At that moment, golden light blazed across the Sky Screen, revealing a live image of Qiangu Wangyan.
[Sky Screen punishment, simultaneous livestream across two timelines...]
However, the Sky Screen's next words made every smile freeze.
[First punishment: Twisting!]
[His aspirations are commendable, but his actions are not.]
[His heart yearns for the light, yet his methods are evil.]
[By the power of the Heavenly Dao, his wish shall be fulfilled, and he shall bear the cost.]
[Twist his Martial Soul into the "Prison Dragon Staff," and his Martial Soul True Spirit into the "Heavenly Evil Inverse Scale Dragon"!]
As soon as the words fell, a thick bolt of black-and-gold lightning crashed down from the Sky Screen and struck Qiangu Wangyan squarely!
"Arghhhhhhh—"
A scream so shrill it barely sounded human burst from Qiangu Wangyan's mouth!
His bones crackled throughout his body, and his skin split apart inch by inch.
Black flames and golden lightning surged through him, violently colliding and fusing!
His Coiling Dragon Staff Martial Soul was forcibly drawn from his body and suspended in midair.
A sleeping golden dragon spirit within the staff roared in agony.
It was the Martial Soul True Spirit Qiangu Wangyan had long dreamed of: the [Heaven Awakening Holy Golden Dragon]!
But as the black-and-gold lightning poured into it, its holy golden scales began to fall away one by one.
In their place appeared pitch-black inverse scales that glimmered with an eerie light!
Its horns twisted into a savage shape, and its eyes turned blood-red, filled with rage and destruction!
The Heaven Awakening Holy Golden Dragon had been utterly twisted and mutated!
It had become its complete opposite—
the [Heavenly Evil Inverse Scale Dragon]!
The Coiling Dragon Staff itself let out a groan, as if it could no longer bear the strain.
The dragon carvings on its shaft grew more ferocious, and sharp barbs sprouted from it. The entire staff radiated a sinister aura that made the heart tremble!
The Prison Dragon Staff Martial Soul!
"Arghhhhhhh—"
In the Sky Screen's close-up, everyone could see Qiangu Wangyan's contorted, agonized face and hear his despairing cries.
The agony seemed to reach the very source of his soul. Everyone who witnessed it felt their scalps crawl and shivered with dread.
But amid that unbearable pain,
a massive surge of Soul Power suddenly erupted from his body!
Level sixty-one, level sixty-two...
Level sixty-five...
Level sixty-nine...
At last, it stopped firmly at level seventy!
Soul Saint!
The ordeal, worse than death, lasted a full incense stick's time.
When the light faded, Qiangu Wangyan knelt on the ground, covered in blood, gasping for breath.
Yet the light in his eyes had never been brighter!
He could feel a power within him unlike anything he had ever known!
His Martial Soul True Spirit had awakened!
In a way he had never imagined!
Everyone was dumbfounded.
"Th-this is a punishment?"
A student on Shrek Plaza murmured, voicing what everyone was thinking.
"His Martial Soul mutated, his True Spirit awakened, and he jumped straight from level sixty, Soul Emperor, to level seventy, Soul Saint!"
"If that's a punishment, then bring it on!"
"Wasn't the Sky Screen supposed to punish hypocrites?"
[Douluo I Period]
Yu Xiaogang's face, red with excitement just moments ago, had turned the color of liver.
He pointed at the Sky Screen, his lips trembling, but no words came out.
Finally, he spat out another mouthful of blood with a wet splutter, overcome by rage!
"Xiaogang!"
Flender and Liu Erlong cried out in alarm and hurried to support him.
"Absurd! Utterly absurd!"
Yu Xiaogang struggled, pointing at the Sky Screen as he roared.
"What kind of Heavenly Dao is this? What kind of justice?!"
Inside the valley,
Tang San's expression was just as grim.
His fists clenched, his eyes filled with deep wariness and a trace of confusion.
"This Sky Screen... it doesn't care about so-called good and evil at all. Its standards are completely unpredictable."
The Worship Hall presented a very different scene.
Qian Jun and Demon Subduing Douluo went from despair to shock, then to elation. Their emotions swung so wildly that the two grown men couldn't help shedding tears.
"Big brother! Did you see that?!"
