Inside the Sea God Pavilion of Shrek Academy, a crowd of Pavilion Elder sat in silence, with no one stepping forward to speak first. Everyone knew that this meeting, which had been urgently called just after Yun Ming left, had only one core issue--should they go to the Sea God Island or not?
Yali keenly noticed several glances directed toward her. As an "outsider" who had been "snatched" back to the Sea God Pavilion by Yun Ming, although she had already joined the Pavilion, her foundation and authority ultimately did not run as deep as those who had "ten years of Shrek affection, Shrek people for life." Yet, precisely because of this "detached" status, she became the most suitable person to break the silence first.
"I disagree with going," Yali said in a calm tone, analyzing from the most direct standpoint of the situation. "Brother Yun has already gone to handle it personally. Something that can be specifically announced by the Ancient Golden Tree must involve the entire continent. We ought to stay behind and guard the Sea God Pavilion to prevent malicious people from taking advantage of a loophole and causing further complications."
Unfortunately, her cultivation originated from the Prayer Angel martial soul, steadily rising by accumulating the power of faith and doing good deeds. She had never experienced the absolute suppression of talent among geniuses, nor had she been deeply mired in the schemes of human hearts within the arena of power. Her thinking was ultimately too pure.
"Yali, your seniority is still shallow, and you haven't seen through the critical point." A gray-haired senior elder pointed at the bell on the table that was still slightly vibrating. "The person who sent this message has impure motives from the start--he wants to gather all the Limit Douluo in the world to go to this godhood ascension event together."
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for godhood!" another senior elder immediately chimed in, his tone hard to conceal his excitement. "Even if we just observe and learn from the path of godhood from the sidelines, watching the process of ascending to divinity can serve as a stepping stone for our subsequent breakthroughs. How can we miss such an opportunity?"
"Moreover, that woman is seizing the Divine Seat of the Sea God!" Long Yeyue slammed the table suddenly, her voice full of vigor. "This is clearly a slap in the face to our Shrek! Where would the face of the Sea God Pavilion go? We must go!"
As the hidden Deputy Pavilion Master of the Sea God Pavilion, when Yun Ming was absent, she was the person with the highest seniority and strongest cultivation in the Pavilion. With her taking the lead, the originally suppressed argument within the Pavilion instantly intensified.
"That bastard Qiangu Dongfeng must have arrived long ago! The Spirit Pagoda, Tang Sect, and War God Hall won't be absent either. Look, Chen Xinjie has directly started fighting over at the Sea God Island!"
"We can unite with the Tang Sect to assist from the side. Chen Xinjie's martial soul is already compatible with the ocean. Maybe we can actually snatch back the Sea God's Divine Seat and hand it over to our Shrek!"
Fortunately, there were still those who remained clear-headed within the Sea God Pavilion. Feng Wuyu, the president of Shrek's Blacksmith Association, had always possessed a direct mindset as a Saint Craftsman. He harbored thoughts of attaining godhood--just as he yearned to become a Divine Craftsman, though it was far out of reach, observing the process of ascending to divinity from a close distance might allow his forging skills to advance a step further--yet he had not forgotten the foundation of the Sea God Pavilion.
"We must leave some people to guard the Sea God Pavilion, to avoid malicious people actually taking advantage of a loophole and slipping through."
Ultimately, Long Yeyue made the final decision: "Then let's go test the waters. Yue'er, you immediately gather the teachers above the Titled Douluo level from the inner court to patrol and keep watch around the Sea God Lake; Yali, you come along with us as well." In the end, she failed to resist the temptation of godhood, pulling Yali along so that even if Yun Ming held them accountable in the future, he would have nothing to say.
Subsequently, the senior elders of the Sea God Pavilion hurriedly responded to Sui Yuan's invitation and hastily left the Sea God Pavilion, rushing in the direction of the Sea God Island.
"Hehe, it seems the senior elders of the Sea God Pavilion aren't as reverent toward the Sea God as imagined." A man dressed in a white suit, sensing the spatial gate fluctuations coming from within the Sea God Pavilion, slowly wandered through the Shrek Gourmet City. While chewing on some freshly bought takoyaki, he chuckled secretly in his heart--the so-called godhood and immortality were, after all, more alluring than empty glory.
"Haha, I, Baili Yuan, can guess their reasoning even if I think with my feet--'Only by observing the process of godhood and allowing ourselves to go a step further can we better protect Shrek'."
It was true that these people loved Shrek, but it was also true that they loved themselves, cherished their lives, and coveted power.
