Douluo Continent Villain Simulator: Persecuting Qian Renxue at the Start

Chapter 146 Why is it still biting? (Part 2)

What should I do?

Su Cheng also felt a sense of unease at this moment.

Zhu Zhuqing is now very opinionated and has a rather stubborn personality. If not handled properly, it could easily leave a grudge between the two of them.

Trying to get away with it by making jokes is probably not going to work.

Normally it's fine, but at this critical moment, joking around might just add fuel to the fire.

Should I just tell her the plan directly?

The mysterious succession of the divine position within the Spirit Hall, the ownership of Xiao Wu's 100,000-year-level spirit ring, and so on.

No.

He couldn't fully understand Zhu Zhuqing's thoughts, but he was certain that if he told her everything, she would not remain indifferent and would most likely choose to take some action quietly on her own.

This is not just Su Cheng's problem.

Since it concerns Qian Renxue, he has no right to use this information to gain Zhu Zhuqing's trust.

Moreover, Zhu Zhuqing is not strong enough and has no one to protect her, so it would be too dangerous for her to get involved.

As for joining the Spirit Hall, even if she herself wanted to, Su Cheng wouldn't let her do it, as it wouldn't benefit her.

The Netherworld White Tiger's growth path determined that, after her martial soul was fully restored, she was not suitable to join any faction.

Su Cheng's eyes flickered, his mind wavering.

The incident happened suddenly, and he never expected that Zhu Zhuqing would ask him to meet her because of Qian Renxue, and that she would react so strongly.

Not to mention that Qian Renxue has not yet taken power, the Spirit Hall should not gossip about her existence.

Even if Zhu Zhuqing really knew, there was no reason for her to think too much about it.

He didn't understand the nature of the simulated world, and didn't know whether it was a real parallel world that could interact and influence the real world, or a virtual game.

But the Zhu Zhuqing in that world had known him for decades, and regardless of whether it was real or fake, he couldn't stand by and watch her take risks.

That's why I mentioned Qian Renxue's situation at the last moment, but I didn't expect that the other party would remember even such a trivial detail.

"..."

Seeing Su Cheng remain silent, Zhu Zhuqing's anger, doubt, and sarcasm gradually subsided, eventually turning into calm.

Her gaze gradually dimmed, and the five fingers that had been gripping his collar slowly loosened.

"I'm tired," Zhu Zhuqing said softly.

"I don't want to be used by you anymore, or play those role-playing games with you. I will keep my promise to you and help Xiao Wu get into the finals."

She lowered her hands and took a step back.

"Then I will leave the academy with Dai Mubai, and I will not participate in the finals again."

After saying that, he gave Su Cheng a deep look and then prepared to turn and leave.

Su Cheng was taken aback upon hearing this.

This seems to be the best direction for development.

Xiao Wu and Tang San went to the Spirit Hall to participate in the competition, where he and Xiao Xue could work together to plan for a 100,000-year spirit ring.

Zhu Zhuqing can also take this opportunity to escape, waiting to upgrade her martial soul to the Netherworld White Tiger in the future.

And so the two went their separate ways.

Just as he once said, he wanted to make the other person have no more worries.

but……

"What exactly does Zhu Qing mean to me?"

Seeing the other person's actions and words, Su Cheng felt his heart sink.

tool?

He doesn't need to use people close to him as tools.

He has many ways to take advantage of the situation and act accordingly.

friend?

If that's the case, then it's indeed time to let go.

A gentleman's friendship is as pure as water; there's no need to demand too much from each other.

but……

Zhu Zhuqing's slightly slender shoulders were pressed down by a strong hand.

She looked up and glared at him.

"You—"

Before he could finish speaking, a shadow fell over his eyes.

Her red lips were also silenced, and the rest of her words were forced back down, turning into a soft moan.

Under the moonlight, two figures overlapped.

Zhu Zhuqing's originally slightly indifferent face instantly froze.

Soon, her eyes became empty and blank, as if filled with mist.

A moment later, Zhu Zhuqing's dazed eyes suddenly trembled slightly, and her gaze returned to focus.

His brows were furrowed, and his eyebrows were raised high.

"hiss……"

Su Cheng released the other person, raised his hand to cover his mouth, and tilted his head back.

My mouth was filled with a strong, metallic taste of blood.

"Were you born in the Year of the Dog?"

Zhu Zhuqing's pretty face flushed red as she stared at him, her high chest heaving violently, tracing an alluring path.

He then raised his right hand and vigorously wiped his lips.

"What are you doing!"

"I--"

"You're sticking your tongue out! How disgusting!"

"you--"

"Dirty!"

