I Refuse

[Douluo II Period]

Meanwhile, at Shrek Academy's Sea God Pavilion.

An inner court teacher hurriedly reported to Xuanzi.

"Elder Xuan, we have a problem! We just took attendance and found... found that Ling Luochеn is missing!"

The teacher said anxiously,

"Her dormitory is empty, and we searched the entire inner court but couldn't find her!"

"What?!"

Xuanzi slammed his hand on the table and sprang to his feet, shocked and furious.

He furrowed his brow and paced back and forth, looking deeply troubled.

"Outrageous! This is outrageous!"

"At a critical time like this, how could she leave the academy without permission?"

"Elder Xuan, what do we do now? Should we send people after her immediately?"

"After her? How?"

Xuanzi glared at the teacher.

"The academy has just been sealed off. The slightest rumor will be blown out of proportion! If word gets out that one of the Shrek Seven Devils fled in fear of punishment, the consequences will be unthinkable!"

He drew a deep breath, putting on a pained expression as though he had the greater good at heart.

"This matter must not be made public!"

"Go at once and make sure everyone who knows keeps their mouths shut!"

"Tell the outside world that Ling Luochеn is in seclusion!"

"Once things have settled down at the academy, I'll personally bring her back!"

"Yes... yes! Elder Xuan, you truly understand the greater good!"

The teacher breathed a sigh of relief and hurriedly bowed before taking his leave.

The door closed softly.

Only after the teacher's footsteps had vanished at the end of the corridor

did every trace of expression disappear from Xuanzi's face.

The face that had looked so troubled was now coldly indifferent.

He slowly turned toward a shadowy corner of the room and spoke in a chilling voice utterly unlike his own:

"I've let her leave, as requested."

"Take her to the cult."

"Remember, once you've succeeded, don't contact me again for a while."

As soon as he finished speaking, the shadow twisted, and a figure cloaked from head to toe in black robes emerged like a phantom.

"Heh heh heh..."

The shadow gave a spine-chilling cackle.

"Elder Xuan, we have every confidence in your work."

"An Ice-attribute Soul King—and one of the Shrek Seven Devils, no less. The cult master will be very pleased."

As the shadow spoke, he flicked a finger.

A pearl the size of a pigeon's egg, glowing with an eerie red light, silently flew toward Xuanzi.

"Here is your offering for this time, Elder. Please accept it."

With that, the shadow turned into a wisp of black smoke and vanished without a trace, as if he had never been there.

Only Xuanzi remained in the room.

He stared fixedly at the floating blood pearl, his eyes suddenly blazing with a frenzied, almost unhinged hunger!

He could no longer maintain his usual facade of respectability. His face contorted, and a wheezing rasp escaped his throat.

He swept his hand through the air, and a powerful surge of Soul Power instantly enveloped the entire study, blocking all outside scrutiny.

Once that was done, he snatched the blood pearl.

He opened his mouth impatiently and swallowed it whole, like a Ferocious Beast that had gone hungry for a thousand years!

"Gulp!"

The blood pearl entered his stomach, and a vast life force, along with a sinister power, erupted within him.

Xuanzi let out a groan of pleasure and pain. His gaunt body visibly filled out, and a sickly flush spread across his face.

He looked as though he had suddenly grown ten years younger, full of energy!

"No matter how many times I taste it, the Blood Pill is still just as delicious!"

Xuanzi licked his lips, savoring the aftertaste, greed and savagery glinting in his eyes.

The sight was deeply disturbing.

"Ling Luochеn... Your sacrifice will fill this old man's belly and buy Shrek a little peace. At least you'll have died for a purpose..."

Inside the jolting carriage.

Ling Luochеn was completely overcome by terror and confusion.

She looked at the young man who had opened her eyes to the truth, as if he were the last lifeline she could cling to.

"I... I want to go home."

Her voice trembled with tears. For the first time, she showed such vulnerability in front of someone.

"My family is the Tianshui Clan, from the northern border of the former Heaven Dou Empire. The elders might know how to suppress what's inside me."

