Battle Arena.
Thirty core disciples from both courts gathered.
But the Martial Soul Department was still the majority—twenty-nine. The Soul Tool Department had only one—He Caitou.
Su Wen smiled when he saw him.
This wandering prince of Sun Moon, at last.
He Caitou gave Su Wen a goofy grin, then quietly stayed by himself in a corner. His scheming ran deep—after all he'd experienced, if he were truly a fool, he wouldn't have survived.
Su Wen shifted his gaze. In the original, he was Huo Yuhao's senior apprentice-brother. Because he was close to Fan Yu, the two were always tight. He was even the first to know He Caitou's secret identity.
Maybe because of Huo Yuhao, he'd hold a grudge against Su Wen?
Hard to say…
All seven inner court disciples were present.
Their red and white uniforms made them look taller and more elegant—much better than the outer court newbies' poop-yellow. Ling Luochen and Ma Xiaotao were among them. They blinked at Su Wen in greeting.
Others like Dai Yaoheng and Yao Haoxuan were the same Death Squad members from the Mingdou Mountains.
The difference was, among the outer court core disciples were a few faces that shouldn't be there: the blond Wu Cai'er, the silver-haired Gu Yuena, and Su Wen—
Plus Xuan Zi, hair a mess like a beggar, one hand on his lower back, the other holding a drumstick and a wine gourd.
"Xiao Yan, check if everyone's here?"
Xuan Zi waved lazily.
"Elder Xuan, all present."
A bespectacled, scholarly middle-aged man hurriedly counted heads and jogged back to report.
"Who's that old man?" Xie HuanYue whispered.
"Supreme Elder," Su Wen blurted.
"We have a Supreme Elder?" Xie HuanYue gaped.
"Ahem." Su Wen caught himself, a bit embarrassed.
"All right. Battle Arena battle royale. The platform under your feet is the boundary. Get knocked out of bounds and you're eliminated. Last seven standing advance. Begin." Xuan Zi shot Su Wen a curious glance, then announced.
"Battle royale?!!"
They clearly hadn't expected such a slapdash selection.
But in truth, it should be. The starting lineup was strong enough—basically a free win. Subs didn't need to patch damage; cheering from the sidelines was enough. Hence Xuan Zi's casual approach.
"Damn it, charge!" While everyone froze, Xie HuanYue had already rushed in, bulldozing through the core disciples. Quite a few level-20-something soul masters were flustered and got eliminated.
The field quickly split.
Su Wen folded his arms across his chest and watched calmly.
Gale stood behind him, his terrifying height making Su Wen look small. The white-furred giant loomed like a bodyguard. At nearly six meters tall, he swallowed all light and shadow—including Su Wen's—pure pressure.
Everyone threw out their moves. The fight boiled. Soul rings and skills flew without restraint. In seconds, someone got tossed out, covered in dirt, brains almost splattering. Yet they consciously skirted far around Su Wen, leaving a wide open space around him, making it look like he was being isolated…
Ning Tian stood at Su Wen's side. An auxiliary soul master was a must-have. Even if she was far inferior to Gongyang Mo, in team battles her role could surpass that of a Soul Ancestor—even one a rank above her.
"Nana, my big spear is thirsting!" Wu Cai'er tugged on Gu Yuena's arm, itching to move.
"Mm." The silver-haired girl nodded coolly.
The next instant, a resounding dragon's roar.
"Golden Dragon Body!"
Then dazzling golden light blurred with speed, plunging into the crowd.
Wu Cai'er wielded the Golden Dragon Spear, rampaging through the arena. She blasted the fort-like corner where He Caitou hid, sent Xue Ling and Xie HuanYue flying, knocked Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu out even in their fusion.
The Golden Dragon's terrifying strength plus Soul Ancestor cultivation—few could stand it.
Xu Sanshi tried a sneaky move with Mysterious Underworld Displacement, almost succeeding, but fell short by one step and got blasted off.
At the end, only seven remained on stage: Su Wen, Gu Yuena, Wu Cai'er, Ning Tian, Wang Dong, Jiang Nannan, and Beibei.
