Douluo Dalu: 1st Cycle: Dancing Panda

Karni appeared outside, where there was utter chaos. Of course there was chaos. The whole realm was rumbling and threatening to fall apart. And based on what Karni was hearing, they seemed to be losing access to it.

"White Four, report." Black One quickly reached Karni when he saw him. He heard from White Eight that Karni stayed behind to take a look.

Black One thought highly of Karni, especially among the members here. He considered Karni as one of the greater talents among the participants this time.

"White Four reporting. Checked out the graveyard. The energy was coming from there. I could not get too close as the force repelled me out. Whatever happened was at the very centre of it."

Black One nodded but sighed. There was no new information. A few others have reported the same thing.

How did Karni know that they would say that? He experienced the entire timeline of this period. From beginning to the end. At least the story of the one with greatest destiny in here. Tang Wulin's destiny. And everything surrounding him.

He experienced the novel as it was written, except he didn't read it, but watched it actually go by.

"Alright White Four, you may leave."

Karni did just that. He left the forest where they entered the valley and reached the mountainside village again. There he met White Seven and Eight. He waved to them.

The princess dropped the pretence of not knowing him. She rushed to him. "Karni! Did you see what happened to Brother Wulin? He went ahead! I heard you did too!"

Karni calmed him down but sighed. "He'll be fine. Trust me. He'll just stay there for a very long time."

"How long!"

Karni looked at her.

She shrank back. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I know I said I wouldn't but…"

Karni sighed, so she ended up falling for him anyway. "He should come out in a few years. Nothing to worry about. He'll only get rewards from it."

"O-Okay."

"Yun'er." Karni addressed her with complete seriousness. "We need to talk privately."

She nodded and looked at Hua Jingxiao. "Jingxiao, move away a bit. It won't take long."

Hua Jingxiao nodded.

Karni muffled the Sound. Nothing could go in or out.

Yun'er guessed what this was about. "You said something terrible might happen if I fall in love with him…"

Karni nodded. "In the future, you would try to forcefully have sex with him. You would try to rape him." He was straightforward and neutral in tone.

"I-"

She was cut off. "But I don't believe you'll do that. Not as you are now. If it were you who never met Sisi, maybe, but… I believe you would never do that."

Yun'er was shocked. So, Karni told her about it, but also believed in her?

Karni answered her questions. "Just recently, I went through… well the whole history of this time period, as well as the future. It was due to an evolution of my Spirit Soul. Honestly, I did not realise how… genuinely spoiled and awful you would have been if you hadn't met Sisi. But you are not the same person I saw in that vision. You would never do that. You are a good person."

"Who will never win the heart of the man she loves…"

Karni nodded. "I am sorry. But… those two are genuinely meant to be. From their Martial Souls to the way they grew up."

Yun'er nodded. But one could not just get over a person they fell in love with. "I promise you, Karni. If I ever give a promise and I could keep only one, it will be this one. I will never voluntarily harm Tang Wulin."

"Mm." Karni nodded. "Sisi would be proud."

This made the princess smile a little. "I will however come and visit you when he returns."

Karni chuckled. "Then bring Long Yue with you as well. Him and I have a little deal for when we meet in the future. By that time, I should be able to help him out better."

"Oh? What's that about?"

"It's like this…"

… … …

After everything was in order—the princess all caught up, and an agreement formed—the princess and Hua Jingxiao left together, while Karni took a different car. He decided to drive directly to the seaside city they arrived in. He should just about reach the time before they depart. It shouldn't take him more than a few days.

… … …

In Monster Academy. Near the headmaster's office. En Ci sat alone in a dark corner. Two more people appeared.

"Your excellency. Is it to your liking?"

En Ci nodded gravely. "It is genuine. As for the cooperation, I will say only one thing. I will cooperate, but it will work differently than you think. We shall do this silently. I do not wish to see bloodshed inside the empire. Not when war is brewing."

One of the men smiled. "If so, right now is perfect. The envoys are leaving."

En Ci nodded. "The federation will not be as attentive for at least another year, since the talk with the envoys was quite successful. Here is the way to contact me. Now give me more of those pills."

