Countless flakes of ice and snow appeared out of thin air.
Howling winds roared as a cold wave swept across the land.
Centered on Xu Tianyao, an Ice and Snow Storm erupted with tremendous force, covering the entire valley.
The world lost its color, and the sun and moon gave no light.
It was as if the entire valley had been dragged into a world of ice and snow.
The Evil Soul Masters were soon swallowed by the boundless blizzard.
Only faintly could one hear their furious, terrified roars, one after another.
Unlike Xiao Hongchen, who was so shocked he had lost himself,
Meng Hongchen's gaze remained fixed on the figure standing proudly atop the icy peak.
Starlight seemed to shimmer in her pink-and-blue eyes.
Infatuation, pride, and a joy she couldn't hide!
This was the man she'd set her sights on, the one whose First Soul Ring was a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring!
In the entire history of the continent, stretching back ten thousand years, no one had ever done such a thing.
At the thought, a sweet smile unconsciously curved Meng Hongchen's lips.
But soon, the girl puffed out her cheeks, a trace of resentment welling up inside her.
He'd kept such an important secret from her all this time.
And after she'd clung to Xu Tianyao, telling him he must never hide anything from her again.
Yet he'd gone and hidden the biggest secret of all.
Once they got back to the academy, she would make him pay!
But...
Meng Hongchen looked toward the Evil Soul Masters struggling in the depths of the blizzard, her gaze gradually turning cold.
This was clearly no time to sulk.
The domain's power alone could only trap the Evil Soul Masters.
To finish them off for good, they would have to work together.
At that thought, Meng Hongchen raised her delicate hand once more.
A translucent, icy-blue toad slowly appeared behind her. It was her Vermilion Clear Ice Toad Martial Soul.
The two Soul Rings on her body lit up again, and wisps of nearly invisible, frigid poisonous mist silently spread from her, mingling with the snowstorm.
The blizzard already blocked most of their senses. Hidden within it, the poisonous mist was all but impossible to detect.
Before long, agonized screams rang out from deep within the storm.
The Evil Soul Masters realized in terror that they had to expend enormous amounts of Soul Power just to withstand the blizzard's raging force.
At the same time, their bodies were gradually growing stiff,
their blood freezing and their Soul Power slowing to a crawl. It even seemed as if there was less oxygen around them, making it steadily harder to breathe.
Atop the icy peak, Xu Tianyao still stood with his hands behind his back. After his Martial Soul Possession, his silver hair fluttered in the wind and moonlight enveloped him. He looked like a sovereign who commanded ice, snow, and night itself.
This was the first time he had faced such a formidable enemy. Thanks to the overwhelming advantage of his Sun-Moon Twin Soul Cores, his Twin Martial Souls, the ingenious use of his Hundred Thousand Year Soul Ring Skills and Soul Bones,
and the support of a few Soul Tools, he had actually managed to briefly hold his own against a Soul Emperor with the power of a Soul Elder nearing level 38.
The Soul Emperor's Soul Power seemed unstable, as though he were an inferior Soul Emperor forced to advance through some evil method, but that still showed how powerful Xu Tianyao was!
"Damn it, where are the people from Shrek Academy? Why haven't they come yet!"
Xu Tianyao stood atop the mountain of ice he had raised himself. Behind him, his Moon Martial Soul continuously absorbed the lunar yin energy radiating from the full moon overhead.
The Moon Martial Soul directed all this lunar yin energy into his Sun-Moon Soul Core, where it was transformed into the purest Sun-Moon Soul Power.
That was how he had managed to sustain the Bright Moon Storm Domain for so long.
This plan could only trap the enemy. Their strength was still several levels above his own, and if he left his safe position to go down and assassinate them, no one could guarantee how things would turn out.
What was more, Mengmeng and Xiao Hongchen were still down there. He had to take responsibility for himself and for them.
So he had stayed where he was, waiting for the Shrek Academy experts to come to their aid.
Fortunately, Qian Duoduo didn't keep him waiting long. Not long after Xu Tianyao voiced his complaint, a streak of black light cut through the sky and descended into the valley.
Looking at the snow and ice filling the valley and feeling its bone-chilling cold, Qian Duoduo's eyes filled with astonishment once more.
Thankfully, he hadn't plunged straight into it. Otherwise, it would've taken him quite some time to get back out.
His gaze swept across the valley, and he soon spotted Xu Tianyao standing atop the highest peak.
He saw the Bright Moon rising behind Xu Tianyao, along with the howling blizzard that shrouded the entire valley.
Qian Duoduo couldn't help swallowing. He murmured, "No wonder everyone wants to kill you. If you hadn't come to Shrek as an exchange student, I'm afraid I might've joined these Evil Soul Masters tonight and helped keep you here for good."
While Qian Duoduo was still marveling at the sight, Xu Tianyao was already impatiently urging him on.
"President Qian, what are you waiting for? Those three Evil Soul Masters are right there. If not now, when?"
Xu Tianyao's angry shout snapped Qian Duoduo out of his reverie. He gave Xu Tianyao a solemn look.
Following Xu Tianyao's Moonlight Marks, he charged straight at the three exhausted Evil Soul Masters.
He used the Black Dragon Shield in his hand as a long-range weapon.
He hurled the Black Dragon Shield into the blizzard with all his might. It spun wildly through the air, soon turning into a streak of black light, with what seemed to be a dragon's shadow flickering across it.
With a single strike, that shadow pierced all three of their hearts and annihilated their bodies.
Once the Evil Soul Masters were dead, Xu Tianyao immediately recalled his Bright Moon Martial Soul and leaped down to land in front of the Hongchen siblings.
With that, every Evil Soul Master on the ground who had been lying in wait to ambush the members of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineer Academy had been wiped out.
High in the sky, Elder Song and Xian Lin'er were still locked in a bitter fight with the three Titled Douluo-level Evil Soul Masters amid the clouds.
"Sixth Soul Skill—Scorpion Tiger Demonization!"
"Eighth Soul Skill—Bloodthirsty Demon Vine!"
"Eighth Soul Skill—White Bone Claw!"
The three Evil Soul Masters surrounded Elder Song and Xian Lin'er, hemming them in and steadily shrinking the space in which they could move.
Elder Song had transformed into an Azure Shadow Divine Eagle. Now a level 97 Super Douluo, she held her own without the slightest disadvantage against two Titled Douluo attacking her.
Xian Lin'er's Azure Flame Dragon Martial Soul already granted her formidable combat strength and a powerful physique. On top of that, she possessed the Azure Flame Dragon Spear, an innate companion weapon.
Her close-combat ability was even more astonishing. She looked like a fierce goddess of war.
Zhang Peng, her opponent, was no pushover either. The Scorpion Tiger Martial Soul was said to be a Beast Martial Soul that was a lesser subspecies of the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger.
And he was a level above Xian Lin'er, allowing him to keep her under heavy pressure.
But he hadn't come here simply to fight. His mission, according to the cult leader, was to kill several exchange students from the Sun Moon Empire within the territory of the Xingluo Empire, under Shrek Academy's protection.
That would prevent the Sun Moon Empire and the Douluo Three Kingdoms from reaching an agreement, increasing the likelihood of war.
Only then could the Holy Spirit Cult reap the greatest benefit.
Clearly, Zhongli Wu had orchestrated the whole affair. As for whether Xu Tianran knew, he most likely did. Otherwise, he wouldn't have revealed some of Xu Tianyao's information in advance.
But since Xu Tianran knew and still let the Evil Soul Masters ambush Xu Tianyao, it meant he had plans of his own.
Before you continue