Before dawn, in a small town on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Yu Tiancheng woke from his sleep. His mind was still foggy, but instinct had already prompted him to check his diary reward first.
[Diary entry complete]
[Calculating rewards...]
[Basic reward: Overall improvement to physical fitness; the maximum age of Spirit Rings you can withstand increased by 500 years]
[Special reward: Obtained "Spatial Perception Enhancement"—increased ability to sense spatial fluctuations]
Almost as soon as the words appeared, a warm, surging current welled up from deep within him and rapidly spread through every limb.
Yu Tiancheng could clearly feel every strand of muscle tightening and strengthening.
His bones gave off faint crackling sounds as their density increased; the warm current coursed through his meridians, making them tougher and wider.
It felt as though a piece of ordinary iron had been thrown into a furnace and, after being tempered again and again, had been transformed.
Although his Soul Power Level had not changed, the foundations of his body—his strength, resilience, and ability to recover—had undergone a qualitative leap.
With a thought, he released his Time Dragon Emperor Martial Soul.
A faint, silvery Dragon Phantom appeared behind him. Most striking was the First Soul Ring encircling him.
Its purple hue had already been deeper than that of an ordinary Hundred-Year Soul Ring, but now it had grown even richer. The light flowing across its surface was denser and more restrained.
"As expected, even my innate Spirit Ring's age has increased," Yu Tiancheng murmured, a satisfied glint in his eyes.
He clenched his fist, feeling the surging power coursing through his veins and the astonishing resilience stored in his bones and muscles.
"An increase of 500 years to the limit... That means I can aim for a higher-age Spirit Beast for my Second Soul Ring."
He stood and stretched, his joints cracking crisply. "I have a lot more options now."
As he packed, his movements were meticulous and focused.
He carefully smoothed the wrinkles from his dark gray Stealth Cloak, folded it into a neat square, and put it in its designated spot in his Storage Ring.
He checked the provisions, drinking water, and medicine he had brought, making sure his dagger, rope, and other tools were within easy reach.
When he opened the door, the cool morning air washed over him, carrying the distinctive scent of the forest's plants and trees.
The town's streets were already active with early-rising Spirit Masters, gathered in twos and threes as they spoke quietly and checked their gear.
Every face held a mixture of solemnity and anticipation. Entering the Star Dou Great Forest was never a casual outing.
Yu Tiancheng took a deep breath and looked toward the vast, endless sea of dark-green trees in the distance, as though it had existed since time immemorial.
"The real test starts now."
The morning light was faint, and the mist among the trees had yet to disperse completely. Crystal-clear dew clung to the blades of grass.
Xiao Wu's long eyelashes fluttered a few times before she slowly opened her eyes.
The instant her mind fully awakened, an unprecedented, wondrous sensation enveloped her.
It was as if... the entire world around her had opened its arms to her.
The soft grass beneath her was no longer just a bed of ground cover. It felt like an extension of her body, warm and solid beneath her.
The breeze brushing her cheek was no longer merely moving air. She could "hear" the subtle differences as it passed through leaves of different shapes, and "feel" the moisture it carried from a distant stream and the faint fragrance of wildflowers somewhere nearby.
Even the slow breathing of the ancient tree not far away and the rustling activity of insects in the soil... all these sounds, scents, and rhythms of nature flowed clearly and harmoniously into her senses.
With the slightest stir of thought, her presence naturally blended into the surrounding environment.
Her breathing grew long and faint, her heartbeat seemed to match some rhythm in the forest, and even her body temperature seemed to adjust to the morning breeze's coolness.
[Because several people were mentioned the most yesterday]
[Entering the random draw pool]
[Congratulations, you were selected! Reward obtained: Natural Stealth Technique]
[Effect: Become one with the natural environment; those below the divine level will find it difficult to detect your presence]
The words that appeared in her mind made Xiao Wu's lively eyes fly wide open. An incredulous delight flashed through them.
"Wow..." she cheered silently, a tremendous sense of relief flooding her heart.
She cautiously tried to conceal that trace of her most fundamental, hardest-to-hide aura as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit.
It came from the very essence of a Spirit Beast, setting her apart from human Spirit Masters. It was also the flaw she had most feared a powerful expert might notice.
Now, it vanished without a trace, like a drop of water merging into the sea.
She could even sense that, at this moment, even if a Titled Douluo stood right in front of her, they would never discover anything unusual unless they focused their Spiritual Power to the utmost and searched her carefully and aggressively.
And if she deliberately hid herself, even that kind of probing might be disrupted and misled by the natural fluctuations of the environment.
This was practically... a protective charm tailor-made for her!
The corners of Xiao Wu's mouth lifted despite herself, but she quickly pressed her lips together, blinked, and suppressed her outward delight.
She turned her head and quickly scanned the camp from the corner of her eye.
Tang San sat cross-legged on a nearby bluestone, facing east, his eyes suffused with Purple Intent as he practiced the Purple Demon Eye.
Ning Rongrong had just sat up and was still rubbing her sleepy eyes.
Zhu Zhuqing was already dressed. Sitting on a fallen tree, she meticulously wiped her sharp cat claws with a soft cloth.
No one looked at her. No one showed any sign of noticing anything strange.
Xiao Wu let out a quiet breath and returned to her usual slightly languid, carefree self. She stretched widely, as if she had simply slept well.
