"What a pity, we didn't manage to capture Ghost Emperor," Feng Wuyu said with a tone full of regret.
His aura was somewhat chaotic at this moment.
The battle had been intense—his soul power was nearly depleted, and he sustained injuries.
During the fight, his role was to intercept the non-limit evil soul masters while Long Yeyue and Zang Xin coordinated with the numerous soul-guided rays from the Tang Sect to corner Ghost Emperor.
However, the Ghost Emperor was still a quasi-god, and among quasi-gods, he was one of the top-tier ones.
As for Feng Wuyu, even though he was only dealing with some non-limit evil soul masters, he still ended up injured.
Evil soul masters were different from regular soul masters. In life-or-death situations, they would go berserk, and their final counterattacks were indiscriminate. This time, Feng Wuyu had been caught in a chain of corpse explosions, along with curses, poisons, and other lethal techniques.
All of these could affect a Limit Douluo.
If it weren't for his transformation and the four-word battle armor that granted him flame abilities at an extreme level, he might not have been able to withstand all those terrifying soul skills and subdue the evil soul masters.
"Although Ghost Emperor escaped, he was heavily injured. Even if he recovers, it will take at least five or six years," Zang Xin remarked.
Long Yeyue remained dissatisfied.
She had personally joined the fight, but despite all the preparations, they failed to capture Ghost Emperor—it was her responsibility, and she wouldn't shirk it.
Turning her head, she saw Chen Xinjie in Sea God Pavilion. He was in the best condition, but also the worst.
Chen Xinjie hadn't engaged in a fierce battle with the evil soul masters, yet he appeared utterly exhausted, his soul power completely burned out after activating the Sea God Helmet.
"I never expected you to come up with a way to resist the God-Slaying Missiles. Although we were outmaneuvered, the Federation's initial mistakes are to blame, so I won't hold it against you," Chen Xinjie glanced at the three of them, his gaze brushing past Long Yeyue momentarily.
"However, I don't want this kind of situation to happen again. If you had informed me earlier, I wouldn't have refused to cooperate. Are you really so distrustful of the Federation? The loss of the God-Slaying Missiles has been something the Federation has been trying to rectify. It's not as bad as you think!"
"If you had told me beforehand, I could have prepared earlier. After resisting the God-Slaying Missiles, I would still have had enough strength left, and Ghost Emperor wouldn't have escaped!"
Long Yeyue sneered at Chen Xinjie's words.
"Chen Xinjie, stop spouting nonsense. The loss of the God-Slaying Missiles may not be directly related to you, but it certainly involves those in the parliament. Even if a new batch replaced the old, the original culprits are still holding power, evading responsibility." She showed no gratitude and felt no remorse for having tricked him earlier.
"As for Ghost Emperor? So what if he escaped? Now that he has shown himself in Shrek, Yun Ming will personally hunt him down. There's nowhere on the Douluo Continent he can hide."
Chen Xinjie took a deep breath and chose not to argue with her.
However, he did take note of the latter part of Long Yeyue's statement.
Ghost Emperor couldn't escape?
What did that mean?
Could it be that they had cast some sort of tracking soul skill on Ghost Emperor?
With Ghost Emperor's abilities, it shouldn't be possible to track him unless a Limit Douluo intervened. But which Limit Douluo possessed such a soul skill?
Chen Xinjie couldn't figure it out. He didn't know how Shrek planned to track Ghost Emperor.
But just as he set aside this question and looked towards the Golden Ancient Tree, a sudden realization struck him.
"So that's how it is," he sighed in relief, silently acknowledging it in his heart.
When resisting the God-Slaying Missiles, it wasn't someone from Shrek who mobilized the power of the Golden Ancient Tree—it was the tree itself that awakened and fully operated the grand formation.
Even the divine power of the Sea God within the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud was only able to balance with the power of the Golden Ancient Tree, jointly maintaining the grand formation.
Perhaps the amount of Sea God power was limited, but it was still enough to indicate the energy level of the Golden Ancient Tree's eruption.
This was definitely beyond any single Limit Douluo.
"To resist those two God-Slaying Missiles, the Golden Ancient Tree expended nearly all its power. What remains is less than ten percent of its original strength," Long Yeyue approached the Golden Ancient Tree, sensing its state, and said gravely.
"The priority now is to restore the condition of the Golden Ancient Tree. Seeing it in this half-dead state makes me uneasy," Feng Wuyu remarked.
---
Endless Mountain Range.
Yun Ming wasn't in a rush to return to the Starry Sky Phenomenon for further insights.
He was waiting for news from Shrek.
Soon, he retrieved a soul-guided communicator. It vibrated, showing an incoming call from Long Yeyue.
After the communication, Yun Ming gained a general understanding of what had transpired at Shrek.
It went smoother than anticipated.
As for where things exceeded expectations, Yun Ming roughly had an answer—the divine power of the Sea God had been activated.
This was corroborated by Long Yeyue's description of the soul-guided formation's shield forming with blue and green forces.
"For now, Elder Tree's condition is concerning. I'll return to the academy first. Xiao Yuan, you continue your cultivation here. Soul power cultivation is fundamental."
"Yes, Teacher."
After gaining a basic understanding of the situation, Xu Yuan also felt relieved.
Shrek Academy was saved.
As for the casualties—
There was nothing he could do to eliminate them entirely.
It could be said that due to his efforts, the casualties had been minimized to the greatest extent possible, but it was impossible to avoid them altogether.
Moreover, from another perspective, the losses suffered by the Holy Spirit Sect's evil soul masters in this operation were severe. Had they launched attacks in another form, spreading terror across the entire continent, the destruction could have been far greater than the impact of the two God-Slaying Missiles.
So, strictly speaking, he indirectly saved many lives.
The Golden Ancient Tree was withering, but as long as it hadn't died, it meant that Elder Tree still had the will to survive.
It was still the core of the plane. With enough time, it could recover.
The Demon Plane was also a sufficient energy reserve. If it was only to restore the power of the Golden Ancient Tree, it could be done relatively quickly.
Xu Yuan re-entered the Starry Sky Phenomenon and began practicing the Seven Forbidden Techniques purely.
The combination of reality and illusion opened up an entirely new realm for him.
"Reality and illusion—is this the core of the Starry Sky Phenomenon born under my influence?"
Xu Yuan didn't possess Yun Ming's profound insight.
To be honest, he merely had high aspirations and access to higher-level knowledge, but that didn't equate to a high level of personal enlightenment.
Cultivation was ultimately about personal insight. Without sufficient understanding, all supposed ideas and theories were mere castles in the air—empty frameworks without substance.
Similarly, any conceived ideas remained abstract theories without practical grounding.
"This state—I need to maintain it. By using the uniqueness of the dream space to merge with my physical body, perhaps I can replicate some unique cultivation results."
Of course, this was just a thought for now. Xu Yuan wasn't ready to put it into practice yet.
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