The moment the words fell, the air seemed to freeze.
The scene fell utterly silent. Only the crackle of the bonfire and Xuan Zi's heavy breathing as he was pinned to the ground could be heard.
The Shrek members stood frozen, eyes wide and mouths agape. The expressions on their faces shifted slowly from anger and humiliation to bewilderment.
"N-no... impossible!"
"Senior, are you mistaken? How could Shrek possibly be a number one in the world that we simply picked up?"
"Exactly! Our Shrek's sages throughout the generations fought tooth and nail! How could they be a bunch of useless officials drawing salaries without doing their jobs?"
"I don't believe it! I don't believe it! You're slandering us! This is the greatest slander against Shrek Academy!"
A young disciple flushed scarlet. The veins in his neck bulged as he grew so agitated that he couldn't help trying to argue back.
"Silence."
Zhang Lexuan turned around coldly and glared at him.
She knew all too well.
This senior had crushed Xuan Zi with a casual strike. Someone with that kind of strength had no need to make up lies to deceive them.
But these words had turned their worldviews upside down.
"Fought tooth and nail?"
Bibi Dong seemed to have heard the funniest joke in the world. She pressed her foot down harder, making Xuan Zi's bones creak beneath her:
"Your Shrek history books probably only mention how you recruited monstrous geniuses and defeated the other academies, don't they?"
During the ten thousand years she had spent in the Divine Realm, she had watched with her own eyes as Spirit Hall fell from the continent's greatest power to the second-rate force it was now.
"Did your books ever mention the living hell that unfolded four thousand years ago, when the Sun Moon Continent collided with ours and the Sun Moon Empire invaded?"
"Did they ever mention who stood in front to stop those lunatics? Who sacrificed countless elites to win you the peace you enjoy now?"
"Spirit Hall was the one that met the enemy head-on! Spirit Hall was the one with white mourning banners hanging from every household! A Pope, dozens of elders, and countless ordinary Soul Masters and disciples of Spirit Hall died to win you the peace you enjoy now!"
"And what about your Three Douluo Kingdoms? You not only refused to help, but afterward you forced Spirit Hall to shut down its branch temples across the continent!"
"Even today, Spirit Hall has yet to recover!"
Just how brutal had that battle been?
The three kingdoms on the continent had muddied the waters for their own gain, while Shrek watched with cold indifference.
Spirit Hall could have sat high in its towers and watched the world change, just like they did.
But it couldn't!
Behind Spirit Hall stood countless ordinary people. It couldn't retreat!
It had to face an entire Sun Moon Continent alone, fighting as a lone army.
There were no reinforcements, no supplies, not even a single faction willing to support them.
By the end of the war, even youths who had only just become One-Ring Soul Masters had to be sent to the battlefield.
The three great hereditary clans of Spirit Hall were wiped out to the last member!
The Sky Crocodile Clan, the Azure Luan Clan, and the Lion Clan.
Even Qian Yufeng, the Pope at the time, died tragically while covering a retreat.
In the end, they had barely managed to repel the Sun Moon Empire.
But Spirit Hall had also extinguished the last trace of the God-Bestowed Six-Winged Angel bloodline that Qian Renxue had left behind before her ascension.
Its pillars of inherited legacy had also vanished.
From then on, Spirit Hall became a second-rate power.
And on top of that, the major factions imposed sanctions against it.
Spirit Hall had never again recruited on a large scale. Its influence remained confined to the area around Spirit City.
"You enjoy the peace Spirit Hall built atop a mountain of corpses, yet you still point fingers and call Spirit Hall the villains?"
"Ridiculous! Utterly ridiculous!"
Pinned beneath her foot, Xuan Zi's old face turned purplish red, partly from humiliation and partly from lack of oxygen.
He wanted to argue, to roar, to tell her it wasn't like that.
But as he searched through Shrek's records in his mind, he discovered... there really was pitifully little about the great war four thousand years ago.
Shrek Academy's history did indeed focus more on celebrating the academy's own glory. As for the war that had swept across the entire continent, it was mentioned only in passing, as if it were merely a backdrop.
"S-Senior..."
Xuan Zi struggled to speak, his voice hoarse. "Even... even if what you say is true, that doesn't mean Shrek was in the wrong. We... we were also cultivating talent for the continent."
"Cultivating talent?"
Bibi Dong sneered and lifted her foot. She flung him aside like a piece of trash. "Cultivating talent? Talent like you, a protector who puts students in mortal danger?"
