Another moon had cycled through the heavens, its silver light bathing the Star Dou Great Forest in a familiar, ethereal glow. For Huo Yuhao, this month was not measured in days, but in the deepening quality of his own power. The world outside the workshop had faded into a backdrop for his singular, obsessive focus.
His daily training in Spiritual Compression had borne incredible fruit. The throbbing headaches were a distant memory, replaced by an unbreakable mental fortitude. His Soul Power, now cresting the peak of Soul Rank 17 and threatening to break through to 18, had undergone a fundamental change.
It was no longer a river. It was a pressurized core. When he circulated the Mysterious Heaven Technique, he could feel the immense density within his meridians. It was a quiet, sleeping power, a coiled serpent of energy waiting for his command. He knew, with an instinct that went beyond the book's knowledge, that he was ready.
The ghost of his first true failure, the cracked Kinetic Deflection Bracer, no longer haunted him. It was a memory that now served as a whetstone, sharpening his resolve. Today, he would not be forging an apology or a training tool. He would be conquering that failure. He would be forging his own defense.
He strode into the workshop, his new blue robes clean and crisp, his eyes shining with a quiet, unshakeable confidence. He picked up the piece of Thousand Refined Heavy Silver that had sat untouched for a month, a silent testament to his previous limits. Today, it felt lighter in his hands.
The Auspicious Beast padded in, her golden form radiating a familiar warmth. No words were needed. She saw the silver in his hand, she saw the look in his eyes, and she understood. A brilliant, white-hot flame erupted from her maw, enveloping the metal instantly. The second attempt had begun.
The forging process was still a grueling physical trial. The Heavy Silver was just as dense, the hammer just as heavy. Sweat poured down his face as he hammered the glowing metal, the rhythmic clang echoing through the cave. But this time, something was different. His body, nourished by Bi Ji's care and strengthened by the constant circulation of his cultivation technique, was more resilient. His arms did not scream with the same fiery agony. The exhaustion was there, but it was a manageable burn, not a debilitating weakness.
When the forging was complete, and the bracer was shaped, polished, and ready, he took a deep, centering breath. This was the true test. The engraving.
He held the Life Guardian Blade, its cool hilt a familiar comfort. He activated his Spirit Eyes, the world dissolving into a matrix of energy and structure. He looked at the bracer, seeing its latent potential.
He focused his mind, his will becoming a vice. He squeezed the lake of his Soul Power into a geyser, a needle-thin, impossibly dense stream of brilliant azure energy. He channeled it through the blade and touched it to the silver.
His hand was rock steady. The compressed Soul Power flowed, a controlled and potent current. He carved the intricate, multi-layered lines of the Class 2 array, the blade gliding smoothly, leaving a trail of shimmering, power-infused light in its wake. There was no wavering, no stuttering, no loss of focus. The immense strain was still there, a constant pressure on his mind, but his strengthened spirit held it at bay. It was a demanding, but entirely manageable, task.
With a final, elegant flourish, he completed the last line. The array flared with a soft, steady blue light, a perfect, unbroken circuit. He had done it.
A nervous energy fluttered in his chest. He looked up from his work, his eyes searching for the hulking form of Xiong Jun. The Bear Lord was watching from the cave entrance, his arms crossed, his expression a mask of bored skepticism.
"Lord Xiong Jun," Huo Yuhao called out, his voice a little shaky, not from fear, but from anxious anticipation. "It is done. Would you… would you test it for me?"
Xiong Jun grunted and lumbered over, eyeing the new, flawless bracer strapped to the boy's forearm. "Are you sure, brat? Don't want to waste another good piece of metal."
"I'm sure," Huo Yuhao said, his jaw set. He held out his arm. "Please. A solid punch this time."
The Bear Lord shrugged. "Your funeral."
He drew back his colossal fist, his dark-gold claws glinting. He wasn't trying to kill the boy, but he put a serious, solid weight behind this punch, the kind of blow that could shatter a ten-thousand-year-old beast's skull. His fist shot forward.
