Chapter 166: Shrek's Glee! Shrek's Defenses Breached
Inside the Sea God Pavilion, the suffocating gloom that had choked the halls for months finally began to lift.
In Elder Xuan's office, a soft, restorative aura of light pulsed steadily, breathing life back into the room. For three agonizing months, Shrek Academy had poured an astronomical amount of resources into his recovery, heedless of the cost. Under the careful care of the continent's top-tier healing Soul Masters and a mountain of priceless Heavenly and Earthly Treasures, Elder Xuan's meridians—which had been shattered to the brink of total collapse—were finally, painstakingly reconnected.
Though a sickly pallor still clung to his weathered face, the oppressive, mountainous soul power fluctuations unique to a Level 98 Super Douluo had returned to his body.
"Congratulations, Elder Xuan! Congratulations!" Yan Shaozhe stood by the couch, his face flushed with genuine relief. He leaned forward, personally offering a steaming cup of specially brewed medicinal tea. "With your recovery, Shrek's anchor is steady once more!"
Nearby, Xian Lin'er, Qian Duoduo, and several senior elders exchanged warm, relieved smiles. The tension bleeding from their shoulders was almost visible. Over the past few months, Elder Xuan's critical condition had hung over their heads like a guillotine. Without their strongest combatant, the academy had felt dangerously exposed to external threats.
Now, seeing the old man not only capable of movement but retaining the vast majority of his cultivation, a collective weight vanished from the Sea God Pavilion. It was, without a doubt, the greatest cause for celebration they had seen in a century.
"This old man's life was bought back by the academy's deep foundation," Elder Xuan rasped. He sat up on the plush couch. His body was still frail, but the familiar, haughty arrogance of a supreme powerhouse had already crept back into the lines of his brow.
He accepted the teacup, blowing away the steam before taking a slow sip. His sharp gaze swept over the gathered executives. His voice, though hoarse, carried a heavy weight. "Elder Mu has passed away. If this old man cannot stand up again, who else can Shrek rely on to protect its ten-thousand-year legacy? Thank you all for your tireless efforts during this dark time."
"Elder Xuan, what are you saying? This is our duty," Qian Duoduo chuckled, rubbing his hands together. The atmosphere in the room felt lighter than air.
However, this rare moment of tranquility was abruptly shattered.
Heavy, hurried footsteps echoed down the corridor. A field disciple from the Sea God Pavilion's intelligence division appeared at the doorway, his chest heaving. Upon receiving a nod of permission, he practically sprinted into the room. He clutched an urgent secret report in his trembling hands, his voice cracking with barely contained excitement.
"Elder Xuan! Dean Yan! Incredible news from the Sun Moon Empire!" The disciple bowed deeply. "Our scouts stationed on the outskirts of Ming City just reported in. Last night, Mingde Hall suffered a devastating, catastrophic blow from an unknown force!"
Yan Shaozhe shot up from his chair. A dazzling, predatory light erupted in his usually mild eyes. He closed the distance in a single stride, snatching the sealed parchment from the disciple's hands and tearing it open. His eyes darted across the text.
"Good! Beautifully struck!" Yan Shaozhe slapped his thigh with a resounding smack. He spun around to face Elder Xuan, his normally composed features twisted into an expression of sheer ecstasy.
"Elder Xuan, look at this! The scouts report that Ming City was engulfed in flames last night. The entire energy hub in the North City was blown to ash, and half of Mingde Hall's headquarters literally collapsed into rubble!"
Yan Shaozhe paced the floor, practically vibrating with glee. "The scouts were too far away to identify the attackers, but an assault of this magnitude? Mingde Hall has absolutely been crippled! Hahaha! The heavens are truly on our side!"
Hearing this, the lingering fatigue in Elder Xuan's eyes vanished, replaced by a vicious gleam. He snatched the report from Yan Shaozhe, his eyes locking onto the words 'Mingde Hall suffered heavy losses.' A harsh, grating laugh tore from his throat, dripping with pure schadenfreude.
"That fat toad, Jing Hongchen!" Elder Xuan sneered, his grip crinkling the parchment. "He always relies on those glorified metal toys to look down on everyone, constantly scheming to boss us around in the three native empires."
He took another sip of tea, relishing the moment. "Well, look at him now! His own nest has been gutted! I want to see what face he has left to strut around the continent and bark his demands! The heavens have finally opened their eyes!"
