Adolf is Defeated, Congratulations on Unlocking the Final Boss!

"Aunt, hello. My mother asked me to bring you these local specialties from Cloud City."

Ye Xi gently placed the brocade box she was carrying onto the coffee table and bowed respectfully to Ye Li.

She wore a moon-white dress today, and the cold, sharp aura she usually displayed at the academy had been completely tucked away; standing before her elder, she was nothing more than a well-behaved, gentle niece. Ye Xinglan stood half a step behind her to her side, dressed in a simple, elegant light blue gown. She kept her eyes lowered, performing a similarly proper bow: "Hello, Aunt."

Ye Li took the brocade box, her eyes crinkling with a smile that deepened the fine lines at their corners. She hurriedly ushered the two to sit, bustling about to pour tea and serve snacks. While chiding Ye Xi's mother for being too formal, she took Ye Xinglan's hand and looked her up and down, praising her incessantly: "Is this Xinglan? I only saw you when you were this tall, and in the blink of an eye, you've grown into such a fine young lady. You've grown up beautifully."

Ye Xinglan felt a bit embarrassed by the praise, the tips of her ears turning a faint red. She was accustomed to facing duels at Shrek Academy without changing her expression, and she had never shown fear even before a Titled Douluo, yet now, being held by a gentle, water-like elder who was fussing over her, she didn't know where to put her hands.

Fortunately, Ye Xi leaned in to rescue her, vividly recounting a few small anecdotes. Ye Li listened attentively, nodding from time to time.

After chatting for a while, Ye Xi asked casually: "Aunt, is my cousin home? Sister Xinglan was admitted to the Shrek Academy inner court in advance this year, and her swordsmanship is among the best of her peers. She would really like to spar with my cousin."

"Of course, I'll call him right now."

And so, less than twenty minutes after Ye Li finished her soul-guided communication, two figures appeared at the door.

Ye Xinglan had originally only wanted to practice and find her rhythm and confidence, but who could have guessed that this person would be... Shen Nanxun!

In truth, after the battle at Tianhai, Shen Nanxun's identity was no longer a secret; the status of the eldest young master of the Shen Family had become famous throughout the soul master world. However, after losing the match, Ye Xinglan had been completely uninterested in paying attention to such things, which was why she hadn't known.

In a corner of the martial arts arena.

Shen Nanxun and Ye Xinglan sat on the steps. They weren't fighting; instead, they had started to chat.

"Shen Nanxun, I've thought a lot."

The young girl took a deep breath, looked up, and said earnestly: "That day in the corridor, you asked me, 'What does Shrek's ten-thousand-year glory have to do with you?' I was stunned by that question at the time, because from the time I was small, everyone told me that Shrek was the ceiling of the soul master world. Getting in was a way to bring honor to my ancestors, and studying there was to protect that glory.

You were right. I'd only been enrolled for three months, and I thought I could carry Shrek on my shoulders. Thinking about it now, it really was quite foolish. No matter how loud the academy's name is, I am the one swinging the sword, I am the one shedding the sweat, and I am the one choosing the path. I only draw my sword for the name Ye Xinglan."

"That's quite a bit of realization." Shen Nanxun raised his hand and pointed casually at the sun in the sky. "This time, what is it?"

The young girl's eyes were exceptionally firm. She said without hesitation: "I am the sun!"

"You are not Li Xin."

"..."

Ye Xinglan was choked up. Why did it always feel like Shen Nanxun was constantly saying strange things? She took a deep breath, just about to say something, when a series of footsteps suddenly came from the entrance of the martial arts arena. It wasn't one person; it was three.

Walking in the lead was Adolf. For once, he wasn't wearing his crisp, dark military uniform, having changed into light gray casual clothes, but his signature short mustache remained meticulously groomed, and his spine remained as taut as a spear.

Behind him followed two heads: on the left was Na'er, her silver hair and cowlick sticking up high, and on the right was Dong Yi'an, who had just been dragged back from the beach and hadn't even changed out of his flip-flops.

"It seems I've arrived at the right time." Adolf didn't bother with further pleasantries; he was a soldier, and he had always been direct. He gestured for Na'er and Dong Yi'an to stand by his side, then reached out and pulled a wooden sword from the weapon rack. His movements were natural, just as they had been in every lesson he had taught them for four years at North Sea Academy.

"Shen Nanxun, Ye Xi, Na'er, Dong Yi'an. All four of you were brought up by me at North Sea Academy. I have come here today in a private capacity to give you your final lesson. The location is here, and there is only one subject: actual combat. Your opponent is me."

The martial arts arena went silent for a full breath. The two wooden swords in Dong Yi'an's hands nearly dropped to the ground.

Actual combat? Against Adolf?

This man was a bona fide six-ring Soul Emperor expert, while the highest among them, Shen Nanxun, was only at the third ring. Furthermore, the man had spent years in the military and possessed extremely high combat proficiency.

Shen Nanxun knew without even thinking that this guy must have been sent by his older sister; otherwise, there would be no such thing as a final farewell ceremony.

"Teacher Adolf, are you serious?" Dong Yi'an's voice was trembling.

"There is no habit of joking in the legion. For you lot, there are no time limits and no rule restrictions. If you fall outside the bluestone slab area or lose your grip on your wooden sword, you are out. I will only use forty percent of my soul power."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the familiar children before him. "This is your final lesson in North Sea City, and it is also the first lesson I ever taught you. On the battlefield, your enemies will not show mercy just because you are children. Come. Let me see what you have learned over these four years."

