Shi Xing took a deep breath. A field of time domain force silently expanded around him, slightly insulating him from the terrifying pressure.
He turned to face the defending soldiers, his voice ringing out like a great bell across the entire city wall: "Soldiers, remember what you are fighting for. Behind us are our homes, our families, and the glory of Shrek! We are here to protect it."
His words seemed to carry a certain power, causing the originally frantic soldiers to gradually straighten their backs. The fear in their eyes was slowly replaced by a resolute light.
Just as the city defense forces' nerves were stretched to the breaking point, brilliant streams of light sliced through the sky, plummeting like meteors onto the battlements of the south wall.
Powerful Soul Power fluctuations spread out like a tide, instantly dispersing some of the suffocating pressure.
The white-robed man leading the charge landed lightly, the Phantylia of the Light Phoenix faintly visible behind him—it was the Dean of the Martial Soul Department, Yan Shaozhe.
He was closely followed by his wife, Cai Meier, the Dean of the Soul Tool Department, Xian Lin'er, and Vice Dean Qian Duoduo, as well as Elder Lin, Elder Zhuang, Gong Changlong, and other veteran members of the Sea God's Pavilion.
It was safe to say that, except for those who had traveled to the Sun Moon Empire, the remaining members of the Sea God's Pavilion stationed at the academy had turned out in full force.
Behind them, over forty inner court disciples stood like sharp swords on the city wall. These elites were at least Soul Emperor level powerhouses. Their Soul Power surged, and their various Soul Rings shimmered in contrast.
Among them were familiar faces—Wu Ming, the Golden Crow Saintess, whose body was flickering with golden flames, and several other top performers from the previous-previous Soul Master Tournament.
At this moment, the entire force of Shrek Academy was mobilized. Even the underage disciples of the outer court were on the walls, tasked with operating the simpler defensive soul tools.
"Damn it! What in the world is the Star Dou Great Forest doing? And why now?"
Yan Shaozhe's gaze was fixed on the continuously advancing beast tide. His face was incredibly gloomy and grim.
He couldn't fathom why the Star Dou Great Forest, which had been peaceful for hundreds of years, would suddenly launch a beast tide of this magnitude.
What was even more critical was that several of the academy's Titled Douluo were led by Elder Xuan to the Sun Moon Empire, escorting the team participating in the Soul Master Tournament.
Shrek Academy was currently at its weakest point in nearly a century—this beast tide had caught them completely off guard.
"Hundreds of years of peace have, ultimately, allowed us to lower our guard."
Elder Lin, one of the most senior veterans of the Sea God's Pavilion, sighed softly, looking at the surging beast horde in the distance. Her wrinkled face was etched with worry.
"Perhaps we should never have so easily trusted the promises of those ferocious beasts."
She had a strong premonition that Shrek Academy was truly facing a life-or-death crisis this time.
Yan Shaozhe forced himself to calm down.
It was too late to investigate the cause of the beast tide. The most pressing matter was how to withstand the charge of over a hundred thousand Soul Beasts.
One hundred thousand Soul Beasts were equivalent to an army of a hundred thousand Soul Masters—if the Soul Beasts didn't understand how to use soul tools or possess corresponding equipment, it would be utterly impossible for humans to defend against such an assault.
It was worth noting that if this were a Soul Tool battle formation composed of a hundred thousand Soul Masters, even a demi-god level powerhouse would be forced to flee.
"The distress signal has been sent out, but the situation is not optimistic," Cai Meier quickly walked to Yan Shaozhe's side, her voice heavy. "The elites of the three empires have also gone to the Sun Moon Empire for the tournament and the Holy Grail War. They can't spare many powerhouses in a short time, and the Body Sect has given no response at all."
The timing was startlingly coincidental.
The Star Dou Great Forest had clearly chosen a superb moment to attack, coinciding precisely with the vacuum period when the various human factions were preoccupied elsewhere.
Yan Shaozhe couldn't help but suspect a hidden conspiracy behind this.
During the last beast tide, Shrek City was only barely held by the combined efforts of Shrek Academy and the Body Sect, supplemented by reinforcements from the three empires, which ultimately led to the signing of a non-aggression pact with the great ferocious beasts.
Now, the ferocious beasts had unilaterally broken the pact and returned. Although Shrek City now possessed many powerful soul tools, it had lost the strong support of the Body Sect, and a large portion of its own high-end combat power was absent.
More critically, the Dragon God Douluo, Mu En, had already perished, leaving the academy without its Limit Douluo-level pinnacle combat power. This meant that they couldn't fully utilize the intrinsic power of the Golden Tree, and the Sea God's Light was difficult to activate fully.
Yan Shaozhe wracked his brain but could not think of a way to break the deadlock—could the soul tools on the city wall truly withstand this overwhelming catastrophe?
The veteran members of the Sea God's Pavilion all looked grim, silently watching the beast tide that had advanced to within a few kilometers.
The air was filled with a suffocating silence, broken only by the hum of soul tools charging.
"We can't just start fighting without knowing why."
Yan Shaozhe took a deep breath, a look of resolve flashing in his eyes.
"We must find out what exactly happened."
The only turning point he could think of was attempting to communicate with the ferocious beasts. If they could figure out the reason behind the Star Dou Great Forest's attack, there might still be room for de-escalation.
