Beneath the Rules, All Are Ants

The air outside Shrek Academy's gates had grown so thick it seemed ready to drip with water.

Flender's pipe bore finger marks from his grip. He stood inside the academy gates, facing three people dressed in Spirit Hall's white uniforms trimmed with gold. The leader wore an Inquisitor's badge on his chest. He was around forty, his chin raised high enough to stab someone to death. Two yellow, two purple, and one black soul ring—undeniably a Soul Emperor.

"Headmaster Flender, I advise you not to make a mistake," the Inquisitor said in an ice-cold voice. "Tang San's martial soul has mutated into something evil, Chen Xuan cultivates forbidden arts, and Yu Xiaogang spreads heretical theories. All of them are explicitly wanted by Spirit Hall. If you continue blocking us, you'll be making an enemy of Spirit Hall."

The two Inquisition members behind him stepped forward. Their soul power pressure cracked the stone slabs before the academy gates. Sweat beaded on Flender's brow. He knew Spirit Hall meant business this time—the five-colored pillar of light that had shot into the sky in Sunset Forest yesterday had been seen by all of Soto City. How could Spirit Hall's informants possibly have failed to report it?

"I already said it. No one from our academy is leaving without a warrant," Flender said through gritted teeth, forcing himself to stand firm while his heart pounded. As a Soul Sage, he might not necessarily fear these three if they fought, but Spirit Hall's retaliation was not something he could withstand.

Just then, footsteps sounded from the flagstone path inside the gates.

They were neither hurried nor slow, yet each step seemed to land upon everyone's heart.

Tang San walked at the front, still wearing that faded Shrek Academy uniform. Yet his back was ramrod straight, and none of the restraint born from being bound by theory remained. Five Light-Shadow Stones slowly revolved in his palm, emitting faint five-colored glimmers nearly invisible to the naked eye. There was not even a trace of soul power fluctuation around him, yet the pressure released by the Inquisitor seemed to strike cotton and vanished instantly.

Yu Xiaogang walked at Tang San's side. He no longer had the dejected appearance of a man bent over by despair. The notebook in his arms, newly filled with half a page of notes, was tucked neatly against his chest. The confusion had vanished from his eyes, leaving only an almost harsh clarity. Xiao Wu walked on Tang San's other side, her braid swinging sharply behind her. A faint pink glow occasionally flickered across her fingertips—the aura of her origin, no longer concealed.

Chen Xuan trailed behind them, hands in his pockets and that trademark faint smile on his lips—the kind that made people want to hit him. He looked as if he had merely come to watch a show.

The Inquisitor's pupils abruptly constricted. The soul power probe he had released moments ago had vanished like a stone sinking into the sea the instant it touched Tang San, without even making a ripple. This kid... how was he completely different from the useless trash in the reports, the one who had nearly died from the backlash of Blue Silver Grass?

"Tang San?" The Inquisitor narrowed his eyes and pulled out a wanted notice stamped with Spirit Hall's Papal Seal. "Your martial soul mutated and bred evil corruption. Come back to Spirit Hall with us for examination!"

Tang San did not take the notice. He did not even look at the man. He simply raised his hand, palm facing upward.

The five Light-Shadow Stones slowly floated into the air. They were no longer dull gray stones, but stars flowing with five-colored radiance.

"Test it," Tang San said calmly, though his voice carried unquestionable force. "Use Spirit Hall's pathetic crystal to test what kind of forbidden art this is."

With a cold snort, the Inquisitor took out a transparent crystal used to test martial soul attributes from his storage soul tool. This crystal had been specially made by Spirit Hall. The moment it came into contact with a mutated energy belonging to an evil soul master, it would immediately explode into powder.

He shoved the crystal against Tang San's palm.

The next second, an abrupt change occurred.

Instead of exploding as expected, the crystal suddenly lit up with blinding five-colored radiance. Then, with a sharp crack, countless fissures spread from within it. Finally, with a bang, it burst into crystal dust that filled the air, only to be scattered cleanly away by the wind.

Crystal powder trickled from the Inquisitor's hand as his face turned white as paper.

That crystal was a level-nine soul tool. It could withstand an energy impact from a Titled Douluo, yet now it had been... shattered by a kid who had not even revealed a soul ring?

"Impossible... this doesn't conform to the rules of soul power..." the Inquisitor muttered. Then, humiliated and enraged, he shouted, "What demon art did you use?!"

"Demon art?" Yu Xiaogang suddenly spoke. His voice was not loud, but it struck the Inquisitor's face like a slap. He took out his newly written notebook, opened it to the page containing the blade of blue grass, and held it before the Inquisitor. "Old Qin, a Soul Elder from Sunset Forest, gained soul rings by forming a symbiotic bond with plants. He did not kill, nor did he plunder. Is that the demon art you claim 'doesn't conform to the rules'?"

