Aunt Leng Yaozhu

Douluo Continent, Shrek City.

Shrek City had borne the weight of two thousand years of history. Its origins could be traced back to a dilapidated little village from the days of Spirit Hall.

Ten thousand years ago, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao had burst onto the scene. He single-handedly revived the Tang Sect, which had already been destroyed, and founded the Spirit Pagoda, an organization that would shape the entire Soul Master system.

At the time, Shrek Academy, the Tang Sect, and the Spirit Pagoda had depended on one another and thrived together. The old city could no longer accommodate the flourishing three, so Shrek City underwent a massive expansion. The original city became the inner city.

But time flew, and people changed.

The Spirit Pagoda had not stayed true to its founding purpose of balancing the relationship between Soul Masters and Soul Beasts.

After the Soul Beast forces within the Pagoda were swept away, Shrek Academy was pushed out as well. The three powers, once united as one, went their separate ways.

Today, the Qiangu Family, a clan with three Limit Douluos, held the Spirit Pagoda's real power. Ever since Light and Dark Douluo Long Yeyue had slapped Qiangu Dieting, the former head of the Spirit Pagoda, relations between the Pagoda and Shrek Academy had deteriorated further. Now they were at each other's throats.

With the tacit cooperation of the Federation's major powers, Qiangu Dongfeng had already begun plotting to "nuke" Shrek Academy.

An Lan had slept in the luxurious cockpit of the mecha. After a full two hours of flight, he finally arrived with his two mentors in Shrek City, hailed as the greatest city on the continent.

After the three families split, the Spirit Pagoda was no longer welcome in the costly inner city of Shrek, where every inch of land was worth its weight in gold. So the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters had moved to the outskirts of Shrek City.

Stepping out of the mecha, An Lan looked up. The first thing he saw was the towering wall that sealed off the Star Dou Great Forest.

Beyond the wall lay the last remaining Soul Beast territory on Douluo Continent. The once-untouchable Beast God Di Tian was now quietly confined inside.

Looking at the wall that cut off heaven and earth, An Lan was filled with emotion.

Shrek City's outskirts had already reached the core area of the Star Dou Great Forest. In other words, Shrek City had been built entirely on what was once the Star Dou Great Forest.

After a moment, An Lan turned to Leng Qingning beside him and asked curiously, "Teacher, I heard construction on this wall was once forced to stop halfway through. Did the Soul Beasts refuse to be locked up in a zoo and come out to cause trouble?"

As he spoke, all sorts of scenes were already playing out in his mind: Beast God Di Tian, furious with rage, his Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King true form blotting out the sky; Xiong Jun roaring again and again, his Sky-Rending Claw tearing through space; even the Emerald Swan Bi Ji, abandoning her usual manner, her face murderous as she struck without mercy...

He even secretly suspected that Shrek Academy might have been stirring things up behind the scenes. After all, once the two sides had fallen out, it would have been perfectly natural for Shrek to use the Soul Beasts to give the Spirit Pagoda trouble.

Di Tian already hated the Spirit Pagoda. Once he learned that the three families were at odds and the Pagoda had been left without allies, it would only make sense for him to attack and vent his anger.

Leng Qingning stood beside him, tall and graceful, her purple hair cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall.

Hearing her beloved disciple's question, a hint of amusement passed through her eyes. She gently shook her head, cutting off his wild imaginings. "No. Construction stopped because they also had to build the Spirit Pagoda Headquarters."

"Ah?"

An Lan froze, quite surprised by that answer.

He had never imagined that the truth behind the wall's construction stoppage would be so plain and ordinary.

Still, he didn't feel ashamed for misunderstanding Shrek Academy. As a proud member of the Spirit Pagoda, badmouthing Shrek Academy was practically the politically correct thing to do.

Even though the Phoenix Family was one of the factions within the Spirit Pagoda that took a more moderate stance toward Shrek Academy, they wouldn't waver on an issue of such fundamental importance.

After arriving in Shrek City, Leng Qingning would naturally have to meet her aunt, Leng Yaozhu.

But she wasn't in a hurry. Instead, she and Le Lingzhao took An Lan around to have a look.

Inner City, Glory Street.

The broad street teemed with people. Shops lined both sides, and the stalls and vendors were a constant stream.

The three of them walked through the crowd, each holding a cup of milk tea, and immediately drew every passerby's gaze.

Leng Qingning's purple hair fluttered as she walked. Cool and stunning, she had an air that put her far beyond reach. Le Lingzhao, meanwhile, had dazzling golden hair and brilliant golden eyes, and seemed to be surrounded by a faint holy radiance—both sacred and solemn.

The two women were peerlessly beautiful, their looks unrivaled across the continent. Walking side by side with a child in tow, they made an especially eye-catching group.

Passersby turned to stare. Quite a few secretly guessed that these two beauties must be lovers who had broken through the shackles of convention, and that they had adopted the child only because they couldn't have one of their own.

Running into a beautiful woman when you went out—what a joy!

But since she wasn't someone you could have, and no one else stood a chance either, it was even better!

Glory Street stood in Shrek's inner city. Many people mistakenly thought the "Glory" in its name referred to the glory of Shrek, but that wasn't the case. It referred to the glory of Douluo Glory.

Under the management of a professional business manager, Douluo Glory had taken the continent by storm and raked in a fortune.

With plenty of funds at his disposal, the manager began investing all over the place.

This street was one of the properties An Lan's manager had acquired in Shrek's inner city.

Without him even realizing it, the assets under An Lan's name had multiplied dozens, even hundreds of times over. He had become a true financial magnate of the Federation.

At just six years old, he wasn't the richest person on the continent, but he was certainly the youngest among all the wealthy.

After a moment of reflection, An Lan took a sleek Soul Guidance Phone out of his Spatial Soul Tool.

He tapped the screen and logged into Douluo Glory. Then he decisively used the rename card in his inventory to change his in-game name from "Five-Year-Old Genius Jungler" to "Six-Year-Old Young Millionaire."

As the three walked slowly down Glory Street, a question of the utmost seriousness suddenly occurred to An Lan. He hurried forward and tugged at Leng Qingning's sleeve.

Leng Qingning was wearing sunglasses made of dark crystal jade, which gave her an even cooler, more commanding air. She felt her sleeve being tugged and slowly turned around. "What is it?"

An Lan furrowed his brows. "Teacher, when we meet His Excellency Heavenly Phoenix later, what should I call her?"

Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu's age was unknown. But judging from the photos and videos circulating on the Soul Net, there was no doubt she was an exceptionally beautiful woman, with a thousand different charms—a goddess in the hearts of countless Soul Masters.

According to his two mentors, Leng Yaozhu had held him in her arms when he was still an infant. They had met before.

If he greeted such a peerlessly beautiful woman with a sweet "Great-Grandma-Mentor," it was obvious he'd get beaten up.

Leng Qingning's lovely brows drew together slightly. It was a question she hadn't considered.

As An Lan's parents' aunt, Leng Yaozhu should technically be called his great-aunt.

By the same logic, An Lan should call her "Great-Aunt-Mentor."

But that sounded too old. There was no way his aunt would like it.

If it weren't for Leng Qingning's connection to her, An Lan could simply call her Aunt Leng. But with Leng Qingning there, calling her "Aunt" would muddle the generations.