Survival in Desperation, the Ultimate Trump Card—Sea God's Light!

The pursuit and slaughter in the plaza continued. Huo Yuhao's wounds multiplied by the second; his left leg had been torn open by dragon claws, his shoulder bone shattered, and large swathes of charred black marks covered his chest and abdomen.

He could no longer stand properly. Electrolux could only use spiritual power to control his body and maintain the most basic evasive movements.

Moreover, every use of Ultimate Ice further damaged his meridians.

Each time he unleashed a spiritual shock, Electrolux's divine consciousness dimmed a little more. Even working together, the two could only barely protect themselves.

Yet Long Wushang showed no sign of fatigue. The disparity was so great that it bred despair.

The battle on the ground had become utterly one-sided, and the situation in the skies was likewise beginning to tilt.

Light and darkness had originally each occupied half the sky, but as the battle continued, the Dark Sacred Dragon had forced the Light Sacred Dragon back hundreds of meters.

Large patches of the golden dragon scales on Mu En's body had shattered.

The life force supplied by the Golden Ancient Tree was being rapidly depleted, and his vitality had begun to decline from its brief peak.

Long Xiaoyao grew stronger as he fought. The Dark Sacred Dragon spread its wings, its massive body overwhelming the side of light and forcing Mu En to continually shrink his defensive range.

Anyone with eyes could see that Mu En was about to lose.

The situation within the city was even worse.

The streets had been dyed red with blood, and corpses lay everywhere amid the collapsed buildings.

The Holy Spirit Cult's followers advanced in groups, killing anyone they encountered. Outer Court students and ordinary defenders, deprived of protection from the higher-ups, could not organize any effective resistance at all.

The Original Sin Demon Puppet still stood above the city, coldly looking down upon everything.

Greed drove people to seize supplies, wrath drove them to attack their companions, and fear made soul masters who should have held their ground turn and flee for their lives.

The few forces still resisting were gradually being divided and isolated by the evil soul masters.

Some had only just finished unleashing a soul skill when the companions behind them turned and fled. Others, fighting over escape routes, directly shoved the wounded toward the evil soul masters.

The city's defense system had completely collapsed. Artillery fire, battle cries, screams, and the cracking explosions of burning buildings all blended together.

Shrek's pride, painstakingly built over ten thousand years, was forcibly destroyed in this surprise attack.

The Holy Spirit Cult had paid no small price as well.

Large numbers of cultists had fallen within the city. Several Soul Douluo had been killed by Shrek teachers in desperate final counterattacks, and even some of the enshrined experts responsible for restraining the academy's higher-ups had been injured.

But no matter how the accounts were calculated, the Holy Spirit Cult had made an enormous profit.

The disciples of Shrek's Inner and Outer Courts had nearly all suffered devastating blows, and Shrek's younger generation had sustained grievous casualties.

Mu En had been forced to burn away his remaining lifespan to prolong his life for one last battle, yet he would ultimately be unable to escape death and the dissipation of his soul.

And now, even Huo Yuhao had been beaten by Long Wushang until only half his life remained.

As long as Huo Yuhao's foundation was damaged today, this surprise attack would already have achieved its objective. As for how many more people they killed or buildings they destroyed afterward, those would merely be additional gains.

At the corner of the plaza, Wang Dong was still bound by the resilient Sinful Blue Silver Grass.

He watched helplessly as Huo Yuhao was knocked to the ground by Long Wushang once more, watched Huo Yuhao covered in blood, watched that pitch-black dragon claw approach Huo Yuhao's vital point for the fifth time.

Anger, fear, helplessness—every kind of negative emotion nearly crushed his reason.

"Let me go!"

Wang Dong desperately circulated his soul power, the butterfly wings on his back beating madly.

The dark-golden vines tore through his clothes, leaving streaks of blood across his skin.

Tang Ya merely strengthened the bindings without looking back.

All her attention was on Long Wushang. She never noticed that Wang Dong's right hand had slipped beneath his collar and tightly grasped the pendant against his chest.

The pendant was ancient in design, with not the slightest fluctuation of soul power on its surface.

Wang Dong closed his eyes and poured all his remaining soul power into it.

"Big Daddy... Second Daddy, come save me..."

"Save Yuhao, quickly!"

Within the pendant, a restriction that had remained hidden for years was triggered.

