Zhang Lexuan's Despair

Although Xuanzi chose not to follow, Zhang Lexuan and the others paid it no mind.

In Zhang Lexuan's view, the two remaining evil soul masters were merely homeless dogs. She and her junior brothers and sisters could handle them perfectly well. Elder Xuan had already worked hard enough looking after them on the way here; it was only natural for him to eat something when he was hungry.

The only slightly troublesome thing was that the two evil soul masters were fleeing toward the Sun Moon Empire.

The relationship between Shrek Academy and the Sun Moon Empire was not particularly good. If their group was discovered by the people of the Sun Moon Empire, even if they were pursuing evil soul masters, they would likely face no small amount of trouble.

Fortunately, the two evil soul masters did not flee toward populated areas. Instead, they continuously overdrew their soul power and ran madly through the wilderness.

The Soul Sage could hold on a little longer with his relatively abundant soul power, but the six-ringed Soul Emperor was quickly caught by Zhang Lexuan and the others due to insufficient soul power. He was chopped into minced meat on the spot.

The tragic death of his companion did not make the Soul Sage sad. On the contrary, a smile immediately appeared on his lips, and he fled much faster than before.

However, Zhang Lexuan could sense that the Soul Sage had very little soul power left. At most, in another quarter of an hour, their group would catch up to the enemy whose soul power was on the verge of depletion, kill him, and perfectly complete this extermination mission.

Yet as they chased him, Zhang Lexuan gradually realized that something seemed wrong.

Before she knew it, she had led the others into a gloomy forest filled with black trees.

Though it was her first time here, Zhang Lexuan quickly recalled the records she had read at the academy and identified their current location based on the surrounding environment.

This was the Evil Demon Forest within the Sun Moon Empire!

The second-largest gathering place of soul beasts on the Douluo Continent!

At that thought, Zhang Lexuan immediately became wary and wanted to abandon the mission and return. However, in her perception, the Soul Sage's soul power was already nearing exhaustion. It seemed that if they pursued him a little longer, they could complete the mission...

After sharing her discovery with her junior brothers and sisters, their opinions were surprisingly unanimous:

"Senior Sister Lexuan, we've chased him this far. How can we just give up?"

"Exactly, Senior Sister Lexuan. Elder Xuan gave us a strict order. If we can't complete this mission perfectly, our graduation will be delayed again."

Hearing her junior brothers and sisters, Zhang Lexuan nodded and decided to pursue them to the end.

But it was precisely this decision that caused every one of her junior brothers and sisters to die in the Evil Demon Forest. Even she was plunged into danger, unable to escape!

She had never imagined that dozens of high-ranking evil soul masters with six- and seven-ring strength had been lying in ambush within the Evil Demon Forest!

In just one exchange, the three Soul Kings in the team, who only possessed five-ring strength, were focused down and killed by the evil soul masters. Only two Soul Emperors and Zhang Lexuan remained, struggling desperately under the evil soul masters' siege.

Although Zhang Lexuan was very powerful in battle, the prolonged pursuit had already consumed more than half of her soul power. After using her full strength to barely kill two six-ringed evil soul masters, her soul power was on the verge of exhaustion, and she could no longer protect her two remaining teammates.

The evil soul masters naturally did not miss this opportunity. They seized the moment to blast the two to death, leaving them to die with regret in a foreign land.

Watching her junior brothers and sisters die one after another with her own eyes, Zhang Lexuan's heart ached beyond measure. She wanted nothing more than to slaughter every one of these wicked evil soul masters, but the last remnants of reason told her that retreating for now was the right choice. If she continued fighting this group of evil soul masters, death would be her only outcome!

As long as the green hills remained, there would always be firewood to burn.

As long as she could find Elder Xuan, not a single one of these evil soul masters would escape!

At that moment, she heard a burst of roaring in the distance, seemingly produced by the combined activation of a soul tool formation.

Though she had no idea whether whoever made that sound was friend or foe, in this desperate situation, it was her hope of survival!

After all, the soul power remaining in her body was nowhere near enough to support her escape from the Sun Moon Empire. In order to live, she could no longer worry about anything else. She immediately mobilized the last of her soul power and raced toward the source of the sound.

Yet the evil soul masters surrounding her were in no hurry to stop her.

In their eyes, Zhang Lexuan was already at the end of her rope. With this woman's combat strength, whoever rushed in first might even be dragged down with her. It simply was not worth the risk.

The woman's willingness to expend her soul power suited the evil soul masters perfectly. After communicating among themselves, they formed a loose semicircle and followed closely behind her. The moment they confirmed that her soul power had run dry, they would decisively strike and kill her!

Zhang Lexuan could naturally see through the evil soul masters' intentions.

But she had no choice. All she could do now was pray that the person she regarded as hope possessed sufficient strength.

As for if that person happened to be weak and lost their life after being implicated by the evil soul masters she had led there...

At this critical moment of life and death, Zhang Lexuan could no longer concern herself with so much.

If that truly happened, then in her next life, she would serve the person she had harmed like an ox or horse to atone for her sins!

With that thought, Zhang Lexuan accelerated once more. As the roar of the soul tool formation in her ears grew louder and louder, hope gradually ignited in her heart. Throwing caution to the wind and increasing her speed, she soon caught up to the source of the sound.

But when she saw the situation clearly, the hope in her heart instantly shattered, replaced by unprecedented despair and guilt so intense it nearly overflowed.

It was actually a youth who looked no older than his teens, along with a little girl who might not even be ten, riding a rather strange-looking soul tool!

It was over!

There was no hope at all!

Not only would she die here today, but she had also harmed two poor, innocent children...

At the same time, the evil soul masters who had caught up surrounded Zhang Lexuan and the others in a circle. After seeing the situation clearly, they could not help but laugh:

"Hehehehe! Shrek bitch! Are these two the saviors you pinned your hopes on?"

"I bet this bitch was afraid of being lonely on the road to the afterlife, so she dragged two little brats down with her before dying! But don't worry, we can grant you that wish!"

"I'm dying of laughter. Shrek trash always acts loftier than anyone else, yet when death is at their door, they look this ugly! Hahahaha!"

"Tell me, with the personalities of those people from Shrek Academy, if they find out what this bitch did before her death, won't they expel her in a fit of rage?"

Although Zhang Lexuan knew perfectly well that these evil soul masters were deliberately trying to disrupt her state of mind and make her reveal an opening, she still found it difficult to control her emotions in the face of words that pierced her heart.