Showdown, Revenge!

He was Dai Huabin! The legitimate son of the Duke of White Tiger! A core disciple of Shrek Academy's inner court! A three-ring Soul Elder! An invincible genius among his peers!

Yet this brat, who looked like he had barely been weaned, dared to look at him like that? And dared to tell him to "come here"?

"You're courting death!" Dai Huabin roared, his Soul Power erupting around him.

Two yellow and one purple—three soul rings rose beneath his feet, radiating powerful Soul Power fluctuations. Behind him, the phantom of a massive White Tiger emerged, roaring at the sky and exuding terrifying pressure.

"First Soul Skill, White Tiger Protection Barrier!"

"Second Soul Skill, White Tiger Intense Light Wave!"

Dai Huabin did not hold back. From the outset, he unleashed his strongest chained attack. He first covered himself in a layer of golden Soul Power armor, then opened his mouth and fired a blazing white beam. As it passed, the air shrieked piercingly and the temperature soared, scorching the weeds on the ground until they curled and blackened.

Even a peak three-ring Soul Elder would not dare take that attack head-on.

But Dai Tu did not move at all.

He merely watched the white beam shoot toward him, not even the slightest ripple appearing in his eyes.

Then, at the instant the beam was about to strike him—

He vanished.

He had not dodged or blocked it. He had truly "disappeared" from where he stood.

The white beam passed through the spot where he had been standing and slammed into the wall of an abandoned warehouse dozens of yards away, blasting a huge hole through it as bricks and stones flew everywhere and dust billowed.

Dai Huabin froze.

Where had he gone?

The next second, he felt a cold hand gently close around his throat.

The hand was not large, and its fingers were slender, but its strength was astonishing. Like iron pincers, it clamped tightly around his throat, instantly suffocating him and bringing even the circulation of his Soul Power to a halt.

At some point, Dai Tu had appeared behind him, his right hand gripping his neck and his left hand pressed against the center of his back.

"Is that all?"

Dai Tu's voice sounded beside his ear, quiet and calm. Yet beneath that calmness lay undisguised, icy mockery.

Dai Huabin's eyes instantly became bloodshot.

He wanted to struggle and counterattack, but the hand around his throat seemed rooted in place and would not budge. He wanted to unleash a soul skill, but though his Soul Power crashed wildly through his body, it was as though it had struck an invisible wall. He could not release it at all.

Moreover, he could feel a cold, violent force filled with the aura of destruction pouring from the hand pressed against his back. It bored into his body, crazily destroying his meridians, eroding his Soul Power, even... burning his soul.

"Urgh... Aah..." Dai Huabin let out a pained rasp. His face twisted from suffocation and agony, his eyes filled with terror and disbelief.

Impossible!

How could this be possible?!

He was a three-ring Soul Elder! A genius among his peers! How could he have been seized by the throat like a chick by this boy, who looked no more than twelve or thirteen, without even a chance to fight back?!

"Huabin!"

Dai Yueheng's eyes nearly split apart. He struggled to rise from his wheelchair, but with only one leg remaining, he could not stand steadily. He could only barely raise his left hand, gathering Soul Power in his palm as he tried to unleash a soul skill to save Dai Huabin.

But before he could release it, Dai Tu raised his head and looked at him.

Deep within those large, round eyes, a scarlet glow lit up.

A strange dart-shaped pattern slowly rotated within his pupils, radiating a cold and mysterious terror, as though it could see through every illusion.

"Don't rush," Dai Tu said as he looked at Dai Yueheng, a cold curve lifting at the corner of his lips. "It'll be your turn soon enough."

As soon as he finished speaking, he released Dai Huabin's throat.

Dai Huabin collapsed to the ground like a limp heap of flesh, gasping desperately. His face was paper-white, and his eyes were filled with the terror of surviving a disaster, along with a humiliation that sank into his bones.

But Dai Tu did not look at him again. Instead, he turned to face Dai Yueheng.

"Dai Yueheng," Dai Tu said slowly, his voice calm, though every word was like an icy blade stabbing viciously into Dai Yueheng's heart,

"Weren't you quite arrogant in the Star Dou Great Forest? Weren't you going to hunt the Emperor Auspicious Beast, absorb its soul ring, and become the continent's greatest genius?"

He paused, a flash of ridicule crossing his eyes. "What is it? Now you're crippled and can't even stand properly?"

Dai Yueheng's expression instantly turned ugly.

He stared fixedly at Dai Tu, his eyes filled with venom and killing intent, but even more than that, fear.

Because he could sense that this black-haired youth before him was stronger than he had been three months ago.

So strong that even he, once a five-ring Soul King, felt suffocated.

"What exactly do you want?" Dai Yueheng asked hoarsely, his voice distorted by fear.

"This is Shrek City! If you dare attack us, Shrek Academy won't let you off! The White Tiger Duke Mansion won't let you off! The entire Star Luo Empire won't let you off!"

"Shrek Academy? The White Tiger Duke Mansion? The Star Luo Empire?" Dai Tu laughed, his smile cold and cruel. "Do you think I'm afraid?"

He raised his hand toward Dai Yueheng and curled his five fingers in the air.

"Today, no one can save you."

"Third Soul Skill, Deep Forest Emergence."

As soon as the words fell, the ground beneath Dai Yueheng began to shake violently.

"Rumble—rumble—"

Countless thick emerald-green vines burst from the earth. Like countless spirit serpents, they grew wildly, instantly winding around, binding, and enveloping Dai Yueheng and the wheelchair beneath him.

The vines were exceptionally tough, their surfaces covered in fine golden patterns. They radiated vast life energy, yet mixed within that life energy was a cold power filled with the meaning of destruction. It firmly suppressed Dai Yueheng's Soul Power, making him unable even to struggle.

"What... what soul skill is this?!" Dai Yueheng was horrified beyond measure. He struggled desperately, but the vines only tightened further, squeezing until his bones groaned. His Soul Power was utterly suppressed as well, leaving him unable to mobilize even a trace of it.

"Don't waste your strength." Dai Tu walked before him, looked down at him, and showed no emotional fluctuation in his eyes. "Within my Flower Tree World, you are nothing but... a lamb awaiting slaughter."

He paused, then added, "And a... crippled lamb at that."

Dai Yueheng stared fixedly at Dai Tu, his eyes filled with despair and hatred, but in the end, all that remained was a deep, helpless fear.

He knew that today, he had fallen.

He had fallen into the hands of a youth who looked harmless to man and beast, yet was more terrifying than a demon.

He had fallen... completely and utterly.

"Who... who are you?" Dai Yueheng asked hoarsely, his voice becoming broken under the vines' crushing pressure. "Why... are you targeting us?"

"Who am I?" Dai Tu tugged at the corner of his mouth, revealing a cold smile devoid of any mirth.

"Dai Yueheng, listen carefully. My surname is Dai, and my given name is Tu. Like you, I am Dai Hao's son. Unlike you, I am... an illegitimate son. The 'bastard' whom you three mother and sons have gone to every length to erase."

Dai Yueheng's pupils abruptly contracted.

He stared fixedly at Dai Tu, at that handsome face that bore a thirty to forty percent resemblance to Dai Hao's, and countless images flashed through his mind in an instant.

His surname was Dai?

An illegitimate son?

A bastard?

Could he be...

"You're... from Konoha..."