Encountering Shrek!

The mornings in the Star Dou Great Forest always carried a primitive, dangerous beauty.

A thin mist drifted through the woods like a gauzy veil, shrouding the towering ancient trees and tangled vines. Sunlight.

The air was damp and cool, mingled with the scents of soil, leaves, dew, and a deeper, fishy stench belonging to soul beasts.

Du Busi led Dai Tu and Long Aotian through the forest.

He did not walk quickly. He even seemed leisurely, as though strolling through his own backyard. His dark green hair fluttered gently in the morning breeze, and his emerald eyes were lazily half-lidded.

Long Aotian followed half a step behind Du Busi, his body slightly inclined forward like a cheetah poised to pounce.

His amber eyes vigilantly swept their surroundings. Every rustle of grass or whisper of wind made his muscles tense in an instant.

The senses of a five-ring Soul King were fully spread, taking in every fluctuation of Soul Power within a hundred zhang.

Dai Tu walked at the rear. He wore the fitted black outfit Long Aotian had prepared for him.

The three had already entered the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Millennium soul beasts were everywhere here, while ten-thousand-year soul beasts had begun to appear sporadically as well.

Du Busi had a clear goal: find Long Aotian a suitable fifty-thousand-year soul beast, and find Dai Tu a suitable ten-thousand-year soul beast.

"Teacher, are we really just searching around without any plan?" Long Aotian could not help asking.

"The Star Dou Great Forest is so vast. Finding a suitable soul beast is like looking for a needle in the ocean."

Without turning around, Du Busi said lazily, "What's the rush? Soul beasts are all about fate. If it's meant to be yours, it won't get away. If it isn't, forcing it is useless."

He paused, then added, "Besides, I can sense a very strong fluctuation of Soul Power up ahead. It's at least fifty thousand years old, perfect for you. As for Dai Tu..."

Du Busi turned back and glanced at Dai Tu. "Your Tree of Life Martial Soul needs healing-type soul skills. The most suitable soul beasts would be Emerald Swans, Healing Spirit Deer, and the like. But such soul beasts are rare and elusive. Whether we can encounter one depends on luck."

Dai Tu nodded without speaking.

His requirements for his second soul ring were not particularly high. Any healing-type soul skill would do. Its age was not all that important anyway; he had God Trial rewards to increase his soul ring's age.

What concerned him more now was his third soul ring—the ten-thousand-year soul ring he intended to challenge.

The three continued onward for about half an hour.

The forest ahead gradually opened up, revealing a clearing that had been scorched by fire.

The clearing was blackened, with remnants of tree trunks burned to charcoal. A faint burnt smell still lingered in the air. Judging by the traces, there had been a fire a few days ago—or... a battle.

"A battle took place here." Long Aotian crouched down, picked up a charred stone, and weighed it in his hand. "The residual Soul Power is very strong. At least Soul Emperor level, and there was more than one."

Du Busi also stopped. His emerald eyes swept over the entire clearing, and his brows furrowed slightly.

"Not just Soul Emperors. There's the aura of a Titled Douluo, and it's... familiar."

Before his words had even faded, a burst of noise came from the woods on the other side of the clearing.

There was laughter, conversation, and... the smacking sounds of someone chewing food.

"Elder Xuan, slow down. There are still plenty of chicken legs," said a crisp female voice, tinged with helplessness.

"Mmph... Delicious! The Iron-Feathered Pheasants on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest really have firm meat. Roasted just right too—crispy outside, tender inside, dripping with oil... burp!"

An elderly, muffled voice answered, clearly with its mouth stuffed full of food.

Then came even more laughter, male and female alike. They sounded young, energetic, and... openly proud.

Du Busi's expression darkened instantly.

"Damn it, what bad luck," he cursed under his breath, turning to leave.

But it was already too late.

A group of people emerged from the woods on the other side of the clearing.

At their head was a slovenly-looking old man. He wore an oily gray cloth robe covered in patches, his hair was a mess like a bird's nest, and his unshaven face was smeared with grease and scraps of food.

In his left hand, the old man carried an oily leather wineskin, while in his right he held a golden-brown roasted chicken leg. He walked while taking huge bites, his mouth dripping with grease as he made satisfied smacking noises.

Yet this old man, who looked like a beggar, emitted Soul Power fluctuations as vast as mountains and seas, unfathomably deep.

He merely stood there, yet the surrounding space faintly distorted, and even the air became thick and heavy.

A Titled Douluo.

And an exceedingly powerful Titled Douluo at that.

Dai Tu's gaze paused on the old man for only a moment before shifting to the people behind him.

There were seven young people, four men and three women. The oldest looked just over twenty, while the youngest was likely not even eighteen.

They wore matching dark green fitted uniforms, embroidered on the chest with a strange creature-like emblem resembling Shrek.

Shrek Academy.

Dai Tu's heart sank.

Not because of Shrek Academy itself, but because... among those seven people was someone who made the blood throughout his body turn cold in an instant.

He was a youth around eighteen or nineteen, tall and broad-shouldered, dressed in a well-tailored white fitted outfit beneath a dark green Shrek school uniform. His short golden hair gleamed beneath the morning sun.

He was handsome, with sharply defined features. Especially those eyes—keen as blades and filled with aggression.

What stood out most was his bearing: the confidence and arrogance ingrained into his bones from having grown up in privilege.

He stood with his back straight and chin slightly raised, habitually looking at others from the corners of his eyes as though no one deserved his direct gaze.

Dai Yueheng.

The eldest son of Dai Hao, the Duke of White Tiger; Zhu Yue's biological son; Dai Huabin's elder brother.

And also... Dai Tu's half-brother by blood.

Dai Tu's gaze remained on Dai Yueheng for about three seconds.

In those three seconds, countless scenes flashed through his mind. The pool of blood in Konoha, the sword tip piercing through Arin's chest, Zhu Ye's savage grin, and... the youth before him, with a face five or six parts similar to Dai Hao's.

Hatred grew wildly from the depths of his heart like poisonous vines, instantly spreading through every limb and bone. Dai Tu's fingers curled unconsciously, his nails digging deeply into his palms until they drew blood.

Deep within his left eye, that scorching power belonging to the Mangekyō Sharingan began to stir uncontrollably, wanting to burst from his body, wanting to tear apart the face before him and burn it to ashes.

But he held it back.

Taking a deep breath, Dai Tu forced himself to look away and turned his attention to the others.

A red-haired woman stood beside Dai Yueheng. She looked about twenty, tall and slender, with flaming red hair tied into a neat ponytail behind her head.

She was breathtakingly beautiful, but it was an aggressive, wild sort of beauty. In particular, crimson firelight faintly swirled deep within her pupils, and she looked at others with undisguised, lofty scrutiny.

Ma Xiaotao, possessor of the Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul and the strongest disciple of the inner court.

Dai Tu could sense the immensely violent Soul Power contained within her, like a volcano that could erupt at any moment.

Moreover, her mental state seemed somewhat unstable. Her gaze was clear at times, unfocused at others, and occasionally filled with viciousness.

Beside Ma Xiaotao stood a somewhat effeminate-looking young man. He wore the dark green school uniform, but had draped a thin pink gauze cloak over it, making him look utterly incongruous.

Gongyang Mo, possessor of the Rainbow Dragon Martial Soul, a top-tier auxiliary-system soul master.