The Life Tide which enveloped Karni and Siduo's hut triggered a vision. It was an odd feeling. A long time has passed since he last encountered an unwilling vision. But the pull of the vision was too powerful for Karni to try and take control of it.
As he fell into the vision, he could feel his body healing. He had to do two things at once. Heal his body and see the vision.
The vision, a mixture of gold and green showed a wide, mighty forest, but Karni could tell it was not the Star Dou Forest, because of how much time he had spent in Spirit Ascension Platform as young. He knew the energy of great Star Dou Forest.
However, he also could not tell what forest this vision was showing. He was placed right in the middle of it. The vision led him under the treetops; to a small cliffside inside the forest. The cliffside was small enough that the trees hid it from the top.
Karni heard an ongoing battle nearby. A sharp, terrifying battle which tore apart the very space. Karni recognised the Sound of it. The vision enclosed in on it. Two creatures, a lighter and a darker one, looking humanoid, yet demonic looking, were fighting in front of a cave.
But the vision did not focus on the fight. It went past it and inside the cave, where Karni could feel the elements even through the vision. Four different elemental energies that he could not tell apart.
And at the very centre grew a single piece of bamboo.
… … …
Karni opened his eyes and breathed in. This was important. This vision felt specifically brought forth by the Life Tide—meant for Karni alone. The content of the vision was full of Life energy.
Karni quickly checked his body and smiled. Thankfully, the boon of the Life Tide proved its power. His body has healed. He was back to his full power.
But he did not have the time to enjoy this. The Life Tide was expected, but the vision definitely wasn't. He was going to Yun Ming and ask questions about it. He was curious if Yun Ming could help trigger the vision again and maybe figure out the location. Maybe together, they could control the vision.
Karni looked over at Siduo, who seemed to be meditating after the Life Tide passed. Truthfully, he would have done the same if he could, but he knew that a second Life Tide would come soon. Karni wanted Yun Ming to help Karni out during that.
Karni rushed over to the Sea God's Pavilion, only to find it very busy. He heard the voices of all the members discussing Wulin's actions.
It was Wulin who caused the Life Tide. In fact, with this even, Wulin has now become a Soul King. But more than that, he became the chosen one of the Douluo Plane. The Child of Nature.
Karni entered and Yun Ming somewhat frowned when he saw Karni. "Karni? What brought you here?"
"A vision."
Yun Ming's demeanour quickly changed. "Not connected to your situation?" Yun Ming talked about Karni's knowledge of the future which Karni told him about when he got injured.
"Yes. In fact, it was triggered due to the Life Tide Wulin caused."
"How do you know he caused it?" One of the elders who wasn't in the know asked.
"Due to me." Yun Ming quickly took the blame. Something as sensitive as Karni being from another world wasn't something to be shared willy nilly, especially considering the few other planes that Shrek has encountered in the past. Some might even think Karni to be a spy of the outer planes.
He turned to Karni. "What was the vision?"
"It was a bit confusing. I was hoping we could trigger it again."
Yun Ming now turned to Wulin. "Tell you what. We were about to test Wulin's new skill anyway. Both of you come here. Wulin, I'll put my Soul Power into you. Karni, I'll help you with my Spiritual Power."
"Yes." Both men answered and looked at each other. The two sat down. Wulin could not help but smile. Wulin seemed to have regained his vigour and reason after their fight the other day. Especially so after Karni revealed his true origin. Wulin now looked at Karni as a kindred spirit. Here was another person who knew the pain of losing his family.
"So I triggered the vision for you, eh?" Wulin asked.
"You also used up the energy of the Golden Life Tree." Karni added.
Wulin scratched his head. "You really do know goddamn everything huh."
"Yep.
"Now, now, you two. Calm down and focus." Ya Li added from the front. "Also, Karni. It is good to see you healed up."
"Also thanks to Wulin." Karni smiled.
Now Wulin smiled as well. "You're welcome."
