In an unnamed small village.
Under Old Song's guidance, Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan helped over ten children in the village awaken their Spirits. Watching these six and seven-year-olds express either joy or sadness, Zhu Ziyang felt a wave of relief.
This village belonged to a noble town under a large city in Julin Province. However, apart from Old Song coming once every few years to help the children awaken their Spirits, not a single Spirit Master was seen there normally. Even the nobles who governed the area weren't willing to spare it a glance! Let alone help the children awaken their Spirits.
Perhaps not every child can become a Spirit Master, but at least every child has the potential to become one, and awakening their Spirit is the most important opportunity in that process!
Although for these commoner children, hope is very slim, there is still a chance. But on the Douluo Continent, there are more children who are deprived of even this small chance, and their lives can be said to have an end that can be seen at a glance.
The children in this village were fortunate because they met Old Song. But in this World, high-level Spirit Masters like Old Song, who are willing to humble themselves and care for mortals, or city lords like Hong Zhen, who love their people like their own children, are ultimately a minority.
This is a World held by fools and idiots; this is a World that should not continue to exist!
This was the first time Zhu Ziyang's not-so-large ambition conceived the idea of overthrowing the World.
They stayed in the village for one night. Old Song taught the children with spirit power how to meditate and cultivate.
The next day, they set off again.
"Ziyang, Nannan, how did you awaken your Spirits?" Old Song suddenly turned around and asked.
"Ah? We both had the City Lord help us awaken our Spirits," Zhu Ziyang, distracted, immediately snapped back to attention upon hearing Old Song's question and replied.
Zhu Ziyang informed Old Song about what happened in Anyang City.
"Is that so!" Old Song exclaimed after listening, "Such a City Lord is truly rare! You two are quite the lucky ones!"
"Yes, indeed!" Jiang Nannan nodded, completely agreeing with Old Song's statement.
"Let's go, we're heading west," Old Song smiled and said, "We'll hold Spirit awakening ceremonies for the villages we pass while making our way to the Mingdou Mountain Range."
"Yes!" Both Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan were full of fighting Spirit.
—
Half a month later.
Star Luo Empire, Yuming City.
Old Song brought Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan into a town for the first time, for a simple reason: they were about to reach the Mingdou Mountain Range.
Yuming City, as its name suggests (Yu Ming, Yu Ming, meaning 'to resist Mingdu'), resists Mingdu, which is the capital of the Sun Moon Empire. As the largest city in the northwest of the Star Luo Empire, Yuming City is not only an important stronghold for the Star Luo Empire to resist the Sun Moon Empire, but also the primary logistics support base for the Western Army Group of the border defense army. It is less than a hundred kilometers from the Mingdou Mountain Range, the border between the two Empires, and only over three hundred kilometers from the Tianhun Empire's border. Its geographical location is extremely important.
The three decided to rest for another night and officially enter the Mingdou Mountain Range tomorrow.
Before going to bed, Old Song specifically called the two closer and instructed them: "The Mingdou Mountain Range, as a war front, has inherent dangers. Not only are there dangerous Spirit Beasts, but there may also be various ill-intentioned Spirit Masters. So, after entering the mountain range, you must follow me closely and never act on your own. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan replied in unison.
"Very good. In that case, you two can return to your rooms to rest. We'll depart at five o'clock tomorrow morning," Old Song said.
"Yes!" The two returned to their respective rooms and went to bed to rest.
Early the next morning, three figures—one old and two young—flew out of Yuming City and headed towards the Mingdou Mountain Range.
"Ziyang, Nannan, how are you doing? Can you keep up with this speed?" Old Song turned back and asked.
Behind her were Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan, moving at extreme speed. Upon hearing Old Song's question, the two could only manage a strained smile and no other superfluous reactions. Nothing else, simply because they didn't have the extra energy for anything else.
Seeing this, Old Song said nothing more, maintaining her speed as she rushed towards their target location.
Finally, as Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan's spirit power was on the verge of exhaustion, Old Song stopped. She stood there, looking back at the two behind her. Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan were overjoyed to see Old Song stop. A surge of energy, seemingly from nowhere, appeared in their depleted bodies, sustaining them as they reached Old Song.
"You two, immediately meditate and recover your spirit power," Old Song ordered directly, not waiting for them to speak.
