Infection

Yu Xiaofeng struck Old Wu with Soul Devouring Strike. A green light immediately sank into Old Wu's body. The instant the green light vanished, Old Wu suddenly felt his body grow lighter. In the next moment, Yu Xiaofeng's face turned deathly pale.

Yu Xiaofeng spat out a mouthful of blood, and his body began withering at a visible rate.

His skin cracked as though dehydrated, his eye sockets swelled red and protruded, and his black hair gradually lost its color. In mere moments, Yu Xiaofeng had become nothing but skin and bones.

Yu Xiaofeng stared in disbelief at his gradually withering body, his terrified eyes filled with horror.

How could this happen? Shouldn't the Soul Power I devoured have become my own?

"Why hasn't the Soul Power I devoured changed at all? Why has it instead caused me to become like this?"

Yu Xiaofeng was stunned. This was the first time he had encountered such a thing. Even when he devoured Er Ming's Soul Power, this had never happened. Why had it turned out this way with Old Wu?

He could not make sense of it, but he did not have much time left. At this rate, he might die before Old Wu did.

At that moment, Old Wu discovered that his vitality was steadily recovering. But when he looked up at Yu Xiaofeng, his pupils abruptly contracted. He rose to his feet and nearly fell over.

Before his eyes stood an old man as withered as dry bones. The youth who had once been so full of life had already turned into an old man like a candle guttering in the wind. He roared hysterically, "Xiaofeng, what did you do? Why have you become like this?"

"If my life was bought with yours, I would rather not live."

"Quick... devour the green Soul Power in my body too."

Old Ghost hurriedly supported the extremely agitated Old Wu and asked Yu Xiaofeng in horror, "Xiaofeng, what exactly happened?"

"How did this happen? Say something!"

Yu Xiaofeng stood there in agony and managed to force out two words. "I'm fine."

How was he supposed to explain it?

He had never expected this either. Gritting his teeth, he sent another green light into Old Wu's body. This time, he intended to devour a portion of the green Soul Power to counterbalance the gray Soul Power ravaging his body and the damage it was causing.

He suddenly realized that the green Soul Power was Old Wu's original Soul Power, while he guessed that the gray Soul Power most likely belonged to the Dark Demon God.

Back then, the spear condensed from the Dark Demon God's Soul Power had pierced through Old Wu's body. Perhaps even the god himself had not known that the Soul Power he had dispersed still left remnants behind in Old Wu's body.

Yu Xiaofeng considered another possibility: the Dark Demon God had known about the lingering Soul Power all along and believed that a Titled Douluo would have no trouble dealing with such a small remnant.

But he had overlooked one thing. First, he was a god. How could a casual strike of Soul Power condensed by him be something a Titled Douluo could withstand?

And Old Wu's side effects after Dragon Transformation were beyond the god's expectations.

Cold sweat streamed down Yu Xiaofeng's back, because he had thought of the worst possible outcome: the Dark Demon God had never intended to let Old Wu live.

After daring to challenge a god's majesty, how could Old Wu possibly be allowed to survive?

At that moment, a stream of green Soul Power entered Yu Xiaofeng's body and immediately slowed the gray Soul Power's erosion. Gradually, Yu Xiaofeng's condition began to improve, though very slowly.

Seeing that Yu Xiaofeng had stabilized, Old Wu asked doubtfully, "Xiaofeng, your Soul Power level hasn't dropped. You're actually about to break through?"

Upon hearing this, Ghost Douluo immediately took a careful look. Yu Xiaofeng's Soul Power was indeed rising continuously, and at such a terrifying speed that no horse could catch up.

Feeling his Soul Power grow stronger, Yu Xiaofeng shook his head. "This is just a benefit brought by my soul skill. It'll disappear after a while."

"If I could devour Soul Power to strengthen myself without limit, why would I need to cultivate? I could just find people everywhere and devour them."

