Shrek Academy, Sea God Island, the Sea God Pavilion.
The pavilion was extremely spacious. The entire building had been carved from the branches and trunk of the Golden Tree, and light brimming with vitality filled its rooms.
An antique long table stood in the middle of the hall, wisps of mind-calming incense rising from an auspicious-beast incense burner on its surface.
An old man whose life flickered like a candle in the wind reclined in a bamboo chair at the far end of the table, his eyes half closed as though he had fallen asleep.
Several elderly men and a middle-aged man stood before the table.
Anyone from the outside world who saw this scene would have had their jaw drop, because everyone standing there was a supreme powerhouse who could make the Douluo Continent quake with a stamp of his foot... the Sea God Pavilion Elders and the dean of the Martial Soul Department, Yan Shaozhe.
At this moment, all of them wore solemn expressions tinged with horror.
"Have you gotten to the bottom of it?" The old man in the reclining chair-Sea God Pavilion Master Mu En-opened his eyes.
Yan Shaozhe swallowed, his voice trembling slightly. "Teacher, we couldn't establish his origins! This young man fell out of the spatial turbulence that erupted outside Shrek City last night. There are no Soul Power fluctuations coming from him whatsoever. He's an ordinary person through and through."
"An ordinary person?!"
An old man beside him, with disheveled hair and a wine gourd clutched in his hand, raised his head. He was the Sea God Pavilion's second-in-command, the Level 98 Taotie Douluo-Xuan Zi.
Xuan Zi had even stopped drinking now. His eyes were fixed on the objects laid out on the table, their corners twitching wildly.
On the table lay a strange black rectangular object (a smartphone), a card bearing the words "Huaxia Resident Identity Card," and a paper book made of unusual material, with the large title "Douluo Continent" printed on its cover.
"How could an ordinary person be carrying such a treasonous forbidden book!"
Xuan Zi slapped the table and roared in a lowered voice, "What is all this stuff written in this book?! Not only does it lay bare every last detail of our Shrek Academy's foundations ten thousand years ago and give a crystal-clear account of the lives of the first Shrek Seven Devils, it even... it even says our ancestor, Sea God Tang San, came from a world called the Bashu Tang Sect, that he was a transmigrator who returned to life in someone else's body, and that even those peerless hidden weapons weren't his original creations!"
At those words, the Sea God Pavilion fell utterly silent.
Tang San was Shrek's faith. Those were terrifying claims capable of shaking Shrek Academy's ten-thousand-year-old faith!
Yet the grudges involving Spirit Hall, the terrain of the Star Dou Great Forest, and certain prehistoric secrets known only within the Sea God Pavilion's most classified archives all fit perfectly with the book's account, without the slightest discrepancy!
"Secrets like these are absolutely not something an ordinary person could know."
Mu En drew a breath, suppressing the seas churning within him, and turned to another old man.
"Elder Zhuang, how is that young man's condition?"
Elder Zhuang stepped forward and said gravely, "His optic nerves were damaged when he passed through the spatial turbulence! There is a small blood clot in his brain, and he is currently blind in both eyes. I have already used essence from the Tree of Life to protect his heart meridians. He... will wake soon."
Just then, an inner courtyard disciple hurried in through the door and bowed. "Pavilion Master, that man is awake."
Everyone exchanged a look, then vanished from the spot in a flash.
In a quiet room deep within the Sea God Pavilion, Su Xian awoke.
To his utter horror, he could no longer see.
There was nothing but endless darkness.
His head hurt as though it would split, as if someone had swung a sledgehammer at it. He could not help shrinking back on the bed in terror and shouting, "My eyes! My eyes! Is anyone there? Help!"
He reached out and groped wildly, touching the bed frame beneath him.
The supreme soul-nourishing wood gave off a warm, soothing sensation, but to the terrified Su Xian, it only felt hard.
"Is anyone there? Where is this?! Is this Niulai Village?!"
With a creak, the door opened.
Several presences that not even a Titled Douluo could detect silently appeared beside the bed.
Hearing the door open, Su Xian shouted as though clutching at a lifesaving straw, "Village chief, Party secretary, is that you?!"
Yan Shaozhe, Xuan Zi, and the others looked at one another.
Village chief, Party secretary-what sort of titles were those?
When no one spoke, Su Xian's voice took on a tearful note. "What happened to me? I remember that on my way into the mountains to volunteer as a teacher, there was suddenly a landslide, and the road collapsed... I can't see. Sorry for the trouble, but could you call 120 for me, get an ambulance, and take me to a hospital to see a doctor!"
120, ambulance, hospital?
Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe looked completely bewildered.
Could this be some new type of rescue Flying Soul Tool, or some healing spell from the Divine Realm?
Impatient by nature, Xuan Zi stepped forward, about to release his Soul Power to exert pressure and directly question him about the contents of that book, Douluo Continent, when Mu En's transmitted voice suddenly rang in his mind.
