[Douluo I Period]
Yu Xiaogang was still immersed in the excitement and smug satisfaction of seeing his theories shine brilliantly ten thousand years later.
It was as if that junior named Wang Yan was the continuation of his ideas, the best proof of his wisdom.
However, he wasn't the only one looking at things so narrowly.
Many others with real insight had already sensed from the Sky Screen that it revealed world-shattering information capable of overturning the entire era.
The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Ning Fengzhi had long since looked away from the Sky Screen.
He stood with his hands behind his back. His usually gentle eyes were now as deep as the sea, and no one knew what he was thinking.
Sword Douluo Chen Xin, standing beside him, couldn't help speaking up:
"Sect Master, this Sky Screen is truly strange. It portrays the future, branding a virtuous junior a hypocrite. It's turning right and wrong upside down."
"No."
Ning Fengzhi shook his head gently and uttered a single word.
He turned to look at Chen Xin and Gu Rong, lowering his voice. "Uncle Jian, Uncle Gu, haven't you noticed a crucial point?"
"A crucial point?"
Bone Douluo Gu Rong looked puzzled.
A sharp glint flashed in Ning Fengzhi's eyes. He spoke slowly, emphasizing each word:
"Spirit Hall!"
"In the past of that young man named Wang Yan, as shown by the Sky Screen—from his Martial Soul awakening as a child, to his later enrollment at Shrek Academy, to his becoming a teacher—did either of you see even the slightest sign of Spirit Hall?"
At those words, Chen Xin and Gu Rong's pupils suddenly contracted!
That was right!
They had been so captivated by Wang Yan's story that they'd overlooked this detail!
For hundreds of years, the rule across the continent had been that, aside from great clans with inherited Martial Souls, the Martial Souls of six-year-old children were awakened by Soul Masters from Spirit Hall's local branches.
This was both Spirit Hall's duty and its means of controlling the foundation of Soul Masters across the entire continent.
Yet in the Sky Screen, it was a village elder who had awakened Wang Yan's Martial Soul!
The place called the "Heaven Dou Empire" seemed to have no trace of Spirit Hall at all!
In that future era, Shrek Academy seemed to be more powerful than ever;
yet Spirit Hall, whose influence reached every corner of the continent, appeared to have vanished without a trace!
A terrifying suspicion that made Ning Fengzhi and the two Titled Douluo's hearts race surfaced in their minds.
"Could it be... that ten thousand years from now, Spirit Hall... no longer exists?"
Gu Rong's voice trembled with disbelief.
"Perhaps it hasn't simply ceased to exist."
Chen Xin added, a flash of swordlight glinting in his eyes.
"Instead... it was destroyed!"
Ning Fengzhi drew a deep breath, forcing down the tumult in his heart, and said solemnly:
"Clans rise and fall, dynasties come and go. That's only natural."
"But Spirit Hall is different. It has been rooted on the continent for far too long. Its influence is deeply entrenched, and it is no longer just a sect."
"Such a behemoth, with roots so deep, could never simply disappear without a trace."
"For it to perish, it would have to be utterly destroyed by an outside force!"
Ning Fengzhi looked toward the Sky Screen again.
The unfamiliar Soul Tools used by Huo Yuhao and the others in the tournament shown there, as well as the unheard-of Sun Moon Empire, all supported his theory.
"The future will bring great upheaval!"
And the beginning of that upheaval might well be Spirit Hall's destruction!
Spirit City, Pope's Palace.
"Useless!"
Bibi Dong struck the armrest with her palm. Cracks instantly spread across the golden throne.
Her beautiful face was frosty, and rage and murderous intent intertwined in her purple eyes.
Chrysanthemum Douluo, Ghost Douluo, and the others below stood in terrified silence, not even daring to breathe loudly.
How could she fail to realize what Ning Fengzhi had?
There was no sign of Spirit Hall in the future world!
This was harder for her to accept than any humiliation!
It meant that all her life's work, her ambition to unite the continent, had... failed in the future?
"Impossible!"
"Absolutely impossible!"
Bibi Dong stared fixedly at the Sky Screen, her words forced out through clenched teeth.
"I will never let this future come to pass! The Hunt Soul Operation must be accelerated!"
She would use an iron fist to snuff out the future foretold by the Sky Screen before it could take shape!
Tang San, Shrek, Qian Daoliu...
Everyone who stood in her way had to die!
[Dou Er Period]
On the grounds of Shrek Academy, waves of doubt and support rose one after another.
