"Bastard…!!!"
Tang Hao, impaled on an ice spike, twisted his face in rage. He had schemed so carefully, just waiting to take down Dan Heng's whole family—yet unexpectedly, his plan had been ruined by a lovestruck fool!
A Clear Sky Hammer appeared in his hand; he smashed downward, shattering the ice spike, and freed himself.
Immediately, he fled toward the horizon.
Even the Holy Spirit Cult's leader wasn't Dan Heng's match.
Now that he'd been discovered, if he didn't run, he would definitely be detained.
"You're not getting away! How dare you scheme against Mr. Dan Heng!"
Shui Yue'er gave a cold snort. Behind her, waves of icy currents appeared, forming into massive dolphins that charged at Tang Hao from all directions, blocking his escape.
Clang! Clang! Clang!!!
Each icy dolphin was over ten meters long, surrounding Tang Hao.
Furious, Tang Hao swung his hammer, smashing one to pieces, then another—but he couldn't destroy them all.
At that moment, Shui Bing'er and Huo Wu arrived in mid-air, one attacking with ice, the other with fire.
"I'm coming too!"
Zi Ji charged in carrying Long Long, spewing out a blast of dragon breath.
The four-sided assault didn't faze Tang Hao. Aside from Shui Yue'er, who was now at god-level, the other three women were only peak mortal-level and couldn't harm him.
He spun around, and the Clear Sky Hammer swept in a wide arc, creating a fierce gale.
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
All the incoming attacks were shredded by the hammer's force.
They were useless.
Zi Ji and the others were shocked.
Tang Hao's gaze suddenly locked on Long Long in Zi Ji's arms.
Dan Heng's child!
If he could seize the boy…
Then Dan Heng would have to hold back, unable to pursue him recklessly!
Perhaps… he could even force Dan Heng to kill himself!
With that thought, Tang Hao suddenly turned and charged straight toward Zi Ji.
At the same time, he hurled the Clear Sky Hammer at Shui Yue'er.
Shui Yue'er intercepted the hammer, delayed by a few seconds.
That was enough time for Tang Hao to reach Zi Ji.
!!! Zi Ji's face changed drastically—she knew she wasn't Tang Hao's match. She immediately turned her back, ready to take his blow with her own body.
But unexpectedly, Tang Hao's attack never landed.
Zi Ji turned to look—and saw Tang Hao frozen in mid-air like a statue, as if someone had pressed a pause button.
She quickly backed away to put distance between them.
Tang Hao's body felt like it was mired in a swamp.
His face contorted as he tried to unleash his full strength to break the restraint—
—but it was useless.
This was the binding power of the Silver Dragon King, Gu Yuena!
Boom! Boom! Boom!!!
Zi Ji unleashed another dragon breath, all of it blasting into Tang Hao.
Unable to move and with his divine power suppressed, Tang Hao took the full force of her attack. His flesh burned away quickly, exposing bone beneath.
Flames roared—within moments, he was on the verge of death.
"Stop! He's being controlled! It's not intentional…" Ah Yin's urgent cry rang out.
She rushed into the sky to stop Zi Ji.
But Zi Ji ignored her, intensifying her assault. By the time Ah Yin reached them, Tang Hao had already been reduced to ash—his final glare filled with hatred toward Dan Heng.
Ah Yin floated in the air, only a step away from Tang Hao…
But he was gone.
Zi Ji withdrew her dragon breath with a cold smile. "I don't care if he was controlled. He dared to insult my sister and brother-in-law, and even tried to attack me—he deserved to die!"
She didn't even need Gu Yuena's approval.
If Gu Yuena hadn't allowed it, then even as a god, she wouldn't have been able to kill him.
Ah Yin's face filled with sorrow. In the end, she couldn't even collect Tang Hao's ashes.
Sighing, she shook her head. "I still have a son… though we have little bond, I still hope he can live…"
"As long as he's not stupid enough to go against us, we won't bother with him."
Zi Ji rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed with Ah Yin.
Ah Yin lowered her head. Even as a Beast God now, she still couldn't utter a word of defiance against Dan Heng's family.
"Yue'er!" Shui Bing'er flew over and hugged Shui Yue'er tightly.
"I'm so glad you're okay!" Shui Bing'er's voice choked.
Shui Yue'er just laughed, patting her sister's shoulder. "Of course I'm fine! I'm god-level now! I've even surpassed you this time, sis!"
Shui Bing'er smiled helplessly and nodded repeatedly.
Shui Yue'er couldn't help sneaking a glance at Dan Heng—just one look, and she felt happy.