"Can I participate too?" Ye Xinglan raised her hand and asked.

"You may."

Adolf nodded slightly. "You are of the Ye Family. With the Star God Sword in your hand, you will be no worse than any of them."

Ye Xinglan took a deep breath, her hand pressing against the hilt of her sword, a fighting spirit igniting in her eyes. Ye Xi also released her Star Saint Sword and stood by her side.

Adolf gripped his right hand in the air, and a dark blue banner condensed into shape in his palm. The flagpole was long and slender, and the banner moved without wind, fine dark blue light patterns flowing across its surface: the Banner of Command.

The six soul rings beneath his feet lit up simultaneously. He raised his hand and tapped the flagpole lightly, and several dark blue rings flew from the banner, landing precisely on his own body. Strength amplification, speed amplification, defense amplification—with the three rings stacked, his aura suddenly surged by a significant margin.

"On the battlefield, the enemy will not wait for you to be ready." He pointed his sword at the group opposite him. "Attack first. Don't make me strike first."

Ye Xinglan was the first to move. She chose the flank of Adolf's left hand, the one holding the banner; since the Banner of Command had just released its amplification, the left flank should theoretically be the weakest point.

Adolf was unhurried. He merely shifted his wooden sword half an inch, the tip tapping the point on the spine of the Star God Sword where the force was most dispersed. Ye Xinglan felt a gentle force transmit from the blade, and her sword momentum was involuntarily deflected by three points. At the same time, he lightly twisted the flagpole in his left hand, the banner wrapping around the Star Saint Sword that had thrust in from the flank—Ye Xi's sword.

The sword techniques of both girls were neutralized by him in the same instant with a casual flick.

"Good coordination, but it's not enough."

Na'er's Silver Dragon Spear had already silently circled behind him, the tip thrusting straight at his lower back. Adolf didn't look back; he used the tail of the banner in his left hand to parry the side of the spear tip, deflecting the momentum of the strike.

Dong Yi'an lunged from the front, his Sky Wolf Spear thrusting out with all his soul power. He knew he was the weakest, so he held nothing back in this strike. Yet, Adolf didn't even use his sword; he sidestepped, letting the spear tip graze his chest, and tapped his wooden sword lightly against Dong Yi'an's back. Dong Yi'an stumbled forward seven or eight steps, headfirst into the sandpit beside the weapon rack.

"Don't be impatient. Again."

Ye Xinglan led the main attack from the front, Ye Xi provided support from the left, Dong Yi'an harassed from the right, and Na'er roamed to find an opening. The four of them pressed in simultaneously in a fan shape.

But Adolf's wooden sword was like an invisible wall. Every strike was light, yet it landed precisely on the most uncomfortable spot for each of them.

The moment Ye Xinglan's sword momentum began, the tip was tapped an inch above her wrist. As soon as Ye Xi's Star Saint Sword condensed an ice wall, he shattered it with a single kick. Dong Yi'an's Sky Wolf Spear was entangled by the banner, and he was flung out of the combat zone along with his weapon.

No one could last more than three moves under his hand.

Shen Nanxun had been waiting. It was clear that Adolf wasn't merely defending; he was feeding moves to everyone with his wooden sword, pointing out every flaw they hadn't even noticed themselves. He turned his head, and Na'er happened to be looking at him as well. The rapport cultivated over four years of living and breathing together meant not a single word needed to be spoken.

Na'er circled behind Adolf once again. The angle and force of her Silver Dragon Spear thrust were identical to the previous attempts. Following the established inertia, Adolf flicked his banner tail back to parry.

Only this time, Na'er did not use the momentum to flip away. The moment the banner tail touched her spear tip, she twisted her wrist violently, causing the spear shaft to coil around the banner tail. At the same time, Shen Nanxun flapped his light wings, transforming into a golden meteor as he cut into the opening in front of Adolf.

"Now!" Shen Nanxun held the Golden Dragon Spear in his left hand, while Na'er stood behind him, her Silver Dragon Spear binding the banner tail. Two dragon shadows simultaneously emerged above the training grounds; the phantom of the Golden Dragon King and the Silver Dragon King raised their heads in the same direction, letting out a dragon roar that shook the heavens.

Combo skill, Twin Dragon Break!

It was merely a combo skill, not a martial soul fusion skill.

Adolf's pupils constricted. Almost instinctively, he shook the bound banner tail to knock away the Silver Dragon Spear, while simultaneously holding his wooden sword horizontally across his chest, pouring forty percent of his six-ring Soul Emperor soul power into the weapon. The dark blue soul power formed a protective layer as hard as refined iron on the surface of the wooden sword.

Twin Dragon Break collided with the wooden sword. In that instant, the wooden sword let out a brittle, overwhelmed groan. The dark blue protective layer shattered inch by inch, and the wooden sword began to crack from the tip, the fissures rapidly spreading to the hilt before it exploded into a sky full of splinters.

Adolf was pushed back three full steps by the shockwave, only steadying himself when his back hit the old locust tree at the edge of the training grounds.

He looked at his empty right hand, then lowered his head to look at the wooden sword fragments scattered on the bluestone, pulverized by the power of the two dragons. He remained silent for a breath, then raised his head to look at Shen Nanxun and Na'er.

"Not bad. Forty percent of my soul power couldn't even protect this wooden sword. This final lesson, you win."

"However, congratulations on unlocking the second stage!"

"I present to you, Your Excellency Yuetian!"

"!!!!(×5)"