[Douluo II Period]
Shrek Academy, Sea God Plaza.
Everyone was still reeling from the devastating revelation that Yu Xiaogang, the so-called "greatest theoretical master in history," had been exposed as a fraud.
Xuanzi had recovered from his initial shock. He looked at his subordinate Wang Yan, murder in his eyes.
He had decided to kill Wang Yan on the spot.
It would silence him—and perhaps disrupt the exposure playing across the Sky Screen.
He had already thought of an excuse: "purging a traitor from Shrek"!
The terrifying Soul Power of a Super Douluo erupted like a mountain flood. An invisible Taotie claw was about to crush Wang Yan into a pulp!
But just then, a beam of golden light shot down from the Sky Screen and enveloped Wang Yan.
Xuanzi's Soul Power, strong enough to split mountains and shatter rocks, vanished without a trace the moment it touched the golden light!
Xuanzi's expression changed. He stared in shock as he realized he couldn't pierce the thin barrier of light at all!
Then a line of large golden characters appeared on the Sky Screen, proclaiming to the world:
[Sky Screen Rule: During the exposure, those featured are under absolute protection. All forms of attack are ineffective.]
Inside the work-study student dormitory.
Ji Xuan watched Xuanzi's now hideous face in the Mirror and curled his lips in amusement.
"The show's only just begun. We can't let the main character leave the stage now."
The rules displayed on the Sky Screen sent a clear message to everyone.
This was not merely an exposure. It was a trial!
Until the trial ended, no one was allowed to lay a hand on those being judged!
Everyone, whether from the Douluo I Period or the Dou Er Era, realized that this was no joke or bit of gossip anymore.
It was a storm sweeping across the entire continent and spanning ten thousand years!
People of the future hoped to learn more secrets buried beneath the dust of history;
Those from the past wanted a glimpse of the future—and to find a way to change their fated endings!
The image on the Sky Screen shifted once more.
This time, it showed a dilapidated, gloomy underground hideout.
Beneath the dim light of Soul Guidance Lamps, a group of gaunt, ragged people lay sprawled across the floor.
Their eyes were filled with numbness and despair.
Among them were crippled Soul Masters missing hands or feet, white-haired elders, and even children with bewildered expressions.
They were the last survivors of the Spirit Hall.
A line of cold text appeared on the Sky Screen.
[After the Spirit Hall Empire fell, the forces led by Shrek Academy began a purge of Spirit Hall remnants that would last ten thousand years.]
[They relentlessly hunted down all surviving Spirit Hall factions and their descendants.]
[Old or young, men or women—anyone connected to Spirit Hall was killed without exception!]
[They were not Evil Soul Masters, yet they endured a purge even more brutal than the one inflicted on Evil Soul Masters.]
[They claimed it was necessary to eradicate the roots of evil once and for all.]
[But what crimes had these helpless women, children, and elderly committed? They were not Evil Soul Masters; they had merely inherited Spirit Hall blood.]
[Yet Shrek showed them no mercy.]
[Douluo II Period]
Boom!!!
Those lines struck Shrek Academy like a resounding slap!
Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, and the others turned deathly pale.
In that moment, the bloodiest, ugliest corner of the Shrek Academy they had always been proud of had been exposed.
"N-no... It can't be... How could Shrek do such a thing?"
A student murmured in a daze, his faith crumbling.
"Slaughtering helpless women, children, and the elderly? Th-that's what Evil Soul Masters do!"
Xuanzi's face turned ashen, but he couldn't utter a word.
Because he knew the Sky Screen was telling the truth.
He had even taken part in the purge back then!
Mingde Hall, Sun Moon Empire.
Hall Master Jing Hongchen watched the scene on the Sky Screen and clapped his hands, laughing aloud. His laughter was full of undisguised scorn.
"Hahahaha! What a righteous Shrek! What a number-one academy on the continent!"
"They preach benevolence and morality every day, but behind the scenes they carry out a scheme so vicious even we wouldn't stoop to it! They're the height of hypocrisy!"
Beside him, the siblings Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen wore expressions of disdain.
"So Shrek's so-called 'glory' was built on the bones of women and children too. How disgusting."
Body Sect, Heaven Dou Empire.
Sect Master Du Busi let out a sharp, mocking laugh.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. See that? These are the hypocrites who call themselves the continent's guardians! When it comes to ruthlessness, they're the masters!"
"Wiping out the whole line—even babies weren't spared!"
"Shrek's lot have certainly opened my eyes!"
At the Holy Spirit Cult's damp, gloomy headquarters.
Zhongli Wu, shrouded in a black robe, let out a "keh keh" laugh.
"How interesting. Truly interesting."
"So Shrek Academy is one of us after all!"
"The only difference is, when they kill, they call it 'upholding justice.' When we kill, they call us 'Evil Soul Masters.'"
"What a farce this world is!"
On the Sky Screen.
Fifteen-year-old Qiangu Wangyan knelt before the group of elderly, frail people. His young face was set with a resolve far beyond his years.
