Ling'er, that's a truly affectionate way to call her...
"Yan Shaozhe, you hypocrite, go to hell!"
Three purple, five black, and one red—nine terrifying soul rings emerged behind her. Evil energy, nearing the Ultimate Evil attribute, spread in all directions. Even Cai Mei'er, who was standing beside Yan Shaozhe, couldn't maintain her footing and was blown away.
Yan Shaozhe's expression turned cold as he spread his bright and holy Phoenix wings. Two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red—nine soul rings shone around his body.
[Old Yan should have a hundred-thousand-year soul ring; otherwise, being Mu En's top disciple would be too underwhelming.]
It was only then that he noticed Feng Ling was clutching a red figure under her arm.
"You... what do you want with Xiaotao!?"
Feng Ling did not answer. Her pitch-black seventh soul ring suddenly flashed, and a sharp cry once again pierced the sky. A massive purple-black Phoenix appeared, lunging toward Yan Shaozhe. Xian Lin'er had already been heavily injured by a sneak attack and Cai Mei'er hadn't recovered her wits yet. Although Qian Duoduo was more than happy to see Yan Shaozhe suffer, he could distinguish right from wrong in a crisis. He hurriedly pulled out his martial soul, the Black Dragon Shield, to cast a defensive layer over Yan Shaozhe.
To everyone's surprise, even with Qian Duoduo's help, Feng Ling's pounce sent Yan Shaozhe's body flying backward through the air for a full hundred meters before he could stop.
"Pfft!"
Yan Shaozhe felt a fishy sweetness in his throat and couldn't help spitting out a mouthful of blood, his face filled with horror.
Feng Ling's cultivation was actually higher than his own Level 95!
"Ling'er, you..."
That familiar face was once again fully revealed to Yan Shaozhe, but those beautiful eyes were now an unfamiliar gray-blue—devoid of their former tenderness, filled instead with evil and tyranny.
Yan Shaozhe realized that Feng Ling had fallen and become an evil soul master. He didn't know how many people she had killed over the years to be able to surpass him in cultivation.
Thinking of this, a wave of self-reproach and anger surged in Yan Shaozhe's heart. The way he looked at Feng Ling changed, now filled mostly with killing intent.
Feng Ling naturally noticed the change in Yan Shaozhe's gaze and sneered, "Still want to kill me? Yan Shaozhe, your hypocritical nature has never changed!"
Ignoring Yan Shaozhe's ugly expression, Feng Ling shifted her gaze toward Cai Mei'er, who was flying toward Yan Shaozhe, and Xian Lin'er, who was also casting a worried look over. She let out another cold laugh.
"Look at our great Dean Yan, still as dissolute as ever! These two have probably been deceived by your flowery words just as I was, haven't they?"
As soon as these words came out, the faces of Cai Mei'er and Xian Lin'er turned green.
The Clear Sky Sect Titled Douluos, who had originally intended to provide support, instinctively stopped in their tracks, looking on as if they were enjoying a show.
Gossip, after all, is something everyone loves to hear.
Yan Shaozhe roared in anger, "Enough, Feng Ling! Don't think you're escaping today!"
He took the lead, unleashing his ninth soul skill: Phoenix Descent.
Brilliant flames of light burned. In that instant, he seemed to have transformed into a true divine beast Phoenix, charging toward Feng Ling with a dense aura of light and fire.
"With just you!?"
Feng Ling sneered. A flash of purple light erupted from her body, and she vanished from her spot, replaced by a cone-shaped object.
"...That's!"
As the Vice Dean of Shrek's Soul Tool Department, Qian Duoduo recognized what it was at a glance.
"It's a Class 9 stationary soul tool shell! Defend, quickly!"
Indeed, the Holy Spirit Cult wasn't stupid enough to go head-to-head with Shrek. One must remember they were backed by the Sun Moon Empire! The Sun Moon Empire lacked many things, but soul tools were not among them. Additionally, with the support of the massive underground black market, the Sunset Water Alliance, obtaining a Class 9 stationary soul tool shell wasn't difficult. Furthermore, this specific shell was a high-temperature, high-explosive type focused on lethality.
