Above Shrek Academy.
Several figures in black cloaks floated in the sky, their wide cloaks fluttering in the wind, surrounded by dark, bloody aura and thick clouds, creating an apocalyptic atmosphere.
Countless residents of Shrek City could only shrink back into corners, shut their doors tightly, and quietly wait for the storm to pass.
Ye Xishui stood with her hands behind her back, her gaze coldly watching the city below.
Although Mu En was not dead, he was on the verge of death. She was curious—now that she was here, how would Mu En respond?
Would he beg her to let him go, or would he stubbornly cling to justice like before, fighting her to the bitter end?
"Buzz!"
But in the next moment—
A golden pillar of light surged from the Sea God Pavilion.
A powerful aura no longer hidden—like a true dragon soaring into the sky—a sacred light dragon appeared in everyone's sight.
Even more shocking was the master of this light dragon.
A middle-aged man stood proudly in mid-air, radiating a holy aura from head to toe.
"Who dares cause trouble in Shrek? Courting death!"
He didn't even glance at his former Iron Triangle teammates. With a casual flick of his sleeve, a terrifying force spread out, dragging dozens of black-robed figures from within Shrek Academy and blasting them away, vomiting blood as they retreated.
"Mu En!!!"
Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao exclaimed almost simultaneously.
The former's eyes were full of disbelief, her fists clenched tightly. She had received intel that Mu En was on the brink of death, frail and aged—but this lively and vigorous appearance shook her to her core.
He was older than when they last parted, but still very handsome. Standing in the light, his broad back gave a sense of absolute security to those on the same side. He might not have been the strongest or wisest Pavilion Master in Sea God Pavilion's history, but he was certainly the most "steadfast."
Wait!
Ye Xishui took a deep breath, forcing herself to calm down.
They were enemies now. Mortal enemies.
"You're actually alive…"
Long Xiaoyao was stunned: "Even a dying flashback doesn't look this powerful!"
"Old friends, it's been a long time," Mu En said after clearing out the fodder, glancing at the two. When his gaze passed over Ye Xishui, a trace of complexity flashed in his eyes.
Abandoning love back then hadn't been as easy as he made it seem when speaking to Yan Shaozhe. From that point on, he sealed off his heart for a hundred years. That ethereal figure always held a place in it.
But alas…
Looking at the black-robed figure shrouded in evil energy and floating malicious spirits, he shook his head sadly. She had changed.
"We've all changed. Only you remain unsullied," Long Xiaoyao said emotionally.
"Unsullied? Heh… People change—sometimes due to pressure, sometimes because they're not in control of their own fate." Mu En sighed toward the sky.
"This isn't the place for reminiscing. Shall we talk in the Sea God Pavilion?"
Long Xiaoyao instinctively looked at Ye Xishui beside him.
But she replied coldly, "Anyone who dares oppose the Holy Spirit Cult—kill without mercy!"
"If we join forces, we might be able to kill him."
As she spoke, blood-red energy surged from within her, releasing monstrous evil intent that dyed half the sky in crimson. Behind Mu En, the sky radiated sacred brilliance—the two halves split distinctly.
"Xishui, it's been years. Must we be so ruthless?" Long Xiaoyao said helplessly.
"Ruthless? I walk the path of evil, he walks the path of righteousness. We are destined to oppose each other. This is a battle to the death, not a childish reunion." Ye Xishui retorted coldly.
"But…"
"Long Xiaoyao, do you know why I loved him and not you?"
"I…"
"Because you're a coward. Whatever you do, you're timid and hesitant. You fear falling into evil and ruining your reputation, yet you won't leave me either. Neither truly righteous, nor truly evil. You're not even a fraction as decisive as Mu En!"
Ye Xishui showed no mercy.
Countless onlookers stared up blankly, some recognizing the name, surprise on their faces.
Once a legendary figure revered across the continent—now being scolded like a dog by a woman.
Yet Long Xiaoyao only gave a bitter smile, as if placating Ye Xishui. He wore the expression of "As long as you're happy, I don't mind anything."
"Hah…" Ye Xishui exhaled, swallowing her fury silently, transforming it into battle intent. Her eyes, burning with black energy, locked onto Mu En.
"Death God Tower!"
Behind her, a massive black iron tower hundreds of meters tall slowly emerged. Its exterior seemed smeared with blood, and each level bore grotesque, struggling faces. From the bottom, all one could see was a bottomless abyss of eerie darkness.
"..." Mu En's expression turned grave as he stared at the towering structure.
