Who... was the real Evil Soul Master?

"Boom!"

Thick purple-black vines erupted from the ground and hurtled toward the person opposite her, whipping up a fierce wind that made quite an intimidating sight.

The tall boy's pupils contracted, but delight soon surfaced in his eyes.

This bloodthirsty aura... she really was an Evil Soul Master!

As a senior student of Shrek Academy, he was naturally no weakling, his strength roughly at the Soul Elder level. A pale Yellow Soul Ring suddenly rippled beneath his feet.

A wall of sand appeared before him.

"Second Soul Skill: Sand Barrier!"

But Tang Ya's pale blue eyes had already turned pitch-black, as though steeped in ink.

Purple-black energy surged around her.

She no longer concealed the aura of her dark blue silver grass, unleashing it outright!

"First Soul Skill, Entanglement!"

Tang Ya spoke coldly.

Under the tall boy's terrified gaze, countless thick vines pierced straight through the sand wall. At the same time, more vines coiled around his ankles, pinning his body firmly in place and leaving him unable to move!

"Shhk!"

A thick vine pierced straight through his abdomen, yet, strangely, no blood flowed.

Instead, his face grew visibly paler.

His life force was clearly draining away!

"Attack!"

Everyone around them was stunned by this sudden turn of events.

After all, in their eyes, the tall boy's strength should have been more than enough to deal with a Two-Ring Soul Grandmaster. They had never expected...

One of them had the White Bird martial soul.

Three soul rings-yellow, yellow, and purple-rippled beneath his feet. His expression grave, he darted toward Tang Ya.

The girl's face twisted fiercely as she swept her hand.

Countless vines surged toward him again, but his specialty was clearly speed. As a three-ring Soul Elder, he also stood a full rank above her, so he dodged them with ease.

"Gale Slash!"

The boy with the White Bird martial soul let out a long shout.

The wings on his back snapped together, then unleashed two crimson cutting blades.

"Second Soul Skill, Mandala Net!"

A mocking look appeared on Tang Ya's pretty face.

A huge net woven from purple-black vines formed in an instant, then swept down over White Bird.

It moved so quickly that White Bird could not evade it. Like a bird in a cage, he was trapped inside as several vines along the net's edges rooted themselves firmly in the ground.

"Damn it! Report this to the academy!"

"So this is an Evil Soul Master..."

A girl wearing the uniform of a senior student from Shrek Academy's outer court looked grim. She shouted at Bei Bei, who stood dazed beside her, "Bei Bei, what are you standing there for? Your lightning might counter these vines!"

"Yes, Senior Zhang Lei!"

Looking at Tang Ya, whose Evil Soul Master traits were unmistakable, and his desperately struggling teammates, Bei Bei gritted his teeth. The Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon possessed him, blue lightning surging around his body. Pale blue dragon scales covered his arms, and sharp dragon claws formed on his hands.

He charged forward.

His claws slashed down, leaving afterimages as countless dark vines shattered and snapped. He swiftly rescued the tall boy whose abdomen had been pierced, handed him to a teammate, then rushed toward the Mandala Net.

"Hmph!"

Tang Ya snorted coldly.

Dark blue silver grass surged toward Bei Bei in a wave that blotted out the sky.

"We'll hold her off. You cut the vines!"

Zhang Lei brightened at the sight. She hurriedly ordered one person to stay behind and tend to the tall boy, while another joined her in disrupting Tang Ya.

It was not that several Soul Elders could not subdue a single Soul Grandmaster.

Rather, when facing such a mysterious Evil Soul Master, even a moment's carelessness could send them into her trap, costing them far more than they gained.

This ability to absorb life force was truly difficult to guard against.

Only Bei Bei's countering attribute made him suitable for the rescue.

Zhang Lei had never intended for their little group to eliminate Tang Ya. Her goal was to hold her there until the academy's teachers arrived to end the battle...

After that.

Tang Ya, who had gained the upper hand through a surprise attack, gradually fell into a disadvantage under their hit-and-run tactics.

Her level had never given her an advantage. Now, her opponents had no intention of fighting her head-on, and merely sustaining the dark blue silver grass through this stalemate nearly exhausted her soul power.

"All right, leave this to me!"

A figure slowly appeared.

Tang Ya instantly felt a terrifying pressure descend. As though all strength had left her body, she dropped to her knees. The purple-black aura around her slowly faded, and the dark blue silver grass retreated underground in succession.

Only a scene of devastation remained.

"It's Dean Yan!"

Zhang Lei exclaimed delightedly.

Then she hurriedly began explaining.

"Dean, this girl is Tang Ya, a surviving orphan of the Tang Sect. She came to enroll at Shrek Academy. Wang Heng was suspicious and merely asked, 'The Tang Sect was destroyed by Evil Soul Masters not long ago. How did you escape?' She flew into a rage out of humiliation and revealed her true nature..."

Although this account was biased.

None of the others denied it.

In their minds, only a fool would defend someone who had injured their teammate and was an undercover agent sent to Shrek Academy by Evil Soul Masters.

Bei Bei hesitated, but could only sigh and turn his head away, no longer looking at Tang Ya.

He had felt a stirring in his heart, but now that things had reached this point, there was no undoing them...

"I understand..."

Yan Shaozhe stood with his hands behind his back.

A faint, composed smile rested on his face.

"She is an honored guest from the Tang Sect, after all. I believe she is not an undercover agent of the Holy Spirit Cult. Perhaps... there has been some misunderstanding?"

"Wouldn't you agree, Tang Ya?"

At the same time.

Yan Shaozhe also sent her a voice transmission.

"If you want to live, join Shrek Academy. What happened today will be forgiven..."

When Tang Ya heard his first sentence.

Her beautiful eyes brightened, and a little hope in Shrek Academy rose within her.

But when the second sentence reached her through the voice transmission, it was as though she had plunged into the abyss once again.

The girl gave a desolate laugh.

She had originally believed.

Shrek Academy would be a place of light.

It would seek justice for the Tang Sect, and what had happened earlier might have been a misunderstanding...

But now.

Tang Ya slowly raised her head, a trickle of blood spilling from the corner of her mouth.

It slid down her fair neck and dripped onto the ground.

Her red lips parted slightly.

"You only value my talent..."

"When the Tang Sect was destroyed, your Shrek Academy never spared it a glance..."

Yan Shaozhe's expression slowly chilled. "Don't refuse a toast only to drink a forfeit. You've fallen into the ranks of Evil Soul Masters, yet you dare come to Shrek Academy and provoke us. Do you believe I won't..."

But before he could finish, the girl's bleak laughter cut him off.

"Hahahaha! Shrek Academy-I'd say you're not even as open and honorable as the Sun Moon Imperial Academy. I always thought Evil Soul Masters were bloodthirsty killers who slaughtered the innocent, but now..."

"You sanctimonious hypocrites of Shrek Academy are Evil Soul Masters too..."

As she spoke.

Xu Cheng's face surfaced in the girl's mind.

"What do you think an Evil Soul Master is?"

"Then... does Shrek count?"

"Countless commoners live under the rule of nobles and powerful elites, unable even to awaken soul power. Beautiful girls are snatched away by nobles, and strong boys are sold into their service, worked like oxen and horses for their entire lives, without any rights. Living in Heaven Dou City, I don't believe you've never seen those nobles' auction houses..."

"So why don't you take a guess where the greatest pillar of support comes from-the one that helps preserve this state of affairs and binds the noble class together in shared interests..."