"Of course." The man brought out a whole box of pills. "Consider it an investment. Oh, and do check what is inside. Consider it a formal show of our long-lasting cooperation."

En Ci breathed in and felt his life force invigorated. Fantastic! With these pills, he could gain at least ten years of life. He was about to look further in, to see what they were talking about.

"We shall take our leave. We will contact you soon." The man vanished alongside the younger man.

En Ci just waved them away. Then he opened the box, and his eyes shined. A Soul Bone. A right hand one… and this power… A Hundred-Thousand-Year-Old Soul Bone. It trembled with terrifying might. It even affected him. He could not refuse this… but with accepting this, he would also permanently be tied with them.

He recognised this Soul Bone after all. The Brown Lotus Panda's signature Pure Strength type Soul Bone… the fact it was a Hundred-Thousand-Year-Old one… it could only mean that the place was wiped out.

Yet En Ci took the box with the Soul Bone with him… and he smiled.

The two men disappeared, and as soon as they were out of the earshot, the subordinate spoke to his master. "Master, but wasn't the whole point of our Rebellion to incite bloodshed? We just strengthened our could be enemy!"

"It was. We did. But this is better. The crown prince is popular, and now En Ci, the strongest person in the empire is about to go against him on our orders behind the scenes. You do not understand the mindset of Limit Douluos. They are proud creatures, but they also value life more than anyone else. The Empire is about to enter a restless era. The more restless they become, the easier it will be for us to cause an 'accident'. Now we just have to wait. I say it won't take more than five years."

The man felt enlightened. "And if worse comes to worse. A civil war might even break out."

The master cackled. Patting his disciple. "That's exactly what we are here to do. Without the Limit Douluo stirring up one side, we would have had a very hard time. This is an opportunity for us to grow!"

… … …

Karni did not know that a little flame he lit up inside En Ci had grown into a fire. He was already close to the city when his nose suddenly bled.

Had he changed something else, besides Gu Yue's thought process, recently? He wasn't quite sure. If it was about the fact that Wulin and Gu Yue having sex in the future happened exactly because Yun'er tried to rape Wulin, then that should have caused a nosebleed way earlier, no? That weird scenario boosted Wulin to the level of Titled Douluo in the original timeline.

Oh yeah. He watched that whole thing in his vision. It was quite graphic... and uncomfortable. Maybe the change only truly got into effect now? And that was the reason for the delayed nosebleed? Or he was just stressed? But that couldn't be. The feeling was too similar to when he was affecting the timeline.

He wasn't worried about them not having sex, even if it affected their cultivation bases greatly. As it was, he believed that the two would get to that point naturally anyway. Both were dragons. Dragons were known for being 'active' creatures.

It only took him another half an hour to arrive to the port, where there was already a large gathering of the officials.

It didn't take him long to find his companions. When they saw him, they practically exploded in his face. Where was he? Why was he late? Oh and a few of them remembered to say hi too.

"Calm down, calm down. One at a time. I can hear you guys even if you whisper."

"Where's Wulin!" Xie Xie immediately asked.

"On a secret mission of the sect I cannot mention. Next."

"How long." Gu Yue asked.

The two stared at each other for a bit. Karni understood what she was asking. 'You know the future, so tell me.'

"Three years. So, you can't try and leave before that." Karni smiled, which made Gu Yue blush a little.

"Three years?" Xie Xie sounded worried. "How do you know?"

"Consider it a trade secret." Karni put a shushing finger on his mouth. "He's safe. Don't worry. If anything, we should practice in those years. Dude will probably come back terrifying." Karni sighed.

For some reason, when they heard him talk like that, everyone believed him. Wulin created miracles, but Karni… Karni knew when miracles would happen. And by now, they stopped questioning it.

It didn't take long for them to board the ship. In two hours, after they got comfortable in their rooms, the ship departed.

It was time to go back to the Douluo Continent. And to her.

… … …

Karni was in his room. On a wall he put a paper with everything he had to do in the three months they would be returning.

