Douluo: Tara's Mask, the Ultimate Darkness!

Chapter 197 The Titan Ape Attacks!

At this moment, Zhao Wuji was also very glad that the other party was not a Soul King, but only a Soul Master. Soul Master, when did Soul Masters become so strong?

Witnessing all this, Zhu Zhuqing's eyes were filled with shock, and even a little bit of inferiority. If her senior sister was so strong, how strong must her senior brother and that senior sister be?
"Don't feel pressured. They've been cultivating with me and your master's wife since they were little, so it's normal for them to be stronger."

"Work hard, and you will be like them in time. After the Soul Master Competition ends, you can train with them."

Xu Xin transmitted his voice to Zhu Zhuqing, telling her not to feel any pressure. After all, Huo Wu and the others had been in the Shadow Palace since they were young. Even Qian Renxue was brought to the Shadow Palace the year she awakened her martial soul.

Zhu Zhuqing is no match for them. She hasn't taken any immortal herbs yet, so the gap still exists. Even her innate soul power is no match for theirs.

But Zhu Zhuqing was more hardworking and stronger than them, which was why Xu Xin valued her. You may not be talented, but you must have the heart to endure hardship, and Zhu Zhuqing did this very well.

Zhu Zhuqing nodded gratefully. She knew the gap between herself and her senior sisters, but she would try her best to make up for it and not fall too far behind.

Seeing that Zhu Zhuqing's gaze had hardened again, Xu Xin walked towards Huo Wu and the others with satisfaction.

"Not bad, it has some of my former glory."

Xu Xin spoke with slight appreciation, saying that among the younger generation, apart from Feng Xiaotian and Qian Renxue, no one could rival them.

"Teacher, that's not bad. I thought it was already pretty good."

Huo Wu spoke, panting heavily.

"Sister Huowu is the best!" Xu Ruoruo praised without reservation.

"Oh my, Ruoruo is the best girl. Come here and let your big sister give you a hug."

Huo Wu happily picked up Xu Ruoruo, her face beaming with joy.

Xu Xin smiled helplessly: "It is quite impressive, but it is still a bit inferior to your teacher, me."

"Back then, I was fighting against Soul Douluo all by myself as a Soul King, without even having a Soul Fusion Technique. Do you think you guys were that strong?"

Xu Xin poured cold water on the three women's enthusiasm. Back then, he was indeed a Soul King fighting against a Soul Douluo. Although he used a trick, it was still his own strength, wasn't it?

"Teacher, are you telling the truth?"

Shui Bing'er couldn't help but ask. They had never seen Xu Xin make a move; they only knew he was lazy, but they didn't know exactly how strong he was...

Xu Xin nodded calmly: "When you all break through the barriers in the Shadow Palace, you'll be like me."

"Huh?"×3
The three of them stared at Xu Xin in astonishment. They knew about those statues; so far, apart from Qian Renxue and Feng Xiaotian who had fought one, none of them, including Dugu Yan and Huo Wushuang, could defeat them...

"Alright, keep up the good work. Although you can't beat me, you're still among the best of your generation. Have some confidence."

The three girls nodded in agreement. They had always thought they were very strong, but who could blame them when their teacher was even stronger?
Defeating the teacher is a long and arduous journey; even one's own master is beyond one's ability to defeat.

"By the way, see that girl in black over there? That's your junior sister. If you run into her again, don't kill her."

Xu Xin transmitted his voice to the group, and the three of them looked over in unison. At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing was idly helping Zhao Wuji up.

The three nodded. It was good that they didn't join them in their wrongdoing. They also trusted Xu Xin's judgment and accepted this junior sister.

"Teacher, when are you going to take your junior sister back?" Huo Wu asked softly.

"After the Soul Master Competition ends."

"The Soul Master Competition is in two years. When that happens, you guys will crush them all, and don't show any mercy even to your senior sister's Spirit Hall."

In the original novel, Tang San participated in the Soul Master Competition at the age of 14, which is less than two years ago.

Xu Xin said calmly that Qian Renxue's cultivation level had surpassed theirs, and she naturally became the senior sister, without any complaints from them.

Although Qian Renxue repeatedly declined, she couldn't resist their persuasion. Otherwise, it would be incredibly embarrassing to say that her junior sister was stronger than them. "I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

The three of them immediately assured each other.

After sending a telepathic message to Zhu Zhuqing, Xu Xin and the other two left. Zhu Zhuqing glanced at Xu Xin without making a sound and then continued with her work.

As compensation, Xu Xin also gave the shopkeeper 100,000 gold soul coins, enough for him to reopen the shop, or even open several more.

As night fell, Ma Hongjun was the first to wake up. Upon waking, he saw Zhao Wuji slumped against a tree, with a small pile of torches flickering in the light.

Fortunately, this place is near the outer perimeter, so there shouldn't be any powerful soul beasts appearing here.

Upon waking, Ma Hongjun pondered the scene from his dream. It was wrong again. Why did it happen? Where did he go wrong?

Things went wrong after meeting Tang San. Apart from Tang San still being as cunning as ever, everything else they encountered was wrong. Where did things go wrong?
He couldn't understand it, and he didn't want to think about it. All he knew was that Tang San was the culprit behind all of this, and that he might be better off without Tang San...

"Look again, the Tang San in the dream is exactly the same as this Tang San, extremely vicious. Some things have changed, but the general idea is still the same."

For example, this time we encountered Canghui Academy again, but Huo Wu and the others were there as well. Perhaps they were nearby in the dream, but they just didn't appear.

Ma Hongjun thought coldly to himself, he was definitely going to get back the few times he had kowtowed to Tang San. His head wasn't so easy to kowtow to.

And Xiao Wu, why would Xiao Wu say such a thing? Could it be that Xiao Wu also had such a dream?
In her dream, both her happiness and misfortune were brought about by Tang San. Later on, her hatred surpassed her affection, to the point that it even affected Ma Hongjun now.

Before they knew it, the group slowly woke up.

"Zhu Zhuqing, why didn't you come with us just now?"

Dai Mubai bossed Zhu Zhuqing around.

Zhu Zhu ignored him completely, not even giving him a glance.

"Alright, Xiaobai, if it weren't for Zhuqing, you wouldn't even have a safe place."

"I'll go hunt for a spirit ring once I've recovered."

Zhao Wuji interrupted them, and even Ning Rongrong was a little angry. If Zhu Zhuqing had just stepped up, they might not have lost.

But she forgot that Zhu Zhuqing had stopped her before the battle began, but it was only because she refused to leave.

Zhu Zhuqing no longer cared about these things, and she was indifferent to them. She had seen through them over the past few days that these people were arrogant and morally corrupt.

Teachers are the same; they take action without explanation and don't even bother to teach the most basic principles.

A week later, the group set off again, but this time, everyone seemed to be subtly distancing themselves from Zhu Zhuqing.

Zhu Zhuqing didn't care about this at all and just followed them.

Ma Hongjun, on the other hand, started pestering Xiao Wu, wanting to find out what happened that day.

However, in Tang San's eyes, Ma Hongjun had ill intentions, so he began to teach Ma Hongjun a lesson, intentionally or unintentionally.

Ma Hongjun watched silently.

"Run, run!"

The group had only ventured a little deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest when a whooshing sound stopped them in their tracks.

"Run! There's a Titan Ape!"

(End of this chapter)