"My dear uncles..."
Wang Dong'er's voice was cold as midwinter wind.
With celestial brilliance behind her, she seemed the very incarnation of the Sea God, and the surrounding priests all looked upon her with reverence.
"Your loyalty to him is really impressive."
"Dong'er!" Er Ming too raised his head, terror-stricken, nearly stumbling.
"N-no, it's not what you think!" he stammered. "We never abandoned you, truly, I—"
His speech soon devolved into incoherence.
Da Ming opened his mouth, but his face was gray.
At this point, unless Wang Dong'er was a total fool, she must have figured it all out.
What he couldn't understand was—why had she appeared in the Sea God Palace? When did she inherit the Sea God's position?
"Silence!" Da Ming barked, cutting off his brother's rambling.
"Dong'er, judging by your expression, you know how this all began and ended. Out of respect for your 'fathers' in Clear Sky, let me die with understanding. Where is Tang San? Why are you here?"
"Hehe, I succeeded the Sea God, that's all you need to know. As for Tang San—no comment."
Waves crashed.
With a flick of her finger, Da Ming and Er Ming were swathed in pale blue light and drifted away.
"Sigh..."
Wang Dong'er let out a light sigh.
In her memories, her two 'fathers' had always treated her well—but ultimately, they had always just seen her as Tang Wutong-to-be.
Even so, she didn't destroy their souls, but sent them into the cycle of animal reincarnation. If they could return as soul beasts, it depended on fate.
She had shown mercy.
Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion
Su Wen enjoyed a massage from A Yin, who'd transformed into a human, while Nana delivered updates.
"Poison Undying and Sun Yang joined forces for an assassination in the Sun Moon Empire; their intelligence was intercepted and Sun Moon was fully prepared. Sun Yang Douluo was killed by Kong Deming. Poison Undying faked a suicide and escaped..."
"Escaped, really?" Su Wen was surprised.
Mingdu had more than just one powerhouse like Kong Deming. Even extreme-rankers from the Holy Spirit Cult were present. Surviving such a siege was unexpected.
"Shrek's Intel Department suspects Holy Spirit elders Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao were not in Mingdu," Nana continued. "Even most evil soul masters seem absent. They're up to something—Sun Moon's been oddly quiet."
"Oh?"
Su Wen raised an eyebrow.
Ye Xishui hated him with a passion. If he ranked in her grudge list, he could probably fight Long Xiaoyao and Elder Zhongli for top place.
He'd slaughtered Holy Spirit minions, nearly finished Ye Xishui herself, and since Elder Yi repaired the Reincarnation Wheel, she'd been left crippled, her cultivation unusable.
Jie jie jie!
A chilling laugh rang across Shrek's skies.
Su Wen looked out the window.
Two shadowy figures hovered over Shrek's campus.
At the same time, the previously clear blue sky was blotted with dark clouds.
A suffocating atmosphere descended on all students and teachers.
"Who's there!" Yan Shaozhe cried.
Several elders took to the air, others took up watch around campus, ready to support or hold ground.
Students gathered in orderly fashion toward classroom buildings.
"Mu En, show yourself!" The cloaked woman screeched again.
"Xishui, are you sure...?" Long Xiaoyao hesitated.
"If you can't do it, I will!" Ye Xishui snorted. "I didn't come here for a mutual kill. I'm here for HIM."
Dozens of black-robed shadows rallied behind, exuding dense black energy. It seemed the Holy Spirit Cult was going all-in.
...
A golden light erupted from the Sea God Pavilion.
A sacred dragon of shimmering white roared in the sky, its head crowned by a figure in elegant white robes—middle-aged, dashing, composed.
Shrek society ladies swooned. The old hunk had arrived.
"Ye Xishui, what do you want?" Mu En sighed. He glanced at Long Xiaoyao before calmly regarding his old flame—the only woman he'd ever loved.
"Hmph!" Ye Xishui tried to snarl but her aura faltered.
She'd hoped for an easy target but picked the strongest. Mu En's strength surprised her; not only had he recovered, but his martial soul had grown stronger.
No wonder, last time Holy Spirit Cult raided, one move from Mu En had terrified Zhang Peng half to death.
Even in her peak, she wouldn't be his match.
Long Xiaoyao remained silent. He'd warned her.
