Arc 8Shrek’s Hidden Costs

Lin Ye’s diary exposed the resource conflicts, political schemes, and institutional abuses shaping Douluo Continent, while its readers reconsidered their loyalties and the systems they had trusted. The arc ended with revelations about Tang San’s manipulation of Wang Dong’er and Huo Yuyao’s painful misunderstanding of her identity.

  • Gu Yuena, Juzi, and Shrek’s members learned that the Holy Spirit Cult had concealed immense strength, while Zhang Lexuan began questioning the origins of her rescue and her ties to Shrek.
  • Lin Ye revealed that Huo Yuhao created and shouted embarrassing soul-skill names out of longing for Wang Dong’er, and that Elex would help him survive the Undead Demiplane and rescue Ye Guyi.
  • Lin Ye criticized the Soul Master system for forcing humans and Soul Beasts into conflict, and Juzi recognized that Soul Tools and Soul Power cultivation had to develop together.
  • Lin Ye’s accounts exposed the empires’ resource crises and oppressive rule, prompting Juzi to reconsider her goals and Tang Ya to commit to rebuilding the Tang Sect independently.
  • Lin Ye ranked Sun Moon Empire talents, placing Juzi first and recognizing her rise from orphan to future empress, while the readers discussed the strengths and flaws of the ranked Soul Engineers.
  • Lin Ye accused Shrek of favoring connected Inner Court disciples, profiting from war, controlling its disciples, and protecting Ma Xiaotao despite her attacks on students.
  • The diary revealed that Tang San had manipulated Wang Dong’er and Huo Yuhao through a fabricated illness and a restriction, leaving Wang Dong’er angry and disappointed.
  • At the Sea God’s Fate Matchmaking Conference, Huo Yuhao mistook Wang Dong’er dressed as a woman for Wang Qiuer and kept asking where Wang Dong was.
Chapters 176–200 Vol. 2 Read

Ch. 176What a Spectacle

Lin Ye’s account revealed the Holy Spirit Cult’s powerful leaders and the tangled relationships between Ye Xishui, Long Xiaoyao, Mu En, Zhongli Wu, and Feng Ling. The Ice and Snow Empresses ended by reflecting on the deceptive ways humans handled conflict.

  • Gu Yuena considered how the Holy Spirit Cult’s two Rank 99 Ultimate Douluo made it stronger than Shrek without the God Realm’s interference.
  • Juzi learned that the Holy Spirit Cult had two Ultimate Douluo and understood why Xu Tianran cooperated with it.
  • Xiao Xiao, Ma Xiaotao, and Zhang Lexuan read about Ye Xishui’s love triangle with Long Xiaoyao and Mu En, and Long Xiaoyao’s devotion to Ye Xishui.
  • Lin Ye described Zhongli Wu as Ye Xishui’s son and Feng Ling as the Holy Spirit Cult’s vice leader and Yan Shaozhe’s former enemy.
  • The Snow Empress and Ice Empress criticized human relationships, and the Ice Empress recalled two Soul Masters who killed each other after pretending to be old friends.

Ch. 177Why Have the Evil Soul Masters Been Toying with Us All Along?

The diary revealed that the Holy Spirit Cult had secretly amassed many Super Douluo and had manipulated Shrek Academy’s campaigns against it. Shrek’s defenders confronted the truth about their losses, while the chapter explained that Mu En and Xuan Zi had been major reasons the cult feared Shrek.

  • Gu Yuena and Juzi learned that the Holy Spirit Cult had many powerful Super Douluo and had concealed its strength for years.
  • Zhang Lexuan reviewed Inspection Corps records and realized the cult had repeatedly spared its core members while allowing Shrek’s forces to suffer losses.
  • Ma Xiaotao remembered a disastrous mission and concluded that the Holy Spirit Cult had deliberately let her team escape, provoking her fury.
  • The diary explained that the cult had feared Mu En and Xuan Zi, whose strength could counter its powerful members.
  • The Snow Empress assessed Mu En as a worthy rival who could likely match Di Tian, while judging that she could contend with him only on her home ground.

Ch. 178Evil Soul Masters: We Were Just Playing You

The diary revealed that the Holy Spirit Cult had hidden its strength while Shrek’s forces mistook its lesser members for the full threat. Tang Ya, Ma Xiaotao, and Gu Yuena reacted to the diary’s account of future events, while Xiao Xiao worried about the Sun Moon Empire’s Soul Engineer Corps.