The two elders nodded, feeling that Yu Xiaofeng's words made sense. Yet Yu Xiaofeng knew in his heart that the Rebirth Eye truly possessed such an ability. He simply did not want to try it now.

Glancing at the tiny amount of gray Soul Power remaining in Old Wu's body, Yu Xiaofeng let out a breath and said, "I'll return to Shrek Academy first. I plan to recover properly, and I'll come back once I've recovered."

"Old Ghost, gather your Soul Power as quickly as possible and keep yourself at your peak. When I return, I'll help you break through your bottleneck and advance to level ninety-six in one go."

Ghost Douluo nodded. The fact that Yu Xiaofeng could still say this at such a time showed that he had not forgotten their previous agreement, nor was he someone who discarded others once they had outlived their usefulness.

"Take care of yourself first. You don't need to worry about my matters. I'm not in a hurry."

Ghost Douluo comforted him.

After leaving the courtyard, Yu Xiaofeng walked alone. He found that this gray Soul Power was extremely unusual. Even after the green Soul Power devoured the gray Soul Power, the two still could not fuse.

Old Wu could accomplish it because the sheer quantity of his Soul Power was beyond Yu Xiaofeng's comparison. Old Wu's own Soul Power possessed an endless healing ability, while Yu Xiaofeng was merely borrowing some of it to contend against the gray Soul Power. The strengths and weaknesses were obvious at a glance.

The instant Yu Xiaofeng stepped into Shrek Academy, Dai Mubai stared at him in disbelief. "You... you're Xiaofeng?"

Looking at this elderly man in the twilight of his life, Dai Mubai truly could not believe his eyes. If this old man's features had not been seventy percent similar to Yu Xiaofeng's, he would have thought this person was Yu Xiaofeng's grandfather.

They looked far too alike.

Yu Xiaofeng nodded, smiled, and shouted, "I'm back! Aren't you coming out to welcome me?"

More than a dozen figures rushed out from the courtyard. The moment they landed, everyone was stunned by the elderly man before them.

Xiao Wu ran before Yu Xiaofeng with tears streaming down her face, then threw her arms around him and cried painfully, "Brother Feng, it's all my fault. If you hadn't saved me, how could you have ended up like this?"

Yu Xiaofeng patted Xiao Wu's head. "Silly girl, I promised everyone that I would bring you back safely, and I would definitely do it. Shrek's Seven Devils are one whole. In the future, we will be the most dazzling monsters on the entire continent."

Yu Xiaofeng released Xiao Wu, walked over to Dai Mubai, and gave him a fierce bear hug. "I'm back."

Dai Mubai's eyes reddened as he returned the hug. "Welcome back."

After separating from Dai Mubai, Tang San grabbed Yu Xiaofeng in a hug. "Brother Feng, thank you for bringing Xiao Wu back."

Yu Xiaofeng said, "She's my younger brother's wife. As her older brother, it's my duty to protect you all."

Tang San said, "Brother Feng, welcome back."

Ning Rongrong was deeply moved by the atmosphere. The cold pride in her eyes had long vanished. She wrapped her arms around Yu Xiaofeng and cried, "Brother Feng, you're finally back."

Yu Xiaofeng smiled. "Rong Rong, I'm back."

Oscar and Fatty came up to Yu Xiaofeng and pulled him into an embrace. Fatty cursed through his tears, "You actually ran off with that chick Meng Yiran. I was worried sick about you."

Oscar merely cried. After hemming and hawing for a long while, he only said, "You're finally back. Everyone was worried to death."

Yu Xiaofeng shifted his gaze past them and looked at Zhu Zhuqing with a smile. "Cat Sister, did you miss me?"

Zhu Zhuqing snorted coldly, tears covering her face. "Who would miss you? Keep dreaming."

Yu Xiaofeng took a quick step forward, spread his arms, and directly pulled Zhu Zhuqing into his embrace. Zhu Zhuqing instantly burst into tears and cursed through her sobs, "You idiot! Couldn't you have waited? What would I have done if something happened to you?"

"Waaah..."