"Safekeeping"

"This junior's ancestor was Yang Wudi. I merely inherited my ancestor's martial soul. That was not the power of Causality, and I am far from reaching the realm of a god. It was a charged strike evolved from my Second Soul Skill," Long Yao said slowly, bowing toward the Old Man.

Those neither servile nor overbearing, clear and steady words were like a pebble tossed into a pool of Stagnant Water, instantly stirring rings of invisible, subtle ripples through the entire room, which had been so oppressive it was suffocating.

His voice was not loud, but it cut into that tense, taut, one-touch-away Solemn Killing atmosphere at exactly the right moment, forcibly prying open a crack.

Kneeling at the other end of the room, Tang Wan'er, whose face had gone deathly pale from the assault of that terrifying spiritual pressure, suddenly narrowed her eyes, filled with bone-deep resentment and Killing Intent. She stared fixedly at that straight Back Figure in the center of the room, respectfully saluting the Old Man, and on that delicate Small Face that had already become somewhat savage, there appeared for the first time a trace of undisguisable, extreme astonishment and... absurdity.

Yang Wudi?

Inherited his ancestor's martial soul?

A charged strike evolved from his Second Soul Skill?

What nonsense was he spouting?!

Did he really think such a crude lie, riddled with holes and almost like some fairy tale, could fool this Old Monster before him, whose strength was unfathomable and who had lived for who knew how many centuries?! Had he gone mad?! Or had he... completely given up resisting, planning to provoke the other party with this self-humiliating method and beg for a swift end?

The corners of Tang Wan'er's mouth rose uncontrollably, sketching out a cruel arc filled with sarcasm and mockery. She could practically foresee how, in the next second, that utterly enraged Old Monster would use the cruelest, most merciless method to grind this ignorant fool and his ridiculous explanation into dust.

Yet the Thunderous Might, the destructive fury she had imagined, did not descend.

The entire room sank into an even stranger, deeper Deathly Stillness than before.

The white-haired Old Man seated behind the Obsidian table was like a stone statue instantly weathered by time, utterly frozen in place. Those Turbid Eyes of his, always sharp as an eagle's and seemingly able to pierce through every illusion in the world, actually contracted visibly the moment he heard the three words "Yang Wudi"!

That was not anger, not suspicion, and even less disdain.

It was a kind of... extreme shock and daze, filled with a sense of time being thrown into disarray, as though he had suddenly heard an old friend knocking at the door of an ancient tomb that had slept for tens of thousands of years.

Yang Wudi...

Soul Breaking Spear, Yang Wudi.

What a familiar, yet distant, name...

In that instant, the Old Man's thoughts seemed to break free from the Shackles of time and flow backward, returning to that turbulent, genius-filled, passion-burning era.

Before his eyes seemed to appear once more that unremarkable middle-aged man in Grey Cloth Clothes, stubborn as a stone in a cesspit, foul and hard. He seemed to see that man again, holding a Pitch Black Soul Breaking Spear, daring with just one man and one spear to face the Spirit Hall, which had been at the height of its power and sweeping across the entire continent!

He also remembered, in that incomparably tragic Battle of Jialing Pass that had decided the fate of the continent, how that man had used his fearless, unstoppable, resolute Spear Tip to tear open the indestructible defensive line of the Spirit Hall Empire again and again, winning precious chances to breathe for Tang Sect, for Heaven Dou, and for the entire allied army.

He remembered even more the words that man had spoken when that stunningly brilliant man, who had streaked across the sky like a meteor—the leader of the First Generation Shrek Seven Devils, Sea God Tang San—founded the New Tang Sect after the war and extended an olive branch to this stubborn man.

"I, Yang Wudi! In this life, I cultivate only one spear! I believe in only one thing! And that is the spear in my hand! It will forever be stronger! Faster! Sharper than anyone else's! My Breaking Clan will also never submit beneath anyone!"

What pride that had been, what obsession, and what... purity!

After that, although the Breaking Clan joined the Tang Sect, they always maintained a relatively independent position, becoming the sharpest, toughest, and most troublesome spear within the Tang Sect. And Yang Wudi, through his long life, truly brought the Martial Soul Trait of the "Soul Breaking Spear" to its utmost limit.

Ultimate penetration, ultimate armor-piercing, ultimate... forward momentum.

That was an era that belonged to Heroes.

And Yang Wudi was undoubtedly one of the most dazzling Heroes of that era, filled with tragic grandeur and legend.

