Battle Through the Heavens: Starting with Cao Ying as an apprentice

She followed the sound and saw a scene that made her blood freeze in a private room on the second floor of the hotel: Dai Mubai had two scantily clad women nestled in his arms, and he was laughing and drinking, his hands making frivolous gestures.

Zhu Zhuqing stood at the door and watched quietly for three breaths.

Then she went inside.

"Zhu Qing?!" Dai Mubai suddenly pushed the woman in his arms away and stood up in a panic.

"You... how did you get here?"

Zhu Zhuqing didn't say anything, but quickly stepped forward and swung her sharp claws out. Dai Mubai hurriedly tried to block, but was knocked out of the window and fell to the street below.

The two women screamed and ran away.

Zhu Zhuqing jumped down from the second floor and landed in front of Dai Mubai.

Pedestrians on the street stopped to watch.

"Zhu Qing, let me explain..." Dai Mubai's mouth was bleeding as he struggled to get up.

Zhu Zhuqing stepped on his chest, pressing him back to the ground.

She looked down at him, her eyes as cold as ice: "Explain what? Explain why you abandoned me and fled to the Heavenly Dou Empire? Explain why you're indulging in debauchery here? Or explain why you've never thought of going back to face everything?"

“I…” Dai Mubai was speechless.

"Dai Mubai, I am diligently cultivating on Baichen Peak." Zhu Zhuqing's voice was soft, but every word was like a knife.

"And you? I originally thought you would at least be like me, diligently cultivating somewhere, that you at least had some dignity and spirit. But what did I see?"

She pressed down on her foot, and Dai Mubai let out a muffled groan.

"Zhuqing, I was wrong... I really know I was wrong..."

Dai Mubai suddenly burst into tears.

"I was giving up on myself, I was scared! My older brother is already a Soul Master, and your sister isn't far behind either. How can we win? Going back would be a dead end! So I ran away, I admit I was a coward!"

Immediately afterward, Dai Mubai was stunned, as if he had thought of something. He struggled to grab Zhu Zhuqing's ankle, looked up, and cried with tears streaming down his face: "But you are so strong now. I felt it just now. You are at least a Soul Venerable, right?"

"Is your master a powerful figure from White Dust Peak?"

"Zhuqing, we have a chance!"

"Take me back! Take me back to White Dust Peak to cultivate!"

"I will work hard. As long as I receive guidance from the experts at Baichen Peak or learn some cultivation techniques, we will definitely win!"

"You love me, right? You won't leave me, right?"

"You've come to take me back to Baichen Peak, haven't you?"

"As long as I can get to Baichen Peak, I can become stronger!"

"Let's get stronger together, let's fight back together!"

"If we win, you will be the Star Luo Empress!"

"And from now on, I'll listen to you!"

"Please, Zhuqing, help me!"

"It's also helping yourself!"

Chapter 306 Choice; Awakening!

On the streets, crowds gathered and grew larger.

Dai Mubai knelt in the middle of the street, ignoring the pointing and whispering stares around him, still pleading hoarsely, "Zhu Qing! Listen to me!"

"As long as we can return to Baichen Peak together and become disciples of its powerful members, the Star Luo Royal Family wouldn't dare to do anything to us, given Baichen Peak's prestige!"

"We can cultivate together, grow stronger together, and in the future..."

"Shut up."

Zhu Zhuqing's voice was very soft, yet it pierced through all of Dai Mubai's words like an icicle.

She looked down at her former fiancé, whose face was now filled with fear, calculation, and groveling.

The "we" he spoke of, the "future" he described—every word was sweet, yet beneath it lay the hook that would drag her back into the mire.

Zhu Zhuqing suddenly remembered many things, including the mission her father had told her, her first meeting with Dai Mubai, and the promise Dai Mubai made to her.

"Is it worth it?" she asked herself softly, her voice as light as a sigh.

For a man who runs away from danger?

For a fiancé who is living a life of debauchery in a foreign land?

For those "missions" and "rules" that were never asked whether she was willing?

Zhu Zhuqing closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

When I opened my eyes again, the last trace of hesitation in them completely vanished, replaced by a clarity that was almost cruel.

"roll."

