Repelling the Enemy

"Sigh—"

A sigh emanated from the Sea God Pavilion, the sound carrying a sacred and inviolable majesty, causing the twelve masses of vengeful spirits to freeze in their tracks.

"Xishui, stop."

A golden figure appeared out of nowhere amidst the blood-red light shrouding the sky.

Following this, brilliance pierced through the bloody void, and golden sunlight once again bathed the earth, casting a warm glow upon those below.

Mu En looked at Ye Xishui with a complex expression, finding her both familiar and strange. He had not expected to see her again at the very end of his life, nor had he expected that among the Evil Soul Masters he had eliminated, one was her son.

"Evil Soul Masters bring disaster to all living things; eliminating them is the duty of every soul master. I killed him, and I am willing to admit it, but I never imagined you had become so powerful that even I am no longer certain I could defeat you."

"Hmph!"

Ye Xishui let out a cold snort. Knowing the opportunity had passed, she simply retracted the vengeful spirits and the sea of blood, her blood-red eyes unreadable.

Xuanzi hurriedly returned to Mu En's side. He looked quite wretched, his body riddled with blood holes of varying sizes that hissed as white steam rose from them.

The powerhouses on both sides also ceased their fighting, retreating and watching each other with vigilance.

Mu En looked toward the other side of Ye Xishui and smiled faintly. "Since you've come, why not show yourself? There is no need to hide. It has been a hundred years since we last met, hasn't it, Xiaoyao?"

As Mu En finished speaking, the space he was looking at rippled, and an old man in black robes emerged, his overwhelming aura permeating the heavens and earth.

It was none other than the Dragon Emperor Douluo, Long Xiaoyao.

Now, the three of them stood in a triangular formation high in the sky, the azure heavens rendered in gold, black, and red—a scene both magnificent and dangerous.

None of the three spoke first, and a strange atmosphere settled over the air.

Upon hearing Mu En's words, Xuanzi already knew who the newcomer was.

He could hardly believe that the three figures who had once shaken the continent were reuniting in such a manner. Ye Xishui had been an Evil Soul Master from the start, but for Long Xiaoyao to willingly fall and join an Evil Soul Master organization to aid the wicked—if the people of the continent were to find out, his reputation would be utterly destroyed.

Ye Xishui spoke first, her voice cold. "Regardless of anything else, he was my son. You killed him, so naturally, I must demand an explanation from you."

She knew that time was running out; if they dragged this on, reinforcements from the three great empires and the sects that prided themselves on being righteous would arrive.

She had to end this quickly!

"Attack!"

Ye Xishui let out a sharp cry. The sea of blood around her churned, and the twelve vengeful spirits let out shrill shrieks in unison, sweeping toward Mu En.

Mu En took a deep breath, his entire body radiating brilliant golden light. A golden dragon claw emerged from the radiance, colliding with the boiling sea of blood. A massive black void appeared in space, absorbing much of the power from both sides.

A Bright Sacred Dragon, hundreds of meters in size, stood in the air. The golden brilliance clashed and intertwined with the churning sea of blood, though it was clear the sea of blood was at a slight disadvantage, as light naturally suppressed evil.

The powerhouses on both sides clashed once more, but the situation had reversed; without the suppression of Ye Xishui's sea of blood, the members of the Holy Spirit Cult were being pushed back.

Xuanzi looked at Long Xiaoyao with vigilance and asked in confusion, "You are a senior to me; why would you wallow in the mire with these Evil Soul Masters? Are you not afraid of ruining your own reputation?"

Long Xiaoyao's expression remained calm, and he remained silent.

He would not, and did not deign to, explain. Although he had joined the Holy Spirit Cult, it was for the sake of Ye Xishui. He loved her, and he sought to make up for the mistakes of the past. Aside from protecting her, he cared for nothing else; as for the various deeds of the Evil Soul Masters, he chose to ignore them.

Coming to Shrek now, he did not want to fight Mu En, nor did he want Ye Xishui to be injured, so he simply blocked Xuanzi.

