Legend of Ten Thousand Years Ago

There was no training on the morning at the end of the month.

Wu Changkong's white clothes stood out especially brightly in the morning light. The blue sword rested on his back, and a trace of barely perceptible gentleness softened his stern face.

Shen Yi stood at his side, her pale green dress swaying lightly in the breeze. A Sensitive Plant condensed into a tiny flower in her palm, its leaves trembling as though delighted by the journey ahead.

"Today!" Wu Changkong spoke, his voice three degrees softer than usual. "Ascension Platform."

Xie Xie was the first to leap up. His brownish-gold hair gleamed brilliantly beneath the rising sun, and excitement blazed in his dark green eyes. "The Ascension Platform! Class Monitor, do you know how hard it is to get in? Eastsea Academy only gets three slots a year, but Zero Class gets eight right away! The academy really went all out this time!"

"You're so damn noisy!" Zhang Yangzi leaned against the bus door with his arms crossed. A flicker of impatience flashed through his eyes alongside the Dark Illusion Demon Eagle Martial Soul.

"It's just the Ascension Platform. Do you have to howl about it?"

"Of course I do!" Xie Xie glared at him. "What do you know? The Ascension Platform is the Spirit Pagoda's core technology. It can simulate a soul beast environment, allowing soul masters to hunt soul beasts in a virtual space and increase their soul spirit age! One hour of Ascension Platform access goes for a hundred thousand Federation Credits on the black market!"

"A hundred thousand?" The afterimage of Wei Xiaofeng's Azure Shadow Serpent slithered around him, surprise on his thin face. "That's enough for my family to live on for a year..."

Wu Nianbing clutched the ice chain around her neck, her plain white skirt brushing the bus door as her gaze fell upon Yun Zhiyu. Gu Yue stood on Yun Zhiyu's other side. Her black hair and black eyes framed a stunningly beautiful face that was as aloof as an ancient abyss. The auras of four elements were restrained around her, like a sword yet to leave its sheath.

Yun Zhiyu did not join the discussion. She walked toward the soul-guided bus, her inky black hair tied into a ponytail. Beneath her dark brown contact lenses, her purple eyes were still as deep pools. Her goal was clear—the window seat on the left side of the last row.

"Sister Yun!" Tang Wulin caught up to her. His black hair and dark blue eyes complemented his handsome face, which was full of expectation. "Can I sit beside you?"

"No."

Gu Yue answered. She had already taken the seat beside Yun Zhiyu. Her black hair and eyes remained as indifferent as usual, but her tone allowed no argument. "This seat is mine."

Tang Wulin froze where he stood, a hint of grievance flashing through his dark blue eyes. Xie Xie squeezed in from behind, his brownish-gold hair brushing Tang Wulin's shoulder. "Give it up, Wulin. With Gu Yue acting like that, who would dare fight her for it?"

"Why don't you try taking one, then?" Zhang Yangzi sneered.

"I don't dare!" Xie Xie declared righteously. "But I can sit in front of the Class Monitor!"

With one swift step, he rushed to the row in front of Yun Zhiyu and claimed the window seat. Turning back, he grinned with unruly confidence. "Class Monitor, it's a two-hour ride. Call if you need anything!"

Yun Zhiyu curved her lips but said nothing. She looked out the window as the soul-guided bus slowly started moving. The buildings of Eastsea City retreated from view, gradually turning into blurred patches of color.

"Get some sleep." Gu Yue suddenly spoke, her voice as cool as a spring. "You were forging until midnight again last night."

It was not a question, but a statement. Yun Zhiyu turned to see a nearly concerned emotion flash through Gu Yue's black eyes, and warmth suddenly rose in her heart. She did not ask how Gu Yue knew. She simply gave a soft "Mm" and rested her head on Gu Yue's shoulder.

Gu Yue's body stiffened slightly before gradually relaxing. Elemental auras flowed around her, forming a strange, reassuring field. Yun Zhiyu closed her eyes. Beside Gu Yue's Silver Dragon King aura, her Torch Dragon Bloodline gradually fell silent, like two rivers meeting at the sea—peaceful and gentle.

She slept through the entire two-hour journey.

The Spirit Pagoda was even more magnificent than imagined.

The Eastsea City Spirit Pagoda was one of the Eighteen Heavenly Pillars. Its tower pierced the clouds, its body constructed from some sort of translucent soul-guided material that shimmered with seven-colored light beneath the sun. In the plaza before its gates stood two enormous statues—a man and a woman standing side by side, surrounded by strange soul power fluctuations, like living history.

"Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao," Long Hengxu said with rare solemnity. "Dragon Butterfly Douluo Tang Wutong. Legends of Shrek Academy from ten thousand years ago, and also two of the Spirit Pagoda's founders."

Xie Xie looked up at the statues, his brownish-gold hair flying wildly in the wind. Fanatical admiration burned in his dark green eyes. "Four Martial Soul Fusion Skills! The Power of Haodong! They were heroes who saved the continent ten thousand years ago!"

"You're so damn noisy!" Zhang Yangzi complained by habit, but his gaze also rested on the statues, filled with complicated emotions.

Yun Zhiyu stood before the statues, her inky black hair drifting lightly in the breeze. She gazed up at the two figures—Huo Yuhao held a strange scepter, surrounded by the radiance of ice and fire; Tang Wutong had butterfly wings on her back, her silver hair frozen into an eternal curve by the statue's texture, a gentle smile lingering at the corners of her lips.

Four Martial Soul Fusion Skills.

She remembered the records from the original novel—Radiance's Ruin, Golden Road; Blaze in the Frozen Extreme, Heaven Emperor's Hammer; Words of Truth in the Void, Mind Storm; Solo Dance in the Frost, Raiment of Light. Every move was a godly miracle, every move bearing the deepest resonance between two souls.

"Ten thousand years ago," she began, her soft voice nevertheless carrying clearly to everyone's ears, "Huo Yuhao and Tang Wutong met at Shrek Academy. One was an ordinary little boy who possessed Spirit Eyes, while the other was the daughter of a God King and inheritor of the Butterfly God. Their Martial Souls appeared completely unrelated, yet during one meditation session, they produced an unprecedented fusion."

She paused, her gaze falling on Huo Yuhao's scepter. "The first move, Golden Road, was the fusion of Spirit Eyes and the Light Goddess Butterfly, an intertwining of spirit and light. Wherever it passed, every defense dissolved completely. The second move, Heaven Emperor's Hammer, was the fusion of the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion and the Clear Sky Hammer. It was the collision between Extreme Ice and the strongest attack Martial Soul under heaven. With one hammer strike, mountains and rivers shattered."

"The third move, Mind Storm," her voice carried an ancient cadence, like some forgotten epic, "was the ultimate sublimation of the Spirit Eyes and Clear Sky Hammer Martial Souls. It played words of truth amid the void and struck directly at the soul. The fourth move, Raiment of Light, was the true form born from their complete Martial Soul fusion. Solo Dance in the Frost, light upon butterfly wings—that was..."

She paused, a faint curve appearing on her lips. "That was the shape of love."

Everyone fell silent.

Light flickered in Xie Xie's dark green eyes, like a flame that had been lit. Zhang Yangzi lowered his arms. The Dark Illusion Demon Eagle Martial Soul lurked in his eyes, but it was no longer restless. Wei Xiaofeng's Azure Shadow Serpent afterimage drooped and curled back into his body, and his thin face held an almost reverent longing. Wang Jinxi's Bone Dragon Claw appeared and vanished around his knuckles, complicated emotions written across his grayish-white face. Wu Nianbing clenched her ice chain, her pale fingertips turning faintly white. Tang Wulin looked up at the statues, the figures of that couple from ten thousand years ago reflected in his dark blue eyes as Bluesilver Grass swayed gently in his palm.

Gu Yue stood beside Yun Zhiyu, her black hair and black eyes as indifferent as ever. Yet when Yun Zhiyu said, "the shape of love," her fingertips trembled slightly. Elemental auras flowed around her, forming a strange fluctuation that was almost gentle.

"Class Monitor," Xie Xie said with rare seriousness, "how do you know so much?"

"I read it in books." Yun Zhiyu smiled. What she did not explain was that Shrek's library contained all of it—and besides, she had read every original novel in the Douluo series.

Her gaze moved from Huo Yuhao to Tang Wutong, from the gentle smile frozen upon the statue's face to Tang Wulin beside her. Black hair, dark blue eyes, a handsome face with features somewhat similar to the woman in the statue—that was the inheritance of bloodline, the mark of a God King's son, the continuation of that legend from ten thousand years ago.

Tang Wulin sensed her gaze and turned around, confusion in his dark blue eyes. "Sister Yun?"

"It's nothing." Yun Zhiyu withdrew her gaze, her voice so soft it seemed meant only for herself.

