The residence of the Body Sect is located in the northern part of the Heaven Dou Empire, near the Extreme North Ice Sea. It is a natural fortress set within a mountain range; the terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack, and the harsh environment serves to temper the resilience of its disciples.
A frontal assault on the Body Sect was not a wise move, so Elder Mu En also chose to set an ambush mid-way, notifying several elders of the Sea God Pavilion to come as reinforcements.
The Lima Plains of the Heaven Dou Empire was the optimal ambush site, as it was a mandatory path for Du Busi to return to the Body Sect. Moreover, it was not far from Shrek City, allowing Zhang Lexuan to first lead the competing disciples back to the academy.
After all, the Huo Yuhao they intended to intercept had a deep relationship with them; it would be problematic if the two of them were to witness it.
Once Mu En and Elder Xuan Zi arrived here with the Shrek competition team to rendezvous with Yan Shaozhe, Cai Meier, and the others, Mu En suddenly halted his steps. Frowning, he gave a look to Xuan Zi beside him.
With Mu En present, Xuan Zi instantly became much more obedient and reliable.
"Who goes there? Come out!"
Xuan Zi leaped into the air, reaching out with his right hand toward a patch of space. Suddenly, a massive crystal-yellow hand manifested in mid-air, spreading its fingers as it clawed in a certain direction.
"Is this how you Shrek people treat your guests!?"
A halo transformed from a hammer abruptly thrust out from the void. A powerful and overbearing force swept through, shattering the large hand Xuan Zi had manifested. Then, silver light flickered as a group of sturdy men dressed in black martial attire, holding giant hammers, descended from the sky amidst a strange BGM.
There were over a dozen people, and each of them possessed immense strength—every single one was a Titled Douluo. Looking across, they actually all possessed black 10,000 Year Soul Rings!
The leader featured a configuration of eight black and one red! The solidity and thickness of his aura were not inferior to Xuan Zi's in the slightest.
Xuan Zi frowned, looking at the hammers in the hands of these strong men. "Clear Sky Hammer!? You are people from the Clear Sky Sect?"
In truth, after seeing the Clear Sky Sect, both Mu En and Xuan Zi actually breathed a sigh of relief. At least it wasn't the Body Sect launching a counter-ambush against them.
The Clear Sky Sect shared a deep connection with Shrek Academy, after all. The two might have minor frictions, but it wouldn't reach the point of a life-and-death struggle. After all, the Sea God was watching from above; everyone's ancestor was the same person.
The leader, Elder Tang, gave a wave of his hand and shouldered the Clear Sky Hammer. "No need for pleasantries! We are here today to demand accountability and seek justice for our Young Sect Master! We shall punish your Shrek for the crimes of failing to protect and dereliction of educational duty!"
Demanding accountability? Seeking justice?
Mu En already understood. It was surely for that tomboy Wang Dong; that little girl's background was truly not small.
Recalling the terrifying aura he had previously sensed on Wang Dong that had made him tremble, Mu En's heart sank.
The foundation of the Clear Sky Sect was truly flourishing, to be able to bring so many Titled Douluo. Was this really necessary?
He sighed in his heart and was about to say something, but was interrupted by Xuan Zi beside him.
"So what if a student was injured? You want a fight, we'll fight. Do you Clear Sky Sect really think my Shrek can be bullied!?"
Xuan Zi, unwilling to show weakness, gave a bull-like roar. He had been feeling depressed from being confined lately and happened to need someone to vent his frustrations on!
"Ai!"
Before Mu En could say anything, nine soul rings of the optimal configuration rose. The seventh soul ring flashed as Xuan Zi transformed into the Taotie Divine Bull, charging toward that massive Clear Sky Hammer.
Mu En, who hadn't had time to say anything, closed his eyes and turned his head away. Such a teammate was no better than an enemy... how were they supposed to ambush Du Busi and the others now?
The people of the Clear Sky Sect were not known for their good tempers. Soul power as solid as a mountain surged, and the massive Clear Sky Hammer darkened the sky. Without a second word, they roared and smashed toward the many experts of Shrek.
The Sect Master had said to just give these Shrek fellows a lesson.
See? They made the first move; it's only natural for us to fight back.
"You teach without discipline and still claim to be in the right! Today, this Sect Master shall give you fellows who 'already have a path to death' a harsh education on behalf of the Clear Sky Sect ancestor, Sea God Tang San!"
The leading Elder Tang directly activated his Clear Sky Avatar. The mountain-sized Clear Sky Hammer went straight for Xuan Zi's head.
The diamond bull horns of the Taotie Divine Bull collided with the pitch-black hammer head. The shockwave, accompanied by spatial cracks, diffused in all directions; it seemed the entire earth was trembling.
Yan Shaozhe and the other elders of the Sea God Pavilion also began this muddled battle with the Titled Douluo of the Clear Sky Sect. For a time, the sky over the Lima Plains was shrouded in black and various other colors, a bizarre and garish sight.
