Shrek Academy Ten Thousand Years Later

Dugu Yan had never seen Dugu Bo this angry.

She was frightened senseless.

Just then, when Qian Renxue saw Dugu Bo lose his temper, she once again put on a protective front for Dugu Yan. "Senior, please do not be angry. This has nothing to do with Yanyan. I was the one who misunderstood."

Seeing this, Dugu Bo became even more furious. His Highness the Crown Prince was such a fine person, and he was still protecting her now—so how could she secretly find another man behind his back?

"Your Highness the Crown Prince, Dugu Yan has been blinded by foolish infatuation. Let me deal with her first. I will certainly straighten her out properly and make her forget that blond brat Yu Tianheng."

Dugu Bo grabbed Dugu Yan and flew away, looking as though he intended to give her a vicious scolding.

Dugu Yan had no idea what was going on and wept pitifully.

Qian Renxue put on an act behind them, chasing after them as she shouted, "No, Senior, please don't!"

Once Dugu Bo had vanished from sight, she stopped acting and let out a sigh of relief. "You managed to fool him. You even made use of Dugu Yan's secret crush on Yu Tianheng."

"As long as we start with a little framing, this matter can be quietly brushed aside."

It was impossible for Dugu Yan to like Xue Qinghe, because she had long since fallen for Yu Tianheng.

No matter how Dugu Bo beat or scolded her, Dugu Yan would refuse to give up Yu Tianheng no matter what.

Therefore, even if Dugu Bo desperately wanted Xue Qinghe and Dugu Yan to be together, it would ultimately fall through because of Dugu Yan's persistence.

Lin Yu strolled over from behind and continued, "After that, Dugu Bo won't come looking for you either. He can't even handle his own granddaughter's problems, so why would he come looking for you?"

"You can simply pretend this never happened. Dugu Bo will not come looking for you again."

Qian Renxue looked at Lin Yu's effortless composure and showed an admiring expression. "Although your methods are not exactly honorable, I have to admit that you understand how to manipulate human nature extremely well."

"It seems you have already reached the pinnacle."

Snow Empress said, "Qian Renxue, if you had experienced what I went through the first two times, you would know that he is especially skilled at calculating human nature. It is something he was born with."

"Back on the Extreme North Plains, he even schemed against me, a Rank 9 Soul Engineer."

"Then he started plotting against you after your Divine Seat shattered."

"He has endless tricks."

"He is simply a natural-born villain."

Lin Yu said, "Thank you for the compliment. Although you all call me bad, you are actually praising me in reverse. I can already feel it."

"And next, there are even worse things for us to do."

"I believe this trip will not disappoint you either."

The Starry Express Martial Soul in his hand began to glow, and the surging currents of time became even more dazzling.

After his Soul Power reached Rank 20, the expanded phantom of the Starry Express Martial Soul became more solid. It curved and stretched like a long dragon.

Lin Yu could sense that as he formed contracts with more companions, this Starry Express would eventually become like the one in Honkai: Star Rail and solidify into reality.

Perhaps by then, even without him, the Starry Express would travel through countless worlds on its own, roaming without end.

And now, it was time for another warp.

Time became hazy and began to shift. Before long, they arrived ten thousand years in the future.

Time: Ten thousand years later

Location: Shrek Academy

Lin Yu appeared amid a lush green forest. As he pushed aside the leaves, the scent of the sea rushed toward him.

A luxurious city stood upon the sea according to the anime setting. The surroundings were incomparably open, while the azure sky spread out like a gauzy veil.

Within the Spiritual Sea of Consciousness, Qian Renxue's figure solidified, and she and Snow Empress took in the sight together.

"Is this the continent ten thousand years later?"

"Shrek Academy has actually developed to the scale of an entire city."

The bridge was extraordinarily broad, enough for seven or eight carriages to pass side by side. Yet where it connected to that enormous structure, it appeared incomparably tiny.

Lin Yu, walking atop the bridge, looked like nothing more than an ant.

He looked up at this supercity. "This is the next stop in our journey."

Within the city, Lin Yu found an inn and settled in.

Although he had no identification, when he handed an Ancient Gold Coin he had received from Snow Empress to the owner of an antique shop, the man immediately and eagerly helped him create an identity card. It took only half a day.

With that, staying at the inn came naturally enough.

Qian Renxue said, "That Ancient Gold Coin seems quite valuable. Otherwise, the owner of that antique shop would not have been so attentive. Is it not a little wasteful to trade it merely for an identity card and some Gold Soul Coins?"

Snow Empress smiled. "It is fine, Xiaoxue. I still have many such coins." With a casual flick of her sleeve, countless Ancient Gold Coins spilled out, piling into a small mountain within the Spiritual Sea of Consciousness.

After one small mountain was piled up, another began to rise.

Lin Yu said, "Are you a dragon? How did you collect so many gold coins?"

Snow Empress lounged lazily in the air, recalling the past. "That happened several thousand years ago. I secretly went to the human world to learn dancing. At the time, I arrived at a castle and found that it contained many gold coins, so I took them while I was there."

Lin Yu realized that Snow Empress had not merely taken a few, because after piling up two small mountains of Ancient Gold Coins, she began stacking a third.

She had practically emptied every gold coin from that castle.

Thanks to that, Lin Yu no longer had to worry about money. The currency on the Douluo Continent ten thousand years later was different: Gold Soul Coins, Silver Soul Coins, and Bronze Soul Coins were in circulation. At first, he had been considering how to get some money.

That night, Lin Yu, Qian Renxue, and Snow Empress held a discussion.

"After absorbing a Thousand-Year Spirit Ring, my physique has been strengthened further. This time, the time limit has increased somewhat, giving us a three-month buffer."

"But reaching Rank 30 within three months is still no easy task."

"Even if I can reach Rank 30 and absorb the next Soul Ring to temporarily overcome this crisis, going from Rank 30 to Rank 40 will be another major hurdle. It will be far harder than before, and the remaining time will be extremely tight."

"So this time, we must plan for the long term and consider how to quickly advance from Rank 20 to Rank 40."

After absorbing the Thousand-Year Spirit Ring earlier, Lin Yu's physique had been strengthened, granting him greater vitality and allowing him to temporarily delay the deaths of both Snow Empress and himself.

Unfortunately, Snow Empress's mortal wounds were not so easily resolved. Only a Level-100 God could completely solve them.

For now, they could only do everything possible to delay it.

Lin Yu said, "At present, the mainstream method of increasing Soul Power is cultivation. But in these three months, I can at most increase by one or two ranks, which will not help much. Therefore, as we discussed before, the urgent priority is to find Ma Xiaotao in Shrek Academy and form a contract with her."

"However, Ma Xiaotao has always been in Shrek Academy's Inner Court. There are many Titled Douluo inside, as well as Mu En, a Limit Douluo. If I use the Starry Express to warp in, it will be very easy for them to discover my traces."