Dao Heart Shattered

Xu Sanshi let out an enraged roar. The Xuanming Turtle Shell Shield instantly swelled in size, shielding Jiang Nannan beneath it.

"Nan Nan, get out of the way!"

Xiao Xiao bit the tip of her tongue, and the Three-Life Soul-Calming Cauldron expanded like mad, blocking above her head.

He Caitou hefted his soul cannon, cranking even his defensive barrier to maximum power as he muttered prayers under his breath.

But when the rain of black fire fell, every defense became a joke.

A drop of black flame landed on the Xuanming Turtle Shell Shield. The turtle shield, renowned as an absolute defense against opponents of the same rank, did not even last a breath before a large hole was burned straight through it. The black flame trickled down the shield and dripped onto Xu Sanshi's shoulder.

Xu Sanshi's eyes bulged violently. His mouth gaped wide, yet he could not even let out a scream. The Xuanming soul power he had always been so proud of was like cold water splashed onto a red-hot iron before the black flames—it evaporated completely with a hiss. Flesh curled away, bone blackened from the heat, and the stench of charred meat wafted through the air.

"Urgh..."

Jiang Nannan's face went deathly pale with fright. Before she could reach out and pull Xu Sanshi away, several drops of black flame had already fallen onto the floor around her. The utter aura of destruction instantly knocked her to the ground, draining even the strength to struggle from her body.

Xiao Xiao's Three-Life Soul-Calming Cauldron was scorched full of pits and holes. She did not even have time to retract her martial soul before rolling her eyes back and passing out cold.

The soul tool barrier around He Caitou burst one after another like soap bubbles. The searing heat of the black flames roasted his entire body until smoke rose from him, and he crashed stiffly onto the ground, white foam spilling from his mouth.

It had happened too quickly.

From the moment Yu Chen launched the Black Flame Bullets to the moment every member of Shrek collapsed, fewer than ten breaths had passed.

The vast Great Soul Arena was deathly silent.

Tens of thousands of spectators seemed to have been collectively strangled. Not even the sound of breathing could be heard. The referee hovered in midair, his legs shaking like sieves, while yellow liquid even began to drip from beneath his trousers.

At the center of the arena.

The black flames gradually died away.

The hard granite tiles, along with the reinforced layer of refined steel beneath them, had been burned into a massive crater more than ten meters across. Its bottom was covered in vitrified crystals that gave off a nauseating burnt stench.

Bei Bei, Huo Yuhao, Xu Sanshi, He Caitou, Jiang Nannan, Xiao Xiao.

Shrek Academy's reserve team, once burdened with such great expectations, now lay sprawled around the edge of the crater like dead dogs. Their academy uniforms had been burned to tatters, their faces blackened by soot. Only the faint rise and fall of their chests proved that they still clung to life.

Yu Chen stood where he was, not having moved even half an inch.

Unhurriedly, he raised a hand and lightly brushed a speck of dust from the cuff of his white sleeve.

His gaze passed over the wreckage strewn across the ground, over the arena burned into a crater, and drifted to the only person still standing at the very edge of the stage.

Wang Dong'er.

Suppressed by Yu Chen's aura from the very beginning, Wang Dong'er had not even been able to join that ridiculous formation.

At that moment, she stood there blankly, her large pink-blue eyes filled with terror and confusion.

The aura of the Red-Eyes Black Dragon, representing absolute destruction and pure violence, was like a crude file scraping viciously against the depths of her soul.

Wang Dong'er suddenly clutched her head and crouched down in agony.

"Argh..."

It felt as though something had exploded inside her mind, as though countless needles were frantically stabbing into her brain.

Fragments of memories that did not belong to Wang Dong flashed wildly through her mind like an uncontrollable carousel.

An unfamiliar place shrouded in clouds and mist.

A resplendent golden palace.

And a man.

A handsome man wearing an extravagant blue robe, with sea-blue hair. Yet beneath his handsome features lay a cold aloofness that placed him above all others.

The man looked down at her. There was not the slightest warmth of a father in his eyes, only the calculation of someone appraising a useful tool.

His voice echoed through her mind, carrying an unquestionable hypocrisy and arrogance.

"You are my daughter. You do not need to decide your own fate."

"Be good, Dong'er. This is all for your own good."

"Go. Descend to the lower realm and keep an eye on that pig living off fortune."

Wang Dong'er screamed desperately in her heart.

No, that's not true. I don't know you. Who are you?!

As that aura of ultimate destruction continued to provoke her, the golden seal etched with a trident pattern deep within her soul suddenly let out an incredibly faint crack.

Crack.

A fine fissure silently appeared across the surface of the seal.

The power that had always suppressed her true nature had finally sprung the tiniest leak.

Wang Dong'er gasped for breath, her entire body drenched in cold sweat. Strands of her short pink-blue hair clung to her forehead.

At the edge of the stands, Wang Yan sprang from his cushioned instructor's chair like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. His Shrek green uniform, usually pressed crisp and immaculate as a symbol of his status, split at the shoulder seam from the force of his movement, but he could not spare it a glance.

He scrambled over the waist-high safety railing. His legs gave out, and he fell straight from the stands.

With a dull thud, Wang Yan's knees smashed heavily against the hard floor tiles. His skin split open at once, blood streaming down his calves. Yet as though he felt no pain at all, he crawled on all fours toward the ten-meter-wide charred crater at the center of the arena.

The temperature at the bottom of the crater was terrifyingly high.

The rock crystals melted into glass by the black flames still glowed with an eerie dark red. The moment Wang Yan's custom leather shoes stepped on them, the rubber soles melted with a hiss. A pungent scorched odor mixed with sulfur rushed straight into his nostrils.

"Bei Bei! Yuhao!"

Wang Yan lunged madly toward Bei Bei, who was closest to him.

Bei Bei's mutated dragonized right arm was now utterly horrifying. The dense, imposing scales of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon had all turned into shattered charcoal crusted over rotting flesh. Not a single drop of blood flowed from the wound; it had all been instantly cauterized by that terrifying heat.

With trembling hands, Wang Yan felt for Bei Bei's carotid artery.

It's still beating... He's alive!

Wang Yan's eyes instantly filled with bloodshot veins, and a strange sound of relief escaped his throat.

But before he could rejoice, the soul power he sent into Bei Bei's body struck what felt like an iron wall covered in spikes. Bei Bei's meridians were as mangled as if hundreds of crazed wild boars had trampled back and forth through them. Traces of lingering black flame aura clung to the source of his martial soul like parasites on bone, ruthlessly suppressing the faint vitality of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon.

Wang Yan jerked his hand back as if shocked, his face turning pale in an instant. Then he scrambled toward Xu Sanshi.