"Thanks." Karni said back, but the two's eyes sparked with a bit of rivalry instead. Wulin seemed to have grasped his importance now, but Karni was an anomaly with similar importance.
Since their last battle, the two haven't exactly been in touch. Wulin may have developed a new sense of friendship with Karni, but it's not like what happened with Gu Yuena just disappeared. Karni was a kindred spirit to Wulin, but he was also his biggest rival now. A dynamic that has been developing ever since the battle for Class President.
"Get ready." Yun Ming interrupted their staring contest.
The two focused, throwing away any disruptive thoughts completely. Yun Ming placed his palms on their backs. First, Wulin's Soul Rings showed. Five in total, with the last one looking truly wondrous. It was Green embroidered in Gold.
The skill activated, and the surroundings turned lush with Life Energy.
On the other hand, Karni was waiting for this. The triggering of the second Life Tide. Golden Insight was activated, and he was using his comprehension into Still Harmony to stabilise himself as well as the vision he expected to come.
The energy enveloped him, Yun Ming's Spiritual Power joined with his.
And the vision started.
… … …
The vision began like before. Except Karni felt a modicum of control over it now. He saw the wide forest, and he wished to see where it was.
The vision widened. And turned sideways. There was endless forest, but at the very end of what Karni could even see, he saw tall, mighty buildings that were incredibly small from his point of view. Gold building, metallic buildings. With how far away this was, the height of skyscrapers had to be absolutely immense. The tallest skyscrapers on the continent. Those could only mean one thing. That was Radiant City!
Good. The location was figured out. Now to figure out the rest of the vision.
He took a bird's eye view over the forest and saw that the way the trees grew did not look random. They seemed to be in a sort of formation of some kind. There was a good chance that the area was not just any hidden location. If there truly was a formation, it was there for a reason.
The vision zoomed in on the two demonic creatures. The first vision did not focus on them. Now he could truly see them.
Except they were not fighting this time around. They seemed to be dying instead. A White pale lady with some animalistic features, and a dark red man with scythes for his arms.
The more shocking change from before, however, was that Siduo was here as well. And she was crying next to the two.
But the vision did not want to stay there. Karni was losing control despite the help Yun Ming was giving him. Yet again, he was pulled into the cave. But the cave was different this time as well.
Instead of a single bamboo, there was a storm of elements inside of it. And Karni was pulled right in.
The same Four elements crashed around. Yet now that Karni was inside, he noticed that the standing piece of Bamboo from before was untouched by the storm.
The bamboo shook softly once, and Karni suddenly felt pain. Intent. Of something beyond. But not in a way that the Red Dot felt otherworldly. No, this was different. It was on higher level than the Douluo Plane, it came from a higher plane. Divinity.
A small sense struck at Karni, despite his body not being physically in the vision.
The vision vanished.
… … …
Karni opened his eyes with a heavy, panicked breath. It was a feeling of helplessness. This power could access him even in such a state. Was that the power of divinity?
The group was looking at him. Wulin especially. It seemed like Wulin's skill ended before Karni's vision did. Wulin called the skill the Nature's Child.
As for why everyone was looking at him… Karni turned around. A bit away was Yun Ming. But why was Yun Ming so far away?
Yun Ming walked over to Karni with a thoughtful face. "Interesting. To think there was divinity."
"Are you okay, dear?" Ya Li asked.
"I'm fine. I was thrown back only because the divinity rejected me." Yun Ming looked thoughtful at Karni.
"Wait, but…" Karni realised what happened. "So you're saying this is divinity left behind by a, a god?"
"Quite likely yes. It might even be a path to bringing back the Divine Realm."
"Unlikely." Karni commented, despite still processing the situation.
"Oh? Why do you think so."
"Because the Divine Realm, to be established, needs a God King level of powers. Unless it is of that level, it should be impossible."
"That is your knowledge, then?" Yun Ming asked, and Karni nodded.
