[The scene shifted to the Star Dou Great Forest.
Contrary to what Gu Yuena had thought, the reason the Star Dou Soul Beasts' fortune had fallen so sharply was not a Soul Beast rebellion.
"Di Tian, I never thought you would save me..."
In the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's territory, Xiong Jun's face was pale, and blood stained his chest.
Di Tian, standing before him, had only one arm left. He leaned against a tree.
"Our business isn't over."
"But before that, I'll never stand by and watch evil Soul Beasts invade Star Dou."
Sweat beaded on Di Tian's forehead as his remaining hand clutched the stump of his severed arm.
"Could those bugs be the True Stings that the grand voice mentioned not long ago?"
"But... didn't it say there was only one?"
Xiong Jun gave Di Tian a guilty glance, trying to change the subject.
"How would I know?"
Di Tian took a deep breath. One of the bugs had forcibly torn off his arm, leaving saliva on the wound.
Because of that, his wound still hadn't healed.
If his level hadn't been reset to zero, but he had still retained his ability to transform, allowing him to turn into a black dragon and drive back the enemy with Dragon God Claw,
he would probably have died in the mouths of those three bugs alongside that fool Xiong Jun.
"But... Xiong Jun, this time, I should thank you instead."
Di Tian fell silent for a moment, then suddenly heaved a long sigh. He looked into the distance, toward the Sun Moon Empire.
If Xiong Jun hadn't rebelled, Star Dou might truly have been finished this time...
My lord...
Di Tian sighed and said nothing for a long time.
Then, a series of buzzing sounds suddenly rang out.
"Di Tian, after this, I, Xiong Jun, owe you!"
"If there's another life, I, Xiong Jun, will follow your lead!"
"I am Star Dou's Beast God! If you want to raze Star Dou, you'll have to step over my corpse first!"
...]
Di Tian...
"I, Xiong Jun, keep my word. In this life, I'll agree to all your conditions."
In the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear's territory, Xiong Jun, who was under house arrest, had a complicated look in his eyes.
The scene in the sky screen had made him submit to Di Tian wholeheartedly.
"Di Tian..."
Gu Yuena's eyes flickered as she watched Di Tian and Xiong Jun on the sky screen being devoured by the True Sting Swarm.
Immediately afterward, new varieties of True Stings appeared among the Swarm.
They had black dragon scales and dark golden claws.
"My lord, in this humble one's view, I'm afraid only Ye Xiao can save the future world."
The Evil Emperor, who had been beaten again, spoke obediently.
He wasn't merely flattering her; he truly thought so himself.
After seeing the Swarm's power, he wanted nothing more than to go cling to Ye Xiao's thigh immediately.
Unfortunately, Gu Yuena had already brought him under her control.
"Can he really do it?"
Gu Yuena felt somewhat lost. She had already seen what the Swarm could do.
Devour, split, and evolve-and Ye Xiao on the sky screen didn't even know where the Swarm was.
Yes, she admitted that Ye Xiao was dominant among those of the same level, but could he raze the Star Dou Great Forest on his own?
Gu Yuena did not answer, her thoughts somewhat jumbled.
Suddenly, her heart was full of fear for the future.
"Evil Emperor, just stay here. If I need anything else later, I'll send you a message."
Gu Yuena finished speaking quickly, and her figure vanished.
She wanted to see Ye Xiao again.
Meanwhile, on Fallen Phoenix Street, the atmosphere was equally grave.
"How confident are you?"
The Snow Empress looked at Ye Xiao beside her, her expression somewhat grave.
Star Dou was unquestionably the strongest Soul Beast habitat overall. If even Star Dou could be swept away so quickly,
the Far North would probably fare no better.
The Snow Empress pressed her pink lips together, feeling somewhat lost for a moment.
"If the current me grew until that time, I'd be completely confident, even if the bugs didn't first appear in the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well."
Unlike the others, Ye Xiao looked quite relaxed.
Now that he had sword dao, a divine skill with the divinity of an Aeon, he was confident enough to cut down every last bug. Even if an Emanator showed up among them, he wouldn't be afraid.
"However, the me on the sky screen has a far stronger foundation than I do, but he hasn't fully integrated it."
"It's really hard to say how this battle will turn out."
Ye Xiao shifted tack and explained thoughtfully.
If the Ye Xiao on the sky screen only had the abilities he had shown, the coming battle would probably be rather difficult.
After all, the strongest ability of the Ye Xiao on the sky screen seemed to be his endlessly renewing sword Qi, but his opponent was an equally endlessly renewing Swarm...
Even if Tian Xiao could rely on his sword Qi to take form and remain undying and indestructible, a living being's will ultimately had its limits.
"Seriously? Kid, you're already that badass?"
The Ice Empress gave Ye Xiao a doubtful glance, finding it hard to believe.
At the very least, judging by the power the Swarm had displayed on the sky screen, she probably wouldn't have been its match without her Soul Core.
Let alone the fact that everyone's level had been reset to zero at the time.
"I have the backing of the Divine Realm and the Soul Beast Clan. My future will only be brighter than Tian Xiao's."
Ye Xiao shook his head and spoke slowly.
In fact, his sword dao had faintly begun to show the characteristic of attaining it once and retaining it forever.
"Impossible!"
"That's absolutely impossible!"
The chicken leg in Xuan Zi's hand fell to the ground as he stared in horror at the Star Dou Great Forest turning into the Star Dou Desert.
The Star Dou Great Forest was right next to Shrek Academy!
Wouldn't that make Shrek Academy the bugs' previous or next target?
Did I take the wrong path?
A flicker of regret also passed through Mu En's cloudy eyes.
He could naturally see the same things the Evil Emperor had. If anyone could save the world ravaged by the Swarm Disaster, it was probably only the Epiphyllum Sword Master!
"Elder Lin, you said earlier that Ye Xiao had collud-formed an alliance with the Soul Beasts?"
"Then that means the sky screen does have some effect on the present after all. If we from Shrek go to Mingdu to rescue Ji Juechen and Jing Ziyan, do you think Ye Xiao might ease relations with us?"
Mu En sighed, his words full of uncertainty.
Under pressure from the Swarm Disaster, Mu En finally began to take Ye Xiao's existence seriously.
"I'm afraid it'll be difficult. The Soul Beast Clan is more than capable of helping him rescue Ji and Jing, and his personality..."
Yan Shaozhe hesitantly shook his head, a trace of bitterness appearing at the corners of his mouth.
"Ah, let's give it a try."
"Yan Shaozhe, you and Xuan Zi will go together this time."
"Take Lexuan with you as well."
After thinking for a moment, Mu En waved a helpless hand at Yan Shaozhe.
His reason for having Yan Shaozhe take Zhang Lexuan along was simple: the Ye Xiao on the sky screen looked very lustful.
"Teacher, I'd like to take Xiaotao along too."
After some thought, Yan Shaozhe offered the suggestion.
He understood what Mu En meant, but if possible, he would rather that person be Ma Xiaotao.
After all, Ye Xiao's Ultimate Ice attribute would be immensely beneficial to Ma Xiaotao.