Chapter 48

After absorbing the soul bone, Dai Xiyu got up and left the Starlight Forest, taking a carriage back to the duke's mansion.

As soon as he entered the gate, Dai Xiyu bumped into a familiar figure.

The eldest daughter of the Netherworld Duke, Zhu Zhuqing's older sister, Zhu Zhu Yun.

After spotting Dai Xiyu, Zhu Zhu Yun stared blankly for a moment, gazing foolishly at his eyes.

Seeing this, Dai Xiyu reacted first, slightly averting his gaze.

At that moment, Zhu Zhu Yun came to her senses, and an imperceptible blush rose on her cheeks.

To hide her embarrassment, Zhu Zhu Yun put on a smile and greeted Dai Xiyu with a salute:

"Your Highness, you're a bit late today; Zhu Zhuqing is waiting for you on the training platform."

Dai Xiyu nodded and said, "Alright, I'll be there shortly."

After the greeting, Zhu Zhu Yun passed Dai Xiyu with her expression unchanged.

After Dai Weisi's death, the fact that Dai Mubai betrayed and killed him became known to everyone.

As the eldest daughter of the duke, Zhu Zhu Yun was naturally no exception.

After Dai Mubai fled, Zhu Zhu Yun had already regarded that "two-faced traitor" as a mortal enemy.

Conversely, with Dai Weisi gone, Zhu Zhu Yun lost the qualification and reason to compete.

Therefore, her relationship with Dai Xiyu and Zhu Zhuqing has become much better than before.

Passing through the small door of the front hall, Dai Xiyu went straight to the courtyard and walked to beneath the training platform.

At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing was focused on dodging the swinging hammer training, with two yellow soul rings pulsing up and down beneath her feet.

In the past six months, with Dai Xiyu's help, Zhu Zhuqing successfully broke through to rank twenty, gaining her second soul ring.

Not yet seven years old, she was already a twenty-third-rank Soul Master.

Now, Zhu Zhuqing is a rising star in the academy, a genius among geniuses.

Even the fortune atop her head is incomparable to what it was half a year ago.

【50591980】

Now, Zhu Zhuqing's fortune has reached over fifty million.

Actually, during each daily dual cultivation, the fortune gained for Zhu Zhuqing is becoming less and less.

Especially after her fortune surpassed fifty million, a night of dual cultivation can increase her fortune by at most one hundred thousand points.

After subtracting the roughly seventy thousand that Dai Xiyu plundered, Zhu Zhuqing's remaining gain is less than thirty thousand.

Compared to the previous gain of over four hundred thousand in a single night, the decrease is far from trivial.

But this is unsurprising; after all, everything has its limits, and the closer one gets to the limit, the slower the improvement.

The same holds true for soul power and physical fitness, as well as fortune.

After the time it takes to burn an incense stick, the swinging hammer mechanism gradually came to a stop.

Zhu Zhuqing finished her training and stepped down from the platform.

It must be said that as the speed of soul power increase accelerates, the speed of physical development also rises considerably.

Originally, Zhu Zhuqing developed faster than her peers; now she can even be half a head taller than them.

Even if you placed the current Zhu Zhuqing among third-year students, she would feel no sense of incongruity.

Of course, the fastest developer is still Dai Xiyu; his height already surpasses that of some male students from advanced academies.

After leaving the Soul Fighting Platform, Zhu Zhuqing casually took the towel handed by the maid and walked toward Dai Xiyu with a smile.

However, just as she reached Dai Xiyu's front, Zhu Zhuqing froze.

She stared into Dai Xiyu's eyes, feeling that today he was somehow different.

A strange feeling welled up from her heart, causing Zhu Zhuqing's face to flush with a hint of crimson.

Facing Zhu Zhuqing, Dai Xiyu showed no hesitation, smiling as he stepped forward two paces.

Their noses almost touched, they could feel each other's breath, and Dai Xiyu said:

"What's wrong, staring at me like that?"

Dai Xiyu's voice brought Zhu Zhuqing back to her senses; her breathing, whether from training or something else, became somewhat hurried.

