The Fallen Genius

However.

The corrosive energy contained within that Corrosive Ray was exceptionally strange.

It had actually penetrated the Phoenix Flame's high-temperature defenses to a certain extent.

Sizzle—!

With a teeth-grating sound, the dark green ray finally broke through the flames and slammed viciously into Ma Xiaotao's chest!

"Pfft—!!!"

Ma Xiaotao's body shuddered violently as she spat out a mouthful of blood. The excruciating pain in her chest made her vision go dark.

The clothes over her chest were instantly corroded into a large hole, revealing a wound deep enough to expose bone.

The flesh around its edges was blackened and curled, carrying an ominous dark green hue as the corrosive and burning forces continued to eat away at her.

"Damn it... I still couldn't kill you..." Seeing this, Long Yufeng felt overwhelming unwillingness and hatred surge within him, only for it to become even deeper despair.

Though that strike had not been fatal, it completely ignited Ma Xiaotao's rage and savagery!

The intense pain and frustration made her instantly vent all her violence upon the culprit—Long Yufeng.

She whipped her head around, her gaze like that of a savage beast choosing its prey as it locked onto Long Yufeng.

Sensing that things had gone badly, Long Yufeng endured the pain and immediately activated another life-saving Soul Tool—the Soul Power Backlash Shield!

A translucent shield rippling with obscure energy patterns instantly unfolded before him.

However.

Severely injured and possessing only three soul rings, how could he fully control a sixth-grade defensive Soul Tool? Its defensive strength was greatly diminished.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

Ma Xiaotao's fists, wrapped in Phoenix Flame, were like burning meteors.

One punch came heavier than the last, smashing fiercely against the Soul Power Backlash Shield.

The shield's light flickered violently, flashing erratically as it let out a wail of unbearable strain.

In less than three breaths!

With a crisp crack, the Soul Power Backlash Shield was violently knocked away, scattering energy fragments in every direction.

Long Yufeng was struck as though by a heavy blow. His entire body flew backward again before crashing heavily to the ground, blood spraying wildly from his mouth.

Against the completely berserk Ma Xiaotao, fierce as a tiger and wolf, the badly injured Long Yufeng had no ability to fight back.

Dense, heavy punches and kicks rained down like a storm, the cracking of breaking bones sending chills down everyone's spines.

He was soon beaten into a bloody pulp. He could not even scream, only producing dying, rasping gasps from his throat.

Seeing her husband's miserable state, Dantai Jing somehow regained a trace of instinct through her madness.

Crying out, she rushed forward in an attempt to stop her, only for Ma Xiaotao to casually wave a hand and send her flying as well. She landed in the distance and lost consciousness.

"Stop! I said stop!! If you have the guts, come at me!!!"

Long Zhanye's eyes nearly split apart as he let out a heart-wrenching roar, his body trembling violently with extreme rage and helplessness.

Below the stage.

That Body Sect elder's face turned livid, and he finally could no longer hold back.

He shifted slightly, intending to step forward and stop this near-torturous slaughter.

"Hmm???"

Xuan Zi's icy gaze swept over him as though it had substance.

The terrifying pressure of a Super Douluo descended like a mountain, its warning and threat impossible to mistake.

Under that gaze, the Body Sect elder's footsteps came to an abrupt halt.

The muscles on his face twitched, and in the end, he could only clench his fists tightly and shut his eyes in anguish.

Under Xuan Zi's absolute strength and intimidation, no one dared take another step forward. They could only watch helplessly as the tragedy continued.

"Shrek Inspectorate... you killed my beloved wife... injured my parents..."

Blood and tears mixed across Long Zhanye's face. His voice was hoarse, like the curse of an evil ghost, every word steeped in towering hatred.

"One day... I will destroy you! I will destroy the entire Shrek City!!!"

This venomous oath, filled with endless resentment and resolve, clearly reached Ma Xiaotao's ears.

Already consumed by fury, Ma Xiaotao's savagery flared even more fiercely at his words.

Like discarded rag dolls, she flung the dying Long Yufeng and unconscious Dantai Jing aside.

Then she strode toward Long Zhanye, who lay collapsed in a pool of blood.

Raising her foot, she stomped her hard sole viciously onto Long Zhanye's battered body and ground down.

"Repeat what you just said." Ma Xiaotao's voice was cold enough to freeze blood.

