The maiden Leng Yaozhu invites him to team up, Lin Xiu wants to recruit one more person.

In the Far North, beneath a sky filled with falling snow, a young man walked alone across the frozen expanse.

"Achoo!" Lin Xiu suddenly sneezed. He rubbed his nose and muttered, "Who's thinking about me? It couldn't be Old Ghost, could it?"

Just as he was wondering who might be thinking of him or speaking ill of him, strange sounds drifted into his ears.

Rustle, rustle, rustle...

It sounded like some creature wriggling beneath the ground.

"As expected, the Far North really does have more soul beasts than other places." The moment Lin Xiu's voice trailed off, BOOM! A massive figure erupted from the earth, and a giant insect appeared before him.

The giant insect abruptly opened a mouth filled with dense, sharp teeth, and a stream of dark green venom sprayed out like a sharp arrow, aimed straight at Lin Xiu. It clearly intended to kill him in one strike and wipe him out completely.

Facing this lethal blow, there was not a hint of panic on Lin Xiu's face; instead, he lazily stifled a yawn.

The moment the venom was about to touch him, the space around his body suddenly rippled and distorted. A dark red vertical pupil, resembling a demon's eye, manifested out of thin air. The moment it opened, a heart-stopping killing intent surged from the depths of the pupil.

In the next second, countless ink-black chains surged wildly from the vertical pupil. The chains were wreathed in faint black mist, intertwining and weaving together in an instant to form an impenetrable, indestructible shield of chains.

"Sizzle!"

The venom slammed fiercely into the shield, instantly turning into wisps of foul-smelling white smoke without leaving even a single mark.

Before the insect could react, the interwoven chains suddenly dispersed. Like a long-dormant python catching the scent of prey, they lunged toward the insect with a sharp, piercing whistle.

The sharp tips of the chains glinted with a cold, frigid light, as if they could easily tear through any obstacle.

Sensing the approach of death, the giant insect's carapace shuddered violently. Extreme terror flashed in its eyes, and its massive body stumbled as it tried to turn and flee. But the speed of the chains was astonishing; in the blink of an eye, they had densely pierced through its entire body.

With a few crisp "crack" sounds, the insect's carapace shattered, and dark green bodily fluids sprayed out. It let out a shrill, miserable hiss before its massive body slowly collapsed to the ground, completely devoid of life.

Immediately following, a yellow, century-level soul ring rose slowly from its corpse, floating gently in the air.

Lin Xiu looked at the century-level soul ring drifting up from the giant insect's body and said with some regret, "Forgot to hold back. I should have left it on the verge of death; it could have sold for a good price."

He didn't linger any longer and continued on his way, needing to hurry to Shrek Academy to report.

In the distance, atop a high, icy mountain, the Demon Empress stood tall. She watched the back of Lin Xiu as he departed below, and only when his figure was no longer visible did she slowly vanish.

Several days passed. When Lin Xiu finally arrived at a human city, he felt a bit like a primitive man entering modern society. Perhaps he had grown too accustomed to the Far North, as he felt somewhat unaccustomed to the bustling streets before him.

He had just inquired and learned that the registration time for Shrek Academy was still early, so he decided to go to the Spirit Pagoda to register and, while he was at it, play around with the Spirit Ascension Platform to hunt monsters and level up.

Both the Spirit Pagoda and Shrek Academy existed within Shrek City. Ten thousand years ago, the two factions were one family, but later, due to conflicting interests and the emergence of the Sun Moon Federation, they had completely parted ways.

Furthermore, Shrek Academy was full of old-fashioned fools. Huo Yuhao had just opened the door to Soul Tools, yet a few years after he became a god, they closed it again. It was only fitting that Shrek Academy would eventually be blown up.

If you can't keep up with the progress of the era, you will be directly eliminated.

Lin Xiu finally arrived at the Spirit Pagoda, but just as he was about to walk in, he was stopped by someone outside. "Little kid, this is the headquarters of the Spirit Pagoda. You can't just enter as you please."

