Brother Hai continued leading him around the forest. Tang San searched for an opportunity to escape. Finally, on a silent night, when Brother Hai left to hunt, Tang San opened his eyes inside the tent. Confirming Brother Hai's absence, he quietly stepped out and activated Ghost Shadow Perplexing Step, vanishing into the dark forest.
The forest was like a maze. Anyone unfamiliar with its paths would become hopelessly lost.
Tang San didn't know the way out of the Star Dou Forest. He could only run in the direction his instincts told him to go.
At dawn, thick fog filled the forest, lowering visibility. Tang San felt he was getting closer to the exit, then suddenly plunged into the mist.
The scene ahead opened up. He seemed to have exited the forest. Behind him, the lush Star Dou Forest stretched endlessly. Taking a few steps forward, Tang San felt he had finally escaped Brother Hai.
He felt like a survivor of a great disaster. Turning back with hatred toward the forest, he swore in his heart:
Brother Hai, just wait. You are the first on my kill list. Once I achieve great power, I'll take your life, then Yu Tianheng's, Er Ming's, and finally Spirit Hall's...
Just as Tang San was about to breathe a sigh of relief, a familiar and unsettling melody reached his ears:
"Akei kuri hou ya hou ben~"
Tang San's dark face twitched.
No way, no way—this can't be happening again.
He remembered the ominous encounters that followed hearing this sound before.
Leave. I must leave here.
As he turned to run in the opposite direction, a gentle voice called out:
"Ah San giegie, are you leaving Xiao Wu?"
Xiao Wu's voice seemed to carry a magical power that pinned Tang San to the spot.
"Dida ru gong ga hou da hei~"
No, this Xiao Wu was fake… but… Tang San's heart was in turmoil.
"Ah San giegie, do you hate Xiao Wu?"
Tang San: @#￥￥&!
"Kai sai kai hong mie o ya la ye~"
"Xiao Wu wants to see you. Can you turn around?"
With great difficulty, Tang San turned his head. Seeing Xiao Wu, warm tears streamed down his darkened face.
The Xiao Wu before him was the mature Xiao Wu, the one who bore his children, the Lady of the Shura God Hall. He missed this Xiao Wu so much.
"Bia li gei sai hou da hei~"
"My dearest Xiao Wu!" Tang San trembled as he turned fully.
Seeing him turn, Xiao Wu smiled sweetly. She stretched out her fair hand, full of love. "Ah San giegie, come here and play something fun with Xiao Wu."
With tears flowing, Tang San reached out and held Xiao Wu's delicate hand. He knew this Xiao Wu was fake, but after so many emotional blows, he desperately longed for her love.
Even knowing she might be an illusion, he was willing to fly into the fire.
Before long, Tang San was lost in a gentle dream.
"Lulululululu~ lululululu~"
"Shrek is a kind of monster—even among soul beasts, it's an extraordinarily strange existence!" Hai-ge's voice echoed in Tang San's ears.
Tang San slowly opened his eyes. He remembered that yesterday, he was lured by a familiar melody, saw Xiao Wu, and then… spent a very sweet night with her.
Now in the "afterglow," Tang San's mind had sobered up quite a bit. He felt a rough sensation against his body and turned to look.
Before him was a monster.
The monster had a human-like body—very obese, oily green skin, and a bald head. But unlike humans, it had two long, green, straw-like ears.
This was...
Shrek!
A soul beast that had only ever appeared in the promotional materials of Shrek Academy as a mascot—Tang San had just met it in real life. And more importantly...
His backside was burning with pain, like a sunflower blooming in full force.
The Shrek creature stared at Tang San with a goofy smile, reaching out a large, rough hand to gently stroke him.
After all, Shrek had a bizarre personality.
To it, a dark and ugly-looking human like Tang San—someone who wouldn't get a second glance in human society—was an absolute treasure.
Then—
"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Tang San's scream echoed through the depths of the forest.
Shrek looked completely confused.
Tang San shoved the monster's hand away, breaking free from its embrace as he furiously roared,
"GET OFF ME, YOU UGLY FREAK!"
Shrek looked at him, eyes full of grievance, and uttered a strange, guttural sound:
"Wai-bi-ba-bo, wai-bi-ba-bo..."
(Translation from Shrek-speak: "A-San, yesterday your attitude wasn't like this. Didn't you keep saying, 'Xiao Wu, my beloved'? I even changed my name to Xiao Wu for you...")
Tang San's eyes turned red again, his breath heaving like a bull's. Remembering what happened yesterday—
Shame. Utter humiliation.
Rage consumed him. He lunged at the Shrek creature with full strength, unleashing every technique he had:
Hidden weapons
Tang Sect skills
Blue Silver Bind
Even the snot strike from his Clear Sky Hammer
Every attack he could muster—he threw it all in.
Finally, the Shrek beast collapsed, entangled by blue silver grass and snot, pierced all over with hidden weapons. Green goo oozed from its wounds.
A deep yellow soul ring rose from its corpse.
A soul beast with 983 years of cultivation.
Having just slaughtered the beast that had defiled his dignity, Tang San's eyes flared as he glared at the smug Hai-ge who had been watching the whole time.
"Was this your doing?!" he growled.
Hai-ge shrugged. "You think I'm some kind of spiritual-type soul master?"
He summoned his massive halberd to prove the point.
Tang San also knew the truth—even if Hai-ge were a spiritual-type Soul Emperor, the illusion he experienced yesterday was far beyond anything he could have created.
"Did you see what happened yesterday?" Tang San asked, eyes burning, breath furious.
