Di Tian: Yi Zichen, I love your mother's fried dough twists!

"Ha ha."

A clear laugh came from behind Elder Shu.

"Senior Beast God."

"It truly has been a long time."

"Senior's spiritual perception is as powerful as ever. Even Little Shu and Tianyu didn't notice me, yet Senior discovered me first."

Elder Shu and Wang Tianyu, reacting half a beat late, hurriedly bowed.

"Elder Yi."

Yi Zichen was dressed in white, wearing a pair of glasses.

He looked every inch the refined scholar.

All three of them were deputy masters of the Sea God Pavilion, but their statuses could not be mentioned in the same breath.

Yi Zichen had lived for ten thousand years, from the Dragon King era all the way to the present day.

Together with the Sea God Pavilion's master, "Ling Zichen," he was one of the only two people to have succeeded in the mechanical ascension plan.

Relying on a semi-mechanized body, he had achieved immortality, with cultivation at the peak of the True God level.

He could even be used as a one-use fixed soul-guided shell.

He was one of Shrek's undisputed top two combat forces, a true white jade pillar holding up the heavens and a purple-gold beam spanning the sea for ten thousand years.

Yi Zichen waved a hand.

"Little Shu, Tianyu."

"You two go back first."

"I'll just walk around with Senior Beast God."

"Since Senior was able to fight two god-level experts at full strength, he must have already suppressed his godhood tribulation."

"Otherwise, during the battle just now, the godhood tribulation definitely would have been triggered."

"With the godhood tribulation suppressed, it would take quite some time to trigger it again."

"Senior truly did not come to the mother planet to undergo his tribulation."

"Just tell the Federation that."

His words still carried great weight. Elder Shu, who had lived for nearly a thousand years, and the ill-tempered Wang Tianyu both obediently nodded.

"Senior."

"It has been far too long since I last paid my respects."

Compared with Elder Shu and Wang Tianyu, the two god-level experts, it was instead Yi Zichen, this True God, who showed Di Tian even more respect.

The reason, of course, was not the gap in seniority.

In a world with extraordinary power, seniority really was not that important.

It was! Because!! Of love!!!

Yi Zichen liked Ling Zichen, but Ling Zichen liked Tang Wulin.

Who did Tang Wulin like? Gu Yuena.

And in this world, who was most likely to know whether Gu Yuena was still alive? Where she was?

Di Tian, of course.

He was an old-timer.

Over the past ten thousand years, Yi Zichen had often come to him, asking whether Gu Yuena was still alive, where she was, and whether she was still together with Tang Wulin.

As long as Gu Yuena was still around.

As long as Tang Wulin still loved only Gu Yuena.

Ling Zichen would have no chance.

Then he! Yi Zichen! would have a chance!

His entire life could be described with one BGM.

For you, I turned into the likeness of a werewolf~

For you, I turned into the likeness of a machine man~

Since he had something to ask of Di Tian, his attitude was naturally respectful.

"Senior has returned to your homeland this time merely to have a look."

"Would you like to return to Star Dou Forest first?"

"Star Dou Forest?" Di Tian's voice was flat, giving away no emotion. "Hasn't it all been transformed by you people into a natural experimental site?"

"What would I go back there for?"

"Ahaha." Yi Zichen gave an awkward laugh. "This junior spoke out of turn."

"Senior, you can decide for yourself."

"This junior respects every decision you make."

"Ah..." Di Tian strolled through the sky, treading wind and cloud, his voice tinged with melancholy.

"My homeland has changed so much."

He looked down at the towering buildings below, at the ultra-modern metropolis of neon lights and revelry.

It was both familiar and strange.

"I'm really not used to it."

"Let's go take a look at the natural scenery instead."

Those words were sincere, but also deliberate.

Sure enough, Yi Zichen, who had known him for ten thousand years, still cut in.

"This junior suggests going to the Far North."

"That place isn't suitable for human settlement. Only a few scientific research teams go in, so its natural scenery is relatively well preserved."

"Very well."

"The Far North was one of my destinations to begin with. Then let's make it the first stop."

With Yi Zichen being the one to bring it up first, his eagerness to head to the Far North no longer seemed deliberate.

Along the way, Yi Zichen not only asked about Gu Yuena, he also did not forget to recruit Di Tian into Shrek Academy after he took human form and cultivated anew.

"Senior."

"After you take human form and start cultivating again, come to our Shrek Academy."

"We guarantee you the very best cultivation environment."

"The very best... cultivation environment?" Di Tian looked at him with teasing eyes.

"I remember."

"Back then, Tang Wulin lived in a work-study student dormitory that let wind in from all sides and rain leak in from every direction."

"Back then, when you had only just enrolled, the most favorable cultivation environment was going to the field to run laps."

"Back then..."

Of course, nothing Di Tian said was pleasant, but every word was true, leaving Yi Zichen extremely embarrassed.

"Uh, well..."

He got stuck for a long while before finally speaking as if trying to win back some dignity for Shrek.

"Being a work-study student can temper one's will, strain one's muscles and bones, and starve one's flesh... It could be considered an alternative special training method left by the sages."

"There's nothing wrong with running, either."

"Do you still remember Old Chen the sweeper?"

"Senior Chen Xinjie, the Sea God Douluo."

"Ever since the Douluo Plane evolved into a Demi-God Realm, Senior Chen Xinjie was the first existence to cultivate to the True God level."

"When I ran, I would often run into him."

Di Tian nodded.

He had almost forgotten about that.

In the original timeline, this plot had been mentioned clearly.

Ten thousand years ago, the gifted young Yi Zichen, who was out running, encountered Chen Xinjie, the "sweeping monk."

Just when he thought the following plot would be "Yi Zichen was fortunate enough to catch Chen Xinjie's eye, then became this great figure's disciple, and his cultivation advanced by leaps and bounds,"

Yi Zichen instead spoke of a follow-up that was "unexpected, yet perfectly reasonable."

"Until one day."

"I ran into Senior Chen Xinjie again while I was running, and he was talking to a woman."

"The moment I saw that woman, the boy I was back then blushed for the entire morning."

"Later,"

"I learned her name—Ling Zichen."

"And I also learned what a young boy's blush meant."

"That damn thing was love!"

Di Tian: "..."

Goddammit!

As expected of a hopeless romantic who had been submerged for ten thousand years—ninety-nine percent pure~

He could not go three sentences without mentioning Ling Dapao.

He could not go three sentences without mentioning love.

Love your mom selling twisted dough romance!

Yi Zichen completely ignored Di Tian's aura and gaze, both speechless to the extreme.

"Senior Beast God."

"What do you think?"

"Running is pretty good, right?"

"So."

"Even in this technologically advanced interstellar age, the academy has still preserved good old-fashioned running in its original form."

"There's nothing bad about falling in love."

"After Senior takes human form and cultivates anew, you can give it a try."

"Maybe Senior might even meet the love of your life while running."

"Our academy does have some young ladies with decent talent and looks. They should be able to catch Senior's eye."

Those were sincere words.

They were also said deliberately by Yi Zichen.

The purpose, of course, was to bring Di Tian under the plaque of "Shrek's Ten-Thousand-Year Glory."

Ask around Douluo Continent—which soul beast that had transformed into a human had not fallen in love with a human of the opposite sex? Which one had not integrated into the human race because of it?

Even the dignified co-master of soul beasts, the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena, had not become an exception.

He was merely a king of soul beasts. What was so special about that?