A strange energy passed through the Sinful Blue Silver Grass, through the black clouds blanketing Shrek City, and transmitted itself toward an extremely distant place.

Tens of thousands of miles away.

Deep within cloud-shrouded mountains, the Haotian Sect rested quietly atop a mountain peak.

Inside the Sect Master Hall, two burly middle-aged men opened their eyes at the same time.

Terrifying auras spread from their bodies. The tables and chairs in the hall shook violently, and the ground cracked open beneath them.

One wore a green robe. His gaze was steady, and an innate majesty rested between his brows.

The other was even larger, the muscles of his bare arms bulging as an uncontrollable violent aura surged from him.

They were none other than the Azure Bull Python and Titan Giant Ape in human form.

"Big Brother, it's Dong'er's plea for help!"

The Titan Giant Ape abruptly rose to his feet and looked toward the distant sky.

"She used the life-saving pendant!"

The Azure Bull Python closed his eyes to sense it for a moment, and his expression quickly darkened.

"The location is Shrek Academy."

"Shrek?"

The Titan Giant Ape furrowed his brow, a look of alarm and confusion appearing on his face. "Isn't there an old dragon guarding that place? How could Dong'er have been forced to this extent?"

"She isn't the only one in danger in the message."

The Azure Bull Python raised his head, concern flashing through his eyes.

"There's also that child named Huo Yuhao."

"Both of them are now at a critical point between life and death."

The Titan Giant Ape did not ask further questions. Violent soul power was already pouring out from his body.

"I'll bring them back!"

The Azure Bull Python considered it briefly before raising his hand to activate the restrictions of the Sect Master Hall.

"Er Ming, go at once."

"No matter what has happened to Shrek, protect Dong'er and that child first."

"Understood!"

The Titan Giant Ape stepped out of the Sect Master Hall and rose into the wind, piercing through the clouds in the blink of an eye.

Divine power enveloped his entire body. Locking onto the direction transmitted by the pendant, his speed surged once more.

A path through the clouds, forcibly torn open, remained above the mountains.

The Titan Giant Ape's figure had already vanished beyond the horizon.

The scene shifted. Within Shrek Academy, the situation had undergone a major change.

Huo Yuhao looked like a corpse, covered in wounds, his skeletal frame twisted into a horrifying shape. Mu En, pale-faced, gripped him and raced back toward Shrek's Inner Court at a terrifying speed.

Just moments earlier, high in the sky, Mu En had realized that he was no match for Long Xiaoyao. If the battle continued, more of the academy's children would only die, and little Yuhao, whom he regarded as a successor across generations, would be tortured to death by Long Wushang.

The reinforcements from the three great empires had still not arrived. It was unknown whether they had been intercepted along the way or whether something else had happened.

In any case, Shrek Academy had truly reached the critical moment of life and death.

Mu En could not hide it any longer. If he continued concealing it, Shrek Academy might very well be destroyed by these evil soul masters and become the laughingstock of the continent. He, Mu En, would also become a sinner in history.

Thus, after unleashing his final strike, his ninth soul skill, he briefly held Long Xiaoyao back.

Then, by the narrowest of margins, he rescued Huo Yuhao from Long Wushang's hands. Huo Yuhao's foundation had been damaged, and he had only one breath left. Mu En brought him back to the Inner Court.

After bringing Huo Yuhao back to the Inner Court, Mu En immediately mobilized the Golden Ancient Tree's power and summoned Elder Zhuang to treat him.

Mu En himself then rushed without pause into a forbidden area within the Sea God Pavilion.

That was right. Mu En was going to use the Sea God's Light, something that only the successive masters of the Sea God Pavilion—the true rulers of Shrek Academy—could access.

The reason he had not used the Sea God's Light the instant the Holy Spirit Cult launched its surprise attack was, first, because its reserves were limited. Every use meant less remained.

Furthermore, it was said that when the Sea God ascended, he had left behind an instruction: they could not rely too heavily on this item. The more often it was used, the less it could interfere with the lower realm, until it disappeared completely.

After all, in essence, this was a god forcibly using his own power to interfere with the lower realm, violating the rules of the Divine Realm.

The more it was used, the more likely it was to attract the Divine Realm's attention. Once the Divine Realm took notice, the rules of the Divine Realm and the consciousness of the plane would inevitably completely restrict Tang San's interference with and influence over the lower realm.