First: Figure out how his powers had changed. There were a lot of changes to consider, and he had to make sure he wasn't overlooking anything.

Second: Figure out what was up with his Martial Soul and boosting the Greatsword. Did it work on other things as well?

Third: Reach the level of a Soul King!

That last one was the easiest. He would probably reach it in the first week of cultivation. He already cultivated on the way back.

He went outside and looked around the giant yacht. It was just as big as the one they came with. It had its own shopping mall, its own gym, but what interested him was the thing next to the gym. An arena and practice places for Soul Masters!

He entered it, full of enthusiasm.

His Staff of Predictions got summoned and Karni only now noticed how the detail on it had changed. The snake was fully coiling all around the Bo Staff. It circled the Staff at least twenty times. It created a pattern that wasn't there before. Before, it spun around it as well, but it was three times at most—not enough to make a meaningful pattern.

His Soul Rings appeared, and Karni couldn't help but feel somewhat proud of himself. Four Black Soul Rings.

He decided to check his Soul Rings in the backward order. First came Sonic Rhythm.

He activated the Soul Ring, and Karni immediately noticed a difference. It was like genuine Lightning struck inside his Bo Staff, releasing mighty thunder. There was no element of actual Lightning in it, but it Sounded like it was.

It was at least three times the power! But that wasn't all. Karni released the thunder out, and he heard something else withing. A roaring dragon. The Draconic Energy seemed to affect this skill quite a bit. That and the Lightning Element Hope absorbed.

It felt like nothing it did before. Before, when he released it, there was almost no presence of Sound within. It only offered control and added that special quality of the flow with it. Now it genuinely announced its presence. The Sound was here, and it was mighty!

Honestly it needed a name change. The current one did not do it justice anymore.

He moved on to his second Soul Ring. Vision Bestowal appeared and Karni also felt a little change, but he could not really test it. He sensed more control in what appeared, but without having someone to test it, he could hardly know just how effective this control was.

He would get someone to experiment with after. It was time to check out his first Soul Ring. Golden Insight.

The world changed in colour. Gold. And the future showed itself with it.

Karni had an odd feeling. It was familiar but… the quality incomparable. He decided to go and grab Xie Xie to test skills on, and he would experiment with Golden Insight on the way.

He watched around the ship as he was walking. The gold flew freely, and the future presented itself.

In a corner, he noticed two men drinking. He focused the skill on them and was met with a surprise. That part became more detailed. It went farther. Karni could even tell parts of the far future.

It really did reach a different quality. Meditating on an event of the future should now be much more effective as well. This was the sound of the future, and not only an immediate one. He saw the far future as well!

He reached Xie Xie's room and knocked. Xie Xie answered quite quickly. "Oh Karni?"

"Would you be willing to help me test out some new skills. I can't really test them without another person. Vision Bestowal in particular."

Xie Xie sighed in relief. Of all things, he knew that Karni's Vision Bestowal was the least invasive one. As long as Karni wouldn't test his Sound abilities on him, Xie Xie was fine with it. As for why Karni chose Xie Xie. He was closest with him out of all the Shrek Seven Devils. He could as Gu Yue, but both of them were pretending that their conversation did not happen. They did not want to arouse any suspicion.

Xie Xie and Karni decided to test them right here, since Karni's skill didn't really affect reality. Only the mind.

"Alright. Hit me with it." Xie Xie spread his arms.

Karni nodded. He activated Vision Bestowal. "Tell me everything you experience."

Xie Xie was met with a familiar sight. Golden Shapes. A lot of them. Then the gold slowly blended and the surroundings seemed to change. What was that? The ship suddenly started sinking. Karni disappeared and he couldn't get out of the door. It was here that he started resisting with his Spiritual Energy. After a whole two minutes of struggling, he was finally free. By the end, he was almost drowning. He came back to reality drenched in sweat.

He looked at Karni, surprised. Meanwhile, Karni smiled. He seemed to know what happened.

"What was that?"

"It seems what were just half illusions before have now become real illusions." Karni thought to himself. "Thanks, Xie Xie, you really helped me out."

