Douluo: Unlocking the Great Secrets of the Human Body, Becoming a Heavenly Demon

"Then let's go. We'll take a look deeper inside—maybe there'll be a good show!"

Bai Xu and Gu Yue leaped back and forth across thick branches. After traveling only a few hundred meters, they came upon a battle between Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

"The Flame Lion King is fighting the Jade Crystal White Tiger," Gu Yue said softly.

Bai Xu had no intention of intervening. He was more interested in watching the show.

Roar!

Suddenly, a fierce and earth-shaking roar resounded through the heavens from afar. The Thousand-Year Soul Beasts trembled in fear upon hearing it and immediately retreated in the opposite direction, fleeing without a fight.

"That's... the roar of a Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear." Drawing on his experience fighting the guardian in the Spirit Ascension Platform, Bai Xu identified the Soul Beast.

"It sounds like it's fighting. Shall we go take a look?"

"Let's go!"

This time, Bai Xu wrapped them both in his spiritual power and simultaneously activated his Fourth Soul Skill—Good Luck—quietly approaching the source of the sound.

Within the valley, thunderous booms rang out without end. Two masses of light were colliding at high speed.

Bai Xu and Gu Yue crouched nearby, secretly watching the battle.

Both masses of light were enormous, each more than thirty meters in diameter. Every collision felt like it could shake the mountains and earth, and the shockwaves were thrown up by their clashes.

"That's... a Three-Eyed Golden Lion!" Gu Yue was slightly surprised. She had not expected Shrek's technology to preserve the original form of the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. If they killed it, it might even drop a spiritual-attribute soul bone.

The Three-Eyed Golden Lion's entire body resembled translucent crystal, carrying an extraordinary texture. Its overall shape was much like a lion's, but its four claws were like those of a dragon, each dragon claw stepping upon a cluster of golden flames. Its mouth was also somewhat longer than that of lion-type Soul Beasts. Beneath its fur seemed to be fine golden scales. Besides its two ordinary eyes, it possessed a third eye. What was strange was that this third eye had a vertical pupil.

Its two normal eyes gleamed gold, while its vertical pupil radiated red—a somewhat eerie red.

"A Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear battling a Three-Eyed Golden Lion. Both are of considerable age, though neither has reached ten thousand years."

Gu Yue said, "But they could crush us effortlessly right now. This probably isn't the assessment target, but it led us here."

Bai Xu said instead, "Don't you think this Three-Eyed Golden Lion resembles that luck-bearing Soul Beast from ten thousand years ago?"

"Of course I thought of her, but she already sacrificed herself to Huo Yuhao. What can be done about it?"

Gu Yue gave a bitter smile. "Back then, I never understood why a darling of the Soul Beasts would sacrifice herself to a human. Thinking about it now, she probably fell in love with Huo Yuhao. Unfortunately, she never ended up by Huo Yuhao's side."

"There was another reason behind it. Someone plotted against the Auspicious Beast."

!!!

Bai Xu's shocking words made Gu Yue turn to look at him. "Who was it?"

"Who else could plot against the Auspicious Beast right beneath the noses of you and Di Tian?"

Gu Yue blurted out, "The God Realm... Sea God Tang San?"

Bai Xu nodded. "That's right."

At the same time, he summoned Da Huang and said, "Explain what happened ten thousand years ago to her."

The Spirit of the Plane nodded and transmitted, "Ten thousand years ago, the plane put everything on the line to give birth to Huo Yuhao, the Child of Fortune of that era. Unexpectedly, the God Realm had long set its sights on him. The God King's daughter descended to the lower realm and accompanied his growth. The two formed a bond and became childhood sweethearts.

"But the God King's scheme did not end there. He split his daughter's soul in two, and one part was placed within the Auspicious Beast of that time. He used the fortune of the Star Dou Great Forest as a stepping stone for his daughter, thereby firmly controlling the Child of Fortune."

