[Peerless Tang Clan · Ten Strongest Rankings, Top 6 was about to be revealed.]
"Sixth..." Ma Hongjun swallowed. "Stronger than that old man who blew himself up?"
Inside a dim hall.
The furnishings were ancient and solemn. A long table stood in the center, piled with bamboo scrolls and maps. Several candles flickered weakly, stretching the shadows on the walls into long, twisted shapes.
A man sat behind the table.
He was neither young nor particularly old, appearing to be in his fifties or sixties. His build was excessively burly.
His face was broad, his cheekbones high, and his eyes half-open, half-closed, making his emotions impossible to read.
A wine jar sat by his hand, its mouth uncorked. The fragrance of alcohol seemed strong enough to be smelled even through the Sky Screen.
He was eating.
An entire roast lamb, half a rack of pork ribs, a pot of unidentifiable meat stew cooked to mush, and several dishes with unrecognizable names covered the table.
The man tore meat apart with one hand and held a bowl with the other. His table manners were not exactly crude, but he ate at an astonishing speed, as though someone might snatch it away from him.
"Th-this is sixth place?" "An uncle having a meal?"
Golden words slowly emerged across the Sky Screen.
[Peerless Tang Clan · Ten Strongest Rankings, Top 6: Xuan Zi]
[Identity: Shrek Academy · Headmaster]
[Cultivation: Rank 98 · Super Douluo (Peak)]
On Shrek Academy's training grounds, Flender froze completely.
His mouth hung open, his jaw nearly dropping to the ground.
"Shrek... Academy?" His voice cracked as though someone had stepped on a cat's tail. "That's my school?!"
Zhao Wuji abruptly turned toward him, and the two stared at each other wide-eyed.
"Your Shrek produced a Rank 98?" Zhao Wuji's voice trembled. "Headmaster... are you sure that rundown school of yours..."
"Shut up!" Flender slapped the back of Zhao Wuji's head, though even his hand was shaking. "Shrek Academy! The Sky Screen says Shrek Academy!"
His eyes began to burn.
Shrek Academy—the place mocked by the entire continent as some "third-rate academy," the shabby place that struggled even to recruit students, ran a deficit year after year, and where he, Flender, had served as headmaster for half his life without saving much money—had produced someone ranked sixth among the Ten Strongest.
Rank 98.
Peak Super Douluo.
Only one rank lower than that Rank 99 old man who had self-destructed earlier.
"I told you Shrek wasn't some third-rate academy!" Flender nearly flung snot as he spoke, causing Zhao Wuji to move two steps away in disgust.
Yu Xiaogang stood behind the crowd. His lips moved as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he remained silent.
Shrek Academy.
That was where he had once stayed.
It had been built by Flender, Zhao Wuji, Liu Erlong, and the others. It was now merely a small academy barely managing to survive, yet in the future... it could actually cultivate a headmaster of this level?
Tang San did not join the commotion around him. He stared at the man eating on the Sky Screen, his gaze darkening.
Rank 98.
His father, Tang Hao, was Rank 97.
This man called Xuan Zi was one rank above his father. And the Sky Screen had written "Peak"—which meant he might break through to Rank 99 at any moment.
The image on the Sky Screen shifted.
The view zoomed in on the table. Xuan Zi set down the half-eaten lamb leg in his hand, picked up a cloth beside him, and wiped his mouth. His movements were casual, even somewhat lazy, completely unlike how a Rank 98 Super Douluo ought to behave.
A young man ran in through the hall doors and dropped to one knee.
"Headmaster! The Sun Moon Empire's advance forces have reached the outskirts of Star Luo City. The enemy has deployed at least three Soul Engineer legions, and also—"
"How many?" Xuan Zi interrupted, sounding as though he were asking what the cafeteria was serving today.
The young man paused. "Initial estimates... exceed one hundred and fifty thousand."
Xuan Zi gave an "Mm," then picked up the lamb leg again and took another bite.