Nearby, Ning Rongrong rubbed her eyes and sat up. Before her mind had fully awakened, the line of text had already appeared in her mind and vanished.
[Because several people were mentioned the most yesterday]
[Entering the random draw pool]
[Unfortunately, you were not selected]
She froze, still rubbing her eyes, her fingertips resting against her lashes.
A faint sense of disappointment seeped quietly into her heart, like the morning chill.
But that disappointment was soon replaced by stronger feelings: confirmation and contemplation.
"The reward mechanism is real... But there's actually a 'draw' involved?" Ning Rongrong lowered her hand, her gaze growing thoughtful.
"Then who was selected?" The question immediately occupied her mind.
She closed her eyes and swiftly retraced the diary's contents from the previous night.
Yu Tiancheng had mentioned several names, but she herself had appeared only once.
In other words, everyone mentioned once had been among the people mentioned the most.
Then the winner had to be one of those names.
"Xiao Wu? Zhu Zhuqing? Or... that Meng Yiran?"
At the thought, Ning Rongrong's heart gave a sudden jolt.
A more crucial question occurred to her: I'm not the only one with a Diary Copy!
The winner must also have a copy; otherwise, they wouldn't have received the reward.
And among the four people mentioned, at least one—and quite possibly more than one—also had that mysterious diary!
But she couldn't tell exactly who.
It could be Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, or Meng Yiran. It was even possible there was more than one.
Ning Rongrong opened her eyes. Her gaze seemed casual, but she studied her surroundings closely, glancing over Zhu Zhuqing as she wiped her claws before finally settling on Xiao Wu, who had just finished stretching and was leaning beside Tang San as she yawned.
Zhu Zhuqing's expression was as cool and focused as ever. Her movements were steady, and she showed no sign of anything unusual.
Xiao Wu also seemed just as she usually did, still wearing a sleepy, endearing look.
However, Ning Rongrong's powers of observation had been rigorously trained by the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
She keenly caught a slight inconsistency: Xiao Wu's breathing.
It was too faint, almost nonexistent.
If she hadn't deliberately focused her attention, she would have almost missed that someone was breathing there.
More than that, Xiao Wu was sitting right there, her figure clearly visible, yet she gave off a strange sense of "blending in."
She wasn't an incongruous presence on that patch of grass. Instead, she seemed as though she belonged there, a natural brushstroke in the morning scene, part of the light and shadows, an element that seemed meant to be there as the breeze passed.
"Could it be..." A suspicion rose in Ning Rongrong's heart. "Was it Xiao Wu? Was her reward... related to hiding and concealing her presence?"
The thought made her tense slightly. Without meaning to, she studied Xiao Wu more carefully for a few moments.
At almost the same time, Zhu Zhuqing's hands paused as she wiped her claws. The hesitation lasted barely a tenth of a second, almost too brief to notice.
She had received the same notification: she hadn't been selected.
A faint ripple stirred in the depths of her icy-blue eyes, then swiftly settled into absolute calm, like a fleeting gust across a snowy plain.
Long years of loneliness and self-preservation had honed her control over her emotions into instinct.
"Who was selected?" Her mind whirred into action, analyzing the question like a precision instrument.
She, too, immediately grasped the heart of the matter: there was more than one person with a Diary Copy.
The contents of the previous night's diary came clearly to mind: Yu Tiancheng had mentioned her once, along with four other people.
That meant the winner was one of those four, and had to be one of the owners.
Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, herself, or Meng Yiran.
As she adjusted her grip on her claws, Zhu Zhuqing's gaze slipped with perfect naturalness from the talons in her hand to Xiao Wu nearby.
Xiao Wu was tilting her head and speaking softly with Tang San, her face bright with her usual smile. She looked completely normal.
But Zhu Zhuqing was different.
Her Hell Spirit Cat Martial Soul gave her more than speed and claws. It also granted her the extreme sensitivity to her surroundings and to scents that came naturally to felines.
At this moment, Xiao Wu's presence felt... unusually faint to her.
That wasn't something that could be achieved by suppressing Soul Power or using concealment techniques.
Even the most advanced breath-concealing technique could only make one's aura "disappear," like an empty space.
But Xiao Wu's aura hadn't "disappeared." It had "melted"—into the freshness of the grass, the coolness of the morning breeze, and the faint smoky scent of the campfire's dying embers.
She was there, yet seemed to be everywhere, part of the harmonious rhythm of the environment itself.
This paradoxical unity of "being" and "not being," so perfectly natural, let Zhu Zhuqing reach her conclusion at once.
"Xiao Wu..." She was already seven or eight tenths certain.
Her gaze didn't linger. She continued to scan the camp in the same cool, measured manner, as if she were merely checking that it was safe.
When her eyes passed over Ning Rongrong, she noticed the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's young lady looking down, her slender, pale fingers absently twisting and kneading the corner of her skirt.
That tiny gesture betrayed her inner unease.
"Rongrong's watching Xiao Wu too." Zhu Zhuqing understood immediately. "It seems she noticed it too, or perhaps... she's reached the same conclusion."
The three young women sat in the camp that morning, each carrying a secret about the truth she partly knew. They watched and tested one another, yet tacitly maintained an outward calm, none of them speaking up.
A subtle, tense atmosphere spread silently through the camp.
Before you continue