Their strategy was simple: Zhongli Wu would lead a frontal lure, while Feng Ling would secretly snatch Ma Xiaotao. They would then use the Class 9 shell to catch Shrek off guard and retreat leisurely.
It was as if a sun had dropped in front of them. Even if they weren't familiar with soul tools, as Titled Douluo-level powerhouses, they could feel the fatal threat.
Without time to wonder why such a thing was in the hands of an evil soul master, Qian Duoduo unhesitatingly activated his ninth soul skill, Dark Dragon Settles the World, and retreated rapidly.
Around his shield, dark dragons circled, letting out cries like mourning wails amidst the light and heat of the explosion. However, thanks to Qian Duoduo's desperate retreat, he avoided the shield being shattered.
Yan Shaozhe retracted his ninth soul skill, grabbed Cai Mei'er beside him, and used his trump card, Phoenix Nirvana, to flee far away with her.
The power of a Class 9 stationary soul tool shell in this era was comparable to the full-strength strike of a Limit Douluo, but with an even larger range of destruction.
The other Clear Sky Sect Titled Douluos watching the show weren't so lucky. How could this group of blacksmiths living in the deep mountains and forests have ever seen such a thing?
By the time they used their soul skills to defend, it was already too late.
A deafening explosion echoed through the clouds. The blast and high temperatures engulfed the mid-air, dyeing the horizon orange-red.
In less than ten seconds, three charred, smoking unidentified objects crashed into the ground in an arc. They were the lucky ones; two other Titled Douluos from the Clear Sky Sect had already been vaporized...
Seeing the goal had been achieved, the Bone Dragon King beneath Zhongli Wu's feet let out a raspy roar. Its pitch-black bone tail lashed out, knocking Mu En back a distance. Zhongli Wu also pulled out a Class 9 stationary soul tool shell and hurled it toward the Elders of the Sea God Pavilion and the Clear Sky Sect Titled Douluos.
"Haha... Shrek, I thank you for painstakingly nurturing a Holy Maiden for my Holy Spirit Cult! My thanks!"
With that, a spatial rift appeared before him. He stepped inside and vanished.
The other surrounding evil soul masters also used their own methods to escape the battlefield.
In just a few breaths, the evil soul masters were gone without a trace.
For evil soul masters who were hunted by everyone, escaping was a mandatory course; they were already well-versed in it.
They came fast and left faster, leaving the people of the Clear Sky Sect and Shrek staring at each other in shock.
Sensing the Class 9 stationary soul tool shell that was currently brewing its explosion, Mu En felt powerless and helpless.
Yan Shaozhe and the others were in a state where their old strength was spent and new strength hadn't yet gathered. This Class 9 shell truly had the potential to kill them.
He himself was nearing the end of his life, but they were the pillars of Shrek; they couldn't perish here...
At this point, there was no choice but to risk his life.
Sighing with his eyes closed, the body of the Radiant Holy Dragon that Mu En had transformed into erupted with brilliant flames. It looked similar to Yan Shaozhe's Radiant Phoenix Flame, but the energy between the two was naturally worlds apart.
He burned his life force to reclaim the peak power of his youth.
"Roar~"
A massive white light enveloped that Class 9 shell. Within the halo, thousands of dragons danced, and the dense aura of light rose like a physical substance, turning the entire sky into an ocean of light.
With Mu En's cultivation, even with a crippled body, it was impossible for this Class 9 shell to hit him head-on if he didn't want it to. He had over ten thousand ways to avoid it, and even a direct hit wouldn't heavily injure him.
But the key was that he had to control the shell to prevent it from exploding outward. Therefore, Mu En could only compress its explosion entirely within his own domain.
It was only then that Elder Xuan reacted, hurriedly stepping forward to assist Mu En in suppressing the explosion. The Clear Sky Sect's Elder Tang hesitated for a moment before also stepping forward to support.
Mu En's action had also saved the members of the Clear Sky Sect.
With the three great powerhouses working together, they finally suppressed the explosion of the Class 9 stationary soul tool shell.
"Yan Shaozhe, I will teach your precious disciple for you! Remember, this is what you owe me! I will definitely make sure you die at the hands of your own disciple! Hahahaha..."
Feng Ling's voice drifted from the distant horizon, clearly entering the ears of everyone present.