"Very well." Yun Ming sighed. "Since the divinity rejected me and showed itself to you, you should take this opportunity and go find it… however, you'll have to wait a bit. I'll come back to you in two weeks to give you a mission. There are things to be taken care of."
"Military training?" Karni asked, expectant.
Yun Ming scratched his head. "So, you know that as well, eh? Yes. That's what I'm thinking for you and the rest. But I'll need to gather the Sea God's Pavilion first, so you'll have to wait."
"Alright." Karni nodded. That was perfectly fine for him.
Yun Ming stared at Karni. "You are taking all of this in an annoyingly easy-going manner."
"Eh?" Karni was surprised.
"Karni. You just discovered divinity. A thing we thought had been lost. We have found Divine Weapons and tools before, but there was not Divine Intent discovered until now."
Karni blinked. Right. That was a huge deal. That very intent had shown itself to Karni of all things as well. He glanced at Wulin on the side. That guy also carried a Divine Intent inside him, though he did not know it yet.
"Ugh. Enough." Yun Ming said. He could not handle the blank look on Karni. "Go and meditate. I'll contact you in a week or two."
"Yes, master." Karni bowed and left.
"As for you, Wulin." Yun Ming turned to the guy. "For now, just know that you'll likely need a cultivation base of a Title Douluo before you can properly use that skill."
"Yes." Wulin said.
That was the last thing Karni decided to listen in to, as those words were already very similar to the original timeline, though not exactly.
Karni returned to his and Siduo's hut. She was still meditating. Looks like she was still absorbing the effects of the second Life Tide.
Karni decided to sit down and meditate as well. There was a lot of residual energy in the air that could still do him good.
… … …
A week later, Karni was in the Sea God's Pavillion meditating with Yun Ming. A new vision triggered meant that Karni and his Master have been figuring out details about other visions that Karni has seen in the past. Particularly, the one connected to Heaven Dou City.
Since Military Training would come soon, they needed to find the exact time for the disaster that would befall Heaven Dou City.
Karni's life had been busy since the Life Tide. He started new projects, he was receiving help from Yun Ming regarding visions... and the dreams of his faceless mother did not stop haunting him. They've become too frequent. He dreamt of her every day. A silhouette incomplete, a face misremembered.
But at the very least, keeping himself busy helped him to suppress those uncomfortable emotions. Helped him to hide the fact that his old life had started to disappear from his memory.
Karni and Yun Ming sat in a meditative pose and Yun Ming was the first to open his eyes thoughtfully. "So that's how it is… though… you were not kidding."
"Three months…" Karni was breathing heavily as he grabbed tissues due to a nosebleed. He forgot that it happened so soon. He would be in military training that time. However, he was also glad that this time, he could finally reveal the full extent of the disaster.
"And it seems like we have to protect the Mo Family as well… Hmm. With how big it is… three months time… Shrek Academy will have to mobilise, but it should be doable."
"Eh?" Karni was surprised at how simple it all sounded.
Yun Ming smiled. "Shrek is old. So is the Tang Sect and the Heaven Dou City. Even if the Evil Soul Masters have prepared well, that kind of destruction will be manageable if the Limit Douluos of Shrek and Tang Sect step in. The tricky part would be doing this under the Evil Soul Masters' noses, if this wasn't Heaven Dou City."
Karni thought about it for a bit, before he understood. "The true headquarters of the Tang Sect!"
Yun Ming nodded. "Indeed. Their roots in the city are so deep that they cannot be uprooted."
Karni was nodding to himself, but it was also interesting to him that Yun Ming did not question Karni's knowledge anymore. Furthermore, he now realised why all those visions required a price. Changing the flow of the timeline was easy when powerful people got involved.
"Go now Karni, I know you've been working on something these days. All while helping me here. I have to call a meeting of the Elders."
"Understood." Karni stood up, and exited the Sea God's Pavilion, then headed to the Tang Sect.
