Three years apart, and still so weak, my dearest little sister... (combined chapter)

"Crackle, pop~"

As sparks spat from the dry wood and it gradually blackened, Xuan Zi was thoroughly thunderstruck too, the corner of his eye twitching incessantly. That damned brat-it was bad enough that he had fallen to become an Evil Soul Master, but now he wanted to abduct Shrek Academy's only successor as well.

Simply... unforgivable!

Still, he would probably have to return first and report to Mu En. The girl had looked perfectly solemn when she spoke, not as though she were joking. If she caught Mu En completely off guard later, he would be left dumbfounded.

As for this place, it was still only the edge of the Star Dou Great Forest's core region for now. The chances of encountering a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast were low, and Zhang Lexuan, Ruomu, and the others could handle the other Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts.

Time to go.

Xuan Zi took another swig of wine and shook his head.

"Who knows how Mu En will respond? Oh, forget it, forget it. What an ill-fated pair..."

With that, his figure vanished from the branch.

The night passed without incident.

Naturally, Zhang Lexuan and Ruomu had no idea that Xuan Zi had already left, and confidently led the team deeper into the core region.

The forest grew increasingly dense. Verdant ancient trees towered into the clouds around them, fully several hundred meters tall, while the light filtering through their leaves grew ever sparser.

Their surroundings darkened.

"Wait..."

"Something seems wrong."

Ruomu frowned slightly and stopped, raising a hand to signal a halt.

The team stopped abruptly, every gaze falling on Ruomu.

This was the core region of the Star Dou Great Forest. Powerful Soul Beasts rarely seen elsewhere were everywhere here. Even with extremely powerful teachers leading them, they dared not be the slightest bit careless.

"Senior Sister Ruomu, what's wrong?" Seeing Ruomu's grave expression, Zhang Lexuan approached and asked quietly.

"Something's wrong..." Ruomu's eyes narrowed slightly. Emerald light rose from beneath her feet, and green vines silently spread into their surroundings.

"What terrifying pressure-no, it's a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast!" A moment later, Ruomu suddenly opened her eyes, her expression utterly grave. "He's sensed our presence and is approaching us at tremendous speed!"

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?!"

A flash of astonishment crossed Zhang Lexuan's beautiful eyes.

She had never expected to encounter such a terrifying existence at the top of the Star Dou Great Forest's food chain so soon.

"Xuan Zi, we can't handle this... We'll have to ask you to intervene." Ruomu slowly exhaled a breath of stale air, a smile lifting the corners of her mouth.

As a Level 98 Super Douluo of the Inner Court, Xuan Zi was among the continent's foremost experts, capable of matching a four- or five-hundred-thousand-year Soul Beast. If it was only a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, he could still handle it easily.

"Perfect... This Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast can be your eighth Soul Ring." Ruomu turned to Zhang Lexuan with a bright smile.

She had already begun allocating the Soul Ring.

"Mine?" Zhang Lexuan lowered her head and murmured softly.

In her memories, that person's seventh Soul Ring had come from a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. Her own body had been tempered to extraordinary strength throughout her childhood, and even her seventh Soul Ring had come from a ninety-nine-thousand-year Soul Beast, only a step away from a hundred thousand years.

But all of this... had come from his personally nurturing her, little by little.

She could still remember playing mischievously in her medicinal baths, and the indulgence in his eyes.

He clearly did not love her. He was clearly the true culprit who had murdered her family, an incomparably savage Evil Soul Master. So why had he gone to such lengths to nurture her body, day after day, month after month?

While the beauty stood in a daze, Ruomu was beginning to feel bewildered.

"Xuan Zi? Please stop fooling around. People really could die here. There are many Soul King disciples in the team. It'll be hard to look after them against a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast..."

"..."

But their surroundings remained deathly silent.

That slovenly old man did not appear.

"Xuan Zi..." Ruomu swallowed, a trace of trembling entering her voice.

That old man couldn't really have abandoned them to raid bird nests and look for brewing ingredients in the forest, could he?

This was a fucking Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, damn it!

People really would die!

The Star Dou Great Forest.

Outside the core region.

Two dark figures slowly appeared atop an ancient tree that reached into the heavens. The view was open here, giving them an unobstructed view for dozens of kilometers around.

"This should be the place..." Wu Ya studied the far end of his field of view and nodded slightly.

"This Crow Tracking Great Art is pretty good. I thought your crows were only good at running for their lives," the other dark figure said calmly.

Wu Ya: (▼皿▼#)

"Boy, you're awfully arrogant... Let's have another match when we have time. I'll show you the might of Dark Crow."

"Sure..."

The black-robed figure pulled back his hood, revealing a handsome, slightly uncanny young face. A trace of scarlet colored his eyes, and a strange three-legged bird was tattooed on his neck.

For some reason, his looks could not be called the very finest, yet his bearing possessed a breathtaking allure that people could not tear themselves away from.

"I'll look forward to it, then." Lu Cheng's lips curved upward.