"I just remembered... some things."

She remembered the future from the original novel—the bond between Tang Wulin and Gu Yue, the destiny of the Golden Dragon King and Silver Dragon King, and ultimately that sacrifice and frozen seal that had brought countless readers to tears. She remembered Tang Wutong's mural, the fulfillment of that couple from ten thousand years ago, and the two children standing beside her now, still unaware of their fates.

"Ten thousand years ago," she murmured inwardly, "they found their happy ending. Ten thousand years later..."

She did not continue. She only tightened her grip on the Silver Dragon Hairpin around her wrist, sensing Na'er's aura from afar as it formed a strange resonance in the air with Gu Yue's Silver Dragon King aura.

"Sister Yun," Tang Wulin's voice pulled her back to reality. "We're about to enter the Ascension Platform!"

The interior of the Spirit Pagoda was even grander than its exterior.

At the center of the main hall stood an enormous soul-guided formation. Hexagonal patterns spread across the floor, every line set with gemstones of different attributes. Long Hengxu led the eight of them toward one of the teleportation formations, their footsteps producing crisp echoes against the polished floor.

"Inside the Ascension Platform is a simulated Star Dou Great Forest environment," Shen Yi explained from the side, the Sensitive Plant trembling lightly in her palm.

"You will battle virtual soul beasts within it, absorb their energy, and increase your own age limits. But remember—"

Her smile faded slightly, and solemnity appeared in her pale green eyes. "Though it is a virtual environment, the pain is real. The feeling of death is real as well. Do not get killed, or your spiritual power will suffer severe damage. You will need several months of rest to recover."

"Several months?!" Xie Xie's face turned green.

"So," Wu Changkong coldly continued, "come back alive."

Yun Zhiyu stood at the edge of the teleportation formation, her inky black hair glowing softly beneath the soul-guided light. She sensed a fluctuation within the formation similar to the system space—a projection of spiritual power, an intertwining of consciousness and data, the crystallization of the Douluo Federation's most advanced technology.

"Class Monitor!" Gu Yue suddenly spoke, a trace of barely noticeable concern in her black eyes. "Together?"

"Together." Yun Zhiyu nodded. "But the Ascension Platform's internal teleportation is random. Whether we can meet up will depend on luck."

"I'll find you," Gu Yue said. Her voice was calm, yet carried the certainty of an oath.

Yun Zhiyu smiled and reached out to rub her black hair—the same gesture she used with Yun Zhishu. Yet it made Gu Yue's body stiffen slightly before slowly relaxing.

"Alright," she said. "I'll wait."

The teleportation formation lit up, swallowing the figures of all eight. Yun Zhiyu closed her eyes in the radiance, feeling the process of her consciousness being pulled away, projected, and reconstructed, as though she were falling into some ancient dream.

When she opened her eyes again, she was already standing within a dense forest.

Sunlight filtered through gaps in the canopy, scattering fine golden patches across the ground. Soul beast roars came from the distance, and the air was thick with the damp scent of decaying vegetation.

In her palm, the phantom of the Xuanyuan Sword gradually solidified. Her dark brown contact lenses had lost their meaning in the virtual environment. The vertical slit in her purple eyes opened fully, reflecting this primitive forest from ten thousand years ago, still untouched by humanity.

"Star Dou Great Forest..." she murmured inwardly.

It was not the true Star Dou Great Forest, but one simulated by data—the sacred land of ten thousand years ago. Yet she knew that within this virtual space hid something real, something belonging to soul beasts: their sorrowful cries and yearning.

"Wait for me," she softly said, her voice scattering through the woods. "I'll find you."

"Find who?"

The voice came from behind her. Yun Zhiyu turned and saw Gu Yue emerge from the shadows of the trees. Her black hair and black eyes shone softly beneath the virtual sunlight, elemental auras flowing around her like a natural barrier.

"How did you find me?" Yun Zhiyu asked in surprise.

Gu Yue did not answer. She merely extended her hand, palm upward. A wisp of silver light flowed around her fingertips and resonated with the Silver Dragon Hairpin around Yun Zhiyu's wrist, forming a strange guidance born of shared bloodline.

"This," she said. "It brought me here."

Yun Zhiyu paused, then laughed. She took Gu Yue's hand, and the two walked side by side into the depths of the forest. Figures of inky black and silver-white intertwined among the shadows of the trees like an unfinished painting.

In the distance, the roars of soul beasts drew ever closer. The Ascension Platform trial had only just begun.