First Meeting with Tang San

Li Yuan stood with his hands behind his back and gave a slight nod.

Di Jun and Long Yuan exchanged a glance, looking at each other in bewilderment.

This was the first time they had ever seen someone level up by "eating."

"All right, continue."

Long Yuan gathered his focus, and his divine sense spread out again. "My lord, five hundred meters east. An Iron-Spine Wolf, around fifteen hundred years old."

"Go."

For the next half hour, this region on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest fell into a strange rhythm of being swept clean.

Fifteen hundred years, converted into seven hundred and fifty years.

Two thousand years, converted into one thousand years.

Twenty-three hundred years, converted into eleven hundred and fifty years.

Each time he hunted one down, Li Yuan sat cross-legged and circulated his Devour talent. The black soul ring slowly brightened at a visible rate.

He did not even let passing hundred-year soul beasts go. Everything he saw was nourishment, and he took all comers.

The age of his first soul ring climbed all the way from ten thousand six hundred years, finally stopping close to the eighteen-thousand-year mark.

The soul beasts within several li had nearly been swept clean, leaving the forest so quiet that only the rustle of wind through the treetops remained.

Li Yuan stood up, rolled his shoulders, and frowned slightly. "Still too slow."

Long Yuan leaned in. "My lord, why don't I take you straight into the depths of the Star Dou Great Forest? There are a few hundred-thousand-year soul beasts there. With my strength and Di Jun's, taking them down would be easy."

Li Yuan shook his head. "Not yet. My current physique still can't withstand the impact of a hundred-thousand-year soul ring. Forcing the absorption would only make me explode and die. I need to take it one step at a time."

Long Yuan scratched his head and gave an embarrassed laugh. "This subordinate failed to think it through."

"However, while I can't absorb a hundred-thousand-year soul beast yet, ten-thousand-year soul beasts are still possible." Li Yuan stepped forward and continued on. "Let's go."

He had only taken a dozen steps when he suddenly stopped.

From deep in the dense forest ahead came the dull thuds of colliding soul power, mixed with beast roars and human shouts.

There was a battle.

Li Yuan listened for two breaths, his brow lifting slightly.

"Let's go take a look."

The three restrained their auras and passed silently through the forest, soon stopping behind a thicket.

A chaotic battle was playing out in the clearing ahead.

A serpentine soul beast, crimson from head to tail, with a cockscomb-shaped fleshy crest on its head, lay on the ground covered in wounds.

A thousand-year Phoenix-Tail Cockscomb Serpent.

On one side of the clearing stood seven or eight people.

The leader was a powerfully built middle-aged man, broad-shouldered and thick-waisted, with rugged features. Seven soul rings slowly revolved beneath his feet.

Behind him were several young men and women. Among them, a handsome youth in blue had a steady gaze and was warily watching the people opposite them.

On the other side of the clearing, an old woman with a head full of silver hair leaned on a cane. Behind her stood a pretty young girl, holding a snake-shaped short blade and eyeing the Phoenix-Tail Cockscomb Serpent in the field like a tiger watching its prey.

Li Yuan's gaze fell on the blue-clad youth, and the corners of his mouth slowly curled up.

Tang San.

Blue Silver Grass, hidden weapons, that calm and composed bearing—it was exactly as described in the original work.

The burly man beside him should be Zhao Wuji, the Motionless Bright King, a level seventy-six Soul Sage.

Judging by their ages and positions, the young men and women behind him were likely several of the Shrek Seven Devils.

As for the old woman and the girl opposite them, if nothing unexpected happened, they should be Chao Tianxiang and Meng Yiran.

"Heh." Li Yuan leaned against a tree trunk, folded his arms over his chest, and watched the standoff in the field with great interest. "I didn't expect to run into them here."

He tilted his head and looked at the Phoenix-Tail Cockscomb Serpent, then at the two groups with swords drawn and bows bent.

"Interesting."