Yan Shaozhe's face flushed red then turned pale, but he couldn't say a word.
Slap—!
That was the sound of someone being slapped.
Yan Shaozhe was stunned. He saw Cai Mei'er beside him, maintaining her slapping posture, her eyes red.
"You're really something, Yan Shaozhe... You truly are a scumbag!"
Before he could explain with flowery words, another crisp slap rang out. Cai Mei'er, completely disregarding her grace, slapped him left and right, cursing as she did so.
"I'm such a fool! How am I only seeing your true face now!"
In the distance, Xian Lin'er struggled to her feet, rushed over, and delivered another heavy slap to Yan Shaozhe.
The usually discordant Xian Lin'er and Cai Mei'er actually reached a brief consensus on the matter of beating Yan Shaozhe.
You hit the left, I hit the right—Yan Shaozhe enjoyed it all.
The two women's strength grew greater and greater, making his ears ring and bringing a fishy sweetness to his throat.
Seeing this, Qian Duoduo felt an itch in his heart. Could he also go up and give this shameless fellow Yan Shaozhe a kick?
"Hey, hey, Mei'er, you're hitting too hard! Be gentler! Ouch, Lin'er, why are you choking my neck!?"
After exiting the martial soul true body state, Mu En's hunched body swayed uncontrollably, but he restrained himself.
This turn of events was dire. Originally, Mu En estimated he could live for another five years or so. Now, it would be lucky if he could last two...
Looking at the Shrek Deans putting on a farce in front of everyone, Mu En felt a headache coming on.
With Shrek in the hands of these people, was there still hope?
Qian Duoduo saw Mu En's ugly expression and immediately roared, "Yan Shaozhe, haven't you embarrassed yourself enough!?"
This roar finally caused Xian Lin'er and Cai Mei'er to stop.
Yan Shaozhe seemed to lose all his strength, hanging his head.
Elder Tang sighed and stepped forward to bow to Mu En. "...In any case, thank you for your help, Lord Dragon God. I hope our Young Sect Master will not encounter the same harm again at your academy."
Mu En seemed truly exhausted, merely nodding silently without saying anything.
Seeing this, Elder Tang didn't say more. With a wave of his hand, he took the three Titled Douluos who had turned into charcoal and left the Limo Plains.
...
On the path where Feng Ling was carrying Ma Xiaotao to regroup with Zhongli Wu and the others, a dark green fist abruptly appeared in front of her.
Feng Ling instinctively wanted to dodge, but there seemed to be a suction force on the fist pulling her in. No matter how she flapped her wings, she couldn't avoid the strike.
Left with no choice, she could only cross her arms while closing her Evil Phoenix wings behind her to protect herself.
Boom!
Like a kite with a broken string, Feng Ling took a heavy blow and was sent flying, instinctively loosening her grip on the restrained Ma Xiaotao.
A blue-white figure had been waiting on the ground early on, opening his arms to catch the falling Ma Xiaotao.
Ma Xiaotao had already fallen unconscious, her beautiful face tinged with an abnormal purple-red hue.
Yan Shaozhe's mouth twitched speechlessly. Regarding Huo Yuhao's affairs, nothing was a surprise anymore...
His eyes turned gold and white. He placed Ma Xiaotao on the ground and slapped his hand onto her forehead. White light flashed on his hand, and the purple-red evil energy coiled around Ma Xiaotao entered Yan Shaozhe's body as if it had found its home.
Feng Ling was also a meticulous person; she had pre-injected her Evil Phoenix martial soul origin power into Ma Xiaotao's body, intending to guide her martial soul's mutation to complete the later spirit elevation.
Even if they managed to take Ma Xiaotao back, Yan Shaozhe could only helplessly watch his disciple blacken into an evil soul master.
If she hadn't run into a "bug" like Yan Shaozhe, Ma Xiaotao truly might have been guided onto the path of an evil soul master by her.
"Eh?"
Yan Shaozhe's expression became strange. After devouring that evil energy, he faintly felt his Level 95 soul power bottleneck break, advancing to Level 96.
That was, after all, the origin power of a Super Douluo. He wondered if this counted as gaining without effort?
