"About a year ago, Shrek Academy sent people to my Douling Empire, using official power, to investigate the background of a student. Core disciples of Shrek Academy all undergo such background checks, so the people below didn't report it, as it wasn't worth disturbing His Majesty."
"Does Sky Sun Douluo mean that this student possesses the bloodline of my Douling Royal Family?" the Douling Emperor asked.
"Yes." The white-haired elder nodded lightly, "This person is the seventeenth-generation descendant of King Zhongshan. According to seniority, His Majesty should call him Imperial Uncle."
Douling Emperor:?
He had originally thought it was his imperial father's illegitimate child.
But King Zhongshan? Seventeenth-generation descendant?
How long ago was this? It's been hundreds of years.
"Although a long time has passed, this person's parents both possess the bloodline of my Douling Royal Family. Their relationship is a bit distant; they met and married by chance, but both have the pure royal bloodline with the Swan Spirit," Sky Sun Douluo said.
In the Douluo World, apart from the children of the main wife, only those who awaken the family Spirit can be considered of pure bloodline. This is the rule of aristocratic families. If Huo Yutong had awakened the White Tiger Spirit at that time, even the White Tiger Duke's wife would not have been able to conceal this news; she would have had to report it to the White Tiger Duke and grant Huo Yuner her rightful status. However, given the White Tiger Duke's wife's maliciousness, even if she had managed to grow up safely, she would ultimately have been unable to escape becoming a sacrifice for family interests.
"Is that so?" The Douling Emperor said with a chuckle, "To be able to become a core disciple of Shrek Academy, this Imperial Uncle must have excellent talent, right? Sky Sun Douluo, why are you bringing this up today? Has Imperial Uncle encountered some difficulty?"
It was rare for the family to suddenly have someone with good talent; as the patriarch, he should help him.
"No." Sky Sun Douluo shook his head lightly, "Your Majesty, to be precise, we need to rely on this relationship to ask him for help."
"?"
Sky Sun Douluo looked at the desk in front of the Douling Emperor, which was merely for show and exactly as it had been when he last visited, and sighed slightly, "Your Majesty…"
Sky Sun Douluo took out the documents he had prepared in advance and began to inform the Douling Emperor of various recent events on the Douluo Continent.
"Is that so?" The Douling Emperor looked thoughtful.
Two Limit Douluo.
The Dragon God Douluo's disciple.
Using the power of a Spirit Ancestor to forcibly suppress the Wu Hun Fusion Skill of two Spirit Kings.
Hiss, two pure bloodlines of the Douling Royal Family combined could actually give birth to such a terrifying prodigy.
"Is Sky Sun Douluo certain?" The Douling Emperor couldn't help but confirm.
He was very clear that their royal family's Swan Spirit was a high-level Spirit with not much combat power. It was very good in the Spirit Master's world, but if one looked at the entire Douluo Continent, it was completely mediocre among the higher echelons. If not for this, how could those bastards from the Tianhun Empire have had the chance to split off?
Copying others' Spirit, spirit ring, and even cultivation?
Even with a mutation, the Swan Spirit couldn't possibly be related to such an outrageous ability.
"Absolutely certain." Sky Sun Douluo's face was serious and earnest.
The Douling Emperor was deep in thought.
After a while, a voice sounded, "Sky Sun Douluo just said his name is An Zhen."
"Yes."
"Shouldn't he be Xue Zhen?" The Douling Emperor sighed.
Parents died young.
Grew up alone.
Became the Dragon God Douluo's disciple.
This An Zhen probably has no sense of belonging to their Douling Royal Family.
Whether emotionally or in terms of benefit, his Douling Royal Family held no advantage.
"Sky Sun Douluo, do you hope that we acknowledge our kinship, and then through An Zhen's connection, grow closer to Shrek Academy?" The Douling Emperor asked. Indeed, a person of the same clan with such talent should be befriended.
Leading the Shrek Academy team to participate in the Soul Fighting Competition.
What kind of youthful demeanor would that be?
Feeling the weakness emanating from his body, the Douling Emperor felt a hint of envy.
"Your Majesty, those are two Limit Douluo." This was Sky Sun Douluo's goal, "The current Continent is the calm before the storm. With two Limit Douluo, if war breaks out again, Shrek Academy will be the pillar of the Continent. Even without war, it should be so."
"Of course, An Zhen is also very important. He is a child of the Xue family and should return to the family, leave his own seed, and fight for the family's interests."
…
"Return my foot!"
Looking at the red-robed, elderly Prime Minister of the Douling Empire in front of him, if An Zhen hadn't considered the other party's age, he really would have kicked him to the ground.
