Wang Dong stood with her hands on her hips, chin raised high, her reddened eyes brimming with tears.
The roommate she had eaten and lived with for days was a girl? And the daughter of a deity?
He lowered his head and looked at his hands. In his panic just now, he had grabbed her shoulders, and a trace of soft warmth still lingered at his fingertips.
[You... don't get worked up yet.] Huo Yuhao swallowed and gestured frantically. [I didn't mean anything by it. It was just... way too shocking.]
Wang Dong bit her lower lip and turned her head away, refusing to look at him. Two tears swirled in her eyes but stubbornly refused to fall.
[Shocking? Do I look that scary to you?!]
The Sky Screen did not give them time to continue their argument.
The pink-blue radiance began to draw in. Tang Wutong's phantom turned into a sky full of luminous feathers and slowly faded into the clouds.
[Peerless Tang Clan's Ten Strongest, Top 2, Tang Wutong. Review complete.]
The majestic narration resounded across two eras.
On the training field ten thousand years ago.
Tang San took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing the smile tugging at his lips as he straightened his clothes.
A Second-level Deity.
She was definitely of the Tang family bloodline.
He turned to Flender beside him, his tone calm and composed with an elder's poise. [Dean, it seems that even ten thousand years later, the world still belongs to our Shrek.]
Flender did not answer. He looked at Yu Xiaogang in the distance with a complicated expression.
Yu Xiaogang sat collapsed on the ground, both hands clawing desperately at his hair until bloody scratches covered his scalp. He muttered incoherently.
[Three martial souls... Impossible... My theory...]
Ma Hongjun rolled his eyes and shifted two steps away, curling his lips in disdain. [Master, the Sky Screen has finished already. Are you still fooling yourself? She not only has three martial souls, she even became a god.]
Yu Xiaogang raised his head, his eyes bloodshot like those of a gambler who had lost everything.
[That's a mutation! An extremely rare mutation! It can't prove that my theory is wrong!]
He pointed at the sky, his voice hoarse like a broken bellows. [Twin Martial Souls are already the limit! Triple Martial Souls completely defy common sense! This is an exception! It can't be included in conventional theory!]
Oscar sighed and patted Ma Hongjun's shoulder, signaling him not to provoke the madman any further.
Ten thousand years later, Sea God Pavilion.
Xuan Zi took a bite from the chicken leg in his hand, crunching up even the bones before swallowing them. He casually wiped his greasy hands on his clothes.
[Old Mu, since this little girl is in the freshmen dormitory, shouldn't we protect her in secret?]
Mu En reclined in a rattan chair, his withered fingers lightly tapping the wooden armrest with a steady rhythm.
[The Sea God's daughter. That identity carries too much weight.] The old man's voice was slow and weathered. [Let nature take its course. Since she came to train, too much interference would only be improper.]
Yan Shaozhe wiped the sweat from his forehead and stepped forward.
[Teacher, second place is already a Second-level Deity. Then first place...]
Sea God Pavilion fell silent.
Everyone was considering the same question.
Second place was the Sea God's daughter, a Level Ninety-Six Super Douluo, possessed Triple Martial Souls, and was a Second-level Deity.
Yet such a lineup could only rank second.
What kind of monster could first place possibly be?
The golden light feathers on the Sky Screen did not disperse. Instead, they began gathering together wildly.
The blinding radiance resembled a blazing sun hanging high above Douluo Continent.
A tremendous roar drowned out everyone's heartbeats.
[Peerless Tang Clan's Ten Strongest, Top 1]
Several enormous characters slammed onto the Sky Screen.
Ten thousand years ago.
Dai Mubai clenched his fists and even slowed his breathing.
[It's first place. Who exactly is this strongest person?]
Tang San stood with his hands behind his back, barely concealed ambition gleaming in his eyes.
Could it be himself?
No, the Sky Screen was reviewing the Peerless Tang Clan era—people from ten thousand years later.
Since there were still Tang family members ten thousand years later, could this first place also be Tang San's descendant?
If first place was also from the Tang family, then no one would be able to shake his future position in the God Realm.
