Mu En Retreats

"Boom--!"

Another head-on collision between light and darkness erupted, the resulting turbulent energy tearing the clouds within several miles below into shreds.

The radiance of the Light Domain surrounding Mu En remained brilliant, yet under the combined assault of Long Xiaoyao, Ye Xishui, and Kong Deming, the area covered by this light had already shrunk by nearly half.

To fight one against three was, in the end, too much of a strain.

Mu En's breathing remained steady and long, but with every violent clash of soul power, a flicker of imperceptible gravity flashed deep within his eyes.

Just then, Long Xiaoyao, who had been silently leading the offensive, suddenly eased his assault.

His gaze pierced through the churning energy turbulence and met Mu En's eyes once more.

This time, the darkness that seemed to devour everything in his eyes faded for a fleeting moment, revealing a more complex undertone beneath.

"Mu En," Long Xiaoyao's voice rang out, drowning out the roar of the battlefield, "let it end here; you should leave this place."

As these words fell, the atmosphere of the battlefield stagnated.

Ye Xishui turned her head abruptly, a flash of astonishment and instinctive dissatisfaction crossing her blood-colored pupils.

Long Xiaoyao's proposal was equivalent to voluntarily abandoning this hard-won opportunity to severely wound or even finish off Mu En!

Her lips moved, as if she wanted to retort.

But the words died in her throat, and she swallowed them back down.

She knew better than anyone that Long Xiaoyao appearing to assist her at this moment was already the absolute limit of what could be squeezed from his guilt.

She was leveraging his obsession and indebtedness to the past, not an authority that could truly command him.

If she were to forcibly defy his will now, or even demand he fight Mu En to the death...

The result would likely backfire, causing him to withdraw entirely.

To remain neutral was perhaps the Dark Sacred Dragon's original stance.

Being able to use his power to force back Mu En and resolve the current life-or-death crisis was already good enough.

The blood-red light in Ye Xishui's eyes flickered; in the end, she merely frowned slightly, shifted her gaze back to Mu En, and remained silent.

On the other side, Kong Deming's movements in controlling his Soul Tool faltered for a moment upon hearing Long Xiaoyao's words.

He nodded slowly, tacitly consenting to the matter.

This was the Ming Capital, the heart of the Sun Moon Empire.

What kind of disaster would a Limit Douluo pushed to the brink—especially one of Mu En's caliber—cause with a final, desperate counterattack?

The entire Ming Capital would likely be buried with him! The Sun Moon Empire could not afford that price.

Of course, more importantly, Long Xiaoyao's stance was already clear.

If Long Xiaoyao decided to stop, then relying only on himself and Ye Xishui—even with the numerous Level 9 Soul Engineers and the surrounding Soul Engineer legions gathered in the Ming Capital—it would be impossible to keep a Mu En determined to escape.

The specialized Soul Tool projects capable of truly threatening a Limit Douluo had not yet been developed, after all.

The pressure suddenly lightened, and Mu En clearly sensed the subtle shift in the opposing camp.

His heart was as clear as a mirror.

Long Xiaoyao's proposal seemed to offer him a way out, but was it not also a way out for himself?

If this battle continued, it would only result in mutual destruction, or perhaps escalate into a tragic outcome that neither side could bear.

Long Xiaoyao was unwilling—or perhaps, did not dare—to truly fight him to the death.

And as for Mu En himself?

His primary goal for this trip, to kill or severely wound Ye Xishui, had been declared bankrupt the moment Long Xiaoyao appeared.

With Long Xiaoyao restraining him from the front, he could not land a fatal blow on Ye Xishui.

Continuing the entanglement served no purpose other than exhausting his own soul power and potentially exposing more of his hidden cards.

He slowly surveyed the three people before him.

Unless the Beast God Di Tian of the Star Dou Great Forest or the Evil Emperor of the Evil Demon Forest arrived in person, there was no individual in the world who could defeat this trio head-on.

There was truly no need to remain.

The light around Mu En gradually retracted, and his terrifying pressure slowly receded like a tide.

He took a deep look at Long Xiaoyao, his expression complex.

In the end, he said nothing, merely nodding slightly.

"Sigh..."

After a long, drawn-out sigh, Mu En took one last look at the brilliant lights of the Ming Capital, and his figure suddenly turned translucent.

He transformed into an imperceptible golden stream of light, silently merging into the night and vanishing without a trace.

Until that heart-stopping aura of light had completely disappeared beyond the reach of their senses.

The many Level 9 Soul Engineers of the Sun Moon Empire, scattered throughout Ming Capital and keeping their nerves taut, finally let out a collective sigh of relief.

Quite a few even felt their backs soaked through with cold sweat.

That brief yet earth-shattering clash just now, and the pressure that felt like the descent of a deity, had allowed them to truly experience the terror of a peak Soul Master.

It was an ultimate display of individual might that transcended almost every Soul Tool of the current era.

Kong Deming slowly approached the vicinity of Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao, his complexion still somewhat pale.

He looked toward Ye Xishui, his eyes carrying a trace of inquiry and confirmation.

"Your Excellency Death God,"

Kong Deming's voice had regained its usual composure, but the gravity in his tone was evident, "That person just now... he seems to be an old acquaintance of yours and His Excellency Dragon Emperor?"

In his heart, he actually already had the answer.

A Limit Douluo with the Light attribute, a dragon-type Martial Soul, capable of having such entanglements with Long Xiaoyao and Ye Xishui, and possessing such terrifying strength...

In this world, there was likely only that one legendary existence who fit these criteria.

But he needed the final confirmation from Ye Xishui's own lips.

The sea of blood surrounding Ye Xishui had receded, and her face appeared even paler under the dim moonlight.

Upon hearing this, she nodded, a trace of complex reminiscence flashing through the depths of her eyes.

"Correct. He is the Bright Sacred Dragon, Dragon God Douluo Mu En."

"It really is him!" Kong Deming felt a slight jolt in his heart.

Even though he had suspected it, hearing it confirmed personally still made him feel a heavy, pressing weight.

The anchor of Shrek Academy possessed such terrifying individual combat power; this far exceeded their previous estimates.

Suspended in the night sky, he gazed in the direction where Mu En had vanished, his eyes becoming incredibly profound.

He could no longer proceed according to plan.

A thought became incredibly firm in his mind.

"Linked Soul Tools, high-energy array compression Soul Tools..."

Kong Deming pondered to himself, his fingers clenching involuntarily within his sleeves, "We must spare no cost to accelerate the progress of research!"

Mu En's appearance and the strength he displayed were like a thunderclap, completely awakening this Father of Soul Engineers.

He realized that in the face of true peak individual might, the existing Soul Tool system still possessed a fatal ceiling.

Only by breaking through this ceiling could the Sun Moon Empire truly fear no threats from the peak of Soul Masters.

"The two of you, come with me to the Imperial Palace to explain tonight's battle to His Majesty."

Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao naturally had no objections; the three of them descended to the ground and walked into the Sun Moon Imperial Palace.