"Tsk, tsk... You were born to be a demonic cultivator, brat." Wu Ya glanced at him, a flicker of admiration crossing his eyes. This fellow already had an excellent foundation. Coupled with those Blood Pupils, that sinister, uncanny quality of his was simply slaughtering its way through the Holy Spirit Cult's female disciples. Who knew how many beautiful female disciples wanted to climb into his bed... Apparently, not long ago, even Gai Yin, the young sect master of the Mingyu Sect, a subordinate sect of the Holy Spirit Cult, had been so entranced by him that she could barely walk away.

"Heh, they're all just skeletons beneath their painted beauty." Lu Cheng chuckled disdainfully. "If I hadn't wanted to draw the Mingyu Sect over, why would I have had anything to do with that woman?"

"I keep feeling that you're playing an enormous game of chess." Wu Ya frowned slightly, studying Lu Cheng earnestly. "But I still can't make sense of it..."

Lu Cheng remained impassive and did not respond.

He had a fairly good impression of Wu Ya. This fellow had simply been unlucky. Because he practiced dark cultivation methods, he was frequently hunted down. Once, unable to stomach the humiliation any longer, he had turned around and killed his pursuer, then simply joined the Holy Spirit Cult.

And ever since joining, he had focused on cultivating dark power, never acting like the other cultists who rapidly increased their cultivation by devouring other people's flesh and souls and slaughtering the innocent indiscriminately.

"Wu Ya, you're a good man," Lu Cheng sighed softly.

"But good men don't get good endings..."

Wu Ya: ???

"Are you out of your mind? We've already joined the Holy Spirit Cult. How could any of us be decent birds?" Wu Ya scoffed, yet a trace of wistfulness flickered through his eyes.

If they had a choice, who would willingly become a notorious Evil Soul Master, abandon their former worldly ties, and crowd together with a bunch of rotten fish and shrimp...?

"Rumble!!"

As the two chatted, a deafening sound suddenly came from the distance. Looking out from above, they saw billowing dust rising far away, along with the shock waves of a battle.

"A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast?" Wu Ya looked astonished.

"Wasn't Xuan Zi supposed to be following them? Where did that old thing run off to? Why is there only a bunch of young disciples fighting for their lives?"

"Are the lives of Shrek Inner Court disciples worth so little?"

"You've only just realized?" Lu Cheng stretched languidly. "Shrek Academy's Inner Court disciples are all expendables... If those old fossils in the Sea God Pavilion really intended to eradicate Evil Soul Masters, they wouldn't keep sending disciples to their deaths."

"Rotten and bloated-is this Shrek Academy?" Wu Ya sighed. "Seems the righteous path and the demonic path are all the same."

"But, speaking of which..." A teasing gleam flashed through Wu Ya's eyes. "Are you going to save them?"

"..."

Lu Cheng gazed down at everything impassively.

With his spiritual power, he could even clearly pick out the minute expressions of every Inner Court disciple on the battlefield several thousand meters away.

But he was in no hurry to act.

"She's improved a great deal over the years."

Lu Cheng's gaze settled on a woman in the Inner Court's red-and-white uniform. Her figure had grown taller and more slender, her long black hair hanging over her shoulders in slight disarray after the sudden encounter with a powerful enemy. Her bearing was more mature and composed than three years ago, her lovely face colder and gentler...

He sighed softly.

"A Level 79 Peak Soul Saint. She certainly deserves to be called a genius. She must be the foremost third-generation disciple Shrek Academy is focusing on nurturing." Admiration and teasing flashed through Wu Ya's eyes.

"But... your little sweetheart seems about to give out?"

"Pfft~"

Zhang Lexuan spat out a mouthful of blood, her lovely face growing even paler. Clutching her chest, she narrowly avoided the hundred-thousand-year Blood-Eroding Devil Python's sudden attack and landed on a branch of an ancient tree, bracing her other delicate hand against the trunk.

A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast was enough to make the vast majority of Soul Douluo experts close their eyes and await death.

Much less their team of Inner Court disciples, with only one Soul Douluo leading them, three Soul Saints, and the rest all Soul Emperors and Soul Kings.

"Ah!"

Several screams came from the distance.

Inner Court disciples were slammed against tree trunks by the Blood-Eroding Devil Python's tail. Their clothes were corroded by the crimson blood it spat out, and their bodies suffered considerable injuries as well...

Yet, for some reason, the devil python was clearly not striking to kill.

It only severely injured those junior brothers and sisters at the Soul King level, leaving them unable to move.

"It wants to finish us off, then take everyone back to its nest to slowly torment and devour us. Its corrosive blood can dissolve our bodies and Soul Power, turning them into nourishment for it," Ruomu growled, her eyes reddening.

Xuan Zi's disappearance was already a fact. Now, they could only rely on themselves...

"Lexuan, how many more times can you unleash your Martial Soul Avatar?" Ruomu pressed her palms together, a sea of thick trees rising to temporarily trap the Blood-Eroding Devil Python with all her might. She looked urgently at Zhang Lexuan.