"Can't I enter the Spirit Ascension even if I have money?" Lin Xiu now had a pile of treasures given to him by the Demon Empress; he had reached the point where he was absolutely not short on money.

Hearing this, the two staff members looked at each other, and then one of them said, "Little kid, this might require waiting in line."

The Spirit Ascension at the headquarters wasn't a place where any stray cat or dog could enter. No matter how much money you had, you ultimately had to yield to the power of the higher-ups.

Hearing this, Lin Xiu understood that he couldn't perform Spirit Ascension here, but he didn't care that much and nodded. "I understand."

Just as he was about to turn and leave, a crisp, melodious voice rang out: "Hey, do you want to perform Spirit Ascension?"

Hearing this, Lin Xiu retracted the foot he had just stepped out with and turned around curiously to see a red-haired girl standing with her hands on her hips, looking at him.

"Yeah, what about it?" Looking at this girl, Lin Xiu had already recognized her identity—Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu, it had to be her.

Leng Yaozhu looked at the young man in front of her, thought for a few seconds, and then invited him: "I happen to need a few partners for Spirit Ascension this afternoon. Do you want to join?"

"Why invite me?" Lin Xiu was a bit puzzled.

"I can see you aren't exactly ordinary. But you must pay first." Leng Yaozhu clearly saw that this guy's strength was by no means ordinary. In order to get rid of a certain persistent sycophant, and having just come downstairs to head home when she encountered this unusual youth, she decided to try inviting him.

"I can, but..."

"But what?" Leng Yaozhu hadn't expected this guy not to agree immediately, and she became a bit interested, asking curiously.

Lin Xiu had a very bold and terrifying decision in his heart, and he spoke slowly: "I need to bring someone with me. Is that okay?"

The two staff members standing to the side didn't expect this youth to be so bold as to dare set conditions for the young lady of the Leng family.

It was already a huge stroke of luck that she was taking you along, and now you dare to... make demands.

Brave, truly too brave!

After hearing Lin Xiu's words, Leng Yaozhu rubbed her chin and fell into thought. She had already intended to give up; she had only invited him because she saw he was a bit different, but she hadn't expected him to push his luck.

"If it's not possible, then forget it." Seeing Leng Yaozhu hesitate, Lin Xiu didn't force it. It didn't matter; he would find another way when he had the chance to enter the Spirit Ascension Platform next time.

Seeing the other party about to turn and leave, Leng Yaozhu couldn't help but call out to him and ask, "What is your Soul Power Level?"

"Thirty-seven."

"What?"

The three people present showed shock. Leng Yaozhu prided herself on being a genius, and her current level was only thirty-four, yet this youth was already at level thirty-seven. What kind of monster had popped out of nowhere?

"I understand." Leng Yaozhu nodded. "You can bring one more person. See you this afternoon." Having said that, she turned and left directly, without any extra nonsense.

Lin Xiu was a bit surprised that she had actually agreed. Since he really did need to go call someone, he immediately turned and left to head back to the hotel to prepare.

Inside the Sea of Consciousness, Lin Nuo was currently observing the changes to his Throne of Time when Lin Xiu's voice rang out from behind him: "A-Nuo, I've got a big job. You in?"

"Speak." Lin Nuo didn't turn around, gesturing for Lin Xiu to continue.

"I've got a Spirit Ascension this afternoon. You coming?"

"?" Lin Nuo immediately withdrew his gaze, hopped down from his Throne of Time, and looked at Lin Xiu. "Where did you get that?"

"Let's just call it luck." Lin Xiu recounted everything that had happened that morning to Lin Nuo.

After listening, Lin Nuo was immediately tempted, though one problem arose: "How am I supposed to get over there?"

"Aren't you time itself? Try it. Use my existence as an anchor to the past and see if you can traverse through it. If it doesn't work, forget it." Lin Xiu offered his suggestion. "It's just a small experiment, anyway."

He simply wanted to test if, should A-Nuo be able to traverse using this method, it meant other fellows could also exist within the timeline. If it failed, it wouldn't matter; it was just a trial run.

Hearing this, Lin Nuo nodded and immediately began to attempt it.