"But I didn't even say what I saw yet!"

"Yeah, but I know what you saw. I didn't know I would before, haha!" Karni was in a cheerful mood. This was great news. But more than that, this skill also needed a name change. The only one that didn't was Golden Insight. It still felt the same, it was just far more powerful and flexible now.

He went into his room to meditate. The first week would be spent on training these skills. Then it was time to check out what was up with his Martial Soul.

He started cultivating and talked to Hope in between. She seemed to be conversing with the other Spirit Souls happily. She seemed to be a surprisingly chatty one. Maybe it was because she could not speak for the last ten years, and she finally could.

"Hey, guys, we have some important discussions to have."

The three looked at him, confused.

"We need to rename two of Hope's skills. The current name doesn't do them justice anymore."

The three turned serious all at once. This was serious. The youngest yet original member needed names worthy of her skills.

Karni portrayed to them how they felt now.

"Mm." Hop was the first to comment. "Sonic Rhythm should have something to do with dragons if it sounds like them. Dragons are mighty, and Hope absorbed a lot of draconic energy."

"And lightning." Lily added. "It feels like I hear genuine thunder."

Hope was surprisingly quick to decide. The skills technically belonged to her, so she felt confident in naming them. "How about Draconic Thunder?"

"Why not just Dragon Thunder?" Hop offered.

Hope shook her head. "I am not a true dragon, nor do I want to be. I want to be my own thing."

Karni liked that train of thought. He also did not want to be connected with dragons, but there was no going back. "Draconic Thunder it is then."

"As for the second. It's an illusion, right? Something to do with illusions then?"

Hop tapped his feathers. "I remember reading a book back on the island. It had a lot of words and what else they could mean."

"A dictionary?" Karni couldn't help but chuckle.

Hop nodded furiously. "That, yes, that! I remember that another word for an illusion was a mirage. It's not exactly one to one in meaning, but it's close."

Karni nodded. "A mirage is often most connected to desert when the light refracts and looks like things are closer or different when they are."

"Like how the skill changes what is there and transforms it." Hope commented. Karni couldn't create true illusions, but he could transform the surroundings and how they are perceived now.

Karni agreed with Hope. Mirage was suitable.

"I think you should keep the bestowal. It can still bestow your future sight, correct?"

Karni and Hope nodded together. Hope was the one to speak first. "Mirage Bestowal it is then."

"Mirage Bestowal and Draconic Thunder. I like it." Karni was satisfied.

"And one final thing, Hope." Karni looked at her. "You are quite different than what you used to be. You are the first of your species to reach your level. I think you get the right to name this stage of your species."

Everyone turned to her. Hop and Lily gave suggestions before, but this time, they let her alone decide.

She stayed silent for a bit, before looking at Karni with her slitless eyes. "I see more now than all, I see beyond. Even my body resembles the Golden Flow that brought you here. I shall call this stage of my species the Flow-Seeing Rattlesnake."

Karni smiled at that. Indeed, the Golden Flow, was something greater than all. At least in terms of constraints of the world, it was something from beyond. "It's a great name, Hope. And thank you for including me in this."

"Without you, my species would never even get close to this stage. I thank you instead."

Karni could only smile at that. He nodded in appreciation toward her.

 Then he turned to Hopper.

"Hop, get ready and start brainstorming for names as well. I should breakthrough soon."

Hop felt elated. "Yes!"

… … …

"Quivering Silver Feathers." Hop called out from inside.

Karni was in the training area. Five Soul Rings circling around him. Five pitch black Soul Rings. In a week, he reached the next level. He was a true Soul King now!

He was testing the new ability.

The staff grew feathers on it. Metallic silver feathers that seemed almost alive. They moved in irregular ways, dancing on top of the staff. Due to that, Hop decided quite quickly. The new skill would be called the Quivering Silver Feathers.

Karni swung the staff horizontally, and the feathers moved with it. He pushed out Sound, and the feathers cooperated, moving with the Sound. But it wasn't the usual Sound. As the Sound travelled, it brought Space with it. Karni was moving and controlling Space.

