"Who dares to act so wildly in my Shrek!" Just as the crowd was locked in fierce combat, an old yet majestic voice boomed from afar, like a clap of thunder echoing through the night sky. At the same time, a yellow light streaked rapidly closer like a meteor, its speed blinding. Before the person even arrived, the powerful pressure unique to a Titled Douluo descended like a towering mountain, heavily weighing upon Bai Shisan and the others.
"Not good, retreat!" Bai Shisan and Hei Shisi's faces instantly turned pale, filled with terror. They knew the terrifying strength of a Titled Douluo and dared not linger for a moment. One instantly transformed into mist, dissipating into the night like a wisp of smoke, while the other vanished into the shadows, disappearing without a trace, turning to flee.
Seeing this, Hei Shiqi and the others no longer tangled with Xu Sanshi and Jiang Nan'nan. They unleashed their strongest soul skills, attempting to block the pursuit of the two, and fled the scene at their fastest speed. For a moment, various lights flashed, and the roar of soul skills was incessant.
"Hmph, you think you can run in front of this old man!" The ancient voice sounded again, accompanied by a cold snort. A gigantic earthy-yellow hand slowly materialized in the void. The hand covered the sky and the sun, exuding a heavy and powerful aura. The large hand reached out towards the fleeing Bai Shisan and the others, and a terrifying suction force appeared out of nowhere.
The figures of Bai Shisan and the six others instantly lost control, as if grabbed by an invisible giant hand, and flew backward. In the face of a Titled Douluo's absolute power, they were like ants, utterly powerless to resist. The terrifying strength of a Titled Douluo was demonstrated to its fullest at this moment, striking fear into all.
"Hehe!" However, just as everyone thought the battle was about to end, a clear, bell-like laugh suddenly rang out from within the void. Following that, an invisible and formless giant snake quietly emerged. It opened its gaping maw, like a colossal beast devouring all, and swallowed Bai Shisan and the others in one gulp. Then, its tail lashed violently, kicking up a furious wave of air.
"Boom!" The void shattered again. The massive snake tail, like a powerful meteor hammer, slammed into the rapidly approaching yellow light mass, sending it flying. The earth vibrated violently, as if a powerful earthquake had struck. The yellow light mass was flung away, smashing into the ground, leaving a colossal crater. The invisible giant snake, having completed its strike, quickly disappeared into the void without a trace, as if it had never appeared.
Everything happened too suddenly, the exchange between the two sides lasting only a brief instant. But in that fleeting moment, the situation underwent a drastic change, and everything settled.
"Elder Xuan!" The yellow light mass dissipated, and from within the deep pit, a disheveled figure slowly emerged. The person's mouth was stained with blood, and they looked utterly disheveled.
Bei Bei and the others were greatly alarmed. They all recognized the person before them as Elder Xuan Zi, the esteemed Elder of Sea God Pavilion at Shrek Academy and the renowned Gourmand Douluo. But Elder Xuan Zi's current disheveled appearance filled them with shock and doubt. In their understanding, Elder Xuan Zi was a powerhouse standing at the pinnacle of the Douluo Continent, with extraordinary strength. When had he become so easily defeated? In just one exchange, Elder Xuan Zi was severely injured, which made them feel their worldview had been shaken like never before.
"Bastard, you sneak attacked me when this old man wasn't paying attention!" Elder Xuan Zi was thoroughly vexed, his heart burning with rage. He had finally, with Elder Mu's help and the life energy from the Golden Tree, healed the injuries he sustained from Jingliu and successfully suppressed the lingering sword intent within his body. Tonight, he was idle and had gone to Shrek City for some good food when he unexpectedly encountered the distress signal from the outer court core disciples.
Originally, he had intended to rush to the rescue immediately, but when he saw Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi rushing out, he relaxed a little. In his perception, there were only two Soul Emperors and four Soul Kings outside the city.
While Bei Bei and the others might not be their opponents, stalling for a few minutes was more than enough. After all, he knew Bei Bei and Xu Sanshi's identities and strengths like the back of his hand. Bei Bei had inherited Elder Mu's powerful Holy Light Dragon power, with limitless potential, while Xu Sanshi had awakened the divine beast Xuanwu Martial Soul; as the young sect master of the Xuanming Sect, his strength was equally not to be underestimated.
Coupled with Jiang Nan'nan, though slightly inferior to the former two, she had also received investment from the Qunyu Pavilion and had been cultivated with many precious resources. These three outer court core elites had long been internally designated as strong candidates for inner court disciples. Even if they couldn't defeat the enemy, they wouldn't be easily overwhelmed.
Because of this, he was late in arriving. But he didn't expect Huo Yuhao to be severely injured. This was someone Elder Mu valued, the first dual-core disciple in Shrek Academy's history, and the core of the Soul Tool Department's Limit Individual Soldier Project. While filled with regret, Elder Xuan Zi immediately took action, but was caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the mysterious individual. Not only was he injured again, but the suppressed sword intent also erupted once more, compounding his injuries and making him miserable.
"Elder Xuan, what happened?"
Several streaks of light shot out from Shrek Academy like lightning, landing on the ground in a blink of an eye. It was none other than Yan Shaozhe, the Dean of Shrek Academy's Martial Soul Department, Xian Lin'er, the Dean of the Soul Tool Department, and Vice Dean Qian Duoduo.
