Afraid of You? We'll Sink Shrek City If We Have To!!

Boom!

Yan Shaozhe slammed into the ground, the impact snapping every tree around him and sending dirt and stone flying.

His sinister gaze locked on the hulking figure shrouded in shadow among the trees.

"Who are you?" Yan Shaozhe demanded, his tone still lofty.

In principle, with his strength as a Super Douluo and a Martial Soul like the Bright Phoenix, not to mention Shrek City nearby, Yan Shaozhe had every reason to look down on others.

But...

"I've heard of Bright Phoenix Douluo's formidable strength. I came today to test it for myself."

A deep voice came from the shadows, and Tai Tan stepped slowly into view.

Yan Shaozhe could not help scoffing. But when he saw the Soul Rings rising beneath Tai Tan's feet, his body began to tremble.

Black, black, black, black, black, black, black, black, red.

Eight black and one red?!

What kind of joke was this?

Yan Shaozhe's pupils contracted sharply. While Tai Tan had stood in the shadows, Yan Shaozhe had not sensed his aura. But as Tai Tan emerged,

a dread gripped his heart unlike anything he had felt even when facing an enraged Xuan Zi.

"Senior, surely you jest. How could I be your match? Xuan Zi, the Taotie Douluo of our academy, may be able to satisfy you." Yan Shaozhe bowed deeply and spoke with utmost respect.

"I'll fetch him for you right away." As the words left his mouth, he took a step backward.

Tai Tan's voice rang out.

"Take one more step back, and I'll snap your neck."

Yan Shaozhe's scalp prickled. It felt as though a primordial Ferocious Beast had fixed its gaze on him, sending a chill straight up his spine.

"Senior, how has this junior offended you? I've always been careful in everything I do." Yan Shaozhe lowered himself as far as he could and pleaded with Tai Tan.

Careful in everything he did?!

Tai Tan nearly lost his composure.

"Where was that caution when you bullied a child today? Where was it when you used your strength to oppress the weak?"

Yan Shaozhe's face stiffened. He understood at once and forced out a smile uglier than a grimace. "S-Senior, th-this is all a misunderstanding!"

He swallowed and hurried on. "Tang Qi wasn't hurt, was he? I didn't take his life! I merely disciplined him a little!"

"He wasn't hurt?" Tai Tan sneered, a cold glint flashing through his eyes.

"Then should I get down and kowtow to you? Thank the great Headmaster Yan, a Super Douluo, for showing mercy to a child who's only a Soul Elder—for merely injuring him instead of killing him?"

"You beat the young one, so the old one came to demand justice. That's only right, isn't it? If you can do it, Yan Shaozhe, so can I!"

Seeing that Tai Tan was about to strike, Yan Shaozhe dropped to his knees with a thud. Sweat streamed down his forehead, and his voice turned pleading.

"Senior! The Clear Sky Sect, Shrek, and the Tang Sect have stood together as one for ten thousand years! We've all been blessed by the Sea God's glory. Even if you won't spare Shrek, you should at least consider the Sea God—"

He was terrified. Shrek might have a Level 98 Super Douluo, and he might be the disciple of a Level 99 Limit Douluo, but neither could help him now. Distant water could not put out a fire at his feet!

"You dare bring up the Sea God to me?!" Tai Tan's voice rumbled like muffled thunder, anger in every word.

"When I became a Soul Ring for the Sea God, your ancestors were still pissing in the dirt and making mud pies!"

"I'm done wasting words on you!"

"Don't worry. I won't use any Soul Skills, and I'll leave you alive. That's all." Veins bulged across Tai Tan's fists. "Just as you did with my Xiao Qi."

Before his words had faded, Tai Tan's mountain-like figure vanished.

Yan Shaozhe's pupils shrank. He tried to channel his Soul Power and unleash his Martial Soul Avatar, but it was too late.

Bang!

Tai Tan appeared before him as if he had teleported and threw a punch with the force of ten thousand tons.

