Sea God's Light, the Dragon God's Fall

Disaster was inevitable!

At this hour, Shrek Academy's senior leaders were gathered in the Sea God Pavilion for a meeting, while its mid-level teachers had finished work and returned to their quarters.

Academy staff spotted the danger immediately, but the person rampaging was a Soul Emperor whose Martial Soul wielded Phoenix Evil Fire. Ordinary staff did not dare approach.

In the original course of events, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm inside Huo Yuhao would have sealed the frenzied Soul Emperor in ice, preventing the situation from spiraling out of control.

Without the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm, Huo Yuhao could only rely on the gift Heavenly Fiend Douluo had given him upon accepting him as a disciple to protect himself. He could not use Ice Seal on the Flame Maniac and stop this disaster from striking out of nowhere.

At his current cultivation level, Huo Yuhao naturally could not see anything else behind it. But if Huang Jinxu had been there, he would certainly have seen that Ma Xiaotao, the Flame Maniac, had headed straight for Huo Yuhao after her Evil Fire ran wild. It was no coincidence, but the pull of Fortune.

Here was yet another person meant to benefit from Huo Yuhao's Fortune and remedy her own flaw.

Only this time, the Heavenly Lone Star's involvement kept Ma Xiaotao from getting her wish.

As the Evil Fire continued to rage and more people were injured, the commotion soon drew the academy leaders' attention.

Dragon God Douluo Mu En sensed the disturbance. An incarnation of his spiritual power took shape, and with a single thought, he subdued Ma Xiaotao, who had lost all reason.

"Why did it have to come to this?"

Looking at the unconscious Ma Xiaotao, Mu En sighed softly, his aged voice full of melancholy.

With all Shrek Academy's resources, could it truly not solve Ma Xiaotao's Evil Fire problem?

At the very least, Sea God's Light could purge the Evil Fire from Ma Xiaotao's Martial Soul. It would treat the symptoms rather than the cause, but it could at least stabilize her cultivation until she reached the realm of a Titled Douluo.

If there was a solution, why not use it?

The reason was simple: it was not worth it!

With his body in such poor condition, Mu En could activate Sea God's Light at most one more time. After that, he would leave this world.

For now, Shrek Academy still needed him to hold it up.

Ma Xiaotao might have seemed to hold extraordinary status in the academy. Her teacher was the head of the Martial Soul Department, and she was the leading figure of this generation at Shrek Academy.

But only Ma Xiaotao herself believed that was enough. Only Yan Shaozhe did.

The academy's other senior leaders had made up their minds about Ma Xiaotao from the start: unless the flaw in her Martial Soul was completely resolved, she would never receive their full cultivation and support.

Mu En fell into troubled thought.

A long while later, resolve appeared in his clouded eyes.

"Little Xu, this old man has no choice but to push you."

As he spoke softly, Mu En's ravaged body began to shine with dazzling light. Powerful light drove away the boundless darkness, falling upon Ma Xiaotao and the students touched by the Evil Fire.

At the same time, the Golden Ancient Tree began to tremble and sway.

"Sea God's Light, banish all evil from this world!"

Mu En spent what little life he had left to activate Sea God's Light and drive away the raging Evil Fire.

If Ma Xiaotao alone had been involved, Mu En would not have done this, even on the brink of death.

But this time, far too many students had been caught up in it.

And with Shrek Academy's reputation already teetering, word of this incident would be a fatal disaster for the academy.

What was more, Shrek Academy had to win the All-Continent Soul Master Tournament the following year to reverse its decline and show both continents that it was still the sacred land of Soul Masters—that the Sun Moon Empire Royal Soul Engineer Academy's victory in the previous tournament had been sheer luck.

Ma Xiaotao had many problems, but she truly was the finest of her age group. The academy still needed her.

Beyond that, Mu En had another purpose: he wanted to force Huang Jinxu's hand.

To him, living another half year would make little difference. If he could settle the matter of his successor once and for all, it would all be worth it.

He believed Huang Jinxu's heart belonged to Shrek Academy. The man was simply worried about the influence of his own Martial Soul.

But once Mu En fell, Shrek Academy would plunge into turmoil. The damage then would far outweigh any drawbacks of Huang Jinxu becoming the pavilion master.

As the saying went, an old man who refused to die was a thief.

There was truth in it. After only a little thought, Mu En had made his decision, though layers of calculation lay behind it.

He was certain Huang Jinxu would not stand by and watch Shrek Academy decline.

"Old at last..."

After activating Sea God's Light, Mu En had exhausted what little vitality remained. He slowly settled back onto his reclining chair, steeped in the air of life's twilight and approaching death.

Scenes from his turbulent, absurd life began to rise one after another in his mind.

Memories of days gone by surfaced. The flame of Mu En's life was about to go out.

If he had not still been connected to the Golden Ancient Tree, which continually supplied pure life force to preserve his last spark, he would already have fallen.

"What... what happened to me?"

Ma Xiaotao woke beside Sea God Lake, her reason restored. She looked around and immediately realized she seemed to have made a mistake.

Worse, it was the kind of trouble she could not handle herself.

Ma Xiaotao left for her teacher's quarters, intending to ask him to deal with it.

Only after Ma Xiaotao was gone did Huo Yuhao surface from the bottom of the lake.

Just now, his cultivation had broken through to level sixteen.

After absorbing his First Soul Ring, his Soul Power had already been near the peak of level fifteen. With the blessing of Sea God's Light, he had broken through.

Go back...

Huo Yuhao had only one thought: return to the Dormitory.

He really had been scared out of his wits.

After so long in the water, a gust of cold wind left Huo Yuhao shivering.

He hurried back to the Dormitory.

"What happened to this old gentleman?"

As Huo Yuhao passed beneath the Dormitory and saw the old gentleman lying in the reclining chair, he felt that something was strangely wrong.

The old gentleman's condition felt just like his mother's had when she was gravely ill.

Sorrow rose unbidden in Huo Yuhao's heart. He approached cautiously and could not help calling out softly.

"Sir? Sir, are you asleep?"

When Huo Yuhao had first enrolled, Bei Bei had brought him to the Dormitory and stopped to chat with the old gentleman. The encounter had left a fairly deep impression on Huo Yuhao, which was why he went over to check on him.

As Huo Yuhao drew near, Mu En's last wisp of fading life steadied.