Unfortunately...

Heroes all grew old in the end.

No matter how sharp a spear was, it ultimately could not withstand the corrosion of time.

As that era came to an end, as those Heroes who had once dominated the winds and clouds turned one after another into the dust of history, many powerful martial souls and sects that had once been illustrious also gradually vanished into the long river of history.

The Soul Breaking Spear was one of them.

Ever since, over a hundred years ago, the last direct descendant of the Breaking Clan had died from exhaustion in battle against the Soul Engineer legions of the Sun Moon Empire, that Black Spear which had once terrified countless Strong Persons and represented ultimate penetration had never appeared on this continent again.

The Old Man had thought that this legendary martial soul, like many other powerful martial souls, had completely lost its inheritance and disappeared.

But he had never expected...

After a hundred years, today, here, at Shrek Academy's New Student Competition, he would actually see this spear again!

And it had reappeared in the world in a way even more violent, more domineering, more... unreasonable than its ancestor!

Huge Waves rose in the Old Man's heart!

Those eagle-sharp eyes of his locked firmly onto Long Yao once more. This time, the cold, judgment-like pressure in his gaze had vanished without a trace, replaced by an even more complicated, probing, scrutinizing, burning light, as though he were examining a peerless treasure lost for ages!

He quickly went over Long Yao's explanation in his mind.

Inherited his ancestor's martial soul...

Judging from the martial soul's appearance and that domineering aura that pressed ever forward, this was highly likely.

Not the power of "Causality," but a charged strike evolved from his Second Soul Skill...

That point was debatable.

No matter how much an ordinary charged strike accumulated power, it could only be a quantitative buildup. It absolutely could not trigger a qualitative change, much less touch the threshold of "law"! Contained within that One Spear was that bizarre law of "once thrown, it was already destined to hit," reversing the order of time itself. That was absolutely not something that could be achieved through the accumulation of Soul Power alone!

There had to be some deeper, unknown secret hidden within this!

But...

The other party had already given him a reasonable, flawless, and history-worthy set of "Steps" to climb down from.

He said he was a descendant of Yang Wudi.

That identity was like an unbreakable talisman, instantly pulling him away from the label of "a dangerous person of unknown origin who might be an Evil Soul Master" and into the camp of "a gifted descendant from an orthodox, prestigious lineage, whose ancestor had once been a Hero of the continent."

After all, anyone could be an Evil Soul Master, but the descendant of Yang Wudi—that stubborn man who had spent his whole life unyielding, who would rather break than bend—absolutely could not be one! This was a fact acknowledged by the entire continent!

He said that One Spear had merely been an evolution of a soul skill.

Since its founding, Shrek Academy had seen countless astonishingly talented, Monster-like Students. Martial Soul Mutation, self-created soul skills—while such things were rare, they were not without precedent. To attribute a terrifying, inexplicable power to "the unreasonable, Monster-like talent of a young genius" was undoubtedly the best and most reasonable explanation for an academy famous throughout the world for nurturing "monsters."

This Kid...

He possessed not only Monster-like power, but also a mind terrifyingly calm enough to match it—perhaps even surpass it—and an insight into human nature, a political wisdom so seasoned it had reached the extreme!

He knew very clearly that the power he had just displayed had gone far beyond the category of "genius" and touched the red line of "heresy," so he had to find himself an "origin" with enough weight, enough innocence, enough legitimacy to leave everyone speechless.

And Yang Wudi was, without a doubt, the best choice.

He knew even more clearly that the true nature of his power was a secret that absolutely could not be exposed, so in a seemingly "modest" way, he casually reduced that "power of causality," which was enough to make even a Deity take notice, to "an evolution of a soul skill" and "a charged strike."

This was both an explanation and a disguised form of "showing weakness."

He was using this method to tell the old man before him: Though I am strong, I am not yet strong enough to threaten you. I am still within the category of a soul master, within the scope you can understand. I am controllable.

What an impressive Kid!

What deep schemes!

What a terrifying Monster!

Deep within the old man's Turbid Eyes, that probing, examining light grew increasingly fiery!

He slowly leaned back, his entire body sinking into the wide chair wrapped in the hide of some unknown beast. The heavy, oppressive Terrifying Pressure that had filled the entire room and left people unable to breathe also receded silently like an ebbing tide.