"Clear Sky Avatar, Heaven-Reaching Strike!"
"Phoenix Dance of the Nine Heavens!"
"Clear Sky Hammer, Disorderly Splitting Wind!"
"Emerald Sublimation!"
"Hammer Shakes Heaven and Earth!"
"Cyan Flame Dragon Head!"
"Nine Absolute Heavens of Clear Sky, Crumble!"
They still knew some restraint and did not make a move against the students.
...
He Caitou lowered his head slightly. Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he quietly took out the communication soul tool that Huo Yuhao had given him previously and edited a message to send to Huo Yuhao.
...
Regarding this muddled battle, Mu En only felt a headache.
How could he manage Shrek Academy well with this group of vermin? Could these idiots not see that the Clear Sky Sect was just here to flex their muscles?!
Giving a fierce glare to Xuan Zi, who was fighting with great joy, Mu En leaned on his cane, stepped forward, and shouted:
"Friends of the Clear Sky Sect! I am the current Master of the Sea God Pavilion, Mu En. I express my deep apologies for the ordeal of your sect's disciple, Wang Dong. Please rest assured that Shrek Academy will certainly provide adequate compensation. I ask that you all give this old man some face and let this matter end here."
A faint golden halo echoed with the sound of a dragon's roar. The majesty of a Limit Douluo instantly covered the field, overshadowing all the Titled Douluo present and causing them to instinctively stop their movements.
"Wait, something's wrong!"
A burst of silver halos shone as large groups of black-clothed people abruptly appeared in the air, pouncing directly at every single Titled Douluo of the Clear Sky Sect and Shrek Academy who were still in a daze.
They immediately unleashed their martial soul true bodies: crows with dark auras, roaring black scorpion-tigers, bloody and ugly ghost-faces, hideous and foul-smelling centipedes...
In an instant, a great storm of evil soul power kicked up in the sky. The number of experts with eight rings or more who revealed themselves actually exceeded thirty!
That black scorpion-tiger immediately performed a "heart-and-lung extraction" on a Titled Douluo from the Clear Sky Sect, while the Shrek side was also ambushed. The Valkyrie Douluo, Xian Lin'er, was directly injured by an evil soul master of the Super Douluo level.
"Oh? Not only are the elders of the Sea God Pavilion here, but our friends from the Clear Sky Sect are here as well."
Just then, a man with short, dense silver hair and purple eyes stepped leisurely through the air with his hands behind his back. The fluctuations of soul power erupting from the chaotic battle could not even get within thirty meters of him.
He reached out and removed the black mask from his face, revealing a face that could be called young and handsome, looking only about forty years old. An indescribable, profound aura emanated from him. Six black and three red—nine terrifying soul rings—manifested alongside a purple-black ghostly shadow. Looking at his aura alone, he was only one notch inferior to Mu En.
...A Level 98 Super Douluo.
Mu En's pupils constricted slightly. He actually sensed a bit of a familiar aura from the person before him; the eyes and brows also looked somewhat like an old acquaintance of his.
"You are..."
The middle-aged man gracefully placed one hand over his chest and bowed to Mu En. "I am Zhongli Wu, the current Hierarch of the Holy Spirit Cult. Greetings to the Master of the Sea God Pavilion, the Dragon God Douluo, Lord Mu En."
"Zhongli... Zhongli..."
Mu En muttered this rare compound surname. As if thinking of something, he looked at Zhongli Wu in shock.
"Could it be that you are Xishui's..."
A wide smile appeared on Zhongli Wu's face. "It is indeed my mother. I'm truly grateful that the Dragon God Douluo still remembers her. Of course, my mother also thinks of your Lordship constantly..."
Once Zhongli Wu said this, Zhang Lexuan and the others watching from afar had strange expressions, and even the Titled Douluo of the Clear Sky Sect looked like they were feasting on some major gossip.
What was the situation? The dignified Master of the Sea God Pavilion actually had an unclear relationship with the leader of the evil soul masters?
Although Mu En's face remained calm, for some reason, he looked a bit green, and his gaze was somewhat evasive.
No wonder he had the appearance of an old friend; he was the son of an old friend.
"No wonder... you evil soul masters have indeed formed a significant organization. This was likely Xishui's doing as well."
Zhongli Wu scanned the Shrek competing members below who were facing a great enemy, his gaze locking onto Ma Xiaotao in her red dress.
Suddenly his eyes lit up, and the smile on his face became even more brilliant. "The intelligence from our cult's Blue Silver Saintess is indeed precise! Speaking of which, she was also an outstanding student of your Shrek Academy... You Shrek Academy people are truly something; the Blue Silver Saintess has such extraordinary talent, yet you couldn't even bear to give her a slot as an Inner Court disciple."
Blue Silver Saintess?
Bei Bei only felt as if his heart had been gripped by someone; an ominous feeling arose spontaneously.
