If the flying mountains, waterfall-like rivers of lava, and upside-down sky in the Illusion Space had merely shown people the destructive power of those Mysterious People,
then what came afterward was something else entirely: the Mysterious People defeated the monsters from the Crimson Gate, healed the shattered earth with a wave of their hands, pieced the broken mountains back together, and sent the boiling lava underground again...
This power to restore order to chaos, to bring everything destroyed back to life, truly surpassed the imagination of everyone on the Douluo Continent. It was beyond even their ability to comprehend!
Even the gods, praised in legends for ten thousand years, were known only to possess immense power—to be mighty beings who surpassed the limits of the Douluo Continent!
But could the gods restore new life amid destruction, the way the leader of those Mysterious People had? Could they return everything that had been destroyed to its original state?
No one knew. But at least in the historical records, no one had found an account of any deity displaying such power.
According to legend, the greatest miracle the gods had ever performed was bringing someone who had just died back to life.
That was a miracle of life, too, but compared with the mighty force in the Heavenly Screen that restored the entire world after it had been torn apart, it seemed insignificant.
Not to mention that later, when Huo Yuhao asked the Mysterious People in the Heavenly Screen whether they were deities, they spoke of the gods with unmistakable disdain.
They actually called the gods, whom countless people on the Douluo Continent regarded as supreme and sacred, "prisoners trapped in that so-called Divine Realm, unable to live freely"!
How arrogant was that?! It was almost impossible to believe their own ears!
Ever since the Heavenly Screen appeared, Sea God Tang San's string of schemes and shameless actions had greatly damaged the image of the gods throughout the Douluo Continent. Some people had even secretly cursed them.
But to be fair, if Sea God Tang San appeared and said that anyone who became his dog could ascend to the Divine Realm and gain eternal life, most people wouldn't be able to refuse!
They'd probably be overjoyed! After all, not just anyone could become a god's dog!
Even a dog in the Divine Realm wouldn't be inferior to the Titled Douluo on the Douluo Continent!
But according to those Mysterious People, even the gods themselves seemed to be nothing more than pitiful prisoners.
As for the Mysterious People, they called themselves Guardian Mages. From what they'd revealed in conversation, they seemed to come from a place called the Sacred Hall.
That raised another question: what exactly was the Sacred Hall? Where was it?
Ordinary people could only guess at the power of those Mysterious People who called themselves Guardian Mages based on what they had seen.
But the continent's powerful figures had gleaned far more information from it, and that only made them more confused.
From their appearances in the Heavenly Screen, the Guardian Mages seemed to be on the side of justice.
But they used their skills without Soul Rings, which showed that their power wasn't a traditional one native to Douluo.
Did the God Realm Gods know about beings who wielded such powerful abilities?
Did they have a base on the Douluo Continent—or, more accurately, on Douluo Star?
In the past, had they also secretly guarded Douluo Star from invasions by evil forces from beyond, just as they had in the scene shown in the Heavenly Screen?
To ordinary people, this mystery was little more than a passing novelty. But for those at the top of the continent, it was deeply unsettling!
If a mysterious force like this had always existed on the Douluo Continent, with powerful figures capable of reshaping the world, yet remained unknown to everyone—
then for tens of thousands of years, the Titled Douluo, who took pride in their own strength and proclaimed themselves the pinnacle of the world, had all been kept in the dark?!
And what of the so-called Douluo Three Kingdoms and the Sun Moon Empire, fighting and scrambling against one another?
Only to discover that the true pinnacle of power in this world had never appeared before them, but had merely watched silently, like spectators at a monkey show, while a bunch of children played at war...
That realization made the continent's leading figures feel as though all their past power struggles and schemes had been nothing but a joke.
The so-called First Academy, the diplomatic and military maneuvering among the four nations, Dragon God Douluo Mu En, Death God Douluo Ye Xishui... Those people could wipe them all out in an instant if they chose to act!
Why could the strong remain composed? Because their power was enough to back up everything they did!
But suddenly discovering that they weren't truly strong—that an even more terrifying force lay hidden in the shadows of the world—was enough to unsettle anyone, regardless of whether that force was just.
No one could guarantee that any force would remain just forever!
There was no way every member of a force could be of one mind! There would inevitably be different factions, and each faction would have its own agenda.
Just like the Spirit Hall of ten thousand years ago. In theory, the Nine Treasure Glazed Sect, the Clear Sky Sect, and even the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Sect, which had vanished from history, had all once been part of the Spirit Hall. And yet they had still schemed against one another.
Even at Shrek Academy today, disputes over the Martial Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department often broke out in the tiny Sea God Pavilion.
Could that so-called Sacred Hall really keep everyone united?
If someone among them decided they shouldn't stay behind the scenes protecting the world, and wanted to come out and try their hand at ruling it, who on the Douluo Continent could stop them?
No one could! Those of them who were the most powerful figures and leaders of the major forces on Douluo Star could do nothing but pray that the Guardian Mages really were just and good.
They couldn't even find where the other side was. They had no way to communicate with them, much less seek them out and ingratiate themselves with them!
That left many important figures feeling utterly crushed and dismayed.
Inside Shrek Academy, beside what had already been renamed Shrek Lake—though the change hadn't yet been formally announced to everyone at the academy—Mu En pressed his fingers to his temples, feeling a headache coming on.
In the short time since the Heavenly Screen had appeared, the entire Douluo Continent had rapidly become unrecognizable to him. Everything felt so unfamiliar that he was at a loss.
And amid all this, he still had to put up with a group of people chattering incessantly in his ear like a swarm of flies. He wanted nothing more than to grab them, yank out their guts, wrap them around their necks, and tighten the knots!
"Teacher, what should we do?" Yan Shaozhe asked Mu En helplessly for the eleventh time.
What should we do? What should we do?! You only know how to ask what we should do! Ask one more time and I swear I'll stab you! Are you a three-year-old child? You're a Titled Douluo, and you still rely on me for everything! How can I feel safe leaving Shrek in the hands of useless idiots like you?!
Of course, Mu En had only said all that in his head. Otherwise, it would have been too hurtful.
Pressing a finger hard against his twitching brow, Mu En felt the temper he'd had in his younger days flaring up again. But he couldn't lose his temper. He had to stay calm and collected, as if he had everything under control, and put these useless people around him at ease.
"It's fine..." Mu En had only just started when another aged voice suddenly called out from far away.
"Mu En, what should we do?!" Xuan Zi had returned with Huo Yuhao and the others, shouting before he'd even landed.
Mu En's fist, hidden inside his sleeve, clenched tight.
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