Old acquaintances reunite, the clans investigate

The Great Soul Arena in Suotuo City.

The Imperial Fighting Team left the stage after winning the team battle that had drawn everyone's attention.

In contrast, all seven of the Shrek Seven Devils had exhausted their Soul Power and suffered injuries, their faces filled with the disappointment and resentment of defeat.

Once they returned to the preparation room, they all hung their heads in silence. The atmosphere had sunk to its lowest point, and even breathing felt oppressive.

Flender adjusted his glasses. For once, he did not scold them, instead patting Dai Mubai on the shoulder.

"Lift your heads, all of you. Wilting after a single loss-what kind of monsters does that make you?"

Zhao Wuji chimed in gruffly:

"The Imperial Fighting Team has trained a few years longer than you. There's no shame in losing, but remember how stifled you feel now and train twice as hard when we get back!"

Yu Xiaogang folded his arms and spoke calmly:

"What you lack isn't talent, but coordination and refinement. The weaknesses this battle exposed were worth more than ten victories."

Tang San was the first to clench his fists, the resentment in his eyes gradually blazing into flames.

"Next time, we'll definitely win it back!"

Xiao Wu suddenly spoke, and the others nodded one after another, light returning to their eyes.

Just then, a knock sounded, and a young man pushed the door open and entered.

"Dean Flender, Vice Dean Zhao Wuji, it's been a long time."

Everyone turned at his words.

When Flender and Zhao Wuji saw who had come, both brightened with delight.

"You little brat. We thought you'd forgotten all about us."

At this, respect appeared on Qin Ming's face, and he spoke sincerely:

"You two deans nurtured me with such care back then. I will never forget your kindness in giving me a new life. How could I ever forget Shrek?"

With that, he lowered himself slightly, about to kneel on one knee in salute.

Seeing this, Zhao Wuji immediately stepped forward and caught him.

"All these years, and you haven't changed a bit! You're already an academy instructor now. There's no need for so much ceremony. Get up!"

Only then did Qin Ming straighten, and Flender took the opportunity to introduce the others:

"Come, Qin Ming, let me introduce you."

"This is Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang, now Shrek's chief instructor. These children beside him are our current students."

Qin Ming nodded at once. His gentle gaze swept over Tang San and the others as he offered quiet reassurance:

"There's no need to be discouraged, my juniors. I lost far more matches than you when I was at Shrek. Failure is the best whetstone. Remember today's resentment-it will carry you farther."

Then he stepped half a pace aside, revealing the youth behind him, and introduced him:

"This is Yu Tianheng, captain of the Imperial Fighting Team I brought here."

Yet from the moment Yu Tianheng entered, his gaze had remained fixed on Yu Xiaogang. He completely ignored everyone else from Shrek, his eyes brimming with excitement and joy.

"Uncle! I finally found you! Come back to the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan with me."

"Grandfather... has missed you all this time."

But faced with his nephew's warmth, Yu Xiaogang remained indifferent. He shifted slightly aside, avoiding his salute and refusing that closeness.

His gaze was calm, his voice carrying stubbornness and pride:

"There's no need. Tell my father that I will train Soul Masters stronger than those of the clan and prove through facts that my path was not wrong. Until then, I will not set a single foot inside the clan!"

For a moment, the situation grew somewhat strained.

Seeing this, Flender hurried forward with a smile to smooth things over.

Disappointment flashed through Yu Tianheng's eyes, but he knew his uncle's temperament and dared not press him.

Once the atmosphere eased a little, Flender changed the subject at an opportune moment and turned to Qin Ming:

"Tianming, could you tell me about that control Soul Master on your team? I've never heard of such a young level-forty-eight Soul Ancestor."

Qin Ming paused briefly at the question, then shook his head gently.

"To be honest, I don't know either."

As he spoke, he turned toward Yu Tianheng beside him.

"Tian Heng, you and Yanzi are usually inseparable at the academy. You must know something, right?"

Yu Tianheng likewise shook his head helplessly, his eyes full of bewilderment.

"Today on the stage was also the first time I saw Yanzi release a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring and that armor."

"Before that, I knew absolutely nothing about it either."

"Now that's strange."

Qin Ming murmured, and everyone else frowned as well.

Just then, however, a flash of inspiration struck Tang San. He abruptly raised his head, realization written all over his face.

Yu Xiaogang, standing beside him, caught that subtle reaction and immediately asked:

"Xiao San, did you think of something?"

In an instant, every gaze in the room converged on Tang San.

Under everyone's scrutiny, Tang San looked a little embarrassed and said hesitantly:

"Everyone... do you remember that shop?"

"If it was that shop, everything would make sense."

Qin Ming and Yu Tianheng exchanged a glance. They did not know what "that shop" referred to, but everyone's reactions inevitably stirred some puzzlement in them.