Here he met Siduo, who had just recently completed his new Greatsword. Siduo had been working on the Guardian this past week and managed to complete it yesterday. It was a bulkier, and much more complex design. It added a fusion with a genuine Black Hole, which added a good amount to its complexity, however, its bulk was the result of finally combining the Guardian with the Panda. A large body was required to support the abilities, as well as a special separation from the Bamboo, as well as space to hopefully fuse the bamboo someday as well. Seeing as he was going to look for the Golden Bamboo soon, it was bound to be important someday.
This brought both Karni and Siduo officially to the 7-Star Rank of their profession. Because the Greatsword allowed Karni to showcase his newfound comprehension and officially become a 7-Star Designer, he now had access to more resources—he could buy designs which included Ziwen Geometry. However, it was the most unsatisfying rank to achieve for both of them so far, so Karni and Siduo were incredibly glad that they were done with this. It was a slow process of studying and then applying what they had learnt on a new design. It did not have the same feeling of completeness and realisation, of everything coming together as one's comprehension deepened, as other research they had done so far. It was an agonizingly careful build-up of new and admittedly boring foundations, which they had to fuse with their old ones—mostly through reading and memorisation. Then they just had to show it officially.
Thankfully, it also meant that Karni could now start working on research he had wanted to do for a long time now. Siduo's Whip Blades. The 7-Star Rank was what Karni deemed necessary to create a proper design for the Whip-Blades. He was now confident that he could make the Whip-Blades of Siduo's dreams. More than that, he got inspired to add a function that Siduo did not request for but welcomed dearly.
It was just the early stages, but Karni wanted to enable Siduo to use her Hell White Tiger self-fusion within her Whip-Blades as well. Ziwen Geometry utilised Soul Power differently than old designs, and Karni saw potential in that.
Unfortunately for him, there was absolutely no research done on such fusions, so Karni would have to be the pioneer in this field. Then again, it was questionable if anyone else in the future would need Self-Fusions in Soul Tools again. Maybe Soul Masters with true Soul Fusions could use it to guide their fusions in the future, but Karni could not yet know where his research would be headed. All he had was a few somewhat old designs that utilised Soul Power as cyclic energy sources to go off of. Everything else, the fusion, de-fusion, stability, he would have to figure out on his own.
Just as Karni was checking out the blueprints with Siduo, his Soul Communicator rang. It was teacher Mo Qing.
… … …
"So. What do you think?" Mo Qing asked.
Karni held a blueprint. A Battle Armour blueprint that was quite heavily modified. It included parts of Karni's research in Mecha Augmentation project regarding weapons. Except there was no fusion with the person, as one would expect from a Battle Armour, but it was set up to connect with something external.
It finally clicked for Karni. "Wait. Mecha and Battle Armour fusion?"
"The foundation of it yes. I'm hoping you can improve this particular aspect of the blueprint, while I will try and figure out how to even get the Mecha inside the Battle Armour." Mo Qing was brainstorming, even as he was showing off his research.
Karni's eyes shined. Karni's idea. Karni's idea of the past became true. Mo Qing actually started on a project that might change the very world of cultivation!
But then Karni's face soured. For multiple reasons. He already saw problems. This connection between something external and Battle Armour that Mo Qing made as a prototype was far too shallow. That would have to be changed. But the problem is. Karni wouldn't have the time to change it.
"What is it?" Mo Qing looked worried at his disciple.
"I have military training scheduled. And I'm not even sure for how long."
Mo Qing paused. He looked genuinely disappointed. "That's… that's really a shame. I can build a basic foundation, but my research cannot continue without your knowledge. I was hoping we might start changing the world."
"We will." Karni said. "It shouldn't take more than a year. In that time, you can figure out your specialty of Space, and I'll start working on the fusion aspects as soon as possible."
Karni held his head. But then there was also the project he started for Siduo. He would be quite busy after he returned.
"In that case, let's at least set a fixed foundation that I will work with for the next year today. A concrete plan. That way we can avoid any possible problems in the future." Mo Qing offered.