"Headmaster?" The young man's voice was urgent.
Xuan Zi chewed twice, swallowed, took a huge swig from the wine jar, then rose to his feet.
The moment he stood up, the air throughout the hall changed.
Once standing straight, the man was over two meters tall, broad-shouldered and powerfully built...
"One hundred and fifty thousand?" He smacked his lips as if savoring the taste of the wine.
"Will that be enough for me to eat?"
Rank 98, the sixth-ranked headmaster of Shrek Academy.
Shrek Academy—that little academy Bibi Dong could not even be bothered to spare a second glance at—actually possessed such foundations in the future?
If Shrek Academy's future headmaster was a Rank 98 Super Douluo, then the forces behind the academy... were far more complicated than she had estimated.
Qian Daoliu stood behind her and said quietly, "Shrek Academy... Hall Master, should this academy be reassessed?"
[Martial Soul: Taotie]
"Taotie?!" "One of the four Ancient Ferocious Beasts?!"
"Wasn't that just a legend? How could someone possess Taotie as a Martial Soul?"
The Sky Screen provided a more detailed explanation.
[Taotie: An Ancient Ferocious Beast that devours all things, swallowing the heavens and consuming the earth. Xuan Zi's Martial Soul is the Taotie Avatar, capable of devouring all matter and energy, including but not limited to—Soul Skills, Soul Power, attacks from Soul Tools, and even life force itself.]
Flender's smile froze on his face.
"Devour... everything?"
Zhao Wuji's Adam's apple bobbed. "Isn't that fucking ridiculous? Soul Skills get eaten the moment they're fired? Then what the hell is there left to fight with?"
The image on the Sky Screen changed.
A battlefield.
On scorched earth plowed over countless times by artillery fire, Xuan Zi stood alone at the very front.
Behind him were his own retreating troops, battered remnants in complete disarray. Barely any of them could still stand.
Before him—stood the vast, dark mass of the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Engineer legions.
Dozens of enormous Soul Tool warships floated in the sky, while dense arrays of Soul Cannons lined the ground...
One man against an army.
Xuan Zi's body began to change.
Dark golden patterns appeared across his skin, and his body rapidly expanded. His clothes tore like paper before his swelling muscles. His back arched, his arms thickened, and his fingers transformed into jet-black claws.
The phantom of a massive beast's maw formed behind him.
In the distance, the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Engineer legions gave the order to fire in unison.
Hundreds of Soul Tool beams shot out at once. Golden, silver, and purple energies intertwined, forming a destructive attack powerful enough to level an entire city.
Xuan Zi spread his arms.
The Taotie phantom behind him opened its maw in sync.
Every attack—every single beam—was sucked inside.
Xuan Zi stood upon the scorched earth as the Taotie phantom behind him slowly closed its mouth.
"Not enough." "Again."
"So this is Shrek's future headmaster..." Oscar's throat was dry. "Our school's future headmaster is this kind of monster?"
Dai Mubai stood beside him. His Martial Soul was the White Tiger, one of the highest-ranked beast Martial Souls. But compared to Taotie—what was the White Tiger?
Golden commentary slowly emerged on the Sky Screen.
[Evaluation: He is Shrek Academy's strongest shield. When war descends, he chooses to stand before everyone else and eat the enemy's artillery fire, bite by bite.]
[The name Taotie does not stand for greed, but protection.]
The final line of text quietly appeared on the Sky Screen.
[Reward issued: One fragment of the Taotie Heaven-Devouring Art.]
[Effect: The cultivator may obtain a weak ability to devour energy, but excessive use will trigger uncontrollable gluttonous instincts.]
[Drop location: Random across the entire Douluo Continent.]
[Peerless Tang Clan · Ten Strongest Rankings, Top 5 was about to be revealed.]
Flender had just wiped his eyes when his body stiffened.
"Fifth?" Zhao Wuji's voice had already gone hoarse. "Sixth is a Rank 98 Taotie... what the hell is fifth?"