More Opportunities for Attention

On the road to the Star Dou Great Forest.

The eight members of Shrek were moving swiftly along the official road. Zhao Wuji, as the sole teacher, appeared to follow casually at the side and rear of the group, but his spirit power perception had already covered a vast area around them.

Oscar and Ning Rongrong were protected in the center, Tang San took the lead, Zhu Zhuqing and Dai Mubai brought up the rear, while Xiao Wu and Ma Hongjun flanked the sides.

Prolonged running was no small test of stamina, but with Oscar's sausages for replenishment and their rigorous training, it remained within their limits.

As they ran, Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing almost simultaneously felt a faint tremor from their diary copies, followed by a cold prompt echoing in their minds:

[You were not the person whose name was mentioned most yesterday, and did not meet the reward acquisition criteria.]

Ning Rongrong's step faltered almost imperceptibly, a clear trace of disappointment flickering across her delicate face.

"Nothing today?"

She bit her lip, the feeling of loss growing sharper in her heart.

Yesterday's reward, though just a small boost in spirit power, had felt incredible—her spirit power seemed washed clean by a spring, flowing unusually smoothly, and even her fine control over it had sharpened by a hair.

This was a purity that even the top resources of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect couldn't provide, a direct refinement of spirit power's very essence.

Having tasted such "sweetness," the sudden emptiness today felt like a long-awaited gift being snatched away midway.

She even subconsciously cycled her spirit power, trying to regain yesterday's fluidity, but found it futile, deepening her disappointment.

"I have to make him write about me more..." This thought crystallized with unprecedented clarity.

She wasn't just curious about the diary anymore; she was beginning to think seriously about how to become someone Yu Tiancheng deemed "worthy of mentioning multiple times."

Zhu Zhuqing's cool gaze sharpened for a moment, then returned to calm, but beneath that calm surged an even firmer resolve.

The cold prompt was like a needle, piercing the tiny, uncertain confirmation she'd felt upon receiving yesterday's reward.

That sliver of spirit power improvement, though faint, was undeniably real.

More importantly, it brought proof of a "possibility"—a hidden path to power that relied not on her clan, but solely on her own "existence."

Losing it today made her fully understand: this path was no smooth road; it required "qualification."

And that qualification was Yu Tiancheng's "ink."

Disappointed? A little. But more than that, it stirred a near-icy fighting spirit.

She wouldn't passively wait for charity; she would actively fight for the right to be "written."

The Star Dou Great Forest, and Yu Tiancheng being there too... This was no longer just a trial to obtain a spirit ring; it was her first battlefield to claim the diary's rewards as a resource.

Her goal was exceptionally clear: appear before him, make him "see" her, and then "write" her.

Xiao Wu pouted, her lively big eyes flashing with obvious boredom and dissatisfaction as she muttered softly, "How boring. Yesterday's feeling was pretty fun..."

She wasn't that fixated on the spirit power boost itself, but the sensation when the reward descended yesterday—like a warm current gently brushing through her body, cozy and pleasant, with a touch of novelty.

She'd been half-expecting some more interesting "little surprise" today.

But there was nothing.

The letdown of dashed expectations left her a bit irritable, like a play cutting off right at the climax.

She lacked Ning Rongrong's craving for the reward's effects or Zhu Zhuqing's awareness of it as a means; it was more a reluctance to lose "something fun that belonged to me."

"Hmph, that diary-writing guy must not have run into anything interesting, so he didn't write about us..." she grumbled inwardly, her gaze sweeping toward the forest ahead.

"Once we're in the forest, if I run into him, I'll make sure he knows our side has way more stories!"

A childish, competitive urge to attract the "author's" attention quietly emerged.

None of the three girls spoke openly, but a consensus far clearer than yesterday's coalesced in their silence: the diary's rewards weren't freebies; they required being "chosen."

And this trip to the Star Dou Great Forest was undoubtedly a perfect stage for being "chosen."

Each carrying their own disappointment and goals, they turned their gazes in unison toward the depths of the forest—toward the one holding the pen.

Martial Soul Hall, Papal Bedchamber.

Bibi Dong set down the motionless Diary Copy, her exquisite face betraying neither joy nor anger.

But when she "heard" the cold prompt in her mind, a faint, almost imperceptible ripple passed through the depths of her violet eyes.

[You were not the person whose name was mentioned most yesterday, and did not meet the reward acquisition criteria.]

"Nothing today, is there..."

She murmured to herself, her fingertips lightly stroking the Papal Scepter.

Yesterday's increase in spirit ring age, though so small it was nearly negligible, had felt... special.

It wasn't growth from cultivation or devouring, but as if some higher power had gently "brushed" over her, making the very essence of her spirit rings seem more condensed and translucent.

That pure, side-effect-free refinement directly to the source was an experience she'd rarely had in her long cultivation career.

It was this peculiar "qualitative" sensation that made her assessment of the diary's reward value far exceed its surface magnitude.

She didn't care about that boy's "attention"; what concerned her was the rule itself—only by being written could one receive rewards.

And rewards meant unknown things that might prove useful to her.

What Bibi Dong pursued was never empty emotional recognition, but tangible control and power.

This Diary System, since it can grant rewards, is worth factoring into her calculations.

"It seems I need to take a more active role in his 'story.'"

She analyzed calmly in her heart.

Since the rules were thus, then she would have Martial Soul Hall personnel appear along his inevitable path to create events worthy of being written.

What she wanted was never his gaze, but rather, through his pen, to obtain whatever might be useful to her.

An intangible command transmitted from the scepter.

Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, Crown Prince's Bedchamber.

Xue Qinghe toyed with the Diary Copy, that habitual, flawlessly gentle smile on her lips fading almost imperceptibly by half a degree, a sliver of sharpness flashing deep in her eyes.

"Gone by the second day, huh."

The subtle sense of loss in her heart was clearer than she had anticipated.

Yesterday's reward—though the soul power boost was slight—was so pure it was almost unbelievable, as if it could cleanse the fine impurities within soul power; she felt her Angel Origin had become even more sacred.

Xue Qinghe was curious about Yu Tiancheng himself, but at this moment, she was more concerned with how to stably obtain this kind of "reward."

Her goal had always been clear: grow stronger, control everything.

She should have been the center of everyone's attention, yet in this youth's diary, she had not earned much ink.

The identity of "Xue Qinghe" could perhaps serve as an excellent stepping stone.

She needed to design a "natural" encounter—one that would allow the identity of "Xue Qinghe" to leave a mark in his diary.

She didn't care whether she was the Crown Prince or something else in his eyes; she only cared whether she could become a key character in his writing that "could trigger rewards."

A more specific plan, one tinged with a hint of strategic maneuvering, took shape in her mind.

What she wanted was not merely to be "mentioned," but to become an "element" in his story that could not be ignored and had to be repeatedly referenced.