If Tang San and Dai Mubai were overjoyed at hearing Yu Xiaogang's words, Zhu Zhuqing had a very different reaction.
It must be said that she was truly going all out. The moment Xiao Wu moved, her whole body surged with soul power. It was unclear whether she was trying to intercept Xiao Wu or preparing to attack again.
However, she stopped her actions. It wasn't that she had given up, but rather that Han Li's mental link connected with her again, conveying a message:
"Don't worry, Ye Lingling isn't here."
When transmitting this to Zhu Zhuqing, Han Li's expression was a bit odd. As it happened, this situation was somewhat related to him.
This wasn't because Ye Lingling had been taken shopping by the three girls due to his return. It was truly a coincidence.
As someone he had his eye on, over a year ago when he was traveling to the City of Slaughter with the others, he had left her some auxiliary cultivation medicines through Dugu Yan.
Ye Lingling had made good use of these medicines. Last night, she chose to return home for another medicinal bath.
This morning, she felt the opportunity to break through to level 40 and was still in seclusion at home breaking through.
She had naturally sent someone to notify the academy and request leave.
This timing completely cut off Dai Mubai's last lifeline.
Sensing the soul power fluctuations behind him, Tang San vigilantly glanced at Zhu Zhuqing. Seeing that she was still standing in place and hadn't made another move, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
It seemed she still had some lingering feelings and hadn't taken things to the extreme.
Watching Xiao Wu's rapidly retreating figure, Tang San finally had time to examine his hands.
With this inspection, his breath became unsteady. There was even a tiny flaw in his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon. At this moment, Dai Mubai was still wolfing down the sausages Oscar kept producing.
His Mysterious Jade Hands were ruined.
Earlier, due to the urgent situation, he hadn't paid attention to the injuries on his hands.
Now, seeing the condition of his hands, he couldn't help but think that he shouldn't have intervened earlier.
At this point, his Mysterious Jade Hands had become Mysterious Jade Striped Hands. Deep scratches revealed bone, with blood seeping out but locked in place by soul power.
The originally smooth, jade-like surface of his palms was now covered in cracks.
Over a decade of hard training on his Mysterious Jade Hands, was wasted just like that.
Although the Mysterious Jade Hands at their peak were as hard as rock, it's worth noting that they had limits. They weren't known for defense; their main function was poison resistance.
Now, poison resistance? With all these cracks and gaps, how could he resist poison?
Retraining the Mysterious Jade Hands, especially ones that had been damaged, would increase the difficulty exponentially.
At his current cultivation speed, it would take at least fifteen years just to restore the Mysterious Jade Hands to their current level.
As for whether he could cultivate them to the ultimate level, even he couldn't guarantee that.
With this, a large portion of his strength had been crippled.
For a moment, Tang San's killing intent surged, but he forcefully took a deep breath and held it back.
No, now wasn't the time to settle scores. Wait a bit longer.
Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Mubai, and even his good teacher - fine, they were all so very fine. He had taken note; these three had sealed their fates.
Unconsciously, the position of his Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon technique shifted ever so slightly.
It was torment, absolute torment.
Of those present, except for the coldly observing Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, they all felt time passing exceptionally slowly, wishing it would speed up.
One minute, three minutes, five minutes - everyone's gaze was fixed on the entrance to the training ground, including Dai Mubai, who was eating sausages to the point of nausea.
Just as they were about to reach their limit, a pink figure appeared at the entrance. It was Xiao Wu, their savior.
Xiao Wu was also very anxious, running at full speed. She quickly reached the group but found them still staring at the entrance.
Xiao Wu caught her breath, seeming to realize what they were waiting for. She spoke urgently: "Ye Lingling isn't at the training ground. But I saw Senior Qin Ming; he said Ye Lingling is at a critical point in her breakthrough and took leave today. She didn't come to the academy!"
As Xiao Wu's words fell, the training ground became so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Even Dai Mubai stopped chewing his sausage.
"Although Ye Lingling isn't here, I've already asked Senior Qin Ming for help. He's gone to invite other healing Soul Masters to the academy as quickly as possible. Just hang on a bit longer!"
Xiao Wu wasn't completely clueless, but she had no other option. She forced herself to offer some comfort.
Just hang on a bit longer, hang on a bit longer...
Hearing her words, these few words echoed in the minds of the five people present.
Dai Mubai closed his eyes in despair, swallowing the sausage in his mouth. No need, he could feel that he had already healed.
Although he could still feel a dull pain, at least the bleeding had stopped. He just didn't know if he could use it anymore.
"Zhu Zhuqing..."
This name came out of his mouth with an extremely venomous tone. He wanted to kill someone now.
