Silver Wolf?

Star Dou Great Forest.

Bai Mo walked alone along the path, his spiritual power—nearly that of a 70th-level Soul Saint—radiating around him without restraint.

"Ha! Are you sure there really is a million-year Soul Beast here that we can easily take away?"

A voice suddenly rang out in Bai Mo's mind.

"More or less. I just don't know if he's managed to escape by now."

Bai Mo thought to himself.

"Tsk, tsk. Another high-dimensional observation method!"

The haughty voice, brimming with matter-of-fact certainty, continued.

"I'm not entirely sure. Someone's timeline is full of bugs, so let's just give it a try. We've got nothing to lose if it's not here!"

Bai Mo strolled leisurely through Star Dou Great Forest, planning to trick a Big Bug into coming along. If it knew what was good for it, that would be fine; if not, he'd have to catch it and use it as a battery.

"Bai Mo, there's a high-heat energy source 1,794 meters to your front left. Probably a level 98 in this world?"

Bai Mo's eyes lit up at that. He couldn't be bothered to keep up his mental phone call with Little Black Tower and instead hurried toward the destination she had given him.

Sure enough, when Bai Mo drew near, he saw a burly old man with white hair, dressed in greasy, shabby clothes, roasting Soul Beast meat.

"Well now, Senior, what a way to enjoy yourself—having a barbecue all alone in Star Dou Great Forest!"

"Heh, you little monster have pretty good spiritual power. You sensed me from nearly a thousand meters away."

Xuan Zi glanced at Bai Mo and spoke in a grave, old-fashioned tone.

"Interested in joining Shrek Academy? With your aptitude, there's a very good chance you'll become an inner-court disciple someday."

"Very interested! But my teacher's accompanying my junior sister as she absorbs her Soul Ring. I only ran over out of curiosity. I'd better head back before my teacher starts worrying. Until next time, Senior!"

"Sure, go on ahead, little monster!"

Watching Bai Mo leave, Xuan Zi smacked his lips and wiped the grease from his mouth with a fat-covered hand.

"An excellent seedling! Truly an excellent seedling. Maybe I can form a friendship across generations, like Poison Douluo and our ancestor Tang San. That'd make a fine story for the future!"

After leaving, Bai Mo excitedly asked Little Black Tower to scan the Soul Power fluctuations nearby.

"Tsk, tsk. You're already lying at such a young age! Men!"

"How about it, Ms. Herta? Have you sensed any Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts nearby?"

"No. Maybe they're too far away. Speaking of which, aren't you going to look for that million-year Soul Beast?"

"Ms. Herta, it's true that I don't think much of Shrek Academy as it is now, but I still plan to visit someday."

Bai Mo released his spiritual power to search for traces in the area. He didn't directly answer Little Black Tower's question.

The timeline in the original story was extremely chaotic, and many important events could only be placed within a rough window.

If Bai Mo's guess was right, this would be the incident that led to inner-court Senior Disciple Sister Zhang Lexuan obtaining her Eighth Soul Ring—and to someone kneeling and begging a certain Holy Spirit Cult Supreme Elder not to resign in disgrace.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"The resources at Shrek Academy are just too tempting! God-Bestowed Martial Souls, the Daughter of the Gods, and the Golden Tree. It'd be a shame not to go and copy their homework!"

"What does that have to do with finding a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"

"If nothing goes wrong, I can update the moon on my Emperor Scepter! Unlike now, when it's basically just a pasted-on image!"

"Can't help you there. My database doesn't contain such low-level information as stars and satellites."

Bai Mo was searching while speaking mind-to-mind when his eyes suddenly lit up. He sensed that a group had passed through this area.

"Honestly, Shrek Academy is something else. They let inner-court students go fight Evil Soul Masters, but don't teach them any precautions beforehand. Even worse, they don't even erase the traces of their field operations. They've been sitting at the top for too long and think they can afford not to care about anything!"