["Yan'er, are you really going to do this..."]
An old man with one arm rasped. The people behind him looked at the boy with aching concern.
Qiangu Wangyan knocked his head against the ground three times.
["We've hidden for ten thousand years, fled for ten thousand years. We've hidden long enough, fled long enough!"]
["One day, I'll let everyone live in the sunlight again, without fearing another hunt!"]
With that, Qiangu Wangyan stood and gently touched the face of a timid little girl.
Then, without hesitation, he turned and walked toward Shrek Academy, one step at a time.
His frail figure bore the weight of a blood feud.
[Douluo I Period]
Inside a mountain valley.
Tang San looked unconcerned.
"Article Five of the Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record's General Principles: If an enemy deserves death, eradicate them completely. Show no mercy!"
He thought Shrek's indiscriminate slaughter, shown on the Sky Screen, was perfectly normal.
The scene shifted. Qiangu Wangyan had arrived in Shrek City.
[I changed into shabby clothes and perfectly played the part of a poor boy from a remote village who had come to pursue his dream.]
[At the entrance examination, I revealed my Martial Soul—the Coiling Dragon Staff.]
[Ten thousand years had passed. Almost no one on the continent knew of the Qiangu clan's Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul anymore.]
[I took the first step in my plan: conceal my identity.]
[My true Innate Soul Power was Innate Soul Power, level nine.]
[But to disguise myself and avoid attracting attention, I claimed it was level five.]
[No one knew how many painful marks I had carved into my meridians with secret techniques to perfectly disguise my level-nine Innate Soul Power as level five.]
[Dou Er Era]
"What? Level nine Innate Soul Power!"
Shrek Plaza erupted in an uproar.
Everyone stared at Wang Yan, their scalps tingling.
A peerless genius with level-nine Innate Soul Power had been hiding in plain sight for years!
Yan Shaozhe, Xian Lin'er, and the other Sea God Pavilion Elders felt as if their faces were burning, as though someone had slapped them again and again.
The Sky Screen continued playing.
[After entering the academy without a hitch, I began a disguise that would last more than ten years.]
[I worked part-time to support myself, scrimped and saved, and spent every day in the library. I was courteous to everyone and showed an intense fascination with Martial Soul Theory.]
[At the same time, I claimed to have drawn inspiration from the writings of that useless Yu Xiaogang, shaping myself into a theoretical genius.]
[Then one day, as I was reading in the library, I suddenly felt a strange stirring!]
On the Sky Screen, Qiangu Wangyan, who had been reading with his head bowed, suddenly shuddered!
[The stirring came from deep within my Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul!]
[Following its call, I saw her—]
Qiangu Wangyan suddenly raised his head. Through a gap between the bookshelves, his gaze locked onto the back of a girl nearby.
Han Ruoruo!
[It was her! It had to be her!]
[This was the "Martial Soul resonance" described in the records!]
[My Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul could fool everyone, and it wasn't just because of my Innate Soul Power level. There was something even more important.]
[My Coiling Dragon Staff wasn't a complete Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul!]
[My Qiangu clan had lost the most crucial part of our inheritance—the method to awaken the Martial Soul's true spirit!]
[Within my Coiling Dragon Staff resided a Martial Soul true spirit: the Heaven Awakening Holy Golden Dragon! It was also known as the Break Evil Dragon!]
[Only by awakening it could the Coiling Dragon Staff become a truly top-tier Tool Martial Soul!]
As the narration ended, Qiangu Wangyan stared at Han Ruoruo's back. His eyes blazed with unprecedented excitement and fervor!
But it was not a young man's admiration. It was the look of a hunter who had spotted his prey!
[The method of awakening the true spirit had long been lost. I had always thought I would never have a chance in this lifetime.]
[I never imagined... Heaven hadn't abandoned my Qiangu clan!]
[This girl's Shaking Gold Rope Martial Soul produced the highest level of Martial Soul resonance with my Coiling Dragon Staff!]
[Perhaps I could use the power of her Martial Soul as a catalyst to force open the seal on my true spirit!]
[The cultivation notes I gave her were the most crucial part of my plan.]
[I secretly changed the Soul Power circulation route and added a catalyst method I had developed from studying ancient texts.]
[As long as she kept cultivating according to this method, her Martial Soul would unknowingly become the perfect catalyst!]
[When the time was right, I could... sacrifice her to awaken the sleeping "Heaven Awakening Holy Golden Dragon" in one stroke!]
[Han Ruoruo, I'll be grateful to you...]
[You'll become the most important stepping stone on my path of revenge!]
[Dou Er Era]
On Shrek Plaza, Han Ruoruo stood as if struck by lightning.
At last, she understood. From their first meeting to the cultivation notes that later changed her fate, everything had been... a scheme!
Tears slipped silently down her cheeks.
There had never been any love at first sight. It had all been a long-planned exploitation!
Before you continue