Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion meeting hall
"Yan, don't be nervous. You'll definitely awaken an amazing Martial Soul. Believe in yourself."
In the hall, a blue-haired boy patted the shoulder of the red-haired boy, who was more than half a head shorter than him, and encouraged him.
"Thanks, Brother Bei Bei. I'll definitely awaken a Martial Soul even more powerful than yours and the Profound Ancestor's."
The red-haired boy nodded firmly, his face beaming with a confident smile. His gaze was resolute, flames burning fiercely in his eyes, as he turned and walked toward the awakening platform in the center of the hall.
The red-haired boy was called Cao Longyan. He was six years old, and the only other great-grandson of Mu En, the Sea God Pavilion Master and Dragon God Douluo.
While he was still an infant, his parents had both died fighting Evil Soul Masters of the Holy Spirit Cult to protect Shrek. Mu En had personally raised him and Bei Bei, who had gone through a similar ordeal.
What they didn't know, however, was that the body of this six-year-old child housed the soul of an adult from Blue Star.
That's right—he was a transmigrator!
He had transmigrated into the world of Peerless Tang Sect, a world he knew like the back of his hand, while he was still an infant.
He knew the truth of this world all too well. The so-called flow of fortune and the rise of so-called geniuses were nothing but a ten-thousand-year chess game laid out by Tang San of the Divine Realm.
Huo Yuhao was the pawn he had chosen, Tang Wutong the shackle he used to bind that pawn, and all the people of the Douluo Continent were nothing but stepping stones for him to maintain his place in the Divine Realm.
And Cao Longyan was the one variable in this game that wasn't in the script!
He would change all of this.
Cao Longyan drew a deep breath, suppressing the storm raging in his heart.
"Little Yan, don't be afraid."
A voice, old yet warm, sounded beside him. Mu En sat in his wheelchair, his back hunched. His thin hand rested gently on Cao Longyan's head, his eyes full of hope.
"Relax and focus inward. No matter what happens, your Profound Ancestor is here."
The Sea God Pavilion Elders around them had also roused themselves for the rare occasion of a child's awakening.
They were eager to see what Martial Soul Cao Longyan, another of Old Mu's great-grandsons, would awaken. Would he inherit Old Mu's legacy just as Bei Bei had?
If so, Shrek would surely flourish even more!
"Profound Ancestor, I'm ready."
Cao Longyan lifted his head. His young face held none of a child's timidity, only a calm resolve far beyond his years.
But his Martial Soul was still an unknown, and he wasn't as confident and resolute as he seemed. He was still afraid he might awaken a Trash Martial Soul like Yu Xiaogang's...
He slowly closed his eyes and sank his whole mind into the depths of his dantian. Following the method Mu En had taught him, he roused the dormant power within his body.
Hum—!
The Black Stone Awakening Array suddenly blazed with golden light. The six Soul Power crystals trembled in unison, humming.
The next moment, a rod gradually took shape in Cao Longyan's right hand.
It gave off not the slightest trace of power.
Everyone's eyes widened, their mouths falling open and staying that way.
How could this be?! It was just an ordinary rod...
Just as everyone's eyes began to dim, a blaze of crimson-gold fire erupted without warning from Cao Longyan's body!
The flames carried the domineering force of burning the heavens and boiling the seas. Waves of heat swept outward, sending ripples through even the defensive barrier surrounding the Sea God Pavilion.
"Ultimate Fire! This is Ultimate Fire!"
One of the elders cried out in shock. He sprang to his feet, his eyes filled with disbelief.
Within the flames, the phantom of a crimson dragon slowly coiled upward into the air. Its immense dragon might made the Titled Douluo Elders present instinctively hold their breath.
"Dragon might! This is a pure true-dragon bloodline! Its purity seems even greater than Old Mu's!"
Another Elder with a Dragon Martial Soul stared wide-eyed, leapt to his feet, and pointed at the dragon in the air with a trembling finger.
Mu En's breath caught. His thin fingers tightened slightly, shock and joy mingling on his face.
As the Dragon God Douluo with the Light Sacred Dragon Martial Soul, he could naturally sense that Cao Longyan's bloodline far surpassed his own!
In the blink of an eye, the enormous Fire Dragon swooped down and landed on the rod in Cao Longyan's hand.
A flash of light passed over it, and purple-gold patterns burst across the once-ordinary rod. The dragon became gilded markings, coiling around it in ring after ring, while dark-red Hellfire blazed along the shaft.
"W-what kind of Martial Soul is this?!"
