A Direct Five-Level Boost (Please Read On)

The holders of the other copies were likewise awakened by the system's notification.

[Congratulations to Dugu Yan. Your name was mentioned the most times in the diary. Reward: Soul Power Level increased by five.]

[Congratulations to Ning Rongrong. Your name was randomly selected from the diary. Random reward: Heart of Three Orifices.]

[Congratulations to Huo Wu. You were randomly selected by the diary. You may customize a diary-related topic once.]

Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Dugu Yan's residence.

Dugu Yan stared into the mirror, her silver teeth clenched, her mind still filled with those three glaring words—background character.

"Shrek, Tang San, just you wait!" She was considering how to double her training when a raging fire burned in her chest.

Suddenly—

[Congratulations to Dugu Yan. Your name was mentioned the most times in the diary. Reward: Soul Power Level increased by five.]

The system's cold, majestic voice rang out in her mind.

"What?"

Dugu Yan sprang to her feet, knocking the rouge box on the table into a clattering mess.

The next second, boom—!

A torrent of soul power, a hundred times purer and more immense than anything from her usual cultivation, erupted fiercely from the depths of her Dantian! Like a river bursting through its banks, it instantly broke through every barrier in her meridians and coursed through her limbs and bones!

"Urgh!"

She let out a muffled groan. Her emerald snake eyes abruptly narrowed into vertical slits, and soul power surged uncontrollably from her body. Two yellow and one purple Spirit Rings automatically appeared beneath her feet as if triggered by instinct, blazing brightly!

Her Soul Power Level began to climb wildly—

Thirty-five... thirty-six... thirty-seven... thirty-eight... thirty-nine!

Five levels in a row!

"Level thirty-nine... I'm really level thirty-nine!"

Feeling the unprecedented surge of power within her, Dugu Yan's voice trembled. In a single night, she had skipped years of hard work. It was practically a miracle!

The frustration and resentment from yesterday, born of her failed "spoiler," were now scattered by this solid, explosive increase in strength.

Shock, wild joy, and a pang of belated heartache—

"This reward... was actually this powerful? Then all those rewards I didn't get before..."

She hardly dared to think about how much she had missed.

And she dared even less to imagine how powerful those who had already received rewards must be by now!

"No... absolutely not!" Dugu Yan suddenly clenched her fists, her nails nearly digging into her palms. "I need to make that Yu Tiancheng mention me more in his diary... Looks like I'll have to make a trip to Blue Tyrant Academy."

Shrek Academy, the girls' dormitory.

Ning Rongrong had just set down her comb. Zhu Zhuqing had finished her morning stretches, while Xiao Wu was hopping around and talking about which unlucky person they would fight today.

Three notifications sounded in their minds at once—

[Congratulations to Ning Rongrong. Your name was randomly selected from the diary. Random reward: Heart of Three Orifices.]

"Ah!"

Ning Rongrong cried out, and the gem-studded comb in her hand fell to the floor with a clatter.

An incomparably profound realization poured into her spiritual world like a clear spring flooding over her head—the essence of Heart Separation Control, the most intricate methods of manipulating soul power, the secrets to simultaneously wielding multiple different enhancements...

The profound teachings of her sect's secret manuals, which she had once found obscure and difficult, were now branded into her heart like an innate instinct.

She subconsciously circulated her soul power.

Buzz—

The dual enhancements of "strength" and "speed," which had previously required her full concentration just to barely maintain, now became effortless. Her soul power flowed smoothly and naturally.

With another thought, she tried splitting her soul power into three entirely different streams that nonetheless ran side by side without interfering with one another...

"Rongrong, your soul power fluctuations..." Zhu Zhuqing turned sharply, a trace of surprise flashing through her cool feline eyes.

She could sense that Ning Rongrong's control over her soul power had undergone a qualitative transformation.

"It's the Heart of Three Orifices! The third realm of our Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Heart Separation Control!"

Ning Rongrong's voice trembled slightly with excitement, and her pretty face flushed red. "Father, Sword Grandpa, and Bone Grandpa all said that, with my talent, I would need at least several years of hard cultivation before I could even hope to touch its threshold... But now, I've mastered it directly!"

Xiao Wu darted over, her eyes sparkling like stars. "Wow! Rongrong, does that mean you can give all three of us different powerful boosts at the same time now?"

Ning Rongrong closed her eyes and focused, attempting to channel it. Though she was still somewhat unpracticed in using it for the first time, the sensation of using one mind three ways, of having complete control as though it were part of her own body, was unmistakably clear!

She opened her eyes, nodded firmly, and smiled brilliantly. "I can! I'm not skilled at it yet, but I definitely can! This reward... it's practically tailor-made for me!"

She had originally thought the diary's mention of "upgraded rewards" had only been a vague statement. She had never expected them to be so generous—or so perfectly suited to her!

"What a shame. That chance to specify a topic was taken by someone named Huo Wu." Xiao Wu pouted, looking a little disappointed.

To her, rewards that directly increased strength were clearly more practical.

"It's alright. There will always be another chance," Ning Rongrong comforted her, though her gaze had also turned serious.

At the level of the current rewards, she could no longer regard this thing as merely a simple Spoiler Diary.

She considered whether, when she returned to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she should meet this Yu Tiancheng and have him mention her more often in his diary.

Beside her, Zhu Zhuqing stood by the bed with her arms crossed, her voice cool. "I wonder what kind of person this Huo Wu is, what sort of theme she'll write about, and whether she'll mention us."

At the same time, she was weighing whether to leave Shrek Academy in pursuit of greater strength.

Spirit Hall, Pope's Palace.

Bibi Dong sat upon the highest throne. The Purple Gold Pope Robe accentuated her divine majesty, yet her peerlessly beautiful face was covered in a coldness and weariness like ice that had endured ten thousand years.

She had "heard" every word of the system's announcement.

In the vast, Deathly Stillness of the great hall, her low, icy voice rang out:

"Five levels of Soul Power granted directly... If I obtained it, would I not be one step closer to the realm of a God?"

Power.

She craved power more than anyone. Whether it was Dugu Yan's Soul Power surging out of nowhere or Ning Rongrong obtaining the sect's core secret art, both were "resources" she needed.

Other than passively waiting for the system's random selection, the most direct method for now... was to have that "Yu Tiancheng" write more and mention her more often.

"Have Hu Liena come see me immediately."

Her voice was not loud, yet it clearly passed through the hall doors and reached the ears of the knights standing guard outside.

Meanwhile, Saintess's Bedchamber.

Hu Liena jolted awake from meditation, a sharp gleam flashing through her seductive fox-like eyes.

"Dugu Yan's Soul Power, Ning Rongrong's secret art... If Teacher or I could obtain them..."

She paced across the luxurious carpet, her thoughts churning. The rewards were too tempting—and too dangerous.

"Saintess, Your Excellency the Pope summons you."

A respectful voice came from beyond the door.

Hu Liena's spirits lifted. "Teacher is summoning me? Right—Teacher must have a way!"

She swiftly tidied her appearance, then moved like the wind, hurrying straight toward the Pope's Palace.

Perhaps... the time to take the initiative had come.