While Xu Qingjia was considering which stretch of road would be best for eliminating a hidden threat, the battle between Shen Xi and Cai Yue'er had already drawn to a close.
Silver moonlight of unparalleled brilliance solidified in the void, forming a bright full moon suspended in the heavens. As its clear radiance flowed, everyone could feel a heart-stopping pressure even through the barrier. The Silver Moon Divine Light Shield receded like a tide, and Shen Xi slowly emerged in plain robes whiter than snow, carrying Cai Yue'er, whose four limbs had been temporarily crippled.
It had been an almost completely one-sided battle.
The gulf between them was like that between a Limit Douluo and a Super Douluo.
An insurmountable gap in soul power-that was the first advantage.
Four-Word Battle Armor against Three-Word Battle Armor-that was the second.
The support of a Level 10 Soul Tool with perfectly compatible attributes-that was the third.
The latter two, in particular, could each provide an almost crushing advantage at the Super Douluo level, provided all other conditions were roughly equal.
After all, back when Kong Deming had only just become a Super Douluo, he had already been able to use the Silver Moon Divine Light Shield to trap Taotie Douluo Xuan Zi, who had reached the Limit Douluo realm, leaving him unable to break free.
"Shen Xi, what are you trying to do?!" Cai Yue'er struggled like a beaten dog. Two unmistakable palm prints marked her face, though it was unclear whether any personal grudges had gone into those slaps. With her hair disheveled, she looked utterly wretched, nothing like the imposing Sea God Pavilion Elder she had been earlier.
"I should be asking you that!" Shen Xi's expression was icy.
"Nearly ten thousand students from our academy are here, yet you unleashed your soul power without a care for them. What were you trying to do?!"
The pressure of a Titled Douluo was not something low- or mid-ranking Soul Masters could withstand.
Had she not been sitting nearby, there might truly have been casualties.
This rabid-dog fool!
Ever since her youth, Cai Yue'er had been arrogant and domineering, doing whatever she pleased. But no one in this world was obliged to tolerate her willfulness, much less pay the price for her madness!
"I am a Sea God Pavilion Elder!"
Cai Yue'er seemed possessed, like a stray dog snapping at anyone in reach. Her face was full of malice, as though the entire world owed her something. "You dare treat me like this? Aren't you afraid Shrek Academy will-"
"If they have the nerve, let Shrek Academy march on the Federation!"
An aged voice brimming with matchless authority boomed like a thunderclap, instantly cutting off Cai Yue'er's barking. Everyone looked up to see a white-haired figure standing in midair, his bearing as straight and tall as a pine. An aura of killing intent so dense it seemed impossible to dispel wreathed him, making their hearts tremble. At the sight of him, the teachers of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy instantly straightened, their expressions solemn and deeply respectful, like soldiers awaiting their general's inspection.
"If you say something, you had better follow through. Shrek's reputation doesn't frighten this old man." Elder Shen's gaze was as cold as winter stars as it fixed on Cai Yue'er. Immense spiritual power laced with killing intent swept down like Mount Tai crashing upon her, instantly shattering her psychological defenses. "Or have Yun Ming lead all of Shrek Academy in rebellion and march on Mingdu."
Cai Yue'er met Elder Shen's gaze with a vicious expression, her eyes brimming with venom, but she forcibly swallowed the taunts that had reached her lips. The reason was simple: the old man before her was a genuine Quasi-God expert, one of the Federation's true power holders.
He was the Federation military's chief of general staff, chairman of the Federation Military Commission, and held the rank of general. Together with Yu Guanzhi, commander of the Central Legion, and Chen Xinjie, commander of the Sea God Legion and master of the War God Temple, he was known as one of the Federation's three titans. He directly commanded the Western Legion and the Northwest Legion, while the North Sea Legion stood as a staunch backer of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
With such status, he could rightly be called the pillar that steadied the Federation's seas. Across the entire Federation, he was one of its most senior and powerful figures.
Damn the Federation. Once Yun Ming gets here, he'll deal with every last one of you.
Cai Yue'er had boundless faith in the man she had always adored and boundless venom for her enemies. Damn Shen Xi, and that little bastard!
