Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda

In reality.

"That was... me?"

In a secluded forest, Yu Xiaogang stared at the "corpse," which barely looked human, his eyes filled with terror.

Just looking at that scene made Yu Xiaogang feel sick, and he seemed to smell that foul stench in his nostrils.

"It shouldn't be like this!"

"I should have become a Master of Theory! Why would I become... become something like that?!"

Yu Xiaogang clutched his close-cropped head, his face turning red and green as he nearly descended into madness.

The fantasies of the past few days, the hopes of the past few days-all of them became a joke at that moment.

That "corpse" instantly shattered Yu Xiaogang's fantasies of a "bright future" and "having taught a god."

"Teacher..."

Watching his teacher fall apart beside him, Tang San gritted his teeth.

He, too, could not believe that his future self had become a dwarf, or even...

The image of himself wearing that strangely constructed mask flashed through his mind.

Tang San realized almost instantly that his future self might have been disfigured.

Perhaps...

As the pustules and sores on the Celestial Screen's "Yu Xiaogang" flashed through his mind, Tang San could not help imagining his own face also...

"Urgh!"

Finally, Tang San could no longer hold back and vomited, tears and snot spilling out all at once.

"Dad!" Tang San could not help calling out to the person he relied on as he vomited.

"Third Sister, Ah Yin..."

Tang Hao paid Tang San no attention at that moment. There was not a trace of fatherly love on his weathered face, only panic.

He had planted those Seven Seeds!

He had planted those Seven Seeds beside Ah Yin!

What would happen to his Ah Yin?

What would Ah Yin, as beautiful as a flower, become?

Most importantly... was he really going to go back to find her?

Face divine punishment together with Ah Yin?

Tang Hao's Titled Douluo brain recalled the appearances of Yu Xiaogang and Tang San, and he swallowed hard.

Tang San was still all right. At least he could move freely.

Yu Xiaogang, however, was truly neither human nor ghost, only a breath away from death.

From what Dai Mubai had said on the Celestial Screen, all three of them had ended up looking like that. Even Tang Hao, a Titled Douluo, had not escaped it.

But that was the Celestial Screen, after all.

If he went back to find Ah Yin, would reality also...

At the thought of that possibility, Tang Hao swallowed hard. The lawless Clear Sky Douluo's sallow face was now filled with terror.

"Ah Yin, I've wronged you! I've left you unable to rest even after death!!"

Turning to the other side, at Shrek Academy at that very moment.

Flender stared at Yu Xiaogang on the Celestial Screen, his eyes filled with astonishment.

"Xiao Gang actually... actually ended up looking like that?!"

"No! I have to write a letter immediately... forget it, I'll go fetch him myself!"

"I'm going right now!"

Hastily activating Martial Soul Possession, Flender took nothing with him and flew straight toward Nuoding City.

[On the Celestial Screen, on Shrek Academy's training grounds.]

[Ximen Yun held the Pitch-Black Long Sword, four Soul Rings flashing around him: yellow, yellow, purple, purple.]

["This guy is actually a Soul Ancestor? So young?"]

[Dai Mubai and Tang San instantly realized they had kicked a hard bone.]

[Because of what had happened the previous night, Dai Mubai had taken some time to recuperate properly. When he came to receive the students, Teacher Li Yusong had handed them straight over to him.]

[That was why he only now learned that the unremarkable-looking Ximen Yun was actually a Soul Ancestor!]

[They were around the same age, with Dai Mubai even a little older, yet he was still a little short of becoming a Soul Ancestor. Tang San was merely a Soul Grandmaster.]

[How were they supposed to fight this?]

[Dai Mubai was starting to beat the retreat drum, but after glancing at the dwarf Tang San beside him, he steadied himself.]

[Having lived together for six years, Dai Mubai still had confidence in Tang San's miraculous Hidden Weapons and Self-Created Soul Skills. Two against one, victory was not necessarily impossible.]

["Still not making a move? Then I won't hold back!"]

[Holding the Pitch-Black Long Sword, Ximen Yun saw that the two were occupied with their shock and could not be bothered to wait any longer. After giving them a warning, he did not even draw his sword from its sheath.]

["Heavenly Flying Immortal!"]

[Without a single unnecessary movement, the onlookers saw only a streak of black sword light sweep diagonally toward them, like a startling flash of lightning, a long rainbow spanning the sky.]

[Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, watching from the side, felt their vision blur. In the blink of an eye, Dai Mubai and Tang San were lying rigidly on the ground.]

["Such a fast sword, but not as fast as Brother Shaobai's."]

["And that was a Self-Created Soul Skill too?"]

[Looking at the two figures on the ground, one large and one small, Ning Rongrong instinctively compared him with her own brother.]

[She had seen Li Shaobai's sword, and she had seen Grandpa Sword's sword.]

[Although Ning Rongrong did not understand swordsmanship, her constant exposure to it allowed her to sense the worth of Ximen Yun's strike.]

[None of their swords pursued speed, but at least Ning Rongrong could neither see Li Shaobai's sword clearly nor dodge it. She could see Ximen Yun's sword clearly, but could not dodge it.]

["Just as young, and also a Soul Ancestor. Should I write to Brother Shaobai and tell him there's a genius here too?"]

[Blinking her crystal-clear eyes as she watched Ximen Yun sheathe his sword and leave without hesitation, Ning Rongrong pondered for a moment before following him.]

["..."]

[Looking at Dai Mubai lying on the ground, a trace of bewilderment flashed through Zhu Zhuqing's eyes.]

[Could she really only rely on him?]

[A long while later, the Immovable Wisdom King, Zhao Wuji, who had thought to come take a look at this year's students, fell silent at the sight of Dai Mubai and Dwarf San sleeping on the training grounds.]

["Didn't Old Li say there were three students this year, one Soul Ancestor and one Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master? How come not a single one is left?"]

["Where are they?!"]

["Where are they?!"]

[Outside the village where Shrek Academy was located.]

[Ning Rongrong voiced her bewilderment.]

["Did that guy really run that fast?"]

["Brother, why did you help that Ning Rongrong? Don't we have a grudge against the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect?"]

[After easily shaking off Ning Rongrong, who had been following him, Ximen Yun stood atop a large tree, gazing at her figure in the distance.]

[He looked at the black-robed man before him with some puzzlement.]

["Why not just..."]

[Ximen Yun made a throat-cutting gesture.]

["Kill her outright? We've got the Alliance backing us now, and we're supposed to hunt these geniuses anyway..."]

["There aren't many truly clever people on the continent. Ning Fengzhi barely counts as one."]

[The black-robed man removed his hood, revealing a delicate-featured face.]

["Ning Fengzhi has many sons, but Ning Rongrong is the only one with outstanding talent in Soul Power, so he designated her as the next Sect Master early on."]

["If Ning Rongrong were clever, that would be one thing."]

["But clearly, apart from her decent talent in Soul Power, this princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect could only be called a ruler who preserves an inheritance, compared with her elder brothers in every other respect."]

["I want to destroy the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Ning Rongrong could be used to lure either Li Shaobai or Sword and Bone Douluo to their deaths. At the very least, she shouldn't die here."]

["Even if we can't wipe out the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect in the short term, if Ning Rongrong becomes the next Sect Master, there will be no risk of its resurgence."]

[As his words fell, the black-robed man slowly extended his hand, revealing his Martial Soul.]

[A flawless pagoda shimmering with a glazed luster appeared. It was none other than the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's inherited Martial Soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.]

[Strangely, the pagoda in the black-robed man's hand had nine stories in total!]

["Let the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect dreams of put an end to this sect with its century-old legacy."]