Di Tian's Unconventional Move, and Shrek Academy's Despair

Night was thick as ink that would not dissolve.

Mu En and the others staggered out of the Star Dou Great Forest's borders. Cold rain drenched their clothes, mixing with the blood on their bodies and leaving shocking trails across the muddy ground.

No one spoke. Only heavy panting echoed through the silent night. Every step felt like treading on knife edges, so heavy it made their hearts tighten.

Qian Duoduo's eyes were hollow, and it was long impossible to tell whether the wetness on his face was rain or tears.

The vice dean of the Soul Tool Institute looked like a soulless statue at that moment. Only the faint tremors of his body revealed the emotions he had yet to completely collapse beneath.

Though he and Xian Lin'er had only the name of husband and wife, without the reality of it, he had already regarded Xian Lin'er as his wife in his heart.

Now, his wife had been killed by soul beasts right before his eyes. How could he possibly bear it?

Yan Shaozhe and Cai Mei'er supported each other. Their wounds were still bleeding, and every breath pulled at agonizing pain, but they no longer even had the strength to frown—compared to their physical injuries, the despair in their hearts was far more suffocating.

Xuan Zi walked at the front. The formidable physique granted by his Godly Taotie Bull martial soul had left his injuries somewhat lighter, yet his tightly pressed lips and ashen face betrayed the rage and grief he was suppressing to the limit.

Elder Lin, Elder Song... those old friends he had worked alongside for a lifetime had just been left behind forever in that dark forest.

Xuan Zi half-supported Mu En as they walked. His already hunched back was bent even lower now, as though he bore a burden weighing a thousand pounds. His face was whiter than paper, dried blood hanging from the corner of his mouth. Those eyes that had once shone with wisdom and authority now held only lifeless gray desolation. He clenched his teeth tightly, letting the freezing rain batter his face, yet he did not even have the strength to raise a hand and wipe it away.

He simply could not understand it.

He had believed that he had come bearing Shrek Academy's prestige. No matter how arrogant Di Tian was, for the sake of the centuries-long balance between their two great powers, he would at least show them some courtesy. Mu En had even prepared his arguments, intending to use the academy's foundations and potential threat to force the other side into making concessions. Even if Di Tian only pretended to help search for Bei Bei, it could still have won them a sliver of hope.

But reality had dealt him the cruelest slap.

Di Tian had not played by the rules at all. There had been no negotiation, no probing, not even a single extra question. He had gone straight for their lives. That overwhelming darkness and merciless slaughter had been like a massive hammer, ruthlessly smashing all of Mu En's calculations—and Shrek Academy's unrivaled pride—into pieces.

"We... lost."

Someone at the back of the group muttered it. The voice was as soft as a sigh, yet it was like a needle that pierced through the facade they had all desperately maintained.

Yes, they had lost. Lost utterly, and paid a devastating price.

When they returned to Shrek Academy, the familiar campus seemed especially desolate beneath the night sky. The dormitory buildings that were usually brilliantly lit stood in total darkness. Only a faint light remained in the direction of the Sea God Pavilion, like a lonely eye silently watching their return.

No one suggested treating their wounds, nor did anyone want to rest. They stood listlessly in the square before the Sea God Pavilion. Rain dripped from their hair and clothes, gathering into small puddles around their feet and reflecting their haggard figures.

The oppressive atmosphere nearly drowned them.

"Tea... Teacher."

Yan Shaozhe was the first to break the silence. His voice trembled uncontrollably, every word seeming to squeeze out of his throat as he asked, "Wh... what do we do next?"

The question was like a massive boulder pressing down on everyone's heart. Elder Lin, Elder Song, and Xian Lin'er had fallen. Mu En was severely injured. How were those who remained supposed to face the academy's teachers and students? How were they supposed to face the powers outside that watched them hungrily? How were they supposed to face the nightmare that was the Star Dou Great Forest?

Mu En did not answer.

He merely stared blankly toward the top floor of the Sea God Pavilion, where the memorial tablets of Shrek Academy's past sages were enshrined. He could feel the Soul Power within him draining away wildly. His old and new chest wounds erupted together, the pain nearly making him pass out. Yet compared to the pain in his body, the regret and helplessness in his heart were even harder to endure.

