"Do You Have Any Objections?"

"This book is a relic left by my ancestors. Forgive me, but this junior cannot hand it over," Long Yao said, his voice not loud, yet filled with unquestionable resolve.

In an instant, the heavy, oppressive air in the room that had only just eased seemed to be seized viciously by an invisible, ice-cold hand. Time seemed to freeze again at that moment.

That vast, ocean-like Terrifying Pressure that had only just receded like the tide surged back in an instant, more condensed than ever before, more terrifying, more... filled with tangible Killing Intent, sweeping over them like a volcanic eruption.

This time, the target of that pressure was no longer indiscriminate, no longer enveloping the entire room.

Instead, it was like an invisible Judgment Spear tempered to the extreme and forged from pure Spiritual Power, locking with absolute precision onto the youth who still stood in the center of the room, his figure straight, even wearing a faint, polite smile on his face.

"Ugh!"

Wang Dong, whose hand Long Yao was tightly holding, felt an irresistible Terrifying Pressure that made even her soul tremble come rushing toward her head-on. Although that pressure was not aimed at her, just the aftershocks spreading outward made her Pretty Face, which had only just recovered a little color, turn whiter than snow with a "swish" in an instant. The Small Hand he held tightened instinctively, with such force that even her own Knuckles began to turn pale. As she looked at his handsome side profile, still calm as water, her beautiful Pink Blue Eyes were filled with an indescribable, extreme horror and... fear.

He... how did he dare?!

How did he dare refuse, to his face, this... this Guardian Deity of Shrek Academy, as powerful as a Deity?!

And at the other end of the room, Tang Wan'er, who was kneeling on the floor with a strange smile still hanging at the corner of her mouth, had that smile completely stiffen on her exquisitely delicate Small Face filled with sick excitement.

Immediately afterward, that stiff smile swiftly transformed into an even denser, even hotter, nearly frenzied, sick ecstasy.

Her eyes, filled with Killing Intent and possessiveness, lit up astonishingly in an instant, like two ominous ghost-fires blazing in the dark night.

Madman!

This man was absolutely, completely, thoroughly a Madman!

Facing a living Peerless Douluo who could crush him to death with a single finger at any moment, he actually still dared to... bargain?!

This was truly...

Truly too interesting! Too... exciting!

Tang Wan'er stuck out the tip of her pink, dainty tongue and unconsciously licked her dry Lips again. She could clearly feel that the evil power in her body, belonging to Taotie and filled with the Desire for Destruction and devouring, which had only just been suppressed, had actually begun to... stir restlessly once more because of its master's extreme excitement.

However, at this moment, the true Center of the Storm in the entire room was the White-Haired and White-Bearded Chief Judge.

In an instant, that aged face, which had only just softened slightly because of his recollection of an old friend, darkened like the deepest night sky before a storm. The Scholar-like light of curiosity and inquiry in his murky eyes had long since vanished without a trace. In its place was a cold, indifferent, lofty... absolute majesty, as if he were looking down at an ant that did not know whether it lived or died and dared to challenge a dragon's dignity.

He did not fly into a rage, nor did he roar.

He simply stood there quietly, using those eyes so cold they held not the slightest trace of emotion to stare unblinkingly at Long Yao.

Time passed, second by second.

That deathly, suffocating silence tightened bit by bit like an invisible Great Net woven from ice-cold deadly poison, as if it meant to strangle a person's bones until they snapped.

Finally, the Old Man slowly spoke.

"Child," His Voice was still hoarse and even, yet it seemed to have been carved from Ten-Thousand-Year Black Ice, every word carrying a bone-piercing chill enough to freeze a person's soul completely. "You have great courage. Even... more courage than your ancestor, that unbending Yang Wudi."

"But many times, courage is merely another name for stupidity."

He slowly raised his aged, wrinkled Right Hand.

Then he gently clenched it in the air toward Long Yao.

"Buzz—!!!!!"

A dull cry, as if space itself were groaning, suddenly rang out.

The air around Long Yao instantly turned like thick, transparent crystal, completely solidifying. An indescribable, absolute, unquestionable force of confinement pressed toward him madly from every direction.

That was the power of space. It was the absolute domain belonging to a super powerhouse.