Nearly all the students believed Teacher Wang Yan was innocent.
"Sky Screen! What proof do you have?"
"That's right! Show us the evidence! Don't slander a good person without proof!"
"Clear Teacher Wang Yan's name!"
Huo Yuhao stood at the very front of the crowd. His voice was hoarse with emotion, but unwavering:
"I will never forget the kindness Teacher Wang Yan showed me!"
"Without solid proof, I refuse to believe he's a hypocrite!"
Just as the doubts of countless people in both eras reached their peak,
the golden light on the Sky Screen shifted once more!
The images of Wang Yan's life vanished, replaced by several enormous, cold golden characters.
[Reason for the Ranking!]
The moment these words appeared, it was as if a basin of ice water had been poured over the boiling emotions of everyone watching.
The entire continent fell silent once more.
Everyone, whether from Douluo I or Dou Er, stared fixedly at the sky.
It was here!
The mysterious Sky Screen was about to give its explanation!
As for Wang Yan, pinned down by Xuan Zi, when he saw those four characters,
the last trace of color drained from his already pale face.
His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground, ashen-faced.
He murmured, "It's over... It's all over..."
Seeing him like this, Xuan Zi's eyes flashed with disgust.
At the same time, he stared at the Sky Screen, his brow furrowed.
A flicker of panic, unnoticed even by himself, flashed deep in his eyes.
Under the gaze of countless eyes, new words slowly appeared.
[First: Burdened by blood vengeance, he infiltrated in disguise.]
[Second: Harboring sinister intentions, he controlled geniuses.]
[Third: A man of two faces, intent on overthrowing Shrek.]
The three reasons struck everyone's hearts like three heavy hammers!
The anger and indignation on the Shrek Academy students' faces froze instantly, replaced by confusion and blank stares.
Infiltrating?
Harboring sinister intentions?
Overthrowing Shrek?
How... How could this be?
Before they could recover from this earth-shattering revelation, the words on the Sky Screen shifted again.
[Next, the first point will be explained:]
[Burdened by blood vengeance, he infiltrated in disguise]
The scene on the Sky Screen abruptly changed!
It was no longer the mild-mannered teacher Wang Yan.
The image shifted to a dark, damp underground chamber.
Candles burned inside.
Their light fell upon hundreds of memorial tablets arranged before them.
A six-year-old child knelt in front of the tablets.
The child's face was that of Wang Yan in his youth!
On the wall behind him was an engraved crest:
A sharp sword crossed over a heavy hammer, with six spread wings above them.
The Seraphim crest!
[Dou Er Era]
Shrek Academy.
Xuan Zi's pupils contracted to pinpricks!
In the Dou Er Era, few people still recognized this crest from ten thousand years ago.
But as an elder of the Sea God Pavilion, how could he not know what the symbol meant?
He whipped around to look at Wang Yan, who lay collapsed on the ground, and cried out in fury and shock:
"You're a remnant of Spirit Hall!"
[Douluo I Era]
When the Spirit Hall crest appeared, the smug smile on Yu Xiaogang's face froze completely.
Ning Fengzhi, Sword Douluo, and Bone Douluo from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect all changed expressions!
In the Pope's Palace, Bibi Dong sprang to her feet, disbelief written all over her face!
Wang Yan was one of Spirit Hall's people?!
Before anyone could recover from this shocking revelation,
young Wang Yan lifted his head.
But there was none of the warmth or scholarly air in his face now.
In their place was a coldness and hatred entirely at odds with his age!
He put a finger in his mouth and bit down hard, drawing blood. Drops fell to the ground.
Young Wang Yan raised his bloodied hand, revenge burning deep in his eyes!
A repressed, venomous voice echoed through the chamber. Every word seemed drenched in blood:
["Shrek... Sea God Tang San... You destroyed my home and wiped out my clan!"]
["I, Qiangu Wangyan, swear this here and now!"]
["In this life, I will overthrow Shrek and avenge Spirit Hall and the Qiangu Clan for this blood feud!"]
["It will be a fight to the death!"]
As the venomous oath rang through the heavens, the Sky Screen's vast, cold voice slowly revealed the truth, like a final judge passing sentence.
[Wang Yan was not his real name.]
[His real name was...]
[Qiangu Wangyan!]
The instant the words fell,
the two characters [Qiangu] appeared before [Wang Yan] on the Sky Screen!
[No. 10 on the Hypocrite Ranking: Qiangu Wangyan!]
Before you continue