Upon hearing her words, the two sat down on the ground without a word and began to recover. Having a Super Douluo guard them was a rare and coveted privilege.
Old Song watched as the two quickly entered a meditative state, then nodded in satisfaction. Afterward, she took out a map and began to examine the route. The map was densely marked with various Spirit Beast names. If Zhu Ziyang were to see it, he would surely exclaim, "The latest edition of the Myriad Beast Atlas!"
The Myriad Beast Atlas is a map of Spirit Beast distribution across various regions of the Douluo Continent, specially provided by the Shrek Inner Courtyard. It meticulously records the types, overall strength, and danger levels of Spirit Beasts in each area. Only Inner Courtyard Disciples of Shrek Academy have access to such a map; outsiders might not even know of its existence. From its initial edition to now, fifteen editions of the Myriad Beast Atlas have been published. The one in Old Song's hand is the latest, sixteenth edition, which has not yet been cataloged in the library and only appeared in the last hundred years.
Old Song searched on the map, her gaze shifting from indifference to a smile, reflecting her progress. Soon, she smiled, put away the map, and looked south.
Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan woke up one after another. Zhu Ziyang was pleasantly surprised to find that his spirit power had increased slightly.
"Let's go. There's a Spirit Beast Nannan wants in the mountains to the south," Old Song said.
"That's great!" Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan exclaimed, clapping their hands in delight.
The three headed south.
The Mingdou Mountain Range, formed four thousand years ago after the collision of the Douluo Continent and the Sun Moon Continent, has only a four-thousand-year history, yet it has become a renowned Spirit Beast habitat on the Douluo Continent, even replacing the former Sunset Great Forest to become one of the new three major Spirit Beast habitats.
As an ancient battlefield between the three Empires of Douluo and the Sun Moon Empire, the Mingdou Mountain Range and the Mingdou Great Forest to its south are home to numerous and diverse mutated Spirit Beasts.
The birth of these mutated Spirit Beasts is complex. Some are due to the complex mineral structure within the Mingdou Mountain Range, some are due to spirit power and bloodline contamination caused by continental plate collisions, and others are due to the Sun Moon Empire's soul tool experiments. In short, the reasons are very complex.
Their target Spirit Beast, the Silver Moon Golden Armor Beast, belongs to the mutated Spirit Beast category. Its original prototype Spirit Beast is the Golden Scaled Pangolin, unique to the southern Star Luo Empire, which mutated into the Silver Moon Golden Armor Beast with a moon bloodline due to some unknown reasons.
The Golden Scaled Pangolin is just an ordinary Spirit Beast, called such because of its yellow scales, but it has no special qualities. However, the mutated Silver Moon Golden Armor Beast is different; they are genuine top-tier Spirit Beasts, at the apex of the entire Mingdou Mountain Range's food chain. Due to their mutation, Silver Moon Golden Armor Beasts are not only incredibly fast but also possess scales with top-tier defensive capabilities. Fewer than a handful of Spirit Beasts in the Mingdou Mountain Range and the Mingdou Great Forest can break through the Silver Moon Golden Armor Beast's defenses.
With its formidable defensive power, the Silver Moon Golden Armor Beast roams unhindered in the Mingdou Mountain Range, truly a regional overlord.
Zhu Ziyang and his companions searched the Mingdou Mountain Range for two days and finally found traces of the Silver Moon Golden Armor Beast in a valley about three hundred li from the Mingdou Great Forest.
"Old Song, look, are these caves the work of the Silver Moon Golden Armor Beast?" Zhu Ziyang said, pointing excitedly at the small but bottomless caves on the mountainside.
"That's right!" Old Song also nodded repeatedly with joy, saying, "Although the Silver Moon Golden Armor Beast is a mutated pangolin, it still retains the habit of digging and burrowing through mountains!"
"Is it really here?" Jiang Nannan looked at the caves but found nothing, so she couldn't help but ask with some doubt.
"Of course it is," Zhu Ziyang comforted Jiang Nannan, saying, "But we need to wait until night. Silver Moon Golden Armor Beasts are nocturnal creatures; they rest during the day and are active at night. We just need to wait patiently."
"Mhm!" Jiang Nannan nodded.