Karni nodded. "I'm fine with that."
… … …
"No way! Military training? But we still have more than half a year here! Who will we hang out with?" Yun'er argued.
"They'll get stronger, just like we got here to get stronger. Calm down, Yun'er." Long Yue said. In the past four months, while he and Karni couldn't train for a while due to Karni's injury, Karni and Long Yue managed to calm down the Mountain Dragon King Martial Soul.
Yun'er sighed. "Fine. You're right. But I'm mad. We barely hung out! We mostly worked and trained."
Siduo coughed. "Isn't that what you came here to do? We still meet once a week outside of training, don't we?"
"True, but…"
"How about a spar, then?" Long Yue asked.
The four of them paused.
"You know what, that might be just what we need." Karni was the first to agree. He was itching to try out his new Guardian properly. Karni and Siduo knew each other too well to be able to have a comprehensive spar.
"A 2v2 as couples?" Yun'er raised her eyebrow. "I'm up for it."
"We're paying for the arena." Siduo offered. "You might have brought the money, but inside Shrek Academy, you need contribution points. We have quite a lot of them, you see."
"Yes, yes." Yun'er agreed. "That's the least you can do for leaving."
Siduo raised her eyebrow. "We'll talk with weapons about that statement."
Yun'er swallowed her saliva. She was being too relaxed around Siduo. They might be friends, but Siduo was quite the battle maniac.
This was going to be a tough fight for Yun'er.
… … …
It was a tough fight for both of them. Yun'er was barely keeping up. She had to act the role of a Control System and an Agility System. She was not used to fighting in duos either. She fought with Long Yue in the tournament a few years ago, but there, they were mostly fighting with Long Yue going ahead and her being in the back and doing surprise attacks.
Against Karni and Siduo that was impossible for multitudes of reasons. One of it was that Karni was keeping Long Yue perfectly occupied on his own. The other was that Karni's future sight made it basically impossible to use surprise attacks... no, it was difficult to even land a hit.
And while Yun'er excelled in Spiritual Power, for some damn reason, Siduo was not that far behind. Even Siduo was quite deep in her Spirit Abyss Realm already. What's with Shrek and breeding monsters?! She knew that was a moto, but this was just absurd. She wasn't too surprised about Karni already being in the upper echelons of Spirit Abyss Realm, but Siduo being close to her? Yun'er's abilities were really being tested.
On the other side, Karni was having the time of his life.
His Greatsword was mighty. All of his Soul Rings shone around it. The Guardian did not resemble itself at the moment. It was absolutely humongous. His Cosmic Instrument abilities were fused into it, but so were his Royal Bamboo Panda abilities.
Long Yue was already on his sixth Soul Ring. He only kept back from using the avatar because Long Yue felt like that would not be fair in a spar. They were testing themselves right now. It was not a life-or-death battle where one would go all out without shame.
The biggest problem was that Long Yue was the passive one. It felt immensely frustrating for the man, but he managed to keep himself calm after all the training he'd done the past few months.
Karni was a defensive Soul Master if he took into consideration the abilities of the Royal Bamboo Panda, however, the techniques Karni developed excelled in aggressive, agile control. The Greatsword used immense weight and constant spins combined with momentum. No matter what happened, Karni could counter-attack. The Sound added to it was just as troublesome. Facing an enemy like this, Karni could see a path opening up slowly after all the abilities he had gained.
One could see this, as what really terrified Long Yue outside of Karni's offense, was that Karni became impenetrable without his offence taking a hit, even if it was somewhat sloppy for now. Karni's Guardian currently had eight skills stacked on it right now. Now, the quality of those did not multiply, the skills did not fuse, but that was not necessary. Vision Bestowal, Draconic Thunder, Silver Quivering Feathers, Black Hole, Royal Panda Cushion, Royal Paw Pad, Blooming Loti and Samurai Bamboo Armour.