The girl with the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, in particular, showed a deliberate evasiveness in her behavior, making it all the more unusual.

Still, the two were outsiders, and seeing that the Shrek group did not wish to elaborate, they could hardly pry.

After reminiscing for a while, they bid farewell and left.

Elsewhere.

All the core members of Heaven Dou Royal Academy had returned to their temporary lodgings, apart from Yu Tianheng and Qin Ming, who had left, and Dugu Yan, who had departed afterward.

They were exhausted and should have returned to their rooms to rest, yet they had all gathered in the room serving as a meeting hall. The atmosphere was somewhat heavy.

The lamps shone as brightly as daylight, illuminating faces bearing different expressions.

After a brief silence, Yu Feng was the first to speak, breaking the stillness.

"Looks like none of us can sleep."

"In that case, why don't we talk? What do you all think about what Sister Yan told us before she left?"

Shi Mo knitted his brows and said gravely:

"To be honest, I didn't believe any of it at first. How could there be a shop capable of changing a Soul Master's foundations? It's simply too incredible."

Shi Mo nodded in agreement. "But Sister Yan isn't someone who spouts nonsense. Her expression then didn't look like she was making up lies."

Osler leaned against the wall, looking somewhat uneasy.

"Do you think Sister Yan still hasn't come back... because she went to that little shop again?"

Ye Lingling frowned slightly and spoke softly.

"If that shop is real, then we must take this seriously and tell our families."

Yu Feng spoke hesitantly. "But what if... it's all false?"

"If we rashly report it to our families without any evidence, won't they just treat it as a joke and some of the elders ridicule us?"

Osler nodded in agreement, concern showing on his face.

"That's right. If we report false information and disrupt the clan's judgment, we might even be punished under clan rules in serious cases."

Shi Mo clenched his fists. "Exactly. Our families are all long-established sects and clans. If something this absurd gets out, where would we put our faces?"

Ye Lingling countered, "But if it's true, we might miss our chance because of this. By then, it'll be too late for regrets."

They debated back and forth, each of them filled with unease and conflicting feelings.

The room fell silent again.

This time, Ye Lingling was the first to break the deadlock with a proposal:

"How about this? We each report it to our family elders and leave the decision to them. That way, even if it's wrong, it won't count as recklessness on our part."

They exchanged glances for a moment before finally nodding, settling on this compromise.

Just then, two sets of footsteps sounded outside the door.

The door opened, and Yu Tianheng and Qin Ming walked in one after the other.

Seeing everyone gathered, Yu Tianheng looked curious. "What are you all talking about? Why aren't you resting this late?"

Then he noticed Dugu Yan was absent and asked in confusion:

"Where's Yanzi? Why don't I see her?"

At his question, everyone immediately looked at one another with subtle expressions.

Before leaving, Dugu Yan had specifically warned them that they absolutely must not tell Yu Tianheng about this, while Instructor Qin Ming...

Dugu Yan's earlier attitude toward him had also been strange, so they dared not rashly reveal anything to him either.

After weighing it for a moment, everyone tacitly kept the truth to themselves.

Yu Feng hurriedly smoothed things over:

"Nothing much. We just couldn't sleep, so we were chatting about our plans after returning to the academy tomorrow."

"As for Sister Yan, she left not long after you went to Shrek. We haven't seen her since we came back."

Everyone echoed him, covering the matter up without mentioning a single word about the Mysterious Shop.

Hearing this, Yu Tianheng frowned deeply and said worriedly, "She's been out so long without coming back. Could something have happened?"

"No, I have to go find her!"

Seeing this, Qin Ming placed a hand on his shoulder and said gently, "Tian Heng, calm down."

"Dugu Yan's grandfather is a Titled Douluo. No one would dare hurt her. Besides, perhaps Senior Dugu came and took her away himself."

"Tian Heng, you don't need to worry too much."

Yu Tianheng pondered briefly at his words.

His tense expression gradually relaxed, and he let out a long breath.

"That's true... With Yanzi's status, nothing should happen to her."

Seeing that he was no longer pressing the matter, everyone secretly sighed in relief.

The night passed quietly.

Early the next morning, they packed their belongings to leave. Yu Tianheng specifically left a letter at the hotel's front desk and instructed the clerk to give it to Dugu Yan.

By noon, they had returned safely to Heaven Dou City.

Upon returning to the academy, they immediately requested leave from Qin Ming, using various reasons to return to their respective families.

First was the Shi Family.

The brothers Shi Mo and Shi Mo hurried back to their clan and immediately sought out their father. They recounted everything without missing a word: the One-Word Battle Armor Dugu Yan had used in Suotuo City's Soul Fighting Arena, her ten-thousand-year fourth Soul Ring, and her rise from level thirty-eight to level forty-eight in a short time.

