"Hah? It seems we both went through some interesting things. When the two old demons wake up, tell them I said thanks as well." Karni stretched after listening to Siduo's experience.
"Sure. I will. But still, just when I thought I gained something more than you…" Siduo sighed.
"Well, that one was going to be difficult either way, no? I mean, I was looking for divinity after all, and I got it."
"Yeah, true. I didn't think I'd see the Heart of Bamboo here."
"Hm? You knew about it?"
"Eh… heard about it is more accurate."
"I see. So you can't help me explain why half of it is missing."
"Wait, you didn't tell me about that part."
Karni tapped his chin. "I mean, I told you about how the visions felt incomplete right?"
"But then, isn't it only a guess that some of it is missing? Maybe you don't have the requirements to unlock it?"
Karni shook his head. "Once the Heart of Bamboo settled in my Dantian, I could tell that something was missing. Actually missing."
"Hmm. That's a shame. No actual path to divinity yet, eh?"
"I suppose not." Karni stopped walking. They've reached the city centre of Radiant City. "Now then, enough about that. Shall we?"
Karni and Siduo were without money, since Shrek took it all for the military training. They needed to get more. "I'll get the lightshow going. You do you." Siduo prepared herself.
"Of course." Karni took out an instrument. The gift Siduo got him on his birthday. The academy was unable to take it away since it was blood-bound to him. It was because the Guardian wasn't blood-bound that they took it from him.
He started playing the instrument which was actually multiple instruments in one. It was wonderful to actually play an instrument again. Sure, he could manipulate the Sound to sound like certain instrument effortlessly, but the feel of playing an instrument was just more satisfying to him, especially so when his ability to manipulate Sound made him into a walking synthesizer. He didn't need a mixer to mix music; he was the mixer.
And the audience quickly noticed the quality of his playing. It was hard not to notice when the whole thing was accompanied by a light show made of blue moon and yellow sun stripes that Siduo used through her Torso Bone.
In only two hours, they got enough money to buy tickets to the northeastern region of the Douluo Continent. The destination to their military training.
The two went to the train station and checked the schedule for trains going to Shrek and further northeast. Karni had rerun the "tape" of the original timeline with Hope to see how the train looked like. Luckily, he even managed to feel the time the train would travel, date and hours.
This had been a small blessing. Of the visions he had, he could perfectly replay the original timeline down to the tiniest details, as long as it was at least mentioned in the original story Karni read. However, he used to not see such details as these, where he could bring the whole scene to life. Time wasn't mentioned specifically, but time obviously passed, and he could feel it exactly.
What changed was his Spiritual Prowess. The test he just went through had raised his Spiritual Power immensely. Right now, he felt like he had already partly stepped into the Spirit Domain Realm, except it was not truly there yet. He was at the peak of the Spiritual Abyss now. This trip had turned to be truly worth it. His constitution of the body and mind both went through a metamorphosis.
The two looked for the train they wished to board. If the train was not here, they might have to change trains in Shrek to get on the same one as Wulin.
"Ah. Found it." Karni pointed toward the right. They got lucky. There were a lot of trains leaving Radiant City. One could tell it was the capital of a country that covered the whole continent. Even more trains went toward Shrek, but they found the very train that would travel northeast at the same time as Wulin's group would board.
"Alright then, let's go."
The two boarded the train, and the first thing Karni decided to do was envelop the whole train in his Spiritual Power. He did not know when the Evil Soul Masters boarded the train originally, or if they did at all. They could have attacked from the outside. Such details were not explained in the original, and Karni could not see them either, because Tang Wulin did not experience them originally. While Time passed in the visions, they were still limited to Tang Wulin's perception. He was like an anchor of the timeline which Karni had to work around when it came to original events.
He did not sense anyone with evil energy or looking shady. Whoever attacked was not on the train. Most likely not yet. If Karni had secretly boarded a train to attack it, he would do so after Shrek City, because of the immense security Shrek City had.
If nothing else, he could prepare the train cabins ahead of time. He had a little plan brewing in his mind already. The key was to save the civilians' lives.
The two boarded their carriage and entered a cabin. Because of the long distance this train travelled with, it had sleeping cabins that could accept six people with dedicated luggage space. Most Soul Masters had big enough Spatial Rings to carry clothes with them, but only the wealthy had Spatial Rings among the general populace.
Because of their situation, they were allowed to bring clothes with them inside a small Spatial Ring, but that was the only thing they were allowed to bring, because it was an everyday thing.
They would have to wait for the train to depart first though, and for the conductor to check their cards. Then Karni would enact his simple act of "I think I lost something here" in all the cabins and carriages of the train.
