Yan Shaozhe's Embarrassment

Elder Xuan, standing to the side, had long since let out a sigh of relief, his tense body slowly relaxing.

It seemed the matter had come to a temporary end, with the Evil Soul Master's remnant soul forced back into Yue Ling's body.

In the center of the arena, his spirit and Spirit Power had long since been pushed to their absolute limits.

Fortunately, during the dangerous struggle just now, his Spirit Power had risen from rank 36 to rank 37, bringing him one step closer to becoming a Spirit Ancestor.

One had to realize that in the outer courtyard, most twelve-year-old youths typically possessed only one or two spirit rings.

A three-ringed Spirit Grandmaster was a rare existence among hundreds of students.

Not to mention, Yue Ling was only twelve years old and already possessed rank 37 Spirit Power.

This was only because when he first arrived at Elder Xuan's side at the age of eight, he had to balance planting flowers with practicing Elder Mu's self-created spirit skills, which had delayed his progress somewhat.

But this was an inevitability for a plant-type assault-system spirit.

Physical strength was still crucial; it could compensate for weaknesses in early-stage combat.

Tempering his bones and muscles to achieve an Indestructible Diamond state was exactly what he needed to focus on right now.

The life-and-death battle of spiritual possession had drained every ounce of strength from his body, and he was currently relying on his last shred of instinct to remain standing.

The next second, his vision suddenly went black. The youth's slender frame could no longer hold up, and he collapsed straight forward, losing consciousness.

Elder Xuan reacted with lightning speed, stepping forward to catch him steadily.

Not far away, Yan Shaozhe no longer possessed his usual composed and refined demeanor.

Fine beads of cold sweat covered his temples, his teeth were clenched tight, and his shoulders were rigid. His eyes were filled with the panic and obsession of one trapped in an illusion as he muttered to himself, "Lin'er, wait a little longer, it will be over soon..."

Sparse, rustling sounds drifted from below—it was the moment of his greatest pleasure!

And this, the illusion woven by the Heartbroken Red Domain, shifted and changed violently before his eyes.

The gentle, smiling Xian Lin'er who had just appeared, the Cai Mei'er who had accompanied him through the years, and the beautiful, alluring Feng Ling—the three familiar figures vanished in an instant, dissolving into nothingness.

In the vast illusion, all things faded away, leaving him standing alone and dazed in place, his heart filled with a sense of hollow desolation.

"This..."

The next instant, the scene reversed abruptly.

The phantom of Feng Ling, who had just been filled with tenderness and affection, saw her features twist and change rapidly.

The gentleness faded, replaced by malevolence, ultimately transforming into an Evil Soul Master, high and mighty.

The gentle old dream shattered completely, and the old feelings collided violently with the evil, ruthless figure before him.

Yan Shaozhe's mind was shaken to its core. The lingering desire and the remnants of his old affection vanished into the wind, leaving nothing behind.

His throat felt parched as he whispered, filled with confusion and bitterness, "Wh... why?"

At this moment, he finally saw clearly the obsession that had trapped him for half his life, and he hated the soft-hearted, cowardly version of himself from back then even more.

It was he who had personally nurtured the evil fire within Feng Ling, and he who had personally let her go after she was defeated, pushing her step by step into an endless abyss of darkness.

For decades, every time Feng Ling emerged to commit evil, every time she stirred up chaos, and every time she stood as an enemy to Shrek, it was like tearing open his old wounds, silently reminding him—the Evil Phoenix currently wreaking havoc upon the world was created by the hands of Yan Shaozhe.

Love and hate were intertwined, gnawing at his bones and heart.

To kill her, he still held old feelings and could not bring himself to strike; to let her go, she brought disaster upon the world, her sins monstrous.

This dilemma of a heart demon had trapped him for half his life, and even today, he remained unable to find liberation.

His youthful, frivolous arrogance had failed those who stood by him; a moment of misplaced mercy had brewed a lifelong tragedy.

All the regrets, guilt, and torment of his half-life stemmed from his own actions.

