The Star Dou's Great Change (Seeking Collection, Seeking Follow-up Reads)

Two and a half years later...

At the border between the outer perimeter and the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest.

A violent, booming roar echoed out, making the entire Star Dou Great Forest feel as though it were trembling and quaking.

High in the air, earthy-yellow and dark-red streams of light collided repeatedly. The lowing of an ox and the roar of another spirit beast sounded simultaneously, causing massive spatial rifts to spread outward from the center of their clash.

After one final, intense collision, the two streams of light separated, each occupying half the sky in a standoff.

As the halos gradually dissipated, their true forms were revealed.

The earthy-yellow one was a massive ox, while the dark-red one was a dog with three heads.

There was no need to ask; these two were none other than the Great Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult stationed at the Shrek Academy office, the Taotie Douluo Xuan Zi, and the Three-Headed Red Demon Mastiff Chi Wang, the beast with the lowest combat power among the ten great fierce beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest.

Logically, Chi Wang, ranked eighth among the ten great fierce beasts, should not have been a match for the level 98 Super Douluo Xuan Zi in terms of cultivation. Yet, judging by the collision just now, Chi Wang was not a bit weaker than him.

The Taotie Divine Ox, transformed from Xuan Zi, looked at Chi Wang in utter disbelief. "This is impossible! You... you actually cultivated the Ultimate Fire! That shouldn't be... and your cultivation level shouldn't be on par with this old man's!"

Chi Wang's terrifying canine teeth emitted a crimson-gold luster. Its three massive heads roared in unison. It had no obligation to answer Xuan Zi's questions; instead, it immediately pinned a grave accusation on him: "Taotie, is your Shrek Academy trying to start a war with my Star Dou?!"

Hearing this, Xuan Zi was instantly incensed. He roared in a mix of grief and fury, "The spirit beasts of your Star Dou Great Forest killed my Shrek Academy disciples for no reason. Shouldn't you give us an explanation for this?"

Chi Wang sneered, spitting scorching flames from its fangs. "For no reason? How laughable! What is there to discuss between us spirit beasts and you humans? Can only you spirit masters kill our spirit beasts, and not the other way around?"

Just then, a pillar of light, alternating between gold and red, rose abruptly from the ground, shooting straight toward the Taotie Divine Ox that Xuan Zi had become.

Xuan Zi was shocked. He hurriedly activated his spirit skill, and an earthy-yellow barrier manifested before him. The moment it made contact with the golden-red pillar, a shockwave containing both [Light] and [Heat] instantly swept through the surroundings.

This attack actually contained two ultimate attributes: [Ultimate Light] and [Ultimate Fire]!

Even with his level 98 cultivation, Xuan Zi could not fully defend against this move. He reverted to his human form, plummeted from the sky, and slammed into the ground.

One could see that the beard and messy white hair on Xuan Zi's old face had been scorched black. A strange flush rose on his blackened face, and following a spray of blood, he wore an expression of sheer horror.

One had to understand that as the Taotie Divine Ox martial soul, which possessed the earth attribute, defense was his greatest strength. Even if he had been exhausted by the previous battle, it shouldn't have been broken so easily!

This could only prove one thing: the opponent's strength was far above his own. Coupled with Chi Wang, who was not inferior to him, it would be difficult to escape today.

At this moment, a cold, melodious female voice rang in Xuan Zi's ear: "Human, take your people and get out of the Star Dou Great Forest now."

Xuan Zi wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth. Although he was indignant, he was, after all, an old man of over 200 years; he naturally understood the principle that a wise man knows when to retreat.

Besides, he could not keep Zhang Lexuan waiting any longer...

"...This old man will remember this grudge! Next time, I will surely come to the Star Dou Great Forest to seek further instruction from your Excellency!" After throwing out this harsh threat, he dared not delay and rushed toward the woman in the white dress lying on the ground not far away.

He didn't care about the social taboo of physical contact between men and women; he placed his dirty, large hand on the woman's wrist and poured his own spirit power into her body continuously.

