After the second year of the academy began, everyone noticed a change in Zhu Zhuqing.
She was no longer submissive.
The girl who used to endure bullying silently began to show her claws and fangs to everyone.
She started by targeting the peripheral members of Su Cheng's group, gradually causing division and disintegration.
Most of these individuals sought refuge in Su Cheng's group out of weakness or to gain some prestige on the surface, despite lacking exceptional talent, strength, or strong willpower.
They weren't particularly valued by the noble or talented students even before joining Su Cheng's group.
Joining the group only made them inferior.
Zhu Zhuqing's approach was simple: resort to force.
Of course, she wouldn't openly attack people in public.
Instead, when provoked verbally, she would assert her aura as a Soul Master.
Among the students her age, there weren't many who had reached the level of a Soul Master.
The gap between those with soul rings and those without was significant, let alone with her powerful Hell Civet martial soul.
Often, Zhu Zhuqing only needed to reveal her martial soul slightly, without even resorting to physical violence, to overwhelm her opponents and gain the upper hand.
But it didn't end there; she would also retaliate afterward.
With her current strength, even without using her martial soul, she could easily discipline these weaker students in secret.
And as long as she didn't reveal her martial soul or use the unique attack methods of the Hell Civet, and kept her attacks moderate, who would pursue her responsibility without evidence?
Conflicts among Soul Masters were not uncommon, as long as one maintained restraint, it wasn't a major issue.
Last year, Zhu Zhuqing had only refrained from using force because she was scared off by the principal's criticism and threat of expulsion on her first day at the academy.
In reality, the situation was not dire enough for such severe consequences due to a minor conflict.
At that time, Su Cheng had exaggerated his injuries, and his somewhat unconventional identity, combined with the faction he had already built during the early days of school, earned him excellent reputation among the teachers.
Multiple factors led to the principal's outburst.
As for others, why should they receive special treatment from the academy?
Not to mention Zhu Zhuqing's own unique status.
Even though the likelihood of success was low, she was also a candidate for future queen.
Indeed, as a teacher in the Royal Academy, one wouldn't particularly care about the students' backgrounds; the principal's words at the time were not wrong— even if members of the royal family enrolled, they had to abide by the academy's rules.
But the bottom line and standards of punishment for different students would inevitably differ.
Now, the only issue Zhu Zhuqing needed to consider was retaliation from the opposing group.
But these people were mostly marginal figures, not worth much attention.
As the team leader, Su Cheng had been keeping a low profile lately, rarely appearing in public.
Naturally, this gave her ample room to maneuver.
Violence was just one aspect of her strategy.
She also utilized her status advantage.
The position and influence of the Zhu family in the Star Luo Empire were widely known.
In the past, Zhu Zhuqing had been targeted by many people, and Su Cheng's covert instigation was just one aspect of it.
Her noble birth was also a significant factor.
Being able to overlook the Duke's mansion as a commoner born into an ordinary family was psychologically satisfying and attractive.
Unlike Su Cheng, whose influence gradually expanded through his own abilities, speech, demeanor, and prestige in the academy.
Now, Zhu Zhuqing was constantly using her family's influence to win over followers.
Coupled with her exceptional strength, she had gathered quite a few people around her in a short time.
After all, compared to Su Cheng, her advantages were quite obvious.
There was no need to elaborate on her family background, and currently, Zhu Zhuqing seemed to be stronger.
After all, except for the time of enrollment, Su Cheng had hardly revealed his strength; he had even been knocked down by Zhu Zhuqing with a punch in the beginning.
Even those closest to Su Cheng didn't fully understand his depth, let alone these peripheral figures.
Although Zhu Zhuqing's way of resolving conflicts and rallying people's hearts still seemed somewhat immature, it was sufficient in this elementary academy.
Some of this was due to Su Cheng's teachings.
But more importantly, it was her own insights in daily life.
Zhu Zhuqing wasn't stupid; she just hadn't awakened before.
In addition to that, there were also a few noble children like Zhang Sansan who didn't appreciate Su Cheng's past actions and behavior, and Zhu Zhuqing managed to win them over as well.
What Zhu Zhuqing didn't know was that those few people were actually intentionally left by Su Cheng for her.
Although Su Cheng regarded these struggles in the academy as mere trifles, they were fundamental to Zhu Zhuqing's training.
Moreover, the resources behind these people were not negligible either.
Especially someone like Zhang Sansan, who was practically the future heir of his family; even in the future, he would be of great use.
The situation of these silent changes went mostly unnoticed by everyone except Su Cheng.
Although Su Cheng noticed, he evidently welcomed it.
He even took the initiative to conceal his own presence, spending most of his time in the academy's library, studying various materials related to martial souls, and hardly attending classes.
And so, three months gradually passed by.
The atmosphere in the academy began to undergo significant changes.
At the end of the month, Zhu Zhuqing quietly left the academy alone.
