"What a peaceful and carefree life."
Atop the tallest building of the Exotic Beast Academy, Zhu Zhuqing leaned against the wall, gazing at the slowly setting sun in the distance, enjoying this rare leisure time.
When Yu Yan said that Poison Douluo Dugu Bo could stand up for her and help her block the so-called rules of the Star Luo Royal Family, it meant that she had already obtained, to a certain extent, the freedom she had craved since childhood.
This past week at the Exotic Beast Academy had been a brand-new and completely different life for Zhu Zhuqing. Poking one's head out from within the confines of rules and regulations to look at the outside World—that was freedom, and she seemed to finally have the qualification to poke her head out and seek it.
Lying there leisurely, she watched the sun slowly set until night shrouded the land and stars twinkled in the sky. Only then did Zhu Zhuqing stand up and walk toward her residence.
During this afternoon spent lying there, Zhu Zhuqing had made a decision. She would choose the second option proposed by Yu Yan.
Either don't do it at all, or do it as perfectly as possible.
Since she had already followed Yu Yan to the Exotic Beast Academy, why wouldn't she choose the path that could make her even stronger?
Based on her conversations with Ye Lingling, after taking the Divine Oath, Ye Lingling had faced almost no mandatory restrictions. Whenever something happened, it was discussed together; there were no forceful demands to do anything.
The only constraints seemed to be not leaking certain secret information to the outside and not backstabbing Yu Yan and Xiao Wu.
To Zhu Zhuqing, these constraints were nothing. She had seen much more cruel regulations and methods in the Star Luo Empire... The next morning, Zhu Zhuqing arrived at Yu Yan's residence, took a deep breath, and raised her hand to knock on the door.
"Yu Yan, I've made up my mind. I choose the second option: taking the Divine Oath."
Looking at Yu Yan as he walked out, the socially awkward Zhu Zhuqing very briefly stated her purpose.
"Mm, alright. Come with me."
Having long anticipated this scene, Yu Yan wasn't too surprised by Zhu Zhuqing's arrival. He stepped aside and invited her in to talk in detail.
After Zhu Zhuqing followed Yu Yan inside and sat down, Yu Yan took a document out of the golden scepter and handed it to her. "This is the method for taking the Divine Oath. I've clearly stated what kind of oath to swear on it. You'll know what to do after reading it."
Zhu Zhuqing took the document Yu Yan handed her and read it very seriously. The series of constraints in the document seemed very normal to her, even somewhat overly generous. If it were up to her, she might have added some even more excessive terms.
"No problem. I can take the Divine Oath right now."
Having understood the Divine Oath, Zhu Zhuqing immediately began swearing to that unknown god in front of Yu Yan.
While Zhu Zhuqing was swearing, Yu Yan's mental force continuously observed the movements around her, trying to judge and identify the identity of this unknown god through observation.
As Zhu Zhuqing finished the Divine Oath, a strange ripple surrounded her, linking the oath to her and forming an unbreakable bond, making it impossible for her to violate the connection she had established.
After the entire ritual was completed, this ripple circled Yu Yan once before completely vanishing, leaving no trace to be detected.
Seeing this ripple circle him with his own eyes, Yu Yan's expression changed from calm to astonishment. He had had over twenty Spirit Masters take this Divine Oath, but this was the first time the ripple had circled him after finishing.
After a brief moment of daze, Yu Yan hurriedly began investigating himself. He checked three times in a row, and only after confirming that there were indeed no problems with his body did he breathe a sigh of relief.
"Yu Yan, what's wrong?"
Sitting nearby, Xiao Wu noticed Yu Yan's mood was off and asked him with concern.
"It's nothing major, it's just that it felt like that unknown god took a glance at me."
While answering Xiao Wu's question, Yu Yan was also thinking: did that unknown god glance at him because He wanted him to inherit His God Position? Or was there some other purpose?
"?? You call that 'nothing major'? Did He do anything to you?"
Hearing Yu Yan's answer, Xiao Wu frowned and looked at him, asking the question she had been concerned about just now.
"I just checked; He didn't do anything to me."
After answering Xiao Wu, Yu Yan took seven packets of herbs out of the golden scepter, placed them in front of Zhu Zhuqing, and explained how to use them:
"I assume you've heard about the Immortal Herbs from Ye Lingling. The two Immortal Herbs I'm going to give you have certain requirements for the body. Cultivate while soaking in these herbs lately to refine their medicinal properties as much as possible. Use one packet for three days, with a one-day interval between each packet for digestion and absorption. Come find me to consume the Immortal Herbs once you're finished."
As an agility-attack system Spirit Grandmaster, Zhu Zhuqing's Physical Body strength was quite average. She might not be able to withstand the medicinal power of both the marvelous-thick heaven-reaching chrysanthemum and the water fairy jade bone. Therefore, before letting her use the two Immortal Herbs, her Physical Body had to be strengthened to ensure the medicinal power wouldn't be wasted.
The main ingredient of these medicinal packets was the Whale Dragon, combined with several precious herbs to successfully reduce the Whale Dragon's side effects and increase its medicinal properties.
"Alright, no problem. I'll head back then."
Seeing clearly that Yu Yan and Xiao Wu still had things to discuss, Zhu Zhuqing picked up the medicinal packets, stood up, and took her leave.
"During this time, just absorb these medicinal packets. Don't use the pills or the ice soul flower for now. After you finish absorbing the packets, you should reach level 30. Don't rush to absorb your third spirit ring either; wait until after you've consumed the Immortal Herbs. By then, you should be able to absorb a spirit ring of over 7,000 years."
Seeing Zhu Zhuqing tactfully preparing to leave, Yu Yan didn't try to keep her. He gave her a few more instructions and prepared to continue discussing this unknown god with Xiao Wu.
"Huh? Shouldn't the limit for the third spirit ring be the 1,760 years published by that Grandmaster?"
Zhu Zhuqing, who had not yet learned from Yu Yan how to absorb spirit rings beyond the limit, stopped in her tracks and looked at Yu Yan in confusion, wondering if she had misheard.
"The limit of spirit rings is different for everyone. Don't you think a definitive spirit ring limit sounds quite fake?"
To prove his point, Yu Yan revealed his six spirit rings in front of Zhu Zhuqing and actively deactivated the Cang Feng Secret Art on them.
One yellow, two purple, and three black spirit rings appeared before Zhu Zhuqing, causing her thoughts to come to a complete standstill. Especially the sixth spirit ring, which was so black it had a hint of red, made Zhu Zhuqing forget to breathe.
After returning to her residence and sitting for a long while, Zhu Zhuqing finally snapped out of her daze. Thinking of Yu Yan's words that she could do the same, she felt more and more that she had made a wise decision.