Wang Dong was pure luck.
Too weak early on to be targeted.
Then Wu Cai'er killed like a tiger among wolves. After the carnage, looking back, she spotted a trembling Wang Dong. Just then the eliminations had brought the count down to seven.
So she included Wang Dong by default.
Xiao Xiao smiled at Wang Dong. She had jumped off on her own, not wanting to make it awkward for others.
But Wang Dong had a huge headache.
He cast a pleading look at Su Wen.
In the stands, the Karen's eyes followed, shifting back and forth, then showed an "ah, so that's it" expression. They traded glances—whoa! Love triangle!
You love him, but he loves him, he doesn't love him, and he…
A tangled mess.
This blockbuster gossip of the year had everyone stuffed, sweeping away the gloom of being eliminated!
Even a few inner court students shot him looks like, "Nice, kid—conquering both sexes."
"…"
Su Wen, an innocent bystander, twitched.
He swept a cold gaze around.
Xue Ling, Xie HuanYue, and the rest instantly stared straight ahead.
"Yao Haoxuan! Don't leave after selection." Su Wen looked at the inner court students. This guy had his arm around Chen Zifeng, face full of sleaze. One look and you knew what he was thinking.
With a dangerous glint in his eyes, he gritted out the words.
"Huh?!!"
Yao Haoxuan gaped, suddenly at a loss. "Wait, Su Wen, I was just watching the show—why me?"
This was the Battle Arena. "Don't leave after selection" meant only one thing.
"He's this famous in the inner court?" Cui Yajie's eyes flashed with surprise.
The outer court's big demon—fine.
But now it looked like even in the inner court he was a big name.
Dai Huabin watched coldly.
He didn't appreciate Su Wen's charity—especially after his father had given him another beating before leaving. "Learn from Su Wen," Dai Hao's words stabbed at his nerves.
And that beast Dai Yaoheng—he interrogated him, then forced him to humiliate himself, then beat him senseless when he had the chance.
Just wait. All of you.
I'll step on you one by one, sooner or later!
Still, watching this, he felt a hint of envy.
His brother Dai Yaoheng was there too, and his attitude toward Su Wen was worlds apart from how he treated him. The inner court students joked with Su Wen like old friends. That kind of network—and the feeling of being respected by strong people—Dai Huabin craved it.
He wanted respect from the strong—especially these Shrek geniuses. If it were just the duke's household servants, he'd scoff. But here, where monsters clustered, earning the respect of peers was hard…
Not to mention the true monsters in the inner court—
Even his big brother was only average among them.
The outer court disciples looked at the once-mysterious inner court seniors now bantering with Su Wen and couldn't help feeling envious.
This terrifying network might not impress Yan Shaozhe or Xuan Zi, but to green kids just entering the Academy, it was formidable.
Shrek's inner court standards were harsh. Anyone who made it was top-tier across the continent. Even core outer court disciples only had a chance—not a guarantee—of getting in. Being recognized and treated as equals by these seniors was rare.
They could feel it: these seniors treated them like veterans dealing with rookies, with a hint of superiority. Only with Su Wen…
"Why doesn't Su Wen join the starters and kick that noob Yao Haoxuan out?" Gongyang Mo snickered.
"Shut it! Sissy," Yao Haoxuan snapped.
"My relationship with Su Wen isn't for you to pry into. Superficial!"
He shot a guilty glance at Su Wen. At this point, he probably couldn't even beat Wen's weakest card, that wind baboon. Better to make nice than get humiliated.
But Su Wen didn't bite.
…
God Realm.
In a grand palace.
The Seven Devils were present.
But Xiao Wu had dragged Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing off to whisper about boudoir secrets. In the hall were only Tang San, Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun.
"Xiao San, you mean… give up on that kid?" Dai Mubai mused.
"Not give up," Tang San shook his head.
"Since there's a brighter star, we'll prioritize him. As for your descendant, leave him to develop at Shrek for now. Once he ascends, we'll arrange a level-three god or a divine officer. With his mother's soul here, he'll be loyal."
