Elder Xuan Shows His Strength

"Your Highness! Run!"

Qin Shubao stood in front of Princess Weina. The Soul Power in his body had long since been exhausted, and waves of tearing pain came from his meridians, but he gritted his teeth and held on stubbornly.

As Her Highness's guard, even if he had only his last breath left, he would never retreat even half a step.

"Boy! This old man will give you one last chance! Join Shrek Academy!"

Elder Xuan stood with his hands behind his back, his eyes carrying the condescending air of someone bestowing charity, as though joining Shrek Academy was a blessing this young man had cultivated over several lifetimes.

Yet just moments ago, the price of that "blessing" had been for him to personally slaughter every friend beside Princess Weina. Even the hot-blooded Young Sect Master, Long Aotian, had had his chest shattered by a single palm strike while protecting Princess Weina, his blood splattering across an entire wall.

"Are you Shrek Academy declaring war on the Heaven Dou Empire?!"

Though Weina was terrified, she still could not suppress the fury erupting from her very bones. She had heard far too many rumors about Shrek Academy's arrogance and lawlessness, but she had never imagined that they would dare to openly storm the Heaven Dou Empire's lounge during the main tournament of the Soul Master Tournament and murder people right in front of her.

What outrageous arrogance, what utter lawlessness! She clenched her fists tightly, her eyes reddening as she forced back her tears.

"Hmph! The Heaven Dou Empire? They're nothing but a pack of spineless dogs! Even if this old man kills you, they wouldn't dare utter a word!"

Elder Xuan sneered, his tone brimming with disdain and contempt. In his mind, the Heaven Dou Empire was an empire, while the Body Sect was a sect. The two were clearly separate and had nothing to do with each other.

However, aside from Qin Shubao, the substitute guard, every official member of this team possessed a Body Martial Soul.

The Body Sect was located within the Heaven Dou Empire, and since all these members possessed Body Martial Souls, they were naturally people from the Body Sect. It could not have been more obvious.

Yet this Super Douluo, Elder Xuan, simply refused to see it.

He was so certain because, in his mind, the Soul Master Tournament had never prohibited sects from participating independently.

If the Body Sect truly wanted to participate, it could simply register under the name of the Body Sect. There was no need to hide behind the Heaven Dou Empire's name.

Thus, he believed there was nothing wrong with what he had done. So what if he killed a few juniors who did not know their place? Did the Heaven Dou Empire dare fall out with Shrek Academy over it?

However, his missing intelligence had utterly failed to recognize one extremely serious problem.

Shrek Academy had brazenly attacked the Heaven Dou Empire, one of the four great empires, and had even carried out a massacre in the Heaven Dou Empire's lounge. This was no longer a simple personal grudge, but naked provocation.

More fatally, this had happened on Star Luo Empire territory. As the tournament's host, how could the Star Luo Empire tolerate such a thing happening on its own land? This was no different from offending both the Heaven Dou Empire and the Star Luo Empire at once.

Meanwhile, the Sun Moon Empire's hatred for Shrek Academy had never waned for even a moment. They had always been waiting for an opportunity—an opportunity to tear Shrek Academy apart completely.

As long as someone took the lead, the Sun Moon Empire would surely join immediately, perhaps even adding the deadliest blow of all.

With this one move, Elder Xuan had personally pushed Shrek Academy onto the countdown to Destruction.

Yet this self-important Super Douluo was still immersed in his own arrogance, completely unaware that he had lit a fuse, and at the end of that fuse lay the collapse of Shrek Academy's ten-thousand-year foundation.

However, he could no longer maintain his arrogance, because the commotion he had caused had drawn out every Titled Douluo from the Star Luo Empire's Shrine Hall, and it had also attracted Xu Feng.

When Xu Jiawei led the Shrine Hall's experts to the scene at top speed, the sight before him made his pupils constrict sharply, his heart nearly skipping a beat.

The corpses of Heaven Dou Empire guards lay scattered in pools of blood. Nearly every official member was dead, and what made his scalp tingle most was that Princess Weina sat collapsed amid the ruins, with Qin Shubao the only one still standing.

"Xuanzi! Are you trying to declare war on both the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire at once?!"

Xu Jiawei clenched his fists tightly. This situation was practically his worst nightmare come true. There really was a lunatic with a death wish who dared to openly assassinate important figures of the Heaven Dou Empire within Star Luo Empire territory, and who had nearly slaughtered the Heaven Dou Empire's princess!

His mind raced through the implications. If nothing unexpected happened, Princess Weina was the key piece the Heaven Dou Empire had sent to arrange a political marriage with Xu Feng, the Sun Moon Empire's crown prince.

Though he did not yet know how far the negotiations had progressed, if the marriage had already been settled, then the Heaven Dou Empire would effectively have boarded the Sun Moon Empire's massive warship.

At that point, the Star Luo Empire would face the desperate situation of being attacked from both sides by the Sun Moon Empire and the Heaven Dou Empire, while the strategic buffer he had painstakingly cultivated for years would vanish overnight.

He had guarded against every possibility, even secretly sending people to watch every movement along the border, all to avoid giving the Sun Moon Empire an excuse to start a war early.

And yet, this Elder Xuan before him had personally and steadily handed this poisoned blade straight into the enemy's hands! He was plainly treating the fate of the entire Star Luo Empire as a joke!

"Hmph! What the hell does this have to do with you? This old man is merely taking Shrek Academy's student back!" Elder Xuan's aged face was full of disdain.

He did not even spare Xu Jiawei a proper glance, as if the top experts of the Star Luo Empire below him were merely a group of noisy ants.

After all, he was a rank ninety-eight Super Douluo, a being at the very peak of the continent. The strongest Shrine Hall elder of the Star Luo Empire was only rank ninety-seven, and he was stationed at the border. What the hell did Elder Xuan have to fear? Even if the Star Luo Empire mobilized its entire nation to hunt him down, he was confident he could carve a bloody path out.

"Damn! I've seen shameless people before, but never anyone as shameless as you!"

Cheng Gang trembled with rage, pointing at Elder Xuan as he cursed loudly. Having lived for most of his life, he believed he had seen every kind of shameless scoundrel, but he had never seen anyone twist black into white with such unparalleled mastery.

That Qin Shubao was clearly a guard sent by the Heaven Dou Empire to protect the princess, yet with a few casual words, you turned him into a student of Shrek Academy. How thick must your skin be to say such nonsense without even changing expression?

However, just as both sides were about to make their move, the arrival of one person changed the situation once more.

"It's quite lively over here. Perfect, this sovereign can stretch his limbs as well."