After listening, Shi Father's brows knotted together. He raised his hand and knocked both of them on the head, saying sternly:

"Did this trip to Suotuo City knock the brains out of you two?"

"Armor that raises your Soul Power when you put it on, a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring as a fourth Soul Ring, and Soul Power shooting up ten levels in a short time? How could anything so outrageous exist?"

Seeing this, Shi Mo hurried forward to argue:

"Father, we saw it with our own eyes! There wasn't the slightest falsehood!"

"And if this is true, our Shi Family will surely regret it beyond measure if we miss such a tremendous opportunity!"

Shi Mo nodded repeatedly as well, then continued, "

"Second Brother is right. Sister Yan displayed her Soul Rings in Suotuo City's Soul Fighting Arena. The spectators can testify too."

At these words, Shi Father's lips moved, but he forcibly swallowed the rebuke on the tip of his tongue.

He looked at his two sons' utterly solemn expressions, which showed no hint of joking.

He remained silent for a long time. Because of the name Dugu Yan, the disdain in his eyes vanished completely, replaced by solemnity.

"Go wait in the meeting hall. I'll call the other clan leaders over to discuss this."

The brothers exchanged a glance, delight flashing in their eyes. They hastily nodded and walked briskly toward the meeting hall.

Before long.

Shi Father pushed the door open and entered with three elders over seventy years old.

All three elders were Soul Douluos whose Soul Power had surpassed level eighty. Though they had retired behind the scenes, they held extremely senior standing and immense prestige within the clan.

After taking his seat, the first elder stroked his graying beard and asked in puzzlement:

"Clan leader, why have you suddenly summoned us all?"

Shi Father did not elaborate. He merely looked at Shi Mo and Shi Mo and instructed:

"Tell the elders again about your experiences in Suotuo City."

The brothers dared not delay and recounted everything in full once more.

At first, the three elders remained calm. Halfway through, they all sat up straight, and when they heard "ten-thousand-year fourth Soul Ring," their expressions changed simultaneously.

The first elder shook his head first. "Impossible! How could an ordinary Soul Master withstand a Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring? No matter how talented they are, such a thing is utterly impossible!"

The second elder agreed. "Armor that increases someone's Soul Power is even more unheard of. This is far too absurd."

The third elder said gravely, "Could someone have cast an illusion on you brothers, making you imagine it?"

The elders all voiced their opinions, none believing it at all.

Just as they continued rejecting the account, the head of the Shi Family spoke gravely, silencing every doubt with a single sentence.

"Dugu Yan's grandfather is Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, a genuine Titled Douluo."

The meeting hall instantly fell silent.

The three elders' expressions froze. They swallowed everything they had been about to say, and the doubt in their eyes gradually gave way to solemnity.

Indeed... Dugu Yan's grandfather was a Titled Douluo.

If someone had instructed Dugu Yan to say those words and do those things, it could only have been Dugu Bo.

But in a Titled Douluo's eyes, their Shi Family was nothing more than a clan of ants. If he wished them harm, he could simply strike, crushing their entire clan with a flick of his fingers. Why go to such lengths to fabricate lies and take such an unnecessary step?

A moment later, the first elder let out a long breath and murmured in a complicated tone:

"In that case... this matter is at least eighty percent credible..."

Shi Father glanced at the other two elders' expressions. Their gazes flickered uncertainly, but neither spoke in rebuttal, so he said gravely:

"Everyone, even if we wish to verify this matter, we absolutely must not take the initiative to ask Dugu Bo."

"You must understand that Dugu Bo is a guest elder of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and holds a special position. If we rashly visit him to make inquiries, the Heaven Dou Imperial Family will certainly notice something amiss."

"When that happens, even if the opportunity truly exists, the benefits we can obtain will inevitably be diminished."

His gaze swept over the three elders as he settled on a course of action:

"So for now, we can only act in secret, discreetly gather word around Heaven Dou City, and see whether any other factions have already noticed something unusual and found that Fortuitous Encounter Shop."

The three elders all nodded solemnly, agreeing with the family head's decision.

With no time to lose, the Shi Family immediately mobilized its covert agents, who quietly slipped into every corner of Heaven Dou City to sift through clues in secret and await any unusual developments.

Meanwhile, nearly identical scenes played out among several other great families in Heaven Dou City.

For a time, undercurrents surged through Heaven Dou City.

The long-established great families all tacitly kept their mouths shut and investigated discreetly. No one breathed a word; everyone wanted to seize the initiative and claim this heaven-defying opportunity capable of changing their family's fate.

[Thanks to reader Tako for the nine recommendation votes this morning. Thank you for your support.]