Xuan Lao: Boss, I Want to Be Dragonborn Too!

Shrek City.

At the end of the devastation lay a massive, human-shaped crater.

A mud-covered hand trembled as it reached up from the edge of the pit.

Then Xuan Lao's messy head emerged, with two blades of grass still hanging from his mouth.

"Cough, cough, cough..." Xuan Lao coughed violently, feeling as though every bone in his body was about to fall apart.

He lowered his head and looked himself over.

His clothes had been shredded into strips. The treasured purple-gold flask in his hand had become fragments, and even his Taotie Divine Bull martial soul was trembling inside him, refusing to come out no matter what.

What kind of power was that... Xuan Lao was filled with shock.

As a Rank 98 Super Douluo, only one step away from becoming an Ultimate Douluo, he could practically walk sideways across the continent.

But that shout just now... There had been no soul power fluctuations, no spiritual shock.

It had purely been a rule where words became reality! It was as though the other party had told you to get lost, and heaven and earth truly could no longer contain you, forcibly expelling you from the area.

Could that level... be god-tier? Xuan Lao's face alternated between green and white. No. Shrek's students are still in there! Even if he's a god, this old man cannot abandon his students!

Xuan Lao gritted his teeth and pulled an emergency distress flare from his robes.

A red firework exploded over Shrek City.

This was the highest-level enemy attack alarm, as well as the summoning order for the elders of the Sea God Pavilion.

Origin Internet Cafe.

Lu Yuan watched the red flare rise outside and helplessly covered his face.

"It's over. This has blown up big time. It was supposed to be an internet addiction dispute, but now it's turned into a diplomatic incident."

He turned to glance at the second floor.

Di Tian had already put his headphones back on and immersed himself in the joy of looting corpses, as though that shout had never come from him.

"Time to call for backup." Lu Yuan sighed and took out a special communication soul tool, connecting it to the Sea God Pavilion.

"Hello? Mu Lao?"

"This is Lu Yuan."

"Right... it's nothing major. Xuan Lao came over to mooch a meal just now, but he was too loud and pissed off one of my VIP customers."

"Yes, that customer is named Di Tian."

"Yes, that Beast God."

"Xuan Lao got shouted away. Now he's gathering people to tear the place down. Please hurry over and clean up the mess... ah, I mean, mediate."

A few minutes later.

Several powerful auras streaked over from the direction of Shrek Academy.

Yan Shaozhe, Cai Meier, Xian Liner... almost every elder had been mobilized.

Charging at the front was the dirt-covered Xuan Lao, radiating killing intent.

"Where did that bastard run off to?! This old man's army is here!" Xuan Lao roared.

Just as the elders were preparing to make a move—

"Stop." A gentle but unquestionable voice rang in everyone's ears.

Golden light flashed.

An elderly man with a hunched back, seated in a wheelchair, appeared out of thin air at the entrance of the internet cafe.

"Mu Lao!" The elders hurriedly saluted him.

Xuan Lao became anxious. "Mu Lao! You came at the right time! There's a very dangerous fellow in this internet cafe! He shouted once and sent me—"

"I know." Mu Lao calmly interrupted him, his deep gaze directed at the one-way glass on the second floor. "Xuanzi, you were reckless this time."

"The one inside isn't someone you can afford to provoke."

Xuan Lao froze. "Mu Lao, don't tell me even you..."

"He is Di Tian," Mu Lao said calmly.

"Hiss—" A collective gasp rang out.

Yan Shaozhe's glasses nearly fell off, while the spear in Xian Liner's hand nearly stabbed her foot.

Xuan Lao's eyes bulged like bells. "Di... Di Tian?! The Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King?! The ruler of the Star Dou Great Forest?!"

"No wonder..." Xuan Lao muttered, cold sweat instantly breaking out across his back. "No wonder my Taotie Divine Bull was scared into submission... That was ancestral bloodline suppression!"

But immediately afterward, Xuan Lao became even more bewildered.

"But... why would the Beast God leave the Star Dou Great Forest and come to this shabby little internet cafe? And... complain that I was too loud?"

Mu Lao smiled faintly and wheeled himself forward. "Why not go inside and see for yourself? Little Friend Lu said that this Beast God is currently saving the world."

Inside the internet cafe.

When Shrek's elders cautiously entered the lobby, the sight before them made them question their lives once more.

On the first floor, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, and the others were playing Monster Hunter together, shouting at the top of their lungs.

On the second floor, Di Tian, the legendary brutal Beast God, was curled up in a gaming chair, muttering at the screen. "Damn it... why is this Frost Troll so tough? My Fireball spell doesn't do enough damage!"

"I'm out of mana! Where's the mana potion I picked up earlier?!"

Beside Di Tian, Mu Lao watched the screen with a genial smile.

