Long Xiaoyao stared at the massive blade light growing larger and larger before his eyes, eventually soaring to nearly a hundred meters in height. His expression was as heavy as still water. There was no way this was an attack a mere Soul Emperor could unleash!
Sensing the divine law aura radiating from that blade light, Long Xiaoyao no longer dared to be inattentive. He really wanted to dodge the strike. For him, that would be quite easy. First, because Zhu Ziyang's slash was overly stiff — it was just an ordinary chop with no special technique at all. Second, due to his own strength — after all, he was an Ultimate Douluo. Dodging an attack from a Soul Emperor? That was child's play.
But out of the pride of a peerless powerhouse, he chose not to dodge. Instead, he decided to take it head-on.
Nine soul rings flew out behind Long Xiaoyao — yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, red, red — each one glowing in turn. His seventh soul ring suddenly erupted with brilliant light. In the next instant, Long Xiaoyao vanished, and in his place appeared a colossal dragon, its entire body covered in jet-black scales, wings spread wide over a hundred meters.
Martial soul true body — Dark Holy Dragon!
"Roar!" The moment the Dark Holy Dragon appeared, it let out a thunderous roar that shook the heavens. The immense shockwave blasted out in all directions, forcing anyone unprepared to retreat instinctively.
"This..." Elder Lin and the others were all stunned. They couldn't sense the laws within Zhu Ziyang's attack — all they saw was Long Xiaoyao releasing his martial soul true body. Confusion filled their hearts. Since Long Xiaoyao had agreed to give Zhu Ziyang a chance, why would he suddenly use his martial soul true body? Wasn't that making things harder for Zhu Ziyang?
If Long Xiaoyao had known what they were thinking, he would have passionately argued back, 'Me? Making things hard for him? It's clearly this kid making things hard for a two-hundred-year-old elder like me!'
'What kind of good kid can use a law-infused attack at the Soul Emperor level? Even a top-tier martial soul shouldn't be able to break the rules like this!'
In short, Long Xiaoyao was feeling very wronged. And very frustrated. Because of the wager, he had no choice but to take Zhu Ziyang's blow head-on — he couldn't counter with any soul skills. For a Power Attack-type Soul Master like him, this was practically crippling.
Long Xiaoyao crossed his massive wings in front of his body, condensing a barrier of soul power around him. The dazzling blade of light descended — and slammed into the enormous body of the Dark Holy Dragon.
The clash of light and darkness instantly gave rise to a colossal vortex of energy. Chaos erupted. Violent currents surged across the plain, rampaging without restraint and crashing into everything nearby.
Zhu Ziyang's body went limp the moment he released the law-infused attack — his soul power completely drained. If Mu En hadn't moved with lightning speed to shield him, he would've been sucked right into the vortex.
As the storm subsided, the vast plain fell silent once more. Only the devastated ground remained, silently telling the tale of that fierce collision.
When the dust finally settled, the giant dragon's figure had vanished. In its place stood Long Xiaoyao — now looking rather battered. Gone was his elegant and unrestrained demeanor. His face was pale, and a faint trace of red tinged the corner of his lips.
Injured?! The mighty Ultimate Douluo, Dragon Emperor Douluo Long Xiaoyao, had actually been wounded by a Soul Emperor! This... this was simply unimaginable!
"Cough… Cough..." Long Xiaoyao coughed lightly, a bitter smile spreading across his face.
"I lost."
In truth, the moment Zhu Ziyang had unleashed that strike, he had already lost. Any attack that forced him to use his martial soul true body and still made him take half a step back — it was already more than enough to determine the outcome.
"Brother Xiaoyao, you're injured?" Mu En's eyes were filled with astonishment, but also a hint of satisfaction.
"Looks like Ziyang gave us quite a surprise!"
"Haha..." Long Xiaoyao let out a laugh that looked more like he was crying than laughing.
"It really makes one envious! Alright then, let's leave it at that — I'm out of here!"
As he spoke, Long Xiaoyao turned around and left the plain without the slightest hesitation.
"Brother Xiaoyao..." Mu En wanted to say something more, but Long Xiaoyao had already vanished from sight. He could only shake his head helplessly and withdraw his gaze.
"Alright, time to wrap things up. Lin'er, Mei'er, you two go bring the other kids back. No need to trouble the Star Luo royal family. I'll take Ziyang back to the academy myself."
After saying that, Mu En took Zhu Ziyang and disappeared from the vast plain in the blink of an eye. Everything had happened so quickly that Zhu Ziyang hadn't even processed what was going on — before he knew it, Elder Lin and the others were already far behind. Only the faint sound of wailing still echoing in his ears told him one thing clearly.
