Chapter 1 Ancient Ferocious Beast, Pureblood Gluttonous Beast!
The morning sunlight streamed through the windows of the Sea God Pavilion, casting dappled shadows on the floor.
The air was filled with the musty smell of wood and books, and a faint aroma of roasted chicken legs.
"Old Man! Don't you have any sense of martial ethics?!"
Six-year-old Xuan Jingchu, dressed in simple blue cloth clothes, was standing on tiptoe, clutching the corner of an oil paper package tightly with one hand.
His face was round, his eyes were bright, and they were slightly red from exertion. There were a few oil stains on his collar, indicating that the "battle" had been going on for a while.
"You little brat! I lined up to buy this before dawn!" Xuan Zi, the renowned Gluttonous Douluo who shook the continent, was now devoid of any of the dignity befitting a Title Douluo.
He held the chicken leg with one hand and tried to push Xuan Jingchu away with the other.
"Don't you understand respecting elders and caring for the young? I'm the one who should be respected!"
"You ate three of my food yesterday!"
I baked five for you the day before yesterday!
"That's because you burned it and nobody wants it!"
Mu En lay half-reclined on the recliner by the window, his eyelids slightly raised, watching the daily morning show, a barely perceptible smile curving his aged lips.
Yan Shaozhe stood beside him. As the dean of the Martial Soul Department, he had seen countless grand occasions, but every time he saw the interaction between this grandfather and grandson, he still felt a bit of a headache.
"Teacher, the Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony..." Yan Shaozhe reminded him in a low voice.
"No rush," Mu En said calmly. "Let them make a fuss for a while longer."
Yan Shaozhe hesitated, as if he wanted to say something but then stopped.
He looked at Xuan Zi, the usually serious and even somewhat irritable Taotie Douluo, but at this moment there was no anger in his eyes, instead, they revealed a rare vitality.
Six years ago, when Xuan Zi found this child in the Star Dou Great Forest, everyone was worried that the old man might not be able to take care of the baby. Now it seems that this child has brought Xuan Zi back to life.
The battle situation suddenly changed.
Xuan Jingchu suddenly let go, and Xuan Zi swayed backward due to inertia, while the boy nimbly circled around to the side, snatched the chicken leg, and jumped three steps away.
"All's fair in war, old man!" Xuan Jingchu said smugly, taking a big bite and mumbling, "Grandpa Mu taught me that!"
Xuan Zi's eyes widened as he turned to look at Mu En.
Mu En closed his eyes and pretended to doze off.
"Elder Mu, you!" Xuan Zi laughed in exasperation, but when he looked at Xuan Jingchu, his eyes were full of doting affection. "Alright, alright, finish eating quickly, let's get down to business."
Xuan Jingchu finished the chicken leg in two bites, carefully wiped his mouth and hands, and his expression suddenly became serious.
He walked to the special area in the center of the Sea God Pavilion. The ground was paved with deep-sea silver and engraved with complex soul guidance arrays. It was the highest-level martial soul awakening place in Shrek Academy.
Yan Shaozhe stepped forward, his expression regaining the authority of the head of the hospital: "Jingchu, are you ready?"
Xuan Jingchu nodded and took a deep breath.
Although he was a transmigrator at heart and had lived in the Douluo Continent for six years, he still couldn't help but feel his heart race when the moment truly arrived.
In his previous life, he was just an ordinary reader, but now he has to personally experience this fateful moment.
"Relax." Mu En opened his eyes at some point and looked at him gently. "No matter what you awaken, you are still Shrek's child."
Xuan Zi also stopped smiling, stood next to Mu En, and unconsciously clenched his fists.
Yan Shaozhe formed a hand seal, and nine soul rings rose from beneath his feet.
The aura of a titled Douluo spread out, but it was controlled with extreme precision, confining it only within the magic array.
"here we go."
As Yan Shaozhe's deep voice rang out, the magic array on the ground lit up with golden light.
