"Your mother and I are both Six-Ring Soul Emperors now. We've finally gained a foothold in the Soul Master World."
"As long as this Soul Hunting expedition goes well, we'll have more than a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins to fund our first attempt."
Ling Na nodded. "I came with you to Shrek Academy three years ago because I was worried about your safety."
"Now that three years have passed, we've seen that the people at Shrek Academy aren't bad. They all have their quirks, but none of them are truly wicked."
"Especially Zhao Wuji. If you run into any trouble, go to him. Given his relationship with your father, he'll help you sort it out."
Shen Feng nodded. "All right. I was going to talk to you about this anyway."
"Today, after I taught Dai Mubai a lesson, I spotted a suspicious figure in the shadows."
Shen Feng then told Shen Rui and Ling Na every detail of what he had noticed while teaching Dai Mubai a lesson that day.
Shen Rui furrowed his brows. "When I first learned his surname and Martial Soul, I had a feeling that kid would be trouble."
"He's a member of the Star Luo Imperial Family, yet he came to the hostile Heaven Dou Empire and enrolled at a shabby little academy like Shrek. And, by chance, it's right next to Suotuo City, the second-largest city in the Balak Kingdom and the gateway to Heaven Dou."
"If he doesn't have some kind of scheme, I doubt anyone would believe it."
"How about this? Why don't you come with us tomorrow? You'll be far away from all this trouble."
Shen Feng stared at Shen Rui in surprise. He had to admit, the deduction was wrong, but it made perfect sense.
What was more, Shen Rui had pieced together the sense of danger Shen Feng wanted to create all by himself. It was impressive, to say the least.
Without a moment's hesitation, Shen Feng nodded firmly. "Sure. But we'll have to come up with a good excuse, or Flender won't let us leave easily."
"I also want to take Oscar with us. He's worth investing in, and he has tremendous potential."
Ling Na frowned. "The three of us leaving might be possible, given our previous agreement."
"But I don't think taking Oscar with us will work."
"Shrek Academy has only just started to improve. Flender won't stand by and let the academy fall into decline again."
Shen Feng smiled. "Then we won't leave Shrek Academy. We'll just say we're going out to gain experience and check in every once in a while. That should put our narrow-minded Dean Flender at ease."
Shen Rui thought it over. "That's a good plan. We'll stay enrolled at Shrek Academy, but we won't study under him."
"That way, we can stay away from the Star Luo Imperial Family, keep ourselves safe, and avoid offending the teachers at Shrek Academy. It's the best of all three worlds."
"Besides, Shrek Academy is still a school. They can't force us to stay. With your cultivation speed, you and Xiao Ao will reach graduation level before long."
"And with Xiao Ao by your side, things will be much easier for you."
"Mm-hmm." Shen Feng nodded again and again. Shen Rui had filled in the gaps so well that there was hardly anything left to explain.
Oscar was someone he had personally helped train. They had grown close. How could he abandon him so easily?
Leave him at Shrek Academy to be bullied by Dai Mubai? Then bullied by Ma Hongjun? Or leave him there to become Ning Rongrong's lovesick puppy?
No way. Shen Feng didn't want the brother he'd accepted to follow the same old path as in the original story.
After they had settled the details of their departure, Shen Feng chuckled and picked up the letter on the table, giving it a shake.
"Mom, Dad, would you like a territory of our own to serve as the foundation for our guild?"
"A territory?"
Shen Rui and Ling Na exchanged bewildered looks.
Shen Feng shook the letter in his hand and prompted them. "Our Deputy City Lord Fels, of course."
Shen Rui looked even more confused. "What do you mean? Are you suggesting we go work for that old Fels?"
"Xiao Feng, I'm not bragging, but—"
"Back then, Xue Ye, the Great Emperor of the Heaven Dou Empire, offered your mother and me noble titles to recruit us. We both turned him down."
"Fels is just some deputy city lord. Heh. I wouldn't give him a second glance."
Pfft—
Shen Feng burst out laughing. "Dad, who said anything about working for Fels?"