Within this completely confined space, time itself seemed to slow. Wang Dong could clearly see that even the always-straight Hem of Clothes on Long Yao had stopped swaying, and she could even feel that his steady, powerful heartbeat, transmitted through his palm, had in that instant become... incomparably heavy.

"This book," the Old Man's icy voice slowly echoed through the room like a Deity's final judgment, "the significance it represents has already exceeded the limit of what a sixteen-year-old child like you can bear."

"It is no longer your ancestral relic. From now on, it is Shrek Academy's highest secret, the most important strategic resource related to the future development direction of Soul Masters across the entire continent."

"This old man, in the name of Shrek's Sea God Pavilion Master, Moon, formally requisitions this item."

Those cold eyes, devoid of the slightest emotion, locked tightly onto Long Yao's still-calm eyes as he slowly said, word by word:

"Hand it over, and you will still be Shrek's once-in-a-century Peerless genius. The academy will remember that achievement, one worthy of being recorded in history, and you will receive resources and cultivation beyond your imagination."

"If you do not..."

His Right Hand, clenched in the air, slowly tightened another fraction.

"Crack..."

A faint, almost inaudible sound, like shattering glass, rang out clearly.

The floor beneath Long Yao's feet, paved with the hardest granite, silently split open with his feet as the center, forming fine Spiderweb-like Cracks.

"Then Shrek Academy will absolutely not allow an uncontrolled 'Monster' carrying a secret capable of overturning the continent's entire structure to walk out of this door alive."

"I truly never expected the Sea God Pavilion's actions to be so chilling, to rob a junior of his ancestors' relic." Long Yao shook his head in disappointment. "I can make one final concession: make a Hand-copied Manuscript of this book and keep that in my hands."

Those words, laced with disappointment and mockery, like a Sharp Blade tempered in ice, carried the clear yet cutting resonance unique to a youth as they rippled through the room enveloped by absolute pressure.

Immediately afterward, that contemptuous proposal publicly described as his "greatest concession"—making a Hand-copied Manuscript—was like the loudest slap, striking the face of Sea God Pavilion Master Moon, who had lived for centuries and long since stood at the Peak of the Continent, viciously and invisibly.

"Buzz... buzz, buzz..."

At that moment, the space in the room, which had already solidified as if tangible, let out an Overwhelmed, piercing groan like twisting metal. The domain imprisoning Long Yao, built from pure Spiritual Power and Spatial Laws, was no longer merely squeezing him, but had begun to vibrate and grind with frantic, minute movements at an extremely high frequency.

It was as if billions of tiny, invisible blades made of Spatial Fragments were wildly slicing at his body from every direction—at his Soul Power, even at every inch of space in which he existed!

The spiderweb Cracks that had only just appeared in the granite floor beneath Long Yao's feet were completely, silently annihilated in an instant, reduced to the finest white powder, invisible to the naked eye.

That was no longer pressure.

It was pure, undisguised, about-to-be-carried-out... erasure!

"Long Yao!"

For the first time, intense unease and anxiety appeared on Wang Dong's Pretty Face, pale without the slightest trace of blood! The terrifying aftershock that seemed about to grind space itself to pieces stabbed into her body like countless red-hot steel needles, making even her proud Goddess of Light Butterfly Martial Soul subconsciously let out a high-pitched cry full of vigilance and warning!

She was not frightened into immobility.

On the contrary, a pride and resolve that came from deep within her bloodline, belonging to a daughter of the divine, was completely ignited at this moment!

Clang—!

The gorgeous Pink Blue Butterfly Wings on her back erupted in an incomparably brilliant, incomparably condensed Pink Blue radiance in an instant, filled with a sense of holiness and protection! That light was no longer the sharp, aggressive edge it had held before, but had become heavy and gentle, like the toughest barrier woven from Light Power, using everything it had to try to prop open a tiny, insignificant safe domain around her and Long Yao that belonged only to the two of them!

She did not Beg for Mercy, nor did she shed a single tear. She merely used her actions, used that Powerful Force of hers that could not truly be called powerful, to stubbornly and silently declare her stance to that lofty Peerless Douluo—

If you want to hurt him, you'll have to step over my body first!

