At the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest lay an unnamed mountain range.
Amid the layered, towering peaks hung a hidden cave.
At the very end of the cave stood a heavy black steel door. The originally pitch-black, dull door was now faintly showing signs of melting across its surface, emitting strange sounds.
Dazzling light seeped out through the cracks in the door, illuminating the somewhat gloomy cave as brightly as day.
Yet strangely, there was not the slightest warmth within that light...
At the center of the secret chamber.
A remarkably handsome boy of around eleven or twelve sat cross-legged.
His name was Long Yaochen.
Three Soul Rings—purple, purple, purple—floated beneath his feet, utterly defying common sense.
Rampaging Soul Power surged through his body. With an invisible muffled bang, the barrier at Rank 39 shattered.
Yet not a trace of joy at his breakthrough could be seen on his flawless, perfect face.
Roar—!
A golden dragon phantom emerged from his body. After circling around him, it coiled behind his head like an Eternal Blazing Sun Holy Dragon suspended high in the sky, radiating sacred light capable of burning away every impure thing in the world.
Including his own humanity.
"...I am the one true light..."
Long Yaochen's face was shrouded in Divinity, utterly untouched by mortal warmth.
Beneath the blinding white radiance, he seemed like a deity descending into the world, too awe-inspiring for anyone to look upon directly.
Of his originally black eyes, ninety percent had now been consumed by cold golden light. Only the remaining ten percent of roiling black continued to struggle.
Each time the blazing white light around him surged, his memories of his past life, the bond between master and disciple in this life, and even the joys, sorrows, anger, and happiness of being human were gradually stripped away by that vast, absolute Divinity!
He had died in his previous life from an overtime-work meme at the Fortune Center. When he opened his eyes again, he had arrived on the Douluo Continent, where Dragon Emperor Douluo had rescued him from the jaws of Soul Beasts.
Long Xiaoyao's instincts as a Limit Douluo told him that the child in his arms was anything but ordinary.
Thus, under the other man's devoted care over several years, Long Yaochen spent six carefree and happy years.
However, all that beauty suddenly shattered after he awakened his Martial Soul.
His Radiant Sacred Dragon Martial Soul mutated, leaping from a Super Martial Soul to something nearly equivalent to a God-tier Martial Soul—
The Eternal Blazing Sun Holy Dragon.
But the Douluo Plane found it difficult to naturally nurture a true God-tier Martial Soul, so his Martial Soul possessed a grave flaw.
Ultimate Holiness and Ultimate Light, yet no Ultimate Fire to stabilize the Martial Soul's core.
That extreme imbalance within the core caused the Martial Soul's influence over him to grow stronger the more he cultivated.
If this continued, before he even broke through Rank 40, he would completely become a human god without a shred of emotion, possessing only cold Divinity!
Naturally, Long Yaochen was unwilling to watch his humanity disappear... If that happened, would he still be himself?
"...I am the embodiment of order..." A cold voice continuously emerged from his mouth.
"Enough!
Damn it... I can't suppress it anymore..."
A thread of golden-glowing blood spilled from the corner of Long Yaochen's lips. The last trace of human clarity in his eyes was about to be extinguished completely.
"Foolish child! Wake up for this old man!!"
At that instant between life and death, an anxious roar suddenly exploded through the chamber.
Boom—!
That incomparably heavy black steel door was instantly blasted into dust by an immense force.
A black-robed figure burst through the doorway, wrapped in the phantom of a black dragon.
The Soul Power pressure emanating from the newcomer was terrifying beyond measure, twisting even the surrounding space.
The Holy Spirit Cult's chief worshiper, Rank 99 Limit Douluo, Dragon Emperor Douluo—Long Xiaoyao!
"Silent Darkness Domain! For this old man—suppress!"
Seeing his beloved disciple, whom he regarded as his own son, hanging by a thread, Long Xiaoyao's eyes turned bloodshot. He directly unleashed his strongest domain and cast it over Long Yaochen.
In an instant, dense darkness swept toward Long Yaochen from every direction, then tightly enveloped the incomparably brilliant blazing white light around him.
Black and white, darkness and blazing sun, collided madly within the cramped secret chamber, producing sizzling sounds of mutual dissolution.
The golden dragon phantom actually lifted its head and glared furiously at Long Xiaoyao, its eyes seemingly filled with unwillingness. Yet beneath the suppression of a Rank 99 Limit Douluo, it was ultimately forced back into Long Yaochen's body bit by bit.
Only after the time it took to burn an incense stick was the divine light completely suppressed.
Soaked through with sweat, Long Yaochen braced himself against the ground and gasped heavily.
The golden light faded from his eyes, and all his human emotions returned, though they were completely overwhelmed by exhaustion.
Yaochen's Divinity had grown even more terrifying.
Looking at Long Yaochen's miserable state, a trace of gravity flashed through Long Xiaoyao's eyes.
Even this Limit Douluo at the very pinnacle of the pyramid now had fine beads of sweat faintly forming on his forehead.
It was not that he could not suppress that power, but that he had to control even the slightest fraction of his domain power with precision. Otherwise, in a single instant, Long Yaochen might die at his hands.
"Now you know you can't suppress it anymore..." Long Xiaoyao took a deep breath and spoke in a grave tone. "This old man told you long ago that this matter could not be delayed!"
Long Yaochen was first stunned, then said weakly, "You... mean Ma Xiaotao?"
"That's right!" Long Xiaoyao recovered the imposing bearing of a Limit Douluo, his tone leaving no room for doubt.
"It is Ma Xiaotao from Shrek Academy, the one I investigated before. Her Evil Fire Phoenix is absolutely your best choice for completing your Martial Soul."
"Back then, you could still barely suppress it and did not wish for your master to seek out Mu En, so I indulged you. But now—"
At this point, Long Xiaoyao sighed, his expression somewhat complicated.
"Ever since you broke through Rank 30, your Ultimate Martial Soul began compressing your Soul Power, and your Divinity problem has only become more severe.
If we delay any longer, you will undoubtedly die!"
"Your Divinity problem has already reached a dead end. That girl's Evil Fire is your only path forward." Long Xiaoyao snorted coldly as terrifying Soul Power fluctuations surged around him. "Today, even if I have to fight Mu En until both of us are gravely injured, you must marry her!"
"I understand, Teacher." Long Yaochen wiped the golden blood from the corner of his mouth. Clarity returned to his gaze, and he no longer resisted.
Having lived two lives, he did not want to force anyone to marry him, nor did he wish to see his teacher humble himself before Mu En.
But now, surviving was more important than anything else.
"Let's go!"
Seeing his disciple agree, Long Xiaoyao did not waste another word and waved his hand.
A dense black light shot into the sky, tore through the clouds, and streaked toward Shrek City!
Shrek Academy, Sea God Island.
The sunlit Inner Court was suddenly shrouded by black clouds that blotted out the sky.
On the once peaceful and tranquil Sea God Island, the towering Golden Tree seemed to sense an exceedingly terrifying threat. It instantly erupted with dazzling golden radiance, as though facing a formidable enemy!
"Roar—!"
Accompanied by a dragon's roar that tore through the heavens, an enormous black dragon phantom coiled above the Sea God Pavilion.
At the peak of the black clouds, Long Xiaoyao held Long Yaochen in one hand. The terrifying pressure of a Rank 99 Limit Douluo poured down upon the entire Sea God Island.
His voice, infused with immense Soul Power, boomed across the skies above Sea God Island like rolling thunder:
"Mu En, come out and see me!"
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