Someone was about to get in serious trouble.
——
Mu En was incredibly fast. Zhu Ziyang felt like the scenery around him only changed twice — once from the plain, and then again into an urban landscape.
They had returned to Shrek Academy, heading straight for Sea God Pavilion on Sea God Island.
Following Mu En into the pavilion, Zhu Ziyang watched as the old man casually reclined on a wooden chair with a calm smile.
"Good child, you've worked hard these past days. Go rest for now. Whatever needs to be said can wait until after you've recovered."
"I understand, teacher!" Zhu Ziyang nodded, somewhat surprised by the response, but he didn't question it.
"Then I'll head back to the dorm. Goodbye, teacher!"
"Go on!" Mu En smiled and added,
"For the next half a year, don't leave the academy. Wait until things settle down."
"Alright!" Zhu Ziyang readily agreed.
He left Sea God Pavilion and walked the path back toward his dormitory. Along the way, he still felt slightly surprised. He had already prepared to explain how he could use law-infused attacks, but Mu En hadn't even asked. Instead, he'd simply told him to rest.
That kind of trust truly moved Zhu Ziyang.
When he reached his room and opened the door, Xingcai instantly rushed out and leapt at him in excitement. Thankfully, Zhu Ziyang reacted quickly and dodged aside. Otherwise, she might've actually knocked him over.
But he understood how excited she was, so he chuckled, reached out, and gently stroked her head and neck, helping tidy her fur.
"It's been a while, Xingcai. How have you been this past month?"
Xingcai lowered her head and rubbed it against Zhu Ziyang's cheek.
"Mhm! I've been great! I get to run around the academy every day, and people even bring me golden tree leaves to eat. Oh, right! That chubby human also gave me this collar that holds stuff — super useful!"
Zhu Ziyang instantly knew who the "chubby human" was. Qian Duoduo. Besides him, no one else would gift Xingcai a soul tool.
He looked at the pale yellow collar around her neck, which matched her fur perfectly, and couldn't help but sigh,
"Senior Qian really has a lot of free time!"
As if summoned by the thought, Qian Duoduo appeared right on cue.
"Junior Brother!" he called out excitedly, waving and bounding over in the blink of an eye.
"Congratulations! You've made your name known across the whole continent!"
"Senior Brother, you already know the results of the competition?" Zhu Ziyang was surprised. Logically speaking, Qian Duoduo hadn't left the academy, and he had been the first contestant to return. He hadn't said a word about the outcome — so how did Qian Duoduo already know?
"Of course I do!" Qian Duoduo replied proudly.
"The afternoon the competition ended, Shrek City already received the results and all the details of the finals. Junior Brother, you really had everyone fooled — five one-hundred-thousand-year soul rings! Even I don't have a single one!"
"Hehe!" Zhu Ziyang gave a sheepish laugh, then asked,
"That's a really fast information network, though!"
"Naturally! The academy's intel system isn't just for show!" Qian Duoduo grinned.
"Come on, I'm taking you to meet a few people."
"Meet people? Who?" Zhu Ziyang was confused.
"You'll find out when we get there!" Qian Duoduo winked and didn't answer.
That only made Zhu Ziyang even more curious. Someone who warranted the personal attention of the vice dean of Shrek Academy and wanted to meet him… could it be the Emperor of the Heaven Soul Empire?
With that question in mind, he followed Qian Duoduo to a traditional courtyard residence in Shrek City's residential district. Inside, Zhu Ziyang finally saw the people Qian Duoduo mentioned — and his jaw nearly dropped to the ground.
"Mom? Dad? What are you doing here?"
That's right — the ones living in that courtyard were none other than his own family: Zhu Changhe, Liang Ying, and Zhu Ziguang.
It turned out that when Shrek Academy first launched their baiting plan, Elder Mu had personally instructed Qian Duoduo to bring Zhu Changhe and his wife, as well as Zhu Ziguang, to Shrek City. He'd even arranged for them to live in that courtyard — to protect them from being used as leverage against Zhu Ziyang by other factions.
Though they had been reluctant to leave their relatives and friends back home, Zhu Changhe and Liang Ying ultimately accepted the move. They had learned just how exceptional their eldest son had become. Aside from pride, they felt nothing but joy.
Oh — and Jiang Nannan's mother had also been brought to Shrek City, still living in the house next door. Qian Duoduo and Xian Lin'er were married, and since Xian Lin'er was Elder Song's daughter, and Jiang Nannan was her only disciple, it made sense that they would take special care of Jiang Nannan too.
(End of Chapter)
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