Wood Spirit Entanglement!

Twin Martial Souls.

A peerless genius seen only once in a century on Douluo Continent. So long as no owner of Twin Martial Souls died young, they would at least become a Soul Douluo in the future, with a high chance of even becoming a Titled Douluo.

This black-haired youth, who looked no more than twelve or thirteen and wore tattered clothes, was actually the owner of Twin Martial Souls?

And judging by what he had displayed just now, the quality of both martial souls was terrifyingly high.

An eye-type martial soul could see through soul beast movements and even use "Intangibility" to become immune to attacks. A plant-type martial soul could control and absorb Soul Power, and judging from the toughness of those vines, it probably possessed formidable vitality as well.

"Monster..." Beibei murmured.

The Nether Flame Cat was still struggling, but it was growing weaker and weaker. Wood Spirit Entanglement not only bound its body, but continuously absorbed its Soul Power. Its struggles gradually weakened, and the ferocious light in its eyes dimmed.

Dai Tu knew the time had come.

He activated the Mangekyo once more, and the scarlet pattern in his eyes spun wildly.

"Kamui..."

"Distortion!"

As his words fell, the space around the Nether Flame Cat's body began to distort.

It was not a visual distortion, but a real, physical one. It was as though an invisible giant hand had grasped that small patch of space and twisted it savagely.

"Crack, crack, crack!"

The teeth-grinding sound of shattering bones rang out.

The Nether Flame Cat's body began to deform before their very eyes.

First came its tail. That tail, burning with Nether flames, was twisted into a corkscrew from the middle, its bones snapping section by section. Then came its limbs—its front claws bent backward, its hind legs twisted forward, every joint dislocated and shattered.

Finally came its torso. Its spine groaned under the strain like a towel being wrung dry.

"Meow!!!"

A shriek so miserable it no longer sounded like a cat echoed through the forest.

Blood began flowing from the Nether Flame Cat's seven orifices. Its mismatched golden and silver eyes were filled with pain and terror. It wanted to struggle, but the vines held it completely immobile.

It wanted to resist with Soul Power, but more than half of it had already been absorbed by the vines. It could only watch helplessly as its body was crushed, twisted, and deformed bit by bit by that invisible force.

It was dead.

A fifteen-hundred-year Nether Flame Cat had been twisted alive to death just like that.

Thud.

Its warped corpse fell to the ground with a dull impact.

Dai Tu lowered his hand and gasped for breath. The agonizing pain in his left eye receded like a tide, only to be replaced by overwhelming exhaustion.

"It worked..." Dai Tu murmured, a trace of excitement in his voice. "Kamui can not only make my body intangible, it can also distort space and attack enemies... Although the consumption is enormous, its power..."

At that moment, a soul ring rose from the Nether Flame Cat's corpse.

A purple soul ring.

A deep, rich purple that radiated powerful Soul Power fluctuations. Faint dark flames flowed across the surface of the soul ring—remnants of the Nether Flame Cat's traits.

A thousand-year soul ring.

Dai Tu had achieved his goal.

But before he could celebrate, footsteps sounded behind him.

It was Beibei and Tang Ya.

The two approached cautiously. Their gazes upon Dai Tu were filled with complicated emotions: shock, wariness, curiosity, and a faint, almost imperceptible... reverence.

"Are you all right?" Beibei spoke first, keeping his voice as gentle as possible. He could tell that Dai Tu was in terrible condition, his Soul Power nearly depleted and his face pale as paper.

Dai Tu slowly rose to his feet, glanced at Beibei, then at Tang Ya, and shook his head.

"I'm fine."

His voice was cold and indifferent, as though he were discussing something that had nothing to do with him.

Beibei and Tang Ya exchanged a look, and both saw helplessness in the other's eyes. This black-haired youth was clearly not someone easy to deal with.

"Um... My name is Beibei, and she's Tang Ya." Beibei decided to introduce himself first, offering a friendly smile. "We're students of Shrek Academy."