[Huo Yuhao]
Shrek Academy, freshmen dormitory.
Wang Dong had just wiped away her tears and was about to drive Huo Yuhao out.
The moment she looked up, her entire body froze.
Huo Yuhao?
She rubbed her eyes, thinking she had seen it wrong.
Those three words on the Sky Screen were clear, stroke by stroke.
Huo Yuhao.
Wang Dong slowly turned her head and looked at the roommate leaning against the wardrobe door.
The fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy wore a school uniform faded white from washing. His features were delicate, but he was by no means stunning.
His martial soul was the Spirit Eyes, which did not even possess offensive power, and his Soul Power was only level eleven.
Every day, aside from cultivation, he sold grilled fish at the school gate.
Him?
Top 1 among Peerless Tang Clan's Ten Strongest?
Wang Dong raised a finger toward Huo Yuhao, its tip trembling as though electrified.
[You... you...]
Huo Yuhao himself was stunned.
He followed Wang Dong's finger to the Sky Screen, his mind completely blank.
Same name and surname?
Impossible. How could the Sky Screen's review possibly be wrong?
But he was only level eleven!
He did not even have a hundred-year soul ring, only a ten-year Wind Baboon soul ring.
He recalled the days when he had been treated like a servant at the White Tiger Duke's Residence. He recalled his mother's miserable death from illness in the woodshed. He recalled the despair of entering the Star Dou Great Forest alone.
Why did he deserve to be first?
Inside Sea God Pavilion.
Yan Shaozhe's eyes widened. He stepped forward and knocked over the small tea table beside him, spilling tea everywhere.
[Huo Yuhao? Why does that name sound so familiar?]
Xuan Zi froze, and the half-eaten chicken leg in his hand fell to the ground and rolled twice.
[Isn't that the freshman from Zhou Yi's class? The one whose martial soul is an eye, with Soul Power only in the teens?]
A sharp glint flashed through Mu En's cloudy eyes.
He sat upright, and his rattan chair creaked under the strain.
[In the teens? First place?]
The entire Sea God Pavilion was silent as death.
A group of Titled Douluo in their nineties stared at one another, unable to say a word.
On the training field ten thousand years ago.
The smile on Tang San's face froze.
Huo Yuhao?
Not surnamed Tang?
His thoughts raced.
Could he be a relative by marriage? Or a Tang family member who had changed his surname?
Impossible. If he was an unparalleled genius ranked first, how could he possibly not bear the Tang surname?
Tang San's heart sank.
An outsider not surnamed Tang had actually surpassed his daughter and taken first place.
This was a huge variable in his future plans to control the God Realm.
He turned his head to glance at Xiao Wu, his tone turning cold.
[Since this person can rank ahead of Wutong, he must have some underhanded methods.]
Xiao Wu held his arm, somewhat puzzled. [Brother, the Sky Screen's reviews have always been fair. If he can rank first, he must have something extraordinary about him, right?]
Tang San tugged at the corner of his mouth but did not respond.
Something extraordinary?
If he was not from the Tang family, the more extraordinary he was, the greater a threat he posed.
More words began appearing on the Sky Screen.
[Cultivation: Mortal Realm Ninety-Ninth-Level Ultimate Douluo] [Profession: Level Ten Soul Engineer] [End: Inherited the First-Level Godhood of the God of Emotions]
[A Ninety-Ninth-Level Ultimate Douluo?! That kid reached the maximum level while still mortal?]
Ma Hongjun grabbed his hair, his face full of confusion.
[Wait, what is this Level Ten Soul Engineer thing? Does our continent even have such a profession?]
Oscar shook his head. [Never even heard of it. Could it be a cultivation system that emerged ten thousand years later?]
Tang San stared fixedly at the final line. A First-Level God!
His daughter, that Triple Martial Souls genius, was only a Second-level Deity.
Yet this Huo Yuhao was actually a First-Level God!
In the God Realm, a First-Level God's status was second only to that of a God King.
Just what was this kid's background?
What gave him the right to climb so high?!
