"So fast?"
Qian Duoduo stood up worriedly.
"Is it that... that soul-guiding mothership?"
No one answered him.
But everyone's hearts are aroused - that huge ship that covers the sky and the sun, that soul-guided main gun that can destroy everything, just a piece of calculated data, makes the entire Shrek feel like a formidable enemy. If it really comes...
The light is getting closer and closer, and its outline is getting clearer.
Not a giant ship.
It was just a small silver-white Rescue Airship, no more than ten meters long. Its streamlined hull glowed softly in the sunlight, like a silver swallow flying across the sky. No wonder none of the elders had noticed it in advance given their cultivation level.
Qian Duoduo took a long breath, and his tense shoulders slumped. "It's okay, it's not that ship..."
Xian Lin'er's fingers holding the report loosened slightly, but did not relax completely.
She knew the style of the Medical Pavilion all too well - they never did anything meaningless. Sending a small boat would be more difficult to see through than sending a fleet.
Mu En stood up slowly, walked to the window, and looked at the spaceship that was getting closer and closer.
"Let's go."
His voice was too calm to sound like he was announcing something that might determine the fate of Shrek.
"Go out to greet the guests. There is no point in waiting in the house when the guests are here."
A group of elders followed closely behind, quickly walked out of the Sea God Pavilion, and stood on the stone steps.
Outside the pavilion, the sun was shining straight down, shrinking everyone's shadow into a small ball on the soles of their feet. Xuan Zi was supported by Elder Zhuang, leaning against a pillar. Although he was seriously injured, he insisted on coming out.
In mid-air, the spacecraft hovered slowly, and the hatch slid open silently.
A green figure floated out from the hatch.
At that moment, the whole sky changed color.
The green dragon energy rippled gently and spread from her feet. Wherever it passed, the air became thick and warm, as if it had been injected with some ancient and vast vitality.
The water vapor on Sea God Lake was dyed emerald color, and the lake surface was filled with fine sparkles. Even the branches and leaves of the thousand-year-old trees by the lake began to rustle and whisper automatically in the absence of wind.
Everyone has an illusion - it is not that she has entered this world, but that this world is welcoming her arrival.
She was hovering in mid-air, her long emerald hair hanging down like a waterfall, her long white emerald skirt gently fluttering in the morning breeze, and her dragon horns flowing and kneading brilliance in the sunlight.
She never deliberately exuded any pressure.
But everyone felt it--
It is a tremor originating from the instinct of life.
Not fear.
It's awe.
It is the irresistible surrender engraved in the genes of life when facing a higher level of existence.
Mu En pupils shrink.
Xuan Zi's fingers clenched unconsciously.
They recognized it.
Last night, it was this person who forced Di Tian back with just his breath.
Yu didn't look at anyone.
Just raise your hand, green light flows--
One lap, two laps, three laps...
Nine Soul Ring rose from her feet one after another.
Each one is a deep and suffocating red. The entire Sea God Pavilion is dyed with a deep blood color.
One hundred thousand years.
Nine pieces, all 100,000 years old.
Sea God Pavilion can be heard when the needle drops.
The expressions of the elders have completely changed - they have seen Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring.
Mu En has three of them, which are the foundation accumulated by Shrek's sages from past generations, and are the pinnacle of the entire continent.
I also heard that Long Jinyu previously sold the nine-red Soul Ring for the withdrawal of Evil Soul Master Simulation, and I knew it was an illusion.
But the Jiuhong in front of me is real and not fake at all--
They have never even thought about it, and it seems that it has never appeared in the entire history of the Douluo Continent.
Xian Lin'er The report she had held in her hand for a long time, the corners were soaked with sweat.
Yan Shaozhe stared at the nine-round red sun-like halo, unable to say anything.
The more he withdraws his hand, Soul Ring slowly converges.
Standing down from a high position, his eyes are as calm as water.
Then, she opened her lips slightly.
The voice was neither fast nor slow, but it was so clear that it seemed to ring directly in the heart of everyone:
"My name is Long Yu."
"The title makes you more immortal."
"Ranked Nine Dragon God Guards·Emerald Dragon King Guard."
"I am here under the orders of Nine-Colored Dragon Valley, the 181st generation valley owner - Long Jinyu, to come and hold you accountable."
As soon as the words fell, everything fell silent.
No one dared to answer the call.
Yu's emerald eyes slowly scanned everyone present.
Finally, it fell on Mu En, and his voice was as cold as a cold spring:
"Are the teachers and guardians of your disciple Ma Xiaotao here?"
"--Stand up."
Mu En looked at her for a moment and slowly stood up straight.
"Old old--"
"Mu En!"
A voice suddenly interrupted him.
Yan Shaozhe has already stepped forward, blocking Mu En behind him.
His back was straight, like an old tree that was about to be broken by a storm but refused to bend.
He raised his head and bowed his hands towards the green figure in the sky.
"Junior Yan Shaozhe, I am the dean of the Shrek Academy Spirit Soul Department. I have met senior Yuxian."
