In an unnamed village—
Under Elder Song's guidance, Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan helped over ten children awaken their martial spirits. Watching the joy or disappointment on the six- and seven-year-olds' faces, Zhu Ziyang felt a surge of warmth and satisfaction.
This village belonged to a noble town under the jurisdiction of a major city in the Giant Forest Province. Yet aside from Elder Song, who visited every few years to perform martial spirit awakenings, soul masters were almost never seen here. Even the local nobles couldn't be bothered to spare them a glance, let alone offer awakening ceremonies for the children.
Maybe not every child could become a soul master—but each deserved the chance to try. Martial spirit awakening was the most crucial step.
For most commoner children, this chance was slim. But worse still, for many across the continent, even that sliver of hope was stripped away—their fates could be seen clearly from birth.
The children of this village were lucky. They had Elder Song. But soul masters like her, willing to lower themselves to help the common people, or lords like Hong Zhen who loved the people like family, were rare.
This was a world dominated by fools and incompetents—a world that shouldn't exist!
For the first time, a rebellious thought stirred in Zhu Ziyang's not-so-grand ambitions: to overturn this world.
They stayed in the village for the night. Elder Song taught the children with spirit power how to meditate and cultivate.
The next day, they resumed their journey.
"Nannan, Ziyang, how did you have your martial spirits awakened?" Elder Song suddenly asked.
"Ah? The city lord helped us awaken them," Zhu Ziyang answered, snapping out of his thoughts.
He told her about their experiences in Anyang City.
"I see!" Elder Song sighed. "Such city lords are few and far between. You two were truly lucky."
"Yes!" Jiang Nannan agreed enthusiastically.
"Let's head west," Elder Song said with a smile. "We'll awaken martial spirits in the villages we pass through, while making our way to the Mingdou Mountains."
"Yes!" Both Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan replied with motivation.
Half a month later — Star Luo Empire, Yuming City.
Elder Song brought Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan into a city for the first time—because they were about to reach the Mingdou Mountains.
Yuming City, as the name implies, stood to resist Mingdu, the capital of the Sun and Moon Empire. As the largest city in the Star Luo Empire's northwest, it was a vital stronghold for defending against the Sun and Moon Empire and the main logistics base for the western forces. It lay less than 100 kilometers from the Mingdou Mountains and around 300 kilometers from the border with the Heaven Dou Empire—its strategic value immense.
The three decided to rest overnight and enter the Mingdou Mountains the next morning.
Before bed, Elder Song called them together and warned:
"The Mingdou Mountains are a warfront—extremely dangerous. Not only are soul beasts a threat, but also hostile soul masters. Once inside, stay close to me and never act alone. Understood?"
"Understood!" Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan responded in unison.
"Good. Now rest. We leave at 5 a.m. sharp," Elder Song instructed.
"Yes!" They returned to their rooms to sleep.
The next morning—
Three figures shot out from Yuming City, heading toward the Mingdou Mountains.
"Nannan, Ziyang, can you keep up with this speed?" Elder Song asked as she flew ahead.
Behind her, Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan pushed forward at full speed, forcing a smile in response—they were too exhausted to answer. They simply didn't have the energy to do anything else.
Seeing their struggle, Elder Song didn't say more and maintained her pace.
Finally, when the two were nearly out of soul power, Elder Song stopped. She turned to them. Their eyes lit up with relief, and some hidden strength pushed them to her side.
"Sit and meditate to recover your soul power," she ordered immediately.
They obeyed without hesitation. A Super Douluo standing guard while they cultivated was a rare opportunity.
Elder Song nodded with satisfaction after seeing them enter deep meditation. Then she pulled out a map and began to chart a path. The map was densely marked with soul beast names.
Had Zhu Ziyang seen it, he would have exclaimed, "The latest version of the Ten Thousand Beasts Map!"
The Ten Thousand Beasts Map was an exclusive resource for inner court students of Shrek Academy. It detailed soul beast habitats, types, overall strength, and danger levels across the continent. Only inner court students could access it—outsiders likely didn't even know it existed. Since its first edition, fifteen versions had been released. Elder Song held the sixteenth, the newest and unreleased version, completed only recently after nearly a century.
Her cold gaze slowly softened into a smile as she reviewed the map. Soon, she folded it away and looked south.
Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan finished their meditation, and Zhu Ziyang happily discovered a slight increase in his soul power.
"Let's go. The soul beast we want is in the southern mountains," Elder Song said.
"That's great!" Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan clapped excitedly.
Mingdou Mountains —
Formed 4,000 years ago after the collision of the Douluo and Sun-Moon continents, the Mingdou Mountains had become one of the most renowned soul beast habitats—replacing the Sunset Forest as one of the three great soul beast domains.
As a former battlefield between the three Douluo empires and the Sun-Moon Empire, the Mingdou Mountains and nearby Mingdou Forest were home to countless, highly varied mutant soul beasts.
Their origins were complex: from rich mineral deposits, tectonic disruptions that polluted bloodlines and soul power, and even soul tool experiments from the Sun and Moon Empire. The causes were many.
Their target: the Silvermoon Armored Beast, a mutant soul beast.
Its original form was the Golden-scaled Pangolin, native to southern Star Luo Empire. For unknown reasons, some mutated into the Silvermoon Armored Beast, which inherited the moon bloodline.
The Golden-scaled Pangolin was an ordinary soul beast, named only for its yellow scales and lacking special traits. But once mutated, the Silvermoon Armored Beast became a true top-tier soul beast—apex predators of the Mingdou ecosystem.
Thanks to its mutation, the Silvermoon Armored Beast gained incredible speed and near-impenetrable scales. Only a few soul beasts in the Mingdou range or forest could even break its defense.
Its formidable defense allowed it to roam the mountains unchallenged, earning it its reputation as a dominant force.
After two days of searching, the group finally discovered signs of a Silvermoon Armored Beast in a valley about 300 li (150 km) from the Mingdou Forest.
"Elder Song, look! Aren't these tunnels made by Silvermoon Armored Beasts?" Zhu Ziyang pointed excitedly at deep, narrow holes in the mountain.
"Indeed!" Elder Song smiled and nodded. "Though they're mutants, they still retain their burrowing instincts!"
"Is it really here?" Jiang Nannan looked uncertain—she couldn't see anything.
"Of course it is," Zhu Ziyang reassured her. "But we need to wait until nightfall. Silvermoon Armored Beasts are nocturnal—they rest by day and roam at night. We just have to be patient."
"Okay," Jiang Nannan nodded.