She lifted her head and looked at Ji Xuan with an almost pleading gaze.

"Please, escort me home!"

"I don't know when I'll lose control again on the way. Only you... only your Soul Skill can bring me back to my senses when that happens!"

"If you can escort me home, I'll give you whatever you want—money, Soul Bones, Soul Tools..."

"Whatever my family can provide, it's yours!"

Looking at the "Ice Princess" before him, stripped of all her pride and left with nothing but helplessness and pleading,

Ji Xuan fell silent.

Escort her?

Easier said than done.

That last time had been pure luck.

He'd only been able to take advantage of the opening because Ling Luochеn had lost control of her mind.

Even so, he had nearly exhausted all his mental strength and almost suffered a backlash.

If it happened again, he had no confidence he could succeed.

Ji Xuan's gaze fell on Ling Luochеn's body, trembling slightly with fear.

His fingers tapped lightly on the wooden board beside him.

By now, Ji Xuan was beginning to regret getting involved in the first place.

He had helped her initially because Ling Luochеn was one of the inner court's Shrek Seven Monsters, and there had to be a reason she'd fled the academy alone.

He'd thought there might be something to gain from her, perhaps even a chance to uncover some leverage.

But now he knew that Qiangu Wangyan had left a hidden trap inside Ling Luochеn. She was a "bomb" that could go off at any moment.

What was more, he had deduced that someone had arranged her escape in secret. That meant this whole journey was bound to be full of deadly traps.

They might even run into a situation they couldn't survive.

Only an idiot would accept a deal like this.

Ji Xuan looked into her hopeful eyes and gently shook his head.

"Sorry, I can't."

His voice was soft, but perfectly clear.

"I'm only a twenty-level Soul Master. What I did just now was the best I could manage. If it happens again, we'll both die."

"I can't help you, and I'm not willing to risk my life."

He had already decided to get off at the next post station.

Even if it cost him more money and time to find another caravan, that was still safer than staying with this troublesome woman.

At Ji Xuan's words, the last glimmer of light in Ling Luochеn's eyes faded completely.

She hadn't expected that after setting aside all her dignity and pride, she would receive such a blunt refusal.

Of course. Why should he help her?

They were strangers. He had already helped her once and saved her once. He had done more than enough.

To him, she was nothing but a huge burden.

Silence once again filled the carriage, suffocating them.

Ling Luochеn hugged her knees and buried her face in them. Her shoulders shook slightly, and the sound of her muffled sobs barely carried through the cramped space.

But the silence didn't even last ten minutes.

"Heh heh heh heh..."

A deeply sinister laugh suddenly rang out from directly above the carriage!

It was full of mockery and cruelty, like a cat toying with a mouse trapped beneath its paw.

The moment he heard it, Ji Xuan's face changed dramatically!

Every hair on his body stood on end, and a deadly sense of danger instantly engulfed him!

"Jump!"

He didn't have time to think. He bellowed at the dazed Ling Luochеn,

then smashed through the flimsy side of the carriage and rolled outside without hesitation!

Though Ling Luochеn was still shaken, her battle instincts as a Soul King remained.

At Ji Xuan's shout, she instinctively activated her Soul Power. A layer of ice encased her as she smashed through the opposite side of the carriage!

The moment after they leaped out!

An enormous mass of dark purple energy crashed down!

BOOM!!!

A deafening explosion!

An enormous mass of dark purple energy crashed down!

The carriage they had just been riding in, along with all its cargo, instantly turned to dust.

A violent shockwave swept outward, throwing the entire caravan into chaos. Cries and groans filled the air.

Ji Xuan rolled several times across the ground to absorb the impact, then immediately looked up.

A figure hovered silently in midair, like a phantom.

The figure was completely shrouded in a loose black robe. Its face was hidden, but the aura of evil and death it gave off was nauseating.

Beneath him, two yellow, two purple, and three black Soul Rings slowly revolved!

A Soul Sage!

He was actually a Seven-Ring Soul Sage!