Not staying too long in the Pope's palace, Su Cheng left alone after leaving the method of acupuncture with silver needles before the Soul Saint level.
Although their conversation this time was filled with hidden thoughts, throughout the entire process, they tacitly avoided discussing Qian Renxue.
The reason for this exchange was naturally because of Bibi Dong's identity.
The King of Slaughter in the City of Slaughter was not one to abide by rules.
Without a strong figure accompanying them, making the King of Slaughter wary, who knows if he would secretly create obstacles. That guy wouldn't easily let the God of Slaughter be born.
However, as long as the King of Slaughter didn't make any moves, Su Cheng believed that with Zhu Zhuqing's ability and strength, she would undoubtedly gain excellent experience there and better integrate with the Hell White Tiger Soul.
As for whether the other party would die there, it was not within his consideration.
Zhu Zhuqing was a fierce tiger, not a canary. She had her own choices and decisions, and her own path to walk.
Su Cheng didn't think he had the right to restrict her.
All he could do was make suggestions and help her as much as possible.
Zhu Zhuqing did not refuse Su Cheng's suggestion.
Three days later, she set off with Bibi Dong, who had finished handling affairs, to the City of Slaughter.
Walking on the road, both of them felt somewhat strange.
Zhu Zhuqing wondered what leverage Su Cheng had used to persuade the supreme Pope to stoop so low as to assign a Title Douluo like her to act as her bodyguard and send her to gain experience.
Although her talent was considered good, she knew that talent was one thing, and whether she could fulfill it was another.
Her teammate, Tang San, had innate full soul power and owned the Haotian Hammer and Twin Martial Souls, with very high talent, but now he had already lost half of it.
Bibi Dong secretly sighed at Zhu Zhuqing's profound foundation.
She hadn't paid much attention before.
Today, seeing her up close, she realized that Zhu Zhuqing far surpassed the level of a Soul King in terms of physical qualities, mental strength, and even the coordination of her body.
However, aside from these, what intrigued her the most was Zhu Zhuqing's identity.
When they first met, Bibi Dong discovered that the girl in front of her was the Soul King who had almost died at Xiao Xue's hands in the competition a few days ago.
Thinking back to Su Cheng's actions, she inexplicably felt a bit of schadenfreude.
"What's your relationship with Su Cheng?"
Although her mind was filled with various thoughts, Bibi Dong remained outwardly calm, displaying the dignity and nobility of the Pope.
"He's a very good friend of mine," Zhu Zhuqing said solemnly.
"A friend?" Bibi Dong glanced at her, sneering, "Do you know what price he paid to make me take you to the City of Slaughter?"
"I don't know," Zhu Zhuqing shook her head, "I believe friends shouldn't dwell too much on these things, and I will repay him in the future."
At this moment, she didn't have her usual reserved demeanor.
Facing Bibi Dong, she lowered her stance and was exceptionally obedient, answering any questions and showing extreme deference.
In fact, she had been waiting for Bibi Dong to speak for a long time.
If Bibi Dong hadn't spoken, she would have had very little room to maneuver, given the vast difference in status and strength between them.
Bibi Dong looked at her and didn't say much more.
At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing suddenly spoke up, "Su Cheng is very powerful."
"Hmm?" Bibi Dong was puzzled by her sudden remark.
What did it matter to her whether Su Cheng was powerful or not? Did she want Bibi Dong to pay more attention to him?
However, Zhu Zhuqing's next words left her stunned.
"I think you should avoid him having too much contact with Qian Renxue."
"....." Bibi Dong's gaze at her was slightly strange. "What do you mean?"
Zhu Zhuqing looked respectful.
"The junior's strength is weak, and I shouldn't be saying these things to you, but you have always been the person I admire the most.
"You have no family support, yet you were able to climb to the top of the continent's strong as a woman. You are the goal and idol of all female soul masters, a banner.
"Qian Renxue's talent and strength alone naturally cannot compare to yours.
"But if she receives Su Cheng's help, then it's completely different. With his abilities, Qian Renxue's rate of improvement may exceed your imagination.