  • Tang Ya read that Huo Yuhao would destroy the Holy Spirit Cult and lamented that Douluo Continent’s history seemed to revolve around the Tang Family.
  • Ma Xiaotao reviewed the Inspection Corps’ records and realized their past operations had only eliminated peripheral Evil Soul Masters or fallen for the Holy Spirit Cult’s smokescreens.
  • Gu Yuena heard that she and Tang Wulin would join forces against the Abyssal Plane and struggled with the thought that her future self had fallen in love with a human.
  • The diary described how Huo Yuhao’s defeat of the Holy Spirit Cult let the continent’s forces breathe, while the Sun Moon Empire’s Soul Engineer Corps still nearly unified Douluo Star.
  • Xiao Xiao worried that Shrek’s forces would struggle to resist the Sun Moon Empire’s Soul Engineer Corps in a full-scale war.

Ch. 179The Continent's Greatest Soul Engineer

The chapter explains how Xu Tianran views the Holy Spirit Cult as a disposable ally while relying on the Sun Moon Empire’s Soul Engineer Legions and Hall of Consecration. It reveals Kong Deming’s potential to become a Level-Ten Soul Engineer and his imperial bloodline, then raises questions about Zhang Lexuan’s Silver Moon Martial Soul and origins.

  • The Ice Empress and Snow Empress recognized that Xu Tianran and the Holy Spirit Cult were using each other and would eventually turn against one another.
  • Xiao Xiao reconsidered Xu Tianran’s intelligence after learning that he understood the danger of cooperating with the Holy Spirit Cult.
  • Juzi realized Kong Deming was close to Rank 95 and could become a Level-Ten Soul Engineer capable of contending with an Ultimate Douluo.
  • Ma Xiaotao grew wary of the threat Kong Deming could pose to Shrek if he broke through.
  • Gu Yuena and Ning Tian considered Kong Deming’s imperial blood and loyalty to the Sun Moon Imperial Family.
  • The passage described the imperial family’s Sun and Silver Moon Martial Souls and questioned whether Zhang Lexuan was a Sun Moon princess brought to the Heaven Soul Empire.

Ch. 180Zhang Lexuan's "Origin" Speculations

Zhang Lexuan struggled with Lin Ye’s speculation that she was a princess of the Sun Moon Empire and that her family had been killed because of its origins. Lin Ye then laid out two competing theories about her ancestry, ending with the darker possibility that her family had betrayed the imperial family.

  • Zhang Lexuan read Lin Ye’s speculation and wondered whether her family had been a branch of the Sun Moon Imperial Family driven into hiding after an imperial conflict.
  • Zhang Lexuan feared that members of her own clan had murdered her family and questioned whether Mu En knew the truth about her origins.
  • Lin Ye proposed that Zhang Lexuan’s ancestors belonged to the Silver Moon Lineage, which lost a succession war and fled to the Heaven Soul Empire.
  • Lin Ye speculated that the Sun Moon Imperial Family later found and exterminated Zhang Lexuan’s family, while Mu En rescued her as an infant.
  • Lin Ye introduced a second theory that Zhang Lexuan’s family had voluntarily betrayed the Sun Moon Imperial Family.

Ch. 181Coincidence or Accident?

Lin Ye’s diary speculated that Zhang Lexuan’s family had been targeted by the Sun Moon Imperial Family and that Mu En’s rescue of her was deliberate, prompting readers to dismiss or question his claims. Juzi concluded that Zhang Lexuan’s survival required someone powerful to interfere, while Ice Empress suspected Mu En had arranged the events; the chapter left his role uncertain.

  • Lin Ye’s diary claimed that Zhang Lexuan’s ancestors fled the Sun Moon Empire after opposing its alleged alliance with the Holy Spirit Cult, and that the imperial family later ordered their extermination.
  • Juzi mocked Lin Ye’s dramatic theory, and Zhang Lexuan and Snow Empress also considered that her family’s past might have been less complicated than he suggested.
  • Juzi reasoned that Zhang Lexuan could only have survived the purge if someone powerful had altered the order carried out by three Soul Douluo.
  • Xiao Xiao questioned whether Mu En’s timely rescue of Zhang Lexuan could have been coincidence, while Ice Empress suspected the old man might have plotted it.
  • Lin Ye’s diary pointed out that Mu En’s fight with Du Bushi, their recovery near Zhang Lexuan’s town, and his arrival during the massacre had all coincided.