She wanted nothing more than to flay those two bastards, tear out their tendons, and devour their flesh and blood raw.
But no matter how fiercely she hated them, she could not change the fact that she would soon have to honor the wager.
Elder Shen turned his gaze toward Xu Qingjia and the other two. The chill in his eyes faded, replaced by a measure of warmth. "You three youngsters, come with me."
Meanwhile, the livestream continued.
Everything that had just happened had been broadcast live.
After watching two important figures battle and then seeing the arrival of someone who was clearly an even greater powerhouse, countless scrolling comments declared that even dying now would have been worth the price of admission.
But once the incident ended, everyone's attention returned to the matter itself.
"Shrek really was far too arrogant and domineering this time. Besides, both sides agreed to that wager in public. Now that they've lost, they still refuse to let it go. That's hardly conduct befitting the continent's foremost academy." A relatively rational viewer left this comment, only to be swiftly drowned beneath a flood of rebuttals.
"How could Shrek possibly be wrong? They're Shrek Academy!"
"Exactly! Setting the facts aside, isn't the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy at fault too?!"
The leaders of the major powers lurking silently behind their screens took in all these public comments, their expressions varying.
Once figures representing the world's highest level of power entered the fray, what had originally been an interacademy competition quietly changed in nature. It was no longer merely a contest between Soul Masters. In particular, the wager involving the dignity of both the Federation and Shrek swiftly drew intense attention from the upper echelons of the various organizations and factions.
At that moment, an exceedingly real and thorny problem weighed heavily before them yet again, and again, and again-Shrek Academy's influence was simply too great.
From the foremost experts of the soul master world to ordinary people in the streets, almost everyone knew Shrek Academy's illustrious name. Its legends and myths were familiar to every household, readily recited by anyone, and everyone considered admission to Shrek an honor.
Countless pairs of eyes hidden in the darkness grew colder still. Without consulting one another, they all thought of a vast power that had long since vanished into the river of history-Spirit Hall.
It had once been a sacred land yearned for by Soul Masters everywhere. A single decree had forced the Clear Sky Sect, then the world's foremost sect, to seal its mountain and retreat from calamity. Even the two great empires had not dared provoke it lightly. Outstanding Soul Masters from across the world had flocked to its banner, granting it unrivaled power that reached the heavens.
Was Shrek Academy's current conduct an attempt to become a second Spirit Hall? No-without the checks and suppression imposed by the Federation, the Spirit Pagoda, and the other major powers, Shrek Academy would already have grown into a behemoth surpassing the Spirit Hall of old.
No one wanted to see another such autocratic, hegemonic power emerge, especially given Shrek
Academy's overbearing, domineering, reckless, and utterly heedless ways. Its conduct was truly repulsive, and it was particularly fond of stirring up trouble. They were all leaders of the greatest powers of the age. Who would willingly let someone sit atop their heads, pointing fingers and barking orders?
Shrek, do you really think you're a deity standing above all living beings?
Shrek City, Spirit Pagoda Headquarters, inside the Pagoda Master's office.
Dressed in luxurious robes, the handsome Qiangu Dongfeng stared darkly at the densely packed scrolling comments on the screen. The chill in his eyes seemed almost tangible.
"Shrek must be eliminated."
Shrek's influence had already grown beyond what he could tolerate. Even with its twenty-thousand-year undefeated golden body shattered, even with a Sea God Pavilion Elder forced to bow her head in public this time, Shrek Academy remained an unshakable sacred land steeped in myth in the hearts of the Federation's people.
Had they been willing to remain aloof from worldly affairs like reclusive sages, perhaps they would not have attracted so many enemies. But the crux of the matter was that Shrek aspired to become the uncrowned king of the soul master world.
A hoarse, chilling voice, like that of a ghost, quietly sounded behind Qiangu Dongfeng. "That youngster from the Xu Family certainly has exceptional talent. His future is boundless."
"He's merely relying on the few Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones he's absorbed." Qiangu Dongfeng gave a dismissive snort. In his view, Xu Qingjia's tremendous spiritual power and physique must have come at the cost of a great many Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bones.
He had merely used those resources ahead of time.
His Sun Zhangting was the one who truly possessed the makings of a True God!