"A Tool Martial Soul? But why is the aura from this Tool Martial Soul so terrifying?! I've never seen a Martial Soul like this anywhere on the Douluo Continent!"
"Little Yan's Martial Soul seems to have a powerful true dragon sealed inside! Heaven has blessed Shrek!"
Cao Longyan slowly opened his eyes and looked at the Martial Soul in his right hand. A trace of surprise flashed through his gaze.
Could this be... the Ten Halls of Yama?!
The Cao family's heirloom treasure, Cao Yanbing's life-bound weapon from Rakshasa Street—now it had become his Martial Soul?!
Boom—!!
Behind Cao Longyan, two three-zhang-tall Guardian Spirits appeared out of thin air and landed on the ground.
One wore fiery-red armor as heavy as a tiger's, held a hundred-jin warhammer, and stood with the steady presence of a mountain, his imposing aura soaring like a rainbow.
The other wore black battle armor, carried a pair of iron halberds, and radiated murderous energy like an Asura returned from hell.
"Your subordinate Xu Chu greets his lord! I would brave fire and water for the Cao family, generation after generation!"
"Your subordinate Dian Wei greets his lord! Give the order, and I'll gladly die in its service!"
Two roars that shook the soul suddenly exploded through the Sea God Pavilion!
Two terrifying auras, each no weaker than a Soul Elder's, burst from the two giants as they stood protectively in front of Cao Longyan.
The entire Sea God Pavilion fell utterly silent.
Every Elder sat frozen in place, their minds blank.
Wasn't his Tool Martial Soul supposed to belong to the Power Attack System? How could it summon things too?! Was it a summoning type?!
Mu En stood completely still, his eyes growing moist.
Little Yan... he had inherited his father's Guardian Spirits and his mother's Fire Dragon Martial Soul—and both were even more powerful than his parents'!
Little Liang, Xiao Xue, are you doing well over there? Little Yan, he...
Cao Longyan introduced his Martial Soul and Guardian Spirits to everyone present. Their expressions varied.
But he hadn't revealed everything. He knew he had more than two Guardian Spirits. There were... seven!
Mu En wheeled himself forward and took out a crystal ball, holding it out in front of Cao Longyan.
"Little Yan, place your hands on it. Your Profound Ancestor will test your Innate Soul Power."
"All right, Profound Ancestor."
Following Mu En's instructions, Cao Longyan gently placed both hands on the crystal ball.
The next moment, the crystal ball flashed with dazzling light.
Innate Full Soul Power!
They all looked at Cao Longyan as if he were some kind of monster.
Innate Full Soul Power, Ultimate Fire, a true-dragon bloodline, and the ability to summon Guardian Spirits two Soul Master levels above his own?!
But then, an abrupt change occurred!
A rift in space suddenly tore open in the sky, and a mass of interwoven black-and-white light shot straight toward Cao Longyan's brow.
"Little Yan, watch out!"
Before Mu En could react, the orb of light had already merged into Cao Longyan's body.
A vast, sacred divine consciousness, imbued with an endless aura of death, surged into his Spiritual Sea of Consciousness like a tide!
Cao Longyan's vision went black. When he opened his eyes again, he was inside his Spiritual Sea of Consciousness.
One half was a black-and-red sea of magma, with a dazzling fireball at its center.
The other half was a milky-white expanse, with a black-and-white orb of light at its center.
Cao Longyan looked at the scene before him. He didn't know what the orb of light was, but he knew that fireball!
It contained the power of various Ultimate Fires, the power of the seven Guardian Spirits, and... Cao Cao's will. It was the final piece of the puzzle that would let him become the Flame Killing God, powerful enough to burn everything to ashes!
And that orb of light could actually stand on equal footing with it. It had to be extraordinary!
Tang San's hypocritical face suddenly flashed before Cao Longyan's eyes, followed by Huo Yuhao's life under control and the fate of the Douluo Continent's people, manipulated at will by the Divine Realm.
He clenched his fists and fixed his gaze on the fireball and the orb of light.
I, Cao Longyan, will not be Tang San's pawn, and I will not accept the Divine Realm's charity.
I will become the Supreme God King and create a Divine Realm of my own!
Tang San, you've spent ten thousand years trying to control the people of Douluo in your chess game. I'll be the one to overturn it with my own hands!
Within the fireball, the indistinct figure of a Warlord gave a slight nod and cast him an approving look.
Go boldly, boy. I'll cover up the secrets of fate for you!
Douluo God Realm
Tang San: "Why has the light of the fated child I chose dimmed a little?!"
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