Several hours earlier.
Shrek Academy · Sea God Pavilion · Quiet Room.
Xuan Zi's face was still somewhat pale. The feeling of being cowed by Long Jinyu's single glance had yet to fully fade, leaving him with lingering fear and resentment. He reported what had happened outside the school to Mu En, who was resting on a chaise longue, especially embellishing Long Jinyu's final, almost "rebellious" act.
"...Elder Mu, tell me, isn't that boy getting more and more lawless?" Xuan Zi said heatedly. "Yesterday, he talked back to a teacher in the outer court. Today, he dares to attack me! In a few more days, I'm afraid he won't even take the Sea God Pavilion seriously! Xiaotao was ambushed by an Evil Soul Master and knocked unconscious. It was only natural for me to bring her back to the Sea God Pavilion for treatment, but he forcibly took her away. Who knows what he's planning!"
Yan Shaozhe, standing nearby, looked anxious and concerned as well. "Elder Mu, Jinyu's talent and strength are truly astonishing, but his background is mysterious and his temperament hard to read. Xiaotao's condition is unstable right now. What if he..."
Mu En slowly opened his eyes. His cloudy gaze swept over the indignant Xuan Zi and the worried Yan Shaozhe, but his expression remained calm.
"Are you finished?"
Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe froze.
"Shaozhe, Xuan Zi," Mu En said evenly, "put yourselves in his shoes. If you had just arrived in an unfamiliar place, only to be dragged into becoming a disciple by a white-haired old man, then chased and beaten by a girl who couldn't control her flames, and immediately afterward arranged to live with her... what would you do?"
Yan Shaozhe answered instinctively, "That... would be asking too much. We'd probably think the academy was unreasonable and want to leave."
"Exactly."
Mu En gave a faint nod.
"But what about Jinyu? He said nothing and accepted it. Why? Was it because his entire family had perished and his heart was wounded, leaving him desperate for somewhere to stay? Or was he truly at the end of his rope, forced to endure our demands for the time being? Whatever the reason, he chose to stay. He has never truly wronged you or Xiaotao."
Yan Shaozhe fell silent. Xuan Zi opened his mouth, but couldn't find anything to say.
Mu En turned to Yan Shaozhe, a note of warning in his voice. "Shaozhe, put those little schemes of yours aside from now on. Stop thinking you can use Xiaotao to tie him down. He calls himself the young master of the 'Nine-Colored Dragon Valley.' With a status and talent like his, could he possibly lack a childhood companion of peerless brilliance? How much worse could the dragon girls who could accompany him be than he is? And how could he forget the old friend in his heart in just a short while?"
Mu En paused, his tone touched with the calm of someone who had seen through the ways of the world. "Besides, you said it yourself: he's only a Soul Ancestor, yet he easily defeated three inner-court elites. A heaven-blessed genius like that—though this may sound unpleasant—could he truly be interested in Xiaotao as she is now, still so immature and reliant on him to suppress her Evil Fire? That's just wishful thinking on our part."
Yan Shaozhe's face showed dawning realization and a trace of shame. "Teacher, you're absolutely right... This disciple took it for granted. Setting aside my bias and looking at it objectively, Xiaotao really is... far from being a match for him."
Mu En sighed softly, a flicker of guilt in his eyes. "Come to think of it, I owe him, too. When his Soul Power went out of control, my first thought wasn't to help him. I was captivated by the bloodline within him, far surpassing Di Tian's and perhaps even above the Dragon Kings of legend. In a moment of excitement, I forced him to become my disciple. After that, I deliberately guided Xiaotao, whose Evil Fire was out of control, to get close to him. Every step was calculated."
He looked at Xuan Zi. "I worried he might refuse to honor his word later. I even prepared to use my strength to force him to help Xiaotao suppress her Evil Fire if he refused. And what happened? He didn't complain at all. He still treated me, his master in name, with perfect courtesy. Xuan Zi, how bad could a child like that really be?"
Xuan Zi opened his mouth, at a loss for words. All he could manage was a stammer. "Elder Mu... then, then are we really just going to leave Xiaotao alone? What if..."
"There's no 'what if.'" Mu En waved a hand. "Jinyu isn't that kind of person. If he had ill intentions, Xiaotao would have come crying to demand separate rooms by now. And, Xuan Zi, he really doesn't have to obey you."
Xuan Zi gaped. "Elder Mu, what do you mean?"
"When I first met him and took him as my disciple, I gave him a token that represented me personally as well." Mu En's tone was mild, but his words landed like a thunderclap. "Xuan Zi, are you trying to give me orders?"
"W-what?!" Xuan Zi shuddered. "Elder Mu! You... you gave the Sea God Pavilion Master Token to that boy?! This..."