Seeing Long Xiaoyao standing there doing nothing but blocking his path, Xuanzi understood his intentions.

His gaze hardened, and his hundred-meter-tall Taotie Divine Ox directly charged at Long Xiaoyao; he wanted to see just how large the gap was between himself and a Limit Douluo.

Nine soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, red, red—circled Long Xiaoyao. His seventh soul ring flashed, and boundless darkness spread across the sky, accompanied by the appearance of a hundred-meter-long Dark Sacred Dragon.

With a flick of its tail, the dragon tore through space, creating cracks as it lashed out at Xuanzi with a dull thud, sending him plummeting nearly a thousand meters from the sky.

"Rumble—"

Thunderous sounds echoed continuously across the heavens and earth.

Countless people within Shrek City looked up in shock at the sky, which had been rendered in a kaleidoscope of colors. From time to time, the massive bodies of Martial Soul Avatars emerged from the clouds, churning and roiling.

They knew that this was likely the only time in their lives they would ever witness such a rare battle.

Time slowly passed.

When the city gates catch fire, the fish in the moat suffer. The battle grew increasingly intense, and although they were high in the sky, the shockwaves still reached Shrek City.

The teachers of Shrek Academy were scattered throughout the city, doing their best to protect the ordinary citizens, but they were stretched thin.

Mu En glanced downward, his eyes filled with sorrow. The next moment, he erupted in golden light, broke free from Ye Xishui, and turned to fly toward Shrek City.

Ye Xishui's eyes drooped, and she followed without hesitation, the sea of blood pouring down from above.

"Roar—"

A resonant dragon roar shook the soul, causing Ye Xishui to falter and her movements to pause for a few seconds.

When she regained her senses, she saw Mu En's aura connecting with the Golden Tree on Sea God Island. His body expanded to a thousand meters in size, and the golden radiance transformed into a protective barrier that enveloped all of Shrek City, blocking all the shockwaves of the battle.

Ye Xishui's expression turned grave; in that moment, she felt a threat to her life emanating from Mu En.

She shouted without hesitation, "Retreat!"

She then retracted her Martial Soul Avatar and turned to leave without looking back. The Evil Soul Masters sacrificed their own injuries to create an opening and withdrew.

The battlefield fell silent instantly, leaving behind only the wailing and weeping of civilians who had been caught in the crossfire, the land left in ruins.

Mu En watched helplessly as the other party departed, yet he made no move to stop her. Once he was certain that Ye Xishui would not return, he transformed back into his human form, though his figure had become so faint it was nearly invisible.

"Xuanzi, dispatch personnel immediately to rescue the wounded. Furthermore, summon all Sea God Pavilion councilors; we are holding another meeting."

"Yes!"

A hundred miles outside Shrek City, Ye Xishui stood calmly atop a mountain peak, Long Xiaoyao nowhere to be seen.

Although she had not caused any major casualties to Shrek, her goal had been achieved. For the sake of the citizens of Shrek City, Mu En had merged with the Golden Tree, and coupled with his previous battle against Zhongli Wu, he had tapped into his core essence twice. He would not live for more than a few days. When that time came, a Shrek without a Limit Douluo would be nothing more than clay in her hands.

Her eyes swept across the surroundings, and she frowned slightly: "Where is Feng Ling? Where did she go?"

No sooner had she spoken than a black figure streaked through the sky from the distance, seemingly carrying someone in her hand. She stopped before the mountain peak; it was none other than the Holy Spirit Cult Vice Sect Master, Feng Ling.

Feng Ling lowered her head and said: "Supreme Sect Master, I discovered a promising talent in Shrek City and specifically brought her here."

Having said that, she handed over the person in her grasp. It was a girl in a red dress, her sleeping face exceptionally beautiful, possessing an inherently alluring temperament.

Ye Xishui's eyes landed on the girl in the red dress, and they lit up: "Not bad, an Evil Fire Phoenix. Bring her back and guide her development; in the future, she will be a Limit Douluo of Ultimate Fire. You have done well."