The instant his knuckles made contact with the silver bracer, the array exploded with light.
BOOM!
It was not a pathetic fizzle. It was a deep, resonant, controlled detonation of force. A powerful, visible shockwave of repulsive energy erupted from the bracer. Xiong Jun's colossal arm, an appendage that could shatter mountains, was shoved back several inches by the blast.
The blow still landed, of course. The force still rattled Huo Yuhao's bones and sent him stumbling back a few steps. The power of a Class 2 Soul Tool was nothing against the raw might of a Ferocious Beast. But the effect… the undeniable, visible, powerful effect… was what mattered.
Stunned silence descended upon the workshop.
Xiong Jun stood frozen, his arm still held in the air where it had been pushed back. He stared at his own fist, then at the small, glowing bracer on the boy's arm, his mouth slightly agape. The sheer, unadulterated shock on his face was a sight more rewarding than any praise.
Then, the shock shattered, replaced by a sound that no one had ever heard from the grumpy, belligerent Bear Lord. A deep, rumbling, genuine belly laugh.
"HA! HAHAHAHA!" he bellowed, the sound echoing like a rockslide. "IT ACTUALLY WORKED! YOU DID IT, BRAT!"
He strode forward and clapped Huo Yuhao on the back with a hand the size of a dinner plate. The blow was friendly, but it nearly sent the boy sprawling. It was a gesture of pure, unadulterated, genuine approval.
Huo Yuhao beamed, his heart swelling with a triumphant joy that washed away the last shadow of his past failure. He hadn't just forged a tool. He had conquered a weakness. He had proven, to himself and to them, that he could grow, learn, and overcome.
The success opened a floodgate of creativity. With the barrier to Class 2 broken, his mind raced with new possibilities. He spent the following weeks experimenting, innovating. He forged a pair of "Light-Foot Boots" with arrays designed to give short, controlled bursts of propulsion, increasing jumping height and running speed. He designed a "Resonating Dagger" with a core that amplified the user's Soul Power, allowing for sharper, more potent attacks.
He was no longer just a cook or a maker of trinkets. He was an armorer, an inventor, an engineer, a vital and irreplaceable pillar of the Star Dou Great Forest's future.
The city that housed Shrek Academy was a legend in its own right. A sprawling metropolis dedicated to the single greatest institution of learning on the continent. Its air hummed with the ambitious energy of youth and the deep, abiding power of its ancient protectors.
Today, that ancient power was stirred from its slumber.
On a quiet balcony in the Sea God's Pavilion, the most sacred place in the entire academy, an old man sat in a simple rocking chair, his eyes closed, seemingly dozing in the afternoon sun. He looked frail, ancient, his skin like old parchment. This was Elder Mu En, a living legend, a Limit Douluo of Soul Power level 99, the academy's ultimate guardian.
Suddenly, his eyes snapped open. The sleepy, frail demeanor vanished, replaced by an awareness as vast and deep as the cosmos. He looked eastward, towards the sky over the city.
At the same time, in the dining hall below, a portly elder with a perpetually hungry look on his face, Elder Xuan, was in the middle of devouring a massive roasted chicken leg. He paused mid-bite, his brows furrowing.
Both of them felt it. Three presences, approaching the city. They were not hostile, but their power was terrifying. It was the power of the deep ocean, an authority so immense and absolute that the very spiritual energy of the world seemed to grow heavy, to bow in deference.
"Sea God Island," Elder Mu whispered, his voice a dry rustle of leaves. A look of profound gravity settled on his ancient face.
Elder Xuan abandoned his chicken leg, his expression turning deadly serious. He appeared on the balcony beside Elder Mu in a flash of movement. "Three of them. All at least at the Super Douluo level. The one in the lead… her power feels as boundless as the sea itself."
"Gather the elders," Elder Mu commanded quietly. "We will greet our guests. It has been many years since the Sea God's Island have graced the mainland with their presence."