At the other end of the room, Tang Wan'er, who had always acted so pitiful and delicate, had brought the sickly flame of excitement and wild joy in those large, round, black-grape eyes that were always filled with innocence and curiosity to its absolute peak!

She watched the Youth who was being frantically sliced by spatial Sharp Blades, yet still stood perfectly straight, without even furrowing his brow.

She watched the Young Girl who clearly knew she was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, yet still opened all her wings without hesitation, trying to protect the one she loved.

She then looked at the old man whose hair and beard were bristling, whose emitted pressure was enough to change the color of mountains and rivers, yet who still had not delivered the final killing blow.

This grand play sparked by a tattered ancient book, full of betrayal, probing, threats, and resistance—how... splendid it was! How... delicious!

The corners of her mouth uncontrollably curled upward wildly, sketching a strange arc filled with pleasure and cruelty, almost deranged. She could hardly wait to see, in the very next second, what kind of dazzling, despair-and-unwillingness-filled... crimson blood flowers would splatter across this small stage!

However...

The anticipated Earth-Shattering Thunderous Strike, filled with an aura of destruction, still did not descend.

The White-Haired and Bearded Chief Judge, Moon, merely looked at him quietly.

The spatial grinding force that was enough to crush a Soul Emperor into dust in an instant remained suspended at the surface of Long Yao's body, less than an inch away, raging wildly, yet strangely unable to advance even the slightest bit.

Time seemed to be stretched infinitely long at this moment.

No one knew how long had passed. Just as Wang Dong felt that her Soul Power, which was about to burn out completely, could no longer support that thin barrier of light, the Terrifying Pressure on Moon's body, enough to make heaven and earth change color, finally dispersed slowly and soundlessly like a punctured balloon.

The room once again returned to that heart-palpitating Deathly Silence.

"...Disheartened?"

Moon slowly spat out those two words. His Voice was hoarse and dry, like two pieces of rusted metal scraping against each other.

He did not look at Long Yao. Instead, he slowly turned around and, with those turbid eyes that seemed to bear ten thousand years of time, looked toward the huge ancient oil painting on the wall depicting the full panorama of Shrek Academy.

"Child, do you know how many Years Old Shrek Academy has been since the day it was founded?"

Without waiting for Long Yao's answer, he slowly continued on his own, "A full ten thousand years."

"Over ten thousand years, the continent's winds and clouds have shifted, dynasties have risen and fallen several times, empires have known glory and decline, and who knows how many powerful sects that once enjoyed their moment of brilliance have been buried in the long river of history, becoming nothing more than an unremarkable footnote in old papers."

"Yet we at Shrek have always stood firm."

"What do you think we relied on? Luck? Or that so-called 'neutrality'?"

Moon slowly shook his head. For the first time, an indescribable, deep exhaustion and... heaviness appeared on that aged face of his, which had been as still as an Old Well.

"Neither."

"We relied on sacrifice."

"We relied on every generation of Shrek people being willing to shoulder those heavy, filthy... responsibilities that children like you, living under the sunlight, could never imagine, all in order to protect the peace of this continent, and to leave a fair, clean pure land for talented children born as commoners to compete in."

He slowly turned around, and those turbid eyes once again fell upon Long Yao. There was no longer any Killing Intent or pressure in that gaze, only something even more profound, more complicated, and impossible to see through.

"You were not wrong. In a certain sense, what this Old Man has done today is indeed no different from forcibly seizing something. It truly does violate the principles of fairness and justice that Shrek has always proclaimed."

"But do you know that one month before this 'ancestral relic' of yours appeared, on the border between the Star Luo Empire and the Sun Moon Empire, we had just discovered a secret, inhuman experimental base established by Evil Soul Masters?"

"There, they used over a thousand innocent commoner children, some of whom had only just awakened their Martial Souls, as 'Raw Material,' attempting to artificially create a brand-new, living... evil Martial Soul that could devour one another, fuse with one another, and evolve rapidly."

As he spoke, his gaze faintly and lightly swept over Tang Wan'er, who was kneeling in the corner and whose body suddenly stiffened, her face instantly turning deathly pale.

"Their research has already achieved a breakthrough. It is a power we have never seen before, something that completely exceeds the existing theoretical system of Soul Masters, full of ill omen and evil, utterly inconceivable. We dispatched three Soul Douluo-level Inner Court Elders to exterminate them. In the end... two died, and one was gravely wounded."

