Xuan Zi's Astonishing Wisdom, Chi Hong's Evil Plot?

Heavenly Fiend Douluo grinned and instantly released his Martial Soul.

Nine Soul Rings circled him as the overwhelming aura of a Titled Douluo bore down on Chi Hong.

"The crowd sees things clearly," he said. "Everyone saw what your Soul Beast did. Look around you. These people are terrified of that beast."

"Besides, history has never seen a Martial Soul capable of controlling Soul Beasts like yours."

"I even suspect you're colluding with Soul Beasts."

Heavenly Fiend Douluo unleashed another surge of Soul Power, suppressing the three restless Pokémon behind Chi Hong, and barked:

"You'd better tell the truth. Otherwise, on behalf of the public and every academy competing here, I'll imprison all three of your Soul Beasts."

Chi Hong scoffed.

"What makes you think you have the authority to decide that?"

With that, Chi Hong glanced toward the stands.

Under normal circumstances, Xuan Zi would have stepped in to resolve this. After all, Chi Hong had won the championship and preserved the honor Xuan Zi prized most.

But Xuan Zi sat in the stands eating his Chicken Leg, watching coldly. He seemed to have expected this.

Chi Hong had a good idea what was going on.

So that's it. The four hundred million Gold Soul Coins still rankle the grand elder. He may even have instigated Heavenly Fiend Douluo's attack. Where else would that bottom-tier Douluo find the nerve?

Heavenly Fiend Douluo sneered. "Hmph. Xuan Zi of Shrek misses nothing. He saw through you long ago."

"Before the tournament, Evil Soul Masters attacked Shrek's Official Team and left them badly injured, forcing the Reserve Team to compete instead. And you, a student of Shrek's Inner Court, seized the chance to extort your teachers and the elders. You spent four hundred million Gold Soul Coins at the auction, dealing Shrek a heavy blow."

"Then you ordered your Soul Beasts to maim talented students from other academies, crippling the continent's younger generation. You claimed the championship before the world and took all its honor, fame, and fortune, along with four hundred million in resources."

"But even a plot this vile could not escape Xuan Zi's astonishing wisdom."

"He thought long and hard about how his Official Team had been injured. You were behind it. You must have sent those Evil Soul Masters. Why else would you go out of your way to warn them the night before they went after the Evil Soul Masters? You used reverse psychology to make them lower their guard!"

The spectators erupted in uproar, covering their mouths in shock.

They had never imagined that the Shrek member who had won the championship—the most dazzling member of Shrek this time—could be so vicious.

But when they recalled that fire dragon's behavior, it all seemed to make sense.

Anyone who kept company with Soul Beasts was bound to be like that.

The students from the other academies who had lost in the tournament felt relieved when they heard the "truth."

They had fallen victim to Chi Hong's evil plot, that was all.

It had only been a scheme. They hadn't truly lost!

"Xuan Zi revealed this vile plot to the academy's senior figures before the final. Now that we've seen through you, talk! What are you after? Which faction sent you? How dare you plot against Shrek?"

Heavenly Fiend Douluo pressed on.

Chi Hong listened quietly to the entire speech and nearly laughed.

He hadn't expected an idiot like Xuan Zi to come up with something like this. At first glance, it almost sounded plausible.

But Chi Hong had no intention of letting these people spread lies about him.

"You, of all people, think you can pin a crime on me? You don't even have a family."

Chi Hong looked coldly toward Xuan Zi in the stands and said:

"In the end, this is all because he's an idiot. An Evil Soul Master who was only a Soul King managed to injure seven Official Team members right under the nose of a level ninety-eight Hyper Douluo. Tell me, whose fault is that?"

Heavenly Fiend Douluo's face instantly flushed red. Chi Hong's words had struck his sorest point.

His Martial Soul was the Heavenly Fiend Lone Star. From the moment he was born, he had been fated to have no family.

This brat had mocked him with blatant contempt from the start. Now he had crossed the one line Heavenly Fiend Douluo could not tolerate. He could bear it no longer.

The sky darkened, and an eerie star emerged among the clouds.

Heavenly Fiend Douluo swept out a hand.

"You little beast! You have no respect for your elders. No wonder you're a traitor who runs with Soul Beasts. Take my Heavenly Fiend Meteor!"

A massive meteor blazing with eerie light plummeted from the sky, aimed straight at Chi Hong and the three Pokémon behind him.

The Titled Douluo's attack was so terrifying that the spectators throughout the arena struggled to breathe beneath its pressure.

Mega Charizard X planted his feet and spread his wings, ready to meet the enormous meteor head-on.

Chi Hong raised a hand to stop him.

"Charizard, you can't handle this attack. Stay back."

Mega Charizard X stopped, his face filled with frustration.

Chi Hong looked calmly at Heavenly Fiend Douluo, an Advanced Poké Ball in his hand.

"Since you hate Soul Beasts so much, I'll give you a chance to face one of the Ten Great Fiends. He's yours, Ice Empress."

With a snap, the Poké Ball in Chi Hong's hand opened, and brilliant jade-green light illuminated the world.

Streams of jade light swallowed the gloomy sky in an instant.

The cold wind howled, fierce and biting. An extreme chill spread in an instant.

As the aura of Ultimate Ice swept out, an angry, commanding, icy voice reached every ear.

"You dare lay a hand on one of mine? You're dead!"

The Ice Empress appeared. Though her figure was small, she radiated the all-consuming aura of a Ferocious Beast.

She folded her arms and gazed at the falling meteor. Her golden eyes narrowed, and jade light flashed.

Ice instantly engulfed the enormous meteor, turning it into a giant frozen sphere.

The Ice Empress lightly closed her hand.

Crack! The sphere shattered into countless ice crystals that drifted slowly through the air.

"What? That Ultimate Ice... Is she the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion, one of the Ten Great Fiends?"

Heavenly Fiend Douluo went pale with shock. The girl before him was unquestionably a Ferocious Beast. Her cultivation had long surpassed a hundred thousand years, and she possessed an ultimate attribute. A level ninety-two Titled Douluo like him was no match for her.

But how was this possible? A boy of twelve or thirteen could summon a Ferocious Beast? Could he really be a child of Soul Beasts?

Now that the Ice Empress's affinity had reached eighty, her cultivation had also unlocked to the hundred-thousand-year level.

She had yet to fully unlock her four hundred thousand years of Soul Power, but she had more than enough to deal with a bottom-tier Douluo like him.

The Ice Empress fixed Heavenly Fiend Douluo with a cold stare and pointed one finger at him.

"Disgusting vermin. Die!"

Jade-green and icy-blue light burst from her fingertip. Carrying the ice sovereign's fury and killing intent, it condensed into a beam and shot forth.

Greninja watched calmly from behind, carefully sensing the Ice Empress's bitter-cold power.

A trace of surprise entered his eyes. When the Ice Empress had taught him before, she had never been this angry.