17: C17 Chen Zifeng:
“evil Spirit Hall” ten thousand years ago, Shrek Academy had been the absolute protagonist in every continent-wide advanced soul master academy tournament.
In this event, almost every match would see members of the Shrek team kill contestants from other soul master academies and sects.
But no one dared to retaliate, nor could anyone retaliate against Shrek Academy, because Shrek Academy was the sacred ground where the Supreme God of the divine realm had risen in his early days.
This was Shrek’s glory!
“This little beast clearly knows of Shrek’s reputation—I’m certain of that; otherwise, he would not have held back his strike against Xiao Tao just now,” Xuan Zi thought to himself.
“Compared to those who have never seen the world and don’t know their place…
he’s much easier to handle!”
As Xuan Zi summoned his martial soul, the Taotie Divine Ox, and the surging soul power of a Super Douluo burst forth, his eyes emitted a dark golden light, and his hair became so heavy that even a single strand seemed capable of crushing a building.
At this moment, Xuan Zi seemed to have transformed into a black hole capable of dragging the entire world.
Any onlooker below the rank of Titled Douluo who cast even a glance at him felt as if they had been intoxicated—their entire body drained of strength.
The oppressive force of Xuan Zi’s erupting soul power transmitted to Huo Yuhao caused his entire body to tremble violently.
But Huo Yuhao’s expression remained unchanged.
Though this display of power was formidable to his Rank 5 soul engineer body, trying to shake his soul—that of a former Divine King—was pure fantasy.
Standing before Xuan Zi, the successor to Dean Mu En’s position from his previous life, Huo Yuhao’s thoughts were a tangled mess.
If this had been his previous life, when he had been one of Shrek’s most fervent devotees, seeing Xuan Zi stand up so fiercely for his student would have moved him beyond words.
But in this life, when a similar scene unfolded before him, all he felt was utter revulsion.
“Xuan Zi, isn’t it a bit inappropriate for you to bully the young like this?” As this voice echoed through the air, the entire arena was suddenly plunged into darkness.
A colossal black dragon—its body serpentine, with a horse’s head, a tiger’s eyes, deer antlers, carp whiskers, eagle claws, fish scales, and a lion’s mane—materialized in the arena.
A man clad entirely in black armor stood steadily atop the dragon.
Dragon Emperor Douluo Long Xiaoyao!
One of the three peak Titled Douluo of this era—one of the three beings closest to godhood—had actually appeared here.
Long Xiaoyao merely raised his hand lightly, and slender, delicate fingers surrounded by swirling black streams of energy dissolved the pressure Xuan Zi had unleashed.
Xuan Zi’s expression stiffened, and he inwardly lamented that things had taken a turn for the worse.
“Brother Long misunderstands—I was merely offering some guidance to this young friend just now,” Xuan Zi said, as if he had forgotten his earlier words.
At this point, Yan Shaozhe and Xian Lin’er both stepped forward to stand shoulder to shoulder with Xuan Zi.
Xuan Zi said to Long Xiaoyao, “These past days, Elder Mu has been searching for Brother Long’s whereabouts.
Little did I expect that today, Brother Long would be working in the Sun Moon Empire, having abandoned the Douluo Continent.”
Long Xiaoyao smiled slightly.
“I simply follow the principle of ‘since I am here, I shall make the best of it’…”
With Long Xiaoyao’s appearance, Xuan Zi’s original plan to break Huo Yuhao’s hands, or even kill him, had to be shelved for the time being.
Glaring at Huo Yuhao with venomous eyes, the Shrek Academy contingent turned and departed.
After the Shrek group withdrew, only Long Xiaoyao and Huo Yuhao remained in the arena, facing each other.
“Junior Huo Yuhao thanks the senior for resolving this crisis on my behalf!” Huo Yuhao inclined his body in a gesture of gratitude toward Long Xiaoyao.
“At your age, daring to strike at a divine descendant—quite interesting, indeed.” Long Xiaoyao gazed at Huo Yuhao for a long moment before turning away without another word.