Wang Dong, whose hand he had been gripping tightly, only felt the invisible mountain that had been pressing down on her heart suddenly lighten! She subconsciously let out a long breath, only then realizing that her Back had long since been completely soaked through with a layer of icy Cold Sweat.

Her heart was filled with a sense of relief like an Aftermath of Disaster, impossible to describe in words.

He... he had actually, with just a few words, defused this terrifying crisis that could have been fatal?!

How many secrets did he still have that she knew nothing about?

And Tang Wan'er, who had been kneeling at the other end, waiting to enjoy the show, had long since had the mocking smile on her Face filled with astonishment and absurdity freeze stiff. In her venomous eyes, once brimming with Killing Intent, there now remained only a deep, indescribable dread!

This man...

He was not merely a "new toy" with terrifying power.

He was a true Demon in human skin, cunning to the extreme!

"Yang Wudi..."

Finally, after a long, suffocating silence, the old man slowly spoke. His Voice was still aged and hoarse, but it no longer carried that aggressive, judgment-like chill from before.

"A... true Hero, one even this Old Man admired."

"I never expected that after a hundred years, I would still be able to see his descendant here in Shrek City."

His Sharp Eyes slowly moved from Long Yao to the Soul Breaking Spear in his hand, which had already returned to its pitch-black appearance and was emitting a chilling Cold Air.

"Good spear! Just like your ancestor's, it is filled with the pride of one who would rather break than bend."

He first gave his approval, then abruptly changed the subject. Those eyes, as if able to see through everything, once again became sharp!

"However..."

"As far as this Old Man knows, the core essence of Yang Wudi's Soul Breaking Spear lies in the word 'break.' It breaks the surface with a single point, uses ultimate sharpness to break through all things under heaven, and is unstoppable."

"But that spear strike of yours just now was not centered on 'breaking,' but on 'arriving.' It was the unreasonable Causality Law by which, no matter how the enemy dodged or blocked, it would inevitably 'arrive' at their vital point."

"Even if you explain it as 'a charged evolution of your Second Soul Skill,' to accomplish this requires a terrifying understanding and control over space, over time, and even over 'fate'—far beyond ordinary people, and even far beyond the vast majority of Titled Douluo."

"Kid," the old man slowly rose from his chair. At that moment, his not particularly tall body seemed to transform into an ancient god that supported heaven and earth! He walked around the wide Obsidian desk, step by step, slowly arriving in front of Long Yao.

His Turbid Eyes, so close at hand, stared into Long Yao's calm eyes, as still as an Old Well, and he asked slowly, emphasizing each word:

"Tell this Old Man..."

"Who taught you?"

"In answer to Mu En, this is the lifelong research of my ancestor. He could never let go of the fact that, because of the nature of his martial soul, he would never be able to break through to Titled Douluo," Long Yao said, taking out a worn old book. "Recorded inside is how to cultivate. It is the achievement of my ancestor's entire life, and also the regret of his entire life. In the end, he died depressed. But he opened up another new 'path,' exhausting every possible method to make up for what his descendants might lack, leaving behind this 'new path.'" Long Yao looked at Mu En and spoke slowly.

When that weathered old book, filled with the accumulation of Years Old, appeared in the Youth's Well-defined Joints hand, the suffocating pressure in the room, solid as if it had taken form, seemed to be silently stirred by an invisible hand.

It was no longer that purely superior, judgment-like pressure.

Instead, there was an added trace of... indescribable Complex Emotions, filled with a sense of time thrown into disorder and carrying the dusty scent of history.

Mu En, whose White Hair and Beard marked him as the current Pavilion Master of the Sea God Pavilion, fixed his Turbid Eyes, which seemed to have already seen through ten thousand years, firmly on that book. His gaze was no longer as sharp as a blade as before, but became deep and distant, as if it had pierced through those yellowed pages and seen the lonely Back Figure from ten thousand years ago—that stubborn, unyielding man holding a Soul Breaking Spear, daring to stand against the entire world.

Died depressed...

Opened up a new "path"...

Afraid that his descendants would be like him...

These few sentences were like several of the heaviest Iron Hammers, carrying endless sorrow and regret, striking again and again at the softest and most hidden corner of the heart of this old man who had lived for hundreds of years and witnessed countless Heroes rise and fall.

Yes...

Among the Heroes of that era, which one had not been proud and peerless in talent? But no matter how astonishingly gifted you were, no matter how you looked down upon the world, in the end you still could not overcome that cold, merciless chasm stretching before all soul masters—Hundred Level Godhood.

