Douluo:Peerless Tang Sect: Douluo of Peaceful Heaven

Shrek City – Tianying Pavilion.

Inside a private room, six young students—three boys and three girls—raised their cups in celebration. These six were: Zhu Ziyang, Jiang Nannan, Tang Ya, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Xue Weiwei.

They were gathered to celebrate Jiang Nannan's successful promotion to the Inner Court. Tang Ya had personally reserved the table at Tianying Pavilion as a special gift for her best friend, and of course, it was Young Master Bei Bei who paid the deposit.

"Waaah~ Nannan, now that you've entered the Inner Court, I'll be all alone in our dorm!" Tang Ya said, pretending to cry pitifully.

"Oh please," Jiang Nannan chuckled, not falling for the act. "Isn't that exactly what you wanted? Now Bei Bei can visit you in your dorm anytime without anyone watching."

"Ugh—"

Caught red-handed, Tang Ya's face turned bright red. She raised her hand as if to pounce.

"You little brat! Watch me shut that mouth of yours!"

The two girls began to playfully wrestle, drawing laughter from the entire group.

Though all six of them were under the age of fourteen, their lowest soul power was already at Rank 32.

Naturally, the lowest among them was Tang Ya. Her Blue Silver Grass martial soul had always held her back. Without her relentless hard work—and several doses of rare medicinal pills—she never would've reached Rank 32 by the age of thirteen.

But from now on, Tang Ya would no longer be constrained by the limitations of her martial soul.

Her luck had turned.

During the break, while out searching for her third soul ring with Bei Bei, she had hoped to follow Zhu Ziyang's advice and absorb a high-quality plant-type soul ring. But by sheer coincidence, she encountered and absorbed a freshly matured thousand-year-old immortal herb—an Immortal Spirit Grass.

The Immortal Spirit Grass was an extremely rare, top-tier plant-type soul beast with a powerful life attribute. It was said that the Ten Thousand Demon King—one of the Ten Great Savage Beasts—had evolved from an ordinary Demon-Eyed Devil Tree into a 500,000-year beast by devouring one such grass.

After Tang Ya absorbed it, not only did her soul power jump to Rank 32, but her martial soul also evolved from the ordinary Blue Silver Grass into the Bluegold Spirit Grass, a top-grade plant-type martial soul with a pure life attribute.

Now, Tang Ya's talent was easily on par with geniuses like Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi.

Her gratitude and admiration toward Zhu Ziyang only grew. She credited her transformation entirely to him. If not for his advice, she would've followed the same failed path her elders had taken—continuing to stack weak Blue Silver Grass soul rings and missing her opportunity for evolution.

If she hadn't sought the Sky Star Vine for her second ring, she never would've run into the Immortal Spirit Grass while searching for the Ink Jade Bamboo.

All of it—every turning point—traced back to Ziyang's words.

Because of that, Tang Ya was filled with determination:

"Once I revive the Tang Sect, I'll make Ziyang its Chief Elder—even if my martial soul isn't Blue Silver Grass anymore. It's time to end the outdated rule that only those with Blue Silver Grass can become Sect Leader."

This was her greatest dream after advancing to her third ring.

Aside from Tang Ya, the other three—Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and Xue Weiwei—had already surpassed Rank 35.

Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi were both Rank 36, neck and neck like eternal rivals. Xue Weiwei had just reached Rank 35.

With such talent, they were expected to reach Soul Ancestor level by their fourth year.

No wonder their cohort had been dubbed the "Heaven-Piercing Generation" by the Outer Court instructors. At this pace, in a few decades, at least four of them might become Title Douluo—a feat not seen since the era of Yan Shaozhe and Xian Lin'er, nearly a century ago.

Back on campus.

Academy life resumed its usual calm. On this day, the Inner Court's dueling arena was abuzz with activity.

Two years from now, the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament would take place. As always, Shrek Academy, reigning champions for countless generations, was preparing to compete.

Despite their track record, they took every tournament extremely seriously.

Following tradition, Shrek would send two teams:

Seven main team members from the Inner Court

Seven reserve members from the Outer Court

Usually, this meant that the current reserves would become the next main team—ensuring every generation had experience across two tournaments.

But this time, there was a problem.

The previous preliminary team—those who were now supposed to form the main team—had suffered serious losses.

Their captain, Ma Xiaotao, had withdrawn indefinitely due to her martial soul's instability. Two other members had dropped out of the academy entirely and never joined the Inner Court.

That left only four eligible team members—a number far too low to represent Shrek in the tournament.

So, on this day, a special selection was held.

All Inner Court disciples under the age of twenty were gathered at the arena. Among them, only four candidates met the requirements—including Zhu Ziyang and Jiang Nannan.

The selection was overseen by none other than Xian Lin'er.

"Xian Elder, everyone's here," said Zhang Lexuan, who was helping officiate.

"Good. Then let's begin," Xian Lin'er nodded.

At her command, the eight students—four existing team members and four candidates—took their positions.

The four current team members stepped back behind Xian Lin'er. They were:

Acting Captain: Dai Yueheng – Power Attack Type, Rank 55 Soul King, Martial Soul: White Tiger

Team Member: Ling Luocheng – Control Type, Rank 48 Soul Ancestor, Martial Soul: Ice

Team Member: Gongyang Mo – Support Type, Rank 51 Soul King, Martial Soul: Rainbow Dragon

Team Member: Chen Zifeng – Power Attack Type, Rank 49 Soul Ancestor, Martial Soul: Soulchasing Sword

"Yueheng, who do you think will be joining us?"

Gongyang Mo leaned in with a mischievous glint. Though handsome and tall, his mannerisms were delicate and theatrical—his signature "orchid finger" gesture adding a unique flair to everything he did.

"If you talk to me like that again, I'll pluck your feathers!"

Dai Yueheng scowled.

"Hehe, don't be mad!" Gongyang Mo replied, straightening up. When serious, he looked quite refined.

"I don't know about the others, but Junior Brother Zhu Ziyang will definitely be our teammate," said Chen Zifeng, his tone firm. He was calm, composed, and well-acquainted with Ziyang.

"Zifeng's right," Yueheng agreed.

"Ziyang is only thirteen, but he's already Rank 45—stronger than Ma Xiaotao was at this age. Unless the academy is deliberately holding him back, he's guaranteed to join us."

"What we're missing isn't a powerhouse," said Ling Luocheng, the only girl among them. "We need a speed-type Soul Master. According to balanced team composition, we should be considering Xi Xi and Jiang Nannan. One of them is bound to be selected."

She was right—and Xian Lin'er had already made her decision.

Zhu Ziyang had been handpicked by Mu En to join the team. As he put it:

"Ziyang needs real-world experience."

The second spot went to a student from the Soul Tool Department, soon to join the Inner Court. Xian Lin'er had included them as a backup—in case Ma Xiaotao couldn't return.

As for Yao Haoxuan, his martial soul and combat abilities were deemed unsuitable for the team's needs.

The real dilemma was the final position: the team's Agility Attack specialist.

Only Jiang Nannan and Xi Xi met the criteria.

Were it up to Xian Lin'er, she would have directly chosen Nannan—after all, Nannan was the personal disciple of her mother, the continent's number one agility-type Soul Master. How could she be lacking?

But Nannan's soul power was Rank 41—and with just two years to reach Soul King level, her odds weren't as high as Xi Xi's, who was already Rank 45.

Given that all main team members had to be at least Soul Kings, Xian Lin'er decided to hold a duel between the two.

Winner takes the final spot.