Sealing

Inside the Spirit Sea.

The space, which had been warm just moments ago, suddenly turned frigid. Bone-piercing cold swept through every corner. Yue Ling instinctively wrapped his arms tightly around himself. His legs trembled uncontrollably, his teeth chattered, and his whole body stiffened from the cold.

He knew that the people outside were trying to save him. He only needed to grit his teeth and endure a little longer.

The remnant soul beside him was in an even more miserable state.

The cyan humanoid phantom it had barely maintained completely scattered, shrinking into a trembling cyan sphere of light that darted frantically up and down through the freezing space. It desperately tried to escape this region of extreme cold and return somewhere warmer.

After several futile collisions, it realized there was nowhere left to retreat. The cyan sphere finally steeled itself, prepared to stake everything on one final attempt with all the origin power it had left.

Yue Ling endured the cold of the Spirit Sea and prepared to strike back.

Outside.

"Xuanzi, go out first."

"Alright?"

Xuan Zi did not hesitate. He pushed open the secret chamber's door and left, departing the Sea God Pavilion.

In the vast Sea God Pavilion, only Mu En and the unconscious Yue Ling remained.

Mu En slowly raised his withered right hand. A faint layer of golden radiance gradually emerged above his aged palm.

It was the origin life force flowing from the Golden Ancient Tree—gentle, vast, and pure, inherently suppressing all evil and darkness.

He raised his hand and lightly pressed down in the air three inches above Yue Ling's head. He did not touch his physical body, merely guided the Golden Ancient Tree's power.

The next instant, Yue Ling's body gave a slight shudder.

The remnant soul within the Spirit Sea immediately became agitated, leaving Yue Ling greatly surprised.

Evil Soul Masters instinctively feared the Golden Ancient Tree's power. Like winter snow meeting the warm sun, it curled up and fled wildly, trying to hide in the deepest, most concealed corner of the Spirit Sea and lie dormant again after he left.

Mu En's gaze did not change, his expression calm and undisturbed.

As Mu En's consciousness followed the energy into Yue Ling's Spirit Sea, this silent world of consciousness was fully revealed.

An endless sea of white light lay quietly spread out, while countless specks of memory light floated leisurely through the air.

In a remote, dim corner of this space, a cyan sphere of light crashed anxiously back and forth, attempting to evade the force that made it so uncomfortable.

It was the Evil Soul Master's remnant soul. Its phantom's features were twisted, evil energy roiling around it. Every time it rammed toward the central sea of white light, it was repelled by a natural mental barrier.

Mu En calmed himself and extended a hand.

Fine golden motes surged in from every direction of the Sea God Pavilion, all originating from the Golden Ancient Tree that had rooted itself outside the windows for ten thousand years.

The specks of golden light transformed into countless fine golden threads, like dense chains, and slowly drilled into the Spirit Sea through Yue Ling's crown.

As innumerable golden threads spread through the space, Mu En's golden consciousness phantom stood silently in midair.

Sensing the deadly presence, the cyan sphere struggled even more frantically.

The golden threads coiled around it one after another, binding and tightening around the panicked, fleeing remnant soul of the Evil Soul Master.

The evil soul struggled ceaselessly and released weak black qi to crash against them, but every time it touched the ancient tree's golden light, part of the energy it had painstakingly accumulated was instantly dissolved.

The more it struggled, the greater its own depletion became.

Mu En narrowed his eyes slightly. His brow twitched faintly as he released what little mental power he had left, working with the sacred tree's strength to slowly press and shift it.

He forcibly pushed that restless evil soul from the core of Yue Ling's Spirit Sea to its farthest edge, its most remote dead corner.

Finally, countless golden threads drew together and intertwined, forming a thin yet unbreakable golden barrier.

It was as though a sealed prison had been set apart deep within Yue Ling's soul.

The remnant soul was tightly sealed inside, unable to move.

At the very least, it would be unable to cause trouble within his body for a long time.

After finishing all this, the back of Mu En's hand trembled slightly, and his breathing became noticeably more hurried.

Borrowing the Golden Ancient Tree's power to seal a soul seemed gentle, but it actually consumed an enormous amount of the little origin power he had left.

He slowly withdrew his hand, a trace of fatigue flashing through his eyes.

The seal was finally complete.

Yue Ling stared wide-eyed at the scene. To him, it was as though a heavenly god had descended and effortlessly suppressed that damned remnant soul.

Mu En glanced at him, then withdrew his power back outside.

This expenditure had been somewhat too great. Mu En gently closed his eyes, and a faint sheen of sweat could be seen on his forehead.

After resting for a while.

He quietly watched the youth on the jade couch, whose breathing had gradually steadied, and murmured softly. It sounded like both a warning and words to himself. "I can seal it for a time, but not for a lifetime."

"Child, whether you can completely break free of these shackles in the future will ultimately depend on you."

Outside the Sea God Pavilion, a breeze drifted by. The Golden Ancient Tree's golden light dimmed slightly for an instant before slowly returning to normal.

Mu En's voice was old and weary as he said, "Xuanzi, come in."

Outside the Sea God Pavilion.

Hearing this, Xuan Zi, who had been pacing with his hands behind his back, immediately turned and entered the Sea God Pavilion. He pushed open the secret chamber's door and saw Mu En at a glance, his face full of exhaustion and his body gaunt as dead wood.

His throat felt dry, and countless words had built up in his heart while he stood outside the door. Yet though they had risen to his lips, he could not say them.

Only when Mu En half-closed his eyes and turned to leave did Xuan Zi speak. "You've worked hard, Elder Mu... This child has troubled you as well."

"It's nothing."

Mu En left the secret chamber.

He was too tired.

This time, the expenditure of origin power, mental energy, and control over Soul Power had all been immense.

During the process just now, if he had lost focus or been careless even slightly—

this child's Spirit Sea would have shaken uncontrollably, causing irreversible damage.

Mu En had already left.

Xuan Zi stood before Yue Ling. This was the first time he truly felt how important responsibility was.

Mu En's mental state was already very poor.

For Shrek Academy, for everyone, he was still striving to live, still striving to protect the things he had believed in all his life.

And what about him? He was supposedly the vice-captain of the Shrek Inspection Team, yet he spent every day eating and drinking without a care in the world.

Before Mu En, he was like a child who had never grown up.

He had always felt that with Mu En as that towering tree, he could do whatever he wanted without concern.

But what if Mu En left?

As Shrek's current strongest combatant, what should he do?

For the first time in a long while, Xuan Zi began to contemplate life.

That unspoken responsibility made him feel especially vexed for the first time.

There was nothing in his head besides eating and fighting. Asking him to consider Shrek's future?

Whether there would even be a future in his hands was uncertain... That was the truth.

He had to come up with a solution that would satisfy both sides...

Frowning, Xuan Zi casually pulled out a roasted chicken wing and began eating it bite by bite, as though he wanted to swallow all his troubles one mouthful at a time.

One was not enough, so he ate another, then one after another.

He only stopped when both hands were covered in grease.

He was still not satisfied, but he forcibly stopped himself from continuing to eat.

After casually wiping his hands on his clothes, he picked Yue Ling up.

With a soft sigh, he said, "Sigh, I can't figure it out. I'll just take things one step at a time."

Still troubled, Xuan Zi kicked open the secret chamber's door and left the Sea God Pavilion with Yue Ling under Mu En's watchful gaze.