"That old guy? You're not the only one who wouldn't give him a second glance. I wouldn't either."
With Twin Martial Souls and Innate Full Soul Power, he had such astonishing talent that he'd be welcomed anywhere.
And he had two young genius Soul Master parents with him, too.
If Shen Feng had wanted to work for someone, he could have taken his parents and joined any major power years ago. They wouldn't be stuck at Shrek Academy, learning scraps of inherited knowledge that nobody else thought much of.
As the saying went: wealth was alluring, but love was worth more; for the sake of freedom, both could be cast aside.
A true man lived between heaven and earth. How could he spend his life under someone else's thumb?
He had gone to all the trouble of transmigrating to Douluo Continent, and his talent was so good. How could Shen Feng be content to build someone else's empire?
Not for money, women, or an inheritance.
If he needed something, he could just take it once he was strong enough. He'd transmigrated, after all. What did he need a bicycle for?
"Then what do you mean?"
Shen Feng chuckled and shook the envelope again.
"Dad, I think Fels hiring you to help him hunt a Soul Beast may just be a pretext. His real goal might not be just to get a Soul Ring. He may be after the position of City Lord of Suotuo."
Shen Rui froze. "Explain."
Shen Feng nodded. "As Deputy City Lord of Suotuo, Fels has countless capable people at his disposal, and his connections reach throughout the Balak Kingdom."
"Why would he spend over a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins to hire you—a Soul Master he barely knows—to get a mere twenty-thousand-year Soul Ring?"
Shen Rui confidently slapped his shoulder. "That must be because your old man has a good reputation. Every Soul Master within hundreds of miles knows I'm a man of my word."
Shen Feng shook his head. "That could be part of it, but the main reason is that the City Lord of Suotuo may be about to step down."
Shen Rui was startled. "How's that possible? There's no talk of it, and the letter doesn't mention it. How did you figure that out?"
Shen Feng pointed to his head. "I used my brain."
"It's common knowledge that the City Lord of Suotuo is in poor health, and he's over seventy. It's about time he stepped down."
"Suotuo is the Balak Kingdom's second-largest city. Besides social standing, one of the main qualifications for becoming its City Lord is having at least sixty ranks of Soul Power."
"At a time like this, Fels would rather take a risk and ask you to help him hunt a Soul Beast than let one of his own people do it. He must be trying to keep his identity hidden."
"While the other candidates are tearing each other apart over the City Lord's position, he'll suddenly swoop in and take them all down, reaping the rewards."
Shen Rui thought it over, then suddenly understood. "No wonder that old guy was willing to pay me over a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins to help him hunt a Soul Beast. He must have an even bigger prize in mind."
"No way. I'm going to squeeze him this time and make a fortune."
Ling Na shot him a glare. "Use your head. Our son said we want a territory. What do we need all those Gold Soul Coins for?"
"If we secure a territory of our own, it'll make everything easier. Gold Soul Coins can't buy that."
Shen Feng gave Ling Na a thumbs-up. "Mom's right. Gold Soul Coins are just liquid assets. If we miss this chance to get a territory, who knows how long it'll be before we get another one?"
"Fels will have spent a fortune trying to become City Lord of Suotuo. If we use the opportunity to demand a territory from him, he'll have no choice but to grit his teeth and agree."
"If he refuses, we'll spread the word about his bid for the City Lord's position and ruin his plans."
Shen Rui gritted his teeth. "Fine. Let's do it. If we fail, we can wander the world and make a living somewhere else. I'm already getting tired of this damn Suotuo City."
Ling Na considered it. "Threatening Fels should be easy enough, but what kind of territory should we ask for?"
"If we pick somewhere too good, I think that old guy would rather go down with us than give in."
"The Star Dou Forest," Shen Feng blurted out.
"What?" Shen Rui and Ling Na were both stunned.
Who in their right mind would be crazy enough to claim the Star Dou Forest as their territory?
For thousands of years, even the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire had worn themselves hoarse arguing over whose territory it was, without ever reaching an answer.
But would they dare to actually try to occupy it?