At this time, Su Cheng, disguised as Zhu Hongtao, was already waiting in the forest outside the academy.
"Father, I'm here," Zhu Zhuqing greeted softly.
This was the third secret meeting since the beginning of the year.
Now, she was no longer as gloomy as before.
Though she still had a cold demeanor, it was more of a habit.
Compared to before, her facial contours had softened, her eyes were bright and captivating, and her long hair gently swayed in the night breeze.
This coolness only added a layer of special mystery and personal charm to her.
"Xiaoqing, it seems like you're making good progress in the academy?" Su Cheng asked, looking at the increasingly beautiful Zhu Zhuqing.
Zhu Zhuqing nodded gently at the words.
With the shadows in her heart gradually dissipating, she, who had tasted a bit of power, had become more confident.
"Su Cheng is different from those people. If you want to win him over to your side, besides appealing to his interests, you also need to have enough strength." Su Cheng looked at Zhu Zhuqing, who had transformed into a more beautiful version of herself, and said in a deep voice, "Do you think, with your current strength, you can defeat him?"
Zhu Zhuqing hesitated for a moment and shook her head, "I don't know."
During these days, Su Cheng had kept a low profile in the academy, and they didn't have many opportunities to meet.
Even though her strength had made great strides now, she didn't dare to underestimate him at all.
The shadow left by him in the past year was too heavy.
Su Cheng nodded at her response, seeing that Zhu Zhuqing's mindset was still very stable, not overly inflated, she was indeed a talent worth nurturing.
He took out a manuscript from his pocket and handed it over.
This was a method of practice he had developed over the past year, combining martial soul bloodline and human medical studies, which was more suitable for Soul Masters to use.
Although he didn't know how it compared to Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill, its efficiency was evidently far superior to the basic meditation techniques prevalent on the continent.
The most crucial point was that this cultivation method was rooted in the same source as soul power operation, without the need to scatter power before attempting to cultivate.
Furthermore, besides enhancing cultivation efficiency, practicing in this way could also briefly stimulate bloodline potential every day, increasing the upper limit of cultivation without harming the foundation.
In fact, this second point was the most critical advantage.
For Soul Masters, what limited their cultivation level was not the rate of practice, but the bottleneck of how much soul power their body could contain each day.
With a poor martial soul quality, the amount of soul power that could be increased daily would be limited, no matter how much time and effort was spent on cultivation.
However, using this cultivation method, although it couldn't fundamentally enhance the martial soul, it could greatly expand the future development potential.
Also because of this characteristic, Su Cheng himself named this practice method "Nirvana Sutra."
Considering the current effect of this cultivation method, the name indeed sounded a bit exaggerated.
But he had just started, and with further research in the future, perhaps it could really achieve the effect of bloodline nirvana.
"What is this?" Zhu Zhuqing asked curiously as she took the manuscript.
"This is a unique inheritance cultivation method exclusive to our Zhu family of the Abyssal Spirit Cat. I didn't give it to you before because you had just awakened your martial soul, and practicing too aggressively could be detrimental to you. Now it's time. With this assistance, defeating Su Cheng in the future won't be difficult," Su Cheng casually fabricated.
"Inheritance technique?" Zhu Zhuqing was somewhat puzzled.
Since such a thing existed, why was the family's strength still lagging behind the royal family?
Seeing her confusion, Su Cheng explained lightly, "This technique can only increase your cultivation speed but cannot raise the potential upper limit of your martial soul. In the end, what determines your final strength is still the quality of your martial soul."
"Martial soul quality..." Zhu Zhuqing's body trembled slightly, feeling a bit heavy in her heart.
"It's too early for you to consider these things now. Let's talk about it when you reach the limit of your cultivation. " Su Cheng shook his head, glanced at her, and then took out several glass bottles filled with green liquid.
"Take these potions. Use them during your usual practice to help you solidify your foundation. Remember, take three drops into the water each time, and never use more, or it will affect your future potential."
Zhu Zhuqing reached out and took the bottles of potion, her face showing surprise once again.
The fact that the family had such a profound accumulation of resources, with both techniques and potions, completely exceeded her expectations. Even before, she had never heard of "techniques" like this.
In fact, Su Cheng was a bit helpless at this moment.
These things had to be given.
Otherwise, with Zhu Zhuqing's innate talent, no matter how hard she tried to cultivate, it would take countless years.
By then, the Star Luo Empire might be wiped out by the emerging Martial Soul Empire, let alone her ascending to the throne.
Even if she had doubts because of this, there was nothing he could do about it.
As long as she could be cultivated, everything else didn't matter.
Whether she harbored doubts or not, once she experienced the benefits, she would naturally understand.
"Xiaoqing, I have to remind you, you don't have much time left. It's best to establish a stable cooperative relationship with Su Cheng before the end of this year."
As he was leaving, Su Cheng looked at Zhu Zhuqing solemnly.