In the blink of an eye, Gu La's figure seemed to blur for a moment as he transformed into the likeness of Yin Wansheng.
The bustling crowd around them remained oblivious, as if this had always been his appearance. This was the perfect mimicry achieved through the "Ancestor of the Forest" ability from his Green Lotus clone.
He strolled over to the open-air stall, his gaze locking onto the two Body Sect disciples seated at the neighboring table, who were drinking heartily.
Both were Soul Saints, their blood boiling like furnaces, their muscles coiled and bulging, exuding a raw and fierce aura.
Gu La sat down at another table, casually ordering a plate of marinated beef and a jug of wine, tasting it absentmindedly.
As he leisurely picked up pieces of beef, he quietly activated Yin Wansheng's innate ability—Yin Energy Parasitism—a subtle technique that could silently influence others' thoughts.
Two faint, almost imperceptible threads of cold intent, like invisible strings, quietly infiltrated the spiritual depths of the two Body Sect disciples.
The implanted thought was simple: Go check out the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Combat Tournament. Perhaps you'll discover promising talents with powerful Body Martial Souls?
This notion seamlessly aligned with the Body Sect's instinct to seek out talented disciples, planted so cleverly that it felt like their own idea.
The two disciples, deep in their drinking spree, suddenly paused. One set down his bowl of wine, scratched his head, and said, "Old Five, do you think… there might be some overlooked talents in this tournament? Our sect's reputation is widespread, but we still have to search outside for disciples. Even those affiliated soul masters can make mistakes, right? Why don't we go take a look?"
The other disciple hesitated for a moment, then his eyes lit up with interest: "Hey, you've got a point. Drinking alone is boring anyway. Let's go see those academy brats show off. Who knows, maybe we'll stumble upon a gem?"
Neither of them noticed how abruptly this thought had come to them, attributing it instead to a sudden flash of inspiration fueled by alcohol. They quickly agreed, tossed some coins on the table, and left in a hurry.
Gu La watched their retreating figures, a sly smile curving his lips.
"It's good for the Body Sect disciples to visit the tournament. If they encounter Huo Yuhao early, they might stir up some trouble during this boring period."
He leisurely finished the beef and sipped the bland wine before getting up to continue his stroll.
Star Luo City was bustling, but the shops along the streets mostly sold ordinary soul-guided tools, medicinal herbs, or luxury goods—nothing that caught his interest.
He even followed some hidden leads to an underground black market where nobles fenced stolen goods. Unfortunately, the items there were either contraband too risky to display or flashy yet useless trinkets. The truly valuable treasures were likely hidden in private storage-type soul-guided devices.
"Tsk, turns out making easy money isn't so easy. Scoring a deal is harder than climbing to the heavens—it seems spending money is unavoidable."
He sighed, dispelling his unrealistic fantasies. "If I want something good, I'll have to pay… or exchange something of equal value."
With some anticipation for Huo Yuhao being discovered early by the Body Sect, Gu La returned to the hotel ahead of schedule. Team leader Wang Yan immediately approached him, his face heavy with concern and anxiety.
Wang Yan informed Gu La of the preliminary tactics: Given that the main team members were still recovering from their injuries, the early matches would rely heavily on Gu La and Ling Luochen, whose injuries were relatively minor (primarily internal), to carry the team through the elimination rounds and round-robin stages.
Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and others, after being nourished by Xiao Xiao's life force and undergoing subsequent treatment, were expected to recover most of their strength by the quarterfinals.
"Gu La, your strength is unmatched, and we'll need you to shoulder more responsibility in the early stages," Wang Yan said earnestly.
Gu La nodded indifferently, unperturbed. "I understand." To him, fighting anyone was just fighting—it made no difference.
After agreeing, he returned to his room.
The tense atmosphere leading up to the tournament did not affect Gu La's thoughts; instead, it bred a new sense of boredom. Even without him, Huo Yuhao would repeatedly pull off miracles, helping Shrek Academy secure victory.
Thus, Gu La wasn't particularly invested in the tournament. After finishing his daily meditation, an idea suddenly struck him.
It was time to revisit the unfinished concept of the "Mega Evolution Device" from the Pokémon universe.
The Battle Armor system was too complex, requiring the entire support and advancement of the soul-guided tool system to replicate on a large scale. However, the core of the "Mega Evolution Device" lay in activating the latent genetic potential within soul bones. The soul-guided components were relatively simple, mainly involving energy guidance and stabilization mechanisms.
"The evolution of the Sun Angel spirit soul… relying solely on soul bone stimulation is too difficult. Even the Ancient Memory soul skill struggles to reach divine-level bloodlines. It might require me to break through to Title Douluo status or find more compatible high-grade energy sources…"
He dismissed the possibility of directly evolving the spirit soul.
