Xuan Zi's Hasty Escape, Zhang Lexuan's Crippling

Dai Hao was crippled.

The thought flashed through Yan Jingchuan's mind, and the corners of his mouth could not help but curl up.

Having lost an arm and a leg, Dai Hao would inevitably fall from the Titled Douluo realm. He might not even remain a Soul Douluo.

That meant the Dai Family could no longer reclaim the throne, and it would become much easier for Star Luo Empire's Emperor Xu Jiawei to suppress Duke White Tiger.

If Dai Hao died before Huo Yun'er, who would Huo Yuhao seek revenge against? The duchess?

Whatever. It did not matter who he sought out. In the end, he would still be Tang San's dog.

"That Xuan Zi is seriously injured, and his soul power has been greatly depleted. Little Jingchuan, should we take this chance to finish him off?"

Ye Yulin's killing intent surged forth, while Zheng Zhan took out his ninth-grade soul tool, the Unbreakable Divine Shield, ready to act as well.

Staring at Xuan Zi at the bottom of the crater, Yan Jingchuan considered it for a moment before decisively shaking his head.

"We can't kill him."

The moment those words came out, Ye Yulin and Zheng Zhan were utterly baffled.

Zheng Zhan, impatient by nature, immediately grew anxious.

"Jingchuan, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! There might not be another chance like this! You can't let old ties make you soft-hearted!"

Though Ye Yulin was not as impatient as Zheng Zhan, he likewise did not want to let go of such a perfect opportunity to weaken Shrek.

"Don't rush, you two. Have you forgotten what I said? Shrek still has Mu En, a Limit Douluo."

Yan Jingchuan motioned for them to wait and listen to his explanation.

"If we kill Xuan Zi now, we can indeed remove one of Shrek's high-level combatants. But we would also most likely completely enrage Mu En. He does not have much time left. What if he comes to the Sun Moon Empire and drags us down with him in a desperate bid for mutual destruction?"

That question immediately silenced them. If a dying Limit Douluo came to Bright City and detonated himself, they would undoubtedly suffer catastrophic losses.

"Besides, killing Xuan Zi now would mean completely tearing apart our relations with Shrek. We aren't ready for an all-out war yet. It isn't worth abandoning all our plans for a piece of trash like Xuan Zi."

Seeing Ye Yulin and Zheng Zhan wavering, Yan Jingchuan continued.

"That makes sense..."

Those two reasons barely managed to persuade Ye Yulin. Zheng Zhan acknowledged Yan Jingchuan's words, but he still could not accept it.

"Elder Zheng, I promise you this: it won't be long before Mu En's death marks the beginning of Shrek's countdown to destruction. I will personally cut off Xuan Zi's head."

With that final assurance from Yan Jingchuan, Zheng Zhan nodded and stopped insisting.

In truth, Yan Jingchuan had other considerations for not killing Xuan Zi. First, he truly feared that Mu En might take him down in an explosion. Second, he believed that leaving Xuan Zi alive would cause Shrek even more trouble.

During the soul beast hunt a few years later, they would encounter a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, and Xuan Zi would cause more than half of the inner courtyard students to die or suffer injuries. During the inspection corps mission ten years later, the Evil Soul Master Death Messenger, merely the strongest Soul King, would nearly wipe out that generation of Shrek Seven Monsters.

Other than Xuan Zi, an elder of the Holy Spirit Cult, no one could accomplish such feats. Not even any other Titled Douluo could do it. Naturally, such talent had to be kept alive.

As for Mu En, he was the one who gave Yan Jingchuan the greatest headache.

That old bastard was neither dead nor dying, and Yan Jingchuan truly had no good way to deal with him.

If he went to Shrek to kill him, Mu En could invoke the Sea God's Light. The price would be enormous, and he might still fail to kill him.

Even if Ye Xishui and Long Xiaoyao acknowledged each other, Yan Jingchuan would not dare send them to kill Mu En.

With the complicated love triangle between them, there was an eighty-percent chance they would go easy on him. Letting the tiger return to the mountains would only double the trouble.

In short, the best option was to wait for Mu En to die naturally. Before then, any price paid to deal with that crippled Limit Douluo would be a losing investment.

The group descended before Xuan Zi, while Yan Jingchuan looked around for traces of Zhang Lexuan and the other two women, unsure whether they were dead or alive.

The moment Xuan Zi's originally dull, vacant eyes landed on Yan Jingchuan, terrifying fury erupted from within them.

"You little bastard!!! It's all because of you! This old man will..."

Before he could finish, Ye Yulin possessed his Star Archer Blood Tiger martial soul and slapped Xuan Zi flying while he was caught off guard.

Xuan Zi slid across the ground, his eyes bloodshot as he panted like a bull.

"You Sun Moon Empire scum! How dare you humiliate me like this!"

Supporting his battered body, Xuan Zi let out a roar and charged forward.

Ye Yulin and Zheng Zhan no longer cared about any martial honor. The two joined forces and ganged up on Xuan Zi.

