Shi Hao, the Desolate Heaven Emperor, Fights Like a Mad Dog

From the moment Shi Hao stepped onto the training ground, Dai Mubai felt that something was wrong.

It wasn't the pressure of his Soul Power. Shi Hao's Soul Power was indeed strong, at the ninth rank with full innate Soul Power, but Dai Mubai was also at the ninth rank. They were evenly matched in that regard.

It wasn't his build, either! Shi Hao was half a head taller than him, and his muscles were more solid, but Dai Mubai had faced plenty of opponents bigger than himself. In the end, they had all fallen beneath his White Tiger claws.

No, it was something he couldn't quite put into words, like being watched by a ferocious beast.

Shi Hao stood opposite him, bare-chested. Somehow, he had lost his clothes again. His muscles gleamed bronze in the sunlight.

His eyes were bright, bright as two flames. A smile curled at the corner of his mouth, brimming with excitement and boundless fighting spirit.

Arbitrary Eternity, none other than me.

Before transmigrating, he had loved nothing more than drinking beast milk. With his own strength, he had broken through the darkest of times, enduring loneliness all alone.

Some said he had suffered the most, but he knew it had all been worth it.

Arbitrary Eternity, protecting the world forever—those were no empty words.

He had fought until the very last moment.

I really want some milk.

Shi Hao looked Dai Mubai up and down. He wasn't looking at him like an opponent, but more like a whetstone. To him, everyone was a whetstone, and every one of them would only make him stronger.

"They say you're the strongest of the Shrek Seven Devils," Shi Hao said.

Dai Mubai nodded again, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly. "So?"

Shi Hao clenched his fists, his knuckles cracking sharply. "So beating you is worth beating ten others."

At the edge of the training ground, Flender raised his hand and drew a deep breath. "Begin!"

Before the words had left his mouth, Dai Mubai moved.

White Tiger Rending Heaven! The Evil-Eyed White Tiger's signature first Soul Skill, powerful enough to split stone and cleave mountains.

Dai Mubai's right claw, wrapped in white Soul Power, tore through the air with a sharp whistle and shot straight for Shi Hao's chest.

Even Zhao Wuji had to take this claw seriously. It was as fast as could be, and Dai Mubai's tiger was not only swift, but also ferocious and domineering. Its roar was deafening.

Dai Mubai held nothing back. From the start, he hadn't treated Shi Hao as an ordinary opponent. He knew how powerful those four oddballs were.

Shi Hao didn't dodge, didn't defend, didn't even step back. He stood there and watched Dai Mubai's claw draw closer.

The white light of Soul Power reflected in his pupils like two stars on the verge of being devoured. The claw slammed squarely into Shi Hao's chest.

Bang!

A dull thud rang out. Shi Hao staggered back, but only three steps. He looked down at his chest. Three bloody gashes stretched from his collarbone to his heart, the flesh torn open and blood seeping out.

Dai Mubai's White Tiger Rending Heaven would have broken at least two ribs of a Soul Master at the same rank, leaving them sprawled on the ground, unable to get up. Shi Hao's wounds looked gruesome, but that was all they were—superficial injuries.

His physical body was invincible. This strange world had affected him a little, but it was nothing serious. If he were a useless guy like Tang San, he'd have been torn to shreds by now. Some people really did make others sick with envy.

A paving stone was still just a paving stone. No excuses could change that.

Shi Hao lifted his head and smiled. "That's it?"

Dai Mubai's pupils suddenly contracted. His White Tiger Rending Heaven, delivered at full force, had only caused superficial injuries? Was this guy made of iron? Shi Hao gave him no time to think. He counterattacked.

One punch! A simple punch, without the slightest ripple of Soul Power or any Martial Soul enhancement. It was nothing but pure physical strength. But it was too fast—so fast that Dai Mubai couldn't dodge it completely. He twisted aside, and the fist skimmed past his shoulder. The gust of wind it kicked up stung his cheek.

Dai Mubai took two steps back to open the distance, alarm bells ringing in his mind.

That punch's strength... A normal attack? Impossible. A normal attack couldn't be that powerful.

Shi Hao gave him no chance to catch his breath. He lunged forward like a ferocious beast tearing loose from its reins.

A punch, a kick, a headbutt—there was no rhyme or reason to any of it, no pattern to follow. It was pure, savage, unreasonable aggression. Dai Mubai was driven back step by step by this mad-dog fighting style.

White Tiger Rending Heaven, White Tiger Intense Light Wave—one Soul Skill after another slammed into Shi Hao. But he acted as if he couldn't feel pain. He kept charging, kept smashing.

At the edge of the training ground, Oscar's sausage fell from his hand again. His mouth hung open, his eyes wide as bells, and his voice trembled. "W-what kind of Soul Skill is this? I've never seen a fighting style like this! Is he using the legendary... body-forging-to-sainthood technique?"

