The Kitten Appears

As the saying goes, constant defense eventually leads to a lapse, for human strength has its limits.

Facing the relentless barrage of arrows, the young girl was soon covered in wounds.

At this moment, another arrow whistled toward her from the front. She leaned back, the shaft grazing the tip of her nose. She caught the arrow, spun it horizontally in the air for several rotations to dissipate its momentum, and then hurled it back in the direction it had come.

"Ah!" With a scream, a man in black, his face masked, was struck by the arrow and tumbled from the tree trunk.

Before the girl could even catch her breath, a soul-stirring melody suddenly echoed through the forest.

Her mind blurred for a moment, and suddenly, an arrow shot toward her from behind. Unable to dodge in time, the shaft pierced her right shoulder. She gritted her teeth against the pain, pulled out the arrow, and threw it back, killing another archer-type soul master.

Just then, the graceful black shadow that had been hiding in the dark could no longer hold back. She seized the opportunity and released the same martial soul as the girl, though with one difference: the four soul rings beneath her feet—yellow, yellow, purple, purple—revealed her to be a Soul Ancestor.

The graceful shadow struck with a claw, sending the girl flying as blood sprayed into the air.

"Zhuqing, my dear sister, you won't be able to escape my palm this time." The graceful shadow slowly emerged from the darkness. As the moonlight spilled down, it revealed a charming face that bore a three-to-four-part resemblance to the girl.

"It really is you, Zhu Zhuyun." The girl, known as Zhuqing, took a deep breath. Her dark eyes grew colder as she brandished the claws of her Hell Spirit Cat and attacked Zhu Zhuyun.

Zhu Zhuyun dodged with ease. At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing was at the end of her rope. As she dodged, she laughed mockingly, "My dear sister, if I could, I truly wouldn't want to kill you. If you come back with me, I guarantee you can live the rest of your life in peace."

"Go back? To be imprisoned by you and then cruelly murdered? Zhu Zhuyun, your face makes me sick." As she spoke, two soul rings on Zhu Zhuqing's body lit up simultaneously. Her first soul skill, Hell Stab, and her second soul skill, Hell Hundred Claws, were unleashed.

Her perfect, delicate body glowed with a cold purple light in mid-air, spiraling as she attacked Zhu Zhuyun.

To tell the story from another angle, while the Zhu sisters were locked in a life-or-death struggle, a different scene was unfolding in another corner of the Dark Forest.

A young man had set up a tent and was sitting by a campfire, happily roasting a freshly caught Soft Bone Rabbit.

He was a very delicate-looking youth, dressed in luxurious attire. He appeared to be twelve or thirteen years old, stood over 1.7 meters tall, and wore a black tight-fitting outfit. A blue gemstone wrist guard on his arm was particularly eye-catching. His black, tousled hair drifted slowly in the heat waves from the campfire. His skin was fair, his temperament calm, and his features were exceptionally handsome. It was a pity, however, that a look of dissatisfaction would occasionally flicker across his face.

He was Lan Si, who had just broken through to level thirty and was preparing to head to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain his third soul ring.

More than five years had passed, and Lan Si had finally graduated smoothly from the Nuoding Primary Soul Master Academy.

Given his talent, the Nuoding Academy had offered to recommend him directly to an intermediate or even an advanced soul master academy. Many institutions had sent him invitations, but Lan Si had declined them all.

Yu Xiaogang, in particular, had sought Lan Si out every so often ever since Lan Si used his first soul skill to defeat Xiao Wu.

The content of his speeches was always the same: either preaching his own theories and hinting that Lan Si should take him as a master, or wildly praising the Shrek Academy, claiming it had deep faculty resources, was a concentration camp for monsters, boasted over two Soul Saints and several Soul Emperors as teachers, and that its most outstanding student had become the youngest elder in the Martial Soul Hall. He simply never mentioned the teaching environment.

To put it bluntly, he just wanted to persuade Lan Si to go to Shrek Academy.

Later, Lan Si grew truly annoyed. He feigned a look of admiration and asked casually, "The enrollment standard for Shrek Academy is twelve years old, and it has been operating for less than twenty years. To become an elder of the Martial Soul Hall, one must have the cultivation of a Titled Douluo. Even if that student was from the very first graduating class, they would only be in their thirties—not even forty. Who is this Titled Douluo?"

At this question, Yu Xiaogang was instantly dumbfounded. Under the scornful gazes of the students and teachers, his old face flushed red, and he fled in a panic.

Since then, Yu Xiaogang had never bothered Lan Si again.

Taking him as a master was impossible; it would never happen in this lifetime. Most of his theories were wrong, and the ones that were actually helpful, Lan Si already knew. Why would he ever take him as a master? Every time he remembered how Yu Xiaogang had haughtily tried to force him onto an auxiliary path when he was hunting for his first soul ring, even suggesting he absorb some trash Soul Power Holy Wood, Lan Si had nearly pulled out a semi-automatic pistol to finish him off.

As for going to Shrek, other than the little kitten who interested Lan Si, there really wasn't much point. The teaching quality was mediocre at best—no resources, no facilities, purely a "free-range" state. If a student achieved success later, it was attributed to Shrek's excellent guidance; if they faded into obscurity, it was blamed on the student's incompetence, and they were told not to claim they were Shrek students after leaving.

Good grief, wasn't this just like the pyramid schemes back on Blue Star in his previous life?

Lan Si had no interest in those minor academies either. On the contrary, the Skywater Academy was worth considering... cough, cough, unfortunately, they didn't accept boys.

In the end, after much deliberation, Lan Si chose the Blue Tyrant Academy and successfully secured an admission spot.

As for why he chose the Blue Tyrant Academy?

There was no other reason: it was close to the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well in the Sunset Forest.

Lan Si, who was familiar with the original Douluo Dalu story, knew that when Shrek first arrived in Heaven Dou City, Prince Xue Xing had sought out Dugu Bo to stand up for Xue Beng and teach Shrek a lesson. Dugu Bo then learned from Dugu Yan that Tang San had neutralized the Jade Phosphorous Serpent poison, so Dugu Bo set his sights on Tang San. When night fell, he took action and brought him to the Sunset Forest.

In other words, during that period, Dugu Bo would be away from the Sunset Forest for at least an entire day.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Lan Si could easily go and scavenge the place.

By the time Tang San arrived, it would be none of Lan Si's business.

He could do whatever he wanted.

Originally, Lan Si's first choice had been the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, but unfortunately, they only accepted nobles, so that path was closed.

During his six years at Nuoding, many things had happened.

Lan Si's life had been extremely fulfilling. Every morning, he did one hundred push-ups, one hundred sit-ups, one hundred squats, and ran ten kilometers to train his physique, followed by practicing the techniques from the Supreme Universe Art and the Five Thunders Heart Art.

He attended classes in the morning, spent his afternoons in the Nuoding Academy library, and went to the blacksmith shop to secretly learn the Storm Cloak technique and craft firearm parts.

At night, he cultivated the Supreme Universe Art and the Five Thunders Heart Art to increase his soul power, leaving almost no free time.

PS: Extra chapter, please add to your library and vote for recommendations. This is the first update.