Her suspicions had been right. "Lin Fan" was his disguise.
What troubled her even more was that, despite her meticulous planning and two Elders standing guard, he had actually found the one way out of his desperate situation and escaped by taking advantage of the chaos caused by a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!
[But something still feels off.]
[Hu Liena and Yue Guan have both been probing my identity, subtly, the whole way here.]
[Have they been paying too much attention to "Lin Fan," this Soul Grandmaster who appeared out of nowhere?]
[Could it be... that the Spirit Hall has already infiltrated the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan so thoroughly?]
[Have some people already sold out my whereabouts—even my real identity?]
Hu Liena felt her heart tighten as she read that.
But when she saw that Yu Tiancheng merely suspected a problem within his clan and had turned his attention toward a possible "traitor," rather than suspecting the Diary system, she secretly breathed a sigh of relief.
Thank goodness. As long as he doesn't know about the Diary, or that we can see what he writes, things are still under control.
Otherwise, if he found out, he'd do everything he could to strengthen himself and the people he trusts. The Spirit Hall might not even get a scrap.
[Speaking of the Titan Giant Ape, I almost forgot about this part of the story...]
[But this kind of "surprise" out of nowhere is pretty thrilling, isn't it?]
[The people from Shrek Academy must be completely bewildered right now, right?]
[They were hunting Spirit Rings in the forest, minding their own business, and then one of their friends was suddenly carried off by a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.]
[It's not like they can be blamed for failing to see through it.]
[After a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast transforms, only someone at Soul Douluo rank or above, or someone with exceptionally keen Spiritual Power, can see through the disguise.]
[With a bunch of Soul Elders, Soul Ancestors, and a few Soul Saints, they'd have had no chance of figuring it out.]
"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form?"
At almost the same time, every holder of a Diary Copy was stunned.
Xiao Wu? That lively, spirited, adorable girl was actually a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!
Inside Pope's Palace, Bibi Dong abruptly stopped tapping the armrest.
Her deep purple eyes narrowed slightly, a cold glint flashing in them.
Yu Tiancheng's words had immediately reminded her.
Or rather, she didn't remember Xiao Wu herself—she remembered her mother, Ah Rou, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit.
After all, Ah Rou's Spirit Ring and Soul Bone were now perfectly integrated into her, forming part of her strength.
"So... that little rabbit who escaped by sheer luck all those years ago was called Xiao Wu."
Bibi Dong murmured, her voice calm and even, yet laced with a bone-chilling coldness. "Mother and daughter. How interesting."
She lifted a hand, Soul Power flickering at her fingertips as she sent out a silent message.
Soon, a shadow appeared soundlessly in the corner of the hall and knelt on one knee.
"Investigate someone. And an academy," Bibi Dong said, her voice echoing through the hall.
"A young female Spirit Master named Xiao Wu, around twelve or thirteen years old. She may be connected to Nuoding Academy or Shrek Academy. Then thoroughly investigate everything about Shrek Academy, including its location, staff, and students' backgrounds."
"Yes!" The shadow accepted the order and vanished in an instant.
Bibi Dong leaned back in her chair and resumed lightly tapping her fingers.
A transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was an irresistible prize.
But the rules of the Diary clearly stated that its holders could not harm one another.
Based on what she knew so far, Xiao Wu was very likely another Diary Copy holder.
If so, she couldn't attack her directly.
She had no desire to experience that soul-deep punishment again.
She would have to find a way... one that followed the rules while still achieving her goal.
Meanwhile, near the Core Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Xiao Wu sat on the broad, rock-hard shoulder of the Titan Giant Ape Er Ming, chiding him as she swatted at him. "Er Ming! You scared my friends! They must be worried sick!"
Er Ming let out a plaintive growl and lowered his enormous head, like a child who had done something wrong.
Xiao Wu was about to say more when she suddenly shuddered, her words cut off.
Her pink eyes flew wide, filled with shock and fear.
The Diary Copy had updated.
Her greatest secret—the fact that she was a transformed Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit—had just been casually exposed by Yu Tiancheng in his Diary!
Just yesterday, she had opened up to Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing. The three of them had become allies because of the Diary, promising to support one another and keep each other's secrets.
But now... Rongrong and Zhuqing must have seen it!
What would they think? Would they be afraid? Would they hate her? Would they distance themselves from her because she was a Spirit Beast?
Would the warm, precious bond of sisterhood they had only just formed really fall apart because of this one secret?
No, it wasn't just them.
According to Rongrong's analysis, there might be quite a few other Diary Copy holders.
In other words, far more than just the three of them knew she was a Spirit Beast.
Soon, her identity might be known to everyone.
The Diary's reward had given her a disguise technique that could conceal her aura, but she couldn't erase the name "Xiao Wu" or all the traces she had left in the human world.
Spirit Masters craving Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings and Soul Bones might follow those traces and come after her.
Could she still return to the human world? Could she go back to Third Brother, back to her friends at Shrek?
A wave of overwhelming loneliness and panic gripped her heart, chilling her to the bone.
