Who Are You?

Training by day, doing mundane tasks at lunch and fighting at night. Yao Guai's opponents started becoming more and more stronger as rumors of his strength echoed through Soutuo's spirit arena. An eight year old arrogantly trampling on soul masters far exceeding his soul rank without even using his martial soul.

His identity as the Green Emperor undoubtedly attracted the arena's management. Causing them losses as bets started piling up in favor of the eight year old. It wasn't just that Yao Guai's battles were limited to rank 11 to 20 Soul Masters as the matchup. The kid went as far as to challenge rank 21 to 30 Soul grandmasters.

They had two rings, two soul skills yet none were still able in forcing out Yao's martial soul. Gaining valuable combat experience, Yao Guai only got stronger as days passed.

Pop!

Rising from his trance, Yao stretched his body. Bones issuing cracking and popping sounds and the child exhaled a gust of impure white mist. As the night started approaching, he started trekking back to the arena. His soul power had broken through to rank 13 over the course of twenty days. A speed terrifying as it is, it still didn't satiate his hunger for strength.

He pulled out a badge from his pocket, glinting in silver, the moonlit beams of the starry skies above bounced of it. Allowing the silver fighting badge to shine akin to a beacon lighting up Yao Guai's way.

"One last match. One last match and I'll enter gold." Rank surpassing challenges, a twenty nine straight win streak, he had far surpassed Zhao Wuji's requirement for entering Shrek Academy. This last fight tonight wouldn't be necessary though Yao still wished to do it.

It will cement his fame as the youngest gold ranked fighter in the Douluo Continent. Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan, Seven Treasure Glazed Tiled Pagoda Clan, even Spirit Hall. All of them were already looking for the mysterious youth clad in green magically disappearing after his battles.

Everyone looked at him highly. A future powerful titled douluo was their estimate but those powers as strong as Spirit Hall know that becoming a rank 99 limit douluo was possible for Yao as long as he was supported and cultivated properly.

[Don't get too cocky Yao.] As Yao Guai was laughing, proudly being full of himself, Sun warned through their mental communication. 'Cocky? I'm not, I'm just being confident.' The man shrugged it off, his ego had been fed to such a dangerous degree that he was starting to change slightly.

Sun shook his head. [Do you want me to smash your face in again?] Immediately Yao's mood plummeted. His arrogance was restrained once more and he returned to the usual calm yet calculative mood. 'You killed my mood.' He sighed. [That's not the only thing that would die if you keep going that direction] Sun added.

Shrugging his shoulders, Yao whistled a tune and pulled out a letter from his pocket. He was sitting just outside the colosseum wearing patched up ragged clothes. The man's body was clean but he was posing like a beggar to avoid being noticed too much.

A white envelope with a pink seal on the middle, in the seal was a tower pointing to the heavens progressively growing smaller the higher it went. Scented in sandalwood, Yao opened it up to reveal the interesting contents inside.

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Dear Little Emperor

I won't waste your precious time and go straight to the point. The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan wishes to shelter and nurture your talent into full maturity. Negotiations are still open, if the Green Emperor wishes to talk and come to an agreement then please proceed towards XXX XXX XXX. Also, my daughter is curious and wishes to see you.

Sincerely,

Ning Fengzi

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Yao Guai yawned, his hands moved, pinching the letter at two side preparing to tear it into shreds but ultimately decided not to. Instead the man folded it back into the envelope and tossed it into his pocket dimension again.

Snickering, Sun lazily laid on a bed of grasses back in the dimension. Reading the contents of the letter sent from a prestigious clan. [A letter from the clan master himself? Maybe I should mimic your win streak then join. I'll get all the good food I want and I'll get stronger! What do you say Yao? Should you go there?] Excited again, the monkey started getting worked up.

Yao shook his head. 'Maybe next time. Not now I don't need the glazed clan yet.' Not only was it dangerous, he might get caught by a shrewd competitor. Ning Fengzi was a businessman just as he was, and as the clan head of the continent's richest superpower, the old fox should possess a ton of cunning tactics that would be hard to defend against.

The last part of the letter was already problematic. 'This old shit wants to engage me to go on a date with his daughter.' How bold it was that such a notion baffled even Yao Guai. Wasn't the old coot supposed to be weary of his over arrogant demeanor?

'Or he could've seen through my ruse.' Yao was only acting after all, he can't commit to the arrogant Green Emperor 24/7 as it was hard to emulate. His moves need to be domineering, his tone should look down on the world itself and his balls should threaten to sink the continent due to their sheer weight and density.

Yao Guai hastily stood up. A bad omen sent his instincts flying and he looked around seeing no danger. He was still outside the arena waiting for his name, he had already scheduled this morning for a fight and he guessed that the management was racking their brains looking for someone who could match him.

His opponents can only be within his realm or just up to the limit of the next. Meaning the strongest they can send was a rank 30 Soul Grandmaster on the cusp of breaking through to the next level.

"You sensed it didn't you?" Yao lowly asked his spirit beast friend. By now Sun was already gripping his staff with a frown. [Not good Yao, I smell a spirit beast, a really strong one.]

