"Jing Hongchen! You dare block me?!"
Xuan Zi let out an enraged roar. His gray hair and beard flared wildly as he abandoned all pretense of concealment.
There was only one thought in his mind—
Run!
He absolutely could not be caught by the tournament's Organizing Committee.
If the accusation of "sneaking into a rival academy's residence at night with malicious intent" was confirmed, tomorrow's headlines across the entire continent would explode into a Shrek scandal.
And if Mu En found out…
He would truly be finished.
"ROAR—!"
A deafening roar shook the narrow corridor as a terrifying yellow light burst forth from Xuan Zi's body.
Nine spirit rings rose beneath his feet, overwhelming spirit power surging outward and filling the space with suffocating pressure.
Behind him, a massive Taotie phantom manifested—its bloody maw gaping wide, as if ready to devour heaven and earth.
"Since you won't move aside," Xuan Zi growled, "don't blame me for being ruthless!"
He stepped forward and threw a heavy right punch, earth-element power condensing violently as it smashed straight toward Jing Hongchen.
He deliberately restrained himself to avoid destroying the hotel—but even so, the blow was powerful enough to send an ordinary Titled Douluo flying.
"Hmph! You think you can just leave? Not so easy!"
Jing Hongchen didn't retreat. Instead, he advanced, sharp light flashing in his eyes.
"Ninth-Rank defensive soul tool—Red Dust Blessing!"
With a low shout, brilliant gold-red light erupted from his dark red robes. Layer upon layer of crystal-like shields formed instantly, wrapping around his body.
BOOM—!!!
A violent explosion shook the corridor. The shockwave pulverized wall decorations into dust.
When the smoke cleared, Jing Hongchen had been pushed back several steps, his face slightly pale—
Yet the shields around him were completely intact.
"As expected of the Gluttonous Douluo," Jing Hongchen sneered. "Your strength is truly astonishing. But breaking through my defense in a short time won't be so simple."
"Stay right where you are, old man!"
Before his words even finished, Jing Hongchen flicked both hands forward.
Two beams of light shot out.
"Ninth-Rank binding soul tool—Heavenly Net!"
"Ninth-Rank control soul tool—Gravity Quagmire!"
Hum—!
In an instant, the corridor felt as though it had turned into a bottomless swamp.
Xuan Zi's body sank violently, as if a mountain had been pressed onto his back. His once-agile movements became unbearably sluggish.
At the same time, countless golden threads appeared out of thin air, writhing like living creatures as they wrapped tightly around his limbs and torso.
The threads were incredibly tough. Even when Xuan Zi shattered a few with brute spirit power, more immediately coiled around him.
"Damn it! These cursed soul tools!"
Xuan Zi roared furiously, struggling with all his might. Each punch scattered bursts of golden light—but Jing Hongchen stuck to him relentlessly, like adhesive.
In a true life-and-death battle, Xuan Zi could absolutely crush Jing Hongchen.
But here, he couldn't unleash his full strength without tearing down the hotel—and he was facing a Ninth-Rank Soul Engineer whose sole goal was to stall him.
For the first time, he was genuinely trapped.
And just as the commotion reached its peak—
Click.
"What's going on?"
"An earthquake?"
Doors along the corridor opened one after another as figures in robes stepped out.
The students of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy had all been awakened.
At the front were Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen. Right behind them were Liu Yuan and the others.
"This…"
Seeing the terrifying spirit power fluctuations, Xuan Zi roaring while bound in golden light, and Jing Hongchen standing in full battle readiness, everyone froze.
"Grandpa?" Meng Hongchen rubbed her eyes, utterly confused. "What's happening?"
Seeing Liu Yuan and the others, Jing Hongchen continued suppressing Xuan Zi with his soul tools while shouting loudly:
"Kids! Get behind me—now!"
"This old fogey is unbelievable! A dignified Shrek elder actually sneaked to Little Yuan's door in the middle of the night!"
"If I hadn't arrived in time, who knows if he would've broken in!"
"Just look at his shifty eyes—he's clearly plotting something against Liu Yuan! He might even be trying to assassinate our Sun Moon Team's strongest fighter!"
"And now that I've caught him red-handed, he's trying to silence me! Absolutely shameless!"
Each word rang with righteous indignation.
"What?!"
The corridor instantly erupted.
Xiao Hongchen's eyes widened as he pointed at Xuan Zi and cursed, "How shameless! You can't beat us openly, so you resort to underhanded tricks? Is this what Shrek calls integrity? Disgusting!"
Even the usually gentle Meng Hongchen looked at Xuan Zi with clear disdain and vigilance.
Standing among them, Liu Yuan frowned deeply.
He stared at Xuan Zi, a flash of pure disgust in his eyes—
The kind of look one would give a filthy fly.
"Jing Hongchen! You're spouting nonsense!" Xuan Zi roared, nearly coughing up blood in rage when he saw Liu Yuan's expression. "What are you even saying?!"
"I—I was only—"
He wanted to explain.
To say he came to apologize.
To say he came to compensate.
To say he came to beg Liu Yuan to return.
But the words stuck in his throat.
In front of so many people, admitting he came to beg would only humiliate him further.
And in this miserable, caught-red-handed state—who would believe him anyway?
"Only what?" Jing Hongchen cut him off mercilessly. "Only wanted a heart-to-heart talk in the middle of the night?"
"Xuan Zi, stop making excuses. Facts speak for themselves!"
"As long as I'm here, you won't touch a single hair on Little Yuan's head!"
"Argh! You infuriate me! You truly infuriate me!"
Xuan Zi was completely cornered.
Looking at Jing Hongchen's smug face, then at Liu Yuan's cold, distant gaze, he nearly went insane with fury.
The apology plan he had so carefully prepared was utterly ruined.
Not only had he failed to persuade Liu Yuan—
The grudge had only deepened.
What a catastrophic mess.
Just as Xuan Zi was about to lose control and go berserk regardless of the consequences—
"Stop! All of you, stop!"
"The Tournament Organizing Committee's Enforcement Team is here!"
"Who is causing a disturbance and fighting here?!"
Rapid footsteps echoed down the corridor.
A squad of high-level Spirit Masters in white-gold uniforms rushed over, the tournament emblem shining on their chests. The hotel manager followed closely behind them.
Seeing the enforcement team arrive, the smile at the corner of Jing Hongchen's mouth deepened.
He slowly retracted the soul tool cannons, though the binding light net around Xuan Zi didn't loosen in the slightest.
Turning to the lead adjudicator, Jing Hongchen smiled calmly and pointed at Xuan Zi.
"You've arrived just in time."
"There's an 'assassin' here with intent to harm."
"I've already apprehended him."
"I'll leave the rest to you… to enforce the law impartially."