Drag Shrek Down from Its Pedestal

"Qi Ji! Qi Ji!"

"Seven-Colored Dragon Emperor! Seven-Colored Dragon Emperor!"

Seeing Qi Ji standing on the arena so high-spirited and overbearing, with seven Shrek elites sprawled haphazardly at his feet, the audience erupted completely.

Eighty thousand people shouted his name in unison, each wave of sound louder than the last, crashing against the stadium dome like a tsunami. The entire venue trembled.

Most of these spectators were die-hard fans of Soul Master matches, with a deep-rooted worship of violence and power.

The Federation had become more regulated in recent years, and killing was now against the law. But back in the eras of Douluo One and Two, Soul Master duels always drew blood. There had been only one rule in the arena: those standing won, and those lying down lost.

So how could these spectators possibly be law-abiding citizens?

Every one of them was bloodthirsty. Watching Qi Ji's crushing, nearly brutal fighting style, they felt no revulsion whatsoever. Instead, they became even more excited.

What was more, Qi Ji had defeated the undefeated legend in their hearts—Shrek.

Before Shrek lost, they had been the white moonlight, the undefeated myth, the sacred ground in every Soul Master's heart.

But once they lost, when the wall fell, everyone pushed it. They immediately became the backdrop for Qi Ji's rise over them.

The audience's emotions were this realistic—if you won today, you were a god; if you lost tomorrow, you were nothing.

"Entangle!"

Suddenly, just as Qi Ji waved toward the audience in acknowledgment, a white figure appeared on the arena without warning.

She was a woman in a long green robe, her face cold and stern. A precise set of Two-Character Battle Armor covered her body, and her Soul Power fluctuations were deep and sharp.

With a wave of her hand, several thick vines burst from the ground and coiled around Qi Ji's limbs and torso like spiritual serpents.

Qi Ji lowered his head and glanced at the vines wrapped around him—Blue Silver Grass?

But... this was hilarious. He could still see a skill like Blue Silver Entanglement in Douluo Three? That was ridiculous!

Qi Ji's body trembled slightly, and his Soul Power exploded outward. The moment those vines came into contact with his dragon might, they shattered inch by inch, turning into fragments that drifted through the air.

He dusted off the corner of his clothes without even breaking a sweat.

But he immediately recognized who stood before him—Shrek Academy's team-leading teacher, Shen Yi.

Wu Changkong's junior sister, the Red Dragon Douluo's disciple, a typical Shrek person brainwashed to the bone by Shrek's glory.

"You vicious bastard! How could you strike so ruthlessly?!"

Shen Yi stood on the arena, eyes wide as she watched her students lying scattered across the ground. Especially when she saw the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon boy, whose martial soul had regressed and whose face was smeared with filth, her expression nearly twisted out of shape.

In her eyes, Qi Ji had not only risen by stepping on her students' faces, but had also destroyed their martial souls and dignity in an utterly humiliating fashion. This was simply the greatest provocation against Shrek.

"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want." Qi Ji crossed his arms and tilted his head, his tone carrying an innocent, What are you talking about? Why can't I understand?

"You can eat whatever you want, but you can't just say whatever you want? How was I ruthless? I didn't do anything excessively harmful, did I?" Qi Ji said with his arms crossed.

He had casually dealt with the first two himself, while the rest had simply been unable to withstand his domain and collapsed on their own.

As for the last one, his martial soul was from the Dragon Clan. Qi Ji had happened to wonder whether, as the Dragon Clan's crown prince, he possessed the right to judge Dragon Clan members like the Dragon Clan Law Blade did.

So he had killed the Dragon Soul dwelling within that martial soul. He simply had not expected the other party's martial soul to turn into Luo Sanpao.

Of course, those were invisible maneuvers that no one else could see.

To outsiders, it merely appeared that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon boy had been unable to endure Qi Ji's dragon might, causing his martial soul to regress on its own before he finally collapsed.

Blades and swords showed no mercy in a Soul Master battle. It was already fortunate that no one had been killed. And since no evidence showed that Qi Ji had intentionally caused harm, what could anyone do to him?

"On the contrary—" Qi Ji abruptly shifted his tone, staring straight at Shen Yi as his voice rose an octave.

"Teacher Shen from Shrek, you rushed onto the arena and attacked a Federation public servant without distinguishing right from wrong, interfering with a sacred Soul Master duel. Isn't that the real crime?"

He chose to turn the accusation back on her, and in a way that left no room for criticism.

His logic was clear and his reasoning well organized. He defined Shen Yi's actions as "assaulting a Federation public servant" and "interfering with an official competition." Either charge alone was enough to make her suffer.

"Hmph, after tens of thousands of years, is Shrek still this arrogant?" Qi Ji continued to press his advantage.

"You don't take Federation law seriously. In your hearts, what comes first—Shrek, or the Federation's laws? Don't tell me this Federation was founded by Shrek?"

Perhaps Qi Ji had pushed a little too hard. The venue suddenly fell silent for a moment, and even the cheers from the audience paused briefly.

Then, from somewhere, people suddenly began to echo him—

"That's right! Shrek is far too lawless! Last time I was in Shrek City, students from their inner court smashed my stall, and no one did anything about it!"

"And last year, Shrek students held their graduation assessment in our city and demolished an entire street! When Federation officials came, they just paid compensation and called it settled!"

"Shrek people have never taken Federation law seriously!"

Once someone took the lead, those "innocent people" began eagerly sharing stories, either personal or hearsay, about Shrek's arrogance and unreasonable conduct.

From smashing street stalls to injuring people without compensation, from bullying others through influence to disregarding the law, incident after incident poured out as though long-suppressed resentment had finally found an outlet.

"No, no... it isn't like that!" Shen Yi roared at the audience, her voice carrying an almost collapsing agitation.

"This is merely Shrek's unique educational method! Those things were all meant to train the students' practical combat abilities! Shrek's glory cannot be defiled!"

As a Shrek person deeply brainwashed by Shrek's glory, she considered these things completely normal.

Ask her about it, and the answer was Shrek's glory. Ask her again, and the answer was that Shrek could not be insulted.

She had never considered the feelings of those hurt by Shrek, because in her eyes, everything Shrek did was right.

"It's... it's all your fault!"

Shen Yi suddenly turned toward Qi Ji, her eyes bloodshot and her breathing heavy, as if she would rush forward and fight him to the death the next second.

Her Soul Power surged wildly through her body, white light glimmering along the edges of her Two-Character Battle Armor. Her entire body stood on the verge of eruption.

Qi Ji raised both hands in a gesture that said, "This has nothing to do with me."

At that moment, two figures flashed onto the arena from opposite sides—two Soul Douluo-level personnel from the Skysea Alliance grabbed Shen Yi's arms from the left and right, firmly pinning her in place.

"Teacher Shen," Qi Ji said, lowering his hands and walking up to her with an expression of "I'm very sorry."

"You must remember that the Federation is a place governed by law. Skysea City is not Shrek City. Here, even if you are a Shrek teacher, you must obey the Federation's rules."