The next day, in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Spring.
Zhu Zhuqing, now fully awake, leaped out of the spring, creating splashes of water.
Sensing the commotion, Su Cheng quickly turned to look.
He saw a figure, white as snow, spinning in the air before plunging back into the water.
"Do you have spare clothes?" Su Cheng's teasing voice came from afar.
Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing, concealed underwater, felt a mixture of embarrassment and anger.
Under the combined effect of powerful energy within her and the extreme cold and heat of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Spring, her clothes had long been dissolved, leaving her completely naked in the water.
After asking once and receiving no response, Su Cheng decided not to press further.
Although soul tools were rare, given Zhu Zhuqing's background, acquiring one wouldn't be difficult.
Turning back to his tasks, Su Cheng resumed his work.
Since Xiao Wu no longer had the Spirit Hall's Love Forbidden Pill to conceal her soul beast aura, Su Cheng took it upon himself to concoct some medicine for her.
However, making such concoctions wasn't easy.
While it could be concealed from ordinary people, hiding from someone like Bibi Dong, a Title Douluo, was as difficult as reaching the sky.
Even with his medical expertise, Su Cheng was at a loss and could only experiment.
Moments later, a sharp sound cut through the air behind him.
Zhu Zhuqing, unnoticed, had silently approached him from behind and struck with a claw.
"Clang!"
A sword barrier emerged, accompanied by the sound of metal clashing. Su Cheng turned around with a smile.
"Too slow and too weak," he said.
His eyes flickered slightly, noting Zhu Zhuqing's increased cultivation level.
The toxic effects of the Octagonal Mysterious Ice Grass and the Blazing Apricot were not as easy to absorb as the Water Lilies or Eight-petaled Orchids, requiring Zhu Zhuqing's current level to convert them into her own soul power.
It required continuous cleansing of the body using the water from the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Spring.
"Is this how you thank me?" Su Cheng teased, seeing Zhu Zhuqing's annoyed expression.
Zhu Zhuqing's face alternated between red and white as she glared at him before muttering, "Pervert!"
"I didn't even look," Su Cheng retorted.
Strangely, Zhu Zhuqing felt even more irritated at his words.
However, before she could react, Su Cheng added, "Besides, I've seen it before; you haven't fully developed yet."
"Su Cheng!" Zhu Zhuqing's soul rings shimmered as she lunged at him again.
This time, Su Cheng didn't underestimate her.
With the Eternal Sword in hand, he countered her attack swiftly, stopping the blade inches from her neck.
"You've improved, but you still have a long way to go to beat me. Keep practicing, Fourth Miss."
"Hmph." Zhu Zhuqing snorted and stood before him.
"How do you feel?" Su Cheng asked.
"Great physical resilience, even stronger than most Spirit Masters. I can also sense a significant enhancement in my bloodline when using martial arts," she replied, her eyes gleaming.
"In addition, it seems I'm more resistant to ice and fire energy attacks."
"This is just the beginning," Su Cheng nodded.
"While the initial boost from consuming the herbs was high, it only used a small portion of their power. In the following months, aside from acquiring the fourth soul ring, you'll need to fully absorb the remaining power in the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Spring."
"Three months, along with the boost from the additional soul ring, should be enough for you to advance beyond level forty-four."
"The power of the two herbs can sustain your cultivation until the Soul Saint stage. By then, your martial soul should have evolved into the Hell White Tiger. With the help of martial arts, you'll have already grasped the true essence of your martial soul."
"Your future cultivation won't face any bottlenecks until you become a god."
"A god?!" Zhu Zhuqing repeated incredulously.
"Yes, a god," Su Cheng glanced at her. "But those aren't things you need to worry about now. Don't aim too high; take it one step at a time."
"Thank you," she murmured softly, her eyes downcast.
"No need to thank me. After all, who said I'm your daddy?" Su Cheng smirked.
Zhu Zhuqing's face darkened, and she attacked him again without a word.
She noticed Su Cheng had reverted to his annoying self, always finding joy in provoking her anger.
In the following days, Su Cheng divided his time between training and teaching Zhu Zhuqing, while also focusing on researching concealment drugs.
However, he found that even with his knowledge of herbalism, medicine, and martial souls, along with the insights gained from Tang Hao's Blue Silver Emperor, the drugs he concocted could only conceal from ordinary Title Douluos. Achieving the effects of the Love Forbidden Pill was nearly impossible.
And relying solely on such drugs would definitely not fool Bibi Dong.
Perhaps with Xiao Wu's temperament, she might recklessly embark on an adventure even with the drugs. But even if she wanted to, Tang Hao would likely intervene.
