The Supreme Elder Is Still Exerting His Strength

After discovering that his long-held habits had inadvertently led the twelve elite direct disciples of Shrek into trouble, Profound Elder couldn't even bother to finish his drink or his chicken leg. He simply picked a direction and flew off at high speed.

As for why he didn't immediately return to Shrek to summon all the Titled Douluo there to search together, don't ask. Profound Elder had his own plans.

"Ruoruo, how do you feel?"

When Zhang Lexuan opened her eyes again after absorbing the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, Han Ruoruo's eyes were filled with worry. Even with the boost from the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Bone, the risk of Zhang Lexuan's body, which had difficulty absorbing even a Ninety-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, absorbing a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring was still too great.

The result was not good. Although the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring had been successfully fused, its power had already caused internal injuries. However, internal injuries aside, the remaining four people could only rely on her, a Spirit Douluo, to hold the fort. Thus, Zhang Lexuan forcefully suppressed her injuries and gave everyone a reassuring smile.

"Very good. It's just like when Elder Mu fused his Eighth Soul Ring. I've also leaped to level eighty-three. These Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings and Soul Bones are indeed powerful enough."

"It's good that you're alright." The three of them slowly breathed a sigh of relief, and at the same time, their confidence in leaving the Star Dou Great Forest alive increased.

An Eighty-Three level Spirit Douluo with four Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Skills could even contend with an ordinary Titled Douluo. It was just that their current condition was too dire; otherwise, Zhang Lexuan alone would have been enough to help the three of them hunt for Soul Rings.

"Junior Disciple Sister, no, Senior Disciple Sister, let's leave the Star Dou Great Forest first. Our current condition is no longer suitable for hunting Soul Rings," said the disfigured Shrek disciple to the Shrek disciple with a broken leg.

By this point in the Soul Hunting Operation, none of them had any intention of staying in the Star Dou Great Forest any longer. All they wanted now was to return and recuperate.

"That being the case, it is acceptable." Zhang Lexuan nodded in agreement. Her current condition was actually quite poor as well; the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring had caused her too much damage.

Normally, an Eight-Ring Spirit Douluo with a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring and Soul Bone, even if only at level eighty-three, would not be weaker than a Titled Douluo solely based on their four Hundred-Thousand-Year Spirit Skills.

Let alone the current Zhang Lexuan, even a later Zhang Lexuan at level eighty-six, with Cai Meier, a Titled Douluo, by her side and the enemy hidden while they were exposed, even worried about three Eight-Ring Spirit Douluo level evil Soul Masters, it could be seen how severe Zhang Lexuan's injuries were.

Thus, under these circumstances where everyone had reached their limit and no longer wished to continue, they quickly collected the corpses of the other Shrek disciples and hurried back to Shrek Academy.

Normally, everything would have ended here. The original plot was that eight of the twelve Shrek disciples died and four survived, but the problem was, this was not the original story.

A butterfly's wings could even cause a storm, let alone the fact that not long ago, someone had gone to the Golden Tortoise's territory to capture a Golden Tortoise, and had also driven a powerful Spirit Beast out of its territory to facilitate their own absorption of Soul Rings.

With the accumulation of these two events, it would no longer be easy for these people to leave the Star Dou Great Forest smoothly.

Before they had walked far, a Nether Poison Wolf, over sixty thousand years old, blocked their path.

This kind of Spirit Beast was usually perfectly suited for the seventh Soul Ring of Shrek disciples like them, but at this moment, there was no joy among them, only worry.

Wolf-type Spirit Beasts often lived in packs, but the Nether Poison Wolf was an exception. The reason for this exception was that the strength of an individual spirit beast was already sufficient.

Although this sixty-thousand-year-old Nether Poison Wolf could not compare to the Hundred-Thousand-Year Banyan Tree from before, it was enough to deal with an ordinary Spirit Douluo.

Upon seeing the sixty-thousand-year-old Nether Poison Wolf, Zhang Lexuan's heart sank. But immediately, her eight Soul Rings – two yellow, two purple, three black, and one red – were released, and she pushed the might of her Eighth Soul Ring to its fullest.