"I am Ma Xiaotao's teacher and also her adoptive father."
"If you have anything to say, just tell me."
Mu En was stunned.
The middle-aged man whom he had raised single-handedly, who was always respectful and cautious in front of him, was standing in front of him, blocking his gaze that could make anyone tremble.
Yan Shaozhe's eyes met Yu's. Those green eyes were calm, just looking down at him lightly, as if they were looking at an ant who dared to face the gods directly - a bit of admiration, but nothing more.
His Adam's apple rolled, but he did not look away.
"Senior, I dare to ask this - you asked people from the Medical Pavilion to pick up the 'evil'. I wonder... what happened? How... is she doing now?"
His voice became a little hoarse in the second half of the sentence.
Yu didn't answer immediately.
She tilted her head slightly, as if she was looking at something interesting. The corners of her lips raised a slight arc - the smile did not reach her eyes.
"You humans are really extremely ignorant."
Every word in her voice was like ice beads hitting the stone slab:
"The Dragon Clan and the Phoenix Clan have been enemies since ancient times. The Dragon Clan is respected and the Phoenix Clan is the follower. This is a rule engraved in the blood. As a descendant of the Phoenix Clan, you don't even know this?"
Yan Shaozhe was startled.
Yu continued:
"It's a good thing for you that you actually arranged for such a dangerous daughter of the Phoenix Clan to live in the same pavilion with me, the star of the Dragon Clan, and stay with me day and night. Who gave you the courage? You said-"
"What should I do with her?"
Yan Shaozhe's face instantly lost all color.
"Senior!"
His voice suddenly became louder, "This matter has nothing to do with Xiaotao! It was my idea! It was me who arranged for her to live with Jin Yu! It was me - the junior made his own decision!"
"Xiaotao She doesn't know anything, she just... she just..."
He gritted his teeth and his eyes turned red:
"She just listens to what I say."
He took a step forward and said, "This junior is also a member of the Phoenix Clan - Bright Phoenix, with the same bloodline as that child. Everyone is responsible for what he does. If you want to kill or behead, come at me! I will never complain, this junior!"
"I just want senior--"
His voice suddenly dropped,
"... let the kid go."
The more I looked at him, I suddenly smiled again.
The smile still didn't reach her eyes, but there was a hint of amusement.
"Okay."
She raised her hand and took a little distance.
A jasper hourglass appeared out of thin air in mid-air, suspended between the two people.
"I will give you a chance--"
Yu's voice was light and airy, as if he was talking about a trivial matter:
"A quarter of an hour. If she can survive in my hands for a quarter of an hour, I will let her go."
"How's it going?"
"Otherwise--"
"Okay." Yan Shaozhe said without any hesitation, "Senior, please."
Shrek Everyone's expression changed.
"Yan Shaozhe!"
The voice of Xian Lin'er came from behind. His eyes were already red. He subconsciously took a step forward, but was held tightly by Elder Song beside him.
"Mother--" She turned around, her voice pleading.
Elder Song didn't say anything, he just held her hand tighter and tighter.
Qian Duoduo stood aside, his lips pursed into a line, and he did not make a sound. His eyes fell on Xian Lin'er's clenched fists, and then moved away.
Several other elders looked at each other, some shook their heads, some sighed, and some couldn't help but whisper:
"This... doesn't this cost Yan Shaozhe's life?"
"A quarter of an hour? That person can even force Di Tian to retreat..."
"Yan Shaozhe He... sigh..."
Mu En raised his hand and stopped everyone's discussion.
"Don't get excited."
"Yan Shaozhe will be fine."
Everyone was startled and looked at him.
Mu En didn't explain, just looked at the green figure in the air with calm eyes.
He would not be wrong. If His Majesty really wanted to settle the matter, he would not have treated him politely on the spaceship last night. If he really wanted to kill someone, Shrek would have been bleeding like a river at this moment.
She didn't.
Then there is only one possibility--
This is a "test" with a deeper meaning.
In mid-air, Yu looked down at the man who had already stood still, with the corners of his lips slightly raised.
"So--"
"It's begun."
The green sand in the hourglass began to flow slowly.
On the spaceship.
The moment Long Jinyu saw Yu raising his hand, he suddenly pulled Ma Xiaotao into his arms.
"Don't look."
His voice was soft but could not be refused.
Ma Xiaotao's body froze for a moment - she seemed to have guessed something.
She struggled for a moment, trying to raise her head.
Long Jinyu's arms tightened.
"Be good and be obedient."
Ma Xiaotao did not move again.
She buried her face into his shoulder, closed her eyes, her eyelashes trembled, and her eyes became moist little by little.
She didn't cry out.
It was just that the fingers clenching the corners of his clothes became tighter and tighter.
Below, green light flashed.
The roar came up through the bulkhead, muffled, like thunder in the distance.
She didn't ask "what's wrong".
She didn't dare ask.
She was afraid that she would not be able to help but rush down, that she would cry and beg the sister to stop.