"Once! My Soul Power is almost gone," Zhang Lexuan managed.

Even that one time would require burning her blood.

"Old Chen, heal Lexuan and restore her strength." Ruomu gritted her teeth. She could feel the Blood-Eroding Devil Python frantically spitting crimson blood inside the enormous wooden cocoon, corroding it. It would probably break free before long.

The team's only healing-type Soul Saint gritted his teeth. His Soul Power was almost drained too, but with their lives on the line, how could he worry about that? He hastily stuffed a couple of mouthfuls of Soul Power-restoring pills into his mouth, and rays of holy light fell on Ruomu, Zhang Lexuan, and the other Soul Saint.

"Whew... I'll release the wooden cocoon in three seconds. Lexuan, try trapping it once more. This time, everyone must bring out all their trump cards. Whether we succeed or fail comes down to this." After receiving healing and restoration, Ruomu's complexion improved somewhat. She gritted her teeth, her gaze frenzied.

"Fuck, it's just a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast, and it wants to devour me? In its fucking dreams!"

"All right!"

Everyone else stared at the wooden cocoon with determined eyes.

"Three!"

"Two!"

"One!"

With Ruomu's shout, the wooden cocoon instantly vanished. The Blood-Eroding Devil Python froze for a moment, only to have its entire body trapped by a silver moon, followed immediately by a crackling barrage of heavy blows.

"..."

Everything was rather quiet.

Ruomu's eyes were bloodshot as she stared fixedly into the rising smoke.

"Is it over?" The healing-type Soul Saint disciple leaned against a tree, his legs trembling. The feeling of surviving a disaster really was...

"No! Fall back!"

Ruomu's pupils abruptly contracted. Wooden vines tugged at the others' bodies, pulling them sharply backward.

At the same time, an extremely foul-smelling crimson liquid splashed onto the tree trunk where they had just been standing. The enormous ancient tree was instantly corroded into a puddle of sludge, terrifying and chilling.

"Gulp~"

Ruomu and the others stood silently in place, watching helplessly as the enormous python, nearly a hundred meters long, slowly crawled out of the dust and smoke. Its forked tongue flicked out, its vertical pupils looking down upon them indifferently.

Its eyes also held a measure of anger.

Large patches of hard scales had fallen from its back, exposing a severe wound, while blood also flowed steadily from its belly...

Clearly, although it had not died, it was severely injured.

However...

Ruomu and the others were in even worse condition.

Their oil was spent, their lamps burning out.

"Everyone, I'm sorry..." Ruomu wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth, bitterness flickering in her eyes.

Zhang Lexuan merely gazed quietly up at the enormous python.

Her hairpin gave a clear, bell-like chime.

A trace of release flashed through her eyes.

If he heard that she had died... would he be sad?

Perhaps. But for some reason, although she hated him to her very bones, the first person she thought of now, just before her death, was that fellow.

"Hiss!"

The enormous python flicked its tongue, mockery and amusement flashing in its eyes.

It opened its bloody maw and lunged down to swallow them.

Zhang Lexuan slowly closed her eyes, quietly awaiting death.

But the very next instant-

"Rumble!!!"

The roar resounded throughout the Star Dou Great Forest.

A blazing three-legged Golden Crow, like a rainbow piercing the sun, shot straight through half of the Blood-Eroding Devil Python's head. Countless trees along its path burned to nothing, and the terrifying Fire of Sun Essence scorched the python, sending it rolling frantically across the ground, wailing.

The Shrek Inner Court disciples all stared blankly at everything that had suddenly unfolded before them.

It seemed... they weren't dead?

The arrow's trail was so obvious that everyone immediately looked toward the direction from which it had come.

As far as their eyes could reach, they could find no trace of its source.

"What terrifying range. It came from at least several kilometers away..." An Inner Court disciple who had survived the disaster spoke, shock flashing in his eyes.

"Has an academy expert come to save us?"

"Why haven't I ever seen an elder who uses a bow, after all these years in the Inner Court?"

"..."

The many Soul King and Soul Emperor disciples who had joined the Inner Court in recent years grew excited, chattering among themselves.

But the four Soul Saints and several disciples who had joined the Inner Court earlier stood frozen in place, feeling only their scalps prickle.

No one knew better than they did.

Who the owner of that arrow was.

That existence who had once suppressed the entire Inner Court, made countless prodigies tremble, and, after his identity as the Holy Spirit Cult's Holy Son was exposed one night three years ago, became a taboo that could never be mentioned in the Inner Court...

Everyone turned their gaze toward Zhang Lexuan.

Yet the beauty stood frozen in place, staring blankly into the distance.

Her eyes were vacant.

"Three years apart, and you're still this weak..."

A teasing voice rang out unhurriedly.

Two black-robed figures slowly emerged into view.

"My dear... little sister."

The black-robed young man in the lead chuckled as he looked down at the beauty and slowly spoke.