"Scram! We don't need Soul Rings yet!" Zhang Lexuan shouted sternly, as if she had the ability to kill the Nether Poison Wolf at any moment.

Seeing that the sixty-thousand-year-old Nether Poison Wolf, whose willpower was already quite high, had thoughts of retreating after being intimidated by the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring, it glanced at the condition of the people around Zhang Lexuan, and at Zhang Lexuan's own not-so-good complexion. After a moment, seven clones appeared around it, clearly, Zhang Lexuan's Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring had not scared the Nether Poison Wolf away.

Seeing that the Nether Poison Wolf had split into seven clones, Zhang Lexuan knew that this was the only way she could fight now.

Without any hesitation, Zhang Lexuan's Seventh Soul Ring lit up. Seventh Spirit Skill, Silver Moon True Body!

In an instant, Zhang Lexuan, like a goddess of the moon, emanated a gentle yet powerful radiance.

Then, she alone faced the Nether Poison Wolf's main body and four of its clones.

It wasn't that she didn't want to deal with the Nether Poison Wolf by herself, but her current condition was insufficient to support her in using her Eighth Spirit Skill. Even this Spirit Avatar was forced out by her body under extreme duress.

"We must finish this quickly," Zhang Lexuan thought to herself. Both she and the remaining four Shrek disciples had already reached their limits before. A short rest was not enough to replenish their bodies' deficiencies.

Without a powerful healing-type Soul Master to regulate their bodies, the strain on their physical limits from forcefully confronting the Hundred-Thousand-Year Banyan Tree was already enough for them to handle. Continuing to fight would likely make it difficult for them to advance further in this lifetime.

Therefore, to end the battle quickly, Zhang Lexuan's Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Soul Rings lit up one after another, determined to eliminate the Nether Poison Wolf's main body in one fell swoop.

Facing Zhang Lexuan's Spirit Skills, the Nether Poison Wolf dodged with extreme speed. Those it couldn't dodge, it resisted with the Void Spirit Skill.

If it were the Zhang Lexuan before she fought the Hundred-Thousand-Year Banyan Tree, even if she only had level eighty Soul Power and no Eighth Soul Ring, she could have killed it quickly with an eighty percent chance through precise Spirit Skill control. But the current Zhang Lexuan was at her absolute limit.

Although the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring was good, it not only failed to replenish the depletion after her forceful outburst, but it also became a burden to Zhang Lexuan to some extent.

However, Zhang Lexuan was still Zhang Lexuan. Even if she couldn't defeat the Nether Poison Wolf for a while, she still held the advantage. But the others were not so fortunate.

First, the owl Soul Master, who had a broken leg, was not accustomed to it and had his neck bitten off by a clone of the Nether Poison Wolf. Then, three against three turned into three against two, or rather, one against one and one against two.

The senior disciple who was forced into a one-on-two situation soon died under the pincer attack of two Nether Poison Wolves. Zhang Lexuan had no choice but to shield Han Ruoruo behind her, allowing him to provide as much support as possible.

But Zhang Lexuan couldn't kill the Nether Poison Wolf's main body and four clones in a short time. With three more clones, Zhang Lexuan's pressure increased greatly.

Before long, the injuries from fighting the Nether Poison Wolf, the Nether Poison Wolf's poison, the depletion caused by forcefully suppressing her body, and the damage to her body from the Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Ring – all these problems grew exponentially with the passage of time.

Finally, after repelling the Nether Poison Wolf's attack once more, Zhang Lexuan's Soul Power and physical condition had both reached rock bottom.

Seeing the Nether Poison Wolf charge at her again, at this moment, Zhang Lexuan could only watch helplessly as the Nether Poison Wolf's fangs got closer and closer to her body.

Am I... going to die?

In an instant, Zhang Lexuan's mind flashed through everything that had happened before. In the next moment, she closed her eyes, as if she had resigned herself to fate. At the same time, Han Ruoruo did the same. Her condition was not much better than Zhang Lexuan's. In the current situation, all they could do was wait for death.

However, the pain of wolf fangs piercing her body, which she had imagined, did not come. When she opened her eyes again, both of them saw a figure that had appeared before them at some unknown time, blocking the Nether Poison Wolf that was about to devour them.

"Are you two alright?"