Suddenly, a thought flashed across his mind like lightning.
"If the soul bone quality is insufficient to evolve the spirit soul… why not shift perspectives? Create something akin to the 'Kamen Rider' armor—an amplification suit. Combine the 'Mega Evolution Device' with armor, momentarily activating parts of the True Body's power for short bursts of controlled explosive enhancement, like… attribute-based Mega Evolution."
This idea invigorated him, opening up a flood of possibilities.
Deciding to act immediately, Gu La rummaged through his collection and pulled out a fifty-thousand-year-old right arm soul bone of a Great White Demon Shark. Since it was a water attribute, useless to him, it was perfect for trading.
That night, leveraging his identity as part of Shrek Academy, he directly sought out Princess Xu Jiujiu of the Star Luo Empire.
She was working as an auctioneer at the Star Luo Auction House, ostensibly undercover but actually enjoying the experience of hosting auctions.
"Your Highness, I'd like to trade something," Gu La stated bluntly, presenting the ocean-scented soul bone.
Xu Jiujiu, dressed in an opulent white gown embroidered with golden threads, glanced at the exquisite ten-thousand-year soul bone, her beautiful eyes flickering with surprise.
"This is indeed a rare soul bone. Fifty thousand years—something even Title Douluo would struggle to fully assemble."
Xu Jiujiu didn't belittle the value of the soul bone and promptly offered acceptable terms for the trade.
When Gu La proposed exchanging it for a forty-thousand-year left arm soul bone of a Light Unicorn, she hesitated briefly before agreeing.
Though rare, the Light Unicorn soul bone was equivalent in value to the fifty-thousand-year Great White Demon Shark soul bone, ensuring the Star Luo Royal Family didn't lose out on the deal. As for Gu La's request for confidentiality, it was a minor matter.
Holding the pure, holy glow of the unicorn soul bone, Gu La's thoughts became clearer.
The Sun Angel spirit soul was only a step away from achieving true ultimate light. After breaking through twenty thousand years and becoming a ferocious beast, its evolution would naturally follow.
However, his current plan was to use this soul bone, imbued with pure light energy, as the core medium and infuse it with top-tier Sun Stone essence from the Pokémon world to artificially create a powerful "Light Attribute Amplifier."
"The Sun Angel has a six-wing form, but compared to the Six-Winged Angel (Seraphim) martial soul, it's still lacking, more of an empty shell."
"If the amplifier succeeds, could it temporarily achieve the true dual-ultimate god-level martial soul form? Even as an energy projection, the power boost would be significant."
Building on his previous deep research into the "Mega Evolution" theory and his ability to glimpse the future, Gu La's design process was remarkably efficient, avoiding unnecessary detours.
In just one night, a complex blueprint combining the soul bone energy core, Sun Stone amplification matrix, soul-guided energy stabilizer, and mimetic amplification armor took shape in his hands.
Once the first match ended, he could begin forging the core components and assembling the framework.
"In addition, I'll need a special stabilizing medium…"
Gu La studied a critical node on the blueprint. "Lunar Gold. This rare light-attribute metal naturally stabilizes volatile ultimate light attributes, making it the ideal material for crafting the 'Energy Dial.'"
Unfortunately, he lacked a light-attribute avatar and hadn't specifically collected this metal before.
He entrusted the task of acquiring Lunar Gold to Xu Jiujiu.
He was confident that this capable princess, eager to maintain good relations with Shrek's core disciples—especially someone with unfathomable power like himself—would do her best to assist.
Indeed, to ensure Xu Jiujiu's cooperation, Gu La deliberately revealed his Ultimate Fire. Without such a demonstration, even a princess needing Shrek Academy's friendship wouldn't personally help him.
…
The morning sun bathed the arena as the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Combat Tournament finally opened under intense anticipation.
When Shrek Academy's group entered the Star Luo Grand Arena, a tsunami of cheers instantly engulfed them.
The deafening chants of "Shrek! Shrek!" echoed throughout the stadium. Even in Star Luo territory, Shrek's millennia-old undefeated glory remained dazzling.
In the VIP seats, Emperor Xu Jiawei of Star Luo observed the noticeably youthful faces in Shrek's lineup, his brows subtly furrowing.
"So young… all reserve team members? Shrek's arrogance this time is excessive. If they lose to the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy…" He couldn't bear to imagine the blow to the morale of the three kingdoms.
Shrek's group maintained their composure under countless gazes, heading toward their exclusive rest area.
Coincidentally—or perhaps intentionally—their position faced directly opposite the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy's rest area.
Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen's scrutinizing and slightly provocative gazes swept over.
The arrangement by Star Luo reeked of gunpowder.
Gu La sat in the rest area, idly tapping his fingers on the armrest while rapidly optimizing several energy nodes of the super evolution device in his mind.
Wang Yan noticed his distracted demeanor, frowned, but ultimately refrained from saying anything harsh, considering his strength and personality.
Wang Yan gathered the team and spoke seriously: "The first round is the elimination stage. Our goal is not only victory but to win impressively, showcasing Shrek Academy's profound strength. Gu La, you'll take the first match…"
Beside him, Huo Yuhao hesitated, wanting to speak. He thought about his Simulation Soul Skill, which could potentially turn the tide with a surprising move, delivering a "grand surprise" to the audience.
Gu La, who had just snapped back to attention, caught Huo Yuhao's expression and said directly: "Teacher Wang, Huo Yuhao seems to have an idea. Let him speak."
Huo Yuhao immediately shared his plan: Use the Simulation Soul Skill to create the stunning effect of "hundred-thousand-year soul rings," defeating the enemy without a fight.
Wang Yan's eyes lit up, carefully weighing the options.
This plan carried low risk—the exposed ability was merely simulation, not actual strength—and the effect would be absolutely shocking, maximizing intimidation against opponents while preserving their own strength. It perfectly aligned with their goals of maintaining mystery and dominance.
"Great idea!" Wang Yan decided. "We'll proceed with Huo Yuhao's plan. However," he looked at Gu La, "Gu La, you'll also take the field as backup, just in case."
"Fine." Gu La nodded indifferently.
Thus, Shrek Academy's reserve team of seven—Gu La, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and He Caitou—stepped onto the central combat platform under immense attention.
Their opponents were a mid-ranked academy team from the Tian Hun Empire.
As the referee announced the start of the match, both sides released their martial souls—
"Buzz—!"
Beneath Huo Yuhao's feet, six vivid, blood-red soul rings surged upward, radiating a terrifying pressure.
The primal, domineering aura of hundred-thousand-year soul beasts swept across the arena like a tsunami.
"H… Hundred thousand-year soul rings?! And six of them?!"
"My god! This is impossible!"
"Shrek… Is this what Shrek is truly capable of?!"
Gasps and sharp intakes of breath drowned out the entire arena.
Facing the overwhelming pressure and mental shock of six "hundred-thousand-year soul rings," the seven members of the opposing Tian Hun Academy team blanked out, their legs buckling as they collapsed one by one, their will to fight instantly shattered.
Even their team leader turned deathly pale, unable to utter a word.
Huo Yuhao stood proudly, his voice amplified by a sound-conducting soul-guided device, echoing throughout the arena: "Shrek Academy, Huo Yuhao. Remember, I hail from Shrek… and from the Tang Sect!"
Without a single blow, they defeated their opponents. Shrek Academy announced their arrival in the most shocking, unimaginable way, sending the audience into a frenzy.
The referee stared in disbelief, his soul nearly fleeing his body from the aura of the hundred-thousand-year soul beasts. Only after Huo Yuhao reminded him did he snap back to reality, his voice trembling: "S… Shrek Academy wins!"
Gu La stood on the platform, watching the awe-inspiring spectacle Huo Yuhao had created and the declaration of "Tang Sect." His inspiration crystallized even further in his mind.
"The Mega Evolution Device… No, if the purpose is to amplify near-Ultimate Light attributes to the level of Ultimate Light, could this be considered spirit soul-exclusive equipment?"
"Spirit soul-exclusive equipment… amplifiers… If we could customize amplification gear tailored to different types of spirit souls, forming a complete 'Spirit Soul Armament' system… this would be a revolutionary breakthrough."
"Not only for power but also a new, mass-producible path for enhancing spirit souls. If this spreads in the Legend of the Dragon King era…"
He envisioned countless groundbreaking papers that would revolutionize the soul master world, along with the ensuing generous system rewards.
"No, no, the key to successful reinforcement lies not in the soul bone but in the essence of the Sun Stone. A single Sun Stone can trigger evolution in certain Pokémon, and its purified energy is no less potent than ultimate light."
"So the challenge of replicating the device lies in finding materials to replace Sun Stones—but such resources are scarce in the Douluo Continent…"
Gu La furrowed his brows, wondering if this was all false hope.
No! He possessed four of Arceus' Plates, and there would be more in the future. While he might not learn to create a universe like Arceus, he could certainly learn to create a mineral vein!
The first battle was won effortlessly. But Gu La's thoughts had already returned to the blueprints and spirit soul-exclusive equipment waiting in his hotel room.
The tournament? Merely a testing ground for his new toy.
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