Seeing Elder Xuan Zi's disheveled and severely injured state, Yan Shaozhe couldn't help but gasp, his eyes filled with shock. Elder Xuan was a Level 98 Super Douluo. Even if he had been injured by Snow Moon Douluo before and had lingering issues, how many people in the entire Soul Master world could easily injure him? And the battle fluctuations just now were fleeting, meaning the opponent only exchanged one move with Elder Xuan, yet it was enough to severely injure him again. How terrifying must that strength be!
"Shaoze, you've arrived just in time. I'll leave the rest to you. I need to go back and heal first." Elder Xuan Zi's face was ashen, his aura chaotic. After speaking, he flickered and instantly vanished from the spot, leaving behind a bewildered group of people.
"This!" Yan Shaozhe was dumbfounded, his mouth wide open. Before he could even ask for clarification, Elder Xuan Zi had vanished. What kind of situation was this?!
"Huo Yuhao?" Qian Duoduo's gaze suddenly fixated on the fallen Huo Yuhao. Seeing the large, shocking pool of blood beneath him, Qian Duoduo's expression changed drastically, and he exclaimed in alarm. Huo Yuhao was Fan Yu's beloved disciple, the core figure of the Soul Tool Department's Limit Individual Soldier Project. If anything happened to him, the future of the Soul Tool Department would be in jeopardy!
"Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Jiang Nan'nan, what happened here?" Yan Shaozhe also noticed Huo Yuhao's miserable state, his brow furrowed into a tight "川" (river) character. His gaze was sharp as he questioned the trio.
Bei Bei looked worriedly at the still unconscious Huo Yuhao. Seeing that Qian Duoduo had already quickly gone forward to use a soul skill to stop Huo Yuhao's bleeding, and Wang Dong had also rushed over crying, he then steadied his mind and began to explain to Yan Shaozhe.
"People from the Wúcháng Division? They wouldn't attack Huo Yuhao for no reason. Someone must have hired them." Yan Shaozhe's face grew even darker after listening. He naturally knew about the Wúcháng Division.
It was a dark force that had risen in the underworld in recent years, rumored to have Super Douluo-level powerhouses overseeing it. They acted decisively, with strange and unpredictable methods, and were highly renowned.
Huo Yuhao was merely a young disciple; how could he possibly warrant the personal assassination attempt by the Wúcháng Division's Soul Emperor-level Black and White Wúcháng? Thinking it over, there was only one possibility: someone had paid a large sum to hire the Wúcháng Division.
"Take Huo Yuhao back for treatment first. I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly!" Yan Shaozhe gritted his teeth, speaking each word distinctly. His eyes were filled with rage. Someone dared to hire assassins from the Wúcháng Division to attack a core disciple of Shrek Academy! This was practically touching the tiger's whiskers and a blatant slap to Shrek Academy's face! What was even more infuriating was that the attack occurred not far outside Shrek City, right under the academy's nose, and they failed to protect Huo Yuhao in time.
Yan Shaozhe rubbed his aching brow, and Elder Xuan Zi's hurried retreating figure flashed through his mind again. He secretly sighed. With Elder Xuan Zi's cultivation, and being in Shrek City, how could he have arrived slower than Bei Bei and the others? Most likely, it was wine and food that delayed him again.
The last tragedy in the inner court caused heavy losses among the inner court disciples. Elder Xuan Zi had made a grave mistake, which even alarmed all the old elders of Sea God Pavilion. In the end, because Elder Xuan Zi was also severely injured, and given his status as the academy's strongest public figure, everyone could only downplay the seriousness of the matter.
Shrek Academy spent great effort to compensate the families of the deceased inner court disciples, but it was truly difficult to inflict too heavy a punishment on Elder Xuan Zi. After all, besides Elder Mu, no one was truly qualified to touch him. Moreover, Yan Shaozhe himself believed that while Elder Xuan Zi was at fault, some things were beyond his control. One could only say those disciples were unlucky to encounter a 100,000-year soul beast.
"You three also return to the academy quickly; don't linger outside." Yan Shaozhe turned and instructed Bei Bei and the two others. Afterward, he, Xian Lin'er, and Qian Duoduo left with Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong. It seemed they were taking Huo Yuhao back to the academy to find someone for treatment.
Bei Bei's expression was solemn, his gaze fixed on the retreating figures of Yan Shaozhe and the others. He had carefully examined Huo Yuhao's injuries; his lower body was a bloody, horrific mess. Clearly, Hei Shisi's fatal blow had struck a vital point.
Such an injury was too severe. Unless they could find one of those legendary immortal herbs capable of bringing the dead back to life and regrowing flesh and bone, even a Titled Douluo-level healing Soul Master would likely be helpless. Saving his life might not be difficult, but Huo Yuhao's future lifelong happiness had become an unknown. Thinking of this, Bei Bei clenched his fists, a worried expression on his face.
"Jiang Nan'nan, Sanshi, I'm still worried about little junior brother. I want to follow and see." Bei Bei hesitated for a moment, then voiced his thoughts.
"I'll go with you, Bei Bei," Xu Sanshi patted Bei Bei's shoulder, looking righteous. He had a good impression of Huo Yuhao, and given his close relationship with Bei Bei and Tang Ya, he also wanted to see if he could help.
"Jiang Nan'nan, what about you?" Bei Bei looked at Jiang Nan'nan. Since this most beautiful girl from the outer court had rushed to save Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong, she probably considered them friends.
"You two go ahead. I have something else to do; I need to return to Shrek City," Jiang Nan'nan gently shook her head, politely declining. She came to save Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong partly out of camaraderie as fellow Shrek Academy disciples, and partly because she enjoyed the fish Huo Yuhao roasted and admired his self-reliant attitude.