The aura of the million-year soul ring from the Skydream Iceworm and the ancient bloodline of the Undying Phoenix radiated from Zhao Ming, enveloping him like a primordial deity.
As Dai Mubai felt the overwhelming pressure emanating from Zhao Ming, his face turned deathly pale. At that moment, he understood why Zhao Ming could defeat him so easilyโZhao Ming's strength was far beyond anything he had ever encountered. The sheer power pressing down on him made his body freeze in mid-attack.
But Zhao Ming's assault had already begun. The golden soul ring around him glowed brilliantly as his eyes suddenly changed. One eye turned black, the other white, and twin beams of black and white energy shot out from his gaze.
The battle between the two had already caught the attention of the hotel guests. A crowd had gathered, watching intently. Although they were not directly involved in the fight, Zhao Ming's soul skill was affecting them as well. Many in the hotel were ordinary people, and they began to feel alternating waves of extreme heat and cold, making them shiver one moment and sweat the next.
Seeing this, Bi Ji raised her right hand and lightly pointed toward the area where Zhao Ming and Dai Mubai were fighting. Instantly, a green energy shield formed around the combatants, isolating the intense energy fluctuations and returning the surrounding environment to normal. This seemingly effortless move left the hotel guests in awe.
Anyone with keen insight could see how difficult it was to achieve such control. Without even releasing her martial spirit, Bi Ji had effortlessly contained the powerful energy from two soul masters. It was clear that she was an incredibly strong individual, and the onlookers couldn't help but feel a sense of respect and fear toward her.
But Dai Mubai had no time to notice Bi Ji's display. He was entirely focused on defending against Zhao Ming's attack.
"White Tiger Barrier!" Dai Mubai shouted, activating his first soul ring. A white shield of light formed around him, a defensive technique that could boost his defense by fifty percentโa highly effective soul skill.
"Bang!" The black and white beams of energy struck the shield, causing it to tremble violently.
In less than three seconds, Dai Mubai's White Tiger Barrier shattered.
The dual forces of ice and fire, mutually opposing energies, surged into Dai Mubai's body, wreaking havoc inside him. He felt as though his body was burning and freezing at the same time, an unbearable sensation.
At that moment, Zhao Ming closed in.
His fist, wrapped in black flames, was terrifying to behold.
The punch landed squarely on Dai Mubai's chest.
"Ugh!" Dai Mubai, unable to defend in time, was forced to take the hit head-on. Blood spurted from his mouth as he was sent flying again. The black flames from Zhao Ming's punch quickly spread over Dai Mubai's body.
"Argh!"
Dai Mubai screamed in pain, barely managing to gather enough soul power to protect his vital areas from the fire. However, within moments, the smell of burnt flesh filled the air.
Zhao Ming stared in surprise.
In just a few moments, the Undying Flame had completely burned off Dai Mubai's hair and clothes, leaving him with severe burns on his back.
Seeing the state Dai Mubai was in, Zhao Ming decided to stop. He withdrew his martial spirit, and with no more soul power to sustain the flames, the Undying Flame gradually faded into the air.
Zhao Ming didn't intend to kill Dai Mubaiโat least not yet. Dai Mubai still had some value to him. As a prince of the Star Luo Empire and a future emperor in the original timeline, Dai Mubai could be useful.
Not only did Zhao Ming have no plans to kill him, but he also needed to protect Dai Mubai from his older brother Davis. If Zhao Ming could eventually manipulate Dai Mubai into gaining control of the entire Star Luo Empire, it would be a major advantage.
Since arriving in this world, Zhao Ming's ambitions had grown. He didn't just want to be a powerful soul master; he wanted to unite the entire continent and become a ruler for the ages.
The entire world would bow to him. Wealth, power, and beautiful women would all be his.
A glint of greed flashed in Zhao Ming's eyes as he slowly walked over to Dai Mubai and looked down at him. "You'd better learn your lesson. Next time, don't mess with people you can't afford to offend. Others may not be as merciful as I am."
"The injuries on your body aren't too serious, just some surface burns. You'll recover in a few days. But as for your hair... well, you should prepare yourself," Zhao Ming added, a mischievous smile creeping onto his face.
As he got closer and examined Dai Mubai, he couldn't help but chuckle.
The Undying Flame had completely burned away all of Dai Mubai's hair. Even his scalp was scorched in some places. Although the burns would heal in time, his hair wouldn't grow back anytime soon.
For a man, one's hairstyle played a big role in how they looked. With no hair, Dai Mubai's appearance was now completely ruined.
Bald, with those slightly evil-looking eyes, he now resembled one of those villainous monks from a wuxia novel.
Not exactly a look that would attract women.
At least, Zhao Ming thought with a smile, this would keep him from bothering Zhuqing.
"Bald guys generally don't do well with the ladies," Zhao Ming mused.
"What... What did you say? I'm bald?!" Dai Mubai's expression changed as he finally realized what Zhao Ming had been implying. The realization hit him hard.