The train was going to depart in about five minutes. In that short time, another two people entered the cabin. A mother and a young daughter, both with luggage. The two looked at Karni and Siduo and smiled. "Nice to meet you. We were assigned to the same carriage."
"Hi. Come on in. There's a lot of space." Karni smiled and Siduo nodded at the side while moving next to Karni so she could lean on him.
The mother seemed to relax at their behaviour. She immediately noticed that the two looked a bit rich and were likely Soul Masters based on their bearing. A regular person learned quickly to recognise Soul Masters from the average folk. However, she would not dare ask if that was true. The little girl next to her looked to be around 9 or 8 years old.
The mother nudged the little girl ahead. She wore a neutral, perhaps a stressed face. A quiet girl, but also a well-behaved one seeing as she listened to her mother without question. "A couple travelling? Where to?" The mother started conversation.
"To Shrek and further northeast." Siduo answered with a smile.
"How far? All the way to Northsea City?" The mother wondered.
Karni and Siduo found themselves frowning a bit. Because the woman was correct.
The mother quickly noticed their expressions. "I-It was just a guess. We are from a village around Northsea City, hence why I was asking."
Karni could sense the tremble and the nuances in her voice. He nodded to Siduo. She was being honest. He then turned to the mother. "Then we'll be together for a long time, because we have the same destination if you are going there."
"Yes, we are. We are going home." The mother relaxed.
"What were you doing all the way here?" Siduo could not help but ask.
The mother turned to her daughter. "Xiaomao over here was born with an incredible Martial Soul…" The mother turned to her daughter. "However, her Soul Power was only at 4 when she awakened. Add that to the fact we live in a remote village, we could not enrol her in a good Intermediate Academy. The closest Intermediate Academy is already hours south. With her Martial Soul, it is too warm for her to cultivate there."
Karni could not help but raise his eyebrows at that statement. That sounded like a very peculiar Martial Soul.
The mother continued. "She managed to become a Soul Master this year, and we were hoping to send her to an academy that had specialised training grounds. Ones that allow for extremely cold environments. If not, my daughter will not be able to cultivate."
"I'm guessing the Sun Moon Academy did not want to take that risk." Karni thought out loud.
"Eh? How'd you know we went to the Sun Moon Academy?" The girl, Xiaomao, could not help but speak for the first time.
"It's the only academy in Radiant City that would allow for extreme cold cultivation. Government founded in such a big and expensive city. The other academies wouldn't be able to afford an extreme ice environment. Only the military, Sun Moon Academy or Shrek Academy have Extreme Ice Environments." Siduo listed down the reasons Karni guessed it so easily.
Karni nodded. "Extreme Ice environments are infamously difficult to keep intact if they are not already close to a cold area. Ice environments are easy, but Extreme Ice…"
The mother looked sad. "Yes. We visited others too, but got the exact same answer that you gave. They recommended us Star Luo City or Heaven Dou City as the Old Capitals as well, but we don't have the money to try those out now."
Siduo nodded. "Star Luo City does have an extreme ice environment, but it's not on the same level as the Shrek or Sun Moon one."
Karni looked at the two. "So, she cannot cultivate at all if not in an extreme cold environment?"
The mother nodded with slight disappointment.
Karni and Siduo now understood. If so, their village must really be remote. There were no cities where one could call the environment as extreme. Not even the Northsea City. Their village must be tiny.
"And even if we have records in our village of people with this Martial Soul always reaching the Titled Douluo level, the teachers in Sun Moon Academy did not believe us."
Siduo glanced at Karni at that statement. That was indeed quite an absurd claim.
"Can I see your daughter's Martial Soul?" Karni could not help but ask. Curiosity got the better of him.
The mother flinched a bit at that. She went on guard all of a sudden.
"No worries. You could say we are a bit special." Karni isolated the cabin with Sound, then released his six Soul Rings of the Cosmic Instrument. All pitch Black.
The mother's eyes widened. She became visibly sweaty and uncomfortable. "S-S-Soul Emperor… B-Black…"
"Kiki." Siduo looked at Karni.
"Oops." He released a soft humming sound along with a tiny bit of Relaxing Aura.
The mother calmed down incredibly quickly.
"We are both Inner Court Shrek Students." Siduo said to the mother with a smile. "We aren't dangerous."
The mother swallowed saliva, but she could at least thing rationally now. "Do you have any proof?"
They both sighed. "Unfortunately, not. We are here on training and a mission in which we have to rely on our ingenuity, so all of our things got taken away. ID, money, personal belongings. We were only left with clothes and tools of our professions."
