Whatever Dai Hao was thinking, he could neither affect nor change the images within the Sky Screen.
The images continued to shift. One morning, the boy shouldered his pack alone. He gave the gates and plaque of the Duke's Mansion one last hateful look, then turned and strode without looking back toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
"Is he going to... the Star Dou Great Forest?"
"A child that young going to the Star Dou Great Forest? Isn't that just walking to his death? Soul Beasts won't show mercy with their claws."
"Alas. But if you don't become a Soul Master, how can you change your fate? This is the lot of ordinary people like us!"
Across the Douluo Continent, countless ordinary people sighed with feeling. As they watched the simply dressed boy, it was as if they saw themselves when they were young—still full of youthful spirit, still dreaming of changing their ordinary fate.
Even if the path led toward the claws and fangs of Soul Beasts, toward an abyss ten thousand zhang deep.
Countless people who had gone their entire lives without even awakening a Martial Soul also looked on with envy.
If—if someone had awakened my Martial Soul back then, would I have made the same choice and changed my fate?
Unfortunately, in this world, no one was willing to awaken Martial Souls for ordinary people free of charge anymore.
The boy in the images had only just entered the Star Dou Great Forest when he was attacked by a Ten-Year Soul Beast!
Under everyone's anxious gaze, at the very last moment, the boy miraculously struck the ferocious Soul Beast in a vital spot with a Soul Tool. A white Soul Ring floated up, swaying gently!
"Will he absorb that white Soul Ring?"
Countless people began to speculate. Many ordinary people put themselves in his shoes, their hearts filled with turmoil.
This white Soul Ring was not only the lowest quality, but the Soul Beast's attributes and type were clearly incompatible with the boy's Martial Soul. With any other choice, this would almost certainly be the worst possible option.
But that was the catch—he had no choice! Absorbing this Soul Ring would make him a Soul Master and open the door to another world.
Could he really get lucky like this again, in a matter of life and death? So, for ordinary people... there was no choice at all!
One could only say that this white Soul Ring, a symbol of mediocrity and helplessness, seemed to be the final arrangement of the God of Fate!
"No, don't!"
What no one knew was that, within the Body Sect, Du Busi was staring furiously at the Sky Screen, his eyes nearly popping out of their sockets. At that moment, it wasn't just Du Busi—countless Body Sect bigwigs wore looks of pure agony!
It was as if they were watching a flawless piece of jade about to get smeared with shit!
If the boy had been with the Body Sect, they would have first nursed him back to health and brought his physical condition to its peak.
Then they would have taken him to hunt a yellow Hundred-Year Soul Ring as close to the age limit as possible—and they would have found him a spirit-type Soul Beast that matched his Martial Soul perfectly. They would have made sure it was flawless!
At that moment, Du Busi wished he could jump into the Sky Screen himself and slap that damned white Soul Ring to pieces!
Fortunately, a sudden change occurred just then. The earth shook, then abruptly split open. A White-Gold Fat Worm, covered in rings of gold, crawled out of the fissure.
"Hahaha! If your big brother could cry, he'd be bawling his eyes out right now..."
Everyone on the continent saw the enormous gold-ringed worm suddenly turn into a cloud of smoke, then zip straight into the boy's body!
"Th-that's a Soul Beast? And it can talk?"
"Being able to talk is a sign of a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, isn't it? A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast actually entered that kid's body?"
Shock and discussion rang out across every corner of the continent.
At that very moment, in Sea God Pavilion, Mu En nearly crushed the armrest of his wheelchair.
"No, that isn't a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. It isn't one!"
Mu En's voice trembled.
"It isn't a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast? What do you mean?"
Xuan Zi and the others were stunned.
"Keep watching, and you'll see."
Mu En shook his head, his expression grave.
The images then showed a boy and a girl. At that moment, Tang Ya and Bei Bei, who were also watching the Sky Screen, both looked rather peculiar.
So the Sky Screen had just shown what had happened moments ago? This kid had pulled off something this huge while the two of them weren't around?
"Join my Tang Sect, and you must respect the rules of my Tang Sect!"
"Greetings, Teacher Xiao Ya!"
Still, Tang Ya was somewhat pleased that, at least in the images on the Sky Screen, Huo Yuhao had hardly hesitated before accepting her invitation and becoming the Tang Sect's junior fellow disciple.
Then, just as expected, the boy entered Shrek Academy through the Tang Sect's recommendation slot. The eyes of countless Soul Masters—and even ordinary people—across the continent were filled with boundless envy.
That was Shrek Academy! The one and only Holy Land of Soul Masters in countless people's hearts, just like Spirit Hall had been in its day.
Getting into Shrek Academy was like receiving a ticket to another world. You'd never be an ordinary person again!
Countless families had spent a fortune trying to secure even an outer court spot at Shrek Academy, only to find the opportunity impossible to come by!
After all, besides its steep application and tuition fees, and its exceptionally strict requirements for Soul Master talent, Shrek Academy also required a recommendation letter from someone with the standing of a city lord!
How many people across the continent could even reach such a threshold? One could say that Shrek Academy's students were almost all rich or noble, in addition to having outstanding Martial Soul talent!
Even civilian Soul Masters, no matter how outstanding or gifted, couldn't enter Shrek's gates. Even Dragon Emperor Douluo Long Xiaoyao, who had once shaken the world, had been unable to get in!
However, the events that followed in the images grew more and more surprising.
"Is this really the kind of place Shrek Academy gives its students to live in?"
"Do that many people have to share a toilet?"
"They don't even give you a place to sit in the cafeteria?"
The images next showed the boy's roommate: a boy of extraordinary beauty, with pink-and-blue hair, whose attitude was unbearably imperious. The moment he arrived, he began warning the boy, barking at him like he was a servant!
Watching this, who knew how many low-born civilian Soul Masters clenched their fists. How often had they endured this kind of humiliation at the hands of noble Soul Masters?
The strangest things were still to come! The boy and his roommate got into a fight, but made up the next day. When the boy went to class, an old woman who was their homeroom teacher immediately asked the whole class who had gotten into a fight since coming to the academy.
Naturally, only the boy and his roommate stood up; no one else did. The homeroom teacher promptly declared that they were a bunch of good-for-nothings for coming to the academy and not daring to fight. Hadn't they heard that only mediocre people were afraid to cause trouble?
The whole class was punished physically. First, they were sent outside to run fifty laps around the academy!