A Man Who Refused to Bow to Pressure!

The sky slowly darkened.

Mu En gazed at the glowing red cudgel before him, lost in thought.

In the space of a single breath, he connected it to the fact that the Soul Skill Shen Yichen had obtained from absorbing the Titan Giant Ape was not a strength-type Soul Skill.

Little Yichen had a Diary Copy too!

Shen Yichen had been thinking along the same lines as Mu En. He knew he could never hide the rewards from the Diary, and he had no desire to hide them.

If you had something to show off and didn't flaunt it, how was that any different from not having it?

As anyone who had died often would know, a person who had died once might go in one of two directions.

One was to cherish life more and seek stability.

The other was to become more flamboyant and seek thrills!

At heart, the two paths led to the same destination: living every remaining day of life to the fullest.

Shen Yichen was undoubtedly the second kind.

Danger? Living beneath God King Tang's great hand, there was no escaping danger, no matter what he did.

As the famous weight-loss blogger and patriarch of the Weizhen Clan once said:

"Eat while you're alive; once you're dead, that's that!"

"Eat what you should, drink what you should, and don't take things to heart."

"Don't eat, don't drink, and who'll have a word to say when you're dead?"

"Enough said, no need to prattle on. Let's dig in. Mmm... that's some real flavor!"

That was the long and short of it.

Tang San? Me, avoid his edge?

Living with this and that on my mind all day would leave me so stifled I'd develop psychological problems!

If he's got the guts, let him kill me. Once I unleash the Golden Cudgel, none of us are getting out alive!

Of course, joking and fooling around aside, Shen Yichen knew what he was doing.

As Mu En's personal and final disciple, Shen Yichen was certain, from the original story and their years together, that his teacher would stand by him!

As he had said before, so long as his greatest secret remained hidden, nothing else mattered.

Shen Yichen was at ease, leaving all the hard problems to Mu En.

What troubled Mu En was none other than how to help Shen Yichen maintain his disguise.

"Lately, this old man has taken a liking to fishing. From now on, if you two have nothing else to do, set aside some time each day to keep me company while I fish."

Sea God Island was no place to discuss those matters. He had not decided how to make arrangements for Shen Yichen, either.

He would take the night to think it over.

Mu En shuffled away at a leisurely pace, his back hunched.

"Sister Lexuan, go to my room to absorb the Soul Bone. I'll stand guard for you!"

The moment Shen Yichen spoke, Zhang Lexuan saw through his little scheme. He just wanted her to hold him while he slept...

"Little Yichen, you..." If Mu En could make the connection, Zhang Lexuan naturally could too.

The Diary Copy was a fortuitous opportunity.

It was also a dangerous time bomb.

No one knew whether its exposure would bring a thunderous strike from the Divine Realm.

"Don't worry, Sister Lexuan..." The little white-haired bundle gave her a thumbs-up, his little white teeth gleaming. "I'm invincible under heaven!"

Seeing Shen Yichen's silly, cheerful expression, Zhang Lexuan burst out laughing.

Indeed, why think so much?

They could not entrust their fate to another's mercy. A hope of fighting back, however slim, was better than none!

Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, Illustrious Virtue Hall

Jing Hongchen raised his cup and took a light sip of tea. Frowning, he walked to the window and looked at the bright moon in the sky, his thoughts drifting.

There had been no movement from the Body Sect.

No movement was information in itself.

Was Sea God Tang San not watching Huo Yuhao as closely as he had imagined?

Huo Yuhao was a Child of Luck, after all. Should the Sun Moon Empire get involved?

No, that would not do.

It still was not safe enough.

Elderly people really did have less drive than the young. Jing Hongchen preferred to plan before he acted.

Neither he nor the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy could get involved in this sort of thing.

It would be best to keep any trace of the empire out of it as well.

Suddenly, Jing Hongchen thought of a power: the Holy Spirit Cult!

He could send the Holy Spirit Cult out to probe the situation. If the Sea God's great hand wiped them out, he would have done a good deed as well.

But without a reason, the Holy Spirit Cult had no need to attack the Body Sect. It would be thankless work.

He had to find a way to make the Holy Spirit Cult probe the situation without the matter being traced back to him.

He thought for a long while, but still could not come up with an answer. The Sun Moon Empire was stronger than the Douluo Three Kingdoms, but its tentacles had not yet stretched far enough to infiltrate them, especially the top sects of the Heavenly Soul Empire...

But...

He could reach a hand toward the Tang Sect.

He did not know how the Tang Sect had declined to such a state while holding on to something as valuable as the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record, but that gave him an opportunity.

The Mysterious Heaven Skill, which could be cultivated to Innate Full Soul Power...

The thought set his heart aflame.

If Xiao and Meng learned the Mysterious Heaven Skill...

My grandson and granddaughter have the makings of reaching the limit! Level 10 Soul Engineers!

On the surface, the continent remained as peaceful as ever.

But the three holders of Diary Copies had already taken action, churning the original course of fate into a muddle.

Even God King Tang could do nothing about it.

If the original continent had been like a little strategy game to Tang San, it was now more like conquering territory in reality.

The difference was anything but small.

In the blink of an eye in the Divine Realm, a day passed on the Douluo Continent.

At daybreak, Mu En could hardly wait to take Zhang Lexuan and Shen Yichen to "fish" on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Over the course of the night, Zhang Lexuan had successfully absorbed the Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone.

Together, the Soul Ring and Soul Bone had propelled her straight to become a level eighty-four Soul Douluo.

With a few days of effort to consolidate her cultivation, she had a chance of breaking through to level eighty-five!

"Yichen, you have a Diary Copy too, don't you?"

As soon as he sat down and cast his line, Mu En could hardly wait to transmit the question with his spiritual power.

Shen Yichen nodded.

"Good! Don't tell anyone about this. Not even your grandmother!"

"Mm!"

"And... be careful what you say in the comments section."

Mu En was like an old man fretting over his children, rambling on and on once he started.

Still... fishing while listening to an elder's rambling felt rather warm.

"From now on, try to keep your Ruyi Jingu Bang Martial Soul hidden. Tell everyone your Martial Soul is that red cudgel."

To impress its importance on Shen Yichen, Mu En continued, "Since you've read the Diary too, you should know that as long as you don't die young, you're bound to leave a vivid mark on this world. Yet the Diary never mentioned you at all. Do you understand the secret hidden in that?"

What the fuck?

What the fuck?!!

He found a bug!

Shen Yichen jolted. Why didn't I appear?

What else could it be?

Because I forgot, that's why!

Shen Yichen had long known he was no master strategist. He knew perfectly well that he was more like someone who schemed long and hard but could never make the numbers add up.

Just as I always said: an elder in the family is a treasure!

Looks like I'll have to give some serious thought to how to fit myself perfectly into this story...