By the time Bai Shuiling, the Sea Dragon Douluo, and the Sea Woman Douluo arrived at the gates of Shrek Academy, a formidable delegation was already waiting for them. Led by Elder Mu, who now stood leaning on a simple wooden staff, and the imposing Elder Xuan, a dozen of Shrek's most powerful elders stood in solemn greeting. The air crackled with the contained power of nearly twenty Titled Douluo, a gathering that could make any empire on the continent tremble.
The meeting was held in the hallowed main chamber of the Sea God's Pavilion. The atmosphere was formal, charged with a polite but palpable tension.
"It is a profound honor to welcome the High Priestess of Sea God Island to our humble academy," Elder Mu began, his ancient voice calm and respectful. "To what do we owe this unexpected visit?"
Bai Shuiling met his gaze, her own aura one of polite, unassailable authority. She did not feel intimidated in the slightest. She was here on the authority of her god.
"We come on a pilgrimage, by the will of the Sea God," she stated, her voice as smooth and powerful as a deep ocean current. "Our journey is one of faith. We wish to witness the talents of this new generation. Specifically, we wish to test the most promising first-year students of your esteemed academy."
The request hung in the air. It was simple, yet audacious. To demand access to their students, to conduct some unknown test… Elder Xuan's brows furrowed even deeper.
But the request was backed by a power they could not ignore and cloaked in the sacred will of the first Tang San, a figure intrinsically linked to the history of their own academy. To refuse would be a grave insult.
Elder Mu nodded slowly after a long moment of silence. "The will of the Sea God is to be respected. Your request is granted, High Priestess."
The news spread through Shrek Academy like a wildfire. A mandatory grand assembly for all first-year students was called. The entire year, thousands of students, were summoned to the main plaza.
Rumors flew, whispered in excited, hushed tones.
"It's really them! From the legendary Sea God Island!"
"I heard they're all Titled Douluo! Can you imagine?"
"Why are they here? Why do they want to see us first-years?"
The plaza was a sea of anxious, excited faces. On a high platform stood the academy elders, and with them, the three visitors. Bai Shuiling and her two guardians radiated an otherworldly aura, a serene power that made them seem to stand apart from the world itself.
Bai Shuiling stepped forward, the shimmering Sea God Pearl held in her hand. "By the grace of the Sea God, we will now begin," she announced, her voice reaching every corner of the plaza without her having to raise it.
The testing started. Students were called up in single file. Each one would place their hand on the orb, full of hope and pride. Each time, the orb remained dark. The line shuffled forward, student after student, failure after failure.
In the middle of the crowd, Wang Dong stifled a yawn. He had been enjoying a very pleasant afternoon nap in his dorm room when the blaring announcement had dragged him out here. He leaned against a pillar, his arms crossed, his handsome face a perfect picture of bored annoyance. This was, in his opinion, a colossal waste of time.
The line grew shorter. Xiao Xiao was tested. Nothing. The boy she had fought, Huang Chutian, was tested. Nothing.
"Wang Dong!" an official called out.
With a soft sigh of irritation, he pushed himself off the pillar. He ambled forward, his graceful movements drawing more than a few admiring sighs from the girls in the crowd. He stepped onto the platform, completely oblivious to the cosmic significance of this moment. He was unaware that these powerful figures were agents of his own father, unaware that they were searching for a worthy suitor for the very person he was, unaware that this simple test was a divine summons aimed at shaping his entire future.
He saw only a beautiful woman holding a pretty pearl, and all he wanted was to get this over with so he could go back to sleep.
Bai Shuiling looked at the approaching boy. His beauty was startling, his power level noticeably higher than the others. A flicker of anticipation stirred within her.
She held out the Sea God Pearl.
"Place your hand upon the orb," she instructed, her voice calm and steady.
Wang Dong stepped forward, his expression one of mild annoyance. He raised his hand, his slender fingers reaching for the shimmering surface of the pearl.