Even someone as powerful as the Sea God Tang San back then would likely have ended up as a handful of yellow earth if not for destiny's favor and a string of miraculous encounters, let alone anyone else.

Yang Wudi... that man who had cultivated the path of "breaking" to its peak. What he pursued all his life was to use the spear in his hand to break through all things under heaven. Yet in the end, the thing he most wanted to break through, and the thing he failed to break through even unto death, was precisely that barrier that seemed only one step away, yet was in truth as distant as the ends of the earth... the barrier of a Titled Douluo.

With his unbending, obsessively stubborn nature, it made sense that, in the final moments of his life, unwilling to accept defeat, he had carved out another path and left behind for his descendants an entirely new "road," one filled with the unknown and possibility...

How very... reasonable that explanation was.

And how very... heartbreaking.

On the old man's aged face, calm as an Old Well, those taut lines that looked as though they had been carved by knives and axes quietly softened a little without him realizing it. His spine, which had always been held ramrod straight, as immovable as a mountain, also seemed, in that moment, to sag ever so slightly.

He slowly raised his aged, wrinkled Right Hand, still steady as bedrock, and gently beckoned to Long Yao.

"Bring it here and let this Old Man take a look."

His Voice was still hoarse and low, but it no longer carried the aggressive edge of interrogation from before. It was pure curiosity, a Scholar's curiosity, filled with a desire to explore the Unknown Domain.

Wang Dong, whose hand was tightly held by Long Yao, felt the huge stone that had been hanging over her heart finally fall away in silence. Her wildly pounding heart slowly calmed as well, and as she looked at him beside her, those beautiful Pink Blue Eyes were filled with pride and worship beyond words.

She did not know exactly what was recorded in that book.

Of course she knew what kind of figure that "Ancestor Yang Wudi" he spoke of had been.

She knew that he had once again used a method she could not understand at all, yet found incomparably reliable, to dissolve this fatal, Sky-High crisis as if it were nothing.

It was so good to have him by her side.

At the other end of the room, Tang Wan'er, who had been staring fixedly this way with resentful, venomous eyes the entire time, now had that mocking, derisive smile completely stiffened and frozen on her delicate Small Face, where a little color had already returned.

Her mind was spinning madly.

Fake!

All of this had to be fake!

This man's scheming was terrifyingly deep! Every word he said, every action he made, was filled with exquisite calculation! First, he had thrown out "Yang Wudi," a legendary protective talisman enough to make any high-level figure of Shrek wary. Then, with a sorrowful, regret-laden story of a Hero in his twilight years, he had struck exactly the softest string in the heart of this Old Monster before him!

Now he had even taken out this so-called "ancestral relic"!

This was simply a flawless, perfect fraud script, one worthy of being recorded in textbooks!

But...

But why was it that even she, when she heard that story, had uncontrollably felt the faintest trace of an emotion almost like "regret"?

Why was it that even she, when she saw that worn-out book, had instinctively believed that it truly bore the unwillingness and regrets of a Hero's entire life?

This man...

He was not merely a cunning liar.

He was also a true... Demon who could easily toy with people's hearts!

Deep within Tang Wan'er's eyes, filled with wariness and Killing Intent, a more blazing, more intense, sickly flame Named "excitement" and "possession" ignited for the first time.

Such an interesting, secret-filled, powerful "toy"—if she could make him... completely become something that belonged to her alone...

What a... wonderful thing that would be...

Long Yao walked forward calmly and respectfully handed the worn-out book in his hands to the old man.

The old man's fingers gently stroked the ancient book's rough cover, made from the tanned hide of some unknown beast. His movements were light and soft, as if he were caressing a Lost and Found treasure.

He could clearly sense the unique aura emanating from this book, a forceful hardness full of metallic vigor that belonged to the Breaking Clan, along with a lingering, rich, faint fragrance belonging to all kinds of rare medicinal herbs.

These two completely different auras fused together perfectly, forming a unique "field" that could not be imitated. (Produced by the system! It had to be top quality!)

This could not be faked.

The old man's cloudy eyes brightened slightly.

He slowly opened the pages.

A heavy aura mixed with old paper and ink, filled with the sense of history's accumulation, rushed toward him.

The pages had long since yellowed and become brittle. Upon them, in handwriting packed densely with power, like iron strokes and silver hooks, were recorded all manner of incredible, wildly imaginative cultivation concepts.