Mu En and the others all breathed a sigh of relief. With Tang Hao, the most dangerous evil soul master, dead, the captured Shrek Academy members were now safe.
They immediately rushed toward where Tang Hao had been attacked.
Shui Yue'er and the others landed in front of Dan Heng.
"Mr. Dan Heng, sorry for the trouble…" Shui Yue'er said sheepishly.
Dan Heng shook his head slightly, quite pleased. Previously, any god-level evil soul master they encountered was either killed outright or lost their evil god power at the final moment.
But this time was different—Shui Yue'er had freed herself from the control, keeping more of her memories.
"Tell us the details…"
…
The scene shifted.
Dan Heng and the others gathered in a large room in Shrek Academy.
Shui Yue'er began recounting what she knew about the Holy Spirit Cult.
"…Back then, I was tricked out of the Sea God's Pavilion and directly controlled. It wasn't the Slaughter King—it was a deputy cult leader. I never saw his face, but he didn't seem human, nor a soul beast, nor a god…"
"Later, the Slaughter King founded the Holy Spirit Cult, but he never gave orders to this deputy leader."
"After the Holy Spirit Cult was destroyed by Mr. Dan Heng, and the Slaughter King died, it was the deputy leader who preserved us, and even strengthened our power. The reason we could become gods… was all thanks to him."
Her words made everyone's expressions shift. They had all assumed the Holy Spirit Cult's leader was the strongest.
But the real mastermind was the deputy leader!
And he was the one who made Shui Yue'er and the others gods!
Dan Heng and Gu Yuena exchanged a glance—their earlier suspicions were now confirmed.
No, it was no longer suspicion.
The true mastermind… was the Plane's Will—one that had developed emotions!
Only a Plane's Will could hide people from Dan Heng and Gu Yuena, and only it could make someone a god even without a divine position!
"In that case, we just need to find him. But how do we make him show himself?" Gu Yuena frowned in thought.
Dan Heng looked toward Huo Yuhao.
From the moment he returned, he had suspected Huo Yuhao.
With Long Long as the Plane's master already present, why would there still be a "child of fortune"? It seemed the Plane's Will had created Huo Yuhao to counter Long Long.
Dan Heng could destroy the entire Douluo Plane, but locating the Plane's Will precisely was far harder.
"Let's head to the Sun Moon Empire. At the same time, have the Fontain Empire unify Douluo as quickly as possible."
Gu Yuena nodded. "Alright…"
"Husband, what about soul beasts becoming gods?" she asked.
Dan Heng pointed at Long Long. "Once Long Long becomes the Plane's master, he can change the Douluo Plane's rules. Soul beasts becoming gods shouldn't be affected anymore."
…
That day, Shrek Academy was struck from the records.
The events of ten thousand years ago were made public, ripping away the last fig leaf.
The world was stunned!
For ten thousand years, Shrek Academy had been considered the number one soul master academy in the world.
Even the mighty Fontain Empire had never shaken its position.
And now… Shrek had collapsed.
It was a continental scandal.
But the uproar soon faded…
Almost simultaneously, the Fontain Empire launched a national war. Located between three great nations, it split its forces into three fronts, attacking the Heaven Dou, Dou Ling, and Star Luo Empires at once!
The three armies swept forward invincibly. After lying dormant for over ten thousand years, the Fontain Empire's explosive might was beyond imagination.
Not only did they have extremely strong individual combat capability, they were also equipped with the finest soul tool weaponry!
Before the Sun Moon Empire had even begun developing humanoid soul tool mecha, the Fontain Empire had already achieved mass production—and even possessed three full mecha legions!At the same time, powerful soul masters were emerging one after another.
But what was even more outrageous was their stockpile of soul-guided cannons.
They didn't rely on close-quarters fighting—before the battle even began, they would first use the soul-guided cannons to plow the field.
After tens of thousands of soul-guided shells were fired, the entire city wall would be reduced to rubble!
The defending troops inside would have already lost all courage and had no will to resist—they could only raise the flag and surrender.
And this wasn't an isolated incident. Everywhere the Fontain Empire's three armies marched, it was almost always the same story!
The major empires all tried to resist, but they were utterly no match.
The Heaven Soul Empire's Body Sect launched a surprise attack, attempting an assassination—
—but not a single one returned alive!
The Dou Ling Empire had been secretly developing its soul tools and displayed impressive capability, yet they were still completely overwhelmed by the Fontain Empire's relentless shelling!
As for the Star Luo Empire…
In the palace, Xu Jiawei received a message from the Spirit Hall.
"What?!"