"And from beginning to end, the other side only sent out one person. Someone even a few years younger than you... a 'Monster.'"

Moon's voice was flat and calm, as though he were narrating something completely unrelated to himself. Yet the cold, cruel truth contained in those words was like an invisible, heavy Great Hammer striking hard against Wang Dong's heart, making the last trace of color drain completely from her already pale Pretty Face.

"Now, tell me." Moon looked at Long Yao, those Profound Eyes like two bottomless Old Wells. "Faced with this brand-new evil power, unheard of and troublesome even for us, when this priceless treasure in your hands, which just so happens to record another brand-new, equally unheard-of 'path' capable of overturning the existing Soul Master cultivation system, appeared before this Old Man..."

"What choice should this Old Man make?"

"Should I hold fast to that so-called 'righteousness' of not stealing from juniors, then watch helplessly as, one day in the future, we are completely crushed and devoured by those endless, even more evil, even more powerful enemies?"

"Or... should I use any means necessary, exhaust every method, and firmly grasp this power that is enough to change the Battle Situation, perhaps even the future fate of the entire continent, in my own hands?"

He said nothing more, merely looking at him quietly.

He set a heavy, cruel, bloody question with no right answer at all, laid bare, right in front of Long Yao.

This was not a threat, much less a robbery.

This was something far more sophisticated, something no righteous person could possibly refuse... moral coercion.

And it was also... a true ultimate test of human nature.

"Junior understands. I can give it to you, but I need to keep a copy of the Hand-copied Manuscript," Long Yao said heavily after listening to what Mu En had said.

The Earth-Shattering Thunder's Wrath Tang Wan'er had imagined, powerful enough to raze the entire room to the ground, did not descend.

Even that Terrifying Pressure, enough to grind space itself down and shatter it completely, strangely vanished like smoke in that instant.

As if... it had never existed at all.

The entire room fell into an ultimate Deathly Stillness stranger and deeper than at any moment before.

That Old Man with White Hair and Beard, Moon, still carrying a faint trace of the terrifying lingering might of a Limit Douluo that had not yet fully dispersed, stood quietly where he was without moving.

His murky eyes, as if they bore ten thousand years of time, were fixed tightly on the Youth's face. In that gaze, there was no longer the judgment and Killing Intent from before, nor the fatigue and heaviness from after, much less the slightest pressure or coercion.

All that remained was a kind of... indescribable gratification, as though he were admiring the most perfect work of art he had finally Carved after exhausting his entire life's Heart's Blood—immeasurably complex, yet incomparably pure.

And hidden in the deepest part of that gratification was a trace, even he himself had not noticed, of deep affection that nearly overflowed.

Good!

Good!

What a... calm bearing before favor or disgrace, knowing when to advance and when to retreat!

What a... keen grasp of the situation, neither servile nor overbearing!

When faced with his death threat, filled with certain killing intent and enough to make any Titled Douluo's mind collapse, he had not bowed and scraped or begged like a dog. He had chosen to resist fiercely in the toughest, most uncompromising way, defending himself and also defending the dignity of his ancestor!

And when he moved him with emotion and convinced him with reason, pressing that heavy, bloody "greater good" tied to the safety of the entire continent down onto his shoulders like the heaviest of mountains, he had not been bound by those heavy moral Shackles, nor had he fallen into hesitation and confusion because of it.

He had simply made the clearest, most rational, and most correct judgment in the shortest possible time.

He understood. He could not keep that book.

Before the heavy label of "the continent's safety," any individual insistence seemed so pale and powerless. If he resisted to the end, the final result would only be mutual destruction.

So he chose to compromise.

But his compromise was not the kind of utterly defeated, unconditional retreat.

He wanted to keep a copy of the Hand-copied Manuscript.

This condition seemed insignificant, but in truth, it was an exquisitely brilliant move, filled with endless wisdom!

It both preserved his "ownership" of his ancestor's relic and showed the other side his "sincerity" and "value." More importantly, it instantly elevated him from a simple, passive "contributor" to the status of a "collaborator" who could stand on equal footing with the other party and possessed a certain right to speak!