During the great explosion of Shrek Academy back then, they were willing to sacrifice themselves to save the Shrek students, and that spirit of discarding life for righteousness was indeed moving. However, what their thirty Titled Douluo sacrificed their lives to protect were only the members of the inner court, not the students of the outer court or the ordinary teachers. It was precisely this "selective sacrifice" that touched the children of those great families, making them forget their family positions and wholeheartedly submit to Shrek.
"What a pity, this massive Shrek City, with nearly a million residents back then, all became burial accompaniments for that explosion." Baili Yuan looked at the bustling and prosperous city before him where land was worth its weight in gold, imagining the scene of it being blasted into a wasteland in his mind, a playful smile curling up at the corner of his mouth.
Just as he lowered his head to poke at the snack in his hand, his movements suddenly paused: "Does this appearance of mine look too much like Baili Yuan?"
"Confident and powerful yet carrying caution, elegant and handsome with a hidden touch of eccentricity"--it was all to blame on this Anatta Avatar. Possessing this ability to freely control the bodies of others inevitably gave rise to this mindset of playing with the mortal world. "So, is Baili Yuan my future collective manifestation? No, that's not right. My original body is Hei Loulan."
The Anatta Avatar combined many abilities such as stealth, assassination, and frontal assault into one, making it a divine tool for breaking new ground and resolving crises. One only needed to casually control a body to squeeze out all the potential of that body and overdraw everything; even the weakest technique could display an unexpected effect.
For instance, the body he was using right now--the original owner was a fanatical Shrek outer court disciple who had lived with lifelong regret because he failed to ever pass into the inner court and never had the chance to set foot on the Sea God Island. His martial soul was "Grey Shadow," and his soul skill were quite peculiar: the first soul skill allowed his body to attach to a grey shadow to achieve invisibility, the second soul skill could lower his own sense of presence, the third soul skill allowed him to dive into shadows to traverse and move, while the fourth and fifth soul skill were mimicry and shaping respectively.
Logically speaking, if such a martial soul could be nurtured well, it could definitely become a top-tier concealer. However, the soul skill of this body had zero offensive power, and his spiritual power was weak; as long as he encountered someone with slightly stronger spiritual power, his movements would be exposed. The original owner had barely reached the Soul King realm in his thirties, and though he was already a One-word Battle Armor Pavilion Master (which was considered decent for ordinary people, comparable to the cultivation of Xie Xie back in Eastsea), because he lacked resources, background, and had not met a good teacher, and his family had no power to support him, he ultimately failed to enter the inner court and was swept out of the door by Shrek.
"But it doesn't matter, because I, Baili Yuan, am here." He smiled faintly and shook his head, "What you couldn't achieve, I can achieve; the soul skill you couldn't play around with, I can Pavilion Master to perfection; the dream you couldn't fulfill in a lifetime, I can realize for you as well!"
"Jie jie jie," Baili Yuan let out a sly, wicked laugh as he stepped through the gates of Shrek Academy. While drinking his freshly bought bubble tea, he leisurely walked toward the direction of the Sea God Island with total composure. Not a single person among the patrol teams, teaching instructors, and passing students he encountered along the way actually noticed his existence--this was entirely reliant on the original owner's seemingly weak soul skill, which had been utilized to the limit by him.
As if returning to his own home, he walked familiarly into the inner court that the original owner had dreamed of.
Divine abilities could be refined and woven into "Laws" by their possessors. As long as future generations learned this Law, even if their talent was inferior to the original owner, they could achieve the effect of the divine ability itself through the "Law." Unfortunately, not everyone could practice the "Law" to grand completion, but the soul Pavilion Master system happened to provide a shortcut--the myriad of bizarre soul skill. One only needed to use the Anatta Avatar to occupy the corresponding body and extract the "Law" contained within the soul skill to transform it into a divine ability belonging to oneself.
It was precisely by occupying the bodies of several mid-tier soul masters that Baili Yuan recreated his past divine abilities: "Concealed Figure," "Earth-Shrinking Divine Stride," and "Mind-Scrambling Treasure Beast." These were all ultimate techniques that he had spent countless efforts researching back then by capturing Soul Beast from the Spirit Pagoda.
"It's just a pity that this world lacks the law of causality; even the most basic causal lines do not exist, so the core ability of the Anatta Avatar cannot be displayed." He pondered inwardly, "Once Skadi completely attains godhood and clearly tests the depths of the plane's will, it will be time to occupy some minor planes. Feigning being devoured by the plane while secretly adding rules belonging to myself inside it--that is how the Anatta Avatar can truly reach grand completion."
Baili Yuan casually refined a "Concealed Figure" divine ability mask evolved from the Grey Shadow martial soul, completely shrouding his form and aura. Then, he quietly crept toward the direction of the Sea God Pavilion, beginning his operation.
"Jie jie jie! Ah Yin, here comes Baili Yuan!"