Dai Mubai froze, as if he hadn't heard clearly: "W-what?"

I said, get out.

Zhu Zhuqing spoke each word clearly, each syllable as distinct as a knife scraping across a stone slab.

"Dai Mubai, you are not worthy."

Dai Mubai's face went from deathly pale to ashen, and then from ashen to a deep liver color.

He stood up abruptly, his voice rising sharply: "Zhu Zhuqing! Don't go too far! I am the Third Prince of Xingluo! You are a daughter of the Zhu family! Our marriage is an agreement between the Empire and..."

"It's off." Zhu Zhuqing interrupted him, her tone as calm as if she were stating the weather.

"From today onwards, you are you, and I am me. Let the Zhu family and the Xingluo royal family do as they please."

She strode away, her back straight as a pine tree.

Dai Mubai roared behind her, "Zhu Zhuqing! You'll regret this! The Zhu family and the Xingluo royal family will not let you get away with this!"

"random."

Zhu Zhuqing didn't turn around; she simply raised her hand and waved it casually.

That gesture was like shooing away an annoying fly.

In front of the water curtain, Bai Yue'er let out a long sigh of relief.

She turned to look at Su Baichen, a smile in her eyes: "Master, she..."

"Barely acceptable." Su Baichen nodded, a rare look of satisfaction in his eyes.

"At least we know what to throw away and what to keep."

He raised his hand and made a light stroke in the air.

Around the unconscious Zhu Zhuqing on the mountain path, the space rippled like water.

The next moment, she appeared out of thin air on a soft couch in the side room of the main hall, her body still covered with dust and bloodstains from the stone steps, her brows furrowed, as if she were experiencing some kind of pain in her dream.

"When Ye Ruoxi comes up, let her treat this girl." After saying that, Su Baichen turned and left the room.

Bai Yue'er looked at the pale-faced girl on the bed, sighed softly, and reached out to tidy the sweaty strands of hair on her forehead.

"Silly girl, you'd better walk your own path from now on."

A day later, Zhu Zhuqing gradually regained consciousness and first smelled a faint medicinal fragrance.

She opened her eyes and saw the familiar ceiling—the room where she had lived for two years on Baichen Peak.

"Oh, Zhuqing, you're finally awake!"

A clear, crisp female voice came from the side.

Zhu Zhuqing turned her head and saw Ye Lingling sitting on the edge of the bed with snacks in her hands, a happy smile on her face.

"Sister Lingling?" Zhu Zhuqing propped herself up and sat up, looking somewhat bewildered.

"What happened to me? How did I get back to Baichen Peak?"

She remembered that she was in Soto City, rejected Dai Mubai, and then... then the world suddenly went black.

When I woke up again, I was here.

Ye Lingling blinked, looking a little confused: "What do you mean, 'back to Baichen Peak'? Zhu Qing, isn't this your first time at Baichen Peak? You fainted on the mountain path yesterday."

Zhu Zhuqing was stunned.

"Is this your first time here?" she murmured, then suddenly grabbed Ye Lingling's hand.

"Where is my master? Where is he?"

"What master? Where did you get a master from?" Ye Lingling was even more confused and reached out to touch Zhu Zhuqing's forehead.

"You don't have a fever... Why are you talking nonsense as soon as you wake up? Did you get confused from climbing the mountain?"

Zhu Zhuqing's hand froze in mid-air.

An absurd and terrifying thought slowly surfaced in her mind.

She looked around—it was the room she had lived in for two years, but Ye Lingling said it was her first time here.

"When was the last time we met?" Zhu Zhuqing's voice trembled slightly.

“Yesterday, we entered Baichen Peak together at the foot of the mountain, don’t you remember?” Ye Lingling tilted her head, her eyes full of worry.

"Zhuqing, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

Zhu Zhuqing fell silent.

She sat on the bed, motionless, like a statue that had suddenly lost its soul.

Sunlight streamed in through the window, casting interplay of light and shadow on her face.

Those "memories"—the two years of cultivation on the peak, the master's teachings, the joy of breakthroughs, the anticipation of descending the mountain, and Dai Mubai's hateful face in Soto City—rushed in like a tide, and then burst like bubbles in the sunlight.

fake.

It's all fake.