Outside of the handle, which was the Cosmic Instrument, everything else was different. The hilt guard was now in the shape of a Lotus, giving the Guardian a Spiritual Property to attacks, the Silver Feathers only appeared at the sharp part of the Greatsword, while the rest of it was covered in Bamboo—the Samurai Armour. Moreover, the width of the Greatsword had texture of the paw and was incredibly squishy, capable of bouncing back attacks. Meanwhile all over the Guardian ran golden lines that were strengthening the sword's defence and offence through Royal Panda Cushion. And if that wasn't enough, due to the Black Hole, the Guardian was now incomparably heavy and had a terrifying pull of Gravity. This was the Mark III.
If Karni were to stab the Greatsword in the ground and hide behind it, Long You would be incapable of doing anything. Long Yue was not aware that he just witnessed the birth of what would someday be considered the greatest defence type Soul Master in Douluo history. But for that to happen, Karni was still missing one piece of the puzzle in his newfound style of fighting. Right now, he was sort of abandoning his old one.
Long Yue thought that going into the Mountain Dragon King Avatar might enable him to cause trouble to Karni, but he could tell Karni was still holding back. Karni was too familiar with how to swing the giant Greatsword. Long Yue felt a special understanding in it. Karni had yet to use the Greatsword Consciousness to attack. At the moment, Karni was using pure force.
Truthfully, Karni needed to be this overwhelmingly strong now, if he wanted to keep up with Wulin in the future. Wulin would truly grow terrifying after he went to the Blood God Army. If Wulin's growth at the moment was a 10, that would end up being a 100. Even with Karni's current growth, he was unsure whether he could keep up with Wulin's pace.
Whatever this divinity that he would go after would be, Karni was hoping that it would change something. Even this impenetrable defence that he now gained was not enough for Karni. He needed more. Not just due to Wulin… but the destruction that's been following his ears the past few years.
The spar ended quite miserably. Long Yue and Yun'er managed to work together after figuring out that having two 1v1's was a losing battle. However, that was also the moment they lost. Because Karni and Siduo working fully together was infinitely more terrifying than them working individually with soft support of each other. They covered each other's weaknesses perfectly. Karni was the defensive control, while Siduo was a powerhouse that could now attack without worrying about counterattacks.
The bout ended in defeat for Long Yue and Yun'er, and their last few days together until the trip passed without any special events.
The only uncomfortable constant in Karni's life has now become his mother. A person that used to be his rock and stone. Karni was just glad that his life was going to be active for a good while.
Karni and Siduo were called up for Military training after a few days, and by the time they would return, Long Yue and Yun'er would be gone. Or so they thought.
Karni remembered at the last second that the training would feel like a year but would actually only last three months. Karni should even have the time to check on Heaven Dou City before returning to Shrek. That would mean they would have at least half a semester together still, after they return.
He, however, decided to keep that information for himself. It would be a nice surprise for the two visitors.
… … …
"Where are the others?" Karni could not help but ask.
"You two will be going ahead of time." Yun Ming said sternly.
"Why?" Siduo asked.
"The location Karni saw is near Radiant City. It is in the opposite direction of your Military Training. The rest of them will go in a week."
Karni frowned. "So, we only get a week to find it?"
"Yes." Yun Ming smiled. "You will also only get money for the way there. You will have to figure out on your own how to return and reach the endpoint. The rest will start from here with nothing."
Karni and Siduo nodded. They also already started putting off their stuff. This would be harsh training. The reason they even got the basic necessities until then was because that part was not considered training.
Karni also had to leave behind his Guardian Mark III. Yun Ming even raised an eyebrow when Karni brought out the gigantic thing.
"A teacher will also follow you two till there, to make sure you don't use the money on anything other than travel and basic food."
"You don't trust us?"
"I do, but everyone must experience the military training equally. Now go. Your train departs in an hour." Yun Ming said, and without saying goodbye, he vanished.
"Well then. Shall we?" Karni asked.
"Lead away."