Still not directly, much to Hop's sadness, but it was the closest Karni would get to directly controlling Space. Moving it around, shaping it through the Sound, and the feathers were the medium that controlled how it was shaped. The movement of the feathers would be the key to mastering this skill.

Karni focused on it. If he did it really slowly, he could even move each individual feather. And the feathers were small! There was hundreds of them that grew on the Bo Staff.

Hop was apparently familiar with the skill, because it was almost identical to how he controlled space.

"But something is missing." Crow jumped out of Karni's Spiritual Sea and fused into the Soul Skill. "Do it again."

Karni swung and the result was completely different. Not only did the feathers stop quivering, but they also turned from soft and comfortable to hard as metal. And his swing…

Karni saw it. A crack in space. It tore apart the very space!

"What the fuck."

Crow flew out of the Bo Staff, looking proud. "Behold, the true power of Quivering Silver Feathers!"

"Hop. This is exactly what I needed! A direct attack skill for the staff! Imagine what would happen when we join it together with Disordered Spiral Resonance! With Still Harmony!"

"Don't forget that complete release of power with Sonic Entropy!" The crow cackled maniacally. He could already imagine Karni using his new skills. He really did gift Karni the perfect new skill Karni needed.

"Alright, change of plans. We'll put four hours of training every day for this. At least until I figure out what's up with the Greatsword. After that we'll be training the fusions constantly."

Hop jumped on Karni's shoulders and flapped his wings, excited. Karni would become a completely different beast. He gained so many things on this trip. If he were to face his past self that person would lose instantly just with Karni's new Staff abilities. Not to mention the Panda!

But Karni started to sense a silent worry amidst all this happiness. Three skills evolved, and in total, he gained for new Soul Skills on this trip. That was… a lot. That was a lot of skills to truly use effectively at the same time. It was one thing to master one skill, it was another to use the skills seamlessly together.

However, his mind thought of the Greatsword. It would allow him to use his Martial Souls at the same time. It would hopefully help him solve this uneasy feeling.

… … …

Karni copied the inscription array he put on the Greatsword so the Bo Staff would be connected. He made multiple replicas. And put them on different weapons. There was one on a straight sword, another on the head of a hammer. In both cases, the staff acted as a handle.

The other members of the team were also gathered around him. They were all caught up with the problem Karni was facing right now. As their lead designer, they decided to support him, since all of them might use his designs and new technology in the future.

Yuanen Yehui was currently wielding the hammer. She looked disturbed. "It doesn't feel as strong as when I watched you. Say, what if you put your staff in here and I tried wielding it again?"

Karni thought about it and did just that. He summoned his Martial Soul, put it into the hammer, then gave it to Yuanen Yehui.

Yehui grabbed the hammer and instantly said. "It's stronger. Did you activate any skills?"

"Not yet. Not that I can. The connecting array is there, but the Soul Ring adaptation arrays are not present."

"Huh." She swung it around. Everyone heard it. Sound was accompanied with it, despite Karni not activating his Soul Rings.

"It really does appear like your Martial Soul strengthens whatever its attached to. It did so with the Greatsword and the Straight Sword when you tried it as well."

"Yeah..." Karni went into thought. For some reason, it made some amount of sense.

"Douluo to Karni. Tell us what you're thinking." Xu Xiaoyan said.

"Right. So, you know how for each person, depending on what their Martial Soul is, they usually gain comprehension with it? Xiaoyan, you have some comprehension with the element of Stars. Xie Xie with Daggers and shadow and light. As well as the Momentum Storage that he understood in his battle against me? Xie Xie, that's all connected to your Martial Soul, right? Speed, Space, Daggers…"

Xie Xie nodded. "The I thought that Momentum Storage was not connected to it, but it turned out that it was as well, yes. I have some control over Space, and that helped me understand it. How'd you know?"

"I assumed."

"Right. Like always." Xie Xie grumbled.

"I always thought my Martial Soul was almost a personification of Sound, and there was a reason behind that. Firstly, the obvious. It seemed to be of a higher quality of Sound than other Sound Martial Souls I encountered. But the other reason was that in all my years wielding it as a Bo Staff, I never gained comprehension in the way of the Bo Staff, despite training in its move set for quite a number of years."

