Surprised as they were, the battle wasn't over. Yu Tianheng and the others had no intention of backing down. But whether they admitted it or not, fear was already spreading unchecked in their hearts.
"Dugu Yan, use your trump card!"
At that moment, Yu Tianheng stood shoulder to shoulder with Dugu Yan, while the Shi brothers activated their Martial Souls and took position at their sides, entering their most defensive formation.
Dugu Yan's eyes darkened as she glanced at Li Chang'an's location, her gaze filled with unease. This man gave her an intense sense of dread. She didn't know what his Martial Soul was—he didn't even qualify as a proper support-type Spirit master. Yet his command abilities outclassed every control-type Spirit master she had seen.
But she was Dugu Yan! The proud granddaughter of a Title Douluo! If she were to lose here today, where would her dignity go?
There was only one path—fight!
Yu Tianheng's mindset was nearly identical. He couldn't afford to lose either. And they still had a real chance. The Shi brothers' defense was rock-solid—not even a team with the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda's support could break it.
More importantly, they still had Ye Lingling. With her, their chances of victory were still very high!
Yet, for some reason, when he looked at the man calmly standing to the side, Yu Tianheng couldn't help but recall the terror of being completely overpowered by that very person before.
"Alright!" Dugu Yan nodded. Her third soul ring lit up.
Her emerald eyes suddenly turned completely violet, and even the green scales on her snake tail shimmered with a faint purple hue. She opened her mouth lightly—and unleashed a thick cloud of purple mist that spread rapidly in the air.
Even before the poison mist arrived, a nauseating stench filled the air. The very smell made one's head reel and stomach churn. Everyone from Shrek, except Li Chang'an, instantly swallowed one of Oscar's sausages. Oscar himself hurriedly started preparing detoxifying sausages in case they needed more.
In the stands, Tang San frowned as he watched the scene unfold.
"Looks like Teacher Li's team is in trouble. That's Jade Phosphor Violet Poison, It's extremely deadly."
Yu Xiaogang, knowing his disciple's deep expertise with poisons, was also watching intently with a trace of anticipation.
But before Tang San could finish speaking, a large water pouch suddenly appeared in the air—right above Dugu Yan. The one who made the move was Zhu Zhuqing!
And the water pouch carried a trace of dark-element energy. It burst in midair, releasing a fine mist. At the same time, Li Chang'an sent a voice transmission to Ma Hongjun—
"Hit it with fire!"
Li Chang'an didn't know much about antidotes—or rather, he wasn't great at detoxifying—but he was a transmigrator! He simply followed Tang San's old method for neutralizing poison. Walk the path others have paved, and then cut them off from it!
The water inside the pouch exploded into a thick mist under Zhu Zhuqing's dark-attribute impact. Just then, Fatty's Phoenix Fire struck, and in an instant, the mist transformed into blazing fire!
A strange yet fragrant scent spread across the battlefield. The purple venomous mist was completely engulfed.
The thick cloud of purple poison burned violently under the sudden blaze, letting out crackling sounds as it was incinerated. In mere seconds, it had completely vanished. Under the lights above, only a few fragments of the scorched water pouch floated down slowly. The poisonous barrier between the two teams had been obliterated.
"No... Impossible. How could you neutralize my Jade Phosphor Violet Poison?!"
Dugu Yan stared blankly at Li Chang'an, eyes wide in disbelief.
She had no proof that it was his idea—but a woman's intuition told her: Li Chang'an was the mastermind!
And it wasn't just her—every member of the Emperor Team was stunned. They were all intimately familiar with the deadliness of Dugu Yan's poison. Even someone as strong as Yu Tianheng wouldn't dare touch it lightly.
Her third soul skill was her most lethal attack. The poison was fast-acting—just a wisp of that purple mist could turn someone into a puddle of pus within moments.
At the entrance tunnel, Qin Ming had started to panic the moment he saw the poison mist, ready to intervene. But before he could even speak, the mist was already gone—dispelled in a way he could never have imagined.
"Wanna know how I did it?"
Li Chang'an spoke for the first time in the battle, a mischievous smirk curling beneath his mask.
"Tell me!"
Dugu Yan glared at him, refusing to look away.
"Nope."
Li Chang'an grinned like an infuriating rogue and said nothing more, making Dugu Yan stomp her foot in frustration.
Just then, a clear and frosty voice rang out from behind the Emperor team:
"What are you waiting for? A mere setback and you're already losing your nerve?"
A faint floral fragrance followed the voice as a stream of white light descended from above. The glow took on the shape of flower petals and slowly drifted down, landing gently on Yu Tianheng and Dugu Yan before merging into their bodies.
Instantly, the wounds they had sustained earlier in their clash with Dai Mubai and the others began to heal—visibly and rapidly!
Li Chang'an turned his gaze—and saw, cradled in Ye Lingling's hands, a purple flower. Its petals were a delicate blend of purple and white, vibrant and elegant.
The vine-like branches flowed down from either side of her palms, fluttering in the breeze like a maiden's silky hair. The scene was beautiful, soft, and moving—like a demure lady shielding her face behind a curtain of hair.
Just moments earlier, the purple glow around her had faded. That flower-petal-shaped white light had clearly been her thousand-year soul skill.
Nine-Heart Flowering Apple—Ye Lingling.
"As expected, terrifyingly powerful!"
Li Chang'an muttered to himself:
Yu Tianheng shouted with renewed vigor, "Lingling's right! What are we hesitating for? Attack!"
Lightning sparked around him again. Though still wounded just moments ago, he was the first to charge forward—serpentine lightning coiling around him, surging across his dragon arm!
———
At this moment, the crowd in the stands felt like they were riding an emotional rollercoaster. Li Chang'an's command ability was jaw-dropping, Dugu Yan's poison was horrifying—yet it was countered in an instant. And Ye Lingling's support? Absolutely monstrous. The back-and-forth left the audience constantly stunned.
But if you looked at the bigger picture—it was clear:
Every time the Emperor team played a trump card, it got immediately shut down by the Shrek side.
Li Chang'an frowned slightly—and in the next instant, his figure vanished from where he stood.
No flicker of movement. No trace of soul power. Just—gone.
Before anyone could react, he had already appeared right beside Ye Lingling.
"Lingling, fall back!"
Yu Tianheng and the others broke out in a cold sweat. Li Chang'an was like a ghost—how did he get there so silently?! And they were still several meters away!
This was Li Chang'an's first move in the entire battle—and once again, he stunned the entire arena. After all, he had been more than fifty meters away from Ye Lingling. That wasn't something teleportation alone could achieve.
Li Chang'an's voice was calm, almost gentle:
"If you don't want your teacher to bury her own disciple. If you don't want the Nine-Heart Flowering Apple lineage to vanish forever. And If you want to restore its former glory—
Then don't intervene again."
____
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