A falling sun, a warning to Shrek

"But that still doesn't give him the right to be so arrogant..."

Yan Shaozhe spoke with considerable indignation.

He cast a reassuring look at Xuan Zi, coldness seeping into his eyes. "If I catch him next time, I'll slaughter that little bastard."

Mu En glanced at him and inwardly shook his head.

Someone who had yet to become a Titled Douluo could casually shoot out one eye of a Level 98 Super Douluo and still leave with ease. How terrifying would he be once he became a Titled Douluo?

If they met again, it would be good enough if this foolish disciple could escape without having a vital point pierced by an arrow.

Slaughter him... heh.

But at this point, even his heart was pounding with apprehension. After all, the sheer speed of that youth's growth was rarely seen in this world.

"Something's wrong..."

Yan Shaozhe's expression abruptly froze. He looked outside the Sea God Pavilion. The previously tranquil, pale blue sky now seemed to be engulfed in a calamity, turning into crimson clouds little by little.

The ground throughout the Sea God Pavilion began to tremble faintly.

It was as though an earth dragon were sweeping through with a roar.

"This is..." Yan Shaozhe flashed into the air above the Sea God Pavilion, gazing into the distance at the terrifying thing hurtling toward them through layer after layer of clouds.

It was a fiery-red arrow that had transformed into the enormous phantom of a three-legged Golden Crow. Vivid and lifelike, it carried a towering sea of flames around its body as it roared toward the Sea God Pavilion.

Everything along its path was burned into nothingness.

Even space seemed to have been pierced through.

Gulp.

Yan Shaozhe's throat bobbed. The scarlet sky was reflected in his eyes, which were filled with stupor and bewilderment.

In an instant, the arrow reached the Sea God Pavilion.

Like a blazing sun.

As countless Shrek Academy disciples raised their heads, their gazes filled with astonishment, shock, or disbelief, it smashed down viciously upon the Sea God Pavilion!!

"Aaaah!"

Yan Shaozhe's Level 95 combat strength was on full display, yet his face twisted hideously before this blazing sun. With great difficulty, he raised both hands to hold back its descent.

A bright, holy phoenix phantom was forced out behind him as well. This was his... Martial Soul Avatar.

The enormous sun was scorching hot, burning his hands and the wings of the phoenix behind him. The pain forced him to roar, while the Phoenix True Body behind him let out a mournful cry.

"Sigh..."

With his back hunched, Mu En slowly rose from his golden wheelchair. This scene of world-destroying devastation was reflected in his eyes, which took on a hint of complicated feeling.

Perhaps it was regret, perhaps something else.

"So be it."

"Was taking one of Xuan Zi's eyes not enough? With power like this, he has probably already broken through to the Titled Douluo realm. And... is he seeking an accounting for that girl Lexuan?"

"Elder Mu!" Xuan Zi stood to one side, one eye wrapped in white cloth, his remaining eye filled with solemnity.

Thud...

A dull sound rang out.

Leaning on his long cane, Mu En lightly tapped the ground, and a golden ripple spread from beneath his feet.

The entire Golden Ancient Tree radiated dazzling rays of golden light, as though it had come alive. An intangible golden ripple enveloped all of Sea God Island.

Rumble!

The enormous sun collided with the golden barrier.

A thunderous roar and tremors shook the earth and mountains.

At the same time, Yan Shaozhe clutched his chest, his face drained of blood. Flapping his wings unsteadily, he landed beside Mu En.

When he looked up at that enormous sun again, his eyes were filled with shock.

Who had shot this enormous sun?

He knew better than anyone.

It was naturally the little bastard he had just declared he would kill the next time they met.

But now... the might of a single arrow had nearly left him half-dead.

His face was not merely pale; it was also livid with disbelief.

Boom!

Mu En gave a quiet snort and tapped the ground once more with the wooden staff in his hand.

The power radiating from the Golden Ancient Tree grew even stronger, forcibly holding the enormous sun outside. Finally unable to sustain itself, the sun exploded with a thunderous blast. Its scorching residual might evaporated nearly half the water in Sea God Lake, and the water level plummeted.

Mu En lowered his eyelids and snorted softly.

"He does have some skill..."

The Inner Court.

At the sight of this scene, which nearly brought about an anomaly in heaven and earth, a breathtakingly beautiful girl with a slender, graceful figure and fiery-red clothes emerged from a house, staring at it with her mouth agape.

"This is... Lu Cheng!"

Everyone in the Inner Court knew that signature three-legged Golden Crow, but few had ever seen its true form-the blazing sun.

Only when the Golden Crow became a blazing sun did they truly glimpse the weight behind the former great demon king of the Shrek Inner Court.

But unlike the wonder, regret, and even solemnity of Ruomu, Han Ruoruo, and the others, Ma Xiaotao's beautiful crimson eyes sparkled. She even swallowed.

Her heart had long since drifted somewhere far away.

Wait for me, eldest senior brother... sooner or later, I'll go to the Holy Spirit Cult to find you. The girl secretly made up her mind.

As for Shrek Academy, Teacher and Elder Mu already entrusted it to eldest senior sister Lexuan long ago. She follows the righteous path, but I'm different... I can be righteous or evil. Eldest senior brother, wherever you are, that is the righteous path.

"Level 83."

Lu Cheng looked at Zhang Lexuan, who had just finished absorbing the Blood-Eroding Devil Python and was immersed in the spring water with only her head exposed. Even after all these years of feeding her Whale Rubber and giving her medicinal baths, absorbing a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast for her Eighth Soul Ring was ultimately no small burden on her body.

That was why Jiaojiao had suggested letting her soak in one of the offshoot hot springs of the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well. Its waters could strengthen the body, clear the meridians, and nourish the bones and constitution, making them even more helpful for Zhang Lexuan's recovery.

Unlike in the original story, where she had spent a full five years bedridden after the absorption before slowly recovering, Zhang Lexuan was doing much better now.

But... it was not enough.

To survive in this cruel world.

It was not enough.

He would help her sweep away every obstacle and every hidden danger in her future, but on one condition... her own strength could not be too weak either.

"Do you want to kill me?"

Lu Cheng sat cross-legged on a rock in the spring, studying the recuperating Zhang Lexuan with an interested smile.

The beauty in the spring remained indifferent, her eyes still closed as she absorbed the power in the spring water.

"Tsk, tsk. Not enough killing intent..." Lu Cheng rubbed his chin.

"Your hatred for me isn't enough either."

"At this rate, your strength is improving far too slowly. When will you become the whetstone on my path to the pinnacle? Girl, I can't wait too long for you."

"In that case, let's turn up the intensity."

The corners of Lu Cheng's mouth curved upward.

His black pupils gradually bled into crimson, intricate patterns coiling over them, growing ever more eerie and bewitching.

At the same time.

Zhang Lexuan's eyes snapped open.

Everything around her seemed to spin. Her hands and feet had shrunk too. Struggling to get up, she found no trace of the spring. She was clearly inside an old-fashioned residence.

Her eyes gradually widened.

This place... was her home!