The day of the departure dawned bright and clear. A grand procession, a river of polished wood and gleaming imperial crests, assembled at the main gates of Heaven Dou City.
Massive, custom-built carriages, each one a small house on wheels, gleamed with lacquer. They were pulled by teams of eight powerful, spirit-enhanced Horned Horses, their breath misting in the cool morning air. Imperial Knights in polished, golden armor flanked the procession, their presence a silent, sharp promise of the Empire's might.
This was the pride of the Heaven Dou Empire, heading south to the finals in Spirit City.
The crowd gathered to see them off was a sea of cheering, waving citizens. Banners fluttered, and children sat on their fathers' shoulders, all straining for a glimpse of the heroes who had dominated the tournament. They saw the golden-clad Blazing Academy, their faces grim but proud. They saw the cyan-robed Divine Wind Academy, their expressions sharp. They saw the icy, elegant members of the Heavenly Water Academy.
But as the carriages began to fill, a conspicuous absence settled over the crowd. A murmur rippled through the thousands of spectators, a wave of confusion that slowly turned to disappointment.
"Where are they?" one merchant asked his neighbor, standing on his tiptoes.
"Who?"
"The green team! Where is Shrek Academy?"
"He's right! I don't see them!"
The whispers grew, a wave of confusion. "Shhh, didn't you see the match?" a more informed spectator hissed. "They weren't just beaten. They were taken apart."
"I heard the tiger-spirit captain... well, you know..." the man made a crude, snipping gesture with his fingers.
"No! Really?"
"And the girl, the rabbit one... the Emperor Team captain just took her! Right off the stage!"
"Gods, really? Took her? Like, kidnapped?"
"Right off the stage! In front of the Emperor! And no one did a thing! The Emperor didn't even stop him!"
"No... that can't be right..."
Just as the speculation was about to turn ugly, a royal herald, his voice amplified by a spirit tool, stepped forward onto a small platform.
"By decree of His Majesty, Emperor Xue Ye!" he announced, his voice silencing the crowd. "The Shrek Academy, having sustained grievous injuries in their recent, valiant effort in the promotion rounds, has been granted leave to withdraw from the final rounds to recover. His Majesty praises their courage and wishes them a swift return to health!"
The crowd processed this. A wave of disappointment washed over them, followed by a murmur of understanding. They had all witnessed the battle. They had seen the brutal, one-sided defeat.
"Grievous injuries... that's one way to put it," a woman in the crowd muttered. "I saw that tiger-boy go down. What that Zhang Tian did... it was beyond cruel. It was... monstrous."
"Still... a pity. I wanted to see them fight again. They had spirit."
"Spirit? They were broken. It's no surprise they can't continue."
The procession began to move. The world moved on.
Miles away, in the rented quarters of the Blue Tyrant Academy, the world had stopped. The place was a tomb. The air was thick with the scent of medicinal herbs and the heavier, suffocating stench of despair.
The students were physically healing. The Emperor, in his magnanimity, had sent his best imperial healers. Broken bones were set, superficial burns were soothed, and potions were administered.
But their spirits were broken.
Dai Mubai lay in his bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, his face a hollow, ashen mask. The physical pain from the healers' work was a distant, dull throb. It was the phantom ache, the cold, empty nothing between his legs, that was his torment.
He was still reliving the moment. The sound of the crimson vine. The searing, freezing, shocking pain all at once, a trinity of agony that had burned itself into his soul. The healers had told him, their faces pale with pity.
"We are sorry, young master. The energy... it's... it's destroyed the root. Annihilated it. No healing spirit, not even a Titled Douluo's, can regenerate what is so thoroughly destroyed."
He had lost. He had lost the match. He had lost his pride. He had lost his future. His identity as a man, his path as a prince... it was all gone. Severed. He was a joke. An imperial eunuch.
In a dark corner of the common room, Tang San sat, his hands clenched so tightly his nails drew blood from his palms. He hadn't spoken in three days. He just stared at the wall. He was consumed by a raging storm of self-recrimination.
'I failed. I failed them.'
The thought was a relentless, hammering beat against his mind.
'I let him cripple Boss Mubai. I, Tang San, a genius of the Tang Sect, a man of two lives, let my brother be mutilated right in front of me. And I could do nothing.'
'And Xiao Wu… he took her. He took her right in front of me, and I was too weak to stop him. Too weak.'
He saw her terrified face. He heard her scream. He saw his own hidden weapon, his weapon, the pride of the Tang Sect, stopped by his own hand, inches from her back. He heard Zhang Tian's mocking voice: "Trying to kill your own lover, Tang San?"
'My fault. My fault. I was too weak. I made the bet. I goaded him. I brought this on us. My pride... my Tang Sect pride... he crushed it. He shattered it. He took her. He took her. Xiao Wu... what is he doing to her? What is that bastard doing to her right now?'
