Chapter 2: Heading to the Star Dou Great Forest, Intercepting the Skydream Iceworm?
Shrek Academy, Outer Courtyard dormitory building.
The early morning air hung heavy in the usually quiet corridor, stifled by the presence of two distinct figures. These were no ordinary patrol teachers doing their morning rounds. Walking ahead was Director Du Weilun of Shrek Academy, his brow furrowed in deep concentration. Trailing lazily behind him was an elder of the Sea God Pavilion, a man who never seemed to separate himself from meat and liquor—Elder Xuan.
The two had originally just been passing through this section of the Outer Courtyard. Elder Xuan had recently swiped a freshly roasted chicken from the cafeteria kitchens and was simply looking for a quiet place to feast in peace.
However, just as they passed the ground floor, both of their senses keenly captured a trace of an extremely faint, yet terrifyingly pure fluctuation of Spiritual Power.
Following that residual aura, they handled the corridors until they stopped before a specific dormitory room at the very end of the hall.
"This is..." Director Du Weilun looked up at the room number, pausing for a moment as recognition dawned on his face. "This is Liu Yuan's dormitory."
The wooden door was left slightly ajar. It was obvious that the occupant had already packed up and left.
Director Du Weilun pushed the door open and stepped inside first.
The small room was entirely empty. All of Liu Yuan's personal belongings had vanished, leaving behind only the standard-issue wooden bed, desk, and chair provided by the academy. Yet, in the still air of the room, that faint, strange fluctuation of Spiritual Power continued to linger, refusing to dissipate.
Director Du Weilun stood in the center of the room, his brows locked tightly together. He closed his eyes, extending his own senses to carefully analyze the lingering energy. After a long moment of silence, he spoke, his voice laced with hesitation.
"Elder Xuan, this remnant of Spiritual Power... it seems to have erupted directly from this room. Could it be that the Martial Soul of that child, Liu Yuan, underwent some sort of sudden mutation right before he left?"
A trace of genuine unease rose in his chest. This residual aura was far too unique. Although the sheer intensity of the energy was not particularly strong, it carried an ancient, bizarre, and almost oppressive quality that made his instincts scream in warning.
"Mutation?"
Elder Xuan followed him into the room, still clutching the half-eaten roasted chicken in his greasy hands. His mouth was shiny with oil as he chewed loudly.
He cast a casual, dismissive glance around the empty room and let out a harsh sneer. "Weilun, you are overthinking things again. If that little blind boy actually had the capacity to mutate for the better, he would have done so years ago. Why on earth would he wait until the exact day he was expelled to suddenly show promise?"
Elder Xuan lifted a large gourd, took a heavy swig of wine, and let out a loud burp, his face full of absolute disbelief. "If you ask me, this is probably just some backlash caused by his trash Martial Soul acting up. Or perhaps the brat was unwilling to accept reality and used some desperate, self-destructive method to overdraw his potential, trying to force a breakthrough. And clearly, it remained exactly the same. Alright, the person is already gone. Let us not waste our precious time standing in an empty room. Let us go."
To Elder Xuan, paying even a shred of attention to a student who had already been judged and discarded as trash was simply a waste of his life. With the time spent standing here, he would much rather take a few more bites of his meat.
Hearing this, Director Du Weilun nodded helplessly.
Although Elder Xuan's words were incredibly harsh and lacked any empathy, they were the cold truth of the cultivation world. Six full years were more than enough time to prove a person's worth. How could a miracle suddenly fall from the sky so easily?
"That is true. Let us go, then." Director Du Weilun let out a long sigh and prepared to turn around and leave the room.
However, just as he shifted his weight, the corner of his eye suddenly caught a strange reflection of light near the windowsill.
"Hmm?"
Director Du Weilun's footsteps came to a sudden halt.
The bright morning sun shone through the open window, casting long shadows across the iron guardrails meant to secure the room. But the thick iron bars, which should have been perfectly straight and unyielding, had been warped into a horrifying, complex spiral.