Tang San's expression was even worse than Oscar's. He stared at Shi Hao's every punch and kick, his voice low, as if squeezed out through clenched teeth. "It's not a Soul Skill. They're just... normal attacks. A punch, a kick, a headbutt—every one of them is the most basic kind of attack."

Flender stood at the edge of the training ground with his arms crossed, his brow furrowed into a knot. "How can normal attacks be this powerful? His physical strength is at least ten times that of a Soul Master at the same rank. Dai Mubai staggers when Shi Hao hits him once, but Shi Hao can take ten hits from Dai Mubai and keep standing. This isn't a fight. It's a one-sided crushing."

On the training ground, Shi Hao got wilder with every blow. His fists grew heavier, his kicks faster, and his whole body became a tireless fighting machine.

Every time he threw a punch, he roared, "Arbitrary Eternity! Suppress all! Arbitrary Eternity! Suppress all!"

Dai Mubai was furious. He was Dai Mubai, the Evil-Eyed White Tiger, the strongest fighter among the Shrek Seven Devils. When had anyone ever beaten him this badly? When had anyone ever chased him down like this? Gritting his teeth, he unleashed his Martial Soul with all his might.

White Tiger Vajra Transformation! His third Soul Skill. His defense surged, his strength exploded, and white Soul Power covered his entire body like armor. He looked like a human-shaped beast.

"Come on!" Dai Mubai roared, striking out with both claws to meet Shi Hao head-on.

Fist and claw collided with a muffled boom, and both men staggered backward. Dai Mubai took two steps back; Shi Hao took three or four. But the moment Shi Hao stopped, he charged again, like a beast that didn't know how to retreat.

Then he closed his eyes.

The whole crowd erupted.

"He closed his eyes? In the middle of a fight?"

"Has he gone mad?"

"Damn, what arrogance! He's fighting Boss Dai with his eyes closed?"

Tang San's pupils abruptly shrank. He had seen Shi Hao close his eyes before, when he'd fought him. He had thought it was a coincidence, that Shi Hao had only shut his eyes because he'd been pressed too hard.

Shi Hao stood there with his eyes closed and his fists hanging naturally at his sides. His breathing was so steady it was as if he were asleep, but every muscle in his body was taut, like a bow drawn to its limit.

He was listening, sensing, using his body to catch every breath and every trace of killing intent from Dai Mubai! Every twitch of his muscles. By now, his body had memorized Dai Mubai's attack rhythm.

Dai Mubai charged! With White Tiger Vajra Transformation active, he unleashed a full-power strike. White Soul Power gathered at his claws into the enormous phantom of a tiger's head, which roared as it lunged toward Shi Hao.

Shi Hao opened his eyes. In that instant, they shone like two suns.

True Meaning of the Turtle Fist! This punch had no technique, no flashiness, no added effects. It was simply fast—so fast that Dai Mubai couldn't react—and precise, its fist landing exactly on the weak point in White Tiger Vajra Transformation's defense. It was so ruthless that one punch shattered the white armor of White Tiger Vajra Transformation.

Dai Mubai went flying, hurtling more than ten meters before crashing hard into the wall at the edge of the training ground. He left a human-shaped dent in the wall as shards of brick and stone pattered down around him. Embedded in the wall, Dai Mubai's eyes rolled back, and he lay motionless.

Shi Hao lowered his fist and looked at his hand, frowning slightly. "Looks like I hit him too hard."

Everyone fainted on the spot. He'd sent a man flying more than ten meters and smashed him into a wall, and only now was he saying he'd hit too hard?

In a corner of the training ground, Yu Xiaogang pushed up his glasses, opened his notebook, and began to review the fight.

Shi Hao's fighting style could be summed up as having no technique at all, relying entirely on instinct and overwhelming physical strength.

It looked like a mad dog fight, but in truth, every punch landed in the most critical spot. That wasn't luck. It was fighting instinct, an inborn battle sense that needed no thought.

Zhu Zhuqing stood behind Yu Xiaogang, studying the analysis in his notebook. She asked coolly, "So he's pretending to be crazy and foolish?"

Yu Xiaogang closed his notebook and looked at Shi Hao, who was rolling his wrists on the training ground. He answered seriously, "No, he really is crazy. But his madness happens to fit his fighting talent. People like him are born fighting machines. They don't need to think or strategize. Their bodies find the best way to attack on their own."

Shi Hao's ears twitched. He turned toward Yu Xiaogang and Zhu Zhuqing, his expression as solemn as if he were attending an academic conference. "I'm not a machine! I'm the Desolate Heaven Emperor, who reigns supreme for eternity! The Desolate Heaven Emperor, understand? One punch breaks eternity, one punch suppresses the universe, one punch..."