"Do not act rashly."
Xuan Zi halted. Mu En stepped forward and lowered his voice, replying in an aged tone with a thick rural accent, "Young man, you fell down the mountain. The doctor is treating you."
Hearing that kindly, aged voice, Su Xian pictured an old village chief from a remote mountain region, his face covered in wrinkles.
He had no suspicions whatsoever. After all, who could have imagined that he would transmigrate?
Besides, the hard wooden bed also matched the impoverished conditions deep in Daliang Mountain.
"The doctor examined me? What did he say?" Su Xian asked urgently.
"The doctor said there's a blood clot in your brain pressing on your meridians. You'll get better after a while." Following Elder Zhuang's diagnosis, Mu En answered in the plainest language he could.
"A blood clot in my brain?!"
Su Xian was aghast. Trying to calm himself and fighting through the dizziness, he huddled on the bed, trembling. "That won't do, village chief! If a blood clot presses on the optic nerves, the damage can be irreversible. I'll go blind!"
Looking at the terror on his face, Mu En reassured him, "Don't worry, you won't. The doctor is highly skilled. He's already given you medicinal herbs."
"I trust traditional Chinese medicine, I really do... but old village chief, a barefoot doctor out here in the deep mountains and forests can't possibly have adequate equipment." Su Xian was almost crying with anxiety. "Even if we don't go to the Provincial Hospital, you have to at least find a way to get me to the county hospital for a brain CT scan!"
CT?!
Was that another Soul Skill?
Xuan Zi's brows twitched furiously. Unable to hold back, he transmitted his voice to Mu En. "Mu En, this man is spouting nonsense, and he carries that divine book slandering our Sea God ancestor. Why not find a spiritual-type Soul Master and have them use a Soul Skill to search his soul directly? Then everything will come to light!"
"No!"
Mu En rejected the suggestion decisively. His gaze fell on Su Xian, who had no cultivation whatsoever, as he transmitted his reply. "A mortal without a shred of Soul Power not only passed through spatial turbulence but also carried a divine book detailing Ancestor Tang San's background. There is a very strong possibility that this involves a contest among the gods of the Divine Realm!"
Mu En paused, his tone grave. "The Divine Realm is unfathomable. If we forcibly search his soul and trigger a forbidden formation of the Divine Realm, all of Shrek could be reduced to ashes! Since he thinks he's in an ordinary mountain village, we might as well follow this mistake through."
Just then, a muffled rumble of thunder sounded outside, and rain poured down.
Looking at Su Xian, Mu En sighed softly. "Young man, there's a torrential downpour outside right now. Mudslides have washed away all the roads down the mountain. You're injured, so you can't get down."
"I can't get down?!" Su Xian felt as though he had been struck by lightning.
"That's right. We can only wait until the roads are repaired."
"Then... how long will that take?" Su Xian anxiously clutched a corner of the quilt.
"Ah..."
Hearing that sigh, Su Xian took two breaths. Fighting back the despair of losing his sight, he instead began comforting himself, and the village chief along with him.
"It's all right, it's all right... don't worry, old village chief! Roads get washed out by heavy rain all the time. We have to trust the government and our country's strength. With our country's infrastructure-building prowess, like a demon unleashed, they'll definitely have the road repaired in no time!"
Government, country, infrastructure-building demon?
The Sea God Pavilion's powerhouses felt as though they were listening through clouds and fog, but they could hear the blind young man's unquestioning confidence in that country.
Curled in a corner, Su Xian kept encouraging himself despite his fear. "As long as we wait here, rescue teams will definitely come. Oh, right, old village chief, sorry for the trouble, but please help me find my backpack. My blood pressure medicine is inside, along with a very important leisure book called Douluo Continent. I brought it to pass the time, so please don't lose it."
At those words...
Standing beside the bed, Xuan Zi gripped that copy of Douluo Continent, veins bulging on the back of his hand. He nearly failed to hold back a mouthful of blood.
That terrifying heavenly tome, which exposed the Douluo Continent's greatest secrets and put all of Shrek Academy's senior leadership on a war footing, was, in this brat's words, merely a leisure book for... passing the time?!
Mu En gave Su Xian a long look, then turned and left the room.
Outside, Mu En leaned on his cane and swept his gaze across Yan Shaozhe, Xuan Zi, and the others, issuing the most outrageous order since the Sea God Pavilion's founding.
"Pass down my command as Pavilion Master."
"Yan Shaozhe, take some men to the back mountain and mark off a plot of land. Build me a dilapidated village overnight!"
Yan Shaozhe's eyes widened. "Teacher, you mean..."
"Exactly."
"Since he thinks we're in a village, we'll play along. Starting tomorrow, the Sea God Pavilion Elders will take turns going to the back mountain to act as villagers. Before his sight returns, you must draw out every last secret behind that book, Douluo Continent, without exposing your identities as Soul Masters!"
Before you continue