An Ancient Sacred Ground Collapsing Overnight

The setting sun resembled blood, staining thousands of miles of mountains and rivers red.

The sky over Shrek City had never looked so gloomy.

For ten thousand years, this academy standing at the very center of the Douluo Continent had witnessed dynastic changes, soul beast stampedes, and plane upheavals. Having weathered countless storms, it had stood eternal. People called it the sacred ground of the continent, the cradle of soul masters, a benchmark of justice, and an undying faith.

Yet today, that faith collapsed.

Two earth-shaking roars shattered ten thousand years of glory.

Two Level-12 Fixed-Mounted Godslayer Soul Cannon Shells crossed the sky, carrying destructive might sufficient to annihilate gods. They fell without warning, smashing into the two core areas of Shrek's main city and the Tang Sect headquarters.

Flames soared into the sky, and a crimson storm of destruction instantly swept across the entire city.

The earth cracked violently, and streets stretching for a hundred miles shattered instantly. Sturdy academy buildings, the statue of Poseidon that had been passed down for ten thousand years, and ancient halls left behind by past sages were as fragile as paper in the face of the ultimate destructive power.

The roaring continued, deafening.

Billowing smoke and dust shot into the sky, obscuring the sun and moon, completely plunging the entire sky into dead silence and darkness.

Tang Wulin knelt half-bent in the scorching ruins, his entire body trembling.

Golden dragon scales covered him from head to foot, but they were already covered in cracks. Wisps of golden blood continuously oozed from the gaps in the scales, dripping down his fingertips onto the searing scorched earth with a faint sizzling sound.

He was already numb to the excruciating pain.

More painful than his physical body tearing apart was the despair of his soul being ripped to shreds.

He raised his blood-stained eyes, and within his field of vision lay an absolute, living purgatory.

The once bustling and lively streets of Shrek no longer existed.

Those classrooms that usually echoed with sound reading, the squares where disciples played, and the lush, green paths through the forests had all been reduced to broken walls and ruined pillars.

The ground was a mess, scarred beyond recognition.

Collapsed roof beams, shattered stones, charred vegetation, and countless figures fallen amidst the ruins who could never get up again were visible everywhere.

Fellow disciples, mentors, seniors, junior brothers and sisters...

Face after warm, vibrant face turned into cold corpses in the span of just a few breaths.

The scent of blood, the smell of burning, and the aura of dust mixed together, pressing heavily into the air and making it too suffocating to breathe.

"Why..."

The hoarse murmur squeezed out from the teenager's cracked throat.

He did not understand.

Shrek had upheld righteousness for ten thousand years, never participating in politics or seeking hegemony. It guarded the common people of the continent for generations, sheltered weak soul masters, and had never overstepped its bounds by even a fraction.

The Tang Sect was devoted to doing good, punishing the wicked and rewarding the good, balancing various forces, and maintaining the stability of the continent.

Yet in the end, what it got in return was the Federation's suspicion, the Spirit Pagoda's indifference, and the Holy Spirit Cult's slaughter.

The three major forces joined hands, using every means possible and exhausting the world's most terrifying weapons, solely to completely eradicate this ten-thousand-year-old sacred ground.

How absurd, how ironic.

The violent aftermath of destruction still ravaged the heavens and the earth, and dark red destructive energy tore and devoured everything around it.

Countless students who failed to evacuate in time let out desperate wails, their cries piercing through the smoke and dust, shrill and bone-chilling, only to be instantly swallowed by the terrifying storm.

Despair was overwhelming.

Just moments ago, he had witnessed that earth-shattering scene with his own eyes.

The instant the two Godslayer cannons descended, the entirety of Shrek was plunged into a desperate situation. No one could block it, no one could resist it; that was a destructive power exceeding the limit of Title Douluo and touching the realm of the gods.

It was Pavilion Master Yun Ming.

That individual standing at the pinnacle of the contemporary era, half a step away from becoming a god, who propped up the entire Shrek and Tang Sect like a pillar holding up the heavens—at that very moment, he stepped forward.

No one knew how tragic that battle was.

The world only saw a pale cyan pillar of soul power shooting straight into the sky, a proud and upright figure standing across the entire sky above Shrek, single-handedly blocking the Godslayer cannon fire that was enough to annihilate a city.

His quasi-god body burned to ashes.

Ten thousand years of cultivation incinerated in an instant.

He burned the foundation of his godhood and overthrew all of his divine soul origin, forcefully blocking, crushing, and weakening the destructive might of the two Godslayer shells.

He protected the surviving Shrek disciples, and he protected Tang Wulin and his companions.

Yet the only person he did not protect was himself.

Amidst the astonishing flames, that figure who was always calm, always unyielding, and always sheltering the younger generation from the wind and rain dissipated inch by inch, turning into a sky full of light points that drifted with the wind in the shattered heaven and earth.

Not even a corpse remained, and his soul was utterly destroyed.

A generation of pillars supporting the heavens came to a complete end.

"Pavilion Master..."

Tang Wulin clenched his fists tightly, his knuckles splitting and dripping with blood.

His eye sockets were red, and tears mixed with blood slid down his cheeks.

He had never felt so powerless.

At eighteen years old, he was already the most monstrous genius of the current era, bearing the Dragon God's Origin. His Golden Dragon Body was invincible among his peers, and his breakthrough speed surpassed all past and present, unmatched by anyone of his generation.

He had thought he was strong enough.

He thought he could shoulder the responsibility, protect the sect, protect Shrek, and protect everyone around him.

Yet in the face of a true catastrophe, he was still as insignificant as an ant.

Watching his seniors sacrifice themselves, watching the sacred ground collapse, and watching his fellow disciples die tragic deaths, he could do nothing.

He could only watch.

Endless remorse frantically gnawed at his soul.

If he had been just a little stronger.

If he could have been just a step faster.

If he could have blocked that blow for Pavilion Master Yun Ming...

Yet there were never second chances in this world.

Nearby, the Shrek Seven Monsters had all fallen to the ground heavily injured, every face covered in blood and bewilderment.

Yue Zhengyu, Xie Xie, Xu Xiaoyan... these companions who had walked side by side all the way and fought through blood were now covered in wounds, silently gazing at their ravaged homeland as the light in the depths of their eyes completely extinguished little by little.

Ten thousand years of Shrek fell today.

The glory passed down through eternity scattered in a single morning.

The sacred ground that had stood unfallen collapsed overnight.

The cracks in the sky continued to spread, spatial barriers torn riddled with holes by the aftermath of destruction. Wild winds howled between heaven and earth, and smoke and dust rolled, as if even the heavens were mourning for this fallen academy.

The residual destructive energy still raged, bit by bit devouring the last traces of vitality in this land.

Tang Wulin slowly stood up, his crumbling body as straight as a spear.

In his golden eyes, the gentleness and clarity of youth were completely gone.

Replaced by a monstrous hatred, a bone-chilling desolation, and a trace of near-obsessive stubbornness.

The sacred ground had fallen, seniors had martyred themselves, and the blood debt was vivid before his eyes.

Today's debt, today's pain, today's destruction—

He, Tang Wulin, would engrave every bit of it in his heart.

Ten thousand years of glory shattered in this place, and tens of thousands of souls were buried in this sky.

One day, he would make everyone who personally destroyed Shrek pay with their blood!

A fierce wind swept across the ruins, raising dust all over the sky.

The teenager stood amidst the ravaged and shattered mountains and rivers, covered in blood and world-weary.

An ancient sacred ground turned into ruins overnight.

The despair belonging to the Dragon King and the tragic song of an era echoed through the heavens and earth at this very moment.