Six years have passed, and Yun Ming has grown from a cute little boy into a handsome youth. Now, Yun Ming possesses long eyelashes that would make any woman jealous, a pair of eyes as brilliant as the stars, and a straight bridge of a nose. Coupled with his elegant and gentle temperament, his appearance can only be described as perfect. Add to that his broad shoulders, narrow waist, and long legs—the result of years of spear training—and he is absolutely the kind of existence that a woman would find impossible to forget after a single glance.
Beyond the changes in his appearance, Yun Ming's cultivation as a Soul Master has also made great progress; he is currently a level 35 Soul Elder. Originally, given Yun Ming's talent and his own unremitting efforts, he should not have been stuck below the level of a Soul Ancestor by now. The reason for the slow growth of his Soul Power lies in Absolute Dominance!
In his previous life, when Yun Ming began practicing Absolute Dominance, he already possessed his first Soul Core. The speed-boosting capabilities of the Soul Core, combined with the top-tier resources provided by Shrek Academy, helped Yun Ming forcibly bypass the slow progression characteristic of Absolute Dominance. In this life, however, Yun Ming lacks the Soul Core from his past, and while the Breaking Clan is decent, their resource supply is certainly far inferior to what he had before. Under these objective circumstances, the practice speed of Absolute Dominance has become a shackle on the growth of Yun Ming's Soul Power.
However, Yang Wudi is actually quite satisfied with Yun Ming's cultivation speed—or rather, exceptionally satisfied. This speed is already fast enough for this era.
The reason for this trip to the Star Dou Great Forest is that Yang Yi needs to hunt for a Soul Ring after breaking through to level 30. Yun Ming had been feeling a bit bored in Silver River City; restless, he decided to tag along for fun and to hunt some "wild rabbits" to eat. After all, while the meals at home are nutritious, it is difficult to specify the types of Soul Beasts served.
A quarter of an hour later, Yang Yi finished regulating his breathing and began to absorb the Mystic Spirit Python Soul Ring.
Yang Hong and Yun Ming stood guard by his side, but not long after, they heard a faint commotion coming from the dense forest not far away. There were the sounds of birds and beasts scattering, footsteps, and the subtle noises of fighting while weaving through the trees.
Hearing the sounds drawing closer to the three of them, and to avoid disturbing Yang Yi's absorption of the Soul Ring, Yun Ming spoke to Yang Hong.
"Uncle Hong, I'll go see what's happening."
Yang Hong heard that the commotion wasn't very loud, suggesting that the people or beasts fighting were likely not very strong, and since they were indeed heading in their direction, he agreed to Yun Ming's request, adding a serious instruction.
"Alright, be careful!"
Yun Ming nodded at Yang Hong, then pushed off with his feet, sprinting toward the direction of the noise.
In the dense forest not far from Yun Ming, a black-clad young girl who looked to be eleven or twelve years old was weaving through the trees like a nimble and agile black cat.
The young girl was about 1.65 meters tall, with long black hair draped over her shoulders and fair skin.
Her extremely voluptuous figure was somewhat inconsistent with her age; if one didn't look at her face, she might easily be mistaken for a grown woman, especially her magnificent bosom, which would attract the gaze of any man.
In contrast to her hot figure, the expression on the young girl's face was very cold—a coldness that came from the heart, a pure coldness. Her black eyes didn't even carry a hint of vitality, filled instead with despair and unwillingness, which clashed somewhat with her otherwise beautiful face.
Judging by the wounds on her well-proportioned, slender limbs and her habit of looking back to observe her pursuers, the young girl was being hunted.
"Whoosh~"
Just as the young girl turned her head to observe the path ahead, an arrow covered in cyan soul light flew out of the forest behind her at high speed, shooting straight toward her. By the time she heard the sharp whistling sound of the arrow cutting through the air, she could vaguely sense the sharp edge of the Soul Power on it. She didn't even have time to turn her head; she could only twist her waist away from the danger based on instinct, attempting to dodge the attack.
"Bang~"
The arrow kicked up a mist of blood.
After a brief overlap with the young girl, the arrow grazed her and nailed itself into a large tree in front, making a dull thud. In the end, the young girl hadn't been able to dodge the arrow completely. The attack had come too fast, and her perception of the incoming strike had been a split second too slow; it was impossible to avoid it entirely. Fortunately, the intuition of her Beast Spirit saved her life. Although the arrow opened a large gash in her waist, it did not strike a vital organ.
The young girl's face turned pale from the heavy blood loss, but to survive, she could only hold her wound and continue running. However, the injury to her waist severely hampered her movements, and in less than half a minute, the pursuers behind her caught up and blocked her path.
There were only four pursuers: one Soul Ancestor and three Soul Elders. The leader was a woman of eighteen or nineteen, whose face was seventy percent similar to the hunted girl's—also a great beauty. She was tall and wore a black tight-fitting combat suit that outlined her proud curves. Although she wasn't as naturally gifted as the young girl at such a young age, she was still enough to look down on her peers.
When the leading beauty saw the wound on the young girl's waist and the blood flowing incessantly, a flash of heartache crossed her eyes, and she frowned slightly without a word. But as soon as she thought of her family's situation, the heartache faded, replaced by a playful and mocking expression. Her red lips parted, and a voice as charming as a nightingale's song rang out.
"My dear sister, Big Sister will be sad if you suddenly run away without saying goodbye. You'd better come back with me!"
To others, these might sound like the warm, caring words of a sister, but to the young girl, they were like the whispers of a demon. They finally stirred some emotion in her lifeless eyes, though these emotions were filled with anger, fear, and hatred—anything but positive feelings. And rightly so; she didn't know how many times this woman who called herself her "Big Sister" had tried to assassinate her over the years. The young girl's cold voice rang out, icy and detached.
"Zhu Zhuyun, stop putting on this hypocritical act."
"Are you going to take me back to continue playing this cat-and-mouse game with you?!!"
Zhu Zhuyun, the black-clad beauty, wasn't angry at her sister's direct retort; she just said playfully.
"Since that's the case, then you..."
"Go to hell!"
As she spoke the last three words, the surrounding atmosphere turned murderous. But before she could make a move, one of her Soul Elder guards shouted.
"Who's there?"
Before the words had even faded, the guard's second yellow Soul Ring lit up. He pulled back the longbow in his hand, and a cyan arrow shot toward a tree behind the black-clad girl.
"Whoosh~"
Hiding behind the tree and observing the situation, Yun Ming was somewhat surprised to be discovered so quickly. Although he hadn't been overly careful about concealing his Soul Power fluctuations, his control over his Soul Power was so high that his daily fluctuations were extremely minute! That the guard could discover him so quickly meant he had some real skill—should one expect anything less from a trusted guard of the eldest miss of the Star Luo Zhu Family? As for how he knew their identities, the young girl's Hell Spirit Cat spirit and the name Zhu Zhuyun were dead giveaways; if he couldn't guess that, his years of general knowledge classes on the continent would have been for nothing!
So, judging by the age of the other black-clad girl, she must be the third miss of the Zhu Family, Zhu Zhuqing.
Just as Yun Ming was pondering the identities of those present, the arrow was already right in front of him. Sensing the sharp aura of the arrow, he tapped his toes and flashed out from behind the tree, dodging the arrow while appearing before the Zhu family group.
PS: Saving the damsel is not the goal; the goal is to connect Yun Ming with Shrek and get the internal conflict started.
Zhu Zhuqing is not the female lead, and Yun Ming will not join Shrek; he will stay for no more than ten days in total.
Seeking monthly tickets and recommendations.
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Translated by: randomtranslator.com
Proofread by: DaoistReader