"This is… this is absurd! Why surrender outright? The Star Luo Empire is a vassal state of the Spirit Hall—how can we just surrender like this?!"
Xu Jiawei was furious. His great realm, and the Spirit Hall had simply ordered him to yield!
Was there still any law?Any justice?
Xu Jiujie took the sealed letter and was equally baffled, unable to understand why the Spirit Hall had gone mad.
Who surrenders without even putting up a fight?
Xu Jiawei gritted his teeth and said, "If the Spirit Hall won't give us support, then we'll fight this hard battle ourselves! We'll unite with the other two great empires—no, we'll bring in the Sun Moon Empire too! I refuse to believe we can't stop the Fontain Empire!"
Xu Jiujie suddenly thought of what he had seen at Shrek Academy, and his face turned pale.
Dai Hao had the same thought and didn't immediately respond to Xu Jiawei's words.
Xu Jiawei looked at the two in confusion. "What's wrong with you two? Why so distracted?"
Dai Hao snapped out of it, thumping his chest with determination. "Your Majesty, no matter what lies ahead, I will give my life in service!"
Xu Jiawei's expression softened, and he patted Dai Hao's arm approvingly.
But then he noticed Xu Jiujie still looked deeply troubled.
And Dai Hao's words just now clearly carried the resolve to die, without his usual confidence.
Xu Jiawei finally realized something was off and asked, "Jiujie, do you know something?"
Xu Jiujie sighed and said, "Brother… the ones who destroyed Shrek Academy—no, those gods—they were acting under the orders of the Fontain Empire…"
He didn't finish the sentence, sighing again, brows furrowed.
There was no need to say it.
Could mortals really oppose gods?
Xu Jiawei's face instantly went pale.
He suddenly understood why the Spirit Hall had ordered them to surrender outright…
…
The Shrek Academy members left Star Luo City. From this day on, they would no longer bear the name of Shrek, nor were they allowed to found any soul master academy.
Having left the Academy, they all felt rootless, with nowhere to go.
Under Mu En's lead, they headed toward the Sun Moon Empire.
Perhaps they had considered the ongoing war and felt that sooner or later, the Douluo Continent would belong to the Fontain Empire.
And they did not wish to join Fontain…
After all, it was the master of Fontain who had destroyed Shrek Academy.
Xuan Zi sighed. "This is fate… it just had to happen in our generation, to run into them…"
The others also looked dejected as they followed along.
Mu En asked, "Have all the students been arranged?"
Yan Shaozhe replied, "Yes. The outer court students have been sent to various places, or given letters of recommendation to join other academies. The inner court students—some graduated early, others wish to travel with us for a while…"
Yan Shaozhe's mood was downcast. The once-envied number one academy was now in pieces.
Mu En shook his head. "There's no need. We are not going to the Sun Moon Empire to stage a comeback…"
"Teacher, but once we reach the Sun Moon Empire, must we still fulfill that agreement? Why not—"
Before Yan Shaozhe could finish, Mu En's sharp gaze silenced him.
"Remember—never… never try to deceive a god!" Mu En said gravely.
"Yes…"
The group lowered their heads and continued on their way.
…
Meanwhile, in the Sun Moon Empire, at the Imperial Tutor's residence.
Few knew that the Imperial Tutor was actually the Holy Spirit Cult's deputy leader, named Ye Qiushui—a level 99 Titled Douluo, the pinnacle of mortal strength.
And today, this supremely honored and powerful woman was kneeling on the ground, respectfully welcoming the arrival of another deputy leader.
"From now on, I am the new cult leader."
The Holy Spirit Cult leader spoke calmly.
No one voiced any objection; all were completely convinced.
Or rather, many of them had been personally recruited into the cult by this very leader.
"For the time being, we will rest and recover. We must hide well and make sure no one discovers the Holy Spirit Cult's traces…"
The leader gave her orders.
Having witnessed Dan Heng's "show yourself and die instantly" capability, even with his own power, the leader could only bide his time now and wait for another opportunity in the future.
Ye Qiushui agreed, then asked in puzzlement:"Cult Leader, where are the other evil soul masters now?"
The leader's face darkened—really had to bring that up, didn't she?
Over a thousand evil soul masters, almost the entire elite of the Holy Spirit Cult, had been completely wiped out thanks to that fool!
Bibi Dong said coldly, "They're dead! All because of the previous cult leader's stupidity!"
Ye Qiushui trembled, not daring to say more.
Tang San couldn't help asking, "Cult Leader… my father…"
"He's dead too!" the leader said impatiently.
"…"
Tang San was dumbstruck.
His father… gone!
(End of chapter)