Douluo's Loves and Hates

Heaven Dou City,

was no less grand than Shrek City.

Its streets were packed with traffic and crowds, rivaling the capitals of the four great empires, while soul-tool technology was everywhere.

The Heaven Dou Empire had split into the Heaven Dou Empire and the Dou Ling Empire, yet this capital had remained intact. No one wanted—or dared—to destroy it.

Its history spanned ten thousand years, and its construction costs had surely been astronomical. The great empires fought endlessly; whoever captured it would profit immensely, so naturally none wished to damage it. There was another reason as well.

Several reclusive clans lived nearby, including the former Upper Three Sects... no one dared make a move.

Shrek City and the Star Dou Forest stood side by side in the center of the continent, not far from any empire. After nearly a month of travel, the two stepped into the maw of this colossal beast, chatting as they walked.

"The former Shrek Academy was founded in this city, wasn't it?" asked the pretty young woman in red, her long hair flowing behind her. The white-haired youth beside her complained, "Shrek City used to be Spirit City. And Shrek Academy in Heaven Dou City didn't actually belong to them either!"

"What do you mean?" the young woman asked in confusion.

"The most eye-catching statues in the academy are those of the First Generation Shrek Seven Devils at the entrance, followed by the Golden Iron Triangle... then the outstanding leaders of the four great academies that once affiliated themselves with it."

The youth recalled the history. "The Four Elements were actually once the Five Elements, perhaps even the Six Elements."

"Tianshui, Chihuo, Shenfeng, Plant... Elephant Armor and Thunder explicitly stated that they were backed by the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Elephant Armor Sect. How could the other four academies be simple if they could stand on equal footing with them?"

"The Fire Leopard Sect, the Wind Sword Sect... the leaders of Shenfeng and Chihuo Academy shared the same surnames, which proved that those sects stood behind them. It was only because the Spirit Hall Empire went to war with the two great empires that they joined the resistance. It was also a means of self-preservation."

"Betting on both sides meant they would gain fame and honor no matter who won. Betting everything on one side could easily lead to total ruin," the youth said teasingly. The two were none other than the travel-worn Mu Baobao and Ma Xiaotao, who had crossed mountains and rivers to get here. "Where did you even hear all this? And what does it have to do with Shrek?"

Ma Xiaotao asked doubtfully, though his explanation sounded remarkably convincing. Mu Baobao replied, "The Six Elements academies, and even Exotic Beast Academy... clearly only taught the attribute they specialized in. Back then, the Heaven Dou and Star Luo Empires, along with Spirit Hall, all had their own academies, but they were not divided by attributes."

"The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, as one of the Upper Three Sects, naturally had the means to establish another academy. That was Blue Tyrant Academy, supported by Golden Iron Triangle member Yu Xiaogang and its dean, Liu Erlong. You should know that they were both born into the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan!"

"However... there was another layer to their relationship. They were actually cousins. Yu Xiaogang's father was Yu Yuanzhen, the Thunder Douluo and clan leader of that generation, while Liu Erlong was the illegitimate daughter of Yu Luomian, the second-in-command. The Golden Iron Triangle had traveled the continent together. One day, two of them developed feelings for that woman. Liu Erlong chose Yu Xiaogang, and Flender was not too upset. He sincerely blessed them and prepared their wedding, but then..."

Mu Baobao suddenly fell silent. Ma Xiaotao immediately grew unbearably anxious. "Then what happened?"

"You really want to hear it? It'll completely destroy your worldview."

The more he said that, the hotter the flames of gossip burned in her heart. Mu Baobao could only satisfy her curiosity.

"Just as Flender was about to send Yu Xiaogang and Dean Liu Erlong into the bridal chamber to consummate their marriage, Yu Luomian, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's second-in-command, arrived. Yu Xiaogang happily assumed he had come to bless them, but Dean Liu Erlong called out unwillingly... 'Father!'"

"My nephew is marrying my daughter. This is a major event for the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, yet no one invited me..." Yu Luomian had questioned them exactly like that.

After Mu Baobao finished, he smiled at Ma Xiaotao. Her little mouth hung wide open, her face full of disbelief.

