"Sigh..."
A sigh came from inside Sea God Pavilion, its voice carrying an inviolable, sacred authority. The twelve wraiths immediately froze.
"Xishui, stop."
A golden figure appeared in the sky, surrounded by blood-red light.
Then light pierced the blood-red sky, and golden sunlight once again shone over the land, bathing everyone in warmth.
Mu En looked at Ye Xishui with mixed emotions. She was both familiar and strange to him. He hadn't expected to see her again in the final moments of his life, much less to learn that the son of one of the Evil Soul Masters he had killed was hers.
"Evil Soul Masters prey on the people of the world. Destroying them is every Soul Master's duty. I killed him, and I'll admit it. I just never expected you to become so powerful. I'm no longer certain I could defeat you."
"Hmph!"
Ye Xishui gave a cold snort. Knowing she had lost her chance, she simply withdrew the wraiths and the sea of blood. No one could tell what she was thinking as her blood-red eyes stared ahead.
Xuanzi hurried back to Mu En's side. He was in a sorry state, covered in large and small bloody holes that hissed as white vapor rose from them.
The powerful fighters on both sides stopped battling and retreated, each remaining wary of the other.
Mu En looked toward the other side of Ye Xishui and smiled faintly. "Since you're here, why hide? We haven't seen each other in a hundred years, have we? Isn't that right, Xiaoyao?"
As Mu En finished speaking, the space he had been looking at rippled, and a black-robed elder appeared. His overwhelming aura filled the heavens and the earth.
It was none other than Dragon Emperor Douluo, Long Xiaoyao.
The three of them stood in the air, forming the points of a triangle. The clear blue sky was tinted gold, black, and red, a dazzling yet dangerous sight.
None of them spoke first. An eerie atmosphere settled over the air.
The moment Xuanzi heard Mu En's words, he knew who had arrived.
He still couldn't believe that the three who had once shaken the continent would reunite like this. Ye Xishui had been an Evil Soul Master from the very beginning, but Long Xiaoyao had willingly fallen as well, joining the Evil Soul Master organization and aiding its wicked deeds. If the people of the continent found out, his reputation would be ruined.
Ye Xishui spoke first, her voice cold. "Whatever else you say, he was still my son. You killed him, so I'm entitled to an explanation."
She knew there wasn't much time. If they delayed any longer, reinforcements from the three great empires and the sects that styled themselves upright and righteous would arrive.
They had to end this quickly!
"Attack!"
Ye Xishui shouted. The sea of blood churned around her, and the twelve wraiths shrieked as one, surging toward Mu En.
Mu En took a deep breath. Golden light blazed all over him, and a golden dragon claw emerged from the radiance to collide with the boiling sea of blood. A vast patch of black space appeared, absorbing much of the force from both sides.
The Bright Sacred Dragon, hundreds of meters long, stood across the sky. Golden radiance clashed with the roiling sea of blood. The sea of blood was at a slight disadvantage; after all, light countered evil.
The powerful fighters on both sides clashed again, but the situation had now reversed. Without Ye Xishui's sea of blood suppressing them, the Holy Spirit Cult members were being beaten back.
Xuanzi watched Long Xiaoyao warily and asked in confusion, "You're one of my seniors. Why have you joined forces with these Evil Soul Masters? Aren't you afraid of ruining your reputation?"
Long Xiaoyao's expression remained placid. He said nothing.
He wouldn't explain, and he didn't consider himself obliged to. Though he had joined the Holy Spirit Cult, he had done so for Ye Xishui. He loved her and wanted to make amends for the mistakes he had made in the past. Aside from protecting her, he wouldn't concern himself with anything else. As for the Evil Soul Masters' many misdeeds, he chose to ignore them.
He had come to Shrek because he didn't want to fight Mu En or see Ye Xishui hurt, so he had simply blocked Xuanzi.
Seeing Long Xiaoyao standing in his way without doing anything else, Xuanzi understood his intentions.
His eyes narrowed. The hundred-meter-tall Godly Taotie Bull charged straight at Long Xiaoyao. He wanted to see for himself just how great the difference was between him and a Limit Douluo.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, red, and red Soul Rings revolved around Long Xiaoyao. His seventh Soul Ring flashed, and boundless darkness spread across the sky. A Dark Sacred Dragon, hundreds of meters long, appeared with it.
The dragon's tail lashed out, tearing open rifts in space as it swept toward Xuanzi with a muffled boom. Xuanzi was sent plunging nearly a thousand meters through the air.
"Rumble—"
The thunderous sound continued to ring through the heavens and earth.
Countless people in Shrek City stared in shock at the sky, painted in brilliant colors. From time to time, the enormous forms of Martial Soul Avatars emerged from the clouds, writhing as they battled.
They would probably witness a rare battle like this only once in their lives.
Time slowly passed.
When a fire broke out at the city gate, the fish in the pond suffered too. The battle grew fiercer. Though the fighters were high in the sky, the shockwaves still reached Shrek City.
The teachers of Shrek Academy spread throughout the city, doing their best to protect the ordinary people, but they were stretched too thin.
Mu En glanced down, sorrow in his eyes. The next moment, golden light blazed around him. He broke free of Ye Xishui, turned, and flew toward Shrek City.
Ye Xishui lowered her eyes and followed without hesitation, the enormous sea of blood pouring down after her.
"Roar—"
A clear dragon's cry shook the heart. Ye Xishui's vision blurred, and she stopped for a few seconds.
When she came to, she saw Mu En's aura linked to the Golden Tree on Sea God Island. His body had swollen to a thousand meters tall, and golden radiance formed a protective barrier around all of Shrek City, keeping every shockwave from the battle outside.
Ye Xishui's expression turned grave. In that moment, she sensed a threat to her life from Mu En.
Without hesitation, she shouted, "Retreat!"
She withdrew her Martial Soul Avatar and turned to leave without looking back. The Evil Soul Masters seized their chance to escape, accepting injuries as the price.
The battlefield fell silent in an instant. Only the civilians caught in the fighting remained, wailing and weeping amid the devastation.
Mu En watched the others leave but made no move to stop them. Once he was certain Ye Xishui wouldn't return, he changed back into human form. His figure had faded until it was barely visible.
"Xuanzi, send people to treat the wounded at once. Also, summon all the Sea God Pavilion council members. We're holding another meeting."
"Yes!"
A hundred miles beyond Shrek, Ye Xishui stood calmly on a mountain peak. Long Xiaoyao was nowhere to be seen.
Though she hadn't caused Shrek any major casualties, she had achieved her goal. To protect the people of Shrek City, Mu En had merged with the Golden Tree. Combined with his earlier battle against Zhongli Wu, he had used his life force twice. He wouldn't survive more than a few days. Once Shrek no longer had a Limit Douluo, it would be at everyone's mercy.
She glanced around and frowned slightly. "Where's Feng Ling? Where did she go?"
As soon as she spoke, a black figure swept through the air in the distance, apparently carrying someone. The figure stopped in front of the mountain. It was Feng Ling, vice cult master of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Feng Ling lowered her head and said, "Supreme Cult Master, I found a promising young girl in Shrek City and brought her here specially."
With that, she handed over the person she was carrying. It was a girl in a red dress, her sleeping face exceptionally lovely, with a naturally alluring air about her.
Ye Xishui's eyes fell on the girl in red, and her gaze brightened. "Not bad. The Evil Fire Phoenix. With a little guidance and training, she could become a Limit Douluo with Ultimate Fire in the future. Well done."