By then, a legend had begun circulating through Shrek City: the outer court was home to a pair of exceptionally gifted siblings—a brother and sister.
[Age 6: Not long after awakening your Martial Soul, Zhang Lexuan personally took you to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain your First Soul Ring.]
[After searching for some time, you chose a thousand-year Dark Evil Tiger. Just as Zhang Lexuan was about to suppress it, you stopped her.]
[The Pluto Sword emerged, gray mist roiling!]
[Twelve pale skeleton soldiers crawled out of thin air without warning, bone knives in hand, and instantly swarmed the thousand-year Dark Evil Tiger.]
[In the blink of an eye, it was over. The Dark Evil Tiger was dead!]
[Zhang Lexuan stood rooted to the spot, her beautiful eyes full of shock. She had never seen such a strange and powerful Martial Soul—one that came with an undead army and needed no Soul Ring!]
[You sat cross-legged and absorbed the deep-purple Thousand-Year Soul Ring. As it entered your body, the Pluto Sword grew more translucent, and a chilling, deathly aura that made the soul tremble seeped from the swirling gray mist.]
Su Chen nodded to himself.
Amazing. No wonder it was the Pluto Sword!
This setup was practically a copy of Ha Luosa, the Pluto Douluo from the Douluo III era—and might even be better.
Though the world's will suppressed him because he was an Extraterrestrial Demon, starting out with twelve underlings was still an incredible flex!
[On the way back, Zhang Lexuan sternly warned you never to summon the skeleton soldiers in front of others unless absolutely necessary.]
[In an era so sensitive to "Evil Soul Masters," your ability was all too easy to misunderstand.]
[You nodded obediently, but knew in your heart that it was more than a misunderstanding. It was a symbol of power.]
[Back at the academy, Mu En was deeply shocked to learn that your First Soul Ring was already a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.]
[The Sea God Pavilion Master declared on the spot, "With these siblings, Shrek will enjoy a century of peace!"]
[Over the following years, Zhang Lexuan doted on you even more. Though you were still too young to enroll officially, she would secretly share her cultivation resources with you.]
[You once again came to understand what it meant to have an elder sister who was like a mother.]
[Your talent did not disappoint her, either.]
[Age 7: Level 20 Soul Grandmaster!]
[Age 9: Level 30 Soul Elder!]
[Your cultivation speed skyrocketed like a rocket, breaking every record since Shrek was founded. Even Mu En, usually so composed, couldn't sit still. He made an exception and convened a Sea God Pavilion Meeting, approving core disciple privileges for you ahead of schedule.]
[Even with all those resources, you still made a habit of saving the best for Zhang Lexuan. You would never forget that without her, you would have frozen to death in the snow.]
[Looking at how sensible you were, Zhang Lexuan only smiled gently and patted your head, feeling both proud and concerned. But she firmly refused to accept your gift.]
[Age 10: You broke through to level 40 and advanced to Soul Ancestor!]
[Age 13: You surged ahead and reached level 60, becoming a Soul Emperor!]
[That same year, Zhang Lexuan's years of accumulated progress paid off. She broke through the level 80 bottleneck and became a Quasi-Soul Douluo.]
[To help Zhang Lexuan obtain her Eighth Soul Ring, an elite Shrek squad of thirteen gathered.]
[When you learned that the leader was "Taotie Douluo" Xuan Zi, a chill shot straight through your skull.]
Su Chen stared at the name on the simulator, the corner of his mouth twitching.
Xuan Zi was leading the team... That could only mean one thing: the "squad wipeout engine" was starting up!
[Before setting out, you specifically reminded Zhang Lexuan to bring several high-grade Defensive Soul Tools.]
[Though she didn't understand why, Zhang Lexuan always indulged you, and followed your advice without hesitation.]
[You also pleaded with Xuan Zi again and again to stay with the group once they entered the forest, and not let drinking get in the way.]
[Xuan Zi didn't take it seriously. Out of respect for Mu En, he gave a vague reply, but kept hold of his trademark wine gourd.]
[And so, the thirteen of them entered the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.]
What was bound to happen had finally come.
Staring at the screen, Su Chen felt a wave of helplessness.
Some disasters couldn't be prevented, even when you knew they were coming.
[On the tenth day in the forest, disaster struck!]
[A Blood Dragon Lizard with a cultivation of over a hundred thousand years suddenly broke through the defenses and charged into the group!]
[It was a massacre. Shrek's proud elite disciples were as fragile as paper before a hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beast.]
[In just moments, eight were dead and four wounded! Blood stained the forest.]
[At the critical moment, Zhang Lexuan activated the level-eight Defensive Soul Tool you had asked her to bring, "Blessing," barely blocking a fatal blow.]
[You and Zhang Lexuan fought with your backs to the wall! The Pluto Sword wailed as skeleton soldiers shattered and reassembled. You and your sister fought for hours, drenched in blood, until you miraculously slew the wounded hundred-thousand-year Ferocious Beast!]
[But the price was devastating.]
[You took the Blood Dragon Lizard's dying counterattack for Zhang Lexuan. Your internal organs were crushed, and you died on the spot.]
[Only after the battle was over and the hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast had breathed its last did Xuan Zi finally arrive.]
[Looking at the scattered limbs and Zhang Lexuan sobbing uncontrollably over your body, the level 98 Super Douluo finally panicked.]
["I... I'll take full responsibility. I'll return and resign as vice-captain of the Inspection Corps!" Xuan Zi said, his face deathly pale and his voice trembling.]
Su Chen: "???"
Resign?
So many people had died, and I was dead too, and you thought resigning would make it all okay?
At that moment, Su Chen's killing intent surged.
That old bastard deserved to die!
[After Xuan Zi dealt with the aftermath, Zhang Lexuan, suppressing her overwhelming grief, absorbed the hundred-thousand-year Soul Ring beside your body.]
[The absorption took several months.]
[Once she had absorbed the Soul Ring, Zhang Lexuan refused to return to the academy. Instead, she insisted on taking your body to the Zhang family's ancestral home in the Heaven Dou Empire.]
[You had returned to your hometown. She said that since you could not share a bed in life, you would share a grave in death. If there was a next life, she wanted to be your sister again and protect you for the rest of your life.]
[She kept watch by your grave for an entire night, rambling about the stories of your childhood together. Only after her tears had run dry did she leave at Xuan Zi's urging, looking back again and again.]
[The third day... the fourth day... the fifth day...]
[The grave was deathly still. It seemed you had truly died.]
Watching the motionless simulator, Su Chen couldn't help feeling uneasy.
Was his first simulation really going to end this abruptly?
[Until the seventh day after you were buried.]
[The peaceful grave suddenly exploded. Twelve skeleton soldiers crawled up from underground and knelt respectfully.]
[A pale hand burst through the soil!]
[You had come back to life!]
[Death was no end—it was the Pluto's coronation.]
[This death had fully awakened the Pluto Sword's hidden talent and awakened its domain: Underworld Rebirth!]
[Standing before your own gravestone, you felt the terrifying power surging through your body. There was no joy at being reborn in your eyes, only a boundless killing intent.]
[Xuan Zi!]
[That arrogant, gluttonous, irresponsible old bastard!]
[You swore you would not rest until you had your revenge!]
[But you didn't act rashly. You knew you still weren't a match for the level 98 Taotie Douluo.]
[You decided to bide your time and grow stronger. The day you became a Titled Douluo would be the day Xuan Zi lost his head!]
Before you continue