Even from a distance, Du Weilun could see that at the very center of the distortion, the surface of the thick iron railing showed deep, agonizing metal wire-drawing patterns—the obvious result of extreme, unnatural torsion.
"Elder Xuan, look at this!" Director Du Weilun pointed sharply at the window, his voice suddenly thick with shock.
Elder Xuan stopped with an impatient huff and followed Director Du Weilun's pointing finger.
When his eyes landed on the thick iron guardrail twisted into a grotesque spiral, his turbid old eyes did not show the gravity, shock, or deep thought that Du Weilun had expected. Instead, a heavy trace of disgust flashed across his wrinkled face.
"Hmph. Grandstanding."
Elder Xuan snorted coldly, the fat on his cheeks trembling with his disdain. "This brat is still causing trouble right before leaving. Is this how he vents his petty dissatisfaction with the academy? Damaging public property on his way out... his character is simply inferior!"
"But Elder Xuan..." Director Du Weilun could not help but step forward, wanting to defend the logic of the situation. "This is a guardrail cast from solid refined iron. To twist it into a spiral like this purely by brute force requires immense physical strength. Logically speaking, that child Liu Yuan could not possibly possess the physical power to do this. Combined with that strange Spiritual Power we sensed just now..."
"Enough!"
Elder Xuan directly interrupted Director Du Weilun's analysis, waving his greasy hand through the air dismissively. "Weilun, you are just far too sensitive. This guardrail is old and in disrepair; the metal was likely already brittle from the elements."
He took another bite of his chicken, chewing aggressively. "Besides, he was a Rank 9 Soul Scholar. So what if he managed to bend some old iron? What does that actually prove? Does it prove he can defeat a Soul Elder in combat? Does it prove he has the talent to become a Titled Douluo?"
Elder Xuan stuffed the last piece of chicken meat into his mouth and spoke indistinctly through his chewing. "A temperament that only knows how to vent its anger on inanimate objects will never achieve greatness. It seems that expelling him was an absolutely correct decision. Stop looking at garbage and let us go quickly. This old man still needs to head to the Inner Courtyard to check on the real promising seedlings."
After speaking, Elder Xuan turned on his heel and walked out of the dormitory without looking back, acting as if staying in this room for even one more second would dirty his shoes.
Director Du Weilun stood frozen in place. He looked at the violently twisted iron railing, and then turned his head to look at Elder Xuan's departing back.
In the end, he could only smile bitterly and shake his head.
Perhaps Elder Xuan was right. It was just a few broken railings. It really did not prove anything in the grand scheme of the world.
Director Du Weilun took one last, deep look at the empty room. He stepped out into the corridor and pulled the door shut with a soft click, unknowingly locking away what was destined to become Shrek Academy's greatest regret in a hundred years.
...
Shrek City, Eastern District.
The morning streets were already bustling with life. The loud hawking of street vendors, the clatter of horse hooves, and the rolling of heavy carriage wheels rose one after another in a lively chorus. As a massive city built entirely around the foundation of Shrek Academy, the sheer prosperity and foot traffic here rivaled that of the capitals of the major empires.
At a small, inconspicuous breakfast stall tucked away in an alley, Liu Yuan sat quietly in a corner. A steaming bowl of savory tofu pudding and two freshly fried dough sticks rested on the wooden table in front of him.
He had taken off his dark sunglasses to eat, but he specifically chose a backlit corner seat, keeping his head tilted downward so the long bangs on his forehead completely shadowed those shocking, ancient double pupils.
"Hoo..."
Liu Yuan blew gently on his spoon and took a sip of the savory, rich tofu pudding. He felt the warm current slide smoothly down his throat and settle into his stomach, bringing a deep sense of comfort to his body.
Although he had just been expelled from the most prestigious academy on the continent, his posture was relaxed. In fact, his mood was better than it had ever been in his entire life.