"So this is a game?" Mu Lao watched the scene of a character wielding a sword against monsters, a glint flashing through his eyes. "Though it is false, it contains the laws of a real world. Boss Lu, you've made quite the grand gesture."

Xuan Lao also leaned closer at this point.

He had come with hostility, yet Di Tian was not on a killing spree. Instead, he looked like an internet-addicted teenager... suffering?

On the screen, Di Tian's character was being chased all over the place by a huge mammoth.

"Stop chasing me! I only stole one of your tusks!" Di Tian cursed while operating the controls.

Xuan Lao stared blankly.

"This... this is the Beast God? Why does he seem... a little pathetic?"

Just then.

Di Tian's character finally reached a safe high point.

On-screen, the character took a deep breath and unleashed a furious roar at the mammoth below. "Fus—Ro—Dah!"

Boom! A blue shockwave surged forth, blasting the several-ton mammoth away and sending it rolling off the cliff.

Xuan Lao's pupils contracted instantly.

"That's it!" Xuan Lao pointed at the screen, his hand shaking. "That's the move that blew me away just now! Exactly the same!"

He abruptly turned to Lu Yuan, his eyes blazing. "Kid Lu! What... what soul skill is that?!"

Leaning against the counter, Lu Yuan calmly took a sip of Sprite. "That's a Dragon Shout."

"In this game called The Elder Scrolls, dragons possess the power of draconic words. As long as you are Dragonborn or have dragon blood, you can master this power by studying the Word Wall."

"It requires no soul power, only an understanding of laws and resonance with heaven and earth."

"Dragon bloodline... no soul power..." Xuan Lao muttered, lowering his head to look at his hands.

His martial soul was the Taotie Divine Bull, one of the Dragon God's nine sons in legend. A thin trace of dragon blood flowed within him.

But he had always been troubled by his inability to wield dragon might like those with true dragon martial souls. He could only rely on brute force to devour.

If... if I could learn this Dragon Shout... wouldn't my combat strength double? I might even... break through the Rank 98 bottleneck and touch the threshold of an Ultimate Douluo?

Xuan Lao swallowed.

The fear, anger, and humiliation from earlier were all forgotten in this moment.

Now, this battle fanatic wanted only to learn a new power.

Xuan Lao rubbed his hands together and sidled up to Lu Yuan with a flattering expression, his face wrinkling into a smile. "Hehe, um... Boss Lu."

"Look at this old man's martial soul... Taotie. That counts as a dragon species too, right? It may be a little ugly, but the bloodline is there."

"Can I become this Dragonborn thing?"

Lu Yuan looked at the Super Douluo before him, who had wanted to demolish his shop moments ago but now wanted to sign up for a membership card, and could not help but laugh.

"Of course. This shop's principle is to teach without discrimination. As long as you pay, you're Dragonborn."

"Easy! Easy!" Without another word, Xuan Lao took out a gold card from his storage soul tool and slapped it onto the table.

"There are ten thousand gold soul coins on this! Set up a machine for me too! I want to learn that Fus Ro Dah! No, wait, Unrelenting Force!"

Ten minutes later.

An extraordinary sight appeared in a private room on the second floor.

Di Tian, the Beast God, and Xuanzi, the Taotie Douluo—these human and soul beast powerhouses, who appeared irreconcilable to outsiders—were now sitting side by side.

Di Tian, expression cold: "Hey, old man, don't go over there. That's a giant camp. One swing of their club will send you flying into the sky."

Xuan Lao, expression excited: "What's there to fear? This old man is the Taotie Douluo! Mere giants... Holy shit! Why is that club so huge?! Help!"

On the screen.

Xuan Lao's character was smacked away by a giant's club, soaring straight into the air ten thousand meters high.

"Hahahaha!" Wang Qiuer laughed so hard that she rolled around in her chair.

"Old Xuan, you flew even higher than when Uncle Di Tian shouted you away earlier!"

Xuan Lao removed his headphones, looking depressed, but the light in his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"Interesting... truly interesting! I've never seen combat like this before!"

He turned to Di Tian, and there was even a hint of recognition in his eyes.

"Hey, um... Lord Beast God."

"Could you teach me the pronunciation techniques for that Dragon Shout? If I had known how to shout just now, I definitely could have blown that giant away!"

Di Tian gave him a sidelong glance and haughtily snorted. "You want to learn? This is the noble draconic language. Since you're dragonkin too... trade me two of those roast chickens from earlier."

Xuan Lao's eyes lit up as he patted his chest. "Deal! Forget two chickens—if you teach me, this old man will cover your cat food from now on!"

Lu Yuan stood at the stairway, silently nodding as he watched the scene.

"Very good. Peace between humans and soul beasts has actually been achieved in an internet cafe."