She turned to look at the disciples, whose faces had gone deathly pale.
"From today on, you'd better put away that inexplicable sense of superiority."
"In my eyes, Shrek isn't worth a fart on this continent."
With that, she paid them no more attention. She turned and walked back to Chen Doudou, gently lifting the sleeping child into her arms. Her tender movements made her seem like an entirely different person.
"How... how can this be?"
Only the Shrek members remained in the camp, staring at one another in a daze.
The sun sank in the west, and a chill crept into the forest breeze.
They stood rooted to the spot, Bibi Dong's words echoing over and over in their minds.
"Spirit Hall wanted to unite the major factions... to defend against the invasion together... but was rejected?"
"No, that's not right. History clearly wasn't like that..."
They wanted to argue, but deep down, they could feel the tower of faith they had built so firmly had been blasted open by a massive hole.
If Bibi Dong was telling the truth...
If the Three Douluo Kingdoms and Shrek really had been built upon such a foundation...
Then what did that make those who fought for the academy's honor?
Ma Xiaotao looked at Zhang Lexuan in confusion, her voice hoarse. "Senior Sister, what... what have we been holding on to?"
Ever since she was born, she had been taught that Spirit Hall was evil, ambitious, and bent on recruiting every Soul Master in the world.
But now she was being told—
That Spirit Hall had actually been the one to save the people of the continent?
"..."
Zhang Lexuan didn't answer.
Because she no longer knew the answer herself.
Xuan Zi sat dejectedly on a rock. Looking at the mountain chickens still clucking on the ground, he burst into tears.
He had always believed he was protecting peace on the continent, that he was a pillar of righteousness.
But today, his backbone had been broken!
And the person who had broken it had told him:
Everything you protect is a lie!
All your glory is a lie!
It hurt more than being killed.
The entire camp was plunged into a collapse of faith more terrifying than death itself.
Night fell.
Chen Doudou finally woke up. When he saw the person before him, he froze for a moment, then brightened. "Sister Dong, what are you doing here?"
Bibi Dong was peeling a piece of fruit. At his words, she smiled tenderly and tapped him playfully. "You little rascal, did you not miss me?"
"Of course I did!"
Chen Doudou chuckled, rubbed his sleepy eyes, and sat up. "I just didn't expect Dad's appointed protector to be Sister Dong. I thought it'd be some terrifying uncle."
"What, do I look scary?"
Bibi Dong pretended to be offended and handed him the peeled fruit.
"Not at all! Sister Dong is the most beautiful!"
Chen Doudou took the fruit and bit into it. Sweet juice filled his mouth.
"Enough. Now that you're awake, go get something to eat."
As she spoke, Bibi Dong led Chen Doudou toward the bonfire where the Shrek members sat.
While eating, Chen Doudou noticed how quiet it was tonight.
Not a soul was speaking. Everyone silently chewed on the dry rations and skewers of meat in their hands.
Even Ma Xiaotao, who was usually a chatterbox, remained silent.
He tried to find a topic to break the eerie silence. "By the way, Sister Lexuan, how's that Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?"
"It's still over there, with one last breath in it."
Zhang Lexuan's face was pale as she pointed at the Silver Moon Wolf King, dying in the distance.
Chen Doudou caught sight of the terrifying wound that pierced straight through its body. He turned and whispered, "Sister Dong, you didn't do that, did you?"
"Mm."
"It looks like it's about to die. It'd be a bit of a waste if we didn't absorb its Soul Ring."
Bibi Dong considered it, then looked at Zhang Lexuan. "Hey!"
"Go absorb the Soul Ring. Remember to leave the Soul Bone."
Zhang Lexuan was bewildered when she heard her name, but after hearing what came next, she was completely stunned.
Why was she being given this Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring?
She had no time to think it over and hurriedly tried to refuse. "Senior, you hunted it. How could I possibly accept it?"
Bibi Dong cut her off. "Enough, don't go back and forth over it. You think I care about you? It's just that any Soul Beast struck by my Eternal Wound can't survive."
"You're one of the few decent ones in Shrek. I simply take a liking to you. Otherwise, I wouldn't care if the Soul Ring rotted away."
Zhang Lexuan said gratefully, "Yes. Thank you, Senior!"
"Don't thank me. Thank Doudou."
Bibi Dong raised a finger and pointed at Chen Doudou beside her.
"Remember, you owe Doudou an enormous favor! And you have to repay it!"
Before you continue