Moreover, her actions would introduce many variables, which would be detrimental to his plans.
"Maybe after I absorb the fifth soul ring and advance to Soul King, I'll have a solution. If not, I'll have to think of other ways..." Su Cheng sighed inwardly.
For him, reaching Soul King was a crucial step.
With the harmonization of the five elemental attributes and the further enhancement of his domain, he had a premonition that Tang Hao's pure soul rings, condensed naturally, were extraordinary.
As long as he roughly understood the principles behind it, he could significantly broaden his horizons and elevate his knowledge to a new level, leading to a qualitative change in his past accumulation of knowledge.
In the meantime, Zhu Zhuqing wasn't idle.
Following Su Cheng's advice, she spent most of her time soaking in the water of the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Spring.
By neutralizing the latent power within her body and enhancing the efficiency of her Nirvana Scripture, her cultivation speed far exceeded normal.
Moreover, during this time, with the continuous operation of her techniques, she noticed her martial soul's strength entering a rapid advancement phase once again.
Having studied at Shrek Academy, Zhu Zhuqing had gained a lot of information about martial soul from Dai Mubai. Her rapid progress was thanks to this.
After consuming the two herbs, her martial soul's foundation was strengthened again, and now her martial soul's strength was definitely not weaker than those Soul Masters with full innate soul power.
Furthermore, with Su Cheng's help, she also hunted a soul beast in the Sunset Forest after reaching level forty, adding a millennium-level fourth soul ring to her martial soul.
With the tempering of the two herbs, Zhu Zhuqing's physical attributes were significantly enhanced. Coupled with the secret technique of acupuncture with silver needles, absorbing a fourth soul ring was not difficult.
Three months passed in the blink of an eye.
Zhu Zhuqing quietly immersed herself in the spring water, silently cultivating.
By now, her soul power had soared to level forty-three, with level forty-four within reach.
At that moment, Su Cheng's lazy voice echoed from the distant mountains.
"Let's go, Fourth Miss. Three months have passed."
He had also reached level fifty in cultivation and could now add the fifth soul ring to the Eternal Sword at any time to advance to Soul King.
Zhu Zhuqing opened her eyes in the spring water, looking somewhat bewildered.
"Has it already been three months?" she murmured.
Scenes of taking the Immortal Herb, practicing combat techniques, and engaging in verbal sparring seemed like they had just happened yesterday. She hadn't realized time had passed so quickly, and now, without warning, the agreed-upon deadline had arrived.
For these three months, she didn't need to worry about anything. No one needed to be on guard, and there was no need to consider cultivation plans or interpersonal relationships.
Everything was arranged clearly and transparently, and all she had to do was accept it.
But now, everything was coming to an end.
"What's wrong? Reluctant to leave? How about going back to the Royal Academy with me and waiting for Daddy to take us?" Su Cheng teased casually, noticing Zhu Zhuqing's lack of response to his earlier remarks.
Still no response.
After a moment, a figure slowly emerged from beside the spring.
Unlike before, Zhu Zhuqing didn't immediately explode with anger or retaliate physically upon hearing Su Cheng's teasing comments. Instead, she silently stood before him.
Seeing her expression, Su Cheng fell silent, finding it difficult to say what he had planned.
After a long moment of silence between them, he finally spoke up. "Let's go."
With that, he turned and began walking towards the outskirts of the valley.
As they walked away from the Sunset Forest, Su Cheng glanced at Zhu Zhuqing, who appeared gloomy.
"What's wrong, Fourth Miss? The competition is about to start soon, and we're looking forward to seeing your performance," he remarked casually. "If you really can't bear to leave, you can continue practicing here. I can even secure a spot for you in our Royal Academy's second team."
"You're overthinking it," Zhu Zhuqing replied calmly.
Su Cheng chuckled at her response and didn't push the matter further.
Instead, he asked, "Have you noticed anything unusual about Tang San from your academy?"
"Of course, I know he has some special weapon techniques with astonishing power," Zhu Zhuqing replied, turning to look at Su Cheng.
"But I don't think you know that he possesses a twin martial soul, do you?"
"A twin martial soul?!" Zhu Zhuqing was taken aback.
"That's right. He's Tang Hao's son from the Haotian Sect, and his second martial soul is the Haotian Hammer."
"I see..." Zhu Zhuqing's expression changed as realization dawned on her. She had been wondering why someone with just a Blue Silver Grass martial soul could progress so quickly in cultivation and why the Blue Silver Grass he possessed seemed noticeably different from ordinary ones.
