Huo Yuhao and Tang Wulin's Choice in Another World

"Yes."

Xuan Zi spoke one word at a time.

"That's exactly what we want you to do. Even if you don't kill them and take their Divine Examination, they'll die in this trial sooner or later. Either way, they're dead. They might as well make one last contribution to the academy: give you their lives and their places in the Divine Examination."

Xuan Zi's words left no room for argument. Truthfully, Huo Yuhao was tempted.

Hadn't Brother Sky Dream and the Ice Empress poured everything they had into their plan to make him a god?

But now that he had come this far, where did his future lie?

He was utterly lost, without the faintest idea.

Now the Dragon God's Divine Examination had appeared out of nowhere. It was a visible path, a clear road to godhood, yet he could not even reach its threshold. Of course he regretted that. But after a long silence, he gritted his teeth and shook his head.

"Xuan Zi, I can't bring myself to murder teachers and students from my own school."

"If you won't kill them, I'll do it for you. I'll take your hand and make you do it."

Xuan Zi glared fiercely at Huo Yuhao.

"Yuhao, don't let them die for nothing."

"Them?"

Huo Yuhao's heart sank at that word. A chill ran through him.

"Xuan Zi, what exactly do you mean?"

"We won't let you kill the geniuses with innate soul power at levels nine or ten. They have a chance to fight for the final victory, too. They're Shrek's hidden strength.

"We've prepared a hundred Shrek graduates for you. Every one of them is older and stronger than you, and every one has the Purple-Level Seven Trials.

"You know the rules. Ten Purple-Level Seven Trials can be combined into one Black-Level Eight Trials, and ten Black-Level Eight Trials can advance into one Red-Level Nine Trials. That's just enough to give you the Red-Level Nine Trials."

Huo Yuhao nearly lost it. Good grief—they were using lives to raise his trial level.

But Xuan Zi and the others seemed to have considered the backlash, too.

Sure enough, Taotie Douluo Xuan Zi spoke again:

"Your cultivation is lower than theirs, and you're younger, but your actual strength far surpasses theirs. Taking a higher trial from someone above you doesn't violate the Divine Examination's rules. You won't suffer the slightest backlash.

"All hundred of them are locked beneath the Sea God Pavilion. Go down and kill them. Claim the Red-Level Nine Trials, enter the Divine Examination, and fight for the final victory."

Huo Yuhao was shaken. For the first time, he understood just how far Shrek Academy was willing to go.

"Xuan Zi, you're treating human lives as worthless!"

"Everything is for Shrek."

Xuan Zi closed his eyes. His face held only ruthless resolve.

"Yuhao, Shrek has long been a target for the entire Douluo Continent. Everyone wants to tear off a piece of us, and everyone wants to enter the Divine Examination. Shrek is strong, but can it stand against the whole continent?

"How can we fight every faction on the Douluo Continent? If you don't enter the Divine Examination, win its rewards, and grow stronger quickly, how am I, a level ninety-eight Super Douluo, supposed to hold off an entire continent alone?

"Yuhao, you must kill them. That's an order, and Shrek's only chance of survival."

"Stop pushing me!"

Huo Yuhao's voice trembled.

"Xuan Zi, please don't push me. None of you should push me. I can't do it. I really can't!"

"You can."

Xuan Zi no longer bothered to hide his intentions.

"Not long ago, you blew up millions of civilians in Sun Moon Imperial City. Your hands are stained with the blood of countless innocents.

"Yuhao, you're no longer that innocent boy. Admit it. Deep down, you thirst for blood. Killing them won't strain you in the slightest—not physically, and certainly not mentally.

"Kill them. Claim the Red-Level Nine Trials. Fight your way through the examination and become the Dragon God. That is your true mission. That is why Shrek trained you to fight alone.

"Don't you want to protect Shrek?

"Don't you want to fulfill your teacher's dying wish?"

"Of course I do! But I can't do this. I can't!"

Huo Yuhao resisted with words, yet an invisible force seemed to draw his feet toward the depths of the Sea God Pavilion, beyond his control.

Step by step, he reached its deepest chamber.

Before long, screams rang out from the sealed room.

At that very moment, far away in the Divine Examination Space, a black Baby Dragon assigned to oversee the Peerless Tang Sect Plane watched with keen interest and recorded everything.

"Keh-heh-heh! Now that was a show!

"To think the first to turn their blades on Shrek's students would be Shrek itself, the very people who claim to stand for justice and righteousness.

"They're feeding the students they consider worthless to Huo Yuhao, the academy's greatest hope. Exposing this will be fun.

"I'll keep the recording and give my main body a good look later."

"What's got you laughing so hard, brother?

"Tell me so I can enjoy it too."

Nearby, a pink Baby Dragon had noticed the black Baby Dragon's exaggerated laughter and asked out of curiosity.

The black Baby Dragon tossed him the recording.

The pink Baby Dragon took a look.

"That's it?

"I've got something entertaining on my side too. Want to see?"

"What is it?"

The pink Baby Dragon was the administrator responsible for the world of Legend of the Dragon King.

At that very moment, the Sea God Pavilion in that world was witnessing the same scene.

The black Baby Dragon watched the recording and burst out laughing.

"Damn, Shrek Academy really is something. The first people to kill their own are Shrek's own people. My main body's choice is looking better by the minute. No wonder he chose to go after Shrek first. They really are rotten."

"Exactly."

Meanwhile, in Shrek Academy in the third Douluo world, another Sea God Pavilion meeting was underway. Heavenly Douluo Yun Ming, Ya Li, Light-Dark Holy Dragon Long Yeyue, and the rest of Shrek's leadership were all present.

Besides them, ten people of varying ages lay unconscious inside the Sea God Pavilion.

"Wulin, everything is for Shrek. You must make this sacrifice.

"Kill them. Each has the Black-Level Eight Trials. Once you kill them, you'll gain the Red-Level Nine Trials and be able to enter the Divine Examination.

"You lead Shrek's Seven Monsters, and we place our greatest hopes in you. Only you can lead them through the Divine Examination to the final victory. You wouldn't want your teammates to die in the examination because they lost you, would you?

"On one side are ten strangers. On the other are the teammates you spend every day with. Is there really any need to think about whom to choose?

"Everything is for Shrek."

At the mention of Shrek, every elder in the Sea God Pavilion wore a sickly smile, as though the very word held them in its thrall. Tang Wulin felt its pull too, but he still hesitated.

Just then, a voice in his mind began to tempt him:

"Wulin, kill them and claim the Divine Examination. The dragon blood pool holds something that can cure you."

Old Tang's temptation struck directly at Tang Wulin's own interests. Coupled with his devotion to Shrek, it tipped the balance. He summoned his Blue Silver Grass, shaped it into a long spear, and began to kill.