"I did," Hai-ge replied with a wicked smirk. "Not gonna lie, you got pretty wild. Hugging that Shrek monster, whispering 'Xiao Wu, my beloved'… and then today, you kill your so-called 'beloved' yourself."
Tang San's expression turned murderous. He desperately wanted to silence Hai-ge forever.
But when he checked his soul guide ring, he realized—
He'd spent all his hidden weapons on the Shrek beast.
When he had weapons, Hai-ge had him completely under control. Now? He didn't even stand a chance.
Resigned, Tang San could only straighten his neck and grumble,
"That… that was just an illusion."
"Sure, sure, it was an illusion," Hai-ge waved him off, laughing.
"Still trying to run? Yesterday already proved it—without Hai-ge, you'd never get out of this forest."
Tang San fell silent. He looked down at his hands, filled with self-doubt.
This doesn't make sense...
Wasn't I supposed to be the chosen one? The child of destiny?
What kind of fate is this?!
Hai-ge's tone turned calm. "Fine. I've already arranged your fourth soul ring."
"It's called the Snowbeast—a creature born from snow piling up in the forest over time, gaining spiritual awareness. Its signature move is 'Blizzard Toss.' It should give your Clear Sky Hammer an ice-type soul skill. Been around for about five thousand years. Should be decent."
"You get annoyed with someone? Just smash them with the hammer and spray them with snow."
Snowbeast...?
Tang San's face turned green.
There was really such a thing in this forest?
A snowbeast soul ring was absolutely unsuitable for the Clear Sky Hammer.
Can you imagine plunging a massive iron hammer into a snow pool?
Absorbing this ring would be tantamount to crippling himself.
And recalling his previous three soul rings, Tang San could already imagine what kind of absurd ability this soul ring would grant him.
Possibly… even a soul skill that makes him smell permanently foul.
That would only make Xiao Wu hate him even more.
"Come on, let's go, little runt," Hai-ge said casually.
No.
Absolutely not.
I can't absorb that soul ring. I won't be some stinking loser Xiao Wu finds disgusting! Never!
Tang San turned his head—
And saw the deep yellow soul ring floating over Shrek's corpse.
Its cultivation didn't meet his expectations…
But at least it wouldn't harm his martial soul.
The Snowbeast ring might be higher quality, but it was still a trap—a way to ruin himself from the root.
Choosing the lesser of two evils, Tang San's eyes blazed red again. He roared at Hai-ge:
"You just want to destroy my Clear Sky Hammer, right? Fine.
As you wish!"
He reached out, pulled the "beloved" soul ring over—
And began absorbing it.
While Tang San sat cross-legged and absorbed the ring, a voice drifted faintly from deep within the forest:
"Hai-ge, is there really a soul beast called Snowbeast in this forest? I was stuck in the Star Dou Forest for years, and I never heard of one."
Hai-ge laughed. "I was bluffing the little runt. If I didn't, you think he'd have absorbed that soul ring willingly?"
"Hah. True enough."
"He's always drooling over my million-year soul ring. I gave him a hundred-year one—seems fair."
"Totally fair."
Tang San completed the absorption. The entire process took less than three minutes.
It was so easy… it felt unreal.
Of course, what else would happen?
Tang San—someone who could normally start with near ten-thousand-year soul rings—was now absorbing a hundred-year ring. Of course it'd go smoothly.
But it came at a cost.
His potential had taken another blow.
Thus, the Clear Sky Hammer's soul ring configuration was finalized:
Purple, purple, purple, yellow.
Spirit power level: 45.
Tang San, disheartened and filled with despair, activated his fourth soul skill.
The soul skill granted by the soul ring of his "true love" was a move called "Multi-Strike", allowing the Clear Sky Hammer to deliver continuous strikes that suppressed the opponent.
Unexpectedly, it was a good match for the Clear Sky Hammer—certainly much better than Snot Strike, Snot Bind, or Acid Splash. But—
What a great soul skill, just… absorbed too late… and with such low age.
"You…" Hai-ge walked over to Tang San, shaking his head with a disappointed sigh.
"Sigh… I told you I'd take you to find a thousand-year soul ring. Why'd you just grab a hundred-year ring to make do? Don't you care about your future? You didn't just ruin your own soul skill—you even tarnished my reputation as Hai-ge!"
Tang San looked at Hai-ge with resentment.
If I didn't absorb this soul ring, what else could I do? Absorb your snow beast's ring?
Absorbing an unsuitable ring could damage the very foundation of a martial soul, which was even worse than merely wasting some potential with a lower-level soul ring.
Tang San understood the principle: between two evils, choose the lesser.
"What's done is done."
Hai-ge patted Tang San's shoulder with the air of a kindly elder.
"Don't be discouraged, Ah San. Think about it this way—even if your first four soul rings are ruined, you still have five more to go. You can still become powerful. Next time you need soul rings, just come find Hai-ge, okay?"
Tang San: @#￥%
Hai-ge then escorted Tang San out of the Star Dou Forest.
Before they parted, Tang San etched Hai-ge's appearance deep into his mind, vowing to one day kill Hai-ge to avenge his humiliation.
No.
Even killing Hai-ge would not be enough to quell the hatred burning in Tang San's heart.
I will keep him alive… Until I become a god. I'll make sure he lives in fear every single day. And just before my ascension, I'll kill him, then suppress his soul in a toilet—so that he'll never be reincarnated for eternity.
With these thoughts, Tang San began walking toward Shrek Academy's headquarters.