Bai Mo followed the traces, still grumbling to Little Black Tower about Shrek Academy's baffling behavior.

"Sure enough, they're up ahead. I found the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast you mentioned. There are also seven other Soul Power signatures, two of which are already very weak."

"No time to wait!"

Bai Mo immediately opened his Storage Soul Tool and pulled out Little Black Tower's body.

"Go save them first. Since we made it in time, save as many as you can!"

"Pointless kindness, but... kind of cute!"

After taking control of her body again, Little Black Tower offered her verdict, hefted her Black Amethyst Hammer, and flew toward the battlefield ahead.

It was true that, according to Douluo Continent's rules, one needed to reach level 90 to fly freely. But what did Douluo Continent's rules have to do with Ms. Herta?

"Senior Disciple Sister, forget about us! Run!"

The girl Zhang Lexuan was supporting sobbed and trembled. It was hard to tell whether she'd lost too much blood or was simply terrified of dying.

Zhang Lexuan didn't respond. She needed to conserve her strength and hold out until...

"Why? Why does everyone have to die? Where are you now, Xuan Zi!"

The Silver Moon Profound Wolf's blood-red eyes swept over the few survivors. At last, its mocking gaze settled on Zhang Lexuan, who was still managing to flee.

Feeling that gaze prickle her back, Zhang Lexuan clenched her teeth and said nothing. Her junior sister still needed her. She couldn't give up!

A silver crescent shot toward them. Zhang Lexuan shifted position, intending to take the attack for her junior sister.

But the junior sister she was supporting somehow found the strength to shove her aside.

"Senior Disciple Sister, run! Help me ask..."

Before she could finish, the silver light flew past Zhang Lexuan's anguished gaze and struck her junior sister...

On the hammer!

A hammer? Zhang Lexuan stared in bewilderment at the girl holding it, who had just kicked the junior sister aside.

She wore a purple-black Soul Tool Battle Armor (or so she thought), with matching low-heeled boots. The black beret on her head looked completely out of place.

Her exquisite face wore an air of indifference, as though nothing mattered.

This Ever-Frost Battle Armor was made from materials Bai Mo had pulled from a card draw, mostly from the monsters called Everwinter Shadewalkers on Jarilo. Ms. Herta had fashioned them into armor she could use, something akin to Battle Armor.

"What are you looking at?"

"E-excuse me, I'm sorry, Senior! Please save my junior brothers and sisters!" Zhang Lexuan snapped back to her senses and immediately knelt on the hammer Little Black Tower had tossed her.

"Forget it. My disciple's feeling charitable, but I don't care for you kneeling to me."

Little Black Tower turned to look at the Silver Moon Profound Wolf, which was too wary to move.

"What a lousy Soul Beast. It's practically a hundred-thousand-year Ice Silkworm. No wonder it's a silver wolf." Little Black Tower looked at the Silver Wolf with disdain.

"Awooo." (Human, this has nothing to do with you.)

"That's hilarious. I do whatever I want. You're the first Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, after all. I'll make sure to study you properly!"

"Awooo." (Human, if I retreat, will you let this go?)

The Silver Moon Profound Wolf couldn't gauge her level, and her outrageous bravado made the Silver Wolf uneasy.

"Herta, why waste your breath on it? Talking about surrender now has to be a joke! I turned on every blessing for the Ever-Frost Battle Armor I made you!"

Bai Mo arrived, panting, a moment later.

"What a huge diamond! Take this!" Little Black Tower leaped into the air.

Cold spread across the hammer, gradually forming a huge, diamond-shaped, ice-blue head. Then it crashed down hard on the Silver Wolf.

The Silver Wolf's fur stood on end. With a howl, it formed a Moon Blade.

But after playing around for so long and having to react in a hurry, the Silver Wolf couldn't withstand the blow. It was smashed straight into the ground.

"Finished! Time to wrap up!"

Seeing that the Silver Wolf had stopped moving, Bai Mo stepped forward and collected its soul.