"Damn Sea God! The Auspicious Beast was the hope for the rise of Soul Beasts back then! I never expected the God Realm to begin scheming against Soul Beasts so early. Could it be that even the previous hiding place was part of his plan?" Gu Yue gritted her teeth. Suddenly realizing something, she wondered whether her existence had been exposed long ago.

"More or less," Bai Xu replied.

It was the first time he had given such an ambiguous answer.

Rumble! A mountain-shaking roar suddenly erupted. The entire valley began to tremble violently.

A sharp howl rang out. The airflow suddenly intensified, and the two giant beasts fought farther and farther away through the valley, heading into the distance.

It was a long, narrow valley, and no one knew where its end led.

The roars grew fainter, and the figures of the two giant beasts gradually vanished beyond the edge of their sight.

Bai Xu stood up and smiled. "Let's go. The real content of the assessment is here."

He led Gu Yue toward the cave guarded by the Three-Eyed Golden Lion. The cave was pitch-black, but once they entered, they discovered a different world inside.

The height of the cave soon exceeded five meters, and it became increasingly spacious.

After turning a corner, a faint glow flickered ahead.

All kinds of gemstones began appearing on the ground, each giving off a dim glimmer.

But what surprised them most was the young Three-Eyed Golden Lion in its nest. She growled low in warning at the intruders, trying to drive them away.

Looking at the cub, Gu Yue gave a bitter smile. "Are you going to kill her? A spiritual-attribute skull bone should suit you well."

"It would suit me quite well." Bai Xu instantly activated his Third Soul Skill, Mental Domination. The cub struggled, but her spiritual power could not match Bai Xu's overwhelming force, and her mind was controlled.

Then, Bai Xu began feeling up the Three-Eyed Golden Lion as though she were his own pet.

He patted her head, smoothed her golden fur, and curiously examined her third eye.

Feeling the texture beneath his hands, he could not help sighing. "It would be great if I had a living one. I want to raise one."

Gu Yue was dumbfounded. "Raise one... Only you could come up with that.

"But judging by the way you're acting, you don't seem to want to kill her?"

Bai Xu smiled. "Of course not. Do you want to see me grow bone spurs? And they wouldn't even be my own bones. If it were a Supreme Bone, maybe I'd struggle with it internally for a moment."

"Let's go."

Bai Xu released Mental Domination. Looking at the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, whose spirit had returned, he truly found it a pity. Yet the corners of his mouth curled upward without him noticing. The two ended the assessment and returned to the real world.

"Not bad, not bad. You little ones were able to withstand the temptation of the Auspicious Beast—you've passed. Who knows how many teams came here and ended up failing because they fought over the distribution of the Auspicious Beast's soul bone? There's no need to take the tenth trial. You've passed. Welcome to Shrek!"

In the end, an elderly man gave the ruling and announced Bai Xu and Gu Yue's admission.

Gu Yue followed behind Bai Xu absentmindedly, deep in thought. Finally, she asked something unexpected. "Bai Xu, what is a Supreme Bone? Is it a soul bone?"

He always used terms beyond Gu Yue's understanding.

Bai Xu's mouth twitched. He did not know how to answer.

A teacher specifically led them to a house behind a patch of woods on the west side of Spirit Ice Plaza, then stopped. "This is the dormitory for you Work-Study Students. Find your room according to the number on your key. Classes officially begin the day after tomorrow. Just follow the requirements issued by the Academic Affairs Office. I'll be leaving now."

Looking at the shabby little building, Bai Xu thought of the university dormitories that ranked at the bottom in videos from his previous life. He could not say they were identical, only that they were extremely similar.

The low building had only one floor and was visibly rundown. A patch of woods stood in front of it, but it felt as though those trees existed mainly to hide the place from view and spare people the embarrassment.

There seemed to be over twenty single-story rooms here, their walls mottled and peeling. Some of the houses did not even have glass in their windows, leaving them looking utterly decrepit.