Du Busi looked at Feng Ling in disbelief. "Your martial soul is... the Evil Phoenix!?"
Wait...
He seemed to recall hearing a romantic rumor years ago about Shrek's Martial Soul Department Dean Yan Shaozhe. Yan Shaozhe had wanted to inherit Feng Ling's mantle and tie the knot with the Dark Phoenix Feng Ling, planning a Light and Dark Twin Phoenix pairing.
But in the end, it was said something happened, and that Dark Phoenix mutated into an Evil Phoenix, falling to become an evil soul master, and the matter was dropped.
As the top disciple of Mu En, Yan Shaozhe also had various romantic tales circulating on the Douluo Continent, being involved with many women. It was said he even had a history with Shrek Academy's Soul Tool Department Dean Xian Lin'er, before finally settling down and marrying Cai Mei'er.
This was strange. If Yan Shaozhe had discovered her martial soul had mutated from a Dark Phoenix to an Evil Phoenix, why hadn't he killed her earlier? Doesn't that fellow Yan Shaozhe call himself a Continental Overseer who can't stand a grain of sand in his eye? Is this how they "oversee" a Super Douluo-level evil soul master into existence!?
Du Busi shook his head. He had no good feelings toward Shrek. Since an evil soul master had appeared before him, he naturally wanted to kill her as soon as possible! Regardless of who she had a fling with.
Facts proved that while both were Level 98 Super Douluos, Du Busi's strength was slightly stronger than Elder Xuan's, and he was much more reliable than Elder Xuan.
He didn't show any carelessness, immediately releasing his martial soul true body and the second awakening of his body martial soul. He unleashed a barrage of ultimate moves, leaving Feng Ling with no power to fight back.
Just as Du Busi was about to finish off Feng Ling, to his surprise, her first soul ring actually exploded! As if she had been resurrected with full health, she charged at Du Busi with a shrill howl.
Du Busi was startled. "This is..."
He didn't get careless, consecutively striking with powerful combat techniques and soul skills to suppress Feng Ling once again.
However, in the ensuing battle, Feng Ling's nine soul rings exploded one after another, allowing her to fight Du Busi to a standstill for a time.
But she didn't linger. After spitting out a breath of Evil Phoenix flame, she turned and flew toward the sky, quickly disappearing.
As a veteran powerhouse, Du Busi knew better than to pursue a cornered foe, and he had more important things to do.
He spat on the ground. "Damn! This is truly bizarre. Evil soul masters even have this kind of secret technique!?"
As his voice fell, a group of Body Sect elites who came with Du Busi approached.
The Vice Sect Master, the Golden Body Douluo Jin Peng, asked with lingering fear, "Sect Master, what was that move?"
He admitted he wasn't weaker than that woman, but once that secret technique of exploding soul rings was used, he might not necessarily be her match.
Toward evil soul masters, Jin Peng naturally had no good feelings, but he really wanted to know: was it only that woman who knew it? Or could any evil soul master with similar cultivation do it?
Du Busi said somewhat gloomily, "I'm not clear either. It seems to be exploding the soul ring to obtain a brief but violent boost. Otherwise, I would have hammered that woman to death long ago."
The big-headed Yu Tao opened his eyes and said solemnly, "Forget it then, Sect Master. I feel other very powerful auras approaching. We should return to the sect first."
"You're right. Let's go. We'll return to the sect first!"
...
Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion.
Mu En lay exhausted on a lounge chair. His face appeared somewhat ashen, and half of his white hair had turned a faint gray. He gave off the feeling of a candle in the wind, liable to be extinguished at any moment.
In Yan Shaozhe's heart, this teacher of his was like a father. Seeing him in this state of nearing the end of his days caused a sharp pain in his heart.
He bowed slightly and said in a low voice, "Teacher, Xiaotao was taken by Ling... Feng Ling and the others. Xu Sanshi, Ning Tian, and others have all applied to withdraw from the academy, and..."
He paused for a moment, his voice sounding troubled. "What do you think we should do next?"
Mu En's closed eyes opened tiredly to a slit. In his vision, even Yan Shaozhe's figure seemed to have a double image.
"I have nothing left to say to you all. What you will do, only Heaven knows..."