"Heaven hasn't forsaken the Qiangu clan or Spirit Hall!"
Before everyone could recover from the absurd "punishment,"
the second punishment appeared on the screen.
[Second punishment: Exile!]
[As the Gravedigger, he must leave the old soil behind and begin anew.]
[Qiangu Wangyan shall be exiled to—the Blood-Colored Gobi!]
A huge crimson portal, rippling with spatial energy, slowly opened behind Qiangu Wangyan.
Beyond it lay a desolate red desert. Howling winds swept across it, and the place was steeped in slaughter and deathly silence.
It was the uninhabited wasteland in the northwest of the continent, near the border of the Sun Moon Empire!
"No!"
Xuanzi snapped back to his senses and let out a thunderous roar!
"He can't leave!"
"He's a traitor to Shrek! His hands are stained with Shrek's blood and shame. Shrek must judge him ourselves!"
"No one is taking him away!"
Fear had gripped him completely!
Qiangu Wangyan had not only overturned Shrek's reputation; he was also the greatest threat buried deep in Xuanzi's heart!
Letting him go would be like releasing a tiger into the wild—a disaster waiting to happen!
He could not be allowed to leave alive!
"You're staying right here!"
A terrifying Taotie claw formed again, bearing an earth-shattering force. More violent than ever, it slashed toward Qiangu Wangyan, who had just risen to his feet!
But an invisible barrier silently appeared in its path.
The Taotie claw struck it, yet sank into it like a stone into water, without raising so much as a ripple.
[The Sky Screen's judgment cannot be defied.]
Those eight icy words declared all of Xuanzi's efforts futile.
[Douluo I Era]
Seeing this, Qian Jun and Demon Subduing Douluo finally let go of the breath they'd been holding. Relief washed over their faces.
Their descendant had survived!
And he had gained even greater power!
Qian Daoliu gave a slight nod as well.
The Sky Screen's actions were truly beyond anyone's expectations.
[Dou Er Era]
Qiangu Wangyan slowly rose to his feet and wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth.
His glasses had long since been smashed. He stood there, sweeping his gaze over the surroundings with his deep, dark eyes.
His gaze finally settled on Han Ruoruo.
His expression was difficult to read. There was guilt and pity in his eyes, but in the end, both gave way to a sheet of ice.
There was no turning back for him now.
"Have you never heard that Heaven never seals off every road?"
"Shrek, we'll meet again!"
He muttered under his breath, then burst into laughter and strode toward the crimson portal without hesitation.
Just before stepping through,
he suddenly turned around. His gaze passed over everyone and fixed on Xuanzi, who looked like a madman.
A bright, unsettling smile spread across his face.
He said nothing. He silently mouthed five words to Xuanzi.
"I. Know. It. Was. You."
Boom!
Xuanzi felt as if lightning had struck him!
He... knew who I was?!
He had to know!
The thought stabbed deep into Xuanzi's soul like a poisoned needle!
"You little wretch! I'll kill you!"
Utter terror transformed into utter fury.
Xuanzi went completely mad. He launched another attack without regard for anything, and the Taotie apparition roared at the sky!
But it was all in vain.
Qiangu Wangyan's figure had already fallen backward into the portal, leaving only wild laughter—full of rebirth and arrogance—ringing through the sky!
"Haha... hahahahahaha!"
The crimson portal snapped shut, and the laughter cut off.
All that remained on Shrek Plaza was deathly silence and Xuanzi's furious, helpless roar.
Yet while everyone was still reeling from Qiangu Wangyan's departure,
"Ah!"
A groan of pain came from among the Shrek students.
It was Xu Sanshi!
He clutched his head and collapsed to his knees in agony.
He could feel his Martial Soul, the Black Tortoise of Profound Darkness, giving off an icy aura beyond his control, as if it were devouring his life force!
"My Martial Soul... Something's wrong with my Martial Soul too!"
Nearby, a female student whose Martial Soul was a Withered Vine screamed as well. The vines wrapped around her hand were faintly tinged with an eerie crimson.
In an instant, everyone came to their senses!
Qiangu Wangyan had been exiled.
But the hidden measures he had planted in their bodies were still here!
(The best authors always add illustrations themselves.)
Qiangu Wangyan:
Before you continue