"What about the Drumstick form?" Yue Zhengyu asked.

"Same. Never gained comprehension in it. It was more the movement I understood than the weapon aspect of it."

"That sounds almost insulting." Ye Xinglan said. She was perhaps the most knowledgeable when it came to comprehensions of weapons. "The way you wield those Drumsticks should have definitely given you comprehension in that aspect. You're a monster with them."

Karni smiled. "Why thanks. But that's just it. It was always Sound that guided me, whenever I tried to think of it as a weapon."

"What about your Guardian Greatsword then?" Ye Xinglan further questioned.

"And that's the last point. The Greatsword is a weapon I created and attached the staff to. Not only was I able to comprehend parts of the Greatsword, and have also started closing in on its consciousness, but my Martial Soul also strengthened it."

"Which," Karni pulled out the Bo Staff out of the hammer, "if my theory is correct…" he destroyed the inscription on the hammer head and pulled out same basic tape, then put the staff back into the hammer and taped the two together roughly. "It should strengthen this regardless of how it's attached!"

He slammed the hammer on the ground, and wouldn't you know it, it was the same strength as before.

"How…" Xie Xie was most confused.

"If Karni's Martial Soul strengthens whatever it's attached to, it wouldn't make sense that the Martial Soul would differentiate between Soul Array attachment or just… tape." Yu Xinglan explained with some frustration.

Karni nodded. "That was my train of thought as well."

"What about the Soul Skills?" Yue Zhengyu immediately identified the next question on everyone's mind.

Karni tried it out. "Hmm. Golden Insight seems to have a basic effect… Mirage Bestowal as well… So does Draconic Thunder." That was actually worse. He had basic control, but they weren't directly applied to the weapon. The Sound was more efficient when specifically attached to the Greatsword through adaptive arrays. Those directly channelled Sound into it and gave it direction. Right now, Karni had to control it manually instead.

He tried out his new ability. The Quivering Silver Feathers.

Silver feathers grew on staff, but not on the actual hammer head. Interesting. If he adapted it to the Greatsword, he could definitely make the feathers grow on the whole Greatsword. Now that would be a great combination. He had to change the Guardian by the time they reached Douluo Continent.

"That's odd. If it strengthens stuff its attached to, shouldn't the Soul Skills also be attached?"

Unless the staff wasn't created with this plane's laws in mind. A thought flashed through Karni. He always had a theory that this Martial Soul came from that Golden Flow he saw when he first arrived in this world. This almost seemed to control the flow or at least had direct access to it. That flow likely made it fuse with Karni for whatever reason. It was likely that it used to be part of a greater whole or made with adaptation in mind. Or at least those were the most plausible theories.

Karni did not know why, but he expected that he would find out some day as to why this Martial Soul was given to him. With its abilities, it felt more like the role of this Martial Soul was to project the Sound that the Flow Released. Like a messenger of the Flow, an instrument to access it.

Huh. If the flow was the cosmos—a timeline—then the staff was an instrument of the cosmos. A cosmic instrument.

"What's more odd is its name." Xie Xie complained. "Staff of Predictions? Isn't that like, only the first Soul Ring? Everything else is connected with Sound! Whoever named that had a shitty naming convention."

Karni's eyebrows twitched. "It's a mutated Martial Soul…"

The room fell silent. Everyone knew that people with mutated Martial Souls usually named them themselves, unless it was not a unique mutation.

"Uh. Big Brother, forgive me." Xie Xie pleaded. He was kind of scared of Karni after the guy grew so much. Plus, his experience with Wulin told him that he was about to get his ass whooped.

"It's fine. I was six. And its passive affects also show me predictions. Little did I know back then that those were Sounds of the Future. Everything is connected through Sound, like you said. It does need a new name…"

"A cosmic instrument…" Karni thought out loud. What name would be suitable for a cosmic instrument?