These days, An Zhen's life had been very comfortable. During the day, he studied Spirit Master knowledge, as well as the knowledge about soul power and necromancy taught by Electrolux. At night, he "played" with Xu Jiujiu and Bi Ji, and had fun with Ice Empress in the Virtual World, doing both simultaneously.
Today, he suddenly received news that a relative was looking for him.
On the way, Yan Shaozhe provided An Zhen with additional information beyond his parents' names and the Swan Spirit, which he had mentioned before. An Zhen's parents' ancestors were a prince of the Douling Empire who was enfeoffed, and then their descendants branched out. After many generations, his parents' relationship could be said to be seven or eight generations removed. They met by chance, married, and gave birth to An Zhen.
Although An Zhen's Spirit was not a Swan, both his parents had the Swan Spirit and were of the pure bloodline of the Douling Royal Family.
"Your Royal Highness! Your Royal Highness!" The red-robed Prime Minister knelt on one knee, tears and snot flowing, looking utterly distraught as if he had suffered a great injustice.
"No, I am not your Royal Highness of the Douling Empire." An Zhen dodged, feeling annoyed.
It was like when someone becomes successful and suddenly a group of distant relatives appears. For others, being acknowledged by the Royal Family would naturally be a joyous occasion, but for An Zhen, the Douling Empire was truly a quagmire.
Of course, the most crucial point was that An Zhen felt absolutely nothing for these relatives, who were God knows how many generations removed. He wasn't an orphan who needed kinship; he had a grandfather, older brothers, older sisters, teachers, elders, and a girlfriend.
"Did your Douling Empire show kindness to my parents? Or to me?" An Zhen retorted.
Although he had never met his parents, it was, after all, the kindness of birth, and An Zhen was still very filial. But according to what he knew from his grandfather, everything his parents had achieved was through their own hard work. Aside from their Spirit, they had long since had no connection to the Douling Royal Family. And his birth parents had no relatives either, which was why they had thought of developing in the Sun Moon Empire at the time.
The red-robed Prime Minister was speechless for a moment.
Such things couldn't be hidden; Shrek's influence was even greater than theirs.
"Your Highness, the Royal Family has wronged your parents, but no matter what, you are a child of the Xue family. The current Emperor is your nephew; you are family!" The red-robed Prime Minister tried to reach out and grab An Zhen's clothes, but An Zhen deftly dodged him.
An Zhen rolled his eyes, "When you say that, do you even feel ashamed? You're either coming for my teacher, or for my talent, or both."
An Zhen was not interested in the Douling Royal Family.
Of course, this had nothing to do with the Douling Empire not having any talented or beautiful princesses.
The only thing that slightly interested An Zhen was the position of Douling Emperor, which would be convenient for collecting faith later. This was difficult, but that difficulty was for his current self.
"No, His Majesty ordered this old official to bring you home." The red-robed Prime Minister said with a serious expression.
"Home? Shrek Academy is my home." My Shrek Academy is my second home.
He was going to be the Sea God Pavilion Master.
"You go back." An Zhen shook his head lightly, "If you keep pestering me, I'll have to ask an older person than you to tell you to scram."
"Alas~" The red-robed Prime Minister sighed.
The task His Majesty assigned was too difficult.
The red-robed Prime Minister took out a jade plate, on which rested a token engraved with a Swan and a golden imperial decree. He knelt on one knee, holding the tray above his head, "Your Highness, His Majesty has already conferred upon you the title of Prince Xue Zhen, please accept it—"
"My name is An Zhen."
An Zhen turned and left directly.
"Your Highness!"
The red-robed Prime Minister was about to take a step forward, but the next second, a slovenly old man appeared in front of him. A greasy hand was raised, directly knocking the jade plate to the ground.
The guards beside the red-robed Prime Minister were about to step forward to stop such disrespectful behavior towards the Emperor, but a yellowish-brown qi wave hit them even faster, sending them flying.
Elder Xuan had been tolerating these guys for a long time.
Coming directly to snatch someone, if An Xiaozi agreed, he wouldn't have any objection, but he had already clearly refused, and they still wanted to pester him. That was simply too disrespectful to his Shrek.
"This old man is Taotie."
These four words fell, directly suppressing the anger in the red-robed Prime Minister's eyes, "Greetings, Taotie Douluo, but even if it is Taotie Douluo, overturning my Douling Emperor's imperial decree—"
"Heh." A greasy palm pressed onto the red-robed Prime Minister's shoulder, and Elder Xuan's voice, carrying a hint of anger, sounded, "Snatching my person, is that Sky Yang fellow tired of living?"