"Sister Xiao Wu? What's wrong?" Er Ming noticed her distress and asked in a worried rumble.
Xiao Wu seemed not to hear him. She hugged her knees tightly and buried her face in them, her shoulders trembling.
Yu Tiancheng's Diary continued, every word pounding on her nerves like a hammer:
[As for why Xiao Wu chose to risk entering the human world, we have to go back to the Spirit Hall—and to its current Pope, Bibi Dong.]
[Back then, Bibi Dong personally led a team deep into the Star Dou Great Forest. She killed Xiao Wu's mother, Ah Rou, the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soft Bone Rabbit, and took her Spirit Ring and Soul Bone.]
[Xiao Wu entered the human world to avenge her mother and find a way to grow stronger.]
[But the thing is, Xiao Wu had lived in the forest her whole life. The bustling human world, its novelties, and all its complicated emotions overwhelmed her.]
[The most dangerous thing of all was "love."]
[She fell for Tang San, and there was no turning back.]
[To be fair, I kind of ship them...]
[But! Xiao Wu, you can't forget what matters just because you're in love!]
[After a Spirit Beast transforms, it cultivates faster than a human. That's a huge natural advantage.]
[But you spend all your time running around with Tang San. Do you even cultivate more than once in a while?]
[Meanwhile, Tang San may have come from another world and have all kinds of advantages, but he really does work hard at cultivating. He gets up early, stays up late, and has a terrifying level of self-discipline.]
[He deserves credit for that.]
[The more he advances, the farther behind you fall. Your path to revenge... is going to be a long one.]
On the other side of the forest, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing were standing guard over Tang San as they waited for him to absorb his Spirit Ring. They looked at each other at almost the same time, both seeing the shock in the other's eyes.
Third Brother really was a brother—and he was from another world!
Yu Tiancheng's earlier "spoilers" about the Man Faced Demon Spider and the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent had already been proven true, so they believed him completely.
Even through their shock, they suddenly understood. No wonder Third Brother knew so many strange, powerful techniques, and fought so differently from ordinary Spirit Masters.
At the same time, a deep ache rose in their hearts. Xiao Wu seemed so lively and cheerful, yet behind that smile lay a terrible blood feud.
And she had entered the human world carrying such a heavy burden.
"Zhuqing..." Ning Rongrong called softly, her voice a little hoarse.
Zhu Zhuqing pressed her lips together, determination flashing in her cool eyes. She gently squeezed Ning Rongrong's hand. "Xiao Wu is our sister. She was before, she is now, and she always will be."
Ning Rongrong nodded firmly. "Exactly. We'll keep her secret for her. And if we can, we'll help her get revenge."
Elsewhere in the Star Dou Great Forest, Meng Yiran had been brooding over the Man Faced Demon Spider being snatched from her. When she read the Diary, she first froze, then felt her resentment mysteriously ease.
"So that guy... wasn't an ordinary boy at all? He's some ancient monster who's lived for who knows how long, and he even has martial arts from another world?"
Meng Yiran pursed her lips. "Losing to someone like that doesn't seem so humiliating. It'd be weird if I could beat him!"
Yu Tiancheng's Diary had delivered one revelation after another, shaking every reader's understanding of the world.
In the cave, Yu Tiancheng noticed that as he wrote, the light from the Diary was helping his spiritual sea recover faster. His headache had mostly faded, and his Soul Power had recovered by a tenth or two on its own.
He set down his pen, looked at the page covered in writing, and let out a long breath.
[That's enough for today.]
[The danger isn't over. I need to get moving. I'll deal with the rest once I'm somewhere safe.]
[Hopefully, next time I write in my Diary, I'll be in a comfortable bed, not hiding in some cave and worrying about getting caught.]
[ Ding! Today's Diary is complete!]
[Rewards will be distributed all at once at midnight.]
After writing the final sentence, Yu Tiancheng immediately withdrew his consciousness.
He didn't have time to wait for the rewards to be distributed at midnight. He had to act now.
Forcing his recovering body to move, he quickly checked the items in his Storage Soul Tool, making sure his supplies and disguise tools were all there.
Then he took out the black cloak that could shield him from Spiritual Power detection, put it on carefully, and lowered the hood to hide most of his face.
He steadied his breathing and suppressed his aura as much as he could.
He listened for sounds outside the cave—the wind, faint insects, and the distant, indistinct growl of a Spirit Beast. For now, there was no sign of any human Spirit Masters nearby.
"This shouldn't be far from the Heaven Dou Empire..." Yu Tiancheng quickly ran through the map in his mind.
"If I head southeast, cross the outer edge of this area, and enter the Balak Kingdom, I'll be a long way from Blue Tyrant, but it's the fastest route out of the forest."
Once he'd made up his mind, he wasted no time. Crouching low, he carefully slipped through a crack in the cave.
But just as both feet touched the ground outside and he was about to get his bearings and hurry off—
A wave of scorching air rushed straight at him without warning!
Before you continue