Mingdu Turmoil

The vague sense of threat lurking deep within the council was like a dark cloud, foretelling turbulent undercurrents beneath the calm surface.

"It seems the world ten thousand years later is even more complicated than we imagined." Tang Wulin let out a soft sigh, thoughtfulness in his dark eyes. He had originally believed that, with their current strength, they could handle any situation with ease, but Gu Yuena's precise senses could not be wrong.

Gu Yuena nodded slightly, her violet eyes sweeping across the orderly yet cold city streets. "There is more than one form of power. For the council to have ruled the Federation for ten thousand years and maintained the balance between all sides, it must have something to rely on. Perhaps it is not entirely individual strength."

As they spoke, a massive billboard constantly shifting through dazzling holographic images caught their attention. Words scrolled across it: "Douluo Federation Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Guidance Technology Achievement Exhibition—Grandly Held at Mingdu Central Soul Guidance Technology Exhibition Hall!" The images displayed all sorts of cutting-edge soul guidance devices, models of interstellar exploration, and energy cores.

"Want to take a look?" Tang Wulin suggested. "Perhaps we can get a more direct sense of how far this era's technology has advanced." He hoped to use publicly available information to indirectly verify the source of the threat Gu Yuena had sensed, while also assessing the current level of soul guidance technology.

Gu Yuena agreed. Following the signs, the two arrived at the Central Soul Guidance Technology Exhibition Hall in Mingdu's central district. It was an egg-shaped building brimming with futuristic flair, its surface covered in adaptive photosensitive metal panels. Crowds flowed endlessly in and out, most of them students from major academies, researchers, and ordinary citizens interested in soul guidance technology.

They bought tickets and disguised themselves as an ordinary soul master couple before entering the exhibition hall with the crowd. The interior was enormous, divided into themed sections such as "Energy Revolution," "Interstellar Exploration," "Life Sciences," and "Defense and Weapons." Countless wondrous soul guidance devices, intricate models, holographic projections, and interactive installations dazzled the eye.

Tang Wulin examined everything especially closely. As a divine craftsman, he had a natural sensitivity to the structures and energy circuits of soul guidance devices. Many of the innovative design concepts and energy efficiencies made him nod inwardly. Ten thousand years of development truly were no small matter.

At the heart of the "Energy Revolution" section, an exhibit protected beneath an individual glass cover drew Tang Wulin's particular attention. It was a spherical soul guidance core model about the height of a person, with an exceptionally complex structure. Its entire body emitted a soft milky-white glow, while the energy patterns flowing across its surface seemed to breathe with the rhythm of life. The plaque beneath it read: ["Eternal Heart" Bionic Energy Core (First-Generation Experimental Model)—Ushering in a New Era of Fusion Between Soul Guidance Arrays and Life Energy].

"These patterns..." Tang Wulin's pupils contracted slightly, and his steps halted involuntarily. He stared fixedly at the faintly visible veins within the energy core. An intensely familiar sensation rose in his heart. They were not ordinary soul power circuits. The core's weaving method and the rhythm of its energy flow bore a startling resemblance to the residual traces he had sensed within a certain mad scientist ten thousand years ago! Yet the model before him was more like a crude imitation, attempting to mimic its form without capturing its essence.

"What is it?" Gu Yuena noticed his abnormality and asked through spiritual transmission.

"This 'Eternal Heart'... the energy patterns in its core carry an extremely familiar aura." Tang Wulin frowned deeply as he told Gu Yuena what he had discovered. Though the model before them also radiated life energy, it gave off a strange feeling of some special energy.

Hearing this, silver light flickered through Gu Yuena's violet eyes as she probed more carefully. A moment later, her expression darkened slightly. "There is more to it than that. Deep within this model is an extremely faint soul guidance mark. Its structure... resembles a variant of the runes used in soul guidance devices. This thing is probably not merely an exhibit. It may be a... sensing trigger node!"

The moment she finished speaking, a gentle but unquestionable female voice suddenly sounded over the exhibition hall broadcast. "Attention, visitors. Due to an emergency routine safety drill involving the hall's equipment, all personnel are requested to leave in an orderly manner under the guidance of staff. We apologize for the inconvenience."

Almost at the same time, several figures in plain clothes, their gazes sharp and movements swift, began weaving casually through the crowd. Their eyes occasionally swept in the direction where Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena stood.

"We've been noticed," Gu Yuena said quietly. The two shared perfect understanding. Rather than panic, they followed the somewhat complaining crowd outward like ordinary visitors.

As they moved, Tang Wulin's spiritual power quietly locked onto the plainclothes agent nearest them, the one whose aura was most deeply concealed. He keenly detected an extremely faint fluctuation coming from an inconspicuous button-shaped soul guidance device at the man's waist. That fluctuation combined the precise structures of Tang Sect mechanisms with the concealment properties of Spirit Pagoda spiritual runes. It was a fusion technology he had never seen before!