He stepped forward. The former timidity had disappeared from his eyes, leaving only a scholar's hard resolve. "I studied soul master theory for thirty years, always believing that soul rings could only come from slaughter. Only yesterday did I understand that all thirty years of my research were built upon Spirit Hall's twisted notion that 'plunder is justified'! Spirit Hall hunts soul beasts for soul rings and exploits commoners to sustain soul masters. That is the true evil path!"

The citizens of Soto City watching nearby broke into low murmurs. Most had been indoctrinated by Spirit Hall's so-called orthodoxy, but many had heard of Old Qin—the Old Qin who cultivated medicinal herbs truly had never killed living beings, and he truly was a thirty-seventh-rank Soul Elder.

The Inquisitor's face alternated between red and white. Just as he was about to retort, Xiao Wu suddenly stepped forward.

She did not summon her martial soul. She merely stared at the Inquisitor, her eyes as cold as ice. "Spirit Hall's justice means casually pinning crimes on people? Three years ago, during that soul beast hunt at the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, you slaughtered more than a hundred ten-year and hundred-year soul beasts just to gather enough soul rings for a few aristocratic children. Why didn't you call yourselves evil then?"

The Inquisitor's expression completely changed. That hunt in the Star Dou Great Forest was one of Spirit Hall's darkest scandals. No one had ever been permitted to mention it. How did this little girl know?

"What a sharp tongue!" The Inquisitor finally tore away all pretenses. The five soul rings behind him lit up fiercely. "Since you insist on remaining stubborn, don't blame me for showing no mercy! Attack! Capture Tang San first. Kill everyone else without exception!"

The two Inquisition members lunged at the same time. One possessed the Wolf Blade martial soul, and the other the Poison Vine martial soul. Their soul skills smashed directly toward Tang San's face.

Tang San did not move at all.

He merely raised his right hand as the five Light-Shadow Stones slowly rotated in his palm.

The next moment, five enormous phantom Light-Shadow Stones appeared behind him in a circular formation. Five-colored radiance flowed into a massive wheel of light. The wheel had no temperature and emitted no soul power fluctuations, yet the soul skills of the two Inquisition members disintegrated into nothingness three feet from Tang San, leaving not even a trace behind.

Pfft—

The two Inquisition members spat out blood at the same time. Their soul rings dimmed as though they were about to go out, and they collapsed to the ground, unable even to crawl.

The Inquisitor was completely stunned. His soul skills were genuine Soul Emperor skills backed by five thousand years of cultivation, yet they had simply... vanished?

"You... what kind of monster are you?" The Inquisitor staggered back three steps, soul power surging wildly as he prepared to fight to the death.

"Monster?" Chen Xuan finally moved. He sauntered over, squatted before the Inquisitor sprawled on the ground, and poked the man's forehead with his index finger. "You don't even know what a monster is, and you dare come here to arrest people?"

A speck of dark golden light flashed from his fingertip. The Inquisitor felt an irresistible force slam into his chest. Like a discarded sack, he was hurled more than ten meters away and crashed heavily into the dirt slope outside the gates, spraying blood high into the air.

Chen Xuan dusted off his hands and looked toward the horizon. His tone was lazy, but overflowing with boundless arrogance. "Go back and tell your Pope Bibi Dong to send a Titled Douluo next time. These worthless weaklings aren't even qualified to carry my shoes."

He paused, the familiar curve rising at the corner of his mouth. His voice spread through all of Soto City. "And tell her—"

"The Light-Shadow Path has returned."

As his words fell, thunderous cheers erupted from within Shrek Academy's gates.

Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing had somehow already taken their places behind Tang San. Dai Mubai had possessed himself with the White Tiger Martial Soul, blazing with golden light. "No one from Shrek can be taken just because Spirit Hall wants to!" Oscar held a Mirror Sausage in his hand. Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire Phoenix burned half the sky red. Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda shone brilliantly, while Zhu Zhuqing's figure flickered in and out of the shadows, her eyes cold as ice.

Flender let out a long breath, tucked his pipe into his belt, and grinned. "Good kid. You came back and immediately gave this old man such a grand show of support."

Tang San looked at his companions behind him, then lowered his gaze to the five Light-Shadow Stones in his palm. There was not the slightest hint of pride in his eyes, only a heavy sense of responsibility. He knew that after today's commotion, he and Spirit Hall had completely become enemies. But he was not afraid.

Because the path he walked required no one's approval.

Just then, a streak of purple light cut across the horizon. It was Spirit Hall's communication soul tool, moving so swiftly that it vanished from sight in the blink of an eye. At the same time, within the God Realm Committee's grand council hall, a god clad in golden robes with the Clear Sky Hammer on his back abruptly opened his eyes. The five-colored light from the lower realm reflected in his pupils as his voice trembled with disbelief:

"Is that... the inheritance of the Light-Shadow God? The path Tang Chen failed to walk back then was actually... walked through by his descendant?"