing it perfectly.
"As expected, I really can punch Dai Mubai to death now."
With this test, Zhu Zhuqing felt her judgment confirmed.
She did not waste the corpse.
The Eight Spider Lances extended and devoured it.
"The conversion rate isn't high… but I can indeed level up through devouring."
She recalled Bai Lu's usual saying:
"If you don't cultivate diligently, the Slaughter Skull becomes your brother."
"If you die, blame your own laziness!"
Her gaze turned icy.
"In that case… let the killing begin."
From that moment onward, slaughter and bloodshed unfolded repeatedly within the forest.
—
Time passed quickly.
In the blink of an eye, Zhu Zhuqing had wandered the Star Dou Great Forest for seven days.
During this time, she slaughtered extensively and encountered dozens of ten-thousand-year soul beasts.
Though most were killed and devoured, she failed to secure one suitable for absorption.
Her requirements were simple—
Forty to sixty thousand years of cultivation. Compatible with the Hell Spirit Cat martial soul. Appropriate skill pool.
Agility-attack system soul masters might be considered weak.
But agility-attack-type soul beasts were not.
They specialized in speed, stealth, and danger perception.
Beyond forty thousand years of cultivation, they were practically cunning spirits.
The moment they sensed danger or realized they could not win, they fled faster than anyone.
Though Zhu Zhuqing was fast, pursuing a ten-thousand-year agility-type soul beast determined to escape remained extremely difficult.
"What do I do next?"
She leaned against a tree, resting. Her expression was colder than ever.
A Rank 40 quasi–Soul Ancestor.
On anyone else, they might struggle even against the weakest ten-thousand-year soul beast.
Yet she sought to hunt a forty- to sixty-thousand-year soul beast—something even a Soul Saint might not handle easily.
"Reckless" hardly described it.
The rewards would be immense.
But so would the difficulty.
End of Chapter