The council, the Tang Sect, the Spirit Pagoda... Have their technologies already merged this deeply? Tang Wulin's heart chilled. The technological power hidden within the Federation likely had far from simple intentions.

Relying on their exceptional cultivation to conceal themselves, the two easily slipped out of the agents' sight and left the exhibition hall amid the crowd. Though they had failed to infiltrate the council on this trip, their discoveries at the technology exhibition had made them even more wary of the current situation.

After the false alarm, dusk was already approaching. Mingdu's sky was dyed a warm orange-red by the setting sun, utterly different from the city's cold sense of order during the day.

"Let's find somewhere to rest and take a look at Mingdu at night while we're at it." Tang Wulin looked at Gu Yuena, his tone lighter as he tried to dispel the heavy mood from before. He thought again of those ordinary yet happy days not long ago.

Gu Yuena saw the deliberate ease in his eyes and understood his intention. Warmth filled her heart. She nodded, a faint smile curving her lips. "All right."

Mingdu happened to be holding its centennial celebration, and its streets at night were decorated with lanterns and colorful ornaments, carrying far more everyday warmth than the city did by day. Food stalls and folk game booths lined the streets, while laughter and cheerful voices rang without end, temporarily concealing the stern face of this political center.

They let down their guard and strolled hand in hand through the bustling crowd like the most ordinary couple. Tang Wulin bought Gu Yuena a local specialty candy that glowed in seven colors when infused with soul power. At a ring-toss stall, with his exquisite control over strength, he casually looped a ring around the stall owner's handcrafted silver dragon hairpin—the prized treasure of the stall. Under Gu Yuena's slightly reproachful yet delighted gaze, he personally placed it in her silver hair.

Gu Yuena looked at Tang Wulin's pure smile, like that of a big boy, and felt the faintly cool touch of the hairpin in her hair. The ripples in her heart stirred by memories and threats gradually settled beneath this ordinary warmth. The feeling of not needing to think about identity or responsibility, of simply immersing herself in the sweetness of the moment, was a desire she had considered almost extravagant for ten thousand years.

At that moment, a grand celebratory fireworks display began in the city's central square.

"Whoosh—boom!"

Brilliant fireworks burst across the night sky, transforming into countless streams of flame that outlined all manner of auspicious patterns, drawing wave after wave of cheers from the crowd below.

Then, disaster struck! A large firework that should have blossomed only after reaching its highest point seemed to suffer a malfunction in its internal soul guidance array. It veered unstably in midair, trailing a twisted tail of flame as it plunged like a meteor toward a crowded viewing platform below!

Cries of alarm and screams erupted at once!

At that critical instant, silver light flashed in Gu Yuena's violet eyes, and she almost unconsciously lifted a hand. On a microscopic level unnoticed by anyone, the wind and fire elements around the out-of-control firework were instantly stripped apart and recombined, creating an incomparably delicate force that sent it narrowly skimming past the edge of the viewing platform before plunging into an empty artificial lake in the distance with a muffled boom.

The crisis was over. After a brief silence, the crowd erupted into relieved exclamations and discussion.

But Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena's expressions changed slightly. Gu Yuena's instant control over the elements had been subtle to the extreme, but it might not have completely escaped certain highly sensitive monitoring soul guidance devices.

"We need to leave," Tang Wulin said in a low voice.

The two quickly broke away from the crowd and turned into a relatively quiet alley. To avoid any possible pursuit, they pushed open the door to an old-fashioned photo studio with a dim signboard and the look of a place that had been around for many years.

The furnishings inside were antiquated, carrying the weight of time. A gentle-looking young man wearing gold-rimmed glasses was wiping down an ancient soul guidance camera. Seeing customers enter, he looked up with a friendly smile. "Would you two like a photograph? Or would you prefer to look at some old pictures?"

Tang Wulin was about to decline when his gaze was drawn to a thick leather-bound photo album spread open on the counter. On the open page was a slightly yellowed black-and-white photograph. In it, the younger version of himself stood beside a woman with a gentle smile and resolute eyes—Mo Lan!

Following his gaze, the young man adjusted his glasses and sighed. "Oh, that one... it was left behind by one of my ancestors. She said the woman in the photo was our family's benefactor and also a Federation hero. As for the young hero beside her, I heard that later... he became a legend." There was a hint of calm detachment in his voice, as though he had no idea that the person before him was the "legend" in the photograph.

Tang Wulin and Gu Yuena looked at the photograph, speechless for a moment. Ten thousand years seemed to be connected in that instant by this small picture.

Gu Yuena reached out and gently took Tang Wulin's hand. Her voice was soft yet resolute as it sounded beside his ear.

"Wulin, it's time for us to return to Shrek."

She raised her head. The dim yellow lights of the studio reflected in her violet eyes, along with his somewhat dazed face.

"We should go reclaim all our memories as well."

Tang Wulin clasped her hand tightly in return, feeling the strength and resolve flowing from her palm, and nodded heavily. Everything that had happened in Mingdu was like a brief interlude. But the true destination of their return still lay in that city that had carried all their youth—Shrek.