Escape

Shrek Academy.

The Golden Ancient Tree swayed continuously, moving without any wind as its leaves kept falling.

"You mean another planar passage has appeared on Douluo Continent?"

Yun Ming emerged from the Sea God Pavilion, his expression grave. He continued, "Can you point me in the right direction?"

Just as he thought the Golden Ancient Tree would continue guiding him, it suddenly fell silent again.

"Has the matter been resolved?"

Yun Ming was somewhat surprised, but since it had been taken care of, there was no need for him to go.

It was more important for him to remain at Shrek Academy.

The Demon Monarch looked at the human before him, who could barely conceal his greed. His voice trembled as he said, "No, no, this can't be. Human, tell me this isn't real."

"You must be the reincarnation of a devil, right? Answer me!"

Xie An found it rather amusing. How had he become the devil? He raised the World-Breaking Spear high in his hand.

"Take this spear, and I'll tell you."

The Demon Monarch watched the spear fly toward him at high speed. There wasn't the slightest desire to fight in his eyes; instead, he directly opened the Demon Gate and began to flee.

"Human, you must be the devil. Yes, you must be the devil. I want to go home. I want to go home."

His broken voice came from inside the tunnel as the World-Breaking Spear shot straight toward the portal.

Unfortunately, a powerful force stopped it. The World-Breaking Spear continued to attack, but in the end, it still couldn't break through the barrier.

"Was that the Plane Will on the other side?"

Xie An was somewhat surprised.

"Perhaps these Demon Monarchs really can communicate with their Plane Will."

"Never mind. I've gained more than enough from this. And if I remember correctly, Yuan'en Yehui is also a key. I just don't know whether that Great Devil will come."

Xie An examined himself inwardly and was surprised to find that his Demigod Divine Position seemed to have become a little more complete.

"If I absorb one or two more times, could I break through to God Rank—and become a God Rank expert with a divine position?"

Xie An's eyes burned with anticipation as he continued to ponder.

"Could I attack the Abyss Plane right now and devour its power?"

"Maybe I really could reach God Rank?"

A wild idea flashed through Xie An's mind, but he quickly suppressed it.

"Even if the Abyssal Sage King of the Abyss Plane doesn't have God King-level strength, he's still a genuine peak First-Class God, or even a Half-Step God King."

"And with the Abyss Plane bolstering him, it's not impossible for a Half-Step God King to briefly wield God King-level strength."

"The might of a God King can't be judged by ordinary standards."

"Besides, he also has the Heaven-Saint Splitting Abyss Halberd, which can ignore defenses."

"With that combination, he could be called the strongest beneath the God King level."

"If I venture deep into the Abyss and forcefully destroy several layers of the Abyss Plane now, even if I succeed, the Abyssal Sage King will surely notice me and erase me."

"Even if I were lucky enough to destroy one or two of the top ten powerhouses in the Abyss Plane, at best I'd break through to God Rank. I'd still be nowhere near able to contend with the Abyssal Sage King."

"The best-case scenario is that I break through to God Rank without entering the Abyss Plane to devour the power of several King-class fighters."

"But by then, the Abyssal Sage King would definitely start working with the Holy Spirit Cult ahead of time."

"Then I'd have to face the Demon Empress of the Holy Spirit Cult and Emperor Lie, the Abyss Plane's strongest fighter."

"Even the scenario where the Abyssal Sage King destroys several layers of the Abyss Plane to forcibly possess the Demon Empress and descend upon this plane could still happen."

"Never mind. Better to play it safe. If the Demon Plane is foolish enough, it should send another Great Devil. Then I can try to break through to God Rank by killing him."

"If the Demon Plane makes no move, then my best opportunity to absorb power should come when Tang Wulin uses the Golden Dragon Spear to absorb the core of the Abyss Plane!"

"Then I can fish in troubled waters and look for a chance to break through."

"But now that I have a way to break through to God Rank, it seems I can revise some of my original plans."

"I can afford to take a few more aggressive measures."

The Douluo Federation would have to be unified sooner or later.

The independent forces that needed to be eliminated still had to go.

Xie An decided that once he had absorbed the Yuanen Clan, he would return and notify the Council Chairman to convene a Douluo Federation military meeting.

He shook his head and prepared to fly back to the Yuanen Family.

At that moment, in the Yuanen Family's central district,

Yuanen Zhentian first made arrangements for his son and daughter-in-law, then led the people from the War God Temple to wait in the hall.

The five War Gods of the War God Temple looked anxiously in the direction where their master was fighting the Three-Headed Giant Dog.

"Senior Yuanen, based on your experience, how do you think this battle will end?"

The Second War God, Long Tianwu, asked in a low voice.

"Well, although I'm also a Limit Douluo, I'm only at the Demigod level. I can't speculate about the battle between your master and that Hell Three-Headed Dog."

Yuanen Zhentian gave a wry smile and shook his head.

"Brother Ao Rui, you're the strongest among us War Gods. What do you think?"

"I don't know." The First War God's answer was even more direct.

Long Tianwu was about to ask again when the usually taciturn Dark Phoenix Douluo, Leng Yulai, said irritably, "Brother Tianwu, stop asking. I believe the Temple Master will be fine."

Long Tianwu opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he didn't say a word.

He could only let out a long sigh.

Just then, Yuanen Zhentian was the first to sense a powerful pressure. One after another, the War God Temple's people felt it too.

"What is that? The Temple Master..." someone asked in a low, swallowing voice.

No one answered. For a moment, everyone fell into dead silence.

The minutes ticked by. Those few short hours felt like centuries to everyone present.

"It's over."

Yuanen Zhentian spoke with a grave expression.

As the only Limit Douluo present, he was the first to sense that heaven-like power, and the first to feel it disappear.

"Who won?" Dark Phoenix Douluo Leng Yulai asked nervously.

"Obviously, I did."

As if answering her question, Xie An appeared in the hall the next instant.

His cool voice echoed through the room.

"Yulai, you really have so little faith in your War God Temple Master."

Seeing Xie An return, Dark Phoenix Douluo Leng Yulai could barely contain her emotions. She rushed up and punched the War God Temple Master.

"Easy, easy. Keep your composure. I saw your older sister a couple of days ago. If she finds out you were mistreated by me, she'll come looking for trouble again."

"I thought you were going to lose. That aura just now really scared me to death."

"It's all right, it's all right. Even Yun Ming can't beat me. How could I lose to a three-headed dog like that?"

"Greetings, Temple Master. You truly deserve to be the youngest person ever to take over as War God Temple Master."

Yuanen Zhentian stepped forward to pay his respects, and the other War Gods of the War God Temple did the same.

"Zhentian is grateful to the Temple Master for coming to our aid during this crisis."

"I've already had the family's best cooks prepare a feast."

"Allow me, as clan head, to express my gratitude for the crisis being resolved safely."

Xie An perked up. By helping the Yuanen Family repel the Demon Plane, he had already earned their considerable goodwill.

And this banquet would determine whether the Yuanen Family became good friends of the War God Temple, firm allies,

or whether the Yuanen Family's top fighters would join the War God Temple outright and become true members of his own faction.

As Xie An sensed the state of his body, a new idea gradually took shape.