Yu Xiaogang cut him off with a blank expression. "All right, all right. Whatever you say." His tone was like someone humoring a three-year-old child.

Shi Hao opened his mouth, about to keep explaining the greatness of the Desolate Heaven Emperor, but when he saw Yu Xiaogang had already turned to discuss something else with Zhu Zhuqing, he let it go.

He looked down at Dai Mubai, still embedded in the wall, then crouched and poked him in the cheek. "Hey, you still want to fight?"

Dai Mubai didn't react.

"Then I'll take that as a forfeit." Shi Hao stood up, dusted off his hands, and left the arena.

Tang San had watched Shi Hao and Dai Mubai's entire fight! He hadn't taken his eyes off a single one of Shi Hao's punches or kicks—from when he closed his eyes, to when he opened them, to when he threw that "True Meaning of the Turtle Fist."

He remembered his earlier spar with Shi Hao. The closed eyes, then the punch. Exactly the same.

So when he fought me, he hadn't even taken it seriously.

Tang San clenched his fists! He drew a deep breath and walked toward the training ground.

Xiao Wu called after him, "Third Brother, what are you doing? Your match is over, isn't it?"

Tang San didn't look back. "I'm fighting another round."

Xiao Wu froze. "Against who?"

Tang San didn't answer. He had already walked up to Zhu Zhuqing.

"Zhuqing, I want to fight you again," Tang San said.

Zhu Zhuqing was wiping her nails. Hearing him, she looked up, her expression somewhere between confusion and distaste. "Didn't you just lose?"

Tang San said, "No Soul Skills, just hand-to-hand combat, like Shi Hao."

Zhu Zhuqing fell silent for a moment. She glanced at Shi Hao, who was drinking water by the edge of the training ground, then at Tang San. The distaste in her eyes grew even stronger.

"You're not him," Zhu Zhuqing said.

Tang San insisted, "I know I'm not him. But I want to try."

Zhu Zhuqing stood up and agreed—not because she thought Tang San could win, but because although he was weak, at least he wasn't a coward.

The match began.

Zhu Zhuqing didn't use her Martial Soul, relying only on pure physical technique. She was still astonishingly fast. Before Tang San could react, she was already in front of him.

One kick, and Tang San went flying. He got up from the ground and charged again. Another kick, and he went flying again. He got up, charged, and flew again.

It went on like that. By the fifth time Tang San got back up, blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth, the skin on his knees had been scraped raw, and he was covered in dust.

He stood on the training ground, swaying like a tree about to be toppled by the wind. He drew a deep breath, clenched his fists, and charged again.

One kick, and Tang San flew even farther. He landed face-down and this time couldn't get up right away.

Shi Hao sat by the edge of the training ground, drinking water. When he saw Tang San get kicked flying for the fifth time, he shook his head.

Xiao Yan gave a mocking laugh and turned his face away.

Wang Lin hadn't opened his eyes once. Han Li remained expressionless, but another line appeared next to Tang San's name in his ledger: "Know it's impossible and do it anyway: admirable courage, worrying intelligence."

Tang San lay face-down on the ground, his cheek pressed against the cold stone slabs. The wound on his chest had split open again, and blood seeped out, staining his clothes red.

He heard footsteps. Xiao Wu came running over. "Third Brother! Are you okay?" Her voice was choked with tears.

Tang San lifted his head, his face a mess of dirt and blood. He looked at Xiao Wu and moved his lips.

Xiao Wu's expression changed. "Don't speak."

Tang San opened his mouth. "Resurrect..."

Xiao Wu slapped a hand over his mouth, quick and precise, stopping him just before he could say "my beloved."

"Shut it!" Xiao Wu snapped.

Tang San's mouth covered, he blinked at Xiao Wu, unable to say a word.

Xiao Wu let go, and Tang San obediently closed his mouth.

He got up from the ground, brushed the dust off his clothes, and limped toward the edge of the training ground. After a couple of steps, he looked back at its center. Shi Hao was already gone; he didn't know where he had gone. But the ground still bore the dents from Shi Hao's fists, the cracks from his footsteps, and the human-shaped hollow where Dai Mubai had crashed.

Tang San lowered his head and kept limping.

Behind him, Xiao Wu caught up. "Third Brother, why are you trying to learn from Shi Hao? You're you, and he's him. You can't learn to be him."

Tang San was silent for a long time. It was so long that Xiao Wu thought he hadn't heard her and was about to ask again when he spoke. His voice was so soft only Xiao Wu could hear him.

"I just... want to know if I can walk his path."

Xiao Wu asked, "Can you?"

Tang San shook his head.

Xiao Wu didn't say anything more. She just quietly walked over to his side and supported his arm.