Xuan Zi Leads the Team, Not a Blade of Grass Survives

"Gongyang Mo!"

"Chen Zifeng!"

The five of them widened their eyes in unison, all clenching their fists.

"Evil Soul Master! You dare kill an inner courtyard disciple of my Shrek Academy—I'll make you pay with your life!"

Ma Xiaotao erupted in fury. Her first and second soul rings lit up in succession.

"First Soul Skill, Phoenix Fire Line."

"Second Soul Skill, Bathing Fire Phoenix."

With the two soul skills stacked, the temperature of Ma Xiaotao's first soul skill, Phoenix Fire Line, surged sharply, falling just short of extreme fire.

"Sixth Soul Skill, White Tiger Annihilation Strike!"

A massive "kill" character shot forth from Dai Yueheng's hands.

"Fifth Soul Skill, Ice Shining Ring."

A ring of deep blue ice emanated from Ling Luochen's ice staff, the surrounding temperature plummeting sharply.

"Fifth Soul Skill..."

"Fifth Soul Skill..."

Yao Haoxuan and Xixi followed closely behind, unleashing their strongest soul skills, vowing to make the Evil Soul Master before them pay in blood and avenge their comrades.

Yet, facing the colossal energy coalesced from so many soul skills, Qin Chuan remained utterly unmoved. His ears twitched as he sensed someone had already entered behind him.

Qin Chuan didn't take the hit head-on; instead, he sidestepped and dodged.

The furious strike from two Soul Emperors and three Soul Kings was exceptionally powerful, causing Wang Yan, who had just entered the cave to scout, to evaporate instantly without even a scream.

Such a horrifying sight left Xu Sanshi, who followed closely behind with his shield raised, deeply shaken.

"...Teacher Wang... dead?!"

"Teacher Wang is dead!"

Bei Bei, Jiang Nannan, Huo Yuhao, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao, and He Caitou all stared in disbelief.

At the same time, Xuan Zi's utterly enraged voice came from outside the cave.

"Evil Soul Master!!!"

Qin Chuan paid it no heed. Wielding the Rakshasa Demon Scythe, he once again became a god of slaughter, vanishing and reappearing behind Yao Haoxuan in a flash.

The frozen scythe rested on Yao Haoxuan's shoulder. The latter felt his entire body stiffen as a tremendous sense of crisis descended upon him.

The scythe mercilessly reaped Yao Haoxuan's life, taking Xixi down with him on the spot.

"Xixi!"

"Yao Haoxuan!"

The remaining three—Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochen—all clenched their teeth. Their own soul power was completely exhausted, leaving them like lambs to the slaughter, utterly powerless to fight back.

"You're fast, Xuan Zi. The four I killed today have no room for future growth anyway. But you three are different—you still have infinite futures. One day, I'll personally see you off."

Qin Chuan sneered coldly.

"System, send me back to the Douluo Continent of the parallel time and space."

"Ding-dong. One hundred Snow Hatred Value deducted. Teleportation channel opened."

A flash of black light, and before everyone's eyes, Qin Chuan, draped in a black robe and wielding his scythe, vanished without a trace.

Not long after Qin Chuan disappeared, the surrounding skeletal knights dissolved into wisps of black smoke and faded away. The broken bones and weapon fragments on the ground also sank into the earth, leaving no trace behind.

"Evil Soul Master!"

Elder Xuan transformed into the massive Godly Taotie Bull. By the time he arrived, Qin Chuan had already departed for the parallel time and space.

Yao Haoxuan and Xixi's headless bodies lay in pools of blood, their heads rolling nearby. Chen Zifeng's head was also there. Gongyang Mo's heart had been pierced through, and he no longer breathed.

Elder Xuan felt dizzy and lightheaded. He dispersed his Martial Soul True Body, staring at the children who had been lively and full of energy just moments ago, now all reduced to cold corpses.

Anger, killing intent, regret, and resentment flooded their hearts.

"How could this be!" Xiao Xiao covered her mouth, her eyes wide as tears streamed down.

"Damn it! That cursed Evil Soul Master! And now even Teacher Wang has fallen to his hand!" Xu Sanshi ground his teeth.

"No, Teacher Wang was killed by us."

Dai Yueheng let out a long sigh. "That final strike came from all of us. That Evil Soul Master must have noticed you were coming, so he deliberately dodged."

"We are the academy's sinners. After the tournament ends, I'll return and confess to the academy."

Ma Xiaotao's eyes were vacant, her lively gaze having lost its former luster.

"Evil Soul Master! Evil Soul Master!!!"

Ma Xiaotao's entire body blazed with flames. Under this immense pressure, her soul power actually broke through to level sixty-eight.

The crimson flames all over her body had just begun to turn black when they were suppressed by the ice-blue pendant hanging around her neck.

This pendant contains a trace of the power of the Ten-Thousand-Year Ice Marrow, capable of absolutely suppressing the eruption of evil fire. Otherwise, Yan Shaozhe would not have allowed Ma Xiaotao to compete.

"...I'm sorry." Ling Luochen silently stood up, her eyes already red when she raised her head.

"No, all of this is my fault." Elder Xuan waved his hand, looking as if he had aged a dozen years. Like a flickering candle in the wind, tears streaming down his aged face, he stared at the pieced-together bodies of the four and swayed unsteadily.