Su Cheng was not given a chance to continue speaking.

After uttering a few angry words, Zhu Zhuqing immediately turned and fled, quickly leaving the forest.

However, compared to when they arrived, their movements seemed somewhat disheveled, almost as if they were fleeing for their lives.

They didn't say anything more about not participating in the finals or going their separate ways.

"..."

"That's really vulgar."

A soft voice, carrying an inexplicable emotion, suddenly sounded beside him, making Su Cheng feel somewhat embarrassed.

"You don't understand."

"You're really taking advantage of her. Just because she likes you, you're using these kinds of tactics to force her to stay. What happened to all those righteous words you spoke to me before?"

Hearing Ah Yin's soft voice, Su Cheng was speechless.

Indeed, he himself was insatiable and unwilling to let go.

He said nice things, saying he hoped she would pursue freedom, but in the end he still provoked her like this.

The preliminary rounds of the Tiandou Division continued as scheduled.

After the battle against Tianshui Academy, Su Cheng didn't encounter any other surprises in his subsequent appearances.

Elephant Armor Academy was quite strong, but their martial souls and soul skills were not particularly unique. The entire team consisted of heavily armored tanks, so he quickly ended the battle.

After winning, Su Cheng, just like before, tried to recruit Hu Yanli, who possessed a soul bone.

Unlike Feng Xiaotian and Shui Bing'er's hesitation, Hu Yanli immediately expressed a strong intention.

This matter had actually been discussed internally before.

At this time, most people were unaware that the Elephant Armor Sect behind the Elephant Armor Academy had already secretly surrendered to the Spirit Hall.

With the preliminary rounds going on for now, the spots are pretty much set.

The Heavenly Dou Royal Academy, Divine Wind Academy, and Thunder Academy are almost guaranteed a place in the finals.

With Zhu Zhuqing in Shrek Academy, there is a great chance of advancing.

Among the remaining academies, Tianshui Academy and Chihuo Academy are not weak, and it will be extremely difficult for Xiangjia Academy to win and achieve a top-five ranking on the leaderboard.

What they mainly want is to have a starting position.

This would give them a chance to perform in the finals, at least to show the Pope and the elders the potential of the Diamond Mammoth Martial Soul in the hands of the younger generation.

As for the Thunder Academy team, Su Cheng's recruitment was unsurprisingly rejected.

Although their captain, Yu Tianxin, spoke very politely, his attitude was extremely firm.

Su Cheng didn't care.

This team has a great chance of advancing to the finals.

Moreover, the other side has the Blue Lightning Tyrannosaurus Clan behind them.

Given this family's modus operandi, it is indeed unlikely that they would allow students from their affiliated academies to team up with others as mere accessories.

A month passed quickly, and the preliminary rounds in Tiandou City had all concluded.

According to the procedure, the awards ceremony will be held soon to award the top five teams in the qualifiers with qualification certificates for the next round.

The ceremony was not complicated. At the host's announcement, the captains and vice-captains of the top five teams walked onto the stage together.

Among them, Tiandou Royal Academy ranked first, Shenfeng Academy ranked second, Leiting Academy ranked third, Shrek Academy ranked fourth, and Tianshui Academy ranked fifth.

Su Cheng and Ning Rongrong are the representatives from the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

Not far to their side were Zhu Zhuqing and Tang San, representing the Shrek Academy team.

During this process, Tang San, as the vice-captain of the Shrek team, would occasionally glance in his direction, seemingly with a hint of provocation.

Tang San's cultivation level has now reached the threshold for advancing to level 40.

During the waiting period before the qualifying rounds, he will focus all his efforts on adding spirit rings to the Clear Sky Hammer.

He also believes that he will definitely shine in the next stage of the competition.

However, Zhu Zhuqing, as the team leader, ignored Su Cheng on the other side when she went on stage, as if he didn't exist at all.

However, when Su Cheng was looking at her, a faint blush seemed to flash across her cheeks.

As the representatives of the teams took their positions on the stage, the host announced, "Next, His Majesty, Sect Master Ning of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, and Bishop Salas Platinum will personally present the qualification certificates and prize money to the five teams that have entered the qualifying rounds."

Emperor Xueye and Ning Fengzhi both cast satisfied glances at Su Cheng and Ning Rongrong.

Especially Emperor Xueye, whose eyes shone with an almost undisguised fervor.

On the other side, Salas, the representative of the Spirit Hall, had his eyes lowered, appearing as if he didn't care about any of the scene.

But from an angle where no one was paying attention, she would occasionally glance at Su Cheng not far ahead.

The qualification certificate for advancement is actually just a handwritten note, which is more of a formality, since everyone knows which college has qualified for advancement.