After all, ferocious beasts possessed extremely high intelligence and wouldn't launch an attack of this magnitude without reason after a hundred years.
As long as there was a possibility of negotiation, there was a glimmer of hope.
"The Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King is right there."
Yan Shaozhe's gaze pierced through the dense layers of the beast horde, focusing on the thickest dark cloud in the distance.
The pressure emanating from that spot was terrifying and suffocating, even surpassing the aura of his late teacher, the Dragon God Douluo Mu En, at his peak.
Dense dark energy twisted space as if it were a physical entity, and even light itself was strangely distorted in that area.
"A beast tide of this scale can only be led by the Beast God Di Tian."
Yan Shaozhe took a deep breath and turned to face the crowd.
"You all prepare for battle. I will go and inquire about the situation."
The decision to personally face the Beast God Di Tian made a cold sweat soak Yan Shaozhe's back. As a Level 96 Super Douluo, he knew better than anyone how terrifying Di Tian was—a being truly standing at the apex of the continent, a peerless ferocious beast who had lived for nearly a million years.
Logically, his status did not qualify him to speak with the Beast God Di Tian on equal footing. However, Shrek Academy was temporarily leaderless, and he was currently in charge—this responsibility, he had to shoulder.
"You must be careful."
Cai Meier tightly gripped her husband's arm, her beautiful eyes filled with worry.
"If things go wrong, immediately flee back! Don't try to be a hero!"
Her voice trembled slightly, knowing how terrifying the enemy they faced was. That was the fearsome Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, a being whom even the Dragon God Douluo, when alive, had to treat with courtesy.
"Don't die."
Xian Lin'er also spoke up, which was unprecedented. Though her tone remained somewhat stiff, it couldn't hide her concern. The Dean of the Soul Tool Department, who had always been at odds with Yan Shaozhe, set aside their past grievances. She used to love to contradict Yan Shaozhe; calling them mortal enemies wouldn't be an exaggeration.
Yan Shaozhe looked around at everyone, a look of grim determination flashing in his eyes.
"For the glory of Shrek, I must step forward. What if it is the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King? If he wants to break through Shrek City, he will have to go over my corpse first!"
This time was completely different from the previous attack by the Ice Empress Xue Di. Back then, Xue Di's target was only Huo Yuhao, and the academy's foundation was not threatened, leaving them room to maneuver.
But this time, Di Tian personally led a hundred thousand beast tide to the city gates. His purpose was self-evident—to annihilate Shrek City.
If negotiation failed, only a fight to the death remained; there was no retreat.
With that, Yan Shaozhe spread his arms, and a clear phoenix cry pierced the sky.
Brilliant golden light erupted from his body, transforming into a Light Phoenix burning with sacred flames. Its wings spanned over ten meters, and the intense heat swept across the city wall, making everyone feel a scorching heat.
The golden phoenix soared into the sky, like a rising miniature sun, dazzling against the gloomy backdrop of the world. Wherever it passed, dark clouds dispersed, and light returned, offering a sliver of hope to the oppressed battlefield.
Everyone in Shrek City looked up in unison, gazing at the golden figure streaking across the sky.
The soldiers gripped their weapons, the Soul Masters held their breath, and everyone's eyes were filled with hope—the most urgent desire for all at this moment was to avoid a battle.
"Your Majesty the Beast God, please come out for a meeting."
Yan Shaozhe's voice was amplified by his Soul Power, sounding like rolling thunder across the heavens and earth.
The Light Phoenix radiated the immense aura of a Super Douluo, its golden light attempting to dispel the gloom shrouding the battlefield.
Above the dark clouds, the Emerald Swan, Bi Ji, transformed into her human form, her emerald-green wings draped down to her waist. She looked at the massive black dragon crouching in the clouds.
In her heart, she was truly unwilling to launch the beast tide—as a healing-type Soul Beast, she knew better than anyone the pain that war brought. Soul Beasts were already few in number; a battle of this magnitude would only worsen the situation for their clans.
But this was the Lord's command; she had no right to refuse. If it were Di Tian's command, she might still try to dissuade him. After all, as the Fourth Ferocious Beast, her prestige among the Soul Beasts was not much lower than Di Tian's.
But this was a command from the Co-Lord of Soul Beasts, the Silver Dragon King Gu Yuena. No Soul Beast dared to disobey. Even if they didn't understand the reason for the beast tide, they unhesitatingly summoned all available members of their clans.
Bi Ji didn't know that the Di Tian before her was no longer the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King she knew. The order to launch the beast tide was merely Phantylia using Di Tian's identity, deceiving them with carefully woven lies.
After all, Di Tian was the only one in the entire Star Dou Great Forest who could directly contact Gu Yuena. Bi Ji and the others had no way to verify the authenticity of the command. Even if they had doubts, they would never bypass Di Tian to confirm.
This stemmed from absolute trust in Di Tian; everyone believed that the Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King, who had led the Soul Beast race for hundreds of thousands of years, would never betray his people.
The black dragon slowly raised its head. A trace of playful mockery, which did not belong to Di Tian, flashed in its golden dragon pupils. It looked at the approaching Light Phoenix, and the corner of its mouth curled into an icy arc.
The dark black dragon scales shimmered with a metallic luster in the dim light. Dangerous dark energy pulsed on every scale.
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