Tang San clenched his back teeth, intense killing intent rising within him.
If this person could not be used by him, he had to be eliminated in advance.
Since his daughter was also at Shrek Academy, once the review ended, he had to find a way to send a divine oracle across time and space, ordering Wutong to approach this Huo Yuhao.
Either recruit him or destroy him.
Ten thousand years later, Sun Moon Empire, Mingde Hall.
The teacup in Jing Hongchen's hand fell to the floor with a crack and shattered into pieces.
He paid no attention to the tea splashing onto his trouser legs. He lunged toward the window and stared fixedly at the Sky Screen.
[Level Ten Soul Engineer?]
Jing Hongchen's voice trembled, and his chubby face was filled with fanaticism.
[Level nine is humanity's limit. How could anyone possibly break through to level ten?! Who is this Huo Yuhao?! Send people to investigate immediately! Even if you have to turn the entire continent upside down, find him for me!]
He turned and roared at the subordinates behind him. [If he cannot join the Sun Moon Empire, kill him immediately! We absolutely cannot let Shrek obtain such a monster!]
Shrek Academy, dormitory.
Wang Dong looked at the words on the Sky Screen, then at Huo Yuhao.
A Ninety-Ninth-Level Ultimate Douluo.
A Level Ten Soul Engineer.
A First-Level God.
She remembered how he had desperately meditated last night just to break through to level twelve.
She remembered how he woke early every day to rush to the cafeteria for the cheapest steamed buns.
She remembered how he ran until he vomited on the training field, unable to defeat even a Soul Elder.
Wang Dong took a deep breath and walked up to Huo Yuhao.
[Tell me the truth.] Wang Dong lowered her voice and leaned close to him. [Did you hide your strength? You're actually some old monster who regained his youth, aren't you?]
Huo Yuhao gave a bitter smile, spreading his hands with an innocent expression.
[If I were some old monster, would I still need to sell grilled fish every day to earn tuition?]
The Sky Screen rumbled once more.
The dark image was torn apart, revealing a pure white spiritual space before everyone.
At the center of the image stood an eleven- or twelve-year-old boy.
It was Huo Yuhao just after leaving the White Tiger Duke's Residence and entering the Star Dou Great Forest alone.
Before the boy lay a gigantic ice silkworm, so enormous its size was beyond description.
The ice silkworm was snow-white all over, with ten dazzling golden markings circling its body.
[I am a Million-Year Soul Beast! The Sky Dream Ice Silkworm!]
The ice silkworm's arrogant voice rang from the Sky Screen, shaking everyone's eardrums.
[Kid, you're in luck. I'm going to become your first soul ring!]
In the image, the ten golden markings lit up and transformed into a pure white soul ring. Carrying world-destroying pressure, it crashed violently into the boy's body.
On the training field ten thousand years ago.
Yu Xiaogang had only just gotten to his feet when he saw the scene. His legs gave out, and he dropped to his knees again.
He stared fixedly at that pure white soul ring, his eyes nearly popping out.
[First soul ring... a million years?]
A strange clicking sound came from Yu Xiaogang's throat.
The limit for a first soul ring in the Ten Core Competencies of Martial Soul, which he had spent half his life researching, was four hundred and twenty-three years.
And now, the Sky Screen was telling him that someone had absorbed a Million-Year Soul Beast as their first soul ring?
This was no longer a slap in the face. It was grinding his theory into the ground, stomping on it wildly, and then spitting on it.
[Pfft—]
Yu Xiaogang's fury attacked his heart, and he spat out a mouthful of blood before falling straight backward.
The Star Dou Great Forest, ten thousand years later.
Di Tian burst from the bottom of the lake, sending towering columns of water into the sky. His golden vertical pupils narrowed to slits.
He stared fixedly at the arrogant ice silkworm on the Sky Screen, and a world-shaking roar rumbled from his throat.
[Tian Meng! You're actually alive!]
An enormous phantom of a black dragon circled above the Star Dou Great Forest. Its terrifying pressure forced every soul beast within a hundred-mile radius to crawl on the ground, trembling.