As he slowly ate his breakfast, Liu Yuan's mind was running at high speed, coldly and rationally calculating his next steps.
'Now that my Soul Power has broken through to Rank 20, my most urgent task is to obtain a suitable Soul Ring.'Liu Yuan tapped his finger lightly against the wooden table. His original Martial Soul was the Spirit Eyes, but after last night's awakening, it had evolved into the supreme Double Pupils. This was a visual and spiritual mutation far more tyrannical and deep than any ordinary Spirit Eyes. Because of this, he had to be extremely cautious in selecting his next Soul Ring. He could not settle for garbage.'According to the timeline, it is currently the new student enrollment season for Shrek Academy. That means Huo Yuhao should have also just left the White Tiger Duke's Mansion not long ago, and is likely preparing to head straight into the Star Dou Great Forest.'
Thinking of this, the hand Liu Yuan used to hold his soup spoon paused slightly in mid-air. A sharp, calculating glint flashed through his overlapping pupils beneath his bangs.
Knowing the original trajectory of this world, he naturally knew exactly what Huo Yuhao was destined to encounter in the outer edges of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The Skydream Iceworm!
That legendary, super-tonic existence. A beast that possessed a staggering one million years of cultivation, yet could only offer itself up as a wisdom Soul Ring because its actual combat power was absolute trash.
For the former Liu Yuan, dreaming of such an encounter would have been pure delusion. After all, he was just a blind boy with stagnant Soul Power. Even if he managed to walk into the forest, he would just become a snack for a random ten-year baboon.
But now, everything was different.
The Double Pupils had opened, his vision was restored to a terrifying degree of clarity, and his Soul Power had surged to Rank 20.
'The Skydream Iceworm is a pure spiritual-attribute Soul Beast with a cultivation base reaching a million years. It is simply tailor-made to nourish my Double Pupils.'Liu Yuan took a slow bite of a crispy fried dough stick, his thoughts moving rapidly.', compared to Huo Yuhao's standard Spirit Eyes, my Double Pupils are fundamentally on a much higher tier of existence. If I can reach the forest in time and intercept the encounter, that million-year worm will definitely sense the difference in quality and choose me instead.'Since the heavens had allowed him to transmigrate into this world and awaken the legendary Double Pupils, it was absolutely impossible for him to just sit back and watch such a heaven-defying opportunity slip through his fingers. He wasn't stealing; he was simply making reasonable, pragmatic use of his own intelligence and timing.'It is decided. I am going to the Star Dou Great Forest!'
Liu Yuan finished the remaining fried dough sticks in a few quick bites, his decision set in stone.
However, there was still a very realistic, glaring problem sitting right in front of him.
Safety.
The Star Dou Great Forest was a notorious forbidden zone for humanity. Even the outermost periphery was crawling with ten-year, hundred-year, and highly aggressive thousand-year Soul Beasts.
Liu Yuan reached into his pocket and touched the edges of his prepaid crystal card. The meager inheritance his parents had left behind was enough to cover his daily food and lodging, but it was absolutely nowhere near enough to hire a powerful, reputable Soul Master hunting team to escort him.
also, mercenary teams were notoriously untrustworthy. If they escorted a lone, seemingly weak boy into the forest and discovered the heaven-defying secret of his Double Pupils, they would not hesitate to slit his throat and dump his body in a ditch to seize his valuables.
'I can only rely on myself.'Liu Yuan wiped his mouth with a napkin, his expression turning cold.'The power to distort space that erupted when my Double Pupils awakened last night...'That spatial distortion was his only true reliance at present, and the sole source of his confidence in daring to step into the Star Dou Great Forest alone. But he was still entirely unfamiliar with how to consciously control that terrifying power. Last night's outburst had been a purely unconscious reaction to the awakening. If he did not practice and master it now, he might fail to activate it when a lethal beast was leaping at his throat.'I must find a secluded place to test it first and completely master the activation process.'