"Huh? Holy shit." She was completely stunned. "So Yu Xiaogang fell in love with his own cousin, and Dean Liu Erlong knew both his identity and their relationship, yet hid it?"

Sea God Tang San's wife and mother had been Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts, so it was understandable that they hid their identities. If they had been discovered, they would have become Soul Rings and Soul Bones. But what was Dean Liu Erlong thinking? She had fallen for her own cousin.

"Yu Xiaogang couldn't bear the shock and ran away. When they met again twenty or thirty years later, he encountered Sea God Tang San. Seeing that Tang San possessed Twin Martial Souls, he recommended him a few years later to Shrek Academy, which Four-Eyed Owl Flender had founded in a small village outside Suotuo City. Its vice dean was Immovable Bright King Zhao Wuji—the statue outside the Soul Fighting Arena."

"Xiao Wu and Tang San met the Nine-Colored Goddess Ning Rongrong, who had run away from home, along with God of Speed Zhu Zhuqing... Phoenix God Ma Hongjun, God of War Dai Mubai, and God of Food Oscar had already been at the academy. And so the story of the Shrek Seven Devils began."

"Much later, senior Qin Ming led the Heaven Dou Academy team to face them at the Suotuo Soul Fighting Arena and lost. He invited them to Heaven Dou Academy... but Xue Beng, who had disguised himself as a spoiled playboy for self-preservation and later became the Heaven Dou Emperor, had the Poison Douluo drive them out. They then went to Blue Tyrant Academy."

"When they met Liu Erlong, Blue Tyrant Academy became Shrek Academy!" Mu Baobao finished the tale and looked at Ma Xiaotao, who was still utterly dumbfounded.

"This is such a mess! Wasn't Poison Douluo an honorary elder of Shrek Academy? There's even a statue of him. Why did he go to Heaven Dou Academy? What was Dean Liu Erlong trying to accomplish by hiding her identity? That was so idiotic too... Would the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan really give their academy away? My head hurts."

Ma Xiaotao's brain capacity had clearly reached its limit. Clutching her forehead, she cried out in pain, and Mu Baobao had questions as well.

Would the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan let a Soul Saint seize their academy and rename it Shrek? Wouldn't they wipe him out in minutes? It made no sense.

"How should I put it? Poison Douluo's granddaughter, Dugu Yan, attended Heaven Dou Academy. He once faced a crisis and was saved by Prince Xue Xing, so he was there. He only became an honorary elder after meeting Sea God Tang San. At the time, Yu Tianheng, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's heir, was there too. As for why Dean Liu Erlong fell in love with Yu Xiaogang..."

"Maybe he was too outstanding. He published the Ten Core Theories of Martial Souls. Even if they were merely compiled from Spirit Hall's records, Spirit Hall's Pope, Bibi Dong, had been his former girlfriend!" Mu Baobao began sorting through the tangled ethical relationships, equally troubled by the headache.

Yu Xiaogang was a useless waste with a mutated Martial Soul, yet Bibi Dong, Spirit Hall's Holy Maiden, had liked him. That was already absurd enough.

Ma Xiaotao's questions came flooding back. "What the hell? The Rakshasa God, the empress who nearly unified the continent and ruled the Spirit Hall Empire, was his ex-girlfriend? Wasn't the Angel God the daughter of Spirit Hall's former Pope? Yu Tianheng was a Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan disciple, so why didn't he go to Thunder Academy or Blue Tyrant Academy? Why Heaven Dou?"

"It's not hard to understand that he and Dugu Yan were lovers. But the story involving Pope Bibi Dong, Yu Xiaogang, and former Pope Qian Xunji... is also completely worldview-shattering. Are you sure you want to hear it?"

Mu Baobao asked softly, genuinely afraid that this girl would not be tortured to death by Evil Fire, but driven mad by these tangled relationships instead. She immediately refused.

"I'd better recover first!" she said.

Half a day later, Mu Baobao sat with her on a park bench. Ma Xiaotao's eyes were still vacant. She had recovered in the meantime... and he had told her what came next, only for her to fall into a daze once more.