"We were also temporary teachers at Star Luo City Academy until not so long ago. But even if that academy has very high standards, its environments aren't at the same standard. That's how we knew. If a Martial Soul needs an extreme environment to cultivate, it must be special. That's all I wanted to check." Karni added.
The woman was still doubtful, but she was also in front of a Soul Emperor. And from how Karni treated Siduo as his equal, she was likely of similar prowess. These two were quite clearly geniuses. Maybe… maybe they could really help out.
The mother turned to her daughter. "Xiaomao. Show it."
The girl just nodded. She really was a quiet one.
"What's your full name? Karni asked as the girl got closer."
"Ban Xiaomao."
"I see. Ban Xiaomao. Would you let me place my hand on your back so I can sense the changes of your body?" Karni asked with a smile.
The girl looked to her mother, who nodded, so she turned around without further questions.
Karni placed his palm on her back. He could already feel a coldness radiating from the girl. Now he was even more sensitive to it. His head felt chill at the touch. He had become more sensitive to changes in the elements. The element of Winter Water was stored through his Spiritual Power. His mind, head and nervous system felt it the most.
"Ban Xiaomao, you can summon your Martial Soul." Karni nodded with focus.
The girl did as Karni said. Her Martial Soul was summoned. Karni and Siduo both blinked at the unfamiliar Martial Soul. Pitch Black Tonfas. A pair. And the temperature dropped in the cabin as soon it got summoned. Even the windowpane started having icy patterns.
"Sisi." Karni said.
She nodded. A small white flame appeared in her palm, and she breathed with it, warming up the room again.
Karni refocused on changes in Ban Xiaomao's body. Her blood was quite unique. Ice was infused in it as if it belonged to her very body. Her Soul Power was also naturally cold even though she did not circulate it.
Those Black Tonfas were also intricate in their design. If she could only cultivate in extreme cold regions than perhaps it was true that the Martial Soul could reach the Titled Douluo rank. It might be one of those Martial Souls whose bottlenecks are nigh non-existent due to limits in ways of cultivation. The Mountain Dragon King could be considered the same.
"Hmm. I believe your words now. She really can only cultivate in cold environments. Her Soul Power circulation works, but it is not sucking in the surrounding energy to improve like cultivation techniques should. It is likely dependant on cold of the surroundings. If so, I can tell you with even more confidence that Star Luo City and Heaven Dou City academies would not be able to help much. Perhaps she could at least cultivate there, but incredibly inefficiently."
The mother stared at Karni. Karni had not only believed her, but he understood the problems her daughter faced without extensive tests. Sun and Moon Academy tested her daughter on all sorts of devices, but they did not find anything. They didn't even mention her daughter to the higher ups.
"A-Are you two really Shrek Students?"
"Ma'am, I don't think you'll meet many nineteen-year-olds who are Soul Emperors." Siduo chuckled aloud.
The mother stared again. "Y-You're only 19??"
The two looked at each other and nodded.
Ban Xiaomao's mother covered her hand and looked to her daughter. "I thought you were at least in your mid twenties. Such monsters exist in the world? Oh! I'm sorry. You're not monsters, you…" She was nervous again.
"No problem. Haven't you heard of Shrek's motto before?" Karni pointed his finger upwards, as if it was obvious.
The mother looked at this person who was still technically a teenager. Of course she knew it. "To breed only monsters." There wasn't a single person on Douluo Continent who hasn't heard of the motto.
Karni snapped his finger. "To us it's a compliment to call us monsters."
"Now then, since we're staying together for at least a week, we should get to know each other." Karni changed the topic and looked to Siduo. She nodded. They were of the same mind. This child was a diamond in the rough. The Sun Moon Examiners missed out on such a gem, but it was reasonable. The examiners weren't that important. Sun Moon Academy was used to getting scammers trying to sign in their child. They simply chuckled this child up to be the same.
Meanwhile, no one tried this with Shrek, because everyone knew Shrek had exams every 3 years, and there was no point to try things in between. Shrek was ruthlessly fair to everyone.
Siduo closed in. "I'll test some of your aspects. So will Karni, after he is done with something important. If you impress us, we might give you a chance to study in Shrek in the future."
"Really?" The girl suddenly shouted, her eyes sparkling. She looked to her mother.
"Really. Our teachers are the Elders of the Academy. They trust us. We should be able to convince them, but because you might get in through unofficial means, you will have to work harder."
"I will!" The girl nodded with enthusiasm. Who didn't want to study in Shrek? However, the two were speaking truthfully. The most they could do was make her a Working Student since she could not join through the slots the academy gave out to Intermediate Academies. And they could only do so next year. For Karni, it was questionable whether they could even reach next year.
