"Cao Dezhi, how has Long Bing been doing? The one I sent you two years ago."
Xie An contacted Blood One of the Blood God Legion through a soul communicator and got straight to the point.
"The Soul Emperor named Long Bing, the one Shrek expelled and you sent here two years ago?"
"I followed your instructions and took special care of her, making sure she didn't die here."
"Let's see... She's been here for four or five years now, hasn't she?"
"She's usually quiet, but she trains and fights like a madwoman."
"She recently broke through to the Soul Douluo level, but she seems troubled by something."
"That trouble could become a heart demon. Even if it doesn't hinder her from becoming a Titled Douluo, it could still keep her from breaking through to Super Douluo."
"Of course, she could also use that heart demon to break through to Super Douluo in one go."
"What's this? Why are you thinking of her today? Do you want her to come back to you?"
Cao Dezhi rattled off one thing after another.
"Yeah. It's about time. Send Long Bing back to me."
Cao Dezhi looked at the Communication Soul Tool, which had already ended the call, and gave a helpless smile.
"Someone, bring Long Bing here. I have something to discuss with her."
A woman with long blue hair and an aura of slaughter appeared before Blood One.
"..."
Eastsea City, Eastsea Academy, teachers' dormitory.
A handsome man wearing a T-shirt with a little yellow duck on it was sleeping in bed.
But judging by his twisted expression, he was clearly having a terrible nightmare.
"Zhangkong, are you still insisting on defending that woman?"
"She's a spy sent by the Evil Soul Masters!"
Red Dragon Douluo Zhuo Shi looked at his stubborn disciple and spoke with exasperation.
"No, Master. Long Bing is a good person. I'm willing to vouch for her."
Wu Zhangkong knelt before his master and spoke with a slight tremble.
Behind him, Long Bing stood motionless like a statue, tears welling in her eyes.
"You... You're really going to be the death of me!"
Zhuo Shi said nothing more. He turned and went to Sea God Pavilion to report the matter to the pavilion master.
Not long after, word came from Sea God Pavilion: Long Bing was permanently expelled from Shrek Academy and would never be allowed to return.
In a fit of anger, Wu Zhangkong left Shrek Academy with Long Bing.
Just as the two of them had left Shrek City, a middle-aged man with a dark expression appeared out of thin air before them.
"Long Bing, you're my daughter, at least. How could you be so useless?"
Dark Hummingbird looked at Long Bing and the man beside her, his expression darkening.
"I told you to steal Shrek's secrets. What have you been doing all this time?"
Long Bing looked fearfully at the man before her, while Wu Zhangkong seemed to have lost his soul.
"Bing'er, tell me this... this isn't true."
Wu Zhangkong's voice trembled as he asked.
Long Bing merely squeezed her eyes shut, and tears slid involuntarily down her cheeks.
"Zhangkong, thank you. Go."
"Damn it! So you can't keep mooning over that pretty boy anymore, huh?"
A bee-like stinger appeared behind the middle-aged man.
A moment later, two flashes of cold light shot through the air and appeared before Wu Zhangkong in an instant.
They were his weapons: a pair of incredibly sharp spikes. They were also his Martial Soul, Bee Tail Sting!
At the time, Wu Zhangkong had only just become a Soul Emperor. With Shrek Academy's guidance, he had just forged his Two-Word Battle Armor.
The Two-Word Battle Armor appeared automatically in front of Wu Zhangkong, but it still couldn't stop Bee Tail Sting.
The spikes pierced straight through the armor. Wu Zhangkong spat blood and was slammed hard against the ground by the impact.
"Father, I'll go with you. Please let him go!"
Long Bing's voice trembled, and tears fell in large drops from her eyes.
Dark Hummingbird only snorted. Then, with a burst of energy like a jet blast, she shot straight toward Wu Zhangkong.
Gale Cannon was Dark Hummingbird's fifth Soul Skill. It was incredibly effective for both escape and attack.
It could raise her speed to its absolute limit in an instant.
But what she hadn't expected was that Bee Tail Sting wouldn't pierce Wu Zhangkong's body.
Long Bing leaped forward and threw herself in front of them. Bee Tail Sting pierced her—his own daughter.
Dark Blood Demon stared blankly as his daughter spat blood before him.
Neither of them noticed the powerful force protecting Long Bing's heart.
Then, a long spear tore through space and appeared before him.
Its tip pierced straight through his body.
"Xie An, what are you doing here?"
Dark Hummingbird was distraught after accidentally killing her own daughter.
Then Xie An ambushed her, throwing her into even greater disarray.
Xie An said nothing and simply kept attacking.
More and more wounds appeared on Dark Blood Demon's body. Then, suddenly, he shouted,
"Ghost Emperor, come save me!"
A powerful Quasi-God aura appeared at once.
A massive skeleton flashed into view from the void.
Its enormous skull forcibly enclosed Dark Blood Demon as it tried to carry him away through a spatial passage.
Xie An shook his head and chose not to pursue.
For one thing, there was a dying person on the ground, and she was more important.
For another, Xie An had only just broken through to the Quasi-God level. He didn't want to reveal it too soon.
He showed only the strength of a peak Demigod.
Xie An landed and saw Wu Zhangkong holding Long Bing and weeping uncontrollably.
"Bing'er, it's my fault. I was useless."
"I couldn't do anything."
"Didn't we agree? When I became a Titled Douluo, I'd name my four-level Battle Armor after you."
"Bing'er, open your eyes and look at me!"
Wu Zhangkong felt the person in his arms growing colder and colder. An even heavier sorrow settled over his heart.
Xie An frowned and forcibly separated Long Bing from Wu Zhangkong with his Soul Power.
"If you want to blame someone, blame your own weakness."
"I'm taking this girl's body with me. There are too many things tied up with her."
With that, Xie An vanished.
The method he'd given her back then had protected Long Bing's heart, keeping her from dying immediately.
But if she wasn't treated in time, she would still die.
Besides, he was counting on Long Bing to help him carry out his plan.
"No, don't take her away! Long Bing!"
The man in his sleep jolted awake, thrusting out a hand as if to stop Xie An from taking her away.
Then, as though he realized something, he let his outstretched hand fall limply.
A tear rolled down his cheek.
The man was none other than Wu Zhangkong, who had been expelled from Shrek Academy.
"Why? Why wasn't I the one who died back then?"
"Why? Why could the War God Temple Master make it to the scene, but my teacher couldn't?"
"Why? Why am I so weak?"
"I'm useless. I'm a cripple!"
Wu Zhangkong hated it. He hated how weak he was; he hated that he hadn't stopped Long Bing.
He even—he even resented his teacher a little, and Shrek Academy. Why hadn't they appeared before him?
"Teacher Zhangkong, are you in your dorm? Someone's looking for you in the office."
A voice came from outside the door.
Wu Zhangkong forced himself to calm down and tidied himself up.
In the blink of an eye, he was back to being the aloof, handsome man.
Long Bing had said she liked how handsome he looked.
Wu Zhangkong looked at the handsome man in the mirror and smiled bitterly.
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