Later, he had desperately dedicated himself to the academy, obsessively protecting every student of Shrek and using all his strength to shield Ma Xiaotao, that vessel of the Evil Fire Phoenix.

It was merely an attempt to make up for the mistakes of his youth and offset that regret carved into his very marrow.

To outsiders, he was the Shrek Academy Dean—imposing, wreathed in phoenix flames, and peerlessly majestic.

Yet no one knew that beneath this hard armor lay a regret that could not be erased in half a lifetime, year after year, never finding peace.

This was the true essence of the Heartbroken Red.

It forced one to face the most piercing, most monstrous hatred and regret amidst the ultimate gentleness and pleasure of an old dream.

Fortunately, Yue Ling's Spirit Power cultivation was still shallow, and the spiritual impact of the domain was significantly limited. What if it had been a high-level Spirit Master of the seventh, eighth, or even ninth ring?

The love-hate illusion just now would have been enough to shatter the sanity of everyone present on the spot, driving them to madness until they became nothing more than vegetables trapped in a spiritual domain.

On the external arena.

Elder Xuan held the unconscious Yue Ling firmly, his brows furrowed tightly, his eyes filled with gravity and confusion.

From beginning to end, he had been completely helpless in the face of the Evil Soul Master's remnant soul hidden within Yue Ling.

He could not understand how this seed of an Evil Soul Master, buried deep within Yue Ling, had been planted.

Why had even Elder Mu, who had guarded the Sea God Pavilion for years and seen through countless evils, failed to detect a single trace of evil energy over these past four years?

The matter was too bizarre and dangerous; this was no longer something he could conclude on his own.

Elder Xuan made up his mind: he must immediately take Yue Ling to see Elder Mu and have the Sea God Pavilion Master examine him personally.

He had to see if there was any room left for this child to be completely redeemed.

After confirming his next steps, Elder Xuan carried Yue Ling and rose into the air.

Before leaving, his peripheral vision swept over Yan Shaozhe, who was still standing in place, his mind still unsettled.

He raised a hand to stroke his graying beard, a hint of amusement at the spectacle in his eyes as he muttered to himself, "Hmm... this old fellow has finally made a fool of himself in public."

As his voice faded, Elder Xuan did not linger, departing through the air with the unconscious Yue Ling.

In the vast arena, only Yan Shaozhe remained, standing in the wind with a dazed and disheveled expression, continuously muttering, "Why..."

After a long while, confirming that Elder Xuan had completely departed, Yan Shaozhe's stiff body slowly loosened.

He raised his hands to quickly straighten his robes and wiped the cold sweat from his temples. The confusion and shame on his face were tucked away, and he rapidly returned to his usual steady, dignified, and stern appearance as the Dean of Shrek.

Yet, a stormy sea still churned within his heart.

He was filled with shock and secret alarm.

A mere youth at the Spirit Grandmaster level had activated a domain that could trap him, a Titled Douluo, so deeply that he could not extricate himself from the illusion!

Moreover, the illusion was incredibly realistic, making it impossible to distinguish truth from falsehood. Clearly, this Heartbroken Red Domain could precisely peer into the human heart and reflect everyone's deepest obsessions and heart demons—it was too terrifying and bizarre...

After the shock, intense annoyance and a sense of shame inappropriate for his age surged into his heart.

Having lived for nearly a hundred years and holding the high position of Dean, he had actually lost his composure and fallen into an illusion today in front of a group of junior teachers and students, losing all face.

It shouldn't have happened; it really shouldn't have... He hadn't expected his resistance to spiritual attacks to be so weak.

Fortunately, few people had clearly seen his disheveled state while trapped in the illusion.

If that loose-lipped old fellow Qian Duoduo had caught him, he would likely be teased for the rest of his life...

As Yan Shaozhe's thoughts churned, the crimson domain covering the entire arena finally began to weaken, until it vanished completely.

Yes, even Yue Ling's domain was completely different from those of previous owners.

Ordinary domains disappeared when deactivated, but his domain slowly weakened as the supply of Spirit Power and spiritual energy ceased, until it faded away.

On the field, all the teachers and students whose minds had been imprisoned also regained consciousness as the domain weakened.