After leaving the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, you had no particular destination in mind, so you went to Shrek Academy with Ning Rongrong. You couldn't understand why she wanted to enroll in an academy in such a remote little village, but you went with her anyway and joined Shrek Academy.
However, Shrek Academy didn't give you a very good impression. You felt that the people there were all a little strange. There was the lecherous tiger who brazenly strolled into a hotel with a pair of twin sisters and openly indulged in debauchery in broad daylight, a fat man who couldn't live without women and even debased himself by visiting a brothel, and a bearded uncle whose Soul Curse and mannerisms were both extremely sleazy.
Of the Shrek students, the only one you could tolerate was a fellow named Tang San. Of course, what interested you more were the countless bizarre methods he'd used against Zhao Wuji. You quietly committed those techniques, known as Hidden Weapons, to memory.
Perhaps a change of environment really did help with cultivation. Not long after joining Shrek Academy, Ning Rongrong broke through to level thirty Soul Power. Along with Oscar, who had also reached level thirty, you headed to Star Dou Forest.
But what you never expected was that, shortly after entering Star Dou Forest, you would encounter a terrifying enemy beyond your imagination—a Hundred-Thousand-Year Titan Giant Ape.
To protect Ning Rongrong, you revealed your Martial Soul in front of everyone from Shrek Academy for the first time, exposing your Soul Rings to their view as well.
Yellow, purple, purple, black. The moment the four Soul Rings appeared, the air seemed to freeze.
But no one had time to be amazed, because the terrifying Titan Giant Ape was already closing in on them.
Yu Tianjue took a deep breath and gripped the Asura Demon Sword, now transformed into a giant sword, in one hand. A chill of killing intent erupted from him.
In the next moment, Ning Rongrong understood at once and quickly chanted:
"Seven Treasures Have Names, First: Strength."
"Seven Treasures Have Names, Second: Speed."
"Seven Treasures Have Names, Third: Soul!"
Four beams of light shot out almost simultaneously. Two landed on Zhao Wuji, who had appeared above the Titan Giant Ape's head, while the other two fell on Yu Tianjue.
The First Soul Ring behind Yu Tianjue began to glow faintly. His nearly eight-hundred-year First Soul Ring granted him an enhancement skill that allowed him to build up his own aura and sharpness.
With the combined boost of his own Soul Skill and Ning Rongrong's, his upcoming Fourth Soul Skill would unleash terrifying power!
The black Soul Ring began to glow without a sound. In the next instant, Yu Tianjue's figure turned into a blur and appeared right in front of the Titan Giant Ape. The Asura Demon Sword in his hand came crashing down!
Fourth Soul Skill, Asura Slash!
Zhao Wuji, who had tried to strike the Titan Giant Ape first, was flung away without a doubt. But it was precisely because Zhao Wuji had drawn the Titan Giant Ape's attention that Yu Tianjue's strike landed cleanly.
A flash of crimson blood vanished in an instant.
Yu Tianjue's sword came down with the force of a thousand jun, but when its edge struck, he felt a jolt through his hand, and the Asura Demon Sword nearly flew from his grasp.
Then the deafening roar of the Titan Giant Ape sent a shock wave crashing into Yu Tianjue and hurling him away. His strike had left a streak of blood on the Titan Giant Ape, but that was all.
A Soul Master at the Soul Emperor level might have been injured by that strike, but his opponent was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
He hadn't caused it any real harm. Instead, he'd only enraged it further.
In the next instant, an enormous palm came down toward him, blotting out the sky.
Yu Tianjue had no time to dodge. He could only throw himself over Ning Rongrong and shield her beneath him.
Strangely, though, the Titan Giant Ape didn't attack them again. It simply grabbed Xiao Wu nearby and carried her off.
Before long, the Titan Giant Ape had disappeared with Xiao Wu, and the entire forest sank once more into an eerie silence.
"Brother Tian Jue, how are you? Are you hurt? Is it bad?"
As soon as Ning Rongrong crawled out from beneath Yu Tianjue, she anxiously examined him, her beautiful eyes fixed entirely on him. She didn't even notice the others nearby, who had also suffered a few scrapes, or Tang San, who was utterly grief-stricken.
"I'm fine."
Yu Tianjue shook his head, then instinctively glanced at Tang San nearby, uncertainty rising in his heart.
That Titan Giant Ape... That terrifying Soul Beast had gone to all that trouble, yet it hadn't killed them. It had only taken Xiao Wu?
This oddity made you keenly sense that something seemed wrong, but for the moment you couldn't put your finger on what. All you could do was watch as Tang San resolutely chose the Man Faced Demon Spider—a Soul Beast whose age was supposedly beyond the optimal limit for a Soul Master—as his Third Soul Ring.
But in truth, your Second Soul Ring had already reached two thousand years.
Just as the others from Shrek Academy watched anxiously while Tang San absorbed his Soul Ring, Xiao Wu inexplicably came running back.
According to Xiao Wu, she'd heard a strange ox's bellow, and then the Titan Giant Ape had put her down and hurried away, looking nervous. The surrounding Soul Beasts had all been knocked unconscious by its shock waves. As she had just broken through to level thirty Soul Power, she found a suitable Soul Beast, killed it, absorbed its Soul Ring, and ran all the way back.
What seemed even more suspicious to you was that none of the others from Shrek Academy wanted to investigate any further. They simply believed Xiao Wu's explanation without question.
You couldn't understand how everything could line up so perfectly: there just happened to be the cry of another Soul Beast, the Titan Giant Ape just happened to put her down and leave, the surrounding Soul Beasts just happened to be unconscious, and Xiao Wu just happened to have reached level thirty.
All these coincidences made you suspect Xiao Wu wasn't an ordinary person. At the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, you'd often read ancient texts in your spare time between sword practice, and you knew that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts could take human form and start cultivating anew. You suspected Xiao Wu was one such Soul Beast.
But you didn't tell anyone else what you suspected. You told only Ning Rongrong and asked her to inform Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, while you wrote a letter to your grandfather.
The ancient texts said that before a Soul Beast that had taken human form and begun cultivating anew reached maturity, a Titled Douluo could recognize its true identity at a glance. So you planned to ask your grandfather to come take a look. If Xiao Wu really was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, then there was no way you could let her go. After all, you knew all too well how precious a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring was. If she wasn't, then all you'd have done was trouble your grandfather with a trip.