Pre-Battle Mobilization and Soul-Searching Questions: The Dead Made the Best Recruitment Posters

Tang San stepped out of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's council hall and quickly pushed open the courtyard gate of the side hall.

What met his eyes was still a deathly silence and desolation.

The once-arrogant Shrek Seven Monsters, who had called themselves heaven's chosen, were now sprawled limply across the courtyard.

Slap!

Tang San stepped into the courtyard.

"Boss Dai, Fatty, Xiao Ao, Zhu Qing..."

"I've already discussed it with Sect Master Ning. Tomorrow at noon, in Heaven Dou City's central square, we'll join the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in storming the execution ground!"

His resounding declaration echoed through the courtyard.

Yet the response and shared outrage he had expected never came.

Other than the howling wind,

the four of them didn't even raise their eyelids,

as though they hadn't heard a word Tang San said.

"Storm the execution ground?"

After a long while, Dai Mubai finally let out a self-mocking bitter laugh. "Third Brother, stop struggling."

"What are we supposed to use to storm it? Just us Soul Kings and Soul Emperors?"

"Dean Flender is dead, Teacher Zhao is dead, Grandmaster is crippled..." Ma Hongjun gritted his teeth as tears pattered down. "We can't even fight our way into Heaven Dou City. What can we use to fight that devil Qian Renxue?"

"Going to storm the execution ground... would just be suicide!"

Zhu Zhuqing silently turned her head away, her eyes filled with confusion about the future.

From deep inside the room came the faint sound of Liu Erlong's utterly exhausted sobbing.

She stood guard beside Yu Xiaogang's bed. His lower body and right leg had been crippled, and she herself was already on the verge of collapse, with neither the will nor strength to care about anything outside.

Seeing his companions completely stripped of their fighting spirit, reduced to a pile of mud, an inexplicable fury surged up in Tang San's heart!

Relying solely on the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect left too many uncertainties!

He had to tie every last one of Shrek's people to his chariot!

Only with enough people to divide Qian Renxue's attention could he rescue his aunt, Tang Yuehua, amid the chaos.

Tang San's eyes shifted slightly as he snapped, "Are you planning to live like cowards for the rest of your lives?"

He stepped forward, pointed toward Heaven Dou City, and roared in grief and righteous indignation:

"Do you know that poisonous woman Qian Renxue not only wants to kill Xue Ye the Great, but has also branded every one of us as heinous wanted criminals!"

"She has plastered every street and alley in Heaven Dou City with vile slander against us!"

Tang San's eyes reddened. He seized Ma Hongjun by the collar and screamed hoarsely, "Fatty, Dean Flender died in battle protecting us, and Teacher Zhao was brutally murdered by Qian Renxue!"

"But what now?"

"In the notices Qian Renxue issued, Dean Flender and Teacher Zhao have been painted as treacherous maniacs who colluded with fallen soul masters, plotted evil, and committed unforgivable crimes."

"Even in death, they have to bear the baseless scorn of thousands and an eternal infamy!"

"Can you stand to watch that happen?!"

Boom!

Those words pierced straight into Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai's hearts!

"What?"

"That poisonous woman dared to slander the dean like this?"

Blood rapidly filled Ma Hongjun's hollow eyes.

"Damn it!"

The fat all over his body quivered violently as he let out a beast-like roar.

Bang!

Dai Mubai smashed the stone table beside him with one punch. His teeth ground together, and the corners of his eyes nearly split open.

"Qian Renxue, she's gone too far! She's gone too far!"

Seeing that his words had worked, an exceedingly subtle smile flickered across Tang San's lips.

He immediately struck while the iron was hot, taking his manipulation and deception to the extreme. "Xue Ye the Great absolutely cannot die!"

Tang San looked at the others with righteous solemnity and shouted, "Xue Ye the Great is the Heaven Dou Empire's only hope for setting things right!"

"More importantly, he is an indispensable witness who can prove Shrek's innocence and clear the baseless accusations against Dean Flender and Teacher Zhao!"