The top five academies receive the same prize money: 10,000 gold soul coins awarded by the Heaven Dou Empire. In the finals, the prizes for the top three academies will be provided by the Spirit Hall.

The awards ceremony ended quickly, and Su Cheng and Ning Rongrong walked out of the Heaven Dou Arena together, where the other students from the academy were waiting for them.

"Emperor Xueye is truly generous, bestowing the title of viscount upon ten people, and those who win the championship will be promoted another rank, receiving a fiefdom in return. Was the empire like this before?"

Su Cheng looked at the voucher in his hand and asked casually.

He hadn't really paid much attention to the competition rewards before.

Anyway, I didn't participate in this competition for these prizes.

"No." Ning Rongrong shook her head. "Let alone viscount, there has never been a baron. Even the titles given to Soul Masters are just noble titles without fiefs."

After saying that, she turned her head to look around, and only after finding that no one was around did she continue in a low voice: "I heard from my father that the conflict between the Heaven Dou Empire and the Spirit Hall has become increasingly serious and has almost reached the point of no return."

Su Cheng frowned upon hearing this.

It's not that I have any doubts about the relationship between the Spirit Hall and the Empire.

It was rather strange that Ning Fengzhi would tell Ning Rongrong these things.

Is this something you're saying to yourself?

"Su Cheng!"

Just as he was pondering this, a sudden voice interrupted his thoughts.

Su Cheng turned around and saw that the person who called out to him was an extremely beautiful girl with a tall and well-proportioned figure and long red hair like a burning fire.

It was Huo Wu, the control-type Soul Master from the Blazing Academy team who had fought against him before.

The opponent's martial soul, like Feng Qingyu's, is a shadow based on herself, but the attributes are different and the talent is much worse.

"What's wrong?"

Huo Wu stared at Su Cheng and said in a deep voice, "If we join the Heaven Dou Royal Team, can we play as a key player?"

The Blazing Fire Academy's journey in the Soul Master Competition has now been prematurely ended.

Although they defeated Elephant Armor Academy, they failed to defeat the other elemental academies. In addition, they lost to Shrek Academy and Heaven Dou Royal Academy teams, so they naturally missed the final.

This was a huge blow to the proud and arrogant Huo Wu.

Su Cheng had previously conducted routine recruitment after the battle.

The problem is that he only offered two substitute spots, which Huo Wu felt was completely insincere, so how could she possibly accept them?

This caused her to suffer from depression for a long time.

Su Cheng glanced at her, then at Huo Wushuang beside her who was smiling helplessly, and gently shook his head.

He said frankly, "I can't guarantee that. If Shui Bing'er from Tianshui Academy joins, you'll only be able to play as substitutes."

Feng Qingyu alone is enough to conduct research on Shadow Martial Souls.

If team combat is considered, there is no need for too many control-type Soul Masters in the team.

If Shui Bing'er could join the team, then Huo Wu would no longer be needed, and the combination of ice and fire would be difficult to coordinate.

Compared to the surprise brought by Shui Bing'er and Xue Wu's Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Huo Wushuang and Huo Wu are obviously far inferior, and the choice should be obvious.

Moreover, Shui Bing'er can also help him cultivate.

However, Shui Bing'er has not given a definite answer yet.

Su Cheng wasn't in a hurry; he could wait until the qualifying rounds were over before making a decision.

Upon hearing this, Huo Wu felt a surge of anger.

The other party's remarks clearly indicated that they felt her strength was considerably inferior, but they didn't have a good solution to it.

Su Cheng didn't pay any attention, but instead nodded to Huo Wushuang beside her.

"Captain Fire, my previous promise still stands. If you're interested in participating in the finals, you can consider coming to me."

"Okay, you keep it up too," Huo Wushuang said with a smile.

He didn't find Su Cheng's explanation offensive.

The Soul Master Competition is all about strength, from team selection to each step of the advancement process.

Since Blazing Fire Academy was eliminated, it proves that they were not as skilled as others, so there's nothing more to say.

They were even willing to give them a substitute spot, which is already quite generous.

He didn't think that with Su Cheng's terrifying strength, he really needed any teammates to help him in the subsequent battles.

"Who does he think he is!" Huo Wu said angrily after Su Cheng left.

"Going to Shenfeng Academy is the same. In fact, we can be the main force and coordinate with their soul skills. Feng Xiaotian will definitely agree."

Upon hearing this, Huo Wushuang was taken aback.

She glanced at her younger sister beside her, her eyes thoughtful.

That's an idea.

The next stage of the qualifying rounds will be held in a month, giving the team members from each college ample time to adjust their form.