Yan Shaozhe flew backward, smashing through tree after tree.

Before he could hit the ground, Tai Tan appeared above him again.

Those huge hands clamped around Yan Shaozhe's head and slammed it downward.

Boom!

His head struck the earth first.

Trees toppled and earth churned along his path.

The sounds of impacts, cracking bones, and flesh hitting the ground rolled through the night like thunder.

Even from far away, the residents of Shrek City could faintly hear the rumbling. They woke from their sleep and stared toward the outskirts in confusion.

"Is it an earthquake?"

"But there's no thunder..."

Meanwhile, inside Shrek Academy,

Xuan Zi was devouring a roast chicken. At the noise from outside the city, his hands froze.

He grunted, slammed the half-eaten chicken onto the table, and shot out of Shrek Academy like lightning.

Who did not know that Shrek City was under the protection of Taotie Douluo? Causing trouble here was a slap in his face.

He had just left the academy when he seemed to remember something. He rushed back, grabbed the chicken he had yet to finish, and set off again.

At that moment, in the dense woods outside the city,

Tai Tan held the barely recognizable Yan Shaozhe aloft in one hand like a dead dog. He looked him up and down, then curled his lip in disgust.

Just then, an old man's furious roar exploded overhead.

"Bastard! Let him go!"

Stomach Douluo had arrived!

Xuan Zi swept out a hand. Earth-yellow Soul Power solidified and bore down on Tai Tan like an invisible mountain.

Tai Tan flung Yan Shaozhe aside, then drove a fist upward.

"Seventh Soul Skill: Godly Taotie Bull Avatar!"

"Seventh Soul Skill: Titan Avatar!"

The two roars rang out almost together.

Two towering figures collided in midair and traded bone-jarring blows. Every clash shook the earth and mountains.

"How is this possible?" Horror flashed through Xuan Zi's eyes.

His opponent was actually overpowering him!

Among Beast Martial Soul Soul Masters of the same level, Xuan Zi had never met anyone who could best him in a brawl.

While Xuan Zi struggled to understand it, Tai Tan landed two more solid punches squarely on his aged face.

Xuan Zi grunted, a trickle of blood spilling from his mouth. "Young people have no honor! Sneaking up on an old man over two hundred years old!"

"You haven't even lived a fraction of my years, and you're calling me young?!" Tai Tan said with disdain.

Just then, three figures sped toward them from Shrek City.

Mu En led them, with Song Yunzhi of the Azure Shadow Divine Eagle and Zhuang Yusen of the Tree of Life at his sides.

At the sight, Mu En's brows drew tight.

When had someone like this appeared on the continent without a whisper?

Alas, if it's a blessing, it won't be a disaster; if it's a disaster, there's no escaping it. Shrek is already a river in decline. When did we offend this man?

"Yan Shaozhe!"

Song Yunzhi cried out in alarm and streaked toward Yan Shaozhe, who lay on the ground like a puddle of mud.

Zhuang Yusen hurried over as well. After a quick examination, his expression changed. "Comminuted fractures throughout his body. All three legs broken..."

Mu En shook his head and heaved a heavy sigh.

Xuan Zi, his face bruised and swollen, returned to Mu En's side and spoke with renewed force. "Do you really intend to make an enemy of Shrek?!"

Just then, Mu En's heart tightened for no reason he could name.

He instinctively looked up. Beneath the moonlight, a figure sat suspended in midair, though Mu En had no idea when he had appeared.

Mu En's heart sank. Even as a Limit Douluo, he had failed to notice the man when he arrived.

Niu Tian slowly opened his eyes. His gaze was as still as an ancient well as he met Mu En's eyes.

Tai Tan rolled his neck with a series of cracks and stared at Xuan Zi across the distance. His voice rang out, firm and clear.

"You think the Clear Sky Sect is afraid of you? If it comes to that, we'll sink Shrek City!"