They didn't even have the guts to pull off something this massive, not even the Holy Spirit Cult!
Perhaps, throughout history, the Holy Spirit Cult had killed more people in total than had died in this explosion.
But that was over the course of countless years, accumulated little by little. When it came to a single act of devastating destruction and slaughter, they couldn't hold a candle to this!
He'd even seen it in the footage: his mother's Death God Pagoda, which had always suffered from a shortage of vengeful spirits, had been made fully operational by that one explosion!
With just one BOOM, it had saved the Holy Spirit Cult countless years of hard work!
At that moment, Shrek Academy was no longer just an academy on the Douluo Continent. It was a terrifying super-organization capable of wreaking destruction—a fiend no one dared provoke and no one could escape!
"...Should we consider easing tensions with the Sun Moon Empire?"
Star Luo Emperor Xu Jiawei had just received a report from his subordinates that they'd uncovered more than a dozen Shrek spies. Exhausted, he sat down on the dragon throne and rubbed his temples.
Meanwhile, the Sun Moon Empire was already trembling with fear. It had even issued orders to mobilize the entire nation!
At that moment, not a single person objected. The footage on the Sky Screen had utterly terrified the Sun Moon Empire's ordinary people, who had enjoyed peaceful times and Soul Guidance Technology for so long!
After that terrifying, Heaven-Destroying Earth-Shattering explosion, Xuan Zi had rescued Huo Yuhao and the others at once.
On the Sky Screen, Xuan Zi put on a show of reprimanding Huo Yuhao and the others. Huo Yuhao said, "I didn't think it would get this out of hand either. I was only planning to blow up a warehouse," and that was the end of the matter.
"Wonderful. Just wonderful, Shrek Academy!"
Countless people in the Sun Moon Empire sighed like this, their eyes filled with nothing but coldness.
Though the Sun Moon Empire and Shrek Academy were enemies, many people in the empire had still respected the academy as the "holy land" of mainland Soul Masters. Some had even yearned to attend.
The current crown prince of the Sun Moon Empire had once said that one of his childhood dreams was to study at Shrek Academy.
But now, that rosy filter had shattered with a CRACK, blasted to pieces by the mushroom cloud of destruction on the Sky Screen! All that remained was fear and resentment.
After that, Huo Yuhao's life took a sharp turn for the worse.
First, in some bizarre place called the Valley of Love Inquiry, Huo Yuhao's beloved Wang Dong'er inexplicably died, killed by a mysterious figure in sea-blue robes. He was plunged into unbearable grief.
Then, during a high-risk rescue mission deep inside the Sun Moon Empire, assigned by Shrek Academy, his other beloved, Wang Qiu'er, sacrificed herself to save him.
That's right. Wang Qiu'er wasn't human at all—she was a Soul Beast! And not just any Soul Beast, but the one and only Emperor Auspicious Beast of the Star Dou Great Forest! The Auspicious Beast of the Star Dou Great Forest had actually sacrificed herself for a human!
The entire Star Dou Great Forest, the Land of Great Calamity, erupted in rage and unleashed a beast tide. Its Soul Beast army marched straight for Shrek Academy, demanding an explanation.
Seeing the boundless Soul Beast army stretching as far as the eye could see, the humans watching the Sky Screen were all aghast.
There had been more than one beast tide in the past, all brought about by Shrek Academy and the Body Sect's frenzied hunting of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts. Shrek Academy and the Star Dou Great Forest were sworn enemies. Not only were they neighbors, but Shrek had always been the most ruthless in hunting and plundering Soul Beasts. It had even come up with twisted methods like the Secret Soul Technique, which required slaughtering an entire Soul Beast species just to artificially produce a single Soul Bone.
So when the Star Dou Great Forest launched its beast tide, its first stop was Shrek City. It was time to settle old scores!
Even as the continent's foremost academy, Shrek Academy—with the Soul Guidance Technology it had stolen from the Sun Moon Empire—could hardly withstand the fury of the entire Star Dou Great Forest.
That remained true even though the Beast God, for reasons no one knew, hadn't truly gone all out.
Just as Shrek Academy stood on the brink of disaster, about to be trampled flat, Huo Yuhao finally arrived in time. He presented the Soul Beast world with Soul Spirit Technology and resolved the crisis.
"Soul Spirits? There's something that miraculous? A Soul Master would have an extra assistant in battle!"
"In theory, a Soul Spirit can provide a Soul Master with three or four Soul Rings. That's so much more efficient. At the current rate of hunting, there might not be any Soul Beasts left in ten thousand years."
"At least Huo Yuhao has finally done something truly good for the continent!"
However, while a newly established organization called the Spirit Pagoda supposedly controlled Soul Spirit Technology, Shrek Academy actually held all the key information and control. Huo Yuhao was merely its "first honorary pagoda master."
Seeing this, the disdain and disbelief in everyone's hearts only grew stronger. They felt especially sick when they saw Huo Yuhao bow respectfully before the Golden Tree, paying his respects to Mu En, whose soul had merged with the tree after his death.
"Shrek's kindness really can never be repaid!"
Within the Body Sect, Du Busi, who had long since gone numb, remarked with biting sarcasm.
The people of the Body Sect had always done as they pleased, valuing freedom of will and refusing to be constrained. Even Du Busi had never demanded that his disciples constantly show gratitude and kowtow.
To the Body Sect, this was nothing less than enslavement and conditioning! Poor Huo Yuhao. He clearly had limitless prospects, and his talent was obviously even more terrifying than that of the man from ten thousand years ago, yet he was destined to be a dog for Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect.
On the Sky Screen, Huo Yuhao was devoted to Shrek Academy to the point of blind loyalty. Every day, he risked his life for that wretched academy, while Shrek Academy ordered him around and used him however it pleased.
After the Sun Moon Empire launched its war to unify the Douluo Continent, Huo Yuhao hardly had any time to cultivate as he fought to protect the academy's interests. He spent his days battling the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Engineer troops or refining pills to make the academy stronger.
The benefits and perks Shrek Academy had promised him never materialized—not even a little. The Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings and Soul Bones were nowhere to be seen, as if the academy had long since forgotten its promises.
And most horrifying of all, after Wang Dong'er and Wang Qiu'er, a third woman appeared at the academy who looked exactly like Wang Dong'er. She also had the Clear Sky Hammer Martial Soul, and her name was Tang Wutong!
Yet this woman had an entirely different personality and memories. She had none of the memories of either of the other two.
"Well, well. Is Shrek Academy some kind of Wang Dong factory? They're handing them out in bulk now?"
"What is this, human alchemy? Mass production? Does the Sun Moon Empire really have technology that advanced?"