With that said Yao pulled out his martial soul. The assault armor glowed and was replaced with a different spell card. Activating it hastily, Yao ran through the dark alleys until his clothes and whole body turned invisible.

A lot of people were looking for the green emperor. It was thanks to this invisibility spell card that he can always get away undetected.

Unease crept into Yao Guai's chest, he felt threatened for the first time after arriving at Soutuo City. Even Zhao Wuji wasn't enough to faze him while this unknown danger can.

'What the hell is a spirit beast doing inside this city???' Yao questioned it so. There were only a handful of spirit beasts that can infiltrate human settlements and be undetected. But this one was targeting him and he can't find it, Yao Guai guessed that even the stronger Soul Masters such as Flender who were walking around the city was unable to sense it as well.

The feeling he felt earlier could be compared to three pairs of eyes locking at him. Eyeing the child as prey, a delicious and interesting morsel. Nothing more, nothing less.

'Is it a man faced demon spider?' Those spiders can become invisible upon reaching ten thousand years of age. At that point even titled douluos have trouble finding them.

Yao Guai denied it, there was no reason for a man faced demon spider to go as far as to look for him deliberately in Soutuo City. Unless this fanfiction world followed the usual overly done xianxia route and that the spider he killed back then was the grandson of a powerful Man Faced Demon Spider from some stupid secret spider sect.

An unknown variable was introduced. Yao's mind was spinning trying to readjust his plans to take into account of this variable but the possibilities were practically endless.

Yao Guai was getting stressed. He didn't like it when things didn't go exactly as planned. Today was the last day and no danger was supposed to pop out.

He kept on thinking and thinking. Speculating and speculating about the current predicament he was in.

'What's the spirit beast.' 'How can it get in here undetected.' 'Why target me?' 'How should I deal with this?' 'Can Sun and I beat it?' 'Should I stop this posturing and just go to Shrek already?' 'What are the chances of dying?' 'Do I go look for help?'

'What should I do?' Yao Guai held his head.

'What should I do?' 'What's the best move?' 'Which benefits should I strive for?'

'Think Yao Guai think. You need to adapt and losing is not an option no matter what.'

The boy gritted his teeth. 'I refuse to fail at a critical juncture again.'

'I need to succeed. I need to take the best route.'

'Things are deviating from plans, a new external variable appeared.'

'I need to salvage this.'

Stress and Anxiety was beginning to eat out the child's state of mind. Absentmindedly dressing up as the Green Emperor, he entered the stage after his title was announced.

"Ladies and Gentlemen I present you! The one! The only! The Green Emperor! THIRTY TWO! I REPEAT! THIRTY TWO CONSECUTIVE WINS! Opponents all far stronger than him even reaching up to the very limits of a Soul Grand master!"

"Eight years old yet already this strong! He is heaven's beloved child! The kid who will grow up and look down upon the whole world! We all know him for his ability and arrogance!"

"The same rules apply! No martial soul! But what would be the second handicap this time???"

"I won't use my hands? I won't use my eyes? Or will he glare at the opponent into submission?"

The announcer seems to be extremely biased and overpraised Yao Guai. Cheers rocked the whole colosseum as thousands and thousands of spectators bellowed in fervor. They were here to see, they were here to witness another fight of the sudden new star that had popped out of nowhere.

People loved legends, they loved fantasies and seeing a child doing what was seen to be impossible struck the spectators with a sense of hype! They wanted to see Yao Guai fight more, they wanted to see how high he can soar!

Yao Guai winced as he was getting even more dizzy. By now all he can hear was the buzzing of shouts.

His vision was spinning as he kept on thinking, his brain going into overdrive as his mind looked for solutions.

"And on the other corner another kid who could probably rival the Green Emperor!"

'Kid?' Yao Guai was unsure if he heard it right.

It shouldn't be possible, he should be the only kid in this generation that can do what he can do. Tang San may be able to replicate it with great difficulty if he used hidden weapons but taking that person's nature into account it was simply impossible. He was no glory seeker.

"Seventeen straight wins! All ending in grievous injuries for the opponent! A powerful lion who descended from the wilderness!"

"Give it up for Scarlet Devil!"

The crowd went even wilder.

[Yao snap out of it! I can smell it! He's here!]

And sun woke up his friend. Throwing away his messy thoughts, Yao Guai focused himself on the current match. From the other side of the arena came a child no taller than him. Both of their bodies were extremely toned and seemed to radiate power.

This child had red burning hair, eyes dyed in blood as killing intent seemingly filled the area at his behest.

If the Green Emperor radiated arrogance and invincibility then this red haired kid emitted solemnity hiding a nightmare underneath. Two sides of the opposite coin.

Yao Guai's mind spun, he did not recognize who this character was. And sun wasn't helping him ease his worries either.

[Yao break the rule. Summon me.]

'No, I won't lose.' Yao snorted, unwilling to stain his persona and hard work with a loss or a victory brought by using the martial soul.

It was there that Yao Guai finally realized how dire the situation was once hearing his friend's next words.

[Yao, remember how you told me a lot of things and how cultivation works.]

[Yao… By following that logic, that Scarlet Devil is no human just from his weird presence alone.]

[He's a powerful spirit beast turned human.]