"Perhaps one day, it may even threaten your position in the Hall of Souls.
Although Zhu Zhuqing didn't know the relationship between Qian Renxue and Bibi Dong, she could tell that there was animosity between them.
Many things don't need to be described in words; the identities and attitudes of the parties involved are the answers themselves.
In the past, the position of Pope in the Soul Hall had always been passed down from the Qian family lineage. It was not until Bibi Dong arrived that the sect underwent changes. There must be a hidden secret behind this.
And Qian Renxue, as a descendant of the Qian family, would she be willing to relinquish the position that rightfully belongs to her to others?
Moreover, with Qian Daoliu, the master of the Worship Hall, standing behind her, there must be friction between the two factions.
Even if there are other reasons, the attitude between the two parties can reveal everything.
During her time in the Hall of Souls, Zhu Zhuqing had observed for a long time and had long noticed the discord between Qian Renxue and Bibi Dong.
As the Pope of the Spirit Hall, Bibi Dong couldn't control Qian Renxue at all, and Qian Renxue didn't even regard this nominal leader of the Soul Hall.
"Young girl, you have quite the courage," Bibi Dong sneered, a cold light flashing in her eyes.
The icy killing intent struck like a blade, hanging between Zhu Zhuqing's neck.
"I beg forgiveness from the Pope, I misspoke," Zhu Zhuqing pretended to be fearful and quickly apologized.
She could feel that the strand of killing intent was extremely fake.
"I just hope that you can nurture Su Cheng well; he will bring you many surprises,"
She said, as Bibi Dong calmed down.
However, she felt somewhat speechless inside.
She secretly pondered what kind of situation this little girl was in.
"Pope, to tell you the truth, I actually have another identity," Zhu Zhuqing continued.
"You should have heard of the fusion technique of the Hell White Tiger Martial Soul, which is the unique skill formed by the White Tiger martial soul of the Dai family of the Star Luo Empire and the Hell Civet martial soul of the noble Zhu family. In order to maintain their rule, the Dai family has always maintained the tradition of intermarriage with the Zhu family for generations.
"The descendants of the Dai family and the Zhu family also carry the royal bloodline of the Star Luo Empire. I am from the Zhu family and can be considered half of the royal family of Star Luo.
"Originally, my martial soul was the Hell Civet, but due to special circumstances, my martial soul awakened and evolved again, becoming the Hell White Tiger, possessing power comparable to the fusion techniques of the two major family martial souls.
"Now that my martial soul has been exposed, it will naturally attract hostility and opposition from the Dai family, but correspondingly, there will also be many people in the nobility who support me."
Zhu Zhuqing spoke eloquently, with hidden meaning in her words.
Combined with her memories from the dream and the incident that had occurred in the Star Dou Empire before, she had long deduced that the person posing as Xue Qinghe in reality must be Qian Renxue.
In this light, the ambitions of the Spirit Hall were now laid bare.
The purpose of saying all this now was very clear.
It was to show Bibi Dong her strategic value.
Moreover, in her view, it wouldn't be a bad thing for the Star Luo Empire to be ruled by the Spirit Hall.
The actions of the Spirit Hall had always been well-regarded among the people and were not bloodthirsty.
If the Spirit Hall were to start a war, it might not be a good thing, so it would be better to deal with those hidden dangers sooner rather than later.
The essence of who controlled the empire didn't make much of a difference. It was essentially a union of nobles, and the emperor was just the largest noble. It wouldn't make much difference if it were replaced by the Spirit Hall.
"..."
Bibi Dong narrowed her eyes slightly and looked at the girl beside her, who was not yet fifteen years old, with a serious gaze for the first time.
After a moment of silence, she slowly spoke, "What do you want in return?"
"I don't want to join the Spirit Hall, nor do I want to serve anyone. I want to become your direct disciple," Zhu Zhuqing said.
Several days later, the two arrived at a small town.
As soon as they entered, Zhu Zhuqing's figure suddenly paused, and she keenly looked around.