This meant that from now on, if Shrek Academy wanted to study this book, it could not do without him, the descendant of the "original author"!

No one could steal this enormous merit, and no one could erase it!

And he would also naturally become the most important, indispensable link in Shrek Academy's future core strategy!

This mentality... this depth... this terrifying decisiveness that could still maintain absolute calm in a desperate situation and instantly make the Optimal Solution...

How was this still a sixteen-year-old Youth?!

This was clearly an Old Monster who had lived for thousands of years and had long since toyed with human hearts and power plays in the palm of his hand!

Yang Wudi, oh Yang Wudi...

Your Breaking Clan, stubborn for a lifetime and willing to break rather than bend, just what heaven-defying fortune did it stumble into to give birth, after a hundred years of dwindling bloodlines, to such a true, peerless monster... one who surpassed his predecessors!

"Heh heh..."

After an unknown amount of time, an aged, hoarse Light Laugh filled with the feeling of release slowly came from Mu En's mouth.

He smiled.

On that aged face, always tense and as still as an Old Well, it was as though a glacier that had not melted in ten thousand years had finally thawed. That smile was very faint, very shallow, yet it was filled with joy and gratification From the Heart that could not be concealed.

"Good."

He said only one word.

Yet it was as if he had said ten thousand words.

That word contained too many things: appreciation, acknowledgment, compromise, promise, and even a kind of... unreserved expectation an Elder held for a Junior he thought exceptionally highly of.

As that word fell, Wang Dong felt the nerve that had been stretched to its limit, almost to the point of snapping, suddenly loosen! A powerful exhaustion that nearly left her collapsed swept through her entire body in an instant!

She looked at the Youth beside her, who had been unbelievably calm from beginning to end, as if the person who had just confronted a Limit Douluo capable of destroying the continent had not been him at all. Her beautiful Pink Blue Eyes, which always carried a trace of pride, were completely filled by an even stronger, deeper, blazing emotion named "love" and "adoration," enough to drown her whole being.

This man...

Belonged to her.

And could only belong to her.

No matter what he had to face in the future, she would forever stand by his side, advancing and retreating together with him.

And at the other end of the room.

Tang Wan'er, who had been looking forward to a bloody feast all along, had every expression on her delicate Small Face, which had been filled with sick excitement, freeze completely in that instant.

Her Eyes, flickering with ominous ghostfire, stared fixedly at the Youth who slowly stepped forward and began discussing the specific details of the "Hand-copied Manuscript" with the Old Man. That gaze became incomparably, incomparably... complicated.

There was disappointment, resentment, jealousy, greed, wariness, excitement...

In the end, all those emotions turned into an even purer, even more terrifying, almost obsessive, intense... possessiveness!

For the first time, she felt an incomparably powerful impulse to take something completely and utterly for herself.

Not as the kind of "toy" she could play with in the palm of her hand and casually throw away once she grew tired of it.

But the kind of absolute possession where... she would completely knead him into her very bones and blood, carve him into her soul, make him, for all eternity, able to look only at her, able to listen only to her commands, able only... to become her most loyal, most perfect, and only "collection."

"Whew..."

Moon let out a long breath, as though he had set down a burden weighing a thousand catties. On his aged face, that unfathomable, unreadable calm returned once more.

He looked at Long Yao and slowly said, "In that case, regarding the matter of you two previously committing a serious violation of the competition rules during the New Student Competition..."

He paused, and a sly, old-fox-like glint flashed through his murky Eyes.

"...we will deal with it leniently."

"The decision to disqualify you from the competition remains unchanged. But any further punishment will be waived."

"In addition, as a reward for the great contribution you have made to the academy, and so that we may better 'assist' you in completing the transcription of this Hand-copied Manuscript..."

In a tone that brooked no argument and carried the weight of a final decision, he slowly announced:

"From today onward, you will officially become a reserve member of the Shrek Supervisory Group."

"And by special exception, you will have permission to enter the Sea God Pavilion at any time to consult relevant materials."

"Do you have any objections?"

Time: Douluo Calendar Year 2030 Season: Autumn Fourth day after enrollment Noon 12:30

Location: Shrek Academy, Central Plaza

Audience: 640,000

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 · One-Hundred-and-Ten-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

Spirit Bones: None

Soul Spirit: None

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