Xuan Jingchu felt a warm power surge from the soles of his feet, flowing throughout his body.
His body felt slightly warm, as if something dormant was awakening.
It was calm at first.
A blurry phantom appeared behind Xuan Jingchu, which looked like a bull and was somewhat similar to Xuan Zi's Taotie Divine Bull.
Upon seeing this scene, Xuan Zi felt a sudden unease, and the same feeling he had six years ago resurfaced.
The next second, something unexpected happened.
The phantom began to twist and deform, as if something was trying to break free from its interior.
Xuan Jingchu felt an indescribable hunger erupt within him, not a craving for food, but a primal urge for energy, power, and anything he could devour.
"Something's not right." Mu En sat up straight.
Yan Shaozhe also noticed the abnormality and increased his soul power output in an attempt to stabilize the magic array.
But the phantom became even more ferocious, actively devouring the energy in the magic array, and golden light surged into Xuan Jingchu's body like a tide.
"Stop!" Yan Shaozhe exclaimed in shock, trying to withdraw his soul power but finding that his power was being frantically drained.
Xuan Zi took a step forward, but Mu En raised his hand to stop him.
"Wait." Mu En's golden eyes gleamed. "Look."
The phantom finally solidified into a physical form.
That's not the Taotie Divine Ox.
That was a real, ferocious beast that only existed in ancient legends—the Taotie!
It has a dragon's head, a sheep's body, tiger's teeth, and human claws; its eyes are like the sun and moon, and its mouth is like a bottomless abyss.
It was not a phantom formed by soul power, but rather more like a projection of bloodline, carrying the terrifying pressure of a primordial beast.
The air in the entire Sea God Pavilion seemed to freeze, and even the light seemed to be swallowed up by that giant maw, becoming dim.
Xuan ZI stared blankly at the martial spirit, his whole body trembling. It wasn't fear, but excitement, a resonance and tremor originating from the depths of his bloodline.
What's even more amazing is yet to come.
When the phantom of the Taotie was fully formed, it roared silently to the sky, and all the free-floating primordial energy in the Sea God Pavilion surged wildly toward Xuan Jingchu.
At the top of the attic, a soul power testing crystal that had been embedded for a thousand years suddenly fell off on its own and hovered in front of the boy.
Xuan Jingchu subconsciously placed his hand on it.
The crystal burst forth with an unprecedented brilliance.
Pure gold, soaring from the bottom all the way up, rushing through all the scales without stopping, all the way to the top.
"Innate full soul power?" Yan Shaozhe murmured. "No, the intensity of this light has exceeded that of ordinary innate full soul power; it seems to be much more profound..."
Yan Shaozhe could sense that Xuan Jingchu's soul power was at level ten, but the amount seemed a bit off.
Before the words were even finished, cracks began to appear in the crystal, and then with a "bang," it exploded into countless points of light.
The points of light did not dissipate; instead, they were swallowed whole by the gluttonous phantom.
After devouring the crystal fragments, the gluttonous phantom shook its head in satisfaction before transforming into a stream of light and disappearing into Xuan Jingchu's body.
The boy's body jolted, and he slowly opened his eyes.
Deep within his pupils, a faint golden vortex slowly spun before returning to normal after a moment.
Silence.
Xuan Jingchu looked at the three people standing there dumbfounded, scratched his head, and said, "Um, I think I broke the crystal. Do I have to pay for it? Old Man said that things from the Sea God Pavilion are very expensive..."
Xuan Zi suddenly burst into laughter, the sound of which shook the Sea God Pavilion.
"Compensate? What compensation?!" He rushed over and picked up Xuan Jingchu, lifting him high in the air. "Good lad! No wonder I felt a special connection with you when I picked you up. Turns out you also have the bloodline of the Taotie! Hahaha, my mantle has been passed on!"
Mu En slowly leaned back in the recliner and let out a long breath.