As her nearly withered body was replenished, the woman struggled to open her eyes. Seeing that it was Xuan Zi, she was dazed at first, followed by an indescribable sorrow and anger as tears instantly welled up.

"Lexuan, Lexuan, are you alright?"

"..."

The woman turned her head away and closed her eyes, as if she did not want to look at Xuan Zi.

"..." Xuan Zi pursed his lips in shame. "We cannot stay here long. Let's leave immediately!" He then picked up Zhang Lexuan and transformed into a stream of light, flying toward Shrek City at top speed.

Congratulations to Great Elder Xuan Zi for once again severely damaging Shrek Academy. Only one of the 12 prodigies of Shrek Academy survived, which could be said to be a new record for him.

Chi Wang bowed respectfully to the golden spirit beast that had appeared beside it at some point. "Auspicious Beast, are we just going to let him go like this?"

The Auspicious Beast glanced indifferently at the departing Xuan Zi and Zhang Lexuan, then turned to leave. "If we killed this old geezer, that would truly be tearing off the mask with Shrek Academy. We still need to continue accumulating strength. Don't forget that the Lord's current situation is not stable either. Giving them a lesson is enough."

Chi Wang, convinced by the Auspicious Beast's words, lowered its head even further. "Yes."

Four years ago, for some unknown reason, all the spirit beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest rioted collectively. Then, the clouds above the Star Dou Great Forest turned a nine-colored gold, and golden nectar descended, scattering evenly into every corner of the forest.

The momentum was so grand that nearly half the continent's people saw it.

But on that day, every spirit master who entered the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt spirit beasts for spirit rings died at the mouths of spirit beasts without exception.

With so many people dead, the spirit master world naturally needed to find out what had happened. Led by Shrek Academy, the "friendly" neighbor of the Star Dou Great Forest, a special task force was formed in conjunction with the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire to enter the forest for an investigation.

The members of the task force had just entered the outer perimeter when they were astonished to find that, within their line of sight, almost no spirit beast had a cultivation level lower than a thousand years! Even the most numerous and annoying Wind Baboons were no exception.

If the most ordinary outer perimeter was like this, what more the mixed zone, which was more suitable for high-level spirit masters to hunt?

A significant portion of the task force consisted of high-level spirit masters, including many Spirit Douluos and Titled Douluos. After some deliberation, the group decided to head to the mixed zone to see what was going on.

Once they entered the mixed zone, the spirit masters were met with fierce attacks from the spirit beasts. Even more terrifying was that almost none of the spirit beasts in the mixed zone were under fifty thousand years old, and several hundred-thousand-year spirit beasts even participated in the siege!

After a fierce battle, the task force finally broke out of the Star Dou Great Forest. Although they suffered losses, the spirit master world received this massive piece of news.

For some unknown reason, the spirit beasts of the Star Dou Great Forest had collectively increased in cultivation! High-level spirit beasts were countless!

Then, a group of Shrek Academy's inner court disciples, led by Xuan Zi, excitedly headed to the mixed zone to hunt for spirits.

After the Shrek group arrived at the mixed zone, they immediately began their hunt. Several inner court disciples who were quasi-Spirit Saints quickly completed their seventh spirit rings, and none were under forty thousand years old. This delighted the team leader, Xuan Zi. Then, feeling that "the advantage is with me," Xuan Zi performed his traditional skill: he abandoned the students, found a place to roast meat and drink, and even had a nice, long sleep...

And so... Zhang Lexuan, who was already at the Spirit Douluo level, happily gained a hundred-thousand-year spirit ring! Though it came at the cost of the lives of 8 inner court disciples.

Just when they couldn't find Xuan Zi, Chi Wang, who had been sent to patrol the mixed zone, discovered that it was Shrek Academy people again, again, and again, killing their subjects. Enraged, Chi Wang launched an attack on the remaining disciples.

By the time the earth-shattering noise woke the old man up, he realized that of the 12-person Shrek inner court hunting team, only Zhang Lexuan had survived...