"Short Rest"

Shrek City, the heartland of Douluo Continent, was more prosperous than any other city in the world. The inn Long Yao had chosen, named "Rose and Griffin," was one of the finest in the city. Its lobby was covered in a thick dark-red carpet that made no sound beneath one's feet, while the air carried the faint mingled fragrance of calming incense and precious wood. The guests passing through were either wealthy or noble; there were rich merchants as well as powerful Soul Masters whose auras were restrained but whose gazes were sharp.

Led respectfully by an attendant, Long Yao entered the Heavenly Character suite on the top floor. The room was astonishingly spacious. From its enormous floor-to-ceiling window, he could take in the nightscape of more than half of Shrek City. In the distance, the grounds of Shrek Academy were brightly lit, like a dazzling pearl beneath the night curtain, radiating an aura of sanctity and inviolability.

He casually threw himself onto the soft velvet sofa. With a thought, the semi-transparent livestream interface, visible only to him, opened at once, its gentle glow illuminating his interested face.

[Highest Priority command received: Retrieve the target person's current detailed location.]

[Activating wide-range causality probe... locking onto marked individuals...]

[Analyzing data stream... estimated time: 15 seconds...]

On the screen, a sophisticated radar display slowly rotated. Countless points of light flickered and moved across it, representing every independent lifeform in this world. Several specially marked points were being enlarged and analyzed by the system one by one.

The livestream room viewers immediately grew excited as well.

[Keyboard Warrior Ninth-Rank Elder]: It's here, it's here! Streamer, this cheat is insane—it's a human GPS! Even better than Sky Net!

[Old Driver of Qiūmíng Mountain]: Staying in such a nice hotel while checking on his opponents' movements—the streamer is strategizing from within the command tent and winning from a thousand miles away! He's got that domineering CEO vibe now!

[Lust is the Primary Productive Force]: Hurry, hurry, hurry! Let me see what the wives are doing! Is Dong'er almost here? Is Senior Sister Ma Xiaotao taking a bath? Hehehehe!

[Defeat the Hypocritical Tang San]: This is how a strong person should act! Intelligence always comes first! Figure out everyone's movements before making a move, then handle them however you want!

Fifteen seconds later, the radar display froze. The first profile, locked within a golden border, appeared in the center of the screen in the form of a live video feed.

[Target Person Real-Time Status: Huo Yuhao]
Scene: Star Luo Empire border, on a rugged path leading toward Star Dou Forest. Night had already fallen, and cold moonlight spilled through the woods, casting strange, mottled tree shadows.

In the footage, a thinly clothed, frail youth trudged forward with difficulty, taking deep steps and shallow ones. His delicate small face was covered in dust and sweat, and his lips were cracked from thirst, yet unyielding flames burned in his bright eyes. He was Huo Yuhao, who had just escaped from the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

He tightly clutched a somewhat worn cloth bundle to his chest. Inside was the sole relic his mother had left him. Whenever exhaustion nearly made him unable to continue, he would touch the cold dagger inside the bundle—the White Tiger Dagger—as though he could draw a trace of strength from it.

"Mother... don't worry. I'll definitely become a Soul Master..." Huo Yuhao muttered, his voice trembling slightly from cold and exhaustion. "Once I become stronger, I'll definitely go back and make them pay for everything they did to you!"

He raised his head toward the dark depths of Star Dou Forest. His eyes were filled with confusion about the future, but even more so with the resolve to stake everything on one throw. He had no idea that he was stepping into the great wheel of fate, one step at a time, while the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm that had slept for a million years had already sensed this unusual spiritual fluctuation and was slowly awakening.

[Character Status Panel]

Name: Huo Yuhao

Age: 11

Height: 155 cm

Hair: Black short hair, slightly messy

Eye Color: Ink blue, deep and bright

Martial Soul: Spirit Eyes

Soul Power Level: Level 10 (awakened, no Spirit Ring added)

Number of Spirit Rings: 0

Spirit Ring Colors: None

Spirit Skills: Spirit Detection, Spirit Sharing

The scene switched, and the second profile, locked within a pink-gold border, emerged.

[Target Person Real-Time Status: Wang Dong (Tang Wutong)]

Scene: Shrek City, on a bustling street near the south city gate.

In stark contrast to Huo Yuhao's bedraggled state, "Wang Dong" looked relaxed and at ease. She had changed into a clean and crisp blue fitted outfit, making her already handsome features appear even more valiant. Her soft pink blue long hair was neatly tied behind her head. As she walked through the crowd, her rate of attracting glances was one hundred percent; whether young ladies or little wives, none could stop themselves from repeatedly stealing looks at this "young handsome guy."

At that moment, she was looking around the stalls on either side of the street like a Curious Baby. Holding a freshly bought skewer of candied hawthorn, she ate with great relish while using her beautiful big eyes to examine this novel mortal world.

Wow... so this is the Douluo Continent Father told me about? There are so many fun things here! she thought in amazement. It's much more fun than the God Realm! But... where exactly is that "interesting person" Father told me to find? Shrek Academy is so big. How am I supposed to find him?

She licked the sugar syrup from the corner of her lips, a hint of cunning flashing through her beautiful eyes.

Whatever! Since I'm already here, I'll have fun for a few days first! Tomorrow, I'll report to that Shrek Academy or whatever it is. I want to see what impressive people a mortal academy can teach!

