Taking advantage of his superior vantage point, Austin carefully surveyed the surrounding jungle and the roads leading to the valley from his elevated position.
Shrek Academy had made quite a show of force to annihilate the invading evil spirit masters and vampire bats; if the evil spirit masters had any other tricks up their sleeves, this was their last chance to unleash them. Although his teacher was there to support him in this battle, Austin wasn't prepared to trouble him further in such a dominant fight.
Half a minute later, the evil spirit master in the center of the village finally fell silent. The drone released its Molotov cocktail at the spot where the evil spirit master had fallen, and the raging flames began to purify the evil and any potential danger.
At the mountaintop, Austin breathed a sigh of relief after speaking with Cowen again. So far, no other evil spirit masters or vampire bats had been found, which basically meant that the evil spirit master hadn't received any additional support for this operation.
Thinking about it, it makes sense. Sending a Soul Emperor-level Soul Master to deal with a group of ordinary villagers who have been controlled is already overkill. Why would evil Soul Masters, who have never suffered losses in this kind of situation, even think of sending reinforcements?
Using a Gauss sniper rifle, they sent the few remaining vampire bats still in the air back to their hellish home. Oschin activated the mecha's internal circulation mode and quickly headed down the mountain to the village. Because they weren't sure if the vampire bats posed any danger, the Shrek Academy students needed to collect all the vampire bat corpses and burn them along with the evil Soul Master's body.
At 2 AM, after handling everything in the valley village, the Shrek group began their return to their mountain base outside Hulan Motuo City. On the way, the Grandmaster first summarized the students' battle and gave them positive feedback, then relayed a message from Flander in Hulan Motuo City.
"The deployment of that evil spirit master brought unexpected joy to the allied forces in the city. The allied forces, who had been monitoring the city closely, discovered an evil spirit master's outpost located three streets away from the city lord's mansion.
This proves that Oschin's initial guess was correct; this evil spirit master organization is already a very well-established one. The Blood Servant Squad and the city lord's mansion are likely just a cover for them.
Even the city lord of Hulan Motuo City may not be controlled by the evil spirit master as we previously suspected, but rather is actually a high-ranking member of this evil spirit master organization."
After the master finished speaking, the students were still... Digesting the information in these words, Zhao Wuji sighed softly and said, "Since the Spirit Hall has grown increasingly powerful over the past ten years, large-scale evil spirit masters have committed far fewer crimes.
I remember when I was about the same age as the little monsters, we often heard news of various evil spirit masters, but since the last Pope took office, the Spirit Hall has eradicated many powerful evil spirit master organizations, and the spirit master world has been peaceful for a long time. I never expected to encounter such a powerful evil spirit master organization in Hulan Motuo City. The Spirit Hall Master of Hulan Motuo City cannot escape the responsibility for dereliction of duty."
"There's no such thing as a thousand days of guarding against thieves if you're a thief for a thousand days. The activity of evil spirit masters has decreased significantly over the past decade or so, and the Spirit Hall can't maintain a high state of alert indefinitely. Plus, the enemy came prepared, so some oversights are inevitable. It's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep are lost; we just need to eliminate them."
On the other side, Shao Xin, who had clearly experienced the era of rampant evil spirit masters, was more rational in his assessment of the matter than Zhao Wuji. However, no one noticed that when the two teachers brought up the Spirit Hall, Grandmaster's expression became somewhat complicated.
With the help of their flying spirit tool, the Shrek group spent an hour returning to their outpost, disguised as a large tree, to rest. They had received definite news that the allied forces would launch their final assault on the evil spirit masters in the city by tomorrow night at the latest.
Meditation, sleep, morning exercises—Oschin, on a hilltop outside the city, was taking advantage of the lack of combat pressure to soothe his nerves, which had been tense for the past few days.
The situation in Hulan Motuo City was tense. The allied forces composed of the Spirit Hall and the Heaven Dou Empire's spirit masters were closely monitoring the evil spirit masters' strongholds in the city. The news of the evil spirit masters who went out of the city last night had likely reached the ears of the evil spirit masters in the city. The allied forces needed to guard against these evil spirit masters using the people as hostages to launch an attack during the daytime when the people were gathered.
After circling the mountain, Oschin and Cowen caught five plump wild rabbits together. Feeling much more relaxed, Oschin brought the catch back to the camp and began preparing lunch.
Oschin skinned, cleaned, and deboned the five rabbits, then chopped them into appropriately sized pieces, blanched them to remove the blood and impurities, and let them cool. Next, he sautéed Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, cinnamon, and bay leaves in oil until fragrant, then added the drained rabbit meat pieces and stir-fried them with the spices until the surface was slightly browned and dry.
By this point, the rich aroma of meat had permeated the entire outpost. The students, who had been sleeping, all spontaneously woke up. Cowen and King Kong (Cowen's son, Zhao Wuji's pets) were already gathered around Oschin (let's just say the spirit beast dogs can eat seasoning).
Dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, and cooking wine were added to the slightly browned rabbit meat chunks, and they continued to stir-fry. Once the meat was evenly coated with soy sauce, pure spring water was poured into the pot, along with a few rock sugar pieces. The heat was then reduced to a simmer, covered, and braised.
The airtight lid perfectly locked in the aroma, and without the enticing scent, the students and the two dogs at the outpost were finally able to move around normally.
At noon, when the fragrant rice was cooked and the tender rabbit meat was served, Master and Shao Xin, who had disappeared earlier, finally returned to the outpost. As for Zhao Wuji, he had already re-entered Hulan Motuo City. It's always wise to be cautious. Having joined the Allied Forces as the discoverer, Flander needed to be wary of being betrayed. The combat power that Zhao Wuji, a level 78 offensive Soul Saint, could provide was something Flander couldn't afford to lose.
While enjoying a delicious lunch, Tang San asked Grandmaster, "Teacher, did you discuss the characteristics of that evil Soul Master's soul skills with Dean Flander last night? Those evil Soul Masters are all from the same organization; although their martial souls are different, they should still have commonalities in their soul skills, right?"
"I've already discussed that with Flander. He'll pay attention during the battle. This afternoon, everyone should keep a close eye on the situation in the city. According to Flander, those evil Soul Masters should already be aware of the situation in the city, and they're very likely to launch an attack this afternoon."
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