Even this single tower involved at least several thousand souls. They were devoured and turned into nourishment for its final master—Ye Xishui.
And those several thousand souls… weren't even enough to satisfy this tower. As an Ultimate Douluo, Mu En could tell at a glance—this was far from the tower's limit.
If tens of thousands more souls were added, the tower's power might exceed even an Ultimate Douluo. At that point, even he would be no match.
"Even if I die, I'll drag her down with me!" Mu En thought solemnly.
The joy of reunion with an old friend, the flutter of seeing an old lover, had long turned into murderous resolve.
If he died two years later, and with no Mu En left to guard Shrek, would the Academy then become the slaughterhouse of the Holy Spirit Cult?
The consequences were too severe—he dared not imagine them.
"In that case, we walk different paths. Good and evil cannot coexist. Today's battle shall determine the victor…" Mu En said flatly.
"Hahahaha—Mu En, this is exactly why I liked you," Ye Xishui chuckled, her beautiful eyes glancing at him with a hint of infatuation, which then turned into madness.
The Death God Tower rumbled, and countless evil spirits rushed toward Mu En.
"Mu En is still alive?" Xu Cheng froze. "No… he's recovered his strength? Impossible!"
In the original story, he was the Pavilion Master of the Sea God Pavilion, a Rank 99 Ultimate Douluo. Even Wang Qian'er could only tell him to eat better to survive that injury, and now—he was suddenly back in shape, arm fine, waist fine, full of energy?!
Xu Cheng frowned deeply.
In the original, Mu En was Shrek's stabilizing force. Even if they had to empty their resources, Shrek would never let go of a chance to prolong his life. And yet—even they could only watch him fade away. That injury must've been beyond repair.
Unless—
Xu Cheng's eyes narrowed: "A god?!!"
No!
He quickly rejected the thought.
According to Destruction's explanation, both good and evil gods had returned. Add in himself and the Goddess of Life—four god-king-level beings were watching the Douluo Star. He didn't believe Tang San would dare to mess with things—otherwise, he wouldn't have only sent a clone.
Xu Cheng had been watching that clone closely, practically toying with it, and saw nothing unusual.
If even Tang San didn't dare connect with his own clone...
Then this caution likely meant—it wasn't Tang San.
So who could it be?
"But they both suffered heavy losses," Nana said with a gleeful smile. "It's said the battle was earth-shaking, even the Death God Tower developed cracks. Although Mu En severely injured the Grand Elder, he didn't come out unscathed either—his hair turned half white, and he could barely stand, needing Yan Shaozhe to support him. Mu En was definitely going in for a fight to the death."
"Mm." Xu Cheng nodded slightly, the expression on his face visibly relaxed.
He had received the news just yesterday—when the Grand Elder returned, he too had to be supported and immediately went into seclusion, with no further updates. It was likely that the injuries were even more serious than he had anticipated.
And such high-level trauma might not even be recoverable through healing.
Look at Mu En himself—after fighting Du Bisi, he lost more than a hundred years of his life span in one go, and even with all of Shrek's resources, it was hard to fully heal him…
The Holy Spirit Cult is a double-edged sword. Used well, it's a powerful weapon, but one must always be cautious of backlash.
So those two towering figures still posed significant pressure on Xu Cheng—but now that Mu En had a final burst of strength and clashed with Ye Xishui, it was practically a double win for him. (Xu Cheng wins twice!)
"Exactly. Most of the people who followed Ye Xishui were of her own faction—worshippers and four elders. They suffered heavy casualties. But on our side, only Raven Worshipper went, and he returned completely unscathed thanks to his life-preserving techniques." Nana's eyes curved with joy, unable to hide her delight.
"I just want peaceful development—isn't this the perfect opportunity?" Xu Cheng laughed heartily.
He had always been wary of Ye Xishui stirring up trouble. After all, she had previously been urging him impatiently. But now she had made a bold move, barging into Shrek Academy to 'snatch people', and ended up losing more than she gained.
"Next up, it's time to deal with those provincial dukes," Xu Cheng said with a smile.
In fact, the incident with the White Tiger Duke had taught him a lesson. Although the Sun-Moon Empire was powerful and most of its strength concentrated in Mingdu, those provincial dukes didn't really stand a chance even if they tried to rebel—the front-line troops reported directly to Mingdu.
Besides, in the original story, that Radiant Archduke was the kind of madman who dared to rebel with just a few hundred ordinary soul masters and the strength of an eighth-level soul engineer.
He might not have been able to kill anyone, but he was certainly a pain.
Xu Cheng tapped the armrest of his chair lightly.