Walking down the dim, deep corridor, Gu Yue glanced at the room number on her key and sighed. "You really did know it would be one room."

"You were the one who wanted to be a Work-Study Student with me, so don't call me a pervert. Besides, we're only a little over twelve. But Gu Yue... although you've become more tactful, you still aren't good at hiding your emotions. You've fallen for me."

Gu Yue's steps visibly halted. Her momentary shock made her pull several paces away from Bai Xu, after which she said seriously, "Yes. I have—for you."

Bai Xu turned back and looked at Gu Yue, who stood where she was. He smiled, then continued forward. "Then you'd better prepare yourself mentally."

Gu Yue smiled as well, her steps becoming light. "I know. A hundred years from now, we might not both achieve our wishes, so we must cherish the present even more. No matter who has the last laugh, at least when one of us stands atop the continent and looks back, there will be more memories to savor through the rest of our life."

"Oh? You've become much more clear-minded."

The two stood before a worn wooden door. After confirming the room number, they opened it with the key. The room was about thirty square meters, but it contained only an iron bunk-bed frame—not even bed boards. There was nothing else.

The floor was thick with dust. Fortunately, the windows were intact, and the light bulb still worked.

"Looks like the living conditions are pretty rough," Bai Xu sighed, as faint ripples began spreading across his body.

Water flowed outward from his body, sweeping through the entire room, carrying away the dust and washing the walls. Bai Xu waved his hand, scattering several streaks of golden light. The upper and lower bunks were cut through at the middle, while branches growing from the gaps between the floor tiles caught the falling bed frame and steadily lowered it against the opposite wall.

Watching Bai Xu's actions, Gu Yue could not help praising him. "You handle elemental power even more skillfully than I do. Cleaning is so efficient with you."

Bai Xu smiled. "It's not only combat that trains one's techniques. Come on, let's go buy some daily necessities."

"Mm. But Work-Study Students have to receive assigned tasks from the academy. It seems we need to clean Spirit Ice Plaza regularly."

The two chatted as they walked. The vast first-floor corridor contained only them, while it seemed that people lived on the second floor as well, though they did not know them.

Just then, the Spirit of the Plane appeared on its own. Taking Da Huang's form, it lay upon Bai Xu's shoulder and said, "I sense the aura of another plane—the Demon Plane. I remember that the person carrying a seed from that plane seems to be called Yuanen Yehui."

Gu Yue asked curiously, "The Demon Plane?"

The Spirit of the Plane explained, "In the universe, many planes are constantly growing and being destroyed. Through the projection power of its own plane, the Demon Plane can plant an evil demon seed within a human Soul Master, causing the Soul Master to mutate. Yuanen Yehui's mother was one such case. Those Soul Masters implanted with demon seeds become spies for the Demon Plane, lurking within other planes. Once a suitable opportunity arises, they open the Demon Gate and connect it to the Demon Plane."

Bai Xu said, "You want to devour the Demon Plane?"

"Hehe, if my lord becomes powerful enough, then I do."

"Then we'll have to wait a while. We can deal with Yuanen Yehui later as well. Once you devour the Demon Plane, can you contend with Tang Hao?"

"Probably."

"Good."

Listening to their conversation, Gu Yue could not help feeling speechless. "Shouldn't a threat like this be eliminated immediately? Why leave behind a potential risk?"

The Spirit of the Plane turned around and jumped onto Gu Yue's shoulder. "If the plane developed according to its original course, this problem would be left for the Child of Fortune to resolve. But I need to recover, so I can only trouble my lord."

Gu Yue asked doubtfully, "You're so certain that once he grows up, he can fight an entire plane alone? Even before I recover my strength, I can't do that."

Da Huang patted Gu Yue's forehead and said, "There are many secrets between planes. Showing respect for unknown existences is the most basic common sense. But I feel that among these myriad heavens and worlds, where great power rests within oneself, there are almost no planes weaker than ours."