Liu Yuan stood up, tossed a few bronze coins onto the table to cover the meal, and pulled the brim of his hat down low over his eyes. Without a backward glance, he turned and smoothly blended into the bustling morning crowd.
Half an hour later.
Liu Yuan had completely left the boundaries of Shrek City and arrived at a remote, dense patch of woods miles away from the main roads. This area was usually completely uninhabited, making it the perfect testing ground for his experiment.
After walking a wide circle to confirm that there was absolutely no one around to spy on him, Liu Yuan reached up and pulled off his sunglasses, finally exposing those strange, captivating double pupils to the open air.
"Hoo..."
He took a deep, steadying breath, adjusting his heart rate. He closed his eyes for a brief second, actively mobilizing the Rank 20 Soul Power circulating within his meridians, and forcefully guided the energy straight up toward his eyes.
The moment the Soul Power injected into his optical nerves, that familiar, intense burning sensation flared up again. But this time, it was no longer accompanied by agonizing pain. Instead, it brought a surging, intoxicating sense of absolute power.
When he opened his eyes, the world in front of him had fundamentally changed. Everything became hyper-clear and deeply three-dimensional. His dynamic vision was so terrifyingly sharp that he could clearly track the erratic, microscopic movements of tiny dust motes floating lazily in the morning sunlight.
Liu Yuan slowly turned his head, locking his overlapping gaze onto a thick, dead tree trunk about ten meters away. It was as thick as a large serving bowl and solid as rock.
'Distortion!'
He whispered the command in his heart. His Spiritual Power concentrated to an extreme point. Inside his eyes, the two distinct pupils suddenly contracted, shifting rapidly until they perfectly overlapped into a single, terrifying focal point.
Hum—!
An invisible, high-frequency fluctuation instantly erupted from his eyes. It crossed the distance of ten meters in a fraction of a second, precisely descending upon the center of that dead tree trunk.
The next second, a shocking scene unfolded.
Crack! Crack!
Without any physical contact whatsoever, the thick center of the dead tree trunk looked as though it had been violently gripped by the invisible hand of a titan. And then, it was twisted fiercely!
Wood chips exploded outward like shrapnel. The hard, unyielding trunk instantly underwent a terrifying, agonizing deformation, its fibers screaming as they were forcibly wrenched into a tight spiral shape.
Bang!
A crisp, deafening sound echoed through the quiet woods as the entire tree violently snapped at the waist. The upper half of the massive trunk collapsed, crashing heavily into the forest floor and kicking up a cloud of dirt and dead leaves.
"Success!"
Liu Yuan only felt his brain sink slightly, a brief wave of dizziness striking his mind from the sudden drain of Spiritual Power, but his strong constitution quickly forced it back to normal.
He walked quickly over to the fallen tree, his eyes scanning the uneven, violently shredded cut where the thick wood fibers had been completely twisted and snapped apart. A deep look of pleasant surprise filled his eyes.
'The destructive power is excellent...'Liu Yuan reached out, running his fingers over the splintered wood.'This must be a special, innate ability directly tied to the awakening of my Double Pupils. Although it consumes a decent chunk of Spiritual Power and my control over the exact torsion is still a bit rough, it is absolutely the best offensive choice I have at the moment.'He analyzed the combat data in his head.'With this move, dealing with low-level Soul Beasts should be no problem at all. The best part is that this attack has zero casting pre-swing, no physical tells, and it strikes instantly from long range. In a life-or-death ambush, this will be incredibly lethal.'
Satisfied with his trump card, Liu Yuan slid his dark sunglasses back onto his face, hiding the overlapping pupils once more. He turned his body, his gaze locking onto the southern horizon—the direct path toward the Star Dou Great Forest.
"No time to lose. I need to move immediately."
He adjusted his collar, his lips curling into a faint, confident smile.
"Star Dou Great Forest... Skydream Iceworm..."
"I am coming."
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