Kill! A Core Flame Burning in the Night!

Hearing that Outer Disciple say, "On Shrek territory, you pay Shrek taxes," Bai Yuan was utterly dumbfounded.

No wonder people said Shrek deserved to be bombed.

And there were still people defending it?

If the Outer Disciples were already like this, just how arrogant must those favored geniuses of the inner court be?

Shrek had been bombed because, plainly put, it had become too bloated—so bloated that it believed it could stand above all rules.

All the criticisms of Shrek flashed through Bai Yuan's mind.

Shrek Academy, the continent's number one academy with a legacy spanning ten thousand years, belonged to no nation and existed as a completely independent entity.

It held administrative authority over all of Shrek City, and every tax collected in the city belonged to Shrek Academy.

Sounded impressive, didn't it?

What was that called?

A state within a state.

During the era of Legend of the Dragon King, the independence of Shrek Academy and Shrek City was even more absurdly strong.

Federation law was practically useless in Shrek City. Shrek City had its own way of handling matters.

Taxes, laws, administration—Shrek had the final say in everything.

It had nothing to do with the Federation.

Those five words sounded ordinary enough, yet they carried a faint, murderous chill.

Bai Yuan looked at the old man being bullied on the ground.

Then he looked at the Shrek Outer Disciples in green uniforms and sneered inwardly.

Independent development was fine, but if you wanted independence, then stop collecting taxes.

Wasn't Shrek always preaching neutrality?

Didn't it claim it stayed out of politics?

And yet?

It occupied other people's land, collected other people's taxes, then claimed it was beyond their authority.

Wasn't that exactly like the feudal warlords of ancient times carving out their own territories?

How could the Federation possibly tolerate the existence of such a state within a state?

That was why Shrek being bombed had been inevitable.

It was not because the Spirit Pagoda was so powerful, but because Shrek had pushed itself to the opposition of every other force.

Too many enemies, monopolized resources, an independent kingdom, utter contempt for everyone else.

When a single academy had more influence than an entire nation and occupied most of the resources, it would be a thorn in anyone's side.

Standing in the shadows, Bai Yuan heard the old man say in a trembling voice:

"I... I'm going to report you to the Federation!"

The Outer Disciples exchanged glances, then burst out laughing together.

After laughing enough, the leading young man bent down close to the old man's face and said, word by word:

"The Federation?

Even the Federation can't control Shrek!"

The old man's lips trembled, and his cloudy eyes were full of despair.

"Won't pay? Then get out tomorrow!

Shrek land isn't for poor trash like you to live on!"

Before he finished speaking, he kicked the old man in the chest.

The old man groaned, his body crashing heavily into the earthen wall behind him.

"Crack."

The old man slid to the ground, his forehead striking a stone at the corner of the wall.

Blood ran down his cheek. His eyes slowly closed, and he passed out.

The young man spat on him.

"Pah, you old bastard.

If you people weren't still worth squeezing something out of,

we'd have long since..."

He paused and did not continue. He merely snorted and left with the other Outer Disciples.

Their footsteps gradually faded away, leaving only the old man's faint breathing in the night wind.

Bai Yuan stepped out of the shadows, crouched beside the old man, and examined his injuries.

The wound on his forehead was still bleeding. Two ribs in his chest were broken, and his breathing was so weak it seemed as if it could stop at any moment.

Bai Yuan extended a hand, his black glove reflecting a dim sheen beneath the moonlight.

He closed his eyes and sank his consciousness deep into the Core Flame, peeling off a strand of warm golden radiance from the intertwining golden and black flames.

The light flowed through his meridians to his palm, turning into pale golden motes that slowly drifted onto the old man.

Wounds healed. Broken bones regenerated.

The old man's breathing changed from faint to steady, and the pain on his face gradually faded away.

Bai Yuan stood, gave the old man one final look, then turned and melted into the night.

After a long while, the old man woke. Seeming to sense something, he stood there and stared in that direction, tears glimmering in his cloudy eyes.

He knelt and kowtowed three times toward where Bai Yuan had disappeared.

The Core Flame hummed in the night wind like a heart beating in the darkness.

He suddenly remembered those words.

I will become the savior of this world, the Blazing Sun that will rise in the end.

He was already on the road.

The Outer Disciples left the merchant district, their steps gradually slowing.

Tall Thin Guy glanced back and lowered his voice.

"Third Brother, is this... really okay?

This is Old Cai's territory. What if someone reports it to her..."

"Hmph."

The leading young man sneered without stopping.

"What do you know?"

He paused, glanced back at the others, and there was something meaningful in his eyes.

"It looks like we're all lining our pockets, but have you ever thought about where the biggest share ends up?"

Tall Thin Guy froze and blinked.

"You mean..."

"Mm."

Third Brother nodded, a mocking curve forming at the corner of his mouth.

"That's right. Doesn't it all end up in that old woman's hands?

What did you think?"

The Outer Disciples looked at one another, their expressions changing from confusion to realization.

"Come on, let's go have some fun. Stop thinking so much."

Someone opened his mouth as if he wanted to say something, then swallowed the words. He merely lowered his head and quickened his pace.

Bai Yuan stood in the shadows, listening to their conversation, his brow slightly furrowing behind the mask.

Old Cai?

That old woman Cai Yue'er?

Even Shrek Academy's upper ranks were taking the profits squeezed from the bottom?

Shrek...

It was even more rotten than he had imagined.

Just as the Outer Disciples stepped out, a black figure appeared silently before them.

Black Robe, mask, dark crimson patterns faintly visible within the folds of the clothes.

The pupils visible through the mask's openings glowed dark red as they looked coldly down at them.

Third Brother halted, his pupils shrinking.

He could not sense any aura from the person before him.

No Soul Power fluctuations, no killing intent, not even the sound of breathing.

This person stood there like a mass of solidified darkness, a ghost that had walked out of the abyss.

"May I ask who you are..."

Third Brother's voice was dry as his hand unconsciously pressed against the hilt of his sword.

Black Robe did not answer. He merely walked toward them.

His pace was not fast, and every step was light, but the silent pressure was like an invisible mountain pressing down on them bit by bit.

Third Brother took a step back, his voice rising.

"Sir, we're from Shrek!

This is Shrek territory, you—"

"Swish."

A crisp sound rang out.

Third Brother's voice abruptly stopped.

His head slid off his neck, then fell heavily to the ground with a dull thud.

His lips muttered, "We're from Shrek!"

Blood drew a dark red arc beneath the moonlight.

That face still retained its previous expression.

His mouth was slightly open and his eyes wide, as though he wanted to say something—or ask something.

The remaining Outer Disciples froze.

Tall Thin Guy's mouth fell open, and his pupils sharply contracted. "You... you..."

Bai Yuan gave them no more time.

"Swish—swish—swish—"

Several crisp sounds rang out in succession, especially piercing in the night wind.

Bodies fell one after another.

Bai Yuan stood where he was, looking down at the corpses. There was no change in his expression behind the mask.

He raised his hand, gathering a ball of black flame at his fingertip.

The flame had no heat and no light. Like a mass of solidified darkness, it flickered quietly at his fingertip.

He flicked it lightly.

The black flame landed on the corpses and instantly spread, devouring the bodies along with every trace of blood.

Those people were erased completely from the world, as though they had never existed.

Bai Yuan withdrew his hand and turned, blending into the night.

The Core Flame hummed in the night wind, its dark crimson patterns flashing on and off.

"Xiao Bai, if it were you, you would've been faster, right?"