Ch. 182The Wang Dong'er Who Never Woke Up

Ning Tian, Tang Ya, Ice Empress, Zhang Lexuan, and Wang Dong'er reacted to revelations that Mu En had manipulated Zhang Lexuan for Shrek's political interests. Wang Dong'er also recalled her own future death and the tournament that led to Heaven-and-Earth Valley of Love Inquiry.

  • Ning Tian concluded that Mu En had deliberately saved Zhang Lexuan and bound her to Bei Bei to secure her loyalty to Shrek.
  • Tang Ya and Ice Empress condemned Mu En's motives, while Snow Empress tried to calm Ice Empress.
  • Zhang Lexuan realized she might have been saved and made Bei Bei's child bride because Shrek wanted to use her identity as a political asset.
  • Wang Dong'er dismissed the conspiracies as gossip but remembered Ma Xiaotao's fiery tournament victory and the Sun Moon Empire's later rule change.
  • Wang Dong'er recalled that she would die after falling unconscious in Heaven-and-Earth Valley of Love Inquiry, and that Tang Wutong—not she—would awaken.
  • Wang Dong'er remembered that Huo Yuhao's Tang Sect team and Wang Qiuer's Shrek team would compete in the next tournament before the Sun Moon Empire lured them into Heaven-and-Earth Valley of Love Inquiry.

Ch. 183Hao Dong's Three Ultimates...

After Lin Ye wrote about Huo Yuhao’s self-created soul skill, the Diary revealed its three embarrassing, romance-themed move names. The names left Wang Dong’er mortified and provoked amused or disbelieving reactions from everyone who read them.

  • After school, Lin Ye returned to his dormitory and wrote in his Diary about Huo Yuhao creating a soul skill called Hao Dong's Three Ultimates because he missed Wang Dong’er.
  • Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong’er read the Diary together, and Xiao Xiao asked Wang Dong’er whether she knew about the skill.
  • Lin Ye revealed the moves were Dong-Yearning Spring, Dong-Longing Sword, and Hao Dong Palm, all created from Huo Yuhao’s grief and longing.
  • Juzi worried that Huo Yuhao’s extreme emotions could cause hidden dangers, while the Ice Empress, Snow Empress, Tang Ya, Ma Xiaotao, and Zhang Lexuan reacted with embarrassment or laughter.
  • Ning Tian and Wu Feng read the names outside Shrek Academy, and Xiao Xiao sympathized with Wang Dong’er as Wang Dong’er blushed and wished she could hide.

Ch. 184The Girls: This Is Way Too Embarrassing

Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, Tang Ya, and other women reacted with embarrassment and laughter to Huo Yuhao’s humiliating move names. A new diary entry revealed that Huo Yuhao had shouted those names during fights, prompting Juzi and Ma Xiaotao to react with disbelief.

  • Wang Dong'er blushed and cursed Huo Yuhao while Tang Ya laughed at Lin Ye’s claim that the move names could serve as a mental attack.
  • Ice Empress and Snow Empress laughed at the names, while Wang Dong'er insisted she would never use those moves or become Tang Wutong.
  • Xiao Xiao reassured Wang Dong'er and invited her to try candied hawthorn, but the diary continued updating.
  • The diary revealed that Huo Yuhao had shouted the move names at his opponents during battles.
  • Juzi and Ma Xiaotao read the entry and reacted with embarrassment and disbelief at Huo Yuhao’s audacity.

Ch. 185The Greatest Crisis

The Diary revealed that Huo Yuhao would survive the Sun Moon Empire’s attempt to kill him with Elex’s help, escape with supplies, and save Ye Guyi, who would fall for him. The chapter ended with Gu Yuena confirming the Angel Martial Soul’s overwhelming advantage against Evil Soul Masters and reflecting that Qian Renxue’s exceptional talent came from the Angel God’s bloodline.