"Cosmic Instrument? That seems like a good name." Xu Xiaoyan suddenly said. "It sounds powerful. We know it's connected with sound, and it manipulates space while being connected with future, which means time as well. Both of them are cosmic forces. Just like stars. A little arrogant of a name, but…" She smiled.

"We're monsters of Shrek Academy after all." Yue Zhengyu completed her sentence, his face looking proud.

Everyone seemed to be in agreement.

Cosmic Instrument as a name? Karni looked at his staff… instrument. "Cosmic Instrument it is then."

"You won't check with your girlfriend before changing the name?" Xu Xiaoyan teased.

Karni looked offended. "She might have the rights to my body, but she doesn't have the rights to my Martial Soul."

The room fell silent before exploding in laughter. Only Karni would say that someone had the rights to his body in such a nonchalant way. He and Siduo had always been a bit too open about everything.

This return trip turned out to be one big renaming session.

After the whole renaming event was over, Karni returned to his room. It was time to make some adaptations to his Guardian Greatsword. Not enough for it to be worth called a Mark Three, but it was going to be a small upgrade nonetheless.

However, the little worry he had at the back of his mind about his abilities growing too quickly returned. He really might need a little rest after all this. He needed to make sure his foundations wouldn't fall apart.

… … …

Karni cultivated in his room. He was close to breaking through rank 53 already. His speed of cultivation really did speed up after his Bloodline was consolidated.

Everything he needed to do, he did. The Guardian was completed and refined. His new abilities were understood, and his understanding of his Martial Soul gained a new meaning.

However, his worries turned out to be true. Due to his newfound power, he was quite clumsy with its usage. Training with the Guardian did not prove to ease his worries, even when he used abilities together with its help.

But more than that, he started to get a bit confused as to what his path was meant to be. A control system? Sure, that's what he had always been. He did not want to lose that. But defence as well, due to the new Panda abilities? What about the effects of the Cosmic Instrument? Depending on its usage, the potential for Spiritual Attack was great. Quivering Silver Feathers also offered a new dangerous option which he could focus around. The techniques he developed were also a mix of attack and control. There was also Lily's Soul Bone, and its power that dominated in strength. There was just so much he could suddenly do that he could not before.

He needed a vacation. Preferably a long one with Siduo. A calm place to relax and think things out.

His cultivation was interrupted by the horn of the ship. A long, mighty horn. Wait. Didn't that mean…

He quickly went outside, as did the rest of the Shrek students. They all went to the front of the ship. And there they saw it. Distant land. Douluo Continent. Their home.

There was about six hours left. Home was close.

For some reason, Karni got nervous. Finally, he would see her again. No, no. There was still a need to travel to the academy… unless… unless Siduo came to the seaside city. Knowing her, she might do something like that.

A barber. He needed to find a barber. There should be one on a big ship with big shots of the federation, right? Right?

Karni summoned his Martial Soul—the Cosmic Instrument—five Black Soul Rings appearing. He started Shifting around the place. There had to be a Barber somewhere around here!

… … …

Karni was on the very front of the ship. They were about to land. There were hundreds of people waiting for them. Luckily, he managed to find a barber.

He cut his hair a lot. He had very long wavy hair before, now he trimmed them. His hair was still wavy and thick, but it did not reach his chin now.

He felt refreshed and a bit lighter. He hoped Siduo would like it. He was getting nervous. So many people.

He couldn't wait for the ship to truly dock… where was she? Red hair, red hair.

He activated his Purple Demon Eyes and immediately saw the people in detail. It didn't take him long to see a person standing out with her auburn hair, two pointy cat ears standing straight. She was looking at him too. A similar purple shine in her eyes.

Her hair was cut short as well. Only down to her neck. She smiled. Fucking cute!

He couldn't control himself. He Shifted immediately, appearing within the public. Some people were surprised by his sudden appearance, but not her. She was waiting for it.

She jumped into his arms, teary eyed. And everything was as it should be. They could not find any words to say.

The two parted a little and started into the eyes. They could not help it. So what if it was in public.

Their faces closed the distance. And they melted into each other. A warm but deep kiss reconnected them. He was home!