Pengyou, Fighting's Fine, but Leave Some Room to Breathe

"Pfft—!"

"What a funny little kid!"

"Hahahaha! You're killing me! Your mom actually taught you that? Honestly, I kind of want to meet your hilarious mom."

Chen Doudou looked at the speaker and thought to himself, Really? I'm not sure you'd dare.

Everyone at the scene burst out laughing.

Even Zhang Lexuan, who was usually so cool and reserved, couldn't help laughing aloud. Her shoulders trembled slightly, and the light of the campfire warmed her face.

Meanwhile, in the Divine Realm.

Rakshasa God's heart, which had been hanging in suspense, finally sank.

She slid right off her divine throne and glared through gritted teeth at the little rascal in the crystal ball, who was nestled in a warm embrace and stuffing himself with meat. "Why, you little Chen Doudou! Is that what I taught you? You even lie to your own mother, huh!"

Asura God's face was as dark as a cooking pot. "..."

Could they still send this kid back to the furnace and remake him? They didn't want him anymore.

God of Destruction finally couldn't hold it in. Clutching his stomach, he burst into laughter, and the little bit of guilt he'd felt vanished in an instant.

This kid was killing me with filial piety. Hahahaha!

That's right. That's how you do it.

Fight, fight! Go make your dad and mom furious!

Goddess of Life covered her mouth with a soft laugh. "Doudou's tongue is even sharper than his martial soul."

Goddess of Kindness nodded. "That's good, at least we don't have to worry about someone fooling him."

Chen Doudou hugged Zhang Lexuan and rubbed against her again, looking thoroughly content. "Besides, Big Sister's so pretty. She can't be a bad woman."

Ma Xiaotao's expression darkened. She fixed him with a resentful look, her voice edged with danger. "Oh? So you're saying I'm the bad woman?"

Zhang Lexuan tilted her head and watched him with interest, apparently curious to see how this little rascal would talk his way out of it.

Chen Doudou turned to Ma Xiaotao, a harmless smile spreading across his little face.

"Bad woman, do you know the biggest difference between you and Pretty Big Sister?"

Ma Xiaotao blinked curiously. "What?"

"Pretty Big Sister is a little pretty, but you... are a little funny."

"Chen! Dou! Dou!"

Ma Xiaotao's fair cheeks instantly flushed red as she clenched her fists.

The next second, she charged at Chen Doudou in a huff.

"You naturally wicked little brat! Say again who's funny?"

"Hey, pengyou, fighting's fine, but leave some room to breathe."

A few minutes later.

After all that commotion, everyone in the group looked at Chen Doudou with even more warmth.

After all, in such a stifling environment, having a little ray of sunshine to ease everyone's tension was a real blessing.

At that moment, Chen Doudou was busy stuffing his face with roast meat.

Ma Xiaotao sat cross-legged beneath a tree nearby, watching him wolf down his food. Curiously, she asked, "Chen Doudou, you're out here all by yourself. Don't your parents look after you?"

After all, it was extremely strange for a child to suddenly appear in Star Dou Forest. It was even reasonable to wonder whether his family had abandoned him and deliberately left him here to fend for himself.

"Why are you asking?"

Chen Doudou replied casually.

At that, a trace of pity appeared in Ma Xiaotao's eyes.

Poor thing. He'd lost his parents so young. No wonder he'd been abandoned here to fend for himself...

"Cough, cough, cough!"

The naan was so dry, and Chen Doudou had never eaten it before, so he didn't know how to manage it. He choked on it.

Ma Xiaotao hurriedly took the lid off her water bottle and handed it to him.

After a few gulps of water, Chen Doudou finally stopped choking. "Phew..."

That was close.

He'd nearly become the first transmigrator to choke to death.

Ma Xiaotao gently patted his back, helping him catch his breath. "Why are you so careless? Don't you know you have to eat dry rations slowly?"

"Thanks."

Chen Doudou thanked her.

The main reason was that, having lived in the Divine Realm, he'd never eaten such dry, hard food since birth. His teeth practically felt like they were going to waste. And since it was his first time trying it, this was what happened.

Ma Xiaotao's eyes narrowed slightly, as if she hadn't expected the kid to say thank you. She smiled. "By the way, Doudou, are you six yet?"

"Yeah."

"Want me to help you awaken your martial soul? If it's any good, I can take you to Shrek Academy when the time comes."

This wasn't just a spur-of-the-moment idea for Ma Xiaotao.

She genuinely felt sorry for the kid.

Besides, while they'd been fooling around earlier, she'd used Soul Power to probe Chen Doudou's body. She couldn't sense anything at all—not even the slightest trace of a martial soul.

There were usually only two possible reasons for this.

One was that someone had placed a restriction on his body, preventing anyone from sensing his Soul Power.

The other was that he was an ordinary person who hadn't awakened his martial soul.

Of course, there was one other possibility: Chen Doudou was far stronger than she was. But how could that be?

Chen Doudou had been left in Star Dou Forest to fend for himself. It made no sense that some powerful person would go out of their way to place a restriction on him.

"Xiaotao, you're getting ahead of yourself."

A young man who looked about twenty spoke up from not far away, offering a friendly reminder.

The entry requirements for Shrek weren't low. Students needed talent, and they also needed a recommendation letter from a city lord.

He didn't think a strange child who'd appeared out of nowhere in Star Dou Forest could possibly have the necessary talent.

Besides, giving someone hope only to dash it was the cruelest thing in the world.

"No need. I've already awakened my martial soul."

As he spoke, Chen Doudou opened his right hand.

A small purple scythe shimmering with the light of life appeared in his palm.

The moment the Life Rakshasa Holy Scythe appeared,

the people who'd been resting with their eyes closed were all drawn to its aura and opened their eyes.

Zhang Lexuan's pupils contracted slightly as she exclaimed, "What a rich aura of life!"

A dark-skinned male student cried out, "This kid's Soul Power is surging! He must have Innate Full Soul Power!"

"Wait, what? Innate Full Soul Power!"

Everyone was astonished.

Innate Full Soul Power was rare across the entire Douluo Continent.

And they'd just happened to run into someone who had it?

"That's not all! The life aura from this martial soul is even stronger than the Tree of Life martial soul of the inner-court senior. Just breathing it in is enough to make you feel refreshed."

A short-haired girl speculated, "Do you think this could be extreme life?"

"How is that possible?"

"Exactly. How could a life attribute have an extreme form?"

Everyone murmured and debated among themselves.

The life attribute wasn't some common, run-of-the-mill attribute. Martial souls with even the slightest connection to life were almost never weak.

And extreme life was a legend unlike anything that had ever appeared in history.

So they couldn't just throw that claim around.

Ma Xiaotao proudly patted Chen Doudou on the shoulder, looking as if she shared in his glory. "Hahaha... I knew I was right about you."

The student who'd warned Ma Xiaotao earlier twitched at the corner of his mouth, already starting to question his place in the world.

"What ridiculous luck. The random kid she picked up has Innate Full Soul Power and a top-tier martial soul, too."

Then Ma Xiaotao bent down slightly and looked at Chen Doudou expectantly. "Doudou, do you want to join Shrek Academy? There are lots of benefits if you do..."

"No."

Chen Doudou refused without a second thought.

"Why not? What's wrong with Shrek? Besides, if you don't come to Shrek, where else can you go by yourself?"

Ma Xiaotao looked utterly confused.

She couldn't understand why Chen Doudou would turn her down when he was already in such a miserable situation.