  • Juzi read that the Sun Moon Empire would use the future tournament to target Huo Yuhao, and she wondered what trump card would save him.
  • Zhang Lexuan learned of the Empire’s planned tactics and examined its military buildup, suspecting the tournament was also a test.
  • The Diary explained that Elex would help Huo Yuhao survive in the Undead Demiplane, escape with a large supply of materials, and rescue Ye Guyi, who would fall in love with him.
  • Ma Xiaotao and Xiao Xiao reacted to Ye Guyi’s Angel Martial Soul and her unrequited feelings for Huo Yuhao.
  • Gu Yuena agreed that the Angel Martial Soul could overwhelm Evil Soul Masters and noted that Qian Renxue’s divine-level talent came from the Angel God’s bloodline.

Ch. 186Shattered Illusions

Lin Ye’s Diary accused Tang San of stealing the Tang Sect’s techniques and the Icefire Yin Yang Well’s Immortal Herbs, then scheming to take the God Realm enforcer position and manipulate Huo Yuhao’s fate. The revelations left several readers questioning Tang San’s legacy and the gods’ supposed virtue.

  • Xiao Xiao realized that people judged theft differently when a protagonist committed it.
  • Juzi accepted Huo Yuhao’s taking enemy supplies as part of the struggle for survival and strength.
  • Tang Ya reconsidered the records about Tang San and suspected he had taken the Immortal Herbs rather than received them as a gift.
  • Ning Tian condemned Tang San for taking every Immortal Herb and said the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would never act that way.
  • Zhang Lexuan worried that Tang San’s alleged schemes disgraced the foundation of his authority.
  • Ice Empress and Snow Empress criticized Tang San and the gods, concluding that Huo Yuhao had inherited his mentor’s behavior.

Ch. 187The Flaws of the Soul Guidance Legion

Lin Ye criticized the Sun Moon Empire’s Soul Engineer Corps as a shell-dependent force that could only threaten stronger Soul Masters through surprise, then questioned the Soul Master system’s reliance on killing Soul Beasts for advancement. His critique left Ju Zi, Gu Yuena, Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong'er, and Tang Ya reconsidering beliefs they had long taken for granted.

  • Ju Zi recalled experiments with collective Soul Guidance Arrays and recognized their severe transmission losses and limited ability to threaten a Titled Douluo in a prolonged fight.
  • Lin Ye contrasted Soul Guidance Legions’ reliance on shells with the complex coordination and unity of true battle formations.
  • Gu Yuena judged the Empire’s arrays to be crude conduits that lacked unity and had an obvious upper limit.
  • Xiao Xiao and Wang Dong'er reconsidered their admiration for the Soul Engineer Corps after hearing Lin Ye’s comparison with proper battle formations.
  • Lin Ye argued that requiring humans to kill Soul Beasts to advance was an unreasonable flaw in the Soul Master system, and Tang Ya questioned the rules she had accepted since childhood.
  • Lin Ye noted that Douluo Continent’s limited Soul Beast habitats could not plausibly supply the many rare beasts needed for high-level Soul Rings.

Ch. 188The Deformed System

Lin Ye’s diary exposed how the Soul Ring cultivation system drove Soul Beasts toward extinction and limited humanity’s growth. The Far North, Star Dou Forest, and Shrek Academy residents reflected on the system’s imbalance and the need to unite Soul Power cultivation with Soul Guidance Technology.

  • The Ice and Snow Emperors realized that Soul Beast populations could not keep pace with human hunting under the cultivation system.
  • The Three-Eyed Golden Lion understood that the system forced humans and Soul Beasts into an irreconcilable conflict and threatened the survival of Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.
  • Ma Xiaotiao reconsidered her past Soul Beast hunts and saw that the supposedly natural pursuit of Soul Rings meant one-sided slaughter.
  • Lin Ye argued that Soul Masters and Soul Engineers should develop together, while both sides’ prejudices kept them from raising Douluo Continent’s strength.
  • Zhang Lexuan agreed that integrating pure Soul Master cultivation and soul guidance was necessary, but worried that deep resentment would make unity costly.

Ch. 189Soul Guidance Technology

Ning Tian and Ju Zi reconsidered the strengths and weaknesses of their societies’ approaches to Soul Tools after reading Lin Ye’s diary. Ju Zi recognized that the Sun Moon Empire’s technology depended on dwindling Soul Beast resources and a shortage of high-level Soul Engineers, leaving its future uncertain.