"If we don't save Xue Ye the Great, if we don't expose Qian Renxue's crimes to the world, then the dean and Teacher Zhao... will truly be denied peace forever. They will be buried in the wilderness, forever carrying the shame of eternal scorn."

"Are you... really willing to accept that?"

"Being this lazy and defeated, can you truly face the spirits of the dean and Teacher Zhao?"

"I'm not willing! I'm not willing, ahhh!"

Ma Hongjun threw back his head and roared wildly. His bloodshot eyes erupted with heart-rending ferocity and hatred.

"Count me in!" Dai Mubai abruptly rose to his feet, the violent bloodline power of the Evil-Eyed White Tiger exploding around him. "We'll step forward and clear the dean's name!"

Zhu Zhuqing's gaze became sharp and icy once more.

Tang San had successfully stirred Shrek's hatred and fighting spirit.

Creak!

The wooden door to the side hall's bedroom was pushed open.

Liu Erlong strode out in bloodstained clothes, her hair in disarray, carrying overwhelming murderous intent!

Her eye sockets were swollen, and her face was filled with utter madness and hatred.

She roared hysterically like a shrew, "We're going to Heaven Dou City! I'll personally smash that bitch Qian Renxue's skull!"

"I'll avenge my Boss Flender! Blood for blood!"

As he watched everyone become so inflamed by just a few of his words that they wanted nothing more than to charge into Heaven Dou City at once, a cold gleam of scheming success flashed through Tang San's eyes.

A cold gleam of scheming success flashed through Tang San's eyes.

"Everyone, calm down!" Oscar, who had been thinking silently, suddenly spoke up. "Third Brother, I have a question."

Oscar wiped the blood from his face.

Though his eyes were also full of hatred, his reason still left him uneasy.

"Third Brother, we suffered a crushing defeat when we confronted them head-on at the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace."

"Now we've lost the dean and Teacher Zhao, two Soul Sage and Soul Douluo-level combatants. Grandmaster is severely injured as well... Our current strength is considerably weaker than before."

"Heaven Dou City's central square tomorrow will definitely be a dragon's den and tiger's lair laid by Spirit Hall."

"If we charge in like this, wouldn't we truly be walking into our deaths?"

At those words, Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, who had just been swept up in fervor, froze slightly as well.

They couldn't help looking toward Tang San for an answer.

Oscar's question was a rational challenge aimed directly at the core issue,

but Tang San was not flustered in the slightest, his expression still confident and calm.

"Xiao Ao, your concern is reasonable."

"But you've overlooked one thing." Tang San raised an index finger. "This time, we're not going to fight Qian Renxue head-on in a battle to the death."

He patted Oscar's shoulder and explained with complete certainty, "This is a rescue operation."

"By then, the entire city will be watching, with too many people and too many eyes. We only need to take advantage of the chaos during the execution, rescue them by surprise, and leave immediately afterward. We won't linger in battle."

"Besides..."

Tang San turned around and offered the most crucial reassurance. "Bone Douluo possesses unfathomable spatial abilities."

"As long as we get our hands on them, Bone Douluo can tear open space and take us out of Heaven Dou City."

"No matter how strong Qian Renxue is, when faced with spatial abilities, she can only watch helplessly as we retreat unscathed."

"I see." More than half of the concern in Oscar's eyes finally faded.

"If that's the case, then this is indeed highly feasible!"

"Good! I'll go with you tomorrow! My Flying Sausage can give everyone exceptional mobility!"

Tang San finally let out a long breath of relief inwardly.

The assembly was finally complete!

With this group drawing the fire of Qian Renxue and Spirit Hall, along with Bone Douluo's spatial abilities,

their chances of storming the execution ground in Heaven Dou City tomorrow and rescuing his aunt Tang Yuehua would increase greatly.

"Aunt, don't worry. Third Brother will definitely save you!"

Tang San silently made up his mind.

But at the same time, an indescribable humiliation and profound unwillingness gnawed at Tang San's heart like venomous snakes!

If his father, Tang Hao, were here,

how would a mere Qian Renxue and a mere Spirit Hall dare humiliate him like this?

"Father... when will you return?"