Chapter 167: Time to Deal with Him

Although the Barbaric War Body hadn't advanced from Intermediate to High Level, compared to before, there was now a new note: "Trait: Stronger in Battle, Awakened." Aside from that, there weren't any significant changes.

Staring at the line "Trait: Stronger in Battle, Awakened," Zhao Ling couldn't help but fall into thought. What exactly did "stronger in battle" refer to? Could it mean every aspect of him?

With that thought in mind, Zhao Ling pulled up his diary panel and smugly began venting.

[Heh heh heh... Yin'er, Xi'er, Long'er would never guess that while they thought they had found a way to handle me, they actually helped awaken the 'stronger in battle' trait in my constitution.]

[If they still want to use the same tricks to make me submit in the future—ha! Not a chance.]

[Come on, let's hurt each other! Let's see whether your methods are more powerful than my increasingly stronger physique.]

[Lol, just imagining them walking right into their own humiliation makes me so happy.]

[Still, for now I have to pretend I'm terrified of them, so they'll think they've got me under control and want to "punish" me harder.]

[When they come to punish me again, I'll get to turn the tables on them—three against one? How shameless can they be! I'll teach them a real lesson.]

[Go ahead, laugh while you can. Just wait—you'll be crying later, and don't even think I'll let you off. Kukuku...]

After letting off some steam, Zhao Ling hit "upload" on the diary. It was rated a C+, and he was rewarded with a 1,000-year enhancement to all his soul rings.

With that upgrade, the second soul ring of Zhao Ling's Netherworld Demon-Suppressing Tower finally advanced from the thousand-year level to the ten-thousand-year level, and he immediately felt a subtle rise in his soul power.

He promptly summoned his Netherworld Demon-Suppressing Tower Spirit. One purple, five black, and three red soul rings appeared around him, causing him to break into a delighted smile.

Now, only the first soul ring of his Netherworld Demon-Suppressing Tower was still at the thousand-year level—but it wouldn't be long before that one caught up too.

Sometimes the system was pretty generous. With ring enhancements of 1,000 or 500 years each time, it wouldn't take many more boosts to raise all the soul rings of his first Martial Soul to the ten-thousand-year level.

Thinking about how soon all his soul rings could reach the ten-thousand or even hundred-thousand-year mark filled him with satisfaction.

Meanwhile, Liu Erlong, Ah Yin, and Bo Saixi were walking arm in arm through the bustling streets of Heaven Dou Imperial City.

Bo Saixi would be leaving in two or three days to return to Sea God Island, so Liu Erlong and Ah Yin had suggested buying some local specialties for her to take back.

Touched by their enthusiasm, Bo Saixi had no choice but to agree, and the three women dove into a shopping spree across the lively city streets.

Since Zhao Ling was now wealthy—receiving five million gold soul coins as a year's salary from the Heaven Dou royal family—he had been quite generous with the three women, giving each of them 300,000 gold soul coins to spend freely.

And so began their spree. They even completely emptied several stores that caught their eye—it was extravagant, to say the least.

The store owners, seeing piles of gleaming gold soul coins, couldn't stop grinning.

Just as the three were about to continue their spree, a copy of "Zhao Ling's Diary" appeared before them.

Their eyes lit up instantly. Heh, their husband was finally awake—time to teach him a lesson.

The corners of Liu Erlong's mouth curved up slightly as she glanced at Bo Saixi and Ah Yin.

"Looks like our husband's finally awake. Sisters, isn't it time we go deal with him?"

"Of course! If we don't give him a proper punishment now, once Sister Saixi leaves, he'll start getting cocky again," Ah Yin responded without hesitation, her beautiful eyes sparkling with anticipation.

"Then let's go! While I'm still in Heaven Dou City, I can help you two. If I leave for Sea God Island, I'm afraid you both might end up getting punished instead," Bo Saixi added, her gaze filled with playful amusement.

With that, the three of them stashed all their purchases into their storage soul tools, paid the shopkeepers, and headed back toward the mansion.

As they walked, each woman opened her personal copy of "Zhao Ling's Diary" with a thought. As Zhao Ling's familiar voice echoed in their minds, they began reading the latest entry.

Their expressions gradually shifted—from excitement, joy, and glee to a uniformly stiff smile.

What the hell? "Stronger in Battle" trait? What kind of nonsense was this? The three of them seriously began to wonder whether their husband had suffered some kind of brain damage from the last round of "punishment."

Was there really such a thing as a trait that got stronger the more you fought? No way. Absolutely not.

But then again, Zhao Ling didn't know they could read his diary. Why would he lie in there?

The three exchanged glances and began muttering among themselves.

"Should we still go back and 'deal with' our husband? What if we end up on the receiving end this time?"

"Who knows... He's always been kind of... abnormal. I think we should proceed with caution."

"Caution, yes—but we can't just let one diary entry scare us off. We finally found a way to handle him! Besides, he's helping us improve our own constitutions and power. Why should we back down?"

...

Meanwhile, in Spirit City, Bibi Dong twitched visibly as she read the newest diary entry.

Her head was pounding. She had no idea what Ah Yin and the other two sisters had done to her husband—how had they somehow strengthened his constitution even more?

What frustrated her even more was the fact that her husband was pretending to be a weak little bunny, just to lure Yin'er and the others into his trap.

Surely they weren't that dumb, right? He literally spelled out his plan in the diary.

If they really were stupid enough to walk into his trap after reading that, Bibi Dong might have to consider recruiting some smarter sisters to keep her husband in check.

She couldn't handle more foolish women volunteering to be his playthings.

Elsewhere, deep within the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast region of the Star Dou Forest, a small rabbit stood atop the shoulder of an enormous ape-type soul beast whose height surpassed seven meters even while crouching.

By a nearby lake stood a terrifying beast with the head of a bull and the body of a snake. The bull's head alone was over four meters wide, with lantern-sized glowing eyes.

Its entire body was a dark cyan, and its serpent form was so massive it made barrels look like twigs. Its full length could not be seen from shore.

Ordinarily, a tiny rabbit in front of two such colossal beasts would be expected to tremble in fear.

Yet this little rabbit stood proudly atop the giant ape's shoulder, completely at ease—while both towering beasts appeared to obey its every word.