Top 10 Strongest of The Unrivaled Tang Sect, Top 6: Xuan Zi (Taotie Douluo, Rank 99)

[The Unrivaled Tang Sect · Top 10 Strongest Ranking, Top 6 was about to be revealed.]

"Sixth..." Ma Hongjun swallowed. "Stronger than that old man who blew himself up?"

In a dimly lit hall.

The furnishings inside were ancient and solemn. A long table stood in the center, piled with bamboo scrolls and maps. Several candles flickered faintly, stretching the shadows on the walls long and distorted.

A man sat behind the table.

He was neither young nor particularly old, looking to be in his fifties or sixties, with an excessively burly build.

His face was broad, his cheekbones high, and his eyes half-open, half-closed, revealing no emotion.

A wine jar sat beside his hand, its mouth open. The aroma of wine seemed perceptible 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 plates of nameless dishes 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 if someone were trying to steal his food.

"This... this is sixth place?" "An uncle eating dinner?"

Golden words slowly appeared on the Sky Screen.

[The Unrivaled Tang Sect · Top 10 Strongest Ranking, Top 6: Xuan Zi]

[Identity: Shrek Academy · Dean]

[Cultivation: Rank 98 · Super Douluo (Peak)]

On Shrek Academy's training grounds, Flender went completely rigid.

His mouth hung open, his jaw nearly dropping to the ground.

"Shrek... Academy?" His voice cracked like he had stepped on a cat's tail. "That's my school?!"

Zhao Wuji abruptly turned to stare at him, the two of them locking eyes.

"Your Shrek produced a Rank 98?" Zhao Wuji's voice trembled. "Dean... are you sure that run-down 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 said Shrek Academy!"

His eyes grew a little hot.

Shrek Academy—the place mocked by the entire continent as a "backwater school," the place that struggled even to recruit students, whose funds ran a deficit every year, the lousy school where he, Flender, had served as dean for half his life without saving a penny—had produced someone ranked sixth among the top ten strongest.

Rank 98.

Peak Super Douluo.

Only one rank lower than that Rank 99 old man who had just blown himself up.

"I told you Shrek wasn't some backwater school!" Flender nearly flung snot everywhere, prompting Zhao Wuji to move two steps away in disgust.

Yu Xiaogang stood behind the crowd. His lips twitched 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 might now be nothing more than a small academy barely scraping by, but in the future... it could actually cultivate a dean of this caliber?

Tang San did not join in the surrounding commotion. He stared at the man eating on the Sky Screen, his gaze darkening.

Rank 98.

His father, Tang Hao, was Rank 97.

This man named Xuan Zi was one rank higher than 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 moved.

The view zoomed in on the table. Xuan Zi set down the half-eaten lamb leg in his hand and casually wiped his mouth with a cloth beside him. His movements were relaxed, even somewhat lazy, completely unlike what one would expect from a Rank 98 Super Douluo.

A young man ran in through the hall doors and dropped to one knee.

"Dean! The Sun Moon Empire's advance forces have reached the outskirts of Star Luo City. They've deployed at least three Soul Engineer legions, and—"

"How many?" Xuan Zi interrupted, his tone as casual as if asking what the cafeteria was serving that day.

The young man froze for a moment. "Initial estimates... more than one hundred and fifty thousand."

Xuan Zi grunted and picked up the lamb leg again, taking another bite.

"Dean?" Urgency filled the young man's voice.

Xuan Zi chewed twice, swallowed, took a huge swig from the wine jar, and then stood.

The moment he rose, the air throughout the entire 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 wine's aftertaste.

"Will that be enough for me to eat?"

A Rank 98, sixth-ranked dean of Shrek Academy.

Shrek Academy—that tiny academy that even she, Bibi Dong, could not be bothered to give a second glance—actually possessed such foundations in the future?

If Shrek Academy's future dean was a Rank 98 Super Douluo, then the power behind this academy... was 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?!"

"Isn't that just a legend? How could someone have Taotie as a Martial Soul?"

The Sky Screen provided a more detailed explanation.

[Taotie: An Ancient Ferocious Beast that greedily devours all things, swallowing heaven and consuming 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. "That's fucking ridiculous, isn't it? Soul Skills get eaten the moment they hit him? Then how the hell do you even fight?"

The image on the Sky Screen shifted.

A battlefield.

On a scorched wasteland plowed over countless times by artillery fire, Xuan Zi stood alone at the very front.

Behind him were retreating allied forces, battered remnants of an army, armor discarded everywhere. Few could even remain standing.

Before him—stood the black mass of the Sun Moon Empire's Soul Engineer legions.

Dozens of massive Soul Tool warships floated in the sky, while densely packed Soul Tool cannon formations stretched across the ground...

One man against an army.

Xuan Zi's body began to change.

Dark-golden patterns emerged over his skin, and his body rapidly swelled. His clothes tore apart like paper before his expanding muscles. His back arched, his arms thickened, and his five fingers transformed into pitch-black claws.

The phantom of a massive beastly 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 simultaneously. Golden, silver, and purple energy intertwined, forming a destructive attack powerful enough to flatten an entire city.

Xuan Zi spread his arms.

The Taotie phantom behind him opened its maw in unison.

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 dean..." Oscar's throat went dry. "Our school's future dean is a monster like this?"

Dai Mubai stood nearby. His Martial Soul was the White Tiger, one of the finest beast-type Martial Souls. But compared to Taotie—what did the White Tiger even count for?

Golden commentary slowly appeared on the Sky Screen.

[Evaluation: He is Shrek Academy's strongest shield. When war descends, he chooses to stand before everyone else and devour the enemy's artillery fire, one mouthful at a time.]

[The name Taotie does not stand for greed, but for protection.]

The final line of text silently appeared on the Sky Screen.

[Reward distributed: One fragment of the Taotie Heaven-Devouring Art.]

[Effect: The cultivator may gain a faint ability to devour energy, but excessive use will trigger uncontrollable gluttonous instincts.]

[Drop location: Random across the entire Douluo Continent.]

[The Unrivaled Tang Sect · Top 10 Strongest Ranking, 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?"