The thought was a new kind of acid, eating him alive from the inside.
In his own, small office, Yu Xiaogang sat in the dark. He just stared at the wall, at his rows and rows of scrolls, his life's work. His theories. His "Ten Core Competencies of the Spirit."
They were a joke.
'Elemental suppression... I accounted for it. I built a team to counter it. But not... not that.'
His mind replayed the battle. The devouring vines. The perfect, instant elemental counters. The immunity to fire, to poison. The support master who fought like an assault specialist. The girl with three elements. And the Spirit Cores. He had felt them, a pulse of consolidated power from Zhang Tian, from Zhu Zhuqing, from Ning Rongrong, that his theories had no explanation for.
'My life's work... is a child's scribble next to a masterpiece. He... he proved it to the world. He proved... I am a joke.'
It was Flender who had finally, mercifully, made the call. He had looked at his broken students, at his catatonic, shattered friend, and he knew it was over. He had gone to the Emperor, his hat in his hands, his heart heavy as lead.
"Your Majesty... I beg your forgiveness," he had said, his voice heavy. "We... we cannot go on. The team... they are broken. Their spirits... their wills... they are gone. We are in no condition to fight."
Emperor Xue Ye, in his current victorious mood, had been... merciful. He had publicly praised Shrek's "courage" and "valor," granting their request. It was an understandable, and politically convenient, way to sweep the brutal aftermath of his own team's victory under the rug.
And so, the Shrek team, the rising stars who had burned so brightly, were now left behind. They were broken, forgotten, a footnote in the grand story as the rest of the world moved on to the finals.
The grand procession, a river of imperial carriages, snaked its way south. The banners of the Heaven Dou Empire, the Blazing Academy, and the other qualifying teams snapped in the wind. The journey to Spirit City was long, a multi-week affair that crossed half the continent.
But they were not being followed. Not truly.
Miles behind the procession, moving like ghosts through the forests and fields that flanked the main road, were three figures. Yao Ling, Chi Wang, and Zi Ji, in their human forms, tracked the procession, their senses locked on the powerful aura of their target.
"More walking," Chi Wang grumbled mentally, his human form still feeling heavy and slow. His new, custom-forged boots, a gift from Master Tie, were already beginning to wear thin. "And more… cities. This is tedious. Why don't we just fly? We could be there in a day."
"And announce our presence to every Titled Douluo within a thousand miles?" Yao Ling's mental voice was a calm, deep river. "Patience, Chi Wang. Flying would be like lighting a beacon in the night. This 'Spirit City' is the main den of the strongest human faction, the Spirit Hall. We cannot arrive as a threat. We must arrive as... observers."
"Observers," Chi Wang spat the word. "We are Fierce Beasts. We do not observe. We conquer."
"We are in their world now," Yao Ling replied, his patience unwavering. "We play by their rules. For now."
"You're right, Yao Ling," Zi Ji's mental voice chimed in, bright and curious. She was perched on the branch of a tall tree, watching the carriages pass below. "And this is a good opportunity. Lord Di Tian's command was to investigate the human. But to truly understand his threat, his confidence, we must understand the full strength of his race. We will follow him to this 'Spirit City' and gauge the power of this 'Spirit Hall'."
"Hmph," Chi Wang grumbled. "More... 'gauging.' I hope this new city at least has a decent forge. The one in Heaven Dou was… adequate. But their metal is soft. It bends too easily. I need to hit something real."
"Oh, a new city!" Zi Ji's thoughts were on a different path entirely. "Yao Ling, do you think they will have different clothes? The silks in Heaven Dou were lovely, but I heard the southern silks are even finer. And the food! Did you taste those little steamed buns? Not as good as a thousand-year-old spirit beast, but... close! I wonder what they have in the south?"
"Lady Zi Ji," Yao Ling said, his tone turning serious, cutting through her excitement. "This 'Spirit City' will be dangerous. It is the heart of our enemy's power. This is not a holiday. Your... shopping... will have to wait."
"Aww, no shopping at all?" she pouted mentally. "But what's the point of this human form if I can't even wear the pretty silks?"
"However," Yao Ling added, a cunning light in his ancient eyes. "You will have a new role. A mission that is perfectly suited to your... talents."
"My talents?" Zi Ji asked, intrigued. "You mean my Abyss Demon Dragon power?"
"No," Yao Ling replied. "Your human form. It is a powerful tool. The memories I have seen show that human males are... susceptible to it. They become fools in your presence. Their minds grow weak, their judgment... poor."
"They are interested in you," Yao Ling stated. "You will use that interest. You will make them... useful. Make them acquire information for us. Make them do our tasks. It is a more efficient way of gathering intelligence than my previous methods."
