In a corner of the square.
Yu Xiaogang's mangled face was pressed hard against the ground. Only by mustering every ounce of strength could he barely lift his eyelids and witness that earth-shattering scene.
There was no shock in his heart, only boundless spite and jealousy.
That bitch... that bitch... how could she be so strong?!
He roared frantically in his mind.
As he had envisioned it, without the unforeseen appearance of Ning Lin, Bibi Dong might have stagnated for the rest of her life beneath the shadow Qian Xunji had cast over her.
Even if she broke through, only Tang San, after inheriting a god's position, would have been qualified to stand against her on the entire continent!
But now?
Before Tang San had fully matured, he had been forced into a life-and-death battle with this woman who already stood at the pinnacle of the mortal world!
Too soon! Everything was happening too soon!
Yu Xiaogang seethed with hatred!
He hated Bibi Dong's strength, hated Ning Lin's appearance, and hated his own helplessness at this moment even more!
How desperately he wanted to charge forward right now, kill that man and woman with his own hands, and bury that shameful chapter of his past forever!
But he could not.
He was nothing but a useless wreck whose soul power had all but been crippled.
Like a maggot, he could only lie on the ground and watch, raging helplessly.
Within the battle, their prolonged assault had yielded nothing, and agitation crept onto everyone's faces.
Especially those in the Shrek camp.
Cold sweat streamed down Ma Hongjun's face, which had swollen to the purplish red of pig liver.
He watched the woman in the arena, as fearsome as a god or demon, his heart filled with terror.
He knew that if Bibi Dong escaped today, he would meet a terrible end!
The female soul master he had violated was a death warrant hanging over his head!
What should I do?
What the hell should I do?!
Ma Hongjun's gaze swept frantically across the chaotic battlefield, like a drowning man searching for one last straw to cling to.
Suddenly.
His gaze froze.
Behind Bibi Dong, he spotted a figure who had been well shielded from the battle's shock waves, yet remained chained to the judgment chair.
Ning Lin!
Wasn't this man the very reason Bibi Dong had come here, the very reason she had made an enemy of the whole world?!
A thought slithered into Ma Hongjun's mind like a venomous snake!
His eyes abruptly lit up.
Those eyes that had suddenly lit up belonged to Ma Hongjun.
While everyone's attention was fixed on the godlike, demonic empress at the heart of the battle, a dark red streak of flame moved.
Whoosh!
At that moment, Ma Hongjun burst into motion with speed far beyond his usual limits!
He did not charge at Bibi Dong or join the forces surrounding her. Instead, like a hyena that had caught the scent of blood, he skirted the center of the raging energy and lunged toward the rear of the Judgment Platform from an extremely cunning angle!
There, Ning Lin was bound tightly to the cold judgment chair by specially forged dark iron chains, unable to move.
"Fatty! What are you doing?!"
Oscar was the first to notice his unusual movement and instinctively cried out in alarm.
But it was already too late.
This sudden turn of events caught everyone off guard.
That included Tang San and Tang Hao, who were locked in a death match with Bibi Dong, as well as Chen Xin and Yang Wudi, who were struggling to hold on.
No one had expected that, on a battlefield that would determine the balance of power across the world, the "Evil Fire Phoenix," one of the Shrek Seven Devils, would commit such a contemptible act!
This was not combat. This was a sneak attack!
A sneak attack against an unarmed "prisoner" whose soul power had been sealed!
"Ma Hongjun! You despicable, shameless bastard!!"
Hu Liena, who was closest, reacted instantly. Her eyes widened with fury, flames of anger blazing in her phoenix eyes, and she turned to rush to his rescue without a second thought.
But the moment she moved, the pressure on the main battlefront abruptly eased. In that instant of distraction, Chen Xin's peerless sword energy carved a deep white scar across the carapace of Bibi Dong's enormous Soul-Devouring Spider Emperor avatar!
"Pfft!"
A trickle of blood seeped from the corner of Bibi Dong's mouth, but she paid it no heed.
Her heart was in turmoil.
Hu Liena was driven back repeatedly by the shock waves of attacks from more than a dozen Titled Douluo. Her blood and energy churned, leaving her unable to reach Ning Lin in time!
She could only watch helplessly as that corpulent figure charged up to Ning Lin with a vicious grin.
"Heh heh..."
Ma Hongjun's laughter sounded especially grating at that moment.
Without the slightest hesitation, his large, fleshy hand clamped around Ning Lin's seemingly fragile neck!
"Stop!"
For the first time, Bibi Dong's voice rose into a sharp cry as she lost her composure!
The radiance of the two great Martial Soul Avatars sustaining the entire battle dimmed at that moment.
On her breathtaking face, which had maintained its regal poise and indifference throughout, undisguisable panic and fear finally appeared!
This man...
Was her only weakness!
He was the dragon's reverse scale she would protect, even if it meant standing against the entire world!
"All of you, stop this instant!"
Bibi Dong shouted again, and the earth-shattering aura around her actually receded like a tide.
Every attacker felt the pressure ease.
Tang Hao, Chen Xin, and the others stopped one after another, frowning at this abrupt development, a trace of disdain and contempt flashing in their eyes.
They were powerful men with pride of their own.
Threatening an opponent by ambushing a helpless prisoner was something they could not bring themselves to do.
The entire Heaven Dou Square sank into a brief, deathly silence amid that strange atmosphere.
Only Ma Hongjun's smug panting remained clearly audible.
"Hahaha! Bibi Dong! Weren't you so arrogant? Weren't you such a great fighter?"
Feeling the warmth beneath his hand and that fragile neck, which seemed as though he could crush it with the slightest effort, Ma Hongjun was filled with an unprecedented sense of pleasure and security.
He turned his head and fixed Bibi Dong with an almost deranged stare.
"Your man is in my hands now!"
"I order you to dispel your Martial Soul Avatars immediately, cripple your own soul power, and kneel in surrender!"
"Otherwise, right before your eyes, I'll personally... snap his neck!"
Ma Hongjun's voice brimmed with menace and the pleasure of revenge.
He could almost see this lofty empress kneeling at his feet for her man's sake, wagging her tail and begging for mercy!
"Shameless!"
"To think Shrek's people could stoop so low!"
"And they call themselves righteous! They're a disgrace to the soul master world!"
Below the Judgment Platform, the crowd's murmurs stabbed at the members of Shrek like sharp steel needles.
Dai Mubai, Oscar, and the others flushed red and lowered their heads in shame, unable to meet the eyes of those around them.
They, too, felt that Ma Hongjun's actions were simply... far too humiliating.
Even Tang Hao, the Clear Sky Douluo renowned for his domineering ways, stood with his brows tightly furrowed, clearly finding Ma Hongjun's conduct utterly contemptible.
Yet there was not the slightest trace of shame on Tang San's face.
As he watched Bibi Dong lose all composure in her worry, as he watched those phoenix eyes abandon their calm, an even crazier, colder plan rapidly took shape in his mind.
An opportunity!
This was an opportunity that came once in a thousand years!
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