"In that case, I will return shortly." Karni nodded to Siduo who went into teacher mode. He, on the other hand, went outside the cabin, and entered the neighbouring one by knocking.
"Excuse me, I think I lost something. Can I just check under the seats?"
The people were a bit surprised but nodded. Things like these simply happened from time to time.
Karni bent below the seats and checked all over, then sighed and shook his head. "It seems not. Thanks anyway."
"No worries." The people in the cabin said and let him leave. But they did not notice a tiny seed planted under the seats.
Karni went to the next cabin and opened the door. "Excuse me, I think I lost something. Can I just check under the seats?"
… … …
After about 2 hours, Karni finished planting all the seeds over the whole train. He returned to their cabin, only to find Siduo and Ban Xiaomao jumping around. Ban Xiaomao stopped when she saw Karni, but Siduo bumped her head softly.
"Attention. Do not lose focus when interrupted. If you have to see what is happening, keep in mind that you were in the middle of a fight."
The girl grumbled a bit. "But it's training."
"It won't be at some point." Karni closed the cabin door. "We had to learn these lessons too. Sisi, want me to take over?"
"Hmm. No. Not yet. We'll take a ten-minute break though."
"Okay." The girl said and sat down on the chair. She did not look like she enjoyed the break, but she appreciated it still. She was ready to continue at a moments notice. She seemed to be the diligent type. The mother, however, released a sigh of relief. Even though Siduo made sure they didn't disturb her, the mother still watched her kid thrash around with fear that she will damage the train.
Karni sat next to Siduo and silently controlled the sound so that the mother-daughter pair wouldn't hear their conversation. They did not want to cause panic.
"Kiki. Got everything in order?"
Karni nodded. "Everything's set. I'll be doing checks every hour after we arrive to Shrek."
"Ok. And Wulin?"
"I'll go look for him when we reach Shrek."
"Ok. Now we wait."
"Yep." Karni removed the sound barrier. "Now then. Siduo will continue with the practice, while you and I will have a parent-teacher conference." Karni turned to the mother with a smile and entered his teacher mode as well.
The mother felt weird seeing that. Karni felt weirdly authoritative as soon as he said that. He still seemed easy going, but his presence changed somewhat. He even crossed his legs.
Siduo resumed teaching, while Karni took out a piece of paper he usually used for designing. It was the only kind he had. "Siduo and I will write a general curriculum for your daughter to follow. Since you said getting her to just any intermediate academy might not be good, I suggest you follow your instincts and do not enrol her. Her home environment should, ironically, be the best for her at the moment. We cannot get her into Shrek immediately either, as the school year has already started."
The mother swallowed at that. She was still worried about everything he said, but she decided to hear him out.
"Siduo and I have taught a special class of talented students before, so we'll be using the next week to perfect the regimen and will try to plan for her development, but that will obviously have to be adaptable, as her growth might change throughout the years."
The mother nodded as Karni already started writing some things down.
"The first big question I have is… Does your village have any Soul Masters?"
The mother smiled and nodded. "Yes. Most of our Martial Souls are ice based, and more than half of us have Soul Power. I do not have it, but we are a tight knit community, so if you need them for training, they can help out."
"Hm. Good. Do you know any of their specific abilities? The best ones would be ones that have the chance to directly put stress on the person."
The mother tapped her forehead a bit. "Yes." She did not go into detail. Asking any more would be taboo.
"Hm. In that case, I will draw some plans around some of the more common restrictive abilities that influence a person negatively. She can use that for training, and whichever one is available, she should focus on. If there are multiple, I will make separate plans for that too." Karni started writing out the curriculum the girl would be undergoing in the future.
"In case of multiple possibilities, she will get used to one, then the other, and will spend the rest of her time training under both at the same time. The more all-rounded quality she can have, the better."
He turned to look at the girl and focused on their training. The flaws, the strengths. She was using her sole Soul Ring. It seemed to be a focused thrust. The was quite versatile for a tonfa, so that will need focus.
He wrote down everything he could think of. After another hour of training, Karni took over and Siduo started writing things down. He tested her spiritual capacity for today.
… … …
Three days passed quickly with Karni and Sido teaching the child in the cabin. They let her go all out constantly, since they were more than powerful enough to prevent any damage from happening inside the cabin. It served as careful control training for them as well.
However, the past three days have also been a pain in the ass for Karni's mental space. He kept on returning to the scene of the test of Four Seasons. His mother's face wasn't a problem anymore at least… because he could not see her at all anymore.
