On the road to the Star Dou Great Forest.
The eight members of Shrek hurried along the official road. Zhao Wuji, their only teacher, seemed to trail casually behind and to one side of the group, but his Soul Power perception had already spread across a wide area around them.
Oscar and Ning Rongrong were protected in the middle. Tang San led the way, Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai brought up the rear, while Xiao Wu and Ma Hongjun ran on either side.
Running for a long time put their stamina to the test, but with Oscar's sausages replenishing their energy and their strict training, it was still within their limits.
As they ran, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing felt their diaries give a faint pulse almost simultaneously. A line of cold notification text then appeared in their minds:
[You were not the person whose name was mentioned most yesterday. You did not meet the requirements for receiving a reward.]
Ning Rongrong's steps faltered almost imperceptibly, and a clear trace of disappointment crossed her lovely face.
"Nothing today?"
She pressed her lips together, the sense of loss in her heart growing clearer.
Yesterday's reward had only been a slight increase in Soul Power, but the sensation had been so wondrous—her Soul Power seemed to have been cleansed by a clear spring, flowing with exceptional ease. Even her ability to control it precisely had grown a little sharper.
Not even the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's finest resources could provide that kind of purity, which had acted directly on the source of her Soul Power.
After getting a taste of that sweetness, having it suddenly slip away today felt like a long-awaited gift being taken back before she could receive it.
She even instinctively circulated her Soul Power, trying to recapture yesterday's smoothness, only to find it futile. That left her even more disappointed.
I have to get him to write about me more... The thought had never been clearer.
She was no longer merely curious about the diary. She had begun to think about how she could become someone Yu Tiancheng considered "worth mentioning by name a few more times."
A sharp glint flashed in Zhu Zhuqing's cool eyes before they settled back into calm. Beneath that calm, however, a firmer resolve was surging.
The notification was cold, yet it was like a needle piercing the faint, uncertain impression she had been left with when she received yesterday's reward.
The increase in her Soul Power had been slight, but undeniably real.
More importantly, it had proved that there was a possibility—a hidden path to becoming stronger that did not rely on her family, but only on her own "existence."
Losing out today made her understand completely: this path was no smooth road. She needed to "qualify."
And that qualification lay in Yu Tiancheng's "writing."
Was she disappointed? Yes. But more than that, a nearly icy fighting spirit had been roused within her.
She would not wait passively for a handout. She would take the initiative and earn the qualification to be "written about."
Yu Tiancheng was also in the Star Dou Great Forest... This was no longer merely a trial to obtain a Spirit Ring. It was the first battleground in her fight to secure the diary reward as a resource for herself.
Her goal was crystal clear: appear before him, make him "see" her, and then make him "write" about her.
Xiao Wu pouted too, a clear trace of boredom and displeasure flashing in her bright eyes as she muttered, "This is no fun. Yesterday's feeling was kind of interesting..."
She wasn't all that attached to the increase in Soul Power itself. But when yesterday's reward arrived, it had felt like a warm current gently brushing over her body—soothing and comfortable, with a touch of novelty.
She had been looking forward to seeing whether there might be an even more interesting little surprise today.
But nothing had happened.
The disappointment of having that anticipation come to nothing made her a little annoyed, like a show being cut off just as it reached the best part.
She did not yearn for the rewards' effects as Ning Rongrong did, nor did she have Zhu Zhuqing's determination to treat them as a path forward. More than anything, she resented that something fun that belonged to her had disappeared.
Hmph. That guy writing the diary must not have run into anything interesting, which is why he didn't write about us... she grumbled to herself, casting a glance at the forest ahead.
Once we're in the forest, if we run into him, I'll show him that we've got more stories to tell!
A childish competitiveness, a desire to catch the "author's" attention, quietly stirred within her.
None of the three girls said anything aloud, but in the silence, a shared understanding much clearer than yesterday took shape: the diary's rewards did not fall from the sky. They required being "chosen."
And this trip to the Star Dou Great Forest was undoubtedly a perfect stage on which to be "chosen."
Each with her own disappointment and goal, they all turned their eyes toward the depths of the forest—the direction of the one holding the pen.
Spirit Hall, the Pope's bedchamber.
Bibi Dong set down the motionless Diary Copy, her exquisite face revealing nothing of her feelings.
But when she "heard" the cold notification in her mind, an almost imperceptible ripple passed through the depths of her violet eyes.
[You were not the person whose name was mentioned most yesterday. You did not meet the requirements for receiving a reward.]
"So there's nothing today..."
She murmured to herself, lightly rubbing the Papal Scepter with her fingertips.
Yesterday's increase in her Spirit Ring's age had been so small as to be almost negligible, but the sensation... had been unusual.
It hadn't come from cultivation or absorption. It was as if some higher power had gently "brushed" over it, leaving the very essence of her Spirit Ring a little more solid and clear.
That pure increase, which acted directly on its source and carried no side effects, was something she had rarely experienced in her long years of cultivation.
That strange sense of quality had led her to value the diary's rewards far more than their modest effects would suggest.
She did not care about that boy's "attention." What mattered to her was the rule itself: only those who were written about could receive rewards.
And rewards meant unknown things that might be useful to her.
Bibi Dong had never pursued empty emotional validation. She sought tangible control and power.
Since the Diary System could grant rewards, it was worth taking into account.
"It seems I'll have to take a more active part in his 'story.'"
She analyzed the situation coolly.
If those were the rules, then she would have Spirit Hall's people appear along his inevitable route and create events worth writing about.
She had never wanted his attention. She wanted to obtain whatever might be useful to her through his pen.
An invisible command was sent out through the Scepter.
Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Crown Prince's Bedchamber.
Qian Renxue toyed with the Diary Copy. The familiar, flawless warmth of her smile faded by the slightest degree, while a sharp glint flashed deep in her eyes and vanished almost at once.
"So it's gone on the second day."
The faint sense of disappointment she felt was a little stronger than she had expected.
Yesterday's reward had only slightly increased her Soul Power, but it had been unbelievably pure, as if it had washed away the finest impurities. She felt that even her Angel Origin had grown more sacred.
Qian Renxue was curious about Yu Tiancheng himself, but at the moment she cared more about how to obtain these "rewards" consistently.
Her goal had always been clear: grow stronger and control everything.
She should have been the center of everyone's attention, yet the boy's diary had not devoted many words to her.
The identity of Xue Qinghe might make an excellent stepping-stone.
She needed to arrange a "natural" encounter—one that would leave a trace of Xue Qinghe in his diary.
She did not care whether he saw her as the Crown Prince or something else. What mattered was whether she could become a key character in his writing, one capable of triggering rewards.
A more concrete plan, tinged with a hint of calculation, took shape in her mind.
She wanted more than simply to be "mentioned." She wanted to become an "element" in his story that he could not ignore and would have to mention again and again.
Before you continue