The three clashed in a tangled battle. Despite his severe injuries, Xuan Zi could still contend with both of them. Though he was at a disadvantage, Ye Yulin and Zheng Zhan still found it difficult to take him down easily.

Watching them fight, Yan Jingchuan gained a clear understanding of the strength of the Sun Moon Empire's Titled Douluo.

At the same level, the Sun Moon Empire's Titled Douluo were absolutely no match for those from the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms. But with soul tools, the Sun Moon Empire could suppress the Original Douluo Three Kingdoms.

The battle continued for a while before Ye Yulin and Zheng Zhan finally subdued the injured Xuan Zi.

"Damned Sun Moon Empire people!! If you've got the guts, stop using soul tools for sneak attacks! Once this old man's injuries recover, we'll fight a fair battle!"

Pinned to the ground, Xuan Zi cursed without stopping. Yan Jingchuan had no patience for him, and his dragon-transformed palm rained down on Xuan Zi's face.

"Old bastard, do you take us for idiots?"

A level ninety-eight Hyper Douluo's face really was exceptionally thick. Yan Jingchuan actually found it somewhat difficult to slap him.

After taking dozens of slaps, Xuan Zi's eyes were blood-red. He seemed to have gone mad, spraying saliva everywhere as he cursed Yan Jingchuan for being heartless and ungrateful.

Not wanting to argue with an idiot, Yan Jingchuan stripped away Xuan Zi's storage soul tool and said, half-threatening and half-reminding, "Elder Ye, Elder Zheng, it seems Xuan Zi's injuries are still too light. Make him shut up forever."

"No... No, no!!! You can't kill me! I'm an elder of Shrek..."

Ye Yulin and Zheng Zhan gave sinister smiles. No matter how Xuan Zi threatened or begged, they acted as though they heard nothing and directly used him as a ball to kick around, while Yan Jingchuan inspected the spoils of battle on his own.

Most of the things in Xuan Zi's storage soul tool were food and alcohol. There was not a single coin inside. The only truly valuable items were several soul bones.

Objectively speaking, their quality was quite high, but unfortunately, none of them were hundred-thousand-year soul bones.

There were five in total. Two were under fifty thousand years, while three were over fifty thousand years. Every one of them came from draconic soul beasts.

Yan Jingchuan had no plans to absorb them. If they were not hundred-thousand-year soul bones, he simply did not care for them. Saving them as rewards for his subordinates in the future would be enough.

Beside him, Ye Yulin and Zheng Zhan beat Xuan Zi until he was half-dead, then finally exposed a deliberate opening and let Xuan Zi escape.

Before the severely injured Xuan Zi fled, he did not forget to leave behind a threat.

"Sun Moon Empire, you have chosen the path to death! Shrek will not let you off!"

Yan Jingchuan curled his lip and spat.

"What a load of nonsense."

Ye Yulin and Zheng Zhan had enjoyed themselves thoroughly. They had never even dared imagine that they would one day use an elder of Sea God Pavilion as a ball.

"You two, please bring Dai Hao along. It's time for us to have a talk with Commander Wang Yiheng."

As Yan Jingchuan prepared to speak with Wang Yiheng, he did not forget the half-dead Dai Hao. He was crippled, but he could still be used to extort the Star Luo Empire, so he retained some value.

Just as Yan Jingchuan was about to leave, he suddenly received a voice transmission from the Nether Douluo and immediately turned on the spot.

"You go on ahead. I need to... relieve myself."

Ye Yulin, who was dragging Dai Hao, froze. He exchanged a glance with Zheng Zhan, making it clear that they had to remain beside Yan Jingchuan at all times to protect him.

Yan Jingchuan tried every excuse he could think of, saying that it was not far away and that he had Hongchen's Blessing, a ninth-grade soul tool, on him. Nothing would happen.

They refused no matter what. They were not like Xuan Zi, and Yan Jingchuan truly could not fool them.

In the end, Zheng Zhan escorted Dai Hao while Ye Yulin alone accompanied him.

In a forest near the Ming Dou Mountains, Ye Yulin had just landed with Yan Jingchuan when two figures wearing cloaks that concealed their faces and bodies suddenly appeared.

Ye Yulin was startled. He had not sensed them in the slightest, and the soul power fluctuations from both of them were no weaker than his own.

Instantly realizing that they had been ambushed, Ye Yulin's expression turned grave as cold sweat streamed down his face. Soul rings emerged beneath his feet, and he possessed his martial soul. He had already thought through how to fight to the death and buy Yan Jingchuan time to escape.

Then he watched helplessly as Yan Jingchuan walked straight over.

"What is it?"

The Nether Lightning Douluo and the Nether Douluo said nothing. They simply waved a hand, and three figures appeared on the grass.

Upon taking a closer look, Yan Jingchuan was slightly surprised, because the three were Zhang Lexuan and the other two women.

He stepped forward to examine them, and their condition was better than he had expected.

Han Ruoruo and Wu Ming were critically wounded and on the verge of death. Half of Zhang Lexuan's body had been blown away, her martial soul was shattered, and she had only a faint breath left.