"What do I want? You should ask your Shrek Academy! That boy, to strike at me, revised the Law of Death to force souls into reincarnation—they can't be captured! My martial soul was nearly destroyed!"
"Luckily, I improved my soul tool, the Blood Puppet, or I'd have lost everything!"
"I came for revenge! Su Wen—come out and die!"
...
Mu En was silent.
With a trace of pity in his eyes.
Over a century, that look of hers had never improved.
Challenging Su Wen? Did she not realize he was Shrek's deadliest?
He'd kill evil soul masters without a second thought.
Just one word—kill.
She was all but volunteering to be slaughtered.
Yet she came, relying on her peak-level tenth-grade Blood Puppet and perhaps...
As Ye Xishui's words drifted across Shrek, waves of excitement broke out below:
"It's Lord Su!"
"They're after Elder Su—are those evil soul masters?"
"We just cleaned out a batch last time; are these different?"
Mu Jin listened proudly as gossip spread.
I taught him—er—our Pavilion Lord!
He would surely become a god.
Other students who'd joined in with Su Wen early on had made their way to the inner court and now saw the legend continue to grow.
"Looking for me?"
Su Wen flashed next to Mu En, smiling.
Mu En sighed.
"Don't drag me into this; she and I have nothing left."
"Not going to tell Dean Yan about his origins?" Su Wen needled.
...
Everyone stared at Yan Shaozhe.
Even the righteous outrage paused, replaced by juicy curiosity.
"What's that got to do with me?!" Yan Shaozhe choked, glaring.
"Sigh—can't hide it anymore."
Mu En sighed.
"Dean Yan, your bloodline is inherited from... her!" Su Wen pointed at Ye Xishui, then at Long Xiaoyao.
Hiss—
Everyone drew sharp breaths.
Elder Lin exclaimed, "See, I knew it! Shaozhe's background was shrouded in secrecy!"
Elder Song commiserated, "He's a good kid, don't let the Holy Spirit get to him."
So, as Su Wen narrated, a truly melodramatic tale unfolded.
Even among the Holy Spirit top brass—their anger faded to shock: Zhongli Elder, the Grand Elder liked Mu En? So much drama!
"No! Impossible!" Yan Shaozhe was furious.
He grew up at Shrek, hated evil soul masters, and simply could not accept this.
Long Xiaoyao wept tears of joy.
I knew it, Xishui...
You still love me.
The scene descended into a gossip fest.
"Are you satisfied now?" Ye Xishui glared at Su Wen.
"Miss Ye, what do you want?" Su Wen smiled sweetly.
"...To kill you!"
"Blood Puppet!"
Her eyes grew sharp and a black-red mist enveloped her. A hulking puppet, nearly ten meters tall, appeared—made entirely of bloody flesh and bone.
Blood dripped ominously.
Click...
The academy's side was incensed.
This was beyond cruel.
Su Wen narrowed his eyes—at least a thousand must have died to make such a 'corpse mountain', all of them soul masters.
This woman was truly deranged.
Like Bibi Dong before her—transferring her resentment to the entire continent.
But, from another perspective, she was a soul tool genius—her talents rivaled even Kong Deming.
Her derangement led her to blend evil soul mastery with a second martial soul, all while developing tenth-grade devices.
Without missteps, her technical mastery could rival Kong Deming's.
But she strayed off course.
Su Wen sighed.
The Blood Puppet's construction was exquisite—though apparently chaotic, the core was at least dozens of ninth-grade soul tool arrays, giving it strength near Limit Douluo (with help from blood magic).
"So, just this Blood Puppet?"
"Just? Big talk, kid!" Ye Xishui's face twisted. "In Sun Moon, you always fled, only daring to kill my underlings—you fear me!"
"So I came for you, now. If you dare run this time, I'll turn your precious Shrek to ashes!"
"Run away?"
Su Wen looked surprised.
"That's right!" Ye Xishui sneered.
Su Wen shook his head, helpless.
"If that's the case, I'll stop running..."
A wave of terrifying, oppressive force rose behind Su Wen.
Huge behemoths appeared in the sky.
Each exuded a frightening aura.
All were near million-year spirit beasts.
Jiao Jiao, Xiao Zi, Qiong Qi... fire, thunder, wind, chaos...
Colorful elements smeared the whole sky.
Even Ye Xishui's Blood Puppet trembled.
"Miss Ye, this time, I won't run."
"Then, leave your life behind!"