Anyone who went in never came back. Even if you threw a million troops at it, they might not make a ripple before being eaten alive.
The Soul Beasts might even thrive on the ample food and experience an unprecedented population boom.
And yet Shen Feng wanted to make this dangerous place their territory.
Shen Feng chuckled and explained. "The Star Dou Forest is effectively an unclaimed zone. Fels won't hesitate to issue an official document as absurd as this."
"Because he'll be using someone else's property to get what he wants."
"Besides, the actual boundaries of the Star Dou Forest don't mean that you have to enter the forest for it to count."
"Soul Beasts often appear along its borders, making the area unfit for human habitation. The nearest city is still a hundred miles away."
"The closer you get to the Star Dou Forest, the fewer people you see. Within fifty miles of it, there's hardly anyone at all."
"But that doesn't matter to us. We want a settlement for Soul Masters only. We won't accept ordinary people."
"If we find a suitable plot within fifty miles of the border, Soul Masters will gradually gather there. Before long, we'll have a town of Soul Masters that even Soul Beasts won't dare approach."
"We'll only need the right to manage the place. We can establish our own rules, assign quests to Soul Masters, charge service fees, and trade all kinds of materials."
"Then we'll have money, status, and a reputation in abundance, won't we?"
"After that, we can build a city, expand, or even incorporate the entire Star Dou Forest into our territory once our power grows. It'll all be up to us."
"When that day comes, who'll dare say no?"
"Besides, with the Star Dou Forest at our backs, the entire forest will be our strategic depth. Who would dare send an army to surround us?"
Shen Rui and Ling Na listened to Shen Feng's wild plan in stunned amazement.
At first, they would attract Soul Masters who didn't want to travel long distances by offering them a safe place. Once the settlement grew, the Soul Beasts would naturally fear them and avoid the area.
After all, humans were also part of nature. Once the territory was established and they had a firm foothold, the Soul Beasts would naturally follow the rules of the natural world and steer clear of this dangerous place.
Their group would be too small to attract the attention of the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts in the heart of the Star Dou Forest, so there would be no reason for them to risk leaving the forest to attack.
And with the Star Dou Forest at their backs, if a major human power ever came to wipe them out, they could simply charge into the forest and hide, since they were all Soul Masters.
An ordinary army wouldn't be able to fight its way in, and a small Soul Master force wouldn't know the terrain as well as they did. In the end, the enemy would be worn down by their guerrilla tactics.
As time passed, their reputation would spread and their power would grow. Before long, the entire border of the Star Dou Forest would become their playground.
They would hunker down between humans and Soul Beasts, quietly building their strength, then emerge one day and shock the world.
And all of it would begin because a Deputy City Lord hoping to become City Lord had issued an official certificate recognizing the territory of a reckless lunatic with a screw loose.
At dawn, Shen Feng quietly left Shen Rui and Ling Na's room.
He hadn't slept all night, but he wasn't tired at all. If anything, he was so energized that he wanted to go for a refreshing morning run—on his hands.
But now wasn't the time. He still had to give Oscar a heads-up so they could leave together.
"What? You're leaving?"
Early that morning, Flender's roar echoed through the headmaster's office at Shrek Academy.
"No. I won't allow it. I won't allow it, no matter what you say."
"Shrek Academy has only just started to improve. I won't let you tear it apart."
Shen Rui and Ling Na exchanged a glance. "Dean, we're only going out to look for a new path. We never said we were leaving Shrek Academy."
"We'll be visiting teachers. Right, visiting teachers."
"Once we're doing well, you can send your students to us for an internship or some practical training."
Flender frowned and turned to Shen Feng and Oscar.
"Shen Rui and Ling Na are both Six-Ring Soul Emperors. They're still young, so I understand why they want to go make something of themselves, and I support them."
"But you two are only nine and eleven, and you're just Two-Ring Soul Grandmasters. Why do you want to go with them?"
Shen Rui chuckled. "You know how it is, Dean. I've practically worn out all your books. There's nothing left in them for me to learn."
"Besides, my combat ability is already beyond what a place for children like the Great Soul Arena can offer."
Before you continue