"Children, I have failed you. Back then, because of my mistake, eleven outstanding inner court disciples died at the hands of Evil Soul Masters. Now Chen Zifeng, Xixi, Gongyang Mo, and Yao Haoxuan have again fallen to their poison, and once more I was leading the team. Am I, Xuan Zi, truly cursed? Must some of the children who come out with me die before I can be satisfied?"

Elder Xuan silently rose to his feet and slowly walked out: "Children, I will first escort you back to the military camp. Later, I will return to the academy as quickly as possible to report what happened today."

Everyone's spirits were low; no one spoke.

Huo Yuhao stared at the corpses of his four seniors, fury blazing in his eyes. Wang Dong stood beside him, her fists clenched tightly.

"Don't worry. That Evil Soul Master will one day pay the price for everything he did today!" Wang Dong spoke, her tone leaving no room for argument.

"Mm." Huo Yuhao nodded silently and helped carry the seniors' bodies.

When Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochen, and the others returned to the military camp, Dai Hao was also drenched in cold sweat from the news.

Seven inner court disciples, four killed by a single Evil Soul Master, and that man had even escaped from under Elder Xuan's nose. When had the Death God Emissary become so formidable?

"White Tiger Duke, please send these children to Star Luo City. I must take the bodies of the four back to the academy." Elder Xuan spoke with a desolate expression.

"I understand. I will personally escort these children." Dai Hao sighed softly, then looked at the unharmed Dai Yueheng and breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

If his eldest son had been among the four who died today, Dai Hao didn't know what he would have done.

But the tragedy had already happened; it was beyond recovery.

Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochen were lightly injured, but their soul power was severely overdrawn, nearly depleted. They should be able to recover before the competition begins.

The leading teacher, Wang Yan, was accidentally killed by the soul skills of Ma Xiaotao and the others. Xuan Zi needed to return to the academy and bring another teacher to take charge.

The next day, Xuan Zi transformed into the Godly Taotie Bull and carried the bodies of the four fallen disciples back to Shrek Academy.

After a night's rest, Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochen had recovered about seventy to eighty percent of their soul power. But more than that, the expressions of the three were unprecedentedly grave.

They were the pride of Shrek Academy, yet they had never felt so helpless as they did today.

Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, Huo Yuhao, and the other seven reserve team members were also ready to take the field at any moment.

With four of the seven main team members dead, the remaining three vacancies would have to be filled from their ranks.

At noon, after everyone had eaten, they set off for Star Luo City under Dai Hao's personal escort.

They arrived at Star Luo City without any Evil Soul Master attacks along the way.

Inside a long-collapsed cave, a dark shadow slowly recondensed.

Qin Chuan took off the black robe he was wearing; the Rakshasa Demon Scythe had long been put away.

"Killing four inner court disciples of Shrek Academy only gave me forty-five thousand Snow Hatred Value. It's not much, but even a mosquito's leg is meat. I'll head to Star Luo City first to meet up with my sister, Gu Yi, Xiao Meng, and my brother-in-law."

Qin Chuan walked out of the cave. On his way down the mountain, he noticed that the Star Luo Empire had sent many more people into the mountains. Clearly, last night's events had thrown the already turbulent Bright Capital Mountains into even greater chaos.

Qin Chuan activated his Flight Soul Tool, spread his wings, and took off. By sunset, he had arrived at Star Luo City.

Meanwhile, at Shrek Academy.

Inside the Sea God Pavilion, the atmosphere was deathly silent.

The dean and vice-dean, led by Yan Shaozhe and Qian Duoduo, and the Sea God Pavilion elders, led by Elder Lin, all had their heads bowed without exception, their expressions dark to the extreme.

The extreme of Yin.

"Five years ago, that Evil Soul Master wielding a scythe was killed on the Douluo Continent. Now, five years have passed. Based on Xuan Zi's description, this suddenly appearing Evil Soul Master... should be his descendant." Mu En spoke in a deep voice.

"Teacher, the Evil Soul Masters are running rampant. They have killed four of our inner court disciples again. We cannot stand idly by."

"Then what do you suggest?"

"Take the initiative to strike!" A murderous intent flashed in Yan Shaozhe's eyes.

"Do you know where the Evil Soul Masters are? Where is the Holy Spirit Cult?"

"This..." Yan Shaozhe was speechless, stumped by the question.

"In fact, I have always suspected that the Holy Spirit Cult is not on the Douluo Continent, but in the Sun Moon Empire."

As soon as Mu En said this, everyone's gaze turned to him.

"The Sun Moon Empire! So that's why, even though we cooperated with the three empires to search almost the entire continent, we never found them. If they are in the Sun Moon Empire, it's no wonder we couldn't find them."

"Could the Sun Moon Empire be harboring Evil Soul Masters?"

"The Sun Moon Empire's desire to destroy our Douluo Continent has never changed. It's not impossible that they have already secretly reached an agreement with the Evil Soul Masters."

Elder Mu spoke again: "This lesson is profound. Lin'er, from now on, all inner court disciples must obtain defensive soul tools and Flight Soul Tools from your Soul Tool Department. I don't require them to learn how to make them, only that they can save their lives when necessary."

"Yes." Xian Lin'er nodded slightly.

Yan Shaozhe, however, frowned inwardly.

"Shaozhe, I know you have many prejudices against soul tools. But if Xiaotao and the others had been able to use defensive soul tools, casualties might have been avoided. This is an order, not a discussion."

Mu En's words were decisive. Yan Shaozhe had no choice but to nod.

Then, Mu En looked at Xuan Zi and said in a flat tone: "Xuan Zi, the responsibility for this incident lies with you. Tell me, how should I deal with you?"