Five years ago, he had planned to gradually divide and weaken their power using Emperor Wu's "Enfeoffment Edict." But at that time, even with the backing of the Holy Spirit Cult, he lacked influence and didn't have the support of the Mingde Hall, Elder Kong, and the others. That's why he resorted to such methods.
But now, he had almost completely gained control over 50-60% of Mingdu's power. Crushing those provinces would be as simple as giving an order.
"Then let's… use a banquet to strip their military power. Invite those provincial dukes back to Mingdu under some pretext, and then assign high-ranking officials to govern their regions—implement centralized control."
"And what if someone refuses to come?"
"Refuses?" Xu Cheng narrowed his eyes. "Then that's just giving me a reason."
"Notify Aunt Qing to tighten security at the Mingdou Mountains. Don't let any forces pass through. Trap them like dogs in a cage! Especially that Radiant Archduke—send spies into his ducal estate. The moment there's any sign of movement, take him down immediately. Kill one as an example to the rest!"
"How can this empire be governed properly while working alongside these parasitic worms?"
"Your Highness, your ambition is truly grand…" Nana said with admiration.
"Heh. All their talk about overthrowing the regime is just picking up the old corpse, wrapping it in a new skin, and continuing the old world's cannibalistic cycle." Xu Cheng said flatly.
"But the old world has been shattered. A new one must be built…"
"Huff… huff…"
Inside the Shrek Academy training room.
Dai Huabin fell to his knees with a thud, legs trembling and unable to get back up. Zhu Lu, seeing this, rushed over to support him, her eyes red with worry. "You've been overtraining for a whole week! Your body won't hold out much longer like this…"
"Don't stop me! Don't stop me!" Dai Huabin pushed Zhu Lu away forcefully.
He struggled to stand and faced the teacher ahead. "Please continue. I want to squeeze out every last bit of soul power. Only then will training be truly effective."
"You're just burning through your talent," the middle-aged teacher shook his head and turned to leave.
"Don't go! I can still go on! Don't go…" Dai Huabin slumped to the ground in despair, pounding the floor and sobbing.
"Mother and big brother are dead. Father's life or death is unknown. All my family is gone… What's the point of living?"
"This was something big brother gave me before he left…" Zhu Lu gently helped him up, her heart aching. "Precisely because you're the last of the Dai family, you need to take better care of yourself. Aunt and big brother's spirits in heaven will be watching over you."
"Sob… sob…" Dai Huabin finally let down his guard and broke into tears in Zhu Lu's arms.
"Lu'er, so Huabin is here too."
A voice interrupted Dai Huabin's cries.
Zhu Lu looked flustered. Standing not far away was her own older brother—the most outstanding young member of the Zhu family, inheritors of the Netherworld Spirit Cat martial soul.
Not long ago, her brother had written asking her to break up with Dai Huabin. The Dai family had lost all its value as an investment—its heir might not even survive, and the White Tiger Duke's mansion had become a hollow shell, having offended the Star Luo royal family and the entire Star Luo capital. It was worthless.
She had been torn and never replied. But she hadn't expected her brother to show up at the academy in person.
"Hehe, I just want to chat with Lu'er for a bit. Is that alright, Huabin?" the young man asked with a smile.
"Mm…" Dai Huabin murmured.
Watching the two of them walk away, one after the other, made him feel even worse. He wasn't stupid. Growing up in the corrupted world of a ducal house, he understood all too well the coldness of human hearts.
"Hey, what are you staring at?"
As Dai Huabin's eyes turned bloodshot and his fists clenched tightly—
Tang San suddenly appeared before him with hands in his pockets, a calm expression on his face.
"You're… Tang San?" Dai Huabin asked suspiciously.
He didn't know why this guy had come looking for him, but the name matched that of his ancestor from ten thousand years ago, and rumor had it he possessed twin martial souls. As a descendant of Dai Mubai—one of the original Shrek Seven Monsters from ten thousand years ago—he couldn't help but feel something strange.
Even though this guy's reputation at the academy wasn't exactly good…
"What do you want with me?" Dai Huabin's expression quickly grew cold.
"Hehe, don't you think we're fated?" Tang San said with a smile, seemingly oblivious to the hostility radiating from Dai Huabin.
"What do you want?" Dai Huabin asked coldly.
"If I remember correctly, didn't Tang San and Dai Mubai get into a big fight when they first met ten thousand years ago?" Tang San grinned.
"What I mean is—I want to rebuild the Shrek Seven Monsters. The real Shrek Seven Monsters!"
(End of Chapter)