Meng Yiran, Who Cannot Be Changed (Happy New Year)

In another part of the forest, Meng Yiran's temporary dwelling.

Meng Yiran stepped out of the tent, inhaling a deep breath of the crisp air, a trace of grogginess from just waking still lingering in her violet eyes.

Not selected.

The prompt was simple and direct, but the feelings it brought were far more complex.

A flicker of disappointment brushed lightly across her heart like a feather—she had indeed looked forward to that miraculous reward.

But immediately after, a stronger surge of excitement followed.

"At least this completely proves the diary is real. The reward mechanism, the lottery... it's all true."

Meng Yiran tightened her grip on the snake-head staff in her hand; its icy touch sharpened her clarity. "And I've figured out part of the rules."

So, who was it that got that luck?

"Ning Rongrong? Xiao Wu? Zhu Zhuqing?"

She silently recited the three names that had appeared alongside hers most frequently in last night's diary.

According to the "spoiler" direction in Yu Tiancheng's diary, there was a high chance she would encounter these people from Shrek Academy today.

If it had been two days ago, knowing she was destined to "lose" the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent, she would have stomped her feet in frustration, filled with defiance.

But now, her mindset had already changed.

That "foreknowledge" gave her a perspective that transcended the current situation.

Compared to temporary gains and losses, she was more concerned with the vast world revealed by that mysterious diary, and... the others who held it.

"When I meet them, I must observe carefully."

Meng Yiran made up her mind. "Watch their expressions, their movements, their aura... any subtle anomaly could point to who got the reward, and further, who else... possesses the diary."

"Yiran, are you ready? Time to set out."

Dragon Duke Meng Shu's deep voice came from behind, interrupting her thoughts.

Meng Yiran turned around, her face already wearing her usual bright smile tinged with stubbornness: "I'm ready, Grandpa. We can leave anytime."

A barely perceptible glimmer of anticipation flickered in her eyes.

Today, she would obtain her third Spirit Ring.

At the same time, she looked forward to the "encounter" with Shrek Academy, and even more so...

Whether she could meet the boy who wrote that diary, Yu Tiancheng, somewhere in the vast forest. She had too many questions she wanted to ask him face to face.

Star Dou Great Forest, edge of the Mixed Zone.

Towering ancient trees layered their canopies, cutting the sky into fragments. Light filtered through the gaps, forming slanted pillars of radiance, with billions of dust motes floating in the air.

Yu Tiancheng stood at the forest's edge, making a final check of his equipment.

His dark gray cloak was already draped over him, the hood pulled up to cover most of his face.

He took a deep breath, the air saturated with the depth of humus, the mellow scent of century-old trees, and the interwoven vitality and dangerous secrecy of countless living creatures.

He lifted his foot and formally stepped into this ancient, mysterious, and perilous realm of Spirit Beasts.

Beneath his feet was a soft, thick layer of fallen leaves, silent with every step.

His newly acquired Spatial Perception Enhancement now displayed its astonishing utility.

His perception seemed to have been granted a new pair of "eyes."

He could not only "see," hear, and smell, but also "feel" the subtle ripples in space itself.

Fifty meters to his front left, a squirrel leaped from one branch to another. Its light weight and instantaneous burst of force sent an almost imperceptible ripple through space, which he captured with precision.

A hundred meters to his right rear, a colorful venomous snake slithered under dense underbrush. Its body, hugging the ground as it moved, disturbed the space like an underwater current, clear and distinguishable.

Further away, a large creature seemed to be moving slowly. Each step caused more noticeable spatial tremors. Direction, distance, even an approximate weight—all sketched a vague outline in Yu Tiancheng's perception.

"This ability... in the forest, it's like a tiger gaining wings."

Yu Tiancheng rejoiced inwardly, his vigilance at its peak, yet his movements grew more composed.

This meant he could detect lurking predators earlier, avoid certain Spirit Beasts' territories more precisely, and track his targets more effectively.

His chances of survival and the success rate of his hunts had both greatly increased.

Like a gray shadow, he moved silently between giant trees and vines, fully utilizing terrain and shadows to avoid open areas.

Spatial Perception acted like an invisible radar, spreading outward from him and feeding back the "spatial movements" within a hundred meters in real time.

Time passed in silent, tense movement. About an hour later—

Ahead, the originally regular and rich natural spatial fluctuations were suddenly broken by a series of intense, chaotic disturbances!

The roar of Spirit Power collisions, the shockwaves of energy bursts, and the shouts of human Spirit Masters mixed with the roars of Spirit Beasts...

All tangled together, transmitted through the dense layers of forest.

Yu Tiancheng's steps halted instantly. He lowered his body slightly, fully concealing himself behind a clump of thick ferns.