Tang Ya could no longer hold herself back. She looked at Dai Tu, her eyes sparkling. "Little brother, you're amazing! Those soul skills just now... Are you a Twin Martial Souls owner?"

Dai Tu fell silent for two seconds before nodding.

"He really has Twin Martial Souls!" Tang Ya looked excitedly at Beibei. "Beibei, did you hear that? Twin Martial Souls! Our academy hasn't recruited a Twin Martial Souls student this year yet!"

Beibei smiled as well. Looking at Dai Tu, his tone became even gentler. "Little brother, what is your name? Which family are you from? Or perhaps... have you not joined any faction yet?"

He asked carefully, but his intentions were obvious.

Such a young Twin Martial Souls owner had at least level twenty Soul Power, while his actual combat ability was outrageously strong. If they could recruit him into Shrek Academy, it would be a tremendous achievement.

And judging by the youth's attire, his background was probably not very good. These were exactly the "commoner geniuses" Shrek most liked to recruit.

Dai Tu looked at Beibei, then at Tang Ya, and a complicated feeling rose within him.

Beibei. Tang Ya.

Characters from the original story—one who would later become the master of Sea God Pavilion, and the other who would become the master of the Tang Sect.

"My name is Dai Tu." Dai Tu finally spoke, his voice still cold. "I have no family and no faction."

Beibei's eyes lit up.

"Then, Brother Dai, are you interested in joining Shrek Academy? We are the number one academy on the continent. We have the finest teachers, the most comprehensive training system, and the richest resources. With your talent, once you enter Shrek, you will certainly become a Titled Douluo in the future, perhaps even..."

"Not interested."

Dai Tu cut him off directly.

Beibei froze, and Tang Ya froze as well.

"Wh... why?" Tang Ya could not help asking. "Is Shrek Academy not good? So many geniuses would kill for a chance to get in!"

Dai Tu turned to look at Tang Ya. Those large, round eyes were as hollow as two deep wells at that moment, reflecting no light at all.

"Shrek Academy merely turns geniuses into geniuses," he said slowly, with a trace of barely perceptible mockery in his tone.

"But geniuses are geniuses wherever they go. The only difference is that at Shrek, you teach them how to run, teach them unity, and teach them all those high-sounding principles."

He paused and looked at Beibei. "But true powerhouses do not need those things. True powerhouses carve their way out through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, temper themselves on the edge of life and death, and claw out a path to survival with their own hands from the deepest despair."

"Shrek?" Dai Tu curled his lips as if smiling, but there was no amusement in his eyes. "It is nothing more than a greenhouse. No matter how brilliantly flowers bloom in a greenhouse, they cannot withstand a real storm."

Beibei's expression changed. "How can you speak of Shrek like that? Do you know how many powerhouses Shrek has produced? The Shrek Seven Devils ten thousand years ago, those from a thousand years ago..."

"That has nothing to do with me." Dai Tu interrupted her again, his tone icy. "I will walk my own path. I do not need anyone to teach me, much less have a... running academy waste my time."

Running academy.

Those four words were like four knives, stabbing fiercely into Beibei and Tang Ya's hearts.

They wanted to refute him, to argue, to tell this arrogant little brat how scientific and effective Shrek's training was.

But when they looked into Dai Tu's eyes, at the bottomless darkness and dead silence within them, every word lodged in their throats.

"Forget it, Xiao Ya." Beibei held back Tang Ya, who still wanted to argue, and shook his head. He looked at Dai Tu, took a deep breath, and tried to keep his tone calm.

"Everyone has their own aspirations. Since Brother Dai has his own plans, we will not force you. However..."

He paused before speaking earnestly.

"If you change your mind in the future, or if you run into any difficulties, you can come to Shrek Academy and find me. My name is Beibei, and I am a fourth-year student of the outer academy. Shrek's gates will always be open to true geniuses."

Dai Tu glanced at him without saying a word.