A month later, the qualifying rounds will still be held within the territory of the Heaven Dou Empire, but the venue will change from the Heaven Dou Great Soul Arena to the Royal Enclosure. At that time, the ten teams from the five duchies and kingdoms that passed the preliminary rounds will also participate.

However, this should be the least important part of the entire competition format.

The finalists have been determined, and the ranking in the qualifying rounds will only give teams a slight advantage in the finals.

Unlike the preliminary rounds, the qualifying rounds are individual ring battles, with matches played according to the rosters submitted for each game.

Su Cheng had already made up his mind to just take it easy and not care about the team's final ranking.

Unlike him, this was a good opportunity for the other team members.

In addition to gaining experience by competing against the best among their peers, there are also extra rewards.

The Heaven Dou Empire has promised that the top three students with the most wins in the advancement competition will have their soul beasts provided by the Empire for their next advancement, and they can freely choose any soul beast with a cultivation level of less than 30,000 years.

Nighttime, Shrek Academy.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a tall figure quietly appeared in Yu Xiaogang's room.

The man wore a simple gray robe, his messy black hair was draped over his shoulders, and his aged face was etched with the marks of time.

"master."

The newcomer's voice was low and hoarse.

But as soon as Yu Xiaogang heard the voice, he immediately recognized the other party's true identity.

They had met more than once before.

"Your Majesty Haotian."

Yu Xiaogang quickly got up and went to greet him.

Tang Hao waved his hand, indicating that he didn't need to be so polite.

He then whispered, "Are you planning to have the mistress start practicing with the Clear Sky Hammer right now?"

Although he wasn't always by Tang San's side, he frequently kept track of Tang San's cultivation progress.

He was naturally aware of the changes in his son's mindset in recent days.

After all, with Yu Xiaogang's return from the Spirit Hall, the fact that Tang San was preparing to switch to cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer was no longer a secret in the academy.

"That's true."

Upon hearing the question, Yu Xiaogang's expression also became serious.

He recounted his previous conversation with Tang San and his decision regarding the golden age of Soul Master cultivation.

Finally, he added, "I went to see someone specifically to learn more about the key points of cultivating twin martial souls, so there shouldn't be any problem with Xiao San starting to use the Clear Sky Hammer now."

After a moment of silence, Tang Hao said in a hoarse voice, "But you probably don't know that Xiao San's Blue Silver Grass martial soul is not that simple. It's not ordinary Blue Silver Grass, but Blue Silver Emperor, a top-tier martial soul comparable to the Clear Sky Hammer."

"Blue Silver Emperor? What kind of martial soul is that?"

Yu Xiaogang considered himself to have a deep understanding of martial spirits and had read a lot of related materials. He knew all martial spirits like the back of his hand, but he had never heard of a martial spirit called Blue Silver Emperor, which was transformed from Blue Silver Grass and could be compared with the top-level martial spirit Clear Sky Hammer.

"The emperor of the Blue Silver Grass clan, the only one among countless Blue Silver Grasses," Tang Hao said slowly, his tone complex, seemingly containing profound pain. "The Blue Silver Emperor is forever passed down through a single lineage in this world. In each generation, only one Blue Silver Emperor exists."

Seeing his expression, Yu Xiaogang had a vague feeling and suddenly realized, "That belongs to the mistress—"

"Those are irrelevant to this matter." Tang Hao waved his hand, interrupting the other person somewhat rudely, his emotions seemingly out of control for a moment.

He quickly calmed down and whispered, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay, I understand." Yu Xiaogang's eyes also flashed with pain when he saw this, feeling that the two of them might have some similarities in their experiences.

He then pondered for a moment and said, "Blue Silver Emperor... but from what I've observed, Xiao San's martial soul isn't anything special."

"That's normal, because his martial soul isn't a true Blue Silver Emperor yet, or rather, it's still far from it," Tang Hao said calmly. "His martial soul needs to undergo another awakening before it can become a true Blue Silver Emperor, which is a truly top-tier martial soul."

"I see." Yu Xiaogang suddenly realized, feeling quite puzzled.

He quickly asked, "When can I awaken?"

Since Tang Hao said so, the awakening of the Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul must require some prerequisites; otherwise, there would be no need to wait until now to let Tang San use the Blue Silver Emperor for cultivation and combat.

Sure enough, Tang Hao immediately replied, "Judging from Xiao San's mental strength growth rate, he will need to reach at least level 60 before he has a chance to awaken, and even then, it's not very certain. He might need to combine it with a head soul bone."

He answered all of Yu Xiaogang's questions without reservation.