He suddenly remembered how, in his panic to defend against the flames, he had focused solely on protecting his vital areas. He hadn't even thought about his hair.
"It can't be!" Dai Mubai asked in a panic, momentarily forgetting the pain from his injuries. "Is my hair still there?"
"No," Zhao Ming replied with a smirk. "And your eyebrows are gone too."
"My... my eyebrows?!" Dai Mubai's face drained of all color.
If he had only lost his hair, he could have dealt with it. But without eyebrows, he was truly done for.
Dai Mubai stood there, stunned, his mind reeling from the embarrassment and humiliation. He had brought this all upon himself, trying to impress women who weren't his to begin with. Now, he had paid the price.
What could he say?
But without his hair or eyebrows, how could he ever attract women again? How could he seduce the beautiful ladies he desired?
The physical pain was now compounded by the emotional devastation, leaving Dai Mubai speechless.
At that moment, the hotel manager, sensing the tension, stepped forward. "Esteemed guest, could you perhaps show some leniency? We don't want any fatalities here. It would hurt business..."
"Don't worry," Zhao Ming replied casually, patting the manager on the shoulder. "I consider this matter settled."
"Thank you, sir. From now on, whenever you visit the Rose Hotel, we'll make sure to keep a room ready for you," the manager said gratefully, relieved that Zhao Ming seemed reasonable. The manager hoped that by pleasing Zhao Ming, he might gain some favor in the future.
"You're good at handling things," Zhao Ming said with a chuckle, taking the room key and heading upstairs.
The hotel manager, filled with joy at Zhao Ming's praise, watched him leave. But when he turned back to face Dai Mubai, his expression turned icy cold. He had already chosen his side and no longer cared about Dai Mubai.
"Dai Shao, this whole mess was your doing. You'll need to compensate the hotel for the damages. I estimate the cost to be around 500 gold soul coins," the manager said loudly, making sure Zhao Ming and the others upstairs could hear.
Dai Mubai, now abandoned by the once sycophantic manager, felt his anger toward Zhao Ming diminish slightly. Watching the manager, who had once fawned over him, suddenly turn cold made Dai Mubai's blood boil.
"What are you staring at? Do you want that esteemed guest to come down and teach you another lesson?" the manager snapped. Then he turned to the twin girls and barked, "And you two, take him away!"
"Ugh, liar!" The twin sisters glared at Dai Mubai in disgust. "You promised you were a talented soul master! You said you were one of the best young talents on the continent!"
Now they only felt deceived.
But thanks to Zhao Ming, they hadn't made any irreversible mistakes.
After casting one last contemptuous look at Dai Mubai, the twins glanced up toward Zhao Ming and then silently walked away.
---
๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ข๐ค๐ข๐๐ฃ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐๐ญ๐ฅ๐ง๐๐จ๐จ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐๐ง๐๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐๐ ๐ฉ๐ค ๐ฉ๐๐ค๐จ๐ ๐ฌ๐๐ค ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ ๐ข๐ ๐ค๐ฃ ๐ฉ๐๐๐จ ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง๐ฃ๐๐ฎ. ๐๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐ฉ๐ง๐๐๐ช๐ฉ๐๐ค๐ฃ๐จ ๐ข๐๐ ๐ ๐ ๐ง๐๐๐ก ๐๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐๐!
๐ฆ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ธ๐ ๐๐ผ:
โข ๐ฝ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐จ๐๐ช
โข ๐ ๐๐ญ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ฎ
โข ๐ผ๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐๐๐
โข ๐๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ฏ ๐ ๐ผ๐ฒ๐ฒ
๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป, ๐๐ผ๐ ๐๐ป๐น๐ผ๐ฐ๐ธ:
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฒ๐๐: ๐๐๐ฉ ๐ด๐ฑ+ ๐๐๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง๐จ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ๐ค๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ก๐จ๐.
โข ๐๐ ๐ฐ๐น๐๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฆ๐ต๐ผ๐๐-๐ข๐๐: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐ ๐ ๐จ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐๐ก ๐จ๐๐ค๐ช๐ฉ ๐๐ซ๐๐ง๐ฎ ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฉ๐๐ง ๐๐จ ๐ ๐ฉ๐๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช ๐๐ค๐ง ๐ฎ๐ค๐ช๐ง ๐จ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฅ๐ค๐ง๐ฉ!
๐ฌ๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐๐๐ฝ๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ผ๐ป๐น๐ ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐น๐ ๐บ๐ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐๐ผ ๐ต๐ฒ๐น๐ฝ๐ ๐บ๐ฒ ๐ด๐ฟ๐ผ๐ ๐๐ต๐ถ๐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐๐. ๐๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐'๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ฟ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐ฒ๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ท๐ผ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ป๐ด ๐๐!
๐ ๐ ๐ค๐๐ฃ ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฌ: ๐๐๐ฉ๐ง๐๐ค๐ฃ.๐๐ค๐ข/๐๐ค๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ง