The town was not large, but it had a strange atmosphere that made her feel chilled.
Bibi Dong was somewhat surprised by her reaction but sighed inwardly at the girl's strong perception ability.
However, she calmly said, "Don't worry; just follow me."
Soon, the two arrived at a tavern in the middle of the town.
The atmosphere inside the tavern was very murky, and the decoration was mainly black. Even though it was still daytime, it gave off a sinister and cold feeling.
At the moment, there weren't many patrons inside the tavern, and no one was speaking, making it very quiet.
However, as two graceful figures entered, they instantly attracted a lot of attention.
Although they both wore masks, their figures alone were enough to ignite desire and make it difficult to resist.
However, the people sitting here were all ruthless characters accustomed to danger, so they were naturally cautious and wouldn't easily make a move.
Moreover, the two people's aura was exceptionally cold.
For a moment, although greedy gazes continued one after another, no one took the initiative to speak.
After finding a seat casually, a waiter dressed in black with a indifferent expression walked over.
"What would you like?"
"Give me a Bloody Mary," Bibi Dong said.
The waiter's expression changed slightly, sizing up the two of them. "Are you sure?"
A glance from under Bibi Dong's mask made him feel a tingling sensation on his scalp, and he dared not say more, turning around and leaving.
After a while, a glass of murky liquid was brought over.
The liquid was a dark red color, emitting a strong and pungent smell of blood.
Bibi Dong pushed the cup and moved it in front of Zhu Zhuqing.
"Drink it."
Zhu Zhuqing's nostrils twitched, and her eyebrows furrowed slightly under her mask as she looked at Bibi Dong. "Human blood?"
Bibi Dong raised her eyebrows lightly, surprised once again by the girl in front of her.
Then she nodded gently. "That's right."
"Do I have to drink it?"
"You have to."
Many people were secretly observing them.
Seeing that they had only ordered a Bloody Mary and hadn't moved for a long time, they secretly speculated that these two might have just been bluffing earlier and were merely newcomers.
For a while, there was a lot of shouting and whistling, with a hint of madness in the words, as if venting some kind of emotion.
"Two women dare to come here, have they lost their minds?"
"Haha, come play with me, maybe I can help you."
...
Zhu Zhuqing ignored the noisy shouts around her, picked up the glass, and drank the crimson liquid in one gulp.
The taste was terrible, salty and sour with a strong bloody taste that instantly filled her mouth.
Bibi Dong also ignored the mocking remarks, and asked calmly, "How does it feel?"
"Nauseating."
Although she said so, Zhu Zhuqing's tone remained calm.
And she could feel that there was a special energy contained in this "Bloody Mary" that could enhance soul power.
However, even so, she had no desire to continue drinking.
The taste was just too disgusting.
Although she didn't mind such trivial matters, she also didn't want to bring trouble upon herself.
And she had made up her mind that if this so-called City of Slaughter was like this, she would try to avoid drinking these things in the future.
This thought had nothing to do with the taste of the Bloody Mary.
She remembered that Su Cheng had told her that as soul masters grew, they would inevitably come into contact with various impurities, but if possible, they should try to avoid unnecessary contamination of the body.
Even Su Cheng didn't recommend using too much of things like fairy grass, let alone these drinks of unknown origin.
Who knew if there were any other hidden dangers in them.
"Kill them."
Just as Zhu Zhuqing was contemplating, she suddenly heard Bibi Dong's cold voice in her ear.
She frowned at the words and didn't immediately make a move.
She didn't have a thirst for killing, nor did she think of taking lives for just a few words.
"Don't worry, everyone here is not a good person. At least a dozen of them have blood on their hands," Bibi Dong said softly.
"Each one of them is a wanted criminal of the Spirit Hall. The City of Slaughter is actually just a junkyard for this continent."
Hearing these words spoken from the mouth of the Pope of the Spirit Hall, Zhu Zhuqing was somewhat surprised.
Soon she understood the significance of this place's existence, and she didn't question why the righteous Spirit Hall didn't wipe out this place.