"Do you want him to advance to the finals because of this?" Zhu Zhuqing glanced at Su Cheng with suspicion. "But what impact can it have on you even if he has a twin martial soul?"
"Of course not," Su Cheng chuckled wryly. "Tang San doesn't have anything I desire. I want them to advance to the finals for Xiao Wu."
"Xiao Wu?" Zhu Zhuqing was initially surprised but then smiled with skepticism. "I remember now; you both attended the same elementary academy, right? And you and Tang San seemed to have some conflicts before. Could it be because of Xiao Wu?"
"What are you thinking?" Su Cheng shook his head, deciding to be honest.
"Zhu Zhuqing, I don't want to deceive you. Xiao Wu's true identity is actually a 100,000-year soul beast in human form. You should know what that represents, right? But she and Tang San have Tang Hao's protection. If I don't find a way to restrain others, wouldn't I be walking into a trap?"
"A 100,000-year soul beast?!" Zhu Zhuqing's feet faltered, and her heart surged with shock.
"A 100,000-year soul beast... So, Tang San's reason for being with her..."
Thinking of this, she couldn't help feeling a chill run down her spine.
Zhu Zhuqing had observed the relationship between Tang San and Xiao Wu along with everyone else at Shrek Academy.
Those two were almost inseparable.
Every time Xiao Wu suffered even a slight injury, Tang San would go berserk, behaving extremely recklessly.
Although she had always been uncomfortable with Tang San's behavior and attitude, and she had always been wary of him, there had been a part of her that had envied the bond between those two.
But she had never expected that Xiao Wu's true form was actually a 100,000-year soul beast.
Could everything have been an act?
Zhu Zhuqing had heard of the legend of sacrificing 100,000-year soul beasts.
Her face went blank for a moment as she murmured, "So, Tang San has been after Xiao Wu's 100,000-year soul ring?"
"No, Tang San probably doesn't know Xiao Wu's true identity yet," Su Cheng shook his head.
"Tang Hao probably figured it out, but it's hard to say what he's thinking. But Tang San's intentions probably don't revolve around soul rings."
"I see." Zhu Zhuqing's expression softened, feeling relieved.
Regardless of whether she and those two would become allies or enemies in the future, she didn't want their relationship to be based on falsehoods.
"The reason I'm telling you this is because I hope you'll keep your distance from Tang San and not act against him casually. He already has many secrets, and behind him is a peak Douluo with the Haotian Hammer, which is quite dangerous," Su Cheng warned solemnly.
"Everything that has happened in these past few months, you should try to keep it secret, including your cultivation progress. It's best to come up with suitable reasons in advance. Tang Hao is not someone to be underestimated; money and power can sway people's hearts."
"I understand." Zhu Zhuqing was no longer the naive girl she once was and understood the importance of discretion.
After learning about Tang Hao's existence, she felt even more solemn.
Fortunately, her extraordinary talent for cultivation had always set her apart from others. While her cultivation progress had been faster these past few months, finding a reasonable explanation for it wouldn't be too difficult, especially with the inclusion of the 100,000-year level fourth soul ring.
Soon, the two of them arrived at the outskirts of the Sunset Forest.
"This is for you," Su Cheng said, handing Zhu Zhuqing a bottle of potion as they stopped near the forest exit.
The pale red liquid in the glass bottle emitted a colorful glow.
"Do you recognize this?" he asked.
Zhu Zhuqing reached out and took it, saying nothing, memories flooding back to her.
"If you ever feel impatient with the progress of your bloodline fusion, use this. I can guarantee your safety," Su Cheng said calmly. "Don't worry; it won't kill you. My situation was unique; it had nothing to do with this potion."
He wasn't lying. While the potion was potent and caused a strong reaction during bloodline extraction, it wasn't lethal.
In the simulated world, Su Cheng had burned through his life force in large quantities afterward to restore his cultivation quickly, which had left him with little remaining lifespan.
"Let's part ways here. You go find your academy's teachers, and I'll head back to the Royal Academy," Su Cheng suggested.
Zhu Zhuqing fell silent, holding the potion bottle tightly, lost in thought.
"Why the long face?" Su Cheng chuckled. "Didn't you say before that becoming stronger doesn't require a reason? Follow your heart's desire and enjoy the power and freedom."
He turned and walked away, waving his hand.
"Zhu Zhuqing, don't be a kite that appears to be free; be the wind itself, unburdened by anyone."
Zhu Zhuqing watched his retreating figure silently, a faint smile playing on her lips.
"Arrogant man."