Xian Lin'er offered the most relaxed, genuine smile she had worn in three months. "That old fox is probably weeping over a pile of broken metal right now. I don't care who did it—this is perfect vengeance for Shrek."
The office erupted into a chorus of vindictive laughter. The senior elders leaned in, whispering animatedly among themselves, gleefully calculating how many decades of research Mingde Hall had just lost, and how many high-level Soul Engineers had been buried in the explosions.
But just as their joyous celebration reached its absolute peak, a sharp, rapid buzzing sound cut through the laughter.
It came from the inner pocket of Yan Shaozhe's robes. The specific, high-frequency vibration of this top-tier communication soul tool meant only one thing. This wasn't a standard field report. This was a direct, encrypted transmission from their core operative buried deep within the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy—Huo Yuhao.
Yan Shaozhe's smile vanished. His expression hardened into absolute seriousness. He raised a hand, signaling for total silence. The chuckling elders immediately quieted down, their eyes fixed on the device.
Yan Shaozhe channeled a sliver of soul power into the metallic cylinder. A beam of light shot upward, projecting a dense block of glowing text into the air.
As the highly detailed secret letter slowly scrolled past their eyes, the festive atmosphere in the office was violently snuffed out, as if an invisible hand had clamped around their throats. A deathly, suffocating silence descended upon the room.
Huo Yuhao's intelligence was infinitely more detailed than the distant scout's observations. He recounted, with chilling precision, exactly what he had witnessed in the underground corridors of Mingde Hall.
"...The attackers are confirmed to be the elite forces of the Body Sect. The vanguard was led by none other than Du Busi."
"However, what truly shocked this student was the presence of a young man dressed in black during the raid. It was Liu Yuan. He displayed combat power that completely defies logic."
"With a cultivation of only five rings, he instantly slaughtered two Level 8 Soul Engineers guarding the core warehouse sector."
"His movements were ruthless and without a single wasted motion., this student saw it with his own eyes... his fifth soul ring... is a red, hundred-thousand-year ring."
"In the aftermath, Mingde Hall's central vault was entirely looted. A massive quantity of top-tier research blueprints and the priceless embryo were stolen..."
"This... what kind of absolute nonsense is this?!"
Elder Xuan's hand trembled so violently that scalding tea sloshed over the rim of his cup, splashing directly onto his knuckles. He didn't even flinch. His bloodshot eyes remained glued to the glowing words: 'Liu Yuan'and'slaughtered two Level 8 Soul Engineers.'
The healthy color that had just returned to his face drained away in an instant, leaving behind a ghastly, ashen gray.
"A five-ring Soul King killing eight-ring Soul Douluos? And killing two of them simultaneously?!" Yan Shaozhe's voice cracked, pitching upward in sheer hysteria. He grabbed the soul tool, reading the projection over and over, his tone dripping with desperate denial. "Did Huo Yuhao inhale toxic gas in the laboratory? Did his brain fry?!"
"This is impossible! A hundred-thousand-year fifth soul ring?!" Yan Shaozhe roared, pacing frantically. "This completely shatters the fundamental laws of the Douluo Continent! How could a human body even withstand that?!"
"And... he killed two Level 8 Soul Engineers..." Xian Lin'er's face was entirely devoid of blood. As the Vice Dean of the Soul Tool Department, she understood the terrifying value of those guards better than anyone. They weren't just ordinary Soul Douluos; they were walking fortresses, heavily armed war machines equipped with complete sets of devastating soul tools.
Elder Xuan abruptly stood up from the soft couch. His chest heaved like a bellows, his breathing ragged and harsh. A sharp, tearing pain flared through his newly reconnected meridians, but the physical agony was nothing compared to the mental blow.
This report was a naked, vicious slap to his face. Mere moments ago, he had been reveling in Jing Hongchen's misery. Now, learning that the architect of that destruction was the very boy he had discarded... that sweet schadenfreude curdled into a suffocating, bone-deep jealousy and regret.
"If this is true..." an old elder murmured blankly, staring at the floor. "If Liu Yuan has truly become this monstrous..."
Before he could finish the thought, Elder Xuan whipped his head around, his eyes burning with a ferocious, cornered madness.
"Shut up! It absolutely cannot be him!" Elder Xuan snarled, his voice echoing off the walls. "How long has it even been?! He absolutely could not have become this powerful!"
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