She wasn't naive and understood the principle of unclogging instead of blocking.
Under the bright sun, there must be shadows. Leaving such a place intact is beneficial for everyone in the normal world.
Before she could make a move, a thin figure closest to them suddenly darted forward. "Hehehe, let me kill you first."
A sharp dagger thrust out from a cunning angle, aiming directly at Zhu Zhuqing's chest, clearly possessing considerable experience in ambushes.
Zhu Zhuqing's cheeks under the mask remained calm. With a slight turn of her body, she effortlessly snatched the dagger with her right hand.
Then, in a swift motion, she stabbed it deeply into the attacker's heart.
The attacker's aura was weak, at most at the Soul Ancestor level. For her, it was easy to deal with even without releasing her Martial Soul.
"Huh?" Zhu Zhuqing looked around in surprise, scanning the surroundings.
After she acted, none of the thirty or so people in the tavern attempted to flee.
Except for seven Soul Masters, the others were ordinary people who didn't even possess Soul Power.
But even so, they all quickly drew weapons and prepared to fight, without any hesitation because she had just effortlessly killed a Soul Master.
"This is a test, a test given to us by the City of Slaughter. By killing them, we can enter the City of Slaughter."
Someone suddenly shouted loudly, and everyone's eyes turned bloodshot in an instant, rushing at them in a frenzy.
A huge white tiger shadow floated behind her, transparent wings spread out. Yellow, yellow, purple, black, black—terrifying five soul rings appeared instantly.
The next moment, a faint breeze suddenly swept through the entire tavern.
"A domain?"
Bibi Dong, who was watching coldly from the side, was somewhat surprised.
She hadn't expected Zhu Zhuqing to also possess a gifted domain, and it seemed to be of extremely high quality.
Moreover, this was not the usual comprehensive buffing domain, but rather a specialized attack-oriented domain similar to Su Cheng's Sword Domain.
Then, a figure flashed through the air like a gust of wind.
Claw blades slashed, not even using Soul Skills. In less than a minute, the entire tavern was filled with corpses.
Bibi Dong pursed her lips and looked at Zhu Zhuqing.
"You're indeed not bad, very suitable for here.
"Remember, once you enter the City of Slaughter, the only person you can rely on is yourself. There are no friends or partners there, only enemies.
"Kill everyone who poses a threat to you, win the annual championship of the Hell Arena, and I will naturally come to pick you up."
Zhu Zhuqing nodded gently. "Okay, teacher."
"When you come out alive, then you can call me that again."
She didn't say much more at his words, turning around and walking to the bar. With a claw, she effortlessly tore it apart.
Then, a powerful Soul Power fluctuation gathered in her right hand and smashed heavily into the ground.
With a loud rumble, a huge hole appeared in the ground, and a cold wind blew up from the cave below.
Without hesitation, Zhu Zhuqing leaped down, directly into the dark cave below.
After falling several meters, a long corridor sloping downwards stretched out in front of her, and a cold breath continuously brushed against her body.
Walking in the corridor, she pondered.
Before leaving the Spirit City, Su Cheng had roughly described this place to her.
This was an excellent place to train one's will and hone combat skills.
Moreover, hidden here were the legacies of the gods.
But Su Cheng also told her that even if there were related opportunities, she should not covet the inheritance of the gods, as it didn't hold much significance.
Furthermore, the ultimate reward of the City of Slaughter, the Killing God Domain, was also not important to her.
For her, the most valuable thing in this place was the understanding gained from life-and-death struggles, and the unique atmosphere here.
Her own Hell White Tiger Martial Soul had great potential for development.
As long as she could truly use this Martial Soul well, other external things didn't matter much.
Here, what she needed to do was to enjoy combat as much as possible, but never indulge in the pleasure of killing...
After Zhu Zhuqing had walked more than a thousand meters, a cold voice suddenly echoed from all directions.
"Welcome to the City of Slaughter. This is the capital of hell, a world full of slaughter. Here, you can obtain everything you want, at the cost of your life."