…
An Zhen's studies and life continued, and the Douling incident was a minor interlude.
More than forty days passed quietly. Xu Jiujiu had already successfully integrated into Shrek's Inner Courtyard and began normal cultivation and study. Bi Ji had also reluctantly returned to Star Luo City.
In the early morning, the handsome black-haired youth slowly opened his eyes. A familiar and soft feeling came from his embrace; a delicate body lay in An Zhen's arms, purple hair casually spread out. The girl's thin cherry lips curved slightly in her sleep, and the marks on her fair neck revealed a glimpse of last night's madness.
Yellow, yellow, purple, orange, gold—four spirit rings appeared around An Zhen.
First Spirit Ability, Reflection.
An invisible force descended from an unknown void, altering reality. Surging spirit power seemed to appear out of nowhere, meridians widened, and spirit power fluctuations emanated from An Zhen's body, causing Xu Jiujiu, who had been sound asleep beside him, to open her groggy eyes.
"An Zhen." A pair of fair jade arms reached out and embraced An Zhen. Xu Jiujiu's ample bosom pressed against An Zhen's chest. The girl, sitting directly in An Zhen's arms, said groggily, "You broke through?"
"Level forty-seven." Basically, one level a month.
For others, it might be very fast, but for An Zhen, who had the Virtual World's enhancement and could cultivate twenty-four hours a day, it was considered slow. However, he had already begun compressing his spirit power, so this speed was still acceptable. It was just that without Huo Yutong by his side for over a month, his speed had slowed down. But with Xu Jiujiu and Ice Empress present, he could cultivate at half his original speed, enduring the erosion of the Virtual World.
"So amazing." Xu Jiujiu exclaimed. An Zhen had told her that she could cultivate in the Virtual World, and Xu Jiujiu then realized that the high cultivation of Shrek Academy's reserve team was not solely due to the Immortal Herb. However, her spirit power was now ten levels higher than An Zhen's, so they would use it when their cultivation belonged to the same major realm.
"There's something even more amazing." An Zhen reached out and hugged the girl in his arms, kissing Xu Jiujiu's cherry lips. The sleepiness in the girl's eyes faded, and a captivating tenderness emerged. A pair of beautiful legs, clad in white short socks, skillfully wrapped around An Zhen's waist. The two figures intertwined, beginning their morning exercise.
On the other side.
The underground World of Sea God Pavilion.
In a brightly lit secret chamber, a pair of pink and blue dreamlike eyes opened, a brilliant spiritual light flashing by. The girl sat cross-legged, soft golden light shining on her body.
In the secret chamber, seemingly endless light rose like flames, swirling around Wang Donger. Golden qi waves supported her pink-blue long hair, making her look as beautiful and moving as a goddess of light.
"Pervert." Her long eyelashes trembled slightly, and Wang Donger suddenly spoke. Past scenes reflected in her mind. Although she said so, the girl's lips curved into a happy arc, "It's all that guy's fault."
Getting up, the girl's movements showed no reluctance to leave such a perfect meditation spot; instead, there was a joyful excitement. She didn't even have time to check the results of this meditation before walking towards the door of the secret chamber, like a girl in love going to meet her beloved.
Wang Donger pushed the door open.
At the same time, a small figure pushed open the door of a secret chamber.
Blue hair cascaded over her shoulders, and her eyes, bright as stars, were filled with excitement and anticipation, as if there were thousands of words she wanted to say.
"Yu Tong?"
Wang Donger saw the little blue-haired cutie, and a hint of joy appeared on her beautiful face. The girl quickly strode forward on her long, slender legs, directly scooping up Huo Yutong with her jade arms. The moment they touched, the spirit power within their bodies intertwined, and the power of Winter Eye circulated. After a major cycle, their spirit power returned to their bodies, more stable and surging.
Looking at the little cutie in her arms, Wang Donger asked, "Yu Tong, have you found your path?"
"I have." Huo Yutong nodded earnestly.
The brilliant starry eyes and dreamlike eyes met. The two best friends, with their excellent understanding, instantly knew each other's thoughts.
"It seems Yu Tong is just like me." Wang Donger sighed, and the girl's playful voice sounded, "That pervert got off easy."
Suddenly, a gentle voice sounded in their ears, "Since you've found it, then come out."
"Elder Mu?"
A ball of spiritual light appeared in front of them, guiding them through a long passage, directly to the hall on the first floor, where an old man was leaning on a reclining chair.