“But I protected you for a moment today—who will protect you for a lifetime?”
Long Xiaoyao left only those words behind.
Huo Yuhao’s gaze, however, surreptitiously shifted toward Xu Tianran in the spectator stands.
He noticed the slight upward curl at the corner of Xu Tianran’s mouth.
“No wonder the lineup of Haotian Sect powerhouses escorting Tongtong to watch the matches yesterday was so exaggerated.” After leaving the arena and quickly changing his attire, Huo Yuhao hurried back to Room 411 of the Mingyue Hotel.
He glanced at Snow Lady, who was recovering her soul power with a milk bottle, and then lay on the bed, pondering the day’s events.
“Yuhao, how did your match go today?” Sensing Huo Yuhao’s aura, Snow Lady quickly stopped her meditation, looked him up and down, and only relaxed after confirming he had no injuries.
She didn’t understand why Huo Yuhao had advised her not to watch his match.
“It went…
alright.
You could say I have good connections,” Huo Yuhao gave her a “don’t worry” look.
Seeing Snow Lady’s still doubtful expression, Huo Yuhao recounted the day’s events to her.
“Really…
is that so?
After that Divine Maiden revealed her identity to the world, Xu Tianran actually didn’t fully submit?” Snow Lady was astonished.
Huo Yuhao shrugged.
“He’s probably underestimated the deities of the divine realm.
By winning over Long Xiaoyao, he thinks he has the confidence to stand against those twenty-four Rank 9 Titled Douluo powerhouses beside the Divine Maiden.”
Noticing the fatigue on Huo Yuhao’s face and the hint of wariness in his eyes, Snow Lady said softly, “Enough talk—you’re tired.
Get some rest.”
On the other side, in the Shrek Academy lounge—whether it was the older generation’s Xuan Zi, the team leader Wang Yan, or the students Chen Zifeng, Dai Huabin, and the others—each wore an expression of utter gloom.
“Has Senior Xiaotao still not woken up?” Xiao Xiao asked with concern.
“She’s fine!
She just passed out from the impact of that bastard Huo Yuhao’s soul power, which carried dense blood and qi,” Dai Huabin said.
As fellow divine descendants, what had happened to Ma Xiaotao in today’s tournament had enraged Dai Huabin, Ning Tian, and the others immensely!
An unknown lowborn had defiled the jade-like body of Ma Xiaotao, a divine descendant…
They knew that with Ma Xiaotao’s pride, she would never be able to swallow this humiliation once she woke up.
Xuan Zi suddenly asked Wang Yan, “Have you all figured out how to kill that brat in the tournament?”
Dai Huabin and the others said, “Though that strange lad is strong, he seems to be alone.
Even if he has teammates, there probably aren’t many, or they’re of mediocre quality.”
“In that case, the team matches will be his death!”
“If all else fails, we’ll have to resort to methods outside the tournament,” Xuan Zi said, his expression dark.
“Methods outside the tournament?
This is the Sun Moon Empire, Elder Xuan—what do you mean?” Xiao Xiao asked curiously, seeing Xuan Zi’s ferocity.
Realizing he had misspoken, Xuan Zi quickly said, “Never mind—when the time comes…
when you become elders in the future, you will understand.”
While the Shrek higher-ups and divine-descended nobles were discussing matters, Chen Zifeng, who came from a commoner background, could no longer contain himself.
“Seniors and juniors, rest assured—I have a Soul-Chasing Sword that can slay that scoundrel Huo Yuhao,” Chen Zifeng declared, thumping his chest in guarantee.
As a commoner-born individual, he was too eager to advance and was desperate to prove himself.
Xuan Zi looked at Chen Zifeng’s resolute expression and nodded approvingly.
“Your cultivation is among the highest of the younger generation—that statement is not wrong.
My Shrek has a genius like Chen Zifeng, capable of slaying Huo Yuhao!”