"Situation." His eyes sharpened, and his Spatial Perception extended cautiously like a probing tendril toward the conflict zone ahead.

The group from Shrek Academy stood in a tense standoff with the old woman gripping a serpent-headed staff.

Between them, a serpent-shaped Spirit Beast with a bright red fleshy crown on its head, several meters long, its wings mottled and already severely injured, lay gasping on the ground—it was the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent.

And standing beside the old woman, clutching the Serpent Cane tightly, her pretty face laced with frost, was none other than Meng Yiran.

"As expected... so this is the power of 'plot'?"

Yu Tiancheng sighed inwardly, feeling a strange sensation of witnessing a historical scroll slowly unfurl before his eyes.

He hid himself deep in the shadows, his gaze like a calm lens, slowly sweeping over everyone present:

Zhao Wuji, his expression grave, his spirit power held back but ready; the Snake Dowager Chao Tianxiang, her eyes sharp, her aura subtly linked to the surrounding environment.

The Shrek students, tense yet excited; and Meng Yiran, her face full of reluctance, a fighting spirit blazing in her violet eyes.

He lingered a moment longer on the girls—Ning Rongrong seemed calm, but her fingers curled slightly; Zhu Zhuqing was as cold as ever, but her stance seemed more guarded than usual; Xiao Wu leaned against Tang San, her big eyes darting curiously, her aura... somehow, felt fainter than usual, more blended into the background.

But these subtle details didn't trigger any particular alarm in Yu Tiancheng.

His mindset at this moment was more like that of a passerby who happened to stumble upon this scene and wanted no trouble.

After all, according to the "story" he knew, this conflict, though fraught with twists, held no real malice or life-or-death crisis, and the outcome was already set.

"This is the destined trajectory..."

He murmured to himself, having no intention of doing anything that might interfere with the "plot," merely observing quietly, confirming the images from his diary and memory.

The atmosphere in the clearing was taut as a bowstring, the dispute reaching a critical point.

Chao Tianxiang proposed that Oscar and Meng Yiran compete to decide the Spirit Beast's ownership; Zhao Wuji refused on the grounds that Oscar was a food-type Spirit Master, and ultimately Tang San stepped forward to represent Oscar.

Yu Tiancheng watched as Meng Yiran took a deep breath, gripped her serpent-headed staff, and stepped forward.

In those violet eyes, the light of refusal to lose nearly overflowed, but if one looked closely, there seemed to be a trace of something extremely complex, something beyond mere competitive desire—a probing.

"The main event begins." Yu Tiancheng focused his attention.

The duel unfolded in a flash.

Tang San struck first; Blue Silver Grass vines burst from the ground, instantly coiling toward Meng Yiran.

Meng Yiran reacted swiftly, her spirit rings flaring, the Serpent Cane swinging as she used finesse and spirit power to shake off the bindings, then thrust the staff like a venomous dragon striking back.

But Tang San's Purple Demon Eye mental assault had already arrived, and Meng Yiran's movements faltered slightly.

Then her serpent-blade slash was caught firmly by Tang San's jade-colored palm.

Finally, their spirit power clashed head-on without any tricks; Meng Yiran let out a muffled grunt, staggered backward, and the victor was decided.

Meng Yiran bit her lip, nearly drawing blood, her eyes filled with unwillingness and frustration, but more than that, a complex dimness of "just as I thought."

She kept her word, relinquishing ownership of the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent without hesitation, and turned to walk back to her grandmother.

Just as she turned, her gaze—seemingly casual—swept quickly and meticulously over the Shrek Academy group.

Especially on Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing, her eyes lingered for a brief moment on their faces and figures.

That look wasn't like a loser's simple resentful sizing-up; it was more like... confirming something, observing something.

"Hm?" Yu Tiancheng frowned slightly in the shadows. "What is she looking at? Seeking comfort? Or..."

But he quickly shook his head, attributing this flicker of doubt to the complex scrutiny a proud girl like Meng Yiran would inevitably cast on her opponents after a loss.

"After all, she's a proud young lady; it's normal to take a few more looks at her rivals." He convinced himself.

Seeing the conflict subside with no signs of further fighting, Yu Tiancheng decided not to linger.

He slowly, inch by inch, moved backward, preparing to slip away silently from this area and continue his own Spirit Ring hunt.

But just as his body turned at an angle, his vision about to fully leave the forest clearing—

Meng Yiran, who had already reached her grandmother's side, suddenly whipped her head around without warning, her gaze like lightning, precisely aimed at the dense fern thicket where he was hiding!

Those violet eyes, in that instant, were sharp enough to pierce through layers of leaves and branches!