Qian Daoliu raised his eyes. The city before him lay in ruins, its broken walls stretching as far as the eye could see. Jagged cracks crawled across the crumbling ramparts, while the rubble strewn everywhere was stained with dark, dried blood. A murderous stench of blood rushed toward them.
The ruined city gates were on the verge of collapse. The four faded characters, "Shrek City," still stood out clearly on the mottled walls, but the place was steeped in desolation and decay.
Combining the confidential intelligence Kong Deming had given him with the latest map of Douluo Continent in his mind, Qian Daoliu immediately realized that this was once the famous Shrek City, which had stood for ten thousand years. Now, only desolation remained.
Shrek City had been taken by the Soul Beasts of Star Dou Great Forest.
Strangely, the Soul Beasts of Star Dou Great Forest had made no further attempts to seize territory on Douluo Continent. Instead, they seemed to be using Shrek City as a barrier to keep humans from entering Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Soul Beasts.
Qian Daoliu felt no satisfaction at this. As he gazed at the bloodstained rubble, an indescribable sorrow rose in his heart. The sight before him reminded him of Spirit Hall, destroyed ten thousand years ago. It must have looked just as desolate and ruined.
Nearby, Bo Saixi sensed that something was troubling Qian Daoliu and couldn't help speaking up to comfort him. "Qian Daoliu, are you all right?"
"Xixi, I'm fine!"
"Let's use your Breath of Life to conceal ourselves as we pass through Shrek City and enter Star Dou Great Forest!"
Qian Daoliu regained his composure and spoke to Bo Saixi.
Bo Saixi nodded, then quietly released the first Soul Skill of her Second Martial Soul, the Life Scepter: "Breath of Life!"
A gentle green glow silently enveloped them, concealing everyone's auras, Soul Power, and figures. They blended perfectly into the surrounding landscape. Qian Daoliu, Bo Saixi, and the others rose into the air and sped over ruined Shrek City, racing toward the depths of Star Dou Great Forest.
They had officially entered the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest!
Qian Daoliu and the others didn't linger. Instead, they headed straight for the forest's core region.
Along the way, they remained protected by Bo Saixi's Breath of Life.
Not a single Soul Beast attacked them.
But as they neared the core forest, the shifting light and shadows among the trees suddenly grew chaotic. Qian Daoliu's gaze sharpened, and he stopped first.
In a clearing among the distant trees, a giant tiger with black-and-gold patterned fur was attacking. It spoke in human words, its roar wrapped in distorted holy light. "Damn humans! You slaughtered my Soul Beast Clan, so now you'll pay with your lives!"
Facing the tiger was a wounded girl in a torn silver outfit. Her skin was covered in claw marks, and her Soul Power was unstable. The tiger easily tore through each of her repeated attacks, and the protective glow around her grew dimmer by the moment. She staggered, nearly falling, and was already on the verge of defeat.
Bo Saixi and the others stopped when Qian Daoliu did. They had all seen the battle in the distance, but none of them rushed to intervene. They simply looked to Qian Daoliu, waiting for him to decide whether to act.
"Hahaha! So what if I slaughtered your Soul Beast Clan?"
"Your Soul Beast Clan slaughtered nearly a million people in all of Shrek City!"
"And you dealt Shrek Academy such a devastating blow that they had to leave in disgrace and move to the Star Luo Empire!"
"I only hate that I'm not strong enough! If I had the power of a Limit Douluo—"
"I'd make sure not a single one of your Soul Beast Clan survived!"
Resolve hardened in the Silver-Clad Girl's eyes. The Moon Martial Soul behind her trembled violently. Without hesitation, she ignited the source of her life force. Crimson flames crawled along her meridians and spread over her body, and her Soul Power surged from Soul Douluo to Titled Douluo level.
"Seventh Soul Skill: Silver Moon True Body!"
The Silver-Clad Girl merged completely with her Moon Martial Soul. All her attributes surged, and her body transformed into an elemental form of moonlight.
Her eight Soul Rings—"yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, red"—shook in the air. Gathering every last bit of her strength, she launched a killing blow at the giant tiger, determined to perish together with the Black Gold Patterned Giant Tiger.
"Crazy! You're all crazy!"
"Everyone from Shrek is crazy!"
The Black Gold Patterned Giant Tiger's fur stood on end as its black-and-gold markings surged violently. It roared in anguish and desperately kicked off the ground, racing backward. But the Silver-Clad Girl had already transformed into a silver moon and clung tightly to it. At such close range, there was no time to escape.
It wanted to flee, but there was nothing it could do. All it could do was unleash its defensive Soul Skill, "Original Sin Sunlight Armor."
Black-and-gold holy light forged a thick suit of armor that covered the tiger from head to toe, its radiant and sinister patterns interweaving across the surface.