Zi Ji considered this. She thought of the fawning merchants in Heaven Dou, of the guards who had stumbled over their own feet trying to speak to her. "So... I just smile at them? And they become stupid? And they will give me what I want?"
"In essence, yes."
A slow, calculating smile spread across Zi Ji's perfect face. "Humans are even simpler than I thought. Very well. This... this could be fun."
The procession was a grand affair, a rolling city of power and wealth. Zhang Tian's team, as the champions of the promotion round, traveled in luxury. Their carriage was a moving palace, its interior lined with soft furs and enchanted silks.
A second carriage, just as luxurious, followed close behind. Inside, the atmosphere was a strange, but not unpleasant, mix of curiosity and power. Qian Renxue sat opposite Ah Yin and Jin Xi.
Ah Yin, in her "Yin" persona, had made the introductions. "Lady Renxue," she had said, her voice a polite, respectful murmur, "this is my cousin, Jin Xi. She is... from a very reclusive clan in the mountains. My master has graciously taken her under his wing, as she is new to the human world."
Qian Renxue had assessed the golden-haired, crimson-eyed girl. She sensed no deception from her, only a strange, powerful innocence that was as deep and as clear as a mountain lake. And... she felt an aura of fate around her, a power that made her own angelic spirit hum in recognition. 'This girl is not simple. But she is not a threat.'
"A pleasure to meet you, Jin Xi," Qian Renxue said, her smile warm and genuine. "Any relative of Yin's is a friend of this estate."
Ah Yin had then turned to Jin Xi. "Jin Xi, this is Lady Qian Renxue. She is... one of our Emperor's most beloved women."
Qian Renxue's heart gave a painful, happy lurch. 'His... beloved woman.' To be introduced so openly, so casually, by another woman in his inner circle... it was a validation she didn't know she was craving. A deep, warm blush colored her cheeks, and she didn't bother to correct Ah Yin's "mistake."
Jin Xi, in turn, was fascinated by Qian Renxue. Her destiny-sense was humming, a loud, insistent thrum. This woman's thread of fate was woven so tightly with his that it was almost a part of his own. But it was also tinged with a strange, golden light, a warmth that felt... like the sun.
"You feel... warm," Jin Xi said bluntly, her voice a clear, musical chime. "Like a piece of the sun. But... sad, too. Why are you sad?"
Qian Renxue was taken aback. "I... I am not sad."
"Yes, you are," Jin Xi insisted, like a child, tilting her head. "The golden thread of your fate... it's tangled. And it feels... lonely."
Qian Renxue had no idea what to say to that. She just stared at this strange, beautiful, and unsettlingly perceptive girl.
Ahead of them, Ning Fengzhi traveled in his own carriage, a rolling fortress of jade and hardwood. He was flanked by his two uncles, Chen Xin and Gu Rong. The other two Titled Douluos followed close behind, a clear, powerful statement of the Seven Treasure Glaze Tile Sect's might.
The other two great sects, however, were conspicuously absent from the procession. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan and the Clear Sky Sect had sent their polite, formal regrets to the Emperor, claiming "internal sect matters" required their full, undivided attention.
In truth, they did not dare venture so close to Spirit City, especially not after their recent, crippling humiliation. They were wounded animals, licking their wounds in their dens, their minds consumed by a single, burning, and now seemingly impossible, desire for revenge.
Miles away, in a dark, secluded forest near the ruined Shrek Academy, Tang Hao watched his son. Tang San sat by a cold campfire, his expression hollow, his eyes dead, staring into the flames.
He hadn't spoken in days. He was drowning in his failure. He, a man reborn, a genius of the Tang Sect, had let his lover be abducted. He had been too weak.
Tang Hao watched, his own heart a knot of fury and a new, cold calculation. He needed to make his son stronger. The Purple Spirit Grass was weak. His hidden weapons, his pride, had been proven useless against a true monster. The only path forward... was the hammer.
But the hammer was flawed. Crippled. Stained by those three white rings. The shame of it burned Tang Hao like a physical brand.
Yu Xiaogang's desperate, foolish words, spoken in the throes of his own humiliation, echoed in Tang Hao's mind. 'Hundred-thousand-year-old spirit rings... that is the only way...'
His mind flashed to the Star Dou Forest. To the Lake of Life. To the two beasts he had seen there, the two kings who had stood at Xiao Wu's side. The ones she called her brothers.
'Da Ming. Er Ming.'
The Titan Giant Ape. The Sky Azure Bull Python.
Two hundred-thousand-year-old spirit beasts.
A horrible, perfect idea, a plan born of pure, desperate, and paternal love, began to form in his mind.
~~
A/N: Check out 20 Chapters Ahead for this fanfic on my P.atreon.
Patreon link: https://www.patreon.com/c/evildragon04