  • Ning Tian considered Lin Ye’s criticism of the Douluo side’s resistance to change and realized Soul Tools could help ordinary people more than the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect’s support Martial Souls could.
  • Lin Ye’s diary argued that the Sun Moon Empire’s Soul Tools consumed Soul Beast cores at an unsustainable rate and that the empire relied on expansion to secure resources.
  • Lin Ye’s diary warned that few Soul Engineers reached high levels and that many neglected their own Soul Power cultivation while depending too heavily on tools.
  • Ju Zi recalled the empire’s rising Soul Core consumption and the army’s depletion of the Sunset Forest, which had driven it to plunder smaller neighboring nations.
  • Ju Zi questioned whether the empire’s power could last if Soul Beasts and Soul Cores ran out, and she recognized that her habit of cultivating Soul Power alongside studying Soul Tools supported her belief that tools depended on their wielder.

Ch. 190Breaking Everything, Rebuilding Order?

Juzi reflected on Lin Ye’s call to reform the Sun Moon Empire and began drafting a proposal to add advanced Soul Power cultivation courses to the Soul Guidance Department. After Lin Ye argued that oppression helped create Evil Soul Masters and that the continent’s conflicts were shaped by a deeper system, Juzi broadened her ambitions beyond revenge and expansion.

  • Juzi decided to keep moving forward and drafted a proposal for advanced Soul Power cultivation courses in the Soul Guidance Department.
  • Zhang Lexuan read Lin Ye’s account of how people with Evil Martial Souls were ostracized and questioned whether society helped create Evil Soul Masters.
  • Lin Ye explained that the Holy Spirit Cult grew by gathering the oppressed and that it cooperated with the Sun Moon Empire for mutual advantage.
  • Lin Ye argued that the continent’s conflicts came from a resource-starved system and that its rules had to be broken before a new order could be built.
  • Juzi added that Soul Guidance technology should benefit everyone rather than serve consumption and war, and adopted a goal beyond revenge and expansion.

Ch. 191The Three Great Empires

Lin Ye’s account exposed the weaknesses of Star Luo and Heaven Soul, prompting Xiao Xiao, Ning Tian, Juzi, and Ma Xiaotao to reflect on their systems and prospects in war. The chapter began its analysis of Dou Ling, describing its defensible terrain and preserved Soul Beast forests.

  • Xiao Xiao heard that Star Luo’s centralized rule and military strength came at the cost of ordinary Soul Masters, and she lamented how the poor would suffer in war.
  • Ning Tian concluded that Star Luo’s rigid class system would eventually cause it to collapse from within.
  • Juzi judged Star Luo stubborn and Heaven Soul disorganized, then questioned whether defeating them would solve Sun Moon’s own shortages and Soul Core crisis.
  • Ma Xiaotao condemned Heaven Soul’s sects and nobles for exploiting common people while failing to unite against Sun Moon.
  • Lin Ye described Dou Ling as a small, underdeveloped empire with mountainous defenses and relatively intact Soul Beast forests.

Ch. 192Gu Yuena's Expectations

Lin Ye’s analysis of the empires’ failing system prompted reactions from Zhang Lexuan, Tang Ya, Wang Dong'er, Ice Empress, and Snow Empress. Beneath the Lake of Life, Gu Yuena considered Lin Ye’s potential to change the order of Douluo Star, though she still did not fully trust him.

  • Zhang Lexuan agreed that the empires’ long-standing problems could not be fixed quickly and feared ordinary people would suffer if war broke out.
  • Tang Ya recalled how no one had helped the Tang Sect in its decline and vowed to rebuild it through its own efforts.
  • Wang Dong'er condemned nobles and major sects for monopolizing resources, while Ice Empress and Snow Empress dismissed humanity’s conflicts as self-destructive.
  • Gu Yuena reflected on Lin Ye’s opposition to the system that drove humans and Soul Beasts to slaughter one another.
  • Gu Yuena remembered the supreme gaze that had stopped her from capturing Lin Ye and wondered whether he might one day become powerful enough to change the world.

Ch. 193Empire's Deep-Seated Ills

The chapter explained how Star Luo’s bloodline-based hierarchy and Heaven Soul’s sect-controlled society restricted commoners and low-level Soul Masters. Reactions from Xiao Xiao, Ning Tian, Juzi, Tang Ya, and Zhang Lexuan showed how those systems weakened their nations and left the Tang Sect determined to stand independently.