She did not realize at all that a faint, almost imperceptible divine thought from the Asura God, like the most sophisticated radar, was covering the hundred meters around her, vigilantly watching for any existence that might harbor ill intentions toward her.

[Character Status Panel]

Name: Wang Dong (True Name: Tang Wutong)

Height: 160 cm

Hair: Pink blue short hair (currently female disguised as male)

Eye Color: Pink blue, clear as crystal

Martial Soul: Light Goddess Butterfly

Soul Power Level: Level 22 (Soul Grandmaster)

Number of Spirit Rings: 2

Spirit Ring Colors: Yellow, purple

Spirit Skills: Butterfly God's Light, Winged Saber

The third scene was colored in scorching crimson.

[Target Person Real-Time Status: Ma Xiaotao]

Scene: Shrek Academy, Inner Court, inside a cultivation quiet room reinforced with special runes.

The walls and floor of the room were all forged from Sunken Silver capable of absorbing flame energy. Ma Xiaotao sat cross-legged at the center of the quiet room, her fiery red long hair drifting eerily without wind. Fine beads of sweat covered her stunningly beautiful, mature face, and her expression was twisted in pain.

Streams of dark red flame spilled uncontrollably from her body. Mixed within the fire were violent, lustful, and frenzied negative auras—the evil fire brought about by her Martial Soul Mutation.

"Damn it... it's happening again..." Ma Xiaotao gritted her silver teeth, her ample chest heaving violently. She desperately circulated her Soul Power, trying to suppress the evil thoughts that were nearly burning away her sanity. "Teacher Yan... Elder Xuan... I... I can't suppress it much longer..."

She felt as if even her blood were burning. All sorts of shameful and violent illusions continuously surfaced in her mind, while a primal destructive desire and impulse frantically battered her will. She knew that once she completely lost control, the consequences would be unimaginable.

[Character Status Panel]

Name: Ma Xiaotao

Age: 19

Height: 176 cm

Hair: Fiery red long wavy hair

Eye Color: Brownish red (turns crimson when the evil fire acts up)

Martial Soul: Evil Fire Phoenix

Soul Power Level: Level 67 (Soul Emperor)

Number of Spirit Rings: 6

Spirit Ring Colors: Yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black

Spirit Skills: Phoenix Fire Line, Phoenix Reborn from Flames, Phoenix Wing Soars, Phoenix Sky-Shaking Strike, Phoenix Meteor Shower, Phoenix Cloud-Piercing Strike

Immediately afterward, two other familiar figures appeared in the footage.

[Target Person Real-Time Status: Bei Bei & Tang Ya]
Scene: Also on the road leading to Star Dou Forest, roughly a dozen kilometers away from Huo Yuhao's location.

"Xiao Ya, it's getting dark. Let's find somewhere to rest first." The refined and gentle Bei Bei spoke to the young girl beside him with a doting expression. The girl was Tang Ya, the current Sect Master of the Tang Sect. She wore tight leather clothes, and though her figure was petite, she gave off a heroic air.

"No, Bei Bei, we need to hurry." Tang Ya shook her head, her pretty face full of stubbornness. "If our Tang Sect can't recruit even one student this year, the academy will probably revoke our qualifications... I absolutely can't let the Tang Sect decline in my hands!"

By the end, her eyes had reddened slightly.

Bei Bei sighed heartbrokenly and pulled her into his arms. "Don't worry. You have me. We'll definitely find suitable candidates and restore the Tang Sect. Look, Star Dou Forest is just ahead. Maybe our opportunity is waiting there."

He looked ahead, a nearly imperceptible gleam flashing through his eyes. As Mu En's designated successor of the next generation, the burden on his shoulders was no lighter.

[Bei Bei - Character Status Panel]

Name: Bei Bei

Height: 178 cm

Hair: Blue short hair

Eye Color: Blue

Martial Soul: Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon

Soul Power Level: Level 38 (Soul Elder)

Number of Spirit Rings: 3

Spirit Ring Colors: Yellow, yellow, purple

Spirit Skills: Thunder's Wrath, Thunder Dragon Claw, Thunderous Might

[Tang Ya - Character Status Panel]

Name: Tang Ya

Height: 165 cm

Hair: Black long hair

Eye Color: Black

Martial Soul: Blue Silver Grass

Soul Power Level: Level 26 (Soul Grandmaster)

Number of Spirit Rings: 2

Spirit Ring Colors: Yellow, yellow

Spirit Skills: Binding, Parasitism

Once all the real-time feeds had finished playing, the system screen returned to its initial interface.

[Intelligence retrieval complete. Based on the target persons' current locations and conditions, the optimal course of action has been planned for you.]

Time: Douluo Calendar Year 2030, autumn, 8:10 PM

Location: Shrek City, "Rose and Griffin" Inn, Heavenly Character suite

Viewers: 15,883

Equipment: Vast Sea Ring

Items: Copper Spirit Coin x90

Martial Souls:
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: Concealed by Vast Sea Ring; external perception reads Level 24]

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

[Chaos Holy Dragon] First Spirit Ring (Black · Thirteen-Thousand-Year), Second Spirit Ring (Black · Twenty-Eight-Thousand-Year), Third Spirit Ring (Black · Forty-Six-Thousand-Year), Fourth Spirit 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 Spirits: None

Reward Stash: [Million-Year Spirit Beast Inverse Scale]