The moment the Silver-Clad Girl drew near, the Black Gold Patterned Giant Tiger raised a massive paw and struck at her as she transformed into the silver moon, unleashing its Soul Skill, "Sinful Sun Burning Heaven."
It wanted to kill the Silver-Clad Girl before she could get to it.
Not far away, Qian Daoliu watched everything unfold.
Just as Qian Daoliu decided to let the girl blow herself up and severely wound the Black Gold Patterned Giant Tiger—
Bo Saixi spoke up.
"Qian Daoliu, save that girl. I'll explain why later!"
At her words, Qian Daoliu merely furrowed his brow before immediately releasing his Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul and flying toward the Black Gold Patterned Giant Tiger.
Bo Saixi released her Sea God Martial Soul as well. "Ninth Soul Skill—Sea God Imprisonment!"
Vast Sea God's Power swept across the entire forest clearing. An invisible force of restraint locked down the space in an instant, freezing both the Black Gold Patterned Giant Tiger and the Silver-Clad Girl in place. Neither could move a hair.
Water-light chains bound the tiger's limbs and torso, leaving its body rigid and motionless. But the Sinful Sun Burning Heaven it had unleashed was already formed and could not be recalled.
With a tremendous crash, the berserk black-and-gold holy light slammed into the Silver Moon True Body. A violent explosion swept in every direction, and the moonlight elemental body shattered in an instant.
The girl was forced out of her Martial Soul Avatar and came tumbling down. The shockwave had blown away most of her head, leaving her barely breathing. Her Soul Power was completely exhausted, and her life force was rapidly fading.
Bo Saixi immediately switched to her Life Scepter. A dense beam of verdant life force poured down, enveloping the girl and urgently repairing her injuries.
Qian Daoliu spread his Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul, its holy light suppressing the entire battlefield. In an instant, he closed in on the tiger, raised his hand, and sealed all its Soul Power, completely subduing it.
"Roar! Roar! Roar!"
"Damn human! If you've got the guts, let me go and fight me one-on-one!"
The Black Gold Patterned Giant Tiger had first been controlled by Bo Saixi, then subdued by Qian Daoliu.
At first, the Black Gold Patterned Giant Tiger looked utterly bewildered. But when it saw Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi, it assumed they were the Silver-Clad Girl's allies.
Unable to hold back, it roared furiously at Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi.
But Qian Daoliu and Bo Saixi ignored the Black Gold Patterned Giant Tiger entirely.
Instead, Qian Daoliu turned to Ye Guyi. "Yiyi, you saw it too. That Silver-Clad Girl from Shrek had a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring as her Eighth Soul Ring!"
"As the Holy Maiden of Spirit Hall, do you dare absorb this Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring as your Eighth Soul Ring?"
His voice wasn't loud, but Ye Guyi, Qiangu Zhenyue, Qiangu Zhenxie, Jin Lin, and Guang Yao were all shaken when they heard him.
That was right!
That Silver-Clad Girl wasn't much older than Ye Guyi, yet she had already reached Soul Douluo level—and her Eighth Soul Ring was the legendary red, Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
What was more, she was willing to die for Shrek Academy.
And what about Ye Guyi? As the Holy Maiden of Spirit Hall, was she willing to die for Spirit Hall? Was she willing to absorb a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring for the future of Spirit Hall?
Ye Guyi kept asking herself these questions.
At last, her gaze grew brighter and brighter.
Then Ye Guyi answered Qian Daoliu firmly and decisively. "Ancestor, I'm willing!"
"Very good!"
Qian Daoliu was pleased.
In truth, the limitations on Soul Masters' ability to absorb Soul Rings on Douluo Continent ten thousand years later came down to two main factors. The first was physical constitution.
The other was the Soul Master's mental strength.
As the possessor of god-level mental strength, Qian Daoliu could easily help Ye Guyi overcome the Soul Shock from a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
As for Ye Guyi's physical strength, Qian Daoliu had no concerns at all.
For one thing, Ye Guyi had received the blessings of the faith of hundreds of thousands of people, making her far stronger physically than an ordinary person.
Besides, she had Bo Saixi, a top-tier wielder of a life-type Martial Soul, at her side.
So, in asking Ye Guyi those questions, Qian Daoliu had really been testing her.
He wanted her to clearly understand her own drive to rise higher. Only then could she move forward without hesitation in the future.
In the end, Ye Guyi had passed Qian Daoliu's test.
Qiangu Zhenyue, Qiangu Zhenxie, and the others were also reflecting on the question, and their eyes, too, were growing brighter.
"Then it's settled, Yiyi. Once Aunt Bo has finished treating that Silver-Clad Girl, I'll have her help you absorb the Black Gold Patterned Giant Tiger's Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!"
Qian Daoliu looked at Bo Saixi, who was still working hard to treat the Silver-Clad Girl, and spoke to Ye Guyi.
At the same time, Qian Daoliu was curious why Bo Saixi had asked him to save the Silver-Clad Girl.
Before you continue