Somewhat flustered, she averted her gaze, lowered her head slightly, and whispered, "I just feel… you're not quite yourself today."

In fact, Zhu Zhuqing wanted to say that Dai Xiyu had become especially attractive today.

However, her personality is rather aloof, making it embarrassing to say such things outright.

Dai Xiyu took Zhu Zhuqing's hand and said gently:

"Come on, the banquet is about to start; His Majesty the Father Emperor has ordered us to dine in the palace, so we need to prepare early."

Being held by Dai Xiyu's hand, Zhu Zhuqing felt as if struck by electricity; the wonderful sensation spread from their skin contact throughout her body.

Usually quiet, Zhu Zhuqing became even more silent, continually being led forward by Dai Xiyu's hand.

However, her gaze never left Dai Xiyu's profile.

All the way back to the bedroom, she never waited for the upper-left prompt, which made Dai Xiyu a bit puzzled.

Logically, with the passive effect of the Charming Skull, Zhu Zhuqing's favorability ought to have increased.

Yet in fact, Zhu Zhuqing did show abnormal behavior, but their relationship did not advance further.

After thinking for a while, Dai Xiyu came up with a possibility.

Perhaps Zhu Zhuqing's fondness for him has already approached its limit.

Therefore, even with the skull's charm effect, its impact is not significant.

Zhu Zhuqing's favorability is likely already maxed out.

From now on, if he wants to plunder large amounts of Zhu Zhuqing's fortune, the only remaining option may be to push her over.

Turning his head, he happened to meet Zhu Zhuqing's gaze, whereupon she hastily looked away.

Looking at Zhu Zhuqing, who was still a loli, Dai Xiyu couldn't help but shake his head.

That's too beastly; people cannot…… at least they shouldn't.

"When the cart reaches the mountain, there will be a road; being impatient makes it hard to eat hot tofu. Let's go and see."

After grooming and dressing up, Dai Xiyu and Zhu Zhuqing left the duke's mansion together by carriage.

At tonight's banquet, the Star Luo Emperor invited only Dai Xiyu and Zhu Zhuqing, as well as the deans of the two Royal Academies.

For the Star Luo Emperor, he would usually find a few people to dine with each day, and during the meal he would handle some governmental affairs.

From time to time, he also had Dai Xiyu and Zhu Zhuqing attend to observe his interactions with the ministers.

Since the younger generation of the Star Luo imperial family was left with only Dai Xiyu as the sole heir, such banquets have become increasingly frequent.

Upon entering the luxurious restaurant, Dai Xiyu immediately saw the two old men with full white heads.

These two old men were the deans of the Royal Elementary Academy and the Advanced Academy, both possessing the strength of eight-ring Soul Douluo.

Among them, the slightly younger-looking dean of the Advanced Academy had already reached level eighty-six, and had great hope of breaking through to Title Douluo.

Dai Xiyu glanced at the dean's head; his fate value was 【128354】.

If his fate value exceeds 100,000, it means that if he is not killed by hunters midway, his strength will surely reach the level of Title Douluo.

The hunter is naturally Dai Xiyu, but Dai Xiyu has no interest in attacking this dean.

It seems that the Star Luo Empire's Hall of Worship will gain another seat in the future.

After being seated, Dai Xiyu and Zhu Zhuqing first paid respects to the Star Luo Emperor, then turned and exchanged greetings with the two deans.

After the noble formalities ended, under the Star Luo Emperor's indication, they then picked up their utensils and began to eat.

During the meal, the Star Luo Emperor would occasionally ask the two deans about some matters concerning the academies.

Meanwhile, Dai Xiyu focused on finishing his own plate.

Midway through the banquet, as if suddenly remembering, the Star Luo Emperor turned his gaze to Dai Xiyu and, in a deep, solemn baritone, asked:

"Xiyu, I suddenly recalled that I haven't inquired about your cultivation for a long time."

"How is your soul power progressing now? Have you been lax?"

(End of chapter)