"No!!!"
"My Three-Star Wolf Lord!!!"
Sitting in front of his computer, Zhang Lan stared at the Three-Star Wolf Lord he was just one gold short of obtaining.
He wished he could spend real money to make up that one-gold shortfall.
Just then, Zhang Lan's gaze shifted to the hacker modification above the Wolf Lord's head.
The Data Duplicator Max.
"Please trigger!"
Zhang Lan sold a one-star, five-cost Wolf Lord, gaining nine gold.
"Purchase."
Then a new five-cost Wolf Lord landed on his bench.
Under Zhang Lan's intensely expectant gaze, the Data Duplicator Max icon lit up.
A copied Wolf Lord appeared.
Just then, the computer screen suddenly erupted with dazzling light.
In an instant, it swallowed Zhang Lan's entire field of vision.
"Who threw a flashbang!!!"
Meanwhile, in another universe, in a world known as the Douluo Continent.
A soul from another world arrived.
Six years passed swiftly.
Shrek City was a place that Soul Masters from the former Douluo Three Kingdoms yearned for beyond measure.
Everyone fought tooth and nail to get into Shrek City and become one of its residents.
Because once children born in Shrek awakened their martial souls.
As long as they met the requirements, they could enter Shrek Academy without a recommendation letter.
This was Shrek, with its ten-thousand-year legacy, the sacred ground of Soul Masters across the continent.
But the cost of living in Shrek City was beyond what ordinary people, or even low-level Soul Masters, could afford.
On the outskirts of Shrek City's urban district, the surroundings were far from pleasant.
The area was extremely remote, and getting anywhere was inconvenient.
Outside a house measuring just ten square meters.
Six-year-old Zhang Lan stood outside, clutching a property deed.
Before him stood a man wearing a monocle. His clothes were not particularly lavish, but one glance made it clear he was no ordinary person.
"Child, are you sure you want to sell this house?"
The middle-aged property agent asked the child before him.
"I'm sure."
Zhang Lan nodded solemnly.
"All right, then. At the market price of fifty Gold Soul Coins per square meter."
"That comes to five hundred Gold Soul Coins."
With that, the agent took out a savings card with a balance of five hundred Gold Soul Coins.
Guaranteed by Shrek City, it could be exchanged for an equal amount of Gold Soul Coins at any trading house.
Zhang Lan took the savings card, then handed the agent the property deed.
Zhang Lan put the savings card into his Storage Soul Tool and left.
He headed toward Shrek City's martial soul awakening site.
Zhang Lan had been found and taken in.
Six years ago, an elderly level-forty Soul Elder had discovered Zhang Lan swaddled in blankets while gathering medicinal herbs for a mission on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Unable to harden his heart, the elderly Soul Elder had brought Zhang Lan home and begun caring for him attentively.
For six years, the elderly Soul Elder had taken good care of Zhang Lan, helping him through his earliest learning while his primary consciousness remained muddled.
Then Zhang Lan's consciousness recovered, and he displayed a memory far beyond that of an ordinary person.
Realizing that he seemed to have taken in a genius, the old man, who had not smiled in decades, showed a gratified smile for the first time.
While working even harder to earn money, the old man also poured all his decades of survival experience into teaching Zhang Lan.
Zhang Lan benefited greatly from it.
But storms could rise in clear skies without warning.
Recently, the old Soul Elder, then eighty-nine years old, had felt that he had reached his limit and could no longer care for Zhang Lan.
He then spent half a day and exhausted decades of savings to buy a Storage Soul Tool of the lowest grade.
After handing both the Soul Tool and the property deed to Zhang Lan, he passed away.
Zhang Lan spent the remaining money hiring people to help bury the old man on the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Near Shrek City's east gate lay a secluded alley. At its end stood a two-story stone building responsible for awakening the martial souls of children in the surrounding area.
This was not Shrek City's central district, so the building was not tall. Its gray-white stone walls had darkened at the base with age.
The entrance had two black iron doors without ornamentation.
"Martial Soul Awakening" was carved into the lintel, with Shrek Academy's emblem beside it.
Since most residents in this area were much like Zhang Lan's adoptive father, there were not many people lining up here.
Zhang Lan followed the queue forward, and soon it was his turn.
After paying the Gold Soul Coins, Zhang Lan stood on the martial soul awakening array.
As the Soul Master beside him infused it with soul power, the array beneath his feet began to blaze with brilliant light.
Golden motes appeared around Zhang Lan, and the martial soul in his right hand gradually began to manifest.
"A cane? Could it be a trash martial soul?"
The Soul Master beside him, Su Yunlian, muttered. He could not recall ever seeing a martial soul like this.
"Let's test your innate soul power."
Still, out of a sense of responsibility, Su Yunlian tested Zhang Lan's innate soul power.
I hope you can awaken a little more innate soul power, so you can become a Soul Master someday.
While Su Yunlian was thinking this, Zhang Lan had already placed his hand on the crystal ball beside him.
The crystal ball erupted with an even more dazzling light, startling Su Yunlian into a shudder.
"I-Innate full soul power?!"
"Oh, right, child."
"What is your martial soul called? I need to register it on your Soul Master certificate."
Su Yunlian asked Zhang Lan, trembling.
Meanwhile, Zhang Lan began examining the cane in his hand.
Having played Honkai: Star Rail and Honkai Impact 3rd in his previous life, he naturally recognized his martial soul.
It was none other than Welt Yang's signature weapon, the Key of Devouring-the Star of Eden.
Though Star Sea Harmony was a better name, given the cane's current appearance, Star of Eden was more fitting.
"It's called the Star of Eden."
Zhang Lan answered.
"Yes, a fine name."
After recording the information, Su Yunlian handed Zhang Lan his Soul Master certificate.
"Do you need to hunt for a Soul Ring? I can help."
"My name is Su Yunlian. I'm a level-fifty-two Soul King."
"My martial soul is a Wind Wolf of the Power Attack System. It's more than enough to protect you."
Upon hearing this, Zhang Lan shook his head.
"Thank you, but there's no need."
With that, Zhang Lan took his Soul Master certificate and left.
The outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest.
Thanks to the experience his adoptive father had taught him, Zhang Lan did not lose his way in the forest.
"What kind of Soul Beast should I choose for a gravity-related Soul Ring?"
Soul Beasts whose primary attribute was gravity were far rarer than those with ordinary attributes.
Even Soul Beasts with extremely rare attributes such as space, mind, and time were not completely impossible to find.
Yet there was not a scrap of information about Soul Beasts specializing in gravity anywhere in the entire original series.
Only the Soul Skills of Zhao Wuji, the Immovable Wisdom King from the first installment-Gravity Enhancement and Gravity Crush-met the attribute requirements in terms of their effects.
But with enough proficiency, the Star of Eden alone could accomplish both of those Soul Skills.
Squandering Soul Ring slots on them would truly be a waste.
As Zhang Lan pondered this, strange noises began coming from the trees around him.
With a gust of fierce wind, an ape-like Soul Beast appeared before Zhang Lan.
"A Wind Baboon?"
"So even I've run into this legendary god-slaying Soul Beast."
Zhang Lan smiled helplessly, then summoned the Star of Eden.
He lightly tapped the cane against the ground, and a gravitational field instantly spread in all directions.
Under the crushing gravity, the Wind Baboon collapsed to the ground before it could even steady itself.
With a sweep of the cane, a gravitational ray sliced through the Wind Baboon's head.
It pulled off a brutally convincing Louis XVI cosplay.
Before you continue