  • Lin Ye’s account described how Star Luo’s imperial family and nobles monopolized resources, leaving commoner Soul Masters with little chance to advance.
  • Xiao Xiao, Ning Tian, and Juzi reacted to Star Luo’s oppression and questioned the loyalty and stability of a nation that denied its people opportunity.
  • Lin Ye’s account explained how Heaven Soul’s sects controlled Soul Beast forests, local governance, and trade, while the imperial family struggled to restrain them.
  • Tang Ya recalled how the Tang Sect had been marginalized in Heaven Soul and vowed that it would make its own way without relying on other sects.
  • Zhang Lexuan reflected that small sects and unaffiliated cultivators lacked the strength that allowed Shrek to stand firm.

Ch. 194When Looks Are Justice

The discussion contrasted Dou Ling Empire’s cautious survival strategy with the weaknesses of Star Luo and Heaven Soul Empire, while Juzi judged it no threat to Sun Moon Empire. The ranking of Sun Moon Empire’s young geniuses began with Keke, Su Ruotong, and Chen Fei before pausing at Yu Mengdi.

  • Xiao Xiao and Ning Tian considered how Dou Ling’s geography and balanced rule let it shelter ordinary people and lower-class Soul Masters.
  • Juzi marked Dou Ling on the strategic map and said it would surrender after Star Luo and Heaven Soul Empire were conquered.
  • The ranking introduced Keke in tenth place as a hardworking but limited Soul Engineer talent.
  • Su Ruotong placed ninth as a defensive specialist, while Chen Fei placed eighth as a close-combat fighter.
  • Yu Mengdi was introduced in seventh place, but the ranking’s narrator admitted remembering little about her.

Ch. 195Sun Moon Empire's New Generation Rankings

Lin Ye ranked several members of the Sun Moon Empire’s new generation, drawing reactions from Shrek Academy students and the Ice Empress. He began introducing third-place Xu Tianran as the empire’s Crown Prince and future Emperor.

  • Xiao Xiao asked Wang Dong'er whether Lin Ye would also rank Shrek’s ten greatest geniuses, and Wang Dong'er explained that his list covered only part of the Sun Moon Continent’s talent.
  • Lin Ye described the team’s control specialist and ranked Luo Xin sixth for her speed, combat judgment, and Soul Guidance talent.
  • Ma Xiaotao judged the team members decent and singled out Luo Xin, while Zhang Lexuan praised the Sun Moon Empire’s Soul Engineer training system.
  • Lin Ye ranked team captain Ma Rulong fifth and Meng Hongchen fourth, noting their strengths and limits.
  • The Ice Empress questioned Meng Hongchen’s potential as a Soul Engineer and wondered whether Soul Guidance Devices could lead someone to godhood.
  • Lin Ye introduced third-place Xu Tianran as the Sun Moon Empire’s Crown Prince and future Emperor.

Ch. 196Top Three on the Ranking

The ranking named Xu Tianran third, Xiao Hongchen second, and Juzi first among the Sun Moon Empire’s younger generation, judging talent by more than cultivation alone. Juzi accepted the honor with mixed feelings, reflecting on how intelligence, temperament, and strategy shaped the ranking.

  • The ranking praised Xu Tianran’s political skill and influence despite his crippled body and limited cultivation potential.
  • The ranking placed Xiao Hongchen second for his Ultimate Metal and Soul Engineering talent, while criticizing his arrogance and lack of resilience.
  • Ma Xiaotao dismissed Xiao Hongchen’s temperament and predicted that setbacks would bring him down.
  • The ranking placed Juzi first for her Soul Engineering, military strategy, and rise from an orphan to a future empress.
  • Juzi reflected that Lin Ye’s ranking measured qualities beyond cultivation and felt both the weight of the title and a quiet sense of honor.

Ch. 197The Women: Another Classic Shrek

Lin Ye’s diary exposed Shrek Academy’s admissions, Inner Court, and resource systems as tools for building influence and controlling talent. Xiao Xiao, Wang Dong'er, and Zhang Lexuan reconsidered their understanding of the academy, while Zhang Lexuan recognized her own ties to its interests.