There were theories on how to compress Soul Power to the extreme through multiple spirals in order to instantly break through an enemy's strongest defense.

There were ideas on how to deeply fuse one's own Spiritual Power with the Spear Intent of a long spear, even at the Soul Level, thereby reaching the supreme realm of "man and spear as one."

There were even bolder, almost insane conjectures—for example, attempting to incorporate the most superficial understanding of "time" and "space" into one's own Spirit Skills, thereby achieving the goal of locking onto an enemy, or even predicting the trajectory of their movements!

Some of these concepts were detailed, some were rough, and some were even just fleeting thoughts filled with wild fantasy. Between the lines was a dense, lingering, Sky-High "unwillingness" and "fury" born from his inability to break through the bottleneck!

Yet behind that fury and unwillingness, the old man also clearly saw a pure, never-say-die, dazzling heart of a Strong Person!

This...

This truly was something that stubborn, unbending Yang Wudi could have written!

Although many of the concepts were wildly imaginative, even somewhat absurd, they faintly coincided with certain cutting-edge theoretical studies in today's Spirit Master World regarding the essence of Martial Souls!

This was not merely a cultivation notebook!

It was also a priceless treasure... enough to stir up an Earth-Shattering, revolutionary storm throughout the entire Spirit Master World!

After an unknown length of time, the old man slowly closed the book.

Every trace of emotion had vanished from that aged face, and he had once again returned to that still-as-an-old-well, unfathomable look.

"This book..." He gently placed the book on the obsidian table behind him, with no intention of returning it to Long Yao.

"Its contents are shocking beyond measure. Its value is incalculable."

"For a sixteen-year-old child like you to have it would invite disaster, not fortune."

"So it will be jointly kept by the Martial Soul Department and the Sea God Pavilion, and studied on your behalf. Do you have any objections?"

He looked at Long Yao and asked flatly. Though his tone was phrased as a question, it was filled with the unmistakable finality of a decision that allowed no argument.

Time: Douluo Calendar Year 2030 Season: Autumn Third day after enrollment 11:47 AM

Location: Shrek Academy, Central Plaza

Audience: 630,000

Equipment: Shrek Academy Uniform x1, True Vast Sea Ring (Divine Artifact), Student Emblem x1

Items: Shrek Academy Uniform x1, Dormitory Key x1

First Martial Soul: Soul Breaking Spear [Traits: Armor Breaking, Soul Devouring, Penetration]

Second Martial Soul: Chaos Holy Dragon (Hidden) [Traits: Strength, Time, Space]

Soul Power: Level 45 (Soul Ancestor) [Status: True Vast Sea Ring Shielding, External Perception is Level 24]

Soul Rings: [Soul Breaking Spear] First Soul Ring (Yellow Hundred-Year), Second Soul Ring (Purple Thousand-Year), Third Soul Ring (Black Ten-Thousand-Year), Fourth Soul Ring (Black Ten-Thousand-Year)

[Chaos Holy Dragon] First Soul Ring (Black Thirteen-Thousand-Year), Second Soul Ring (Black Twenty-Eight-Thousand-Year), Third Soul Ring (Black Forty-Six-Thousand-Year), Fourth Soul Ring (Rose Gold Hundred-Thousand-Year)

Spirit Skills: [Soul Breaking Spear] First Spirit Skill: Swift Shadow Stab, Second Spirit Skill: Whirlwind Spear, Third Spirit Skill: Armor Breaking Spiral, Fourth Spirit Skill: Thousand Spirit Spear Rain

[Chaos Holy Dragon] First Spirit Skill: Star Ring, Second Spirit Skill: Holy Dragon Claw, Third Spirit Skill: Void Claw, Fourth Spirit Skill: Time and Space Roar

Soul Bones: None

Soul Spirit: None

Temporary Tip Storage: [Million-Year Spirit Beast Inverse Scale] x1, [Starlight Sapphire Brooch] x1, [Tsundere Princess Strategy Manual Platinum Edition] x1, [God-Bestowed Soul Ring (Hundred-Thousand-Year)] x1, [Spring of Life (Concentrate)] x1, [Calming Incense] x1, [Dragon Blood Body Tempering Pill] ×10, [Space Storage Bracelet] ×1, [God King Level Space Law Comprehension Crystal] ×1, [Super Divine Artifact: Time and Space Wheel Fragment] ×1, [God King Godhead] ×1, [Playful Rabbit Ear Headband] ×2