Cooperating with the White Tiger Duke Mansion to restore the old regime was simply madness.
Not only would there be no benefit, but it would also bring endless trouble.
Besides, the Nine Treasures Glazed Sect had already connected with the Star Luo imperial family's Xu family long ago, and there was something he sought within the imperial household.
Setting everything else aside, Ning Que would never ally himself with the White Tiger Duke Mansion simply because Huo Yuhao, the child of destiny, existed.
"Could it be that Uncle Dai wants to sit on the throne again?"
"May I ask what portion of the troops in your hands you can truly control, and how many Limit Douluo stand behind you?"
Ning Que did not beat around the bush with him and directly laid the matter bare.
"You must be joking, nephew. How could your uncle possibly harbor such thoughts of throwing the court into chaos?"
Dai Hao had never expected Ning Que to be so blunt as to openly expose the matter.
At first, he had thought Ning Que was a clever man. Who would have thought he was merely a hotheaded fool?
After exchanging a few pleasantries, Dai Hao finally left.
The moment he stepped out of the military tent, Dai Hao realized what had been wrong. This brat was no hotheaded fool at all—he had simply refused to give him a chance to speak.
He knew that what he wished for was exceedingly difficult, but how could he not reclaim the foundation left behind by his ancestors?
There was no hope for him in this lifetime if he relied on himself. It seemed he would have to devote himself to cultivating his son in the future.
Only recently had Dai Hao discovered that his eldest son, Dai Yueheng, was actually far from ordinary.
What he did not know was that Dai Yueheng had always seen things clearly. It was not that he had not wanted to fight; he simply had never been given the opportunity.
Now that the opportunity lay before him, he naturally would no longer hold anything back.
While Ning Que and the others rested and reorganized themselves, Xuan Zi brought Dai Yueheng, Bei Bei, Xu Sanshi, and the others back to Shrek Academy.
"Elder Xuan, why have you returned at this time...?"
Xuan Zi did not conceal his aura in the slightest as he hurried toward Shrek Academy, and the many Title Douluo within the academy immediately sensed something amiss.
Thinking that a powerful enemy had attacked, they all appeared at once.
When they saw Xuan Zi, they were greatly surprised. Before they could ask anything, they saw the three people he was dragging along, each barely clinging to life.
From the look of it, they were taking in more breath than they were letting out.
Their lives hung by a thread.
"Elder Xuan, quickly, quickly... bring them to the inner academy!"
As a healing-type soul master, Elder Zhuang was the first to react and hurriedly began treating them.
Of the three, Dai Yueheng should have had the lightest injuries. However, because of Xuan Zi, he suffered secondary damage. His broken ribs had pierced his internal organs, and if not properly handled, the injuries could prove fatal.
The problem was that Xuan Zi had paid no attention to the injured while bringing them back, worsening their injuries once again.
If Dai Yueheng had not desperately circulated his Soul Power to remain conscious, he might have already died on the road.
Even so, his injuries had still worsened. Originally, his ribs had only pierced his organs, but now, one of them had plunged more than halfway into his lung.
Only when Elder Zhuang came into view did Dai Yueheng finally relax and completely lose consciousness.
Before passing out, two words kept echoing through his mind: Xuan Zi!
If resentment could kill, Dai Yueheng's hatred would have already carved Xuan Zi into a thousand pieces.
"Elder Xuan, what exactly happened?"
"Who attacked the children?"
"Was it a Rank 9 Soul Engineer from the Sun Moon Empire, or an Evil Soul Master at the Title Douluo level? That shouldn't be possible. No matter how powerful they were, they should not have been able to harm children under Elder Xuan's protection!"
"Could they have encountered Di Tian?"
"..."
Faced with the Shrek Academy elders' many speculations, Xuan Zi's expression darkened once more, and the guilt he had suppressed in his heart erupted again.
"It... it was me... This muddleheaded old man failed to protect the children. It was me..."
Then, he actually began crying like a child.
Tears streamed down his aged face as he grieved in utter despair.
Simply hearing his sobs made everyone feel sorrow involuntarily.
This action completely bewildered everyone present.
What was this?
What was going on?
They had merely asked what had happened.
Then Elder Xuan started crying.
As though they were the ones who had driven Elder Xuan to tears.
For a moment, everyone was at a complete loss, with no idea what to do.
"Xuan Zi, what exactly happened?"
"Stop crying first and tell us. Then we can figure out how to remedy this!"
Song Yunzhi, the oldest and comparatively most composed among them, truly wanted to curse upon seeing Xuan Zi like this. But since things had already come to this, it was better to first understand the whole matter.
With Song Yunzhi's comfort and the encouragement of the other Title Douluo, Xuan Zi finally steadied his emotions and told everyone everything that had happened.
"Xuan... Xuan Zi, you... you fool..."
After learning the full story, Song Yunzhi was nearly enraged to the point of losing her breath.
A dignified Rank 98 Title Douluo had actually failed to protect academy disciples from the hands of a Soul King.
No one would believe it if it were told.
Even the most absurd storybooks and novels circulated among ordinary people would not be so outrageous.
Yet such a thing had truly happened, right beside them.
"This..."
As the acting dean of the Martial Soul Department, Cai Mei'er's mind went completely blank upon hearing the news.
She had worked so hard. Ever since Mu En appointed her, she had diligently handled every matter properly. She had guarded against every possible danger, yet she had never guarded against Elder Xuan giving her such an enormous surprise.
"Among the three children, Bei Bei's injuries are the lightest, but corpse poison has entered his body. It may affect the foundation of his cultivation. If it is not resolved quickly, his future path of cultivation will inevitably be restricted."
"Dai Yueheng's injuries are next. I have stabilized him, but his internal organs were damaged, he lost too much blood, and his origin was harmed. If it cannot be restored, he will have no hope of becoming a Title Douluo in this life!"
"As for Xu Sanshi... perhaps he will never stand again..."
Only after Elder Zhuang stabilized the three men's injuries did he explain the specific situation.
The moment those words were spoken, the scene fell into deathly silence.
This matter was truly too serious.
It was not something they could decide on their own.
Most importantly, it involved Bei Bei, Mu En's only blood relative.
Bei Bei was different from Ma Xiaotao. In the hearts of many Shrek Academy elders, Ma Xiaotao was someone who had effectively been abandoned, unless her evil fire could be completely removed.
Otherwise, she was simply not worth nurturing with great effort.
It was only because Yan Shaozhe had always devoted himself to nurturing her that the others could not be bothered to argue about it.
But Bei Bei was Mu En's bloodline inheritor, possessed considerable talent, and belonged to Shrek Academy's direct lineage.
Furthermore, both his temperament and his way of handling matters won him great favor. Many elders had even groomed him as the successor to the next Mu En.
Now that Bei Bei had suffered such a devastating blow, how were they supposed to explain it to Mu En?
In the end, they unanimously decided to inform Mu En of the matter and let him make the decision.
Before you continue