"Ding! Recruitment missions issued: One, recruit the Dragon and Snake Duo couple to join Nibelungen. Upon completion, reward: high-tier gift pack x1.

Two, recruit Zhao Wuji to join Nibelungen. Upon completion, reward: high-tier gift pack x1.

Three, recruitable genius targets discovered—the Shrek Seven Devils. Successful recruitment will grant a super cultivation gift pack x1."

Hearing the system's voice, Li Yuan's brows slowly furrowed.

The Dragon and Snake Duo couple was still reasonable enough. Dragon Duke and Snake Granny were figures of some standing in the soul master world, and bringing them under his command would be a genuine addition to Nibelungen's foundation.

But what was going on with Zhao Wuji and the Shrek Seven Devils?

Zhao Wuji was nothing but a brute, and those seven little fellows from Shrek each had their own thoughts. The things tied to Tang San's backer were an even bigger mess.

As for recruiting Tang San?

Haotian Douluo stood behind him, his relationship with Yu Xiaogang was deep, and in the future he was going to fight Spirit Hall to the bitter end.

Inviting this whole nest of people into Nibelungen would be the same as deliberately dragging a pile of trouble into his own home.

He did not enjoy asking for trouble.

Li Yuan directly ignored the last two missions.

It was enough to develop quietly and make his own forces bigger and stronger.

Get mixed up in that whole mess around the protagonist group?

Absolutely unnecessary.

However, the Dragon and Snake Duo were indeed worth trying.

According to the original plot, Meng Yiran would lose to Tang San, and the Phoenix-Tail Cockscomb Serpent would end up becoming Oscar's third spirit ring.

Before the result was set in stone, he had to make a move.

Li Yuan's gaze returned to the scene.

By now, the situation had already advanced to that point.

Meng Yiran stood in the center of the clearing, gripping a serpent-shaped short blade. Opposite her, Tang San stood with his hands behind his back, the atmosphere between them drawn as tight as a sword about to leave its sheath.

Chao Tianxiang stood behind her granddaughter with an arrogant look on her face, while Zhao Wuji and the Shrek group watched from the other side with their arms folded.

Tang San was just about to speak and accept the contest.

"Wait."

A voice came from the forest, neither loud nor soft, yet it reached everyone's ears with perfect clarity.

Everyone turned their heads at the same time.

The bushes parted, and Li Yuan strode out.

He wore a long white robe, his features refined, with two figures following behind him, one on the left and one on the right.

He walked over the fallen leaves to the edge of the clearing, swept his gaze across everyone's faces, and finally let it fall on the battered Phoenix-Tail Cockscomb Serpent.

"This Phoenix-Tail Cockscomb Serpent..."

Li Yuan raised his hand and pointed at the spirit beast.

"I want it."

The clearing fell silent for an instant.

Zhao Wuji's brows snapped together, and he sized up this young man who had appeared out of nowhere.

Chao Tianxiang's face darkened even more.

"Where did this little brat come from? Can't you see we're busy?" Zhao Wuji waved impatiently, as if shooing away a fly. "Go back wherever you came from. This isn't a place for you to stick your nose in."

Behind him, several Shrek students also cast appraising looks over, carrying a bit of the usual arrogance of youths.

Tang San, however, gave Li Yuan a couple more looks. His gaze paused for an instant on Di Jun and Long Yuan behind him, and his brows shifted almost imperceptibly.

"Impudent!"

Long Yuan stepped forward, his voice like a thunderclap exploding from flat ground, making everyone's eardrums buzz.

"How dare you speak disrespectfully to my lord? You're courting death!"

As soon as the words fell, the aura around him erupted.

Eight black spirit rings, plus one dazzling crimson hundred-thousand-year spirit ring, lit up almost at the same instant. Ring after ring interlocked, weighing heavily over the clearing.

The pressure belonging to a rank ninety-eight peak Douluo came crashing down like the sky itself was collapsing. The ground beneath everyone's feet trembled slightly, and leaves rustled down from the trees.