But unfortunately, he was still somewhat immobile. More importantly, he needed to change his pants before he could get up, and he didn't dare to fight now, afraid that any careless movement would worsen his injury.
While Dai Mubai was struggling to change his clothes, Oscar and Yu Xiaogang learned about what had happened from Tang San.
However, for some reason, they felt Tang San's voice was somewhat cold, especially Yu Xiaogang. He kept feeling a chill on the back of his neck.
After Tang San also ate Oscar's healing sausage, Dai Mubai finally changed his clothes, and Ma Hongjun completed his role as a clothes hanger.
Throughout the process, he had his back to Zhu Zhuqing. He was still somewhat afraid, causing his standing posture to be a bit off, fearing she might attack him too.
He silently stood behind the group, hiding himself behind Dai Mubai's body. Where was his previous irritability and desire? If the situation wasn't inappropriate, he would have even wanted to sneak away.
The group stood together again, looking at the calm and the ice-cold Zhu Zhuqing opposite them. Unlike last time, no one dared to approach her now.
As for Oscar, he had quietly left the group at some point and was standing to the side with Xiao Wu.
The atmosphere was very tense, with no one speaking.
After a long while, it was finally the person involved, Dai Mubai, who couldn't hold back anymore. Feeling the occasional stinging pain from below, he spoke with murderous intent.
"Zhu Zhuqing, you poisonous woman, I will not let you off! You must die!"
"Is that so? Then come at me!"
Zhu Zhuqing looked disdainfully at Dai Mubai, who could barely stand steadily, and calmly took a step forward.
The group opposite, including Dai Mubai, unconsciously took a step back.
"Is that all? Still planning to kill me?"
Zhu Zhuqing scoffed: "And you don't think I'm afraid of death, do you? Before I acted, I had already considered the consequences. It's just one life. Come on, take it if you want. If I can take you down with me before I die, I'll have done a good deed."
"What? Not making a move again? Afraid of death?"
Zhu Zhuqing swept a contemptuous glance over the group opposite, venting her emotions.
"What about the rest of you? Why aren't you speaking now?"
"Come on, Tang San, aren't you good at talking? Continue, finish what you were saying. How do you need me to cooperate? If I don't cooperate with you, what can you do to me?"
"Where are your hidden weapons? Aren't you good at using them? I'm standing right here, kill me."
"And you, chicken, why are you hiding so far back? Don't you usually like looking at girls? Am I not pretty enough?"
"Enough, Zhu Zhuqing, you've already committed an unforgivable sin, yet you still dare to speak so recklessly here. Do you know where this is? Do you know what you've done?"
Perhaps because Tang San was standing in front of him, giving him courage, Yu Xiaogang briefly regained his bravery. He put on the airs of a teacher again, even making a pained and indignant expression.
"Shut up, you biggest waste of all!"
"Don't think I don't know, this whole thing was instigated by you behind the scenes. You, a twenty-nine-year-old waste, how dare you speak to me like this? Don't you know you should respect those stronger than you? Isn't that what you always say?"
"In terms of strength, you're the weakest here, even worse than that chicken. In terms of status, you're just an outcast from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan. Who gave you the courage to speak to a noble like this?"
"You're called Grand Master daily, and you think you're a grand master? Ask everyone here, except for Tang San whom you've fooled into idiocy, who can respect you? Grand Master? You're just the biggest joke in the Soul Master world."
"The Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul? Any Soul Master with a bit of background knows that's just a plagiarized work full of holes."
"There are no useless martial souls, only useless Soul Masters? If we follow your theory, why don't you honestly admit that you're that useless one?"
"Why did you choose Tang San as your disciple? Why not choose someone as useless as yourself to prove your theory? Is it because you can't do it? Or because you don't dare?"
"Rats should live hiding in sewers, not like you, shamelessly begging for a living in the sunlight, and still considering yourself human!"
Perhaps having been suppressed for too long, the fully released Zhu Zhuqing changed from her usual reticence. Like a flood being released, she cursed back at the group opposite in one breath, pointing at their noses.
Yu Xiaogang, who had jumped out on his own later, became her main target of attack.
"You, you, you..."
Yu Xiaogang's face turned red with anger, but he couldn't say a word.
"Waste."
Zhu Zhuqing took a breath, feeling her whole body and mind relax considerably. A feeling of satisfaction welled up in her heart.
Beside her, Ning Rongrong's eyes sparkled as she stared at Zhu Zhuqing, as if seeing her in a new light, her face full of admiration.
"We're here, what exactly happened? Where are the injured?"
Qin Ming's voice came from the entrance of the training ground. Beside him was a healing Soul Master he had brought along.
=========
Deadpool: "Awww, she's just like you~"
Johnny Storm: "And She can do that all day."