"A hundred-thousand-year soul beast's sacrifice—could we even dream of that back then? It shows his fortune isn't bad. But for two children of fortune to be born in the Douluo plane at the same time—when two tigers fight, one must be hurt…" Tang San pondered.
"You make it sound easy—decided in a few words. What if he refuses to give up revenge?" Oscar smiled.
"Hmph. I'm his ancestor. If I tell him to kneel, he kneels. Besides, serving under Xiao San is his luck…" Dai Mubai said proudly.
"That's true," Oscar nodded.
"It's a pity Destruction is watching too closely. Many plans can't proceed. We can only rely on Da Ming and Er Ming below. Right now, we can hardly even scout the situation…" Tang San sighed.
"Could he have noticed something?" Oscar frowned slightly.
"Unlikely," Tang San thought, then shook his head. "I've never slipped."
The three brothers chatted enthusiastically.
Only in the corner, Ma Hongjun sat silently, savoring celestial aged wine…
…
"Roar!!!"
Battle Arena.
The stands were empty, but roars echoed from the field.
"Blades of Gale!"
Su Wen gave a soft command.
Gale leapt, fingers grasping forward as if pulling invisible strings. Several cyan wind blades formed behind him, then he tugged, sending them slicing forward, sharp enough to cut the air.
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
Across from him, Yao Haoxuan paled. His swollen, pumped-up body instantly deflated to normal. Gale's strength now faintly surpassed his. This strike—tank or not—he couldn't take it.
"Perish!"
Chen Zifeng stood behind him, two fingers together, spitting a syllable.
His longsword flew to meet the three gale blades in midair.
Boom!
The shockwave rippled.
Chen Zifeng's expression tightened and he couldn't help cursing, "Damn! The kid's gotten stronger again!"
At this point, with just Gale, Su Wen could match at least a level-55 Soul King—never mind an Ice Jade Empress Scorpion and a Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear eyeing them.
"White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"
Dai Yaoheng's face hardened. He roared like a tiger.
His muscles swelled, bursting his outer clothes, revealing steel-like sinew. Intimidating—but compared to Dai Hao that day, the gap was vast. Not in raw strength, but in battlefield tempering.
By Shrek standards, Dai Hao wouldn't crack the top twenty.
But as a commander, in this mysterious land called Douluo, he had special bonuses.
Dai Yaoheng charged at Su Wen and the others with overwhelming force.
No choice—if they wanted to win, they had to knock Su Wen off first.
Gongyang Mo instantly understood.
Martial soul possessed, a rainbow-like brilliance enveloped him. Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan also steeled themselves, pushing forward, leaving their own support to be pinned by Xixi and Beibei.
He traded a glance with Gu Yuena and Wu Cai'er. The two followed in a flash.
Burn the boats!
The battlefield flipped in an instant.
Both sides shifted most of their forces, each leaving one to hold off many.
"Take Su Wen first!"
Dai Yaoheng barked.
The six formed a crescent and closed in.
One Soul Emperor, two Soul Kings, three Soul Ancestors—more than giving face to deal with Su Wen. Even if it forced out the Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear, they had to pressure Su Wen and push him off.
"Su Wen!"
Ling Luochen called softly.
She extended a slender hand. Su Wen grasped back, fingers interlaced. Though they had no Fusion Skill, their ice attributes didn't conflict. Her Soul King power poured into Su Wen like a stream without end.
"Seven Treasures turn out of Glazed! Third: Strength!"
"First: Speed!"
Ning Tian hurried to assist, her exquisite pagoda shedding two streams of light onto Su Wen.
"Ice Emperor!"
Su Wen called.
A jade-green figure flashed before him.
"Everfrost Domain!"
"Emperess Snow Dance!"
Dai Yaoheng and the others faltered for a heartbeat. Pale blue frost spread from the Ice Emperor's feet. That sharply articulated scorpion tail swayed, exquisite like a work of art, yet exuding a potent, dangerous aura.