Chapter 6: Shrek's Judgment
"Yes, Father, the missions of the Shrek Supervisory Group are indeed difficult, especially when they involve evil soul masters. So far, I've completed fewer than twenty tasks."
The voice came through the soul guide phone, calm and composed. A soul douluo standing nearby—assigned to protect Beibei—nodded quietly, acknowledging the boy's report.
"Shrek is the number one academy on the continent," the elder replied. "It's no surprise they'd assign such complicated monitoring tasks to disciples of the inner courtyard. But you still have time. There's no need to rush."
There was a short pause, and then the man spoke again, his tone more purposeful.
"By the way, do you have a task at the moment? I've found someone here who's suspected of being an evil soul master. You could take this opportunity to complete another mission."
"Evil soul master?" the youth asked, his voice immediately sharpening with interest.
"Yes. He's dressed like a common civilian, no insignia or anything that marks him as a sect member. Looks to be around thirteen or fourteen years old. He went into the Star Dou Great Forest alone to obtain his third soul ring. A prodigy like him, yet he never enrolled in our Shrek Academy."
The man's tone grew colder. "Even after killing the soul beasts and absorbing their rings, he brazenly took their corpses with him—corpses that should have remained in the Star Dou Great Forest. Yang Peng, you understand what that means, don't you?"
"I understand, Father."
Yang Peng narrowed his eyes. A civilian boy, about thirteen or fourteen, with a cultivation already at level 30, and not affiliated with Shrek. To top it off, he took soul beast corpses from the forest. That alone was enough to put him on Shrek's blacklist.
He had committed a grave offense—not by law, but by Shrek's standards.
Shrek Academy prided itself on being the strongest institution on the continent. Over the years, they had established their own set of standards for identifying evil soul masters. These standards, however, were skewed to protect Shrek's power and reputation above all else.
According to Shrek, even soul masters who didn't harm others but cultivated using soul beast blood could be labeled as evil. Yet, in the shadows, Shrek faculty slaughtered large numbers of soul beasts to refine secret soul bones. This contradiction didn't go unnoticed by critics.
Some readers of Douluo Continent have often called this a blatant double standard—typical of Tang Jia San Shao's narrative. But the deeper truth had little to do with fiction.
It mirrored reality more than readers liked to admit.
It was like the wealthy preaching water conservation while wasting enormous amounts on golf courses and leaving faucets running at home. The hypocrisy wasn't unique to the story—it was systemic.
Take the case of Dragon God Douluo Moon. When he encountered Zhang Peng, he didn't hesitate to beat him down, labeling him a half-evil soul master for using soul beast blood in his cultivation. But Moon himself possessed three 100,000-year soul rings and a full set of soul bones. Even Shrek Academy's canteen served soul beast meat daily.
In terms of soul beast casualties, Zhang Peng was insignificant compared to the Academy.
It was as if a young slaughterhouse executive condemned an ordinary butcher for being inhumane—when he himself oversaw the mass killing of livestock for profit.
These so-called double standards were, in fact, deliberate strategy. It was one of the reasons Shrek remained dominant for tens of thousands of years. Their leadership knew what truly mattered—power and preservation of resources.
Zhang Peng hadn't harmed any innocent civilians. Under normal logic, he wouldn't be considered an evil soul master. But two critical factors changed everything.
First, he wasn't one of Shrek's own. If a prodigy like Zhang Peng succeeded outside of their control, it could shatter Shrek's carefully maintained myth of being unmatched among peers. If Shrek was to be known as the top academy, no outsider could be allowed to rise above their own.
Second, Zhang Peng killed too many soul beasts.
Soul beasts were finite. The more he killed, the fewer remained for Shrek's use. From Shrek's perspective, he was depleting their future resources. That alone made him a threat.
In other words, if Zhang Peng hunted soul beasts but never harmed a person, it still didn't matter. He wasn't affiliated with Shrek. He was consuming what they considered theirs. That alone justified labeling him as evil.
And yet, had Zhang Peng simply agreed to join Shrek, all would have been forgiven. He would've been welcomed, perhaps even honored as a Super Douluo under their banner.
Soul beasts weren't humans. What soul master hadn't killed soul beasts? For the so-called "stability" of the soul master world, Shrek could justify any number of killings in the name of strength and order.
And humans? Figures like Ma Xiaotao and Tang Ya in Douluo Continent II had taken lives. Yet they still became leaders—the Sea God Pavilion Master and the Tang Sect Leader, respectively.
Some might say they were under external control when they killed. But what about before that? Ma Xiaotao nearly killed Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong upon first meeting. Her killing intent wasn't a new development.
By Douluo Continent III, Shrek even recruited a demon king to become part of its upper echelon. That decision alone proved the institution wasn't plagued by double standards—they simply followed a logic of self-preservation and benefit.
For Shrek, no matter what sins you committed—if you belonged to them, you were not an evil soul master.
But if you didn't—and worse, if you consumed resources they believed should be theirs—then even a genius child with a "dark-looking" martial soul could be condemned.
"Your martial soul looks a bit dark, huh? We suspect you're an evil soul master."
"You're so strong for your age? And you don't have a powerful background? Definitely suspicious."
But if the same youth had a noble sponsor?
"Oh, must've been a misunderstanding."
This self-serving logic allowed Shrek to consolidate its power, eliminating or absorbing any unaffiliated talents before they could rise.
Now, this youth named Xiao Qiang checked every box on their list.
He wasn't from Shrek. He was a young, talented commoner. While his martial soul was still a mystery, he had no strong backers, and he'd already made a mistake in Shrek's eyes—taking soul beast corpses from the forest. Accusations could be made up. Justification was never in short supply.
"It's good you understand what I mean," said the elder on the phone. "Go ahead—and be careful."
"Don't worry, Father." Yang Peng's voice was calm and confident. "I'm already level 68. A six-ring Soul Emperor against a three-ring Soul Master? No matter how you calculate it, I have the advantage."