In the silence

"Despair!" In the arena, the Hongchen siblings had already been struck down by a single finger of the Sea God Phantom. The other members of the Sun Moon Royal Academy team had all died in their earlier clash with the Shrek Academy Team. The siblings, Jing Hongchen at the judges' stand, and the instructors and surviving contestants from the Sun Moon Empire's academies in the stands were all dumbstruck, almost frightened witless.

With so many spectators attending the grand tournament, the Soul Fighting Arena had been clamorous, but now it suddenly fell utterly silent. The arena's dome burst apart under the Sea God Phantom's pressure, its fragments crashing to the ground. Sunlight poured down from the sky, so dazzling that people could barely open their eyes.

Though faint, the siblings' despairing whispers reached everyone's ears clearly.

The Sun Moon Empire's spectators in the stands felt their hopes shatter. A moment earlier, the Hongchen siblings' Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Red Dust Attachment, had broken through Tang Wutong's Butterfly God's Protection, seemingly driving her to the end of the road. Then the Sea God Phantom had suddenly descended, reversing the situation with a single finger.

No one could help being overwhelmed by helplessness.

The Sea God Phantom said nothing, and everyone present remained silent, afraid to make a rash move. All feared angering this supreme heavenly god and being destroyed like the [evil Spirit Hall] of years past.

At the judges' stand, Jing Hongchen could neither kneel nor remain standing. Kneeling to this god of the foreign Douluo nations might preserve his family, but it would leave his country's dignity in tatters. Yet if he continued standing as a judge instead of kneeling with the people of Shrek, he could not protect his descendants.

He was a judge and a powerful figure in this territory of the Sun Moon Empire. But now that the Sea God had descended into the mortal world, what right did a human have to pass judgment before a god?

The mayfly-like inhabitants of Douluo could only struggle bitterly beneath the Tang Family Gods. The moment the Sea God Phantom descended, everything became a foregone conclusion.

When a god's violence manifested, what meaning did anyone's schemes or wisdom have?

The echoes of the siblings' voices faded through the arena. The Soul Fighting Arena remained silent, with only the faint whisper of wind.

Xiao Hongchen could not endure that deathly stillness. From where he had fallen, he straightened and cried out toward the sky, "God! I refuse to be your slave!"

Boom! A streak of crimson light surged upward, carrying Xiao Hongchen before the image of the man holding a Trident.

In that light, Xiao Hongchen clearly saw Tang Wutong's heroic-looking face. He had no idea that the Sea God had modeled it after a woman in the woodshed outside the White Tiger Duke's Mansion.

Tang Wutong raised her head and looked Xiao Hongchen in the eye for a moment.

Is this the face of a goddess? As Xiao Hongchen briefly met Tang Wutong's gaze, fierce resentment rose within him. To reach the Shrek Team and stand before these Divine Descendants, he and other commoners like him had paid far, far too much.

"Beneath the gods, however mortals struggle, it is all in vain. Anti-Tang has never been more than empty words. But god, I will still swing my sword at you!"

Suddenly, Xiao Hongchen found peace. Even knowing that divine will would reduce everything he had done to nothing, he still did not kneel.

The Sea God Phantom did not strike again, but Tang Wutong moved.

"Fourth Soul Skill, Butterfly God's Dance!"

Clang, clang... Amid the ringing clash of metal, the sword in Xiao Hongchen's hand cracked and finally snapped in two.

Though Xiao Hongchen's sword was a Level Six Soul Tool, its internal structure had already been ruined by the Sea God Phantom's earlier strike. How could it withstand Tang Wutong's repeated slashes?

Xiao Hongchen saw Tang Wutong's Side Wing Guillotine lock him in place. Then a single Butterfly God Slash cleaved him into two pieces, leaving him dead on the ground.

"This is my judgment upon you ignorant mortals!" Tang Wutong declared coldly, seated on the right hand of the hundred-meter-tall Sea God Phantom.

The Sea God Phantom lifted Meng Hongchen from the ground with his Trident, but did not attack her. In this era, the Sea God had yet to triumph in his power struggle with the God of Destruction, so he still had to heed the law forbidding gods from killing humans.

Tang Wutong said, "Since you seek intelligence and strength, I shall cripple your aptitude and ruin your mind, so that you can never cultivate or learn again."

As she spoke, Tang Wutong used Side Wing Guillotine to sever Meng Hongchen's arms. Blood immediately gushed from her wounds.

Then Tang Wutong lightly struck Meng Hongchen's head with Butterfly God's Light, knocking her unconscious. Even if she woke, she would be unable to care for herself, much less study or cultivate.

How merciful the Tang Family was, actually sparing Meng Hongchen's life!

That day, however, Huo Yuhao had taken Snow Girl to eat in the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's cafeteria and had not gone to watch the match.

"...What despair!" He could naturally sense what had happened in Mingdu's Soul Fighting Arena.

The Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's cafeteria differed from Shrek's cafeteria in Huo Yuhao's previous life. It had chairs and tables, with a spacious layout. There was no need to stand while eating, and taking food out was permitted.

Thus, it also served as a place for students to relax and amuse themselves in their free time. Of course, those who spent money here generally came from common families; the children of wealthy households still stayed in hotels outside the academy.

"I'll have this one. Oh, that one seems a little unusual?"

After ordering a cup of milk tea, Snow Girl pointed in a certain direction with her delicate hand.

Huo Yuhao followed her gesture and saw a dark-faced man swiftly passing among the students coming and going in twos and threes.

Before the Xu Family came to power, the Sun Moon Empire had revered dark skin, for the imperial family had been black as charcoal from head to toe. Only after the Xu Family took power had the Sun Moon Empire's aesthetic shifted to favor pale skin, like the nations of Douluo.

A single glance told Huo Yuhao who the man was: He Caitou, the prince of the former Sun Moon Imperial Family.

What is he doing?

Sensing powerful fluctuations of venomous resentment from He Caitou, Huo Yuhao felt puzzled. As though instinctively sensing that someone had noticed him, He Caitou hurriedly vanished into the crowd.

Meals and snacks at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy were indeed cheaper than at the hotels outside. Seeing Snow Girl heartily enjoying this meal without her usual reserve, Huo Yuhao stopped thinking about He Caitou.

As far as Huo Yuhao was concerned, he and the people of Shrek were destined to be strangers in this life, so he gave them little further thought.

Thinking of the Formation Disc he had made in the classroom before coming out to eat with Snow Girl, Huo Yuhao knew that, for now, he could only counter each move as it came.

Only when he became strong enough could he reverse this situation.

Soon, a figure whom Huo Yuhao intensely loathed appeared in his field of vision.

The figure approached Huo Yuhao with elegant courtly steps. She, too, ordered a cup of milk tea and tasted it as Snow Girl had. After touching her lips to the cup, she looked at Huo Yuhao with a rather suggestive expression.

"Young man, won't you have a chat with me?" The figure was none other than the Sea God's Daughter, Tang Wutong. "I've always believed that meeting someone means fate has brought you together."

As a young woman, Tang Wutong's features resembled those of Huo Yun'er in her youth.

Yet she also possessed a pronounced firmness, like that of a man who headed a household.

Merely looking at that face made the eight years Huo Yuhao had spent in that dark, cold woodshed surface endlessly in his heart.

"Your Highness the Goddess, I'm only a commoner, while you're a noble princess. What could we possibly have to talk about?"