"Heh heh!"

She was completely numb. Sea God Tang San had stopped Bibi Dong from unifying the continent to avenge the sacrifices of his mother Ah Yin and wife Xiao Wu. Bibi Dong had not sought peace either; Qian Xunji had forced himself on her, resulting in Qian Renxue, and she wanted to destroy Spirit Hall.

If they had not touched Tang San's family, she might well have succeeded. Tang San obtaining dual godhood had only happened because the Heaven Dou Emperor gave him the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud, and because he destroyed the Capital of Slaughter, leaving Asura with no other choice.

Blue Silver Grass and the Clear Sky Hammer truly had nothing to do with the Sea God Trident or the Asura Blood Sword. It was simply that there had been no one else to choose... The rampant spread of Evil Soul Masters was entirely his fault. Her understanding of the world had collapsed.

What the academy taught was undoubtedly only the good side of the Shrek Seven Devils. Their eldest, Dai Mubai, had been a coward who could not compete with his elder brother, abandoned his fiancée, and came to the Heaven Dou Empire to rot away. She had nearly died trying to find him.

"Are you sure you're not making this up?" She glared at Mu Baobao and scolded him. "Slandering the ancestors like this—even if you're Dragon God Douluo's grandson—you'll definitely be executed."

"Then just treat it as nonsense!"

Mu Baobao spread his hands. This was only the tip of Tang Buddha Ancestor's iceberg. The things he did after becoming a god were even more outrageous. He controlled Douluo Continent for tens of thousands of years and casually sacrificed every living creature in an entire plane.

They had clearly said they would return, and had even passed their divine positions to their own son and daughter-in-law. It was simply unbelievable.

"But..."

She choked on her words. This story was more thrilling than those bestselling novels, and the emotional entanglements were far too detailed, as though he had truly lived through them. She had no idea that it really was a book.

"If there's a chance, I'll take you to another world. We can find our great Sea God Asura God and confront him face-to-face. Wouldn't the truth become clear then?"

Mu Baobao tried to lighten the mood. The Three Dragons of Dao had all birthed their divine positions themselves. If the three combined into one and still could not find a divine inheritance, he refused to believe they could not create one themselves...

Rong Nianbing had created a divine position and brought a whole group of people to the God Realm. Perhaps that had been an exception because his world had joined after losing its God Realm. But could three first-rank divine beasts really fail to create a God King? Kyurem's three-in-one form was also a God King. No matter what, they could bring others along.

But... he feared that Ma Xiaotao would suffer a mental breakdown after seeing it. For tens of thousands of years, Douluo Continent had practically deified the Shrek Seven Devils, speaking only of their virtues.

"I knew you were talking nonsense!"

Ma Xiaotao snapped. No one on Douluo Continent had become a god in ten thousand years. His Ultimate Ice Martial Soul was nothing special—did he think he could become a god just because he said so?

After ten thousand years, even real events would have become blurry through retelling. How could the details possibly be this precise?

"So don't go repeating it everywhere. I'm genuinely afraid someone might kill me, haha!" he said with a laugh. He had no fondness for Shrek Academy, but he had been born there. Fortunately, his strength was great enough that no one dared speak carelessly.

"Come to think of it, Mu En and Beibei seem to be descendants of Yu Xiaogang and Liu Erlong..."

Ma Xiaotao suddenly thought of that. If he was not making it up, then the two of them had ultimately failed to restrain themselves. They could even use the Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Radiant Sacred Dragon, and Mu En's Martial Soul was Radiant Sacred Dragon.

"So you believe it again? If you dare say Yu Xiaogang and Dean Liu Erlong were fooling around, that's a capital crime too!" Mu Baobao teased her, while silently feeling fortunate that this was a fantasy world. Their close bloodline had not produced some mutated cripple, but a mutated genius.

"Didn't you say it first?" Ma Xiaotao shot back. This guy really was skilled at throwing dirt on others. Mu Baobao replied, "But you believed it."

The two looked at each other. Luckily, no one else was around, or they would truly be accused of betraying their teachers and ancestors.

"Who told you to mislead me? Hmph."