A Rift Between Husband and Wife, Bitter Words Exchanged

The battle took place above Shrek Academy, before countless students and everyone in the city.

They had truly felt the overwhelming pressure of the strongest fighters.

Meanwhile, everyone inside Shrek Academy was thrilled.

Their Dean was so powerful. How could they not feel proud and excited?

"Not bad at all."

Sensing fresh life flowing through the academy, Mu En smiled gently beneath his aged features.

Some rejoiced, while others despaired.

And the one who found all this hardest to accept was Yan Shaozhe, the former Dean of the Martial Soul Department.

"How is this possible... This can't be. He can't be that strong..."

Yan Shaozhe stared at the scene, his eyes filled with shock and resentment.

Huang Jinxu was so powerful that he rivaled a Limit Douluo. Would Yan Shaozhe ever have a chance to take revenge?

At that moment, despair welled up in Yan Shaozhe's heart.

"Mei'er, I'd like to leave the academy and take a walk..."

Yan Shaozhe looked at his wife and tried to keep his tone as even as possible.

Although his wife had shown no change in her feelings and treated him just as she always had, Yan Shaozhe could not shake the feeling that she might have second thoughts now that he was a cripple.

But his injuries had yet to fully heal, and misfortune kept striking him. He could not manage without his wife.

Left with no choice, Yan Shaozhe had put aside his old domineering ways. These days, he was almost fawning in his gentleness toward her.

Yet the more he acted that way, the stronger his sense of impending crisis grew.

He constantly felt that his wife looked down on him.

Whenever he imagined her betraying him one day and taking up with another man, Yan Shaozhe could not control his emotions.

Before he knew it, a shadow had taken root in his heart.

It was not enough to make him fall, but without realizing it, he had lost his chance for his Martial Soul to repair itself and his phoenix to rise from the ashes.

Of course, Huang Jinxu had also played a part in Yan Shaozhe missing this last chance for his Martial Soul to recover on its own.

When Yan Shaozhe had attacked him, Huang Jinxu had transferred his restraining power from Huo Yuhao to Yan Shaozhe just before his death.

It had not lasted long, but in an instant, it shattered what little Fortune Yan Shaozhe had left.

With the lingering Heavenly Fiend Power added to it, Yan Shaozhe had suffered one misfortune after another, losing his chance for his Martial Soul to repair itself for good.

Ordinarily, as a level ninety-five Super Douluo whose Martial Soul was the Super Martial Soul known as the Bright Phoenix, he could have gradually repaired it even after it shattered, without any outside help.

After all, even Xiao Xiao's tool Martial Soul could be repaired through a secret method. The same should certainly have been true of Yan Shaozhe's Bright Phoenix Martial Soul.

But no matter how hard he tried or how long he meditated, he could not repair his Martial Soul.

And so Yan Shaozhe realized that his path as a Soul Master had been cut off completely.

Had Cai Mei'er truly begun to harbor other thoughts?

Not at all!

If anything, Cai Mei'er loved Yan Shaozhe even more now.

She had always thought Yan Shaozhe was a good man, though he had his shortcomings.

The greatest of those was his stubbornness. He was far too absolute in his judgments.

Once he made up his mind about something, he would do it.

No one could talk him out of it.

He had also held all the power in their marriage.

But now that Yan Shaozhe had lost his Martial Soul and his Soul Power, he was no longer the autocrat he had once been. He discussed everything with her, and many matters were now settled according to her wishes.

Cai Mei'er had never experienced anything like it.

It was as though the serf had risen and burst into song.

She was utterly enchanted by this unprecedented freedom. Why would she set her heart on anyone else?

"I'm afraid you can't do that."

"Mu En made it clear that once your injuries healed, your first priority should be passing on the Bright Phoenix Martial Soul."

"Besides, you have no Soul Power now, and you're carrying Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones. Leaving the academy would be dangerous. Mu En won't agree to it."

Cai Mei'er spoke with complete sincerity. She truly was concerned for Yan Shaozhe's safety.

But Yan Shaozhe heard something entirely different.

It was as if Yan Shaozhe had developed selective deafness. He ignored everything else she said and remembered only one phrase: "You have no Soul Power now."

"Even you... Even you look down on me because I'm a cripple."

"Cai Mei'er, tell me the truth. Have you set your heart on him?"

"If you have, just say so. We can divorce right now, and I'll make room for that pretty boy, whoever he is."

Yan Shaozhe's eyes blazed with anger, and resentment surged wildly within him.

He had endured too much humiliation these past few days. The fighting power Huang Jinxu had just displayed had dealt him another deep blow, and his fury erupted.

"Yan Shaozhe... What are you saying?"

Cai Mei'er's face darkened at his sudden outburst.

She had never heard him speak so viciously before.

Worse, Yan Shaozhe had falsely accused her of having another man.

How could she tolerate or accept that?

An argument broke out between them.

Before long, they were hurling vicious words at each other.

"Fine! Very well! If you say I've got someone else on my mind, then I do."

"You'd better take care of yourself. I'm going to find myself a lover right now."

By the end of the argument, Cai Mei'er was trembling with emotion.

In her anger, she packed her things and left the home they shared.

"So I was right. I exposed you, and now you can't face me..."

Watching Cai Mei'er leave, Yan Shaozhe felt a sudden pang of panic, but his words remained merciless.

In their argument, they had torn open each other's old wounds and dragged out every grievance from the past.

Now both of them were furious.

"Leave, then! Do you really think I can't survive without you?"

Yan Shaozhe sprang to his feet, determined to prove that even without Soul Power, he still had the physique of a Titled Douluo and several Ten Thousand Year Soul Bones.

He could take care of himself.

Crash!

The force of his sudden movement shook the bookshelf beside him, sending it toppling over.

It fell straight onto Yan Shaozhe.

That alone would not have been enough to hurt him. He had once been a Titled Douluo, after all.

But the falling bookshelf set off a chain reaction, pulling other objects in the room down with it.

Bang!

Another muffled report rang out as the lighting Soul Tool in the room exploded.