  • Xiao Xiao recalled a talented, hot-tempered boy who had been rejected by Shrek and wondered whether he had been considered difficult to control.
  • Wang Dong'er defended Shrek’s strength-based admissions, then questioned whether her own smooth enrollment had been helped by her Haotian Sect background.
  • Lin Ye’s diary described the Outer Court as a revenue source and a feeder system that made Inner Court geniuses seem exceptional.
  • Lin Ye’s diary claimed that Inner Court places and resources favored Sea God Pavilion families, sect connections, and selected loyalists, while ordinary students often served as foils for Core Disciples.
  • Lin Ye’s diary accused Shrek of reserving prime Star Dou Forest hunting grounds for its Inner Court disciples and barring outsiders.
  • Zhang Lexuan acknowledged that Core Disciples commonly had powerful patrons and recognized that her own loyalty to Shrek had been shaped by the academy and Mu En’s support.

Ch. 198Dark Shrek?

The chapter exposed Shrek Academy as a profit-driven power that manipulated its students, the tournament, and the continent’s wars to preserve its influence. Ma Xiaotao, Ning Tian, Juzi, and the Ice Empress reacted to the revelations, which ended with details of the Inner Court’s surveillance and control of its disciples.

  • Ma Xiaotao questioned Shrek’s motives after realizing the academy might have treated her talent and Evil Fire as tools.
  • Ning Tian calculated Shrek’s sponsorships and tuition income, then recognized how its financial arrangements fueled a self-reinforcing business.
  • The revelations accused Shrek of profiting from the empires’ war, manipulating the academy tournament, and waiting to defeat the Holy Spirit Cult until the other powers were weakened.
  • Juzi suspected Shrek had prolonged the war, while the Ice Empress condemned its claims of justice and neutrality.
  • The chapter revealed that Shrek monitored Inner Court Core Disciples with spiritual marks, punished defections, and abandoned disciples who lost their usefulness.

Ch. 199Ma Xiaotao's Dark Past

Lin Ye exposed how Shrek protected Ma Xiaotao after her Evil Fire injured students and she abused her status, leaving Ma Xiaotao horrified by the harm she had caused. The revelations also shook Xiao Xiao’s admiration for Shrek and its celebrated genius.

  • Wang Dong'er, Xiao Xiao, Tang Ya, and Gu Yuena reacted with shock and anger to Lin Ye’s claims that Shrek secretly controlled its Inner Court disciples.
  • Lin Ye described how Shrek covered up Ma Xiaotao’s Evil Fire attack, which permanently crippled an Outer Court student, and gave her only a warning.
  • Lin Ye recounted Ma Xiaotao’s unrestrained attacks on students and said Shrek had ignored her role as an Evil Soul Master to preserve her power.
  • Ma Xiaotao struggled to accept the accusations and recalled trusting Xuan Lao when he told her the academy had handled the incidents.
  • Xiao Xiao’s admiration for Ma Xiaotao faded, while Tang Ya remembered a common-born student who was beaten after offending an Inner Court genius.

Ch. 200Wang Dong'er's "Black History"

The chapter recounted Wang Dong'er’s history of disguising herself as a boy and the ways her father, Tang San, manipulated her life and relationship with Huo Yuhao. Wang Dong'er was left bitterly disappointed in Tang San, while the account ended with Huo Yuhao failing to recognize her at the Sea God's Fate Matchmaking Conference.

  • The narrator described how Wang Dong'er posed as Wang Dong, deceiving Huo Yuhao and attracting the affection of Meng Hongchen, Nan Qiuqiu, and Xiao Xiao.
  • The narrator revealed that Tang San had fabricated a fatal illness to make Huo Yuhao risk his life for Wang Dong'er and had placed a restriction on her that prevented intimacy with him.
  • Wang Dong'er thought about confronting Tang San and felt only disappointment and hatred toward him.
  • Juzi condemned Tang San for using his daughter as a test for Huo Yuhao.
  • The narrator recounted how Wang Dong'er stabbed herself during the God of Love Trial, which Tang San had arranged.
  • At the Sea God's Fate Matchmaking Conference, Huo Yuhao mistook Wang Dong'er in women's clothes for Wang Qiuer and kept asking where Wang Dong was.
Arc 8 of 16
Arc 8 of 16