Agonizing pain surged through him.

Yet Long Zhanye clenched his teeth, his bloodshot eyes fixed on her as he enunciated each word. "One day... I will destroy you... and the entire Shrek City!"

A savage gleam flashed in Ma Xiaotao's eyes as she turned to look at Xuan Zi.

Xuan Zi remained expressionless, clearly acquiescing to what she intended to do next.

Having received permission, Ma Xiaotao no longer had any reservations.

She grabbed Long Zhanye and lifted him from the ground, her right hand's five fingers forming a claw.

Violent, condensed Phoenix Soul Power gathered in her palm. Crimson light flickered around it, radiating a destructive aura.

"Unfortunately, you won't have that chance." Ma Xiaotao's voice was as cold as ice, her gaze cruel and vicious.

"Today, I will cripple your Martial Soul!!!"

As her words fell, her right claw, condensed with vast Soul Power, thrust without hesitation toward Long Zhanye's chest, targeting his Martial Soul—his heart!

"Argh—!!!"

Long Zhanye let out an utterly miserable scream.

He felt as though his heart had been seized, crushed, and torn apart by a red-hot iron claw!

Indescribable agony instantly swept through every corner of his body, a thousand times worse than any physical wound he had suffered!

Ma Xiaotao's Soul Power brutally invaded his body, striking and destroying his Martial Soul with precision and cruelty.

"Pssh..."

A dull, faint sound, as though something vital had completely shattered, came from within Long Zhanye's body.

He clearly felt his Heart Martial Soul explode into fragments beneath that violent external force!

Its origin scattered, and the very foundation of his Martial Soul was utterly destroyed!

As his Martial Soul shattered, his actual heart also suffered devastating damage.

Massive internal bleeding began at once, and the aura of life drained from him as swiftly as floodwaters through a broken dam.

His vision began to blur. Every sound around him—his parents' faint groans, the guests' cries of alarm, the crackling flames...

All of them seemed to come through a thick curtain of water, growing farther away and increasingly unreal.

His Brain fell into a strange Chaos, while scenes from his past began flashing uncontrollably before his eyes.

They spun past like a revolving lantern... Was this the final echo of consciousness before death?

After the Shrek Inspectorate committed their violence and turned to leave, the once-celebratory banquet grounds had already fallen into dead silence.

The smell of blood mingled with the scorched stench left by burned Soul Power, filling the air.

Only after those two figures had completely vanished from sight was the oppressive silence broken by an urgent roar.

"Quick! Save them!!!"

The Body Sect titled Douluo elder, who had previously been cowed into silent fury by Xuan Zi's presence, no longer cared about composure or decorum.

He appeared beside Long Zhanye in the pool of blood almost as if he had Teleported there, his face filled with unprecedented panic and urgency.

This was not merely about a single life. It concerned the sect's hope of rising in the future, as well as...

The humiliation and lingering fear of having their dignity trampled before their eyes while being powerless to stop it.

His steady hands glowed with dense Soul Power as he pressed them without hesitation against Long Zhanye's chest, which had nearly stopped rising and falling.

Vast Soul Power forcibly sealed the bleeding ruptures in his heart, stabilizing that faint flame of life, as weak as a candle flickering in the wind.

He could sense that the aura of the youth's Martial Soul had almost completely dissipated, leaving only the frailest thread of life struggling on.

"He's still breathing!"

"Quick! Bring every last one of the sect's finest Elixirs! Hurry!!!"

He suddenly lifted his head and shouted fiercely at the fellow sect members around him, who were still too shocked to recover.

That shout was like a blow that woke them from a dream.

Apart from the villagers who had already been frightened senseless and stood there like wooden statues.

The remaining Body Sect Soul Douluo stewards and Soul Saint-level managers present all snapped out of their immense shock.

Their faces were likewise filled with fury and gravity as they hurried into action.

After initially stopping the bleeding, the elder did not hesitate any longer. He used Soul Power to wrap Long Zhanye's body with extreme gentleness.

He abruptly straightened, not even having time to give his fellow sect members further instructions.

He only left behind a low roar infused with Soul Power that rang throughout the entire venue: "Leave this place to you! You must preserve his parents' lives!"

Before his words had even faded.

The Soul Power around him erupted as he shot into the sky, racing toward the Body Sect without looking back...