Tang Hao knew in his heart that although he was exceptionally talented in cultivation, his knowledge of martial souls was extremely shallow. At least he believed that he was far inferior to Yu Xiaogang.

So what we can do now is to tell Yu Xiaogang all this information and let him design Tang San's future development path.

"Level 60..."

Upon hearing this threshold, Yu Xiaogang's already stiff face became even more serious.

After thinking for a moment, he looked at Tang Hao with a solemn expression.

"Your Majesty Haotian, you may not know this, but my initial expectation for Xiao San was that he would start cultivating Haotian Hammer once he reached level 60."

"Oh?"

Tang Hao was somewhat surprised to hear this.

He himself hadn't thought about this in detail.

His idea was simple: since Tang San had the talent of twin martial souls, he should first cultivate the Blue Silver Grass, and then cultivate the Clear Sky Hammer after leveling up. He could freely add high-level spirit rings, and his combat power would definitely far exceed that of others of the same level.

When the time comes, we will be able to fight against the Spirit Hall and complete our revenge.

As for how to cultivate during this process, what risks there are, and whether such a decision is based on wishful thinking, he had not considered it carefully at all.

After thinking for a moment, Tang Hao asked疑惑地问道, "Why not wait until he becomes a Title Douluo before he starts cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer?"

Upon hearing this, Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but smile wryly.

"It's not as simple as you might imagine."

"The first issue is the body's ability to withstand it."

"It is common knowledge that Soul Masters can enhance various physical attributes by attaching Soul Rings. However, while the increase in various attributes is a good thing for ordinary Soul Masters, when the attributes are enhanced to a certain extent and the body cannot bear it, it will turn from a benefit into a disaster."

"When a Soul Master reaches level 60, even with the best Soul Ring configuration for their first Martial Soul, it's still insufficient for their body to reach its limit. At this point, cultivating a second Martial Soul with a large number of ten-thousand-year Soul Rings still offers a chance of success."

"But if you wait until level 90, the difficulty will increase dramatically, and you might even be in danger of losing your life."

"So that's how it is..." Tang Hao's eyes widened slightly upon hearing this, and he couldn't help but feel a wave of fear.

"But that's not the most crucial problem." Yu Xiaogang shook his head. "After learning about the cultivation methods for twin martial souls some time ago, this matter is not entirely unsolvable."

He stared at Tang Hao.

"Most importantly, Blue Silver Grass is a recognized useless martial soul. Its cultivation potential is insufficient, and it would take far too long to reach level 60. By then, would it really be enough time to start cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer?"

"You should know that the difficulty of leveling up after level 60 is several times higher than before. By then, even if you switch to the Clear Sky Hammer or the awakened Blue Silver Emperor for training, it will probably be too late."

"The best age for Soul Masters to cultivate has completely passed."

Upon hearing this, Tang Hao fell silent, his expression grave.

"Of course, now that we know that Xiao San's first martial soul is actually no weaker than the Clear Sky Hammer, the Blue Silver Emperor, then things are simpler."

At this moment, Yu Xiaogang's expression became much more composed.

"We can let Xiao San use the Haotian Hammer to cultivate first."

"After his normal advancement to Soul Master, he actually had the opportunity to try attaching a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring directly to the Clear Sky Hammer."

"We have a student in our academy team whose fourth spirit ring is at the ten-thousand-year level. The third one is actually based on the thousand-year fourth spirit ring and adds a ten-thousand-year spirit ring, which is more feasible."

"Then, after he uses the Clear Sky Hammer to cultivate to level 60, we can help him awaken the Blue Silver Emperor Martial Soul. Wouldn't that be an excellent solution?"

"You can even use the Clear Sky Hammer to cultivate to the Title Douluo level, and then add a high-limit spirit ring to the Blue Silver Emperor."

"That's right!" Tang Hao's eyes lit up upon hearing this. "Truly worthy of the title of master, you are truly exceptionally wise."

A hint of joy finally appeared on his face, which had been extremely cold since he entered the room.

Although it was a very subtle change, it did manage to alleviate much of the gloomy atmosphere.

At this moment, Yu Xiaogang's expression suddenly changed.

"Your Majesty, regarding the Martial Soul Awakening you just mentioned, could we perhaps take Xiao San to try it out first?"

"Huh?" Tang Hao was taken aback. "Is this really necessary?"

"While cultivating the Clear Sky Hammer first is one option, it would definitely be a better choice to continue cultivating the first martial soul to its full potential. Only in this way can the advantages of the third twin martial souls be brought into full play."

I have a social engagement today and can't post 10,000 words a day. I'm really sorry.

(End of this chapter)