"Speaking of which, we also share quite a fate with your academy's Dean Yan Shaozhe! Our cult's Vice-Hierarch, my wife Feng Ling, is an old acquaintance of Dean Yan. If it weren't for Dean Yan Shaozhe's abandonment, our cult wouldn't have gained such a capable general! Hahaha..."
Uh...
Feeling the two murderous glares beside him, Yan Shaozhe instinctively shrunk his neck.
A brave man doesn't mention his past glories. Besides, isn't the teacher over here also having an unclear relationship with an evil soul master?
Mu En took a deep breath, looking at Zhongli Wu with a solemn expression.
"Even if you are Xishui's son, you are still an incorrigible evil soul master. Today, this old man shall uphold justice for Heaven and deal with you all!"
A trace of a mysterious smile appeared on Zhongli Wu's face.
"Deal with me? The Dragon God Lord certainly has a big mouth!"
The second black soul ring flashed, and a tall scepter abruptly appeared in his hand. Then, Zhongli Wu held the scepter high over his head, chanting something, seemingly summoning something.
Mu En only felt his heart tighten. Two yellow, one purple, three black, and three red—a complete set of nine soul rings slowly appeared on him as he spat out a breath of pure Holy Dragon fire.
Just as this Holy Dragon breath was about to land on Zhongli Wu, a dragon head abruptly appeared in front of him. The dragon breath dissipated, but the dragon head remained unscathed.
A massive pitch-black body slowly crawled out, and a dragon claw followed. The enormous body gradually revealed itself. It was unexpectedly a pitch-black bone dragon composed entirely of black skeleton, with no scales or muscle.
This black bone dragon was over a hundred meters long, and its wingspan was also a full hundred meters; compared to the martial soul true bodies of top experts, this size was nothing. With Mu En's cultivation, his Holy Dragon Avatar could easily reach over a thousand meters. However, the giant bone dragon before them appeared to be a purely natural, physical entity.
It was exactly Zhongli Wu's trump card, his natal beast soul—the Bone Dragon King, which had received the blessing of the Silver Dragon King's power.
The released Bone Dragon King, descending through the air, twisted its massive body. With its appearance, an illusion of a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood from countless soul beasts flickered continuously in the sky. The shrill cries of countless soul beasts echoed in the air, as if countless vengeful spirits were screaming madly.
Zhongli Wu introduced it with great pride. "...Normally, I would never be willing to use its power, because it is already my natal beast soul, even a part of my martial soul. But facing the illustrious Dragon God Douluo, I naturally must go all out and respond with my strongest methods."
Six vortices of wind and fire, intersecting in cyan and blue, rose from the Bone Dragon King's body and headed straight for Mu En.
Mu En gave a silent sigh. The seventh soul ring flashed: martial soul true body.
Toward Ye Xishui, Mu En was naturally unable to forget her; how could he strike her son with a heavy hand?
He needed to quickly repel him and then take the children to evacuate toward Shrek City.
The Holy Dragon flapped its wings and charged straight toward Zhongli Wu and the Bone Dragon King beneath his feet.
In fairness, Zhongli Wu was indeed worthy of being Ye Xishui's son. Although he was not yet a Limit Douluo, by relying on the Bone Dragon King and the advantages of his soul rings, he became locked in a struggle with Mu En, unable to determine a victor for the time being.
This Limit Douluo-level battle made the three factions of people unable to resist watching intently, especially Xuan Zi, who instinctively forgot that what he should be doing most right now was protecting the Shrek students below.
The students below were naturally all captivated by this once-in-a-lifetime battle. Such a battle was rare and sought after; observing it seriously would be of great benefit to their future development.
But Lan Xuanyu was an exception; his heart was filled only with frustration.
The opponents he fought in his past life were all God-level experts! What could he possibly learn from a battle of this Titled Douluo level?
Looking at the messy battlefield, Lan Xuanyu could only sigh and shake his head. Would Shrek really be finished without Huo Yuhao?
Then he subconsciously turned his head, and it seemed a gray-blue halo flashed before him.
Just then...
"Yan Shaozhe! I want you dead!"
A sharp phoenix cry rang out as deep purple bird claws came straight for Yan Shaozhe's head from nearby.
Looking at those bird claws with their turbid and evil aura, Yan Shaozhe was also stunned for a moment, instinctively striking out with a burst of fist force.
The fist force and the bird claws collided and vanished, but Yan Shaozhe was unable to completely neutralize the move. The irritation from that overbearing soul power still caused Yan Shaozhe to lose control and retreat a few steps before steadying himself.
The voice sounded somewhat familiar, as if it hadn't been heard for a long time. A gray-blue figure appeared before the Shrek crowd, clutching Ma Xiaotao under her arm and glaring death at Yan Shaozhe.
Looking at those familiar yet strange gray-blue beautiful eyes, Yan Shaozhe asked tentatively.
"Ling... Ling'er?!"
Time had passed, and on the battlefield, Yan Shaozhe met Feng Ling once again. This feeling was something only he understood in his heart.