But they soon arrived at Shrek, and Karni could not dedicate a lot of energy to his personal issues. Karni waited for the train to depart before he started spreading his Spiritual Power, looking for Wulin. There were pressing matters to discuss.
Except, a contact reached him before he could pinpoint Wulin. One of the seeds he planted felt full of life. He lost control over it to a degree as well. That was in the eighth carriage.
He stood up and nodded to Siduo and the mother. He had to talk with a friend.
Siduo nodded back, remaining in the seat. In her mouth was a piece of bamboo. A new trick Karni had discovered while teaching the girl. It tasted differently every now and then, but it seemed to lack any function beyond that.
Karni reached the cabin and opened it up without knocking. "Well, well, well. If it ain't the Shrek Seven Devils themselves. To what do I owe the pleasure."
"Shit. He grew in that short time?" The first grumbles started. They could sense Karni's Soul Power grew and his presence was scarier. They didn't even react to his greeting.
"What rank are you?" Ye Xinglan asked.
"66." Karni answered without particular care.
"This." Wulin stopped the conversation before it began. He was holding a seed. He knew Karni wasn't here just to discuss improvements. Wulin naturally sensed the seeds with his newfound connection to nature. "You put this here, Karni?"
"Yep."
"I've sensed it in neighbouring cabins as well."
"Yep."
"A terrorist attack?" Wulin asked with frustration.
Karni nodded again. "In a few days. I'll send you a message before it starts. I planted this in every cabin to protect the civilians."
"Any details you can share?"
"Of course." Karni sat down, his eyes turning golden. Everyone looked at him with surprised but went ahead with it without asking questions.
The world around them changed and a scenario of gold started to play. The same one Karni saw in his playback of the original timeline.
… … …
"Hm. Okay." Wulin tapped his chin. "I don't suppose you'll agree to follow my lead?"
Karni smiled. "You know us so well." He was referring to Siduo who wasn't here.
"Hah. Fine." Wulin chuckled. "We did seem a bit rusty in the vision. We'll need to discuss strategy on our own as well. We'll be in contact during all of this though. For once, we can actually communicate about the future."
"It's a future I would like to change, as you saw. You can contact me at any time. Now then, enjoy the ride."
"As if we can enjoy it after this." Xie Xie grumbled.
Karni smiled. "Bamboo?" He produced a small stick of bamboo. "It tastes nicely."
Xie Xie took it, begrudgingly. "Huh. It does taste kind of good. What's it do?"
Karni shrugged. "I don't know yet. If it does anything at all. Anyone else?"
The others took it as well.
"Huh. Sweet." Yuanen Yehui said.
"Eh? Mine is sour." Xu Xiaoyan complained. "Gimme yours!"
Xu Lizhi relaxed. "It really doesn't do anything. Phew."
With that last comment, Karni left the group be. He closed the door and returned to his own cabin, where he continued teaching Ban Xiaomao.
… … …
Three days later. Karni knew it was time. It should happen today.
He handed a piece of paper to Ban Xiaomao's mother. "There's my Soul Communicator number, as well as Sisi's. Next year, once the exams open up, call any one of us. We'll take care of the rest. You don't need to worry about Intermediate Academy recommending your daughter."
"I… thank you so much. But… I thought you would decide at the very end of our trip?"
"We did. Today is the last day." Karni smiled, then looked round. Should be soon.
"End of lessons." Siduo said and sat down next to Karni. Both of them focused. The mother and daughter were just left confused. Karni contacted Wulin.
And…
There it was. Karni felt a tremble of the future sound. His Soul Rings got summoned. Royal Panda Soul Rings.
The third one shined a deep black. Lotuses sprouted inside every single cabin on the train as the train suddenly got derailed.
The mother and daughter got thrashed around all of a sudden. However, thanks to Karni's preparation they hit the giant Lotus, which was very soft. It was like falling into a pillow.
The Lotuses all got thrown outside the train. Karni needed to get the passengers out as soon as possible.
The Lotuses opened up. Hundreds of them. Everyone inside them were safe… but they were greeted with a terrifying scene.
A battalion of Evil Soul Masters greeted them above the train.
"None of them died!" One screamed.
But before they had time to focus on that, the Evil Soul Masters were greeted by a terrifying presence.
Blood Red.
Three Blood Red.
Rings, burning from Karni's body. A total of six.
Black. Black. Black. Red. Red. Red. A mighty, dangerous Soul Emperor.
His sixth Soul Ring shined. Hundreds of Karni's appeared, like mercury growing from the ground.
Tempest had evolved.
It was time to dance.