Zhu Zhuqing turned away, not touching Meng Bei's outstretched hand, only saying coldly in a soft voice: "Fine."
Then she walked ahead directly.
[Ding! Side quest triggered!]
[Side Quest: Hunt Soul Ring - Hunt the third soul ring for Shrek team member Zhu Zhuqing.]
[Quest Difficulty: Simple]
[Quest Reward: Third soul ring age increased by 1,000 years.]
Meng Bei could only awkwardly withdraw his extended hand.
Although it was somewhat embarrassing, at least the quest was triggered.
Seeing this, Dai Mubai quickly stepped forward to ease the atmosphere.
He was still hoping for Meng Bei to help him improve his soul power level and didn't want their relationship to become strained. He patted Meng Bei's shoulder and explained warmly: "Xiao Bei, don't mind it. You know how Zhuqing's personality is."
Seeing this, Meng Bei smiled amiably and didn't take this small matter to heart.
He said:
"It's fine, Brother Mubai. Since both Sister Zhuqing and Rongrong need to hunt thousand-year soul beasts, we can look out for each other by going together."
Upon hearing this, Dai Mubai was overjoyed.
Because from Meng Bei's attitude toward him, it seemed like there was still hope for getting Meng Bei to help him improve his soul power.
But how could he find a breakthrough?
Dai Mubai was quite troubled.
Zhu Zhuqing, walking at the front, said nothing.
She wasn't deliberately acting aloof—she just wanted to hide the tears of grievance in her eyes.
She was afraid that if she faced everyone for too long, her tears of grievance would fall uncontrollably.
Zhu Zhuqing knew that everyone treated her well. Whether it was Rongrong or Xiao Wu, they were all good sisters to her. She shouldn't be jealous of everyone, but she just couldn't help it.
She felt so miserable.
Why was it that despite all her hard training, she still couldn't compare to people who barely trained at all each day?
If possible, she also wanted to be like Rongrong—shopping every day, dating, acting cute with her boyfriend.
She had given up all that time for cultivation.
But the reality was that even though she devoted all her time to training, she still couldn't match others.
At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing even thought about giving up and leaving everything to fate.
Behind them, Dai Mubai was actively chatting with Meng Bei.
During the conversation, Dai Mubai pretended to casually steer the topic toward everyone's cultivation levels.
"Xiao Bei, the rapid improvement in Xiao Wu and the others' soul power—is it related to that family method you mentioned before?"
Dai Mubai asked.
Upon hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing immediately understood Dai Mubai's intentions. He simply wanted to obtain that method for improving soul power like Xiao Wu and the others had.
Zhu Zhuqing had once thought the same way, but now she was certain that Meng Bei would absolutely never give such a method to them.
The reason Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Dugu Yan could improve their soul power with Meng Bei's help was fundamentally because they were Meng Bei's family.
But she and Dai Mubai were just outsiders. Even if they barely counted as companions, they had only spent a few months together at most. How could he possibly teach them his precious family methods?
After Zhu Zhuqing figured all this out, she had given up on this hope.
She was certain that Meng Bei would definitely change the subject and wouldn't say much to Dai Mubai.
But then she heard Meng Bei say straightforwardly: "No, Brother Mubai. My family's method can only be used by me. Xiao Wu and the others' soul power improvement is because of Third Brother."
"Tang San?"
Dai Mubai's expression stirred as he quickly pressed: "Xiao Bei, what's going on? How does this involve Xiao San?"
Upon hearing this, Meng Bei looked at Dai Mubai with feigned surprise and asked: "Brother Mubai, didn't Third Brother tell you about this?"
Dai Mubai shook his head blankly.
Of course, Meng Bei knew Tang San hadn't told Dai Mubai and the others, but he deliberately wanted to bring it up to cause trouble for Tang San.
After seeing Dai Mubai shake his head, Meng Bei finally told the whole story.
Even Zhu Zhuqing, walking ahead, couldn't help but slow her pace and listen carefully.
Meng Bei said slowly: "Actually, it's nothing much. My grandfather-in-law, Poison Douluo, has a precious herb garden where precious medicines that have grown for who knows how many tens of thousands of years are cultivated."
"I don't recognize these herbs either. That day when Third Brother saw them, he said he wanted to pick some. I thought they were just a few herbs, and besides, Third Brother had saved Yan'er at the time, so I let him pick a hundred plants freely. That's how it happened."
After Meng Bei finished speaking, Dai Mubai was very confused.
"Xiao Bei, what does what you're saying have to do with your soul power improvement?"
"About that," Meng Bei said easily, "it's like this. Yan'er ate one of those herbs, and then her cultivation broke through without any side effects."
"Seeing how amazing these herbs were, I planned to give some to Rongrong and Sister Xiao Wu too. But when I returned to the herb garden, I discovered that all the good herbs had been picked by Third Brother. Fortunately, grandfather-in-law had left a few behind. After I gave them to Rongrong and the others, this is what happened."
After hearing this, Dai Mubai's breathing immediately became rapid.
So that's how it was! Just by eating one herb, Xiao Wu had directly broken through from Soul Elder to Soul Ancestor.
If he could also eat one, wouldn't he directly advance to nearly Soul King level? If he ate two, he might even break through to Soul King directly.
Just thinking about himself breaking through to Soul King, Dai Mubai's heartbeat immediately accelerated, his eyes flashing with excited light.
He urgently asked Meng Bei:
"Xiao Bei, do you still have those herbs? Could you possibly..."
"No!"
Meng Bei directly shook his head in refusal.
"Brother Mubai, I only have two of those herbs left. I need to save at least one for my grandfather-in-law, and I haven't used the remaining one myself yet, so I'm sorry."
Seeing Meng Bei's direct refusal, Dai Mubai's expression immediately became tense.
His lips trembling, he said:
"Well, Xiao Bei, I won't take them for free. I'll pay money. If you don't want money, other things are fine too. As long as I have them, I can give you anything..."
"Stop talking, Brother Mubai."
Meng Bei interrupted Dai Mubai, shaking his head:
"It's impossible, Brother Mubai. You should understand that the value of these herbs can't be measured with money."
Upon hearing this, Dai Mubai was instantly stunned in place, the color in his eyes visibly dimming.
"I, I..."
Dai Mubai's throat moved twice, but in the end, he said nothing.
Meng Bei was right—herbs of this level simply couldn't be measured by value.
Ahead, Zhu Zhuqing, who had been listening to their conversation, clenched her fists and lowered her head in disappointment.
"However,"
Meng Bei's tone suddenly changed: "Brother Mubai, actually you don't need to worry. Third Brother should have gone somewhere else to consume the herbs now, but he originally picked a hundred herbs from the garden. How could he possibly use them all by himself? There must be leftovers. When he comes back, you can discuss with him and ask him to share two with you and Sister Zhuqing!"
After Meng Bei finished speaking.
Dai Mubai's eyes immediately lit up.
This was a great idea!
Meng Bei was right—Tang San had taken a full hundred herbs. He couldn't possibly use them all by himself, so there was still a chance!
---
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