Mu En lifted his eyelids slightly and looked at him calmly. "What, do you have a problem with that?"
When Xuan Zi met Mu En's gaze, deep as the sea, all his doubts and objections were instantly suppressed. He hurriedly lowered his head. "I wouldn't dare! I wouldn't dare! Since it's your decision, Elder Mu, Xuan Zi has no objections!"
Just then, a figure swept through the window and into the quiet room with a gust of hurried wind. It was Song Yunzhi, deputy head of the Shrek Supervision Group.
Seeing her grave expression, Yan Shaozhe's heart tightened. He hurriedly asked, "Elder Song, what's happened? Why the rush?"
Song Yunzhi replied urgently, "Elder Mu, something terrible has happened! We've received an urgent report from the outer court. An Evil Soul Master appeared at the academy's main gate and openly claimed that he had planted several powerful timed Soul Guidance Bombs around the academy! He says he'll only reveal where they are if we agree to his demands. Otherwise... otherwise, he'll turn Shrek City into a wasteland!"
"What gall!" Xuan Zi's anger instantly eclipsed his earlier shock. "The bastard's outrageously brazen! I bet he's just bluffing! I can't sense any bombs! Elder Mu, I'll go capture him and interrogate him!"
"Xuan Zi, don't act rashly." Mu En's voice remained steady, though his brow had furrowed slightly. "My spiritual power has indeed detected several unusual concentrations of energy, consistent with high-explosive Soul Tools. Yunzhi, what are his demands?"
Song Yunzhi quickly replied, "His demand is strange. He only said that no matter what happens next, none of Shrek Academy's powerful fighters—especially Titled Douluo—can leave the academy, not even for a step!"
Xuan Zi's expression changed. "Are they trying to lure us away? Is the target inside the academy, or..."
Yan Shaozhe suddenly realized something. "Could it be a feint? Are they planning to attack somewhere else in the city? Xiaotao and Jinyu are still at the Medical Pavilion!"
Mu En made an immediate decision. "Xuan Zi, Shaozhe, take people to the locations I indicate and search for the bombs. Dismantle them! Yunzhi, issue an order to all teachers on campus. Activate the emergency plan, make sure every student reaches a safe zone, and prevent any disturbance!"
"Yes, Elder Mu!"
Everyone took their orders and immediately sprang into action.
But just as they had confirmed several of the bomb locations Mu En had pointed out and begun dealing with them, a violent surge of Soul Power and a faint rumbling, accompanied by a piercing alarm, came from the direction of the "Yanhuang Lingyun Medical Mansion"!
Mu En's expression turned grave. Xuan Zi, Yan Shaozhe, and the others were even more frantic with worry. Something really had happened over there!
"Quick! Move faster!"
Everyone worked as quickly as they could to clear the bombs they had discovered.
At last, the tenth and final bomb they had detected was successfully dismantled.
"Elder Mu, are there any more?" Yan Shaozhe asked anxiously, looking toward the Sea God Pavilion.
Mu En's voice came after his spiritual power swept across the city once more. "Every bomb we detected is accounted for."
Xuan Zi seized the captured Evil Soul Master and unleashed the full force of his Soul Power to suppress him, barking, "Speak! What other schemes are you plotting?!"
The Evil Soul Master's face was contorted with pain, but a strange, triumphant glint flashed in his eyes. He sensed a signal from afar and knew the moment had come. Suddenly, he burst into wild laughter. "You've finished looking? Heh heh heh... Do you really think you can find them all? If you dare act rashly or leave the academy..."
As soon as he finished speaking, a deafening explosion boomed from near Shrek Academy! Flames and smoke surged into the sky!
Amid the clatter of falling bricks and shattered tiles came several anguished cries from the wounded, sharp enough to make everyone's ears ring.
"...I'll detonate the next one immediately!" the Evil Soul Master howled, blood foaming at the corner of his mouth. "If you don't want more civilians blasted into the sky, stay right where you are in the academy! Anyone who moves, and the next bomb might be under one of your lecture halls!"
Yan Shaozhe, Xuan Zi, and the others trembled with rage, but, wary of harming the innocent, they were momentarily cowed and rooted to the spot.
Mu En lay in his chair, his face seeming to grow a few years older.
He had never imagined that a bomb could be hidden right under his nose, completely beyond the reach of his perception!
This was only the beginning. How many more were hidden in the shadows? And how many innocent civilians would...
He slowly closed his eyes. In the quiet room, all that remained was the Evil Soul Master's arrogant, feeble laughter and the heart-wrenching rumble coming from the direction of the Medical Pavilion in the distance.
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