Deep in the star-domain.
All around was pitch-black emptiness stretching to infinity. From time to time, meteors streaked by, or desolate, lifeless planets drifted in the void.
Su Wen looked around in startled confusion.
Where the hell did I end up?
Was this still Douluo Star?
The time he was in now… should be tens of thousands of years later on the original timeline, after the Abyssal Sage King had escaped, Tang Hao had half his cultivation crippled, and Ah Yin had died. At this point, no one was left who could restrain the Sage King.
He was only a step away from challenging Tang San's "God-circle" at the highest level.
Su Wen's eyes narrowed slightly.
A faint message was being transmitted from somewhere else: Ah Yin was using the Golden Ancient Tree to send him coordinates.
"Master, over here…" Ah Yin's voice sounded in his spiritual sea.
"Got it." Su Wen chuckled softly and took a step forward.
The instant his foot fell, gentle ripples spread under his step. A spatial matrix slowly formed, like a black hole capable of swallowing all life.
Yet Su Wen showed no fear, allowing the "spatial matrix" to engulf him completely.
When he opened his eyes again, a blue planet hung before him.
"Wait a second…" Su Wen stared at the several satellites circling Douluo Star, his expression turning strange. "Is this another timeline? No… this is the original timeline, ten thousand years later."
"Ah Yin, how long has it been since I ascended to godhood?" Only now did Su Wen realize something he'd overlooked.
"About… ten years or so." A gentle voice answered in his spiritual sea.
"No wonder…" Su Wen exhaled slowly.
Without the drain of invading planes—and instead reaping benefits from them—Douluo Star's soul tool technology had already begun to develop at high speed. While he couldn't say for sure they'd already left Douluo Star behind, they clearly had the initial capacity for interstellar travel.
Among them… he saw a familiar figure.
A once gaunt silhouette that had clearly weathered countless trials of blood and tears, now fully grown.
Tang Wulin.
Star Luo Empire.
This was an independent continent on Douluo Star, located at the south pole, yet enjoying perpetual spring, lush with vegetation.
The Tang Sect branch that had once been seized by the Star Luo imperial capital had long since been released. After the fall of the Tang Sect, they had gradually faded from public view. Few knew where they had gone, and fewer cared.
On a remote island…
There was a row of wooden houses.
A blue-haired middle-aged man, bare-chested, slowly stepped out from one of them. On his bronze back was a tattoo of a golden dragon, baring its fangs and brandishing its claws, vivid as life.
"Captain, when are you going to push for the god-seat?"
A laughing voice came from behind—it was Xie Xie, grinning wickedly as he spoke.
"I'm still far from that…" Tang Wulin said helplessly.
"I've only just stepped into Super Douluo and finished forging my three-word battle armor. To become a god, I'll need to at least reach four-word Limit Douluo."
Ten years of bitter cultivation, combined with Mu Ye's life-and-death tempering and the awakening of the Body Sect's secret of physical limits—plus one after another of the Golden Dragon King seals breaking at ever greater speed—had caused his strength to soar. Even with their own monstrous talent, Xie Xie and the others had only just stepped into Titled Douluo over these years…
"What about Xu Lizhi?" Tang Wulin asked, his expression mixed.
"Don't mention that fat guy. Worthless." Xie Xie said angrily. "Five years after we left Shrek City by boat and arrived in the Star Luo Empire, he couldn't stand the boredom and ran back to Spirit Academy to find Ye Xinglan."
"He's a traitor, through and through!" Xie Xie vented his indignation.
"He left back then… it's understandable." Tang Wulin sighed helplessly.
Among the Shrek Seven Monsters, the "traitor" substitutes, Yue Zhengyu and Ye Xinglan, had been the first to leave.
Of the remaining four, Xu Lizhi had also departed halfway.
In the end, only the two of them and Xu Xiaoyan had stayed on this island to cultivate bitterly.
"Forget it. Just give me one more year…" Tang Wulin's eyes narrowed.
Now, the pace of the Golden Dragon King seals being unlocked was getting faster and faster. At this rate, in less than a year his cultivation would be enough to step into Limit Douluo. At that point, under his father and grandfather's guidance, he would be able to become the Golden Dragon King.
The only trouble was that the Dragon God's Heart in Dragon Valley had been exhausted. If he wanted to restore the Golden Dragon King's full might, he would have to find another path.
"Whatever…" Tang Wulin rubbed his temples as his headache intensified.
"When the cart reaches the mountain, there'll be a road. It's not like I'm short on god-seats. Even if I just become a normal second-level god, I'll still be able to kill that guy and avenge my Tang family."
A chill flashed through Tang Wulin's eyes.
Spirit Pagoda Academy.
Another new school year had begun.
A tall, slender figure stood at the academy gates—a woman in a white trench coat, wearing a baseball cap and black sunglasses, briskly directing the flow of people.
"Gu Yue, something's wrong… come back for a bit."
Suddenly, the communicator in her hand lit up.
An absolutely stunning young woman of about twenty-three or twenty-four, whose features were exactly the same as hers, appeared on the display, looking anxious.
"Got it." Gu Yue adjusted her sunglasses and nodded to Lan Fozi at her side. "I'll leave things here to you. Na'er called me back. It's probably about Ye Hui."
"Go. I can handle this." Worry flashed in Lan Fozi's eyes.
"…"
Shrek City.
Within the Golden Ancient Tree.
For thousands of meters around, the area was dense forest. From above, this place was a miracle in the steel-forged Shrek City. Even though countless dead souls slumbered here, no one was willing to erect tombstones for them.
Shrek Academy had long become a thing of the past.
People had seen through its tricks—how it interfered with unification, a malignant tumor of the continent. Naturally, they would no longer worship it. The myth had collapsed. Faith had crumbled.
Buzz…
Gu Yue's figure appeared abruptly.
Crisp clicks sounded as her high heels struck the ground. She landed and strode quickly inward, trench coat billowing, sunglasses already taken off and tucked into her pocket.
"Yehui can't hold on much longer." Na'er's eyes were filled with worry.
At first, they'd all thought it was nothing unusual. That girl would always disappear for a while and then come back. With that man still around, they'd never truly worried about the Demon Plane. As long as the other side dared to show up, they believed, he would crush them without mercy.
Because of that, Yuanen Yehui had never restrained herself in her cultivation.
And then, in a blink, ten years had passed.
Yuanen Yehui had long been stuck at the Titled Douluo bottleneck, afraid to break through. She feared that once she stepped forward again and reawakened the Demon Plane, it would bring another catastrophe to the continent.
Her grandfather had once fought with his life, sacrificing countless clansmen, just to barely close that planar gate. Next time, things might not go so "well."
With Su Wen gone, no one dared guarantee they could resolve that plane.
But a few days ago…
Yuanen Yehui had suddenly sleepwalked in the middle of the night, gone into the Poké Ball inner world, and taken a ninth spirit ring—a ninth sprite.
Fortunately, she had awakened in time, forcibly broken free of the control, heavily injuring herself as she crushed that ninth Poké Ball, severing her bond with the sprite. Only then was the Demon Gate kept from opening.
But because of that, Yuanen Yehui's foundation had been severely damaged.
Now, with the Demon Plane scheming constantly on the other side, Yuanen Yehui was growing weaker and weaker. The only way she could survive… was to capture another soul beast and break through to Titled Douluo.
But if she did that…