Leaving Seclusion

Inside the cracks of the Golden Ancient Tree, the golden light faded away.

When Yan Jingzhe stepped out of the tree hollow, a gentle breeze was blowing across Sea God Lake. He stood upon the gnarled roots of the ancient tree, raised his head to look at the sky—just past noon, the sun hung bright and blinding, illuminating the entire Shrek Academy thoroughly.

He rotated his wrists and notched up the rotation speed of the two soul cores in his dantian by a gear.

Then, he did not suppress his aura.

In three months of closed-door cultivation, he had constantly reined it in. Reined in his soul power, reined in his momentum, reined in the instinctive overflow produced when the twin soul cores complemented each other in yin and yang. And now was the time to let it go.

That momentum surged forth from the roots of the Golden Ancient Tree, at first like spring water welling up from the depths of the earth, thin and slow, then growing faster and more ferocious, transforming in the blink of an eye into a pillar of golden light that shot into the heavens. The light pillar pierced straight into the firmament, tearing a huge opening in the deep blue sky overhead, the clouds rolling outward and retreating to reveal the heavens higher up, illuminated thoroughly by the gold.

The entire Shrek City felt it.

The first to react were the ordinary people with low cultivation in the city. The things in the hands of the merchants on the street suddenly became unsteady, old men dozing by the roadside abruptly opened their eyes, and several children running and chasing each other stood frozen in place as if something had pressed down on their shoulders, not daring to move. When that aura swept past, the exact same sensation arose in everyone's hearts—it felt as though some behemoth had rolled over right above their heads, compressing people's chests with a tight squeeze.

Then came the soul masters in the academy.

Students having class on the playground raised their heads in unison, and some dropped what they were holding in their hands without even caring to pick it up. Teachers in the classrooms were lecturing, their words pausing midway before they turned their heads to look out the windows.

Inside Sea God Pavilion, Mu En was reading a book by the window. The instant that aura surged over, the pages of the book in the old man's hand were not stirred by the wind, but his fingers slowly closed the volume. He stood up, walked to the window, and looked at the straight pillar of golden light in the direction of the Golden Ancient Tree without speaking, though the corners of his mouth twitched slightly.

Inside the Library Pavilion, Elder Chu's book dropped onto the desk with a pat. He pushed up the glasses on the bridge of his nose, stared blankly for three seconds, and then slowly stood up, walking to the door.

Inside the secret chamber of Sea God Pavilion, Elder Song was meditating. When that aura swept across, the reddish-gold flames on his body suddenly surged upward out of control by over a foot. He opened his eyes, his murky old eyes blinking twice in the face of that momentum, and then he stood up, striding outward.

There were also Xuan Zi, Elder Lin, Elder Zhuang... The pavilion elders of Sea God Pavilion, no matter what they were doing, dropped what was in their hands at the exact same moment. Some emerged from their rooms, some rushed over from the martial arts practice arena, and some hurried over from the Outer Court.

Above the canopy of the Golden Ancient Tree, a golden radiance soared into the sky, transforming into the giant phantom of a Light Phoenix. The phoenix did not flap its wings and cry out, but merely hovered quietly in midair, its entire body burning with pale golden flames like a sun dropped onto the horizon, dyeing the entire Sea God Lake a warm gold.

Yan Jingzhe rose vertically from the Golden Ancient Tree.

His speed in ascending into the sky was not fast, unhurried and steady like a leaf caught and lifted by the wind. Yet everyone who looked up and saw him felt an indescribable sense of oppression, not because of his speed or power, but because of the natural, undeniable gravity radiating from him.

He stopped in the airspace above Sea God Lake, roughly a hundred zhang above the surface of the lake. His silvery-white hair was scattered by the wind in the high altitude, and golden light seeped out from within his body, gilding his silhouette with a faint halo.

The entire Shrek City could see him.

He lowered his head to scan the academy beneath his feet, seeing the people with upturned heads, seeing the several pavilion elders standing before Sea God Pavilion, seeing Xian Lin'er and Feng Ling standing side by side at the entrance of the Soul Guidance Department Teaching Building, and seeing the disciples Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong gazing with craned necks beside the freshman assessment battle rings.

Then his gaze landed on that window on the second floor of Sea God Pavilion.

Mu En was standing right there.

The old man wore that dark blue robe, his grayish-white hair blown slightly by the wind, his pair of eyes like two deep pools. He locked gazes with Yan Jingzhe across the distance of half a lake for a moment, and then took a step out the window.

Mu En's speed in ascending into the sky was much faster than Yan Jingzhe's, reaching the opposite side of Yan Jingzhe in practically the blink of an eye. The old man hovered in midair, stepping upon a cluster of faint blue lightning beneath his feet, his robes snapping loudly in the high-altitude wind.

Master and disciple hung face to face in the airspace above Shrek City, gazing at each other quietly while the people of the entire city looked up at them.

"Master," Yan Jingzhe spoke first, his voice carrying very far across the high altitude with a pure resonance amplified by soul power. "This disciple has completed closed-door cultivation to break through our limits; please grant me your guidance, Master."

Mu En looked at him, paused for two seconds, and then smiled. Within that smile were gratification, pride, and a trace of eager-to-try, spirited defiance belonging to an old man.

"Very well," Mu En said. "Actually, this master also wishes to see just how strong a soul master with Yin-Yang Complementary Twin Soul Cores truly is."

Before his words faded, Mu En moved.

His aged torso straightened abruptly, tens of thousands of streams of gilded holy light swirling around his entire body as the Radiant Holy Dragon martial soul phantom surged into the sky from behind him, its dragon eyes lowering to overlook the earth while nine soul rings—yellow, yellow, purple, black, black, black, red, red, red—neatly orbited his flanks.

Elder Mu uttered four deep words: "Sovereign Over All!"

Spiritual power vast as the ocean and ultimate light soul power instantly fused into one, transforming into an intangible imperial might that swept across a kilometer radius. The air trembled violently, the broken stones on the ground all suspended in midair, the opponent's soul ring radiance dimming by a fraction involuntarily, their mind suppressed as if by a giant mountain, their limbs stiff and struggling to mobilize soul power.

All rebellious will was crushed to pieces by this royal will, and the radiant dragon might gathered into a single palm strike sent crashing outward. Where the palm wind passed, ripples of pale golden light washed across space, the physical impact carrying a dual onslaught of soul-tearing spiritual storms. Those struck would not only suffer severe bodily trauma, but their sea of consciousness would also bear the brand of submission, spontaneously giving birth within the depths of their hearts to the powerlessness of bowing their heads in surrender.

Before Sea God Pavilion, Xuan Zi looked up at that mass of golden light in the sky, saying in a low voice, "Senior Brother is doing this for real."

Elder Lin pushed up his glasses without speaking, yet kept his eyes glued to the sky without blinking, unwilling to miss a single detail.

Mu En pushed forward with both hands, an unimaginably terrifying pressure bearing down upon Yan Jingzhe.

Sovereign Over All.

Mu En's signature ultimate technique gathered his entire strength within it; the people across the entire Douluo Continent capable of receiving this move head-on numbered no more than three.

And the people in the entire Shrek City held their breath at this moment. Across a distance of several hundred zhang, that oncoming pressure still pressed down heavily on people's chests, making it feel as though the sky overhead had lowered by a few inches.