It had been his poor decision, his arrogance, that had caused the academy to suffer such terrible losses.

He had failed his dead old friends, the teachers and students of the academy who trusted him, and even more so, Bei Bei, whose whereabouts were unknown...

"Cough... cough, cough..."

Mu En suddenly began coughing violently, his body shaking intensely. Wrinkles piled across his already aged face, as though he had grown several decades older in an instant. His bent waist nearly touched the ground.

"Elder Mu!" Xuan Zi sensed that something was wrong and hurriedly reached out to support him.

But he was still a step too late.

"Pfft—"

A mouthful of bright red blood sprayed from Mu En's mouth, splashing onto the cold ground like a bleakly beautiful flower. His body swayed, his eyes rolled back, and he completely lost consciousness.

"Elder Mu!"

"Teacher!"

Everyone's expressions changed drastically as they cried out and rushed forward. Qian Duoduo also suddenly snapped out of his daze and hurried over to check on Mu En.

"Quick! Carry him into the Sea God Pavilion!" Xuan Zi made the decision at once. He carefully lifted Mu En into his arms and rushed into the Sea God Pavilion.

Yan Shaozhe, Cai Mei'er, Elder Zhuang, and Qian Duoduo followed close behind.

Inside a secret chamber on the top floor of the Sea God Pavilion.

"Elder Zhuang, I'm counting on you." Xuan Zi's voice was hoarse, his eyes filled with worry.

Elder Zhuang nodded solemnly. "Don't worry. I'll do everything I can."

If anyone's injuries were the lightest, almost nonexistent, it was only him, as a healing-type soul master.

Xuan Zi turned around and led Yan Shaozhe, Cai Mei'er, and Qian Duoduo out of the secret chamber, gently closing the door behind them.

The four stood in the corridor, looking at each other's bedraggled appearances, and silence fell once more.

"This matter... cannot be made public."

Xuan Zi spoke first, his voice low and resolute as he warned, "The deaths of Elder Lin, Elder Song, and Xian Lin'er, as well as the news of Elder Mu's coma, must be kept strictly confidential."

Yan Shaozhe's face turned pale. "But..."

"No buts!"

Xuan Zi cut him off. His sharp gaze swept over the others as he said, "If the news leaks, the academy will inevitably fall into panic. The outside powers, especially the Sun Moon Empire and the Holy Spirit Cult, will absolutely take advantage of our weakness if they learn that we have lost so many senior elders and that Elder Mu is unconscious! At that point, Shrek Academy will truly be in danger—a matter of life and death!"

Qian Duoduo clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. "I understand."

He could not allow the academy Xian Lin'er had protected with her life to collapse at such a time.

Cai Mei'er nodded as well. "Elder Xuan is right. Now is not the time to announce it."

Yan Shaozhe took a deep breath and suppressed the bitterness in his heart. "I understand. But... what about the Soul Tool Institute?"

He looked at Qian Duoduo, his eyes full of concern. "Xian Lin'er is the pillar of the Soul Tool Institute. If she stays out of sight for too long, those researchers and students will definitely become suspicious."

The Soul Tool Institute was an important part of Shrek Academy. If trouble arose there, the consequences would be unthinkable.

Xuan Zi frowned, a trace of helplessness flashing through his eyes. "We can only keep it hidden for now. Say that Xian Lin'er, Elder Lin, and Elder Song have gone out to carry out a secret mission and need to enter long-term seclusion. We'll conceal it for as long as we can."

He paused, and a thread of hope entered his voice. "I hope... we can hold on until those two girls, Xiaotao and Lexuan, have grown up. They are the most talented juniors of the inner court. Perhaps... only when they can truly stand on their own will we be able to catch our breath."

Xiaotao and Lexuan—one was Yan Shaozhe's prized disciple, while the other was a genius girl of the inner court. They were Shrek Academy's hope for the future.

But now, that hope seemed so distant.

The four fell silent again. Candlelight flickered in the corridor, stretching their shadows long across the cold stone walls, filled with heaviness and uncertainty.

This crushing defeat was like an invisible shackle, tightly bound around them. They did not know how they were supposed to walk the road ahead. They only knew that they had to endure—for Mu En, for their fallen old friends, and for the glory Shrek Academy had carried on for tens of thousands of years.