At the same time Huo Yuhao returned to the academy, the two participating Shrek teams also officially began their first supervision mission—to annihilate the Hand of Death Bandit Gang.
In this life, without Huo Yuhao's reminder, I'm afraid they might not necessarily suffer heavy losses, right? One must know, the Time Stop Domain possessed by Cao Jinxuan, who replaced Huo Yuhao, is not inferior to Huo Yuhao's Spiritual Detection Sharing in certain situations.
More importantly, the Ma Xiaotao of this life was no longer at the Soul Emperor level, but a Soul Sage of the ultimate fire attribute who had half a foot into the Soul Douluo realm.
So theoretically speaking, Huo Yuhao was very reassured about Ma Xiaotao's safety. The Life Gold that could only be obtained by participating in this tournament, he had already extorted a piece from Di Tian. What's more, there was clearly a bigger lump under the Lake of Life in the forbidden area of the Star Dou Great Forest. It wouldn't be impossible to find a way to get a little more from Gu Yuena for free in the future.
After Huo Yuhao had thought this through, he was relieved. As for the God-Sealing Platform that imprisoned the Snow Empress's embryo, he would fight for a spot during the subsequent exchange and study with the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy, and take the opportunity to walk away with it while the Body Sect was causing trouble.
As for that Ice Burst Art Ice Jade Scorpion left arm bone, for Huo Yuhao, who already had arrangements for a full set of soul bones, he naturally wouldn't be too attached to it. It would most likely be taken by Ling Luochen, who would then have one of her hands crippled. Besides, Huo Yuhao's second martial soul was no longer the Ice Jade Empress Scorpion, so it was useless for him to get it.
With the half-step Soul Douluo Ma Xiaotao, plus the official Shrek team members who would most likely not get into trouble, it should be no problem for Shrek to win the championship, Huo Yuhao thought to himself.
So on his return journey, he chose to slowly travel and enjoy the scenery with Zhongli Yu. After returning to the territory of Shrek City, Huo Yuhao had stuffed Zhongli Yu into the Kamui space to cultivate in seclusion. When he had nothing to do, he could also be alone with his beautiful woman at any time.
Thus, Huo Yuhao simply continued his great cause at the academy—building his team base and picking up girls.
But plans could never keep up with changes. Huo Yuhao had calculated a thousand times but still missed a key figure. That was a serious consequence brought about by him forcibly changing the world line—
In a quiet room, Tang Ya woke up from a deep coma. The surrounding environment was all too familiar to her. It was a house she had bought in Shrek City with Bei Bei.
It was just that her whole body was wrapped in a black airflow, and her pair of deep blue, beautiful eyes refracted a gruesome luster. Before she fell into a coma, she had been immersed in boundless slaughter. The pleasure originating from the deepest part of her martial soul made it impossible for her to stop.
"I'll kill you..." Tang Ya gritted her silver teeth, a cruel smile on her pretty face. The excitement brought by the slaughter still left her with an endless aftertaste.
Creak—
Just then, the door was slowly pushed open by an old woman. It was a nanny that Bei Bei had hired for Tang Ya before he left. He was afraid that the evil aura on Tang Ya was too heavy and she would be imprisoned by the academy's higher-ups, so he hadn't had time to take her to find his Great-Grandfather Xuan.
"Little girl, you're awake?" The old woman showed a smile, holding a bowl of body-nourishing medicinal soup in her hand. It contained many light-attribute heavenly treasures. It was surprisingly the medicine Bei Bei had intended to use to cleanse her evil aura himself.
"You've woken up just in time. Drink it while it's hot. It's good for your body," the old woman walked to Tang Ya's bed, preparing to feed her the medicinal soup in her hand.
Tang Ya immediately felt the nauseating light-attribute aura in the bowl of medicinal soup. The kind-faced old woman before her was like a monstrous beast in her eyes, ugly to the extreme!
It must be those hypocritical higher-ups from the academy who sent her here to harm me!
Thinking this, Tang Ya waved her hand and knocked over the priceless bowl of medicinal soup.
"Miss Tang, what is the meaning of this?" The medicinal soup in her hand was suddenly knocked over by her employer. Before the old woman had time to complain, she then saw countless dark blue vines rushing towards her.
"Ah—no—"
In the end, the old woman didn't even have time to let out a miserable cry before she was turned into nutrients for the Dark Blue Silver Grass and completely evaporated from this world.
"Shrek!" Tang Ya said through gritted teeth, the name of the place where she had once spent happy memories with Bei Bei.
Ten thousand years ago, her Tang Sect ancestor had led the seven devils of that generation to win the supreme glory for Shrek Academy, supporting Shrek to become the number one academy on the continent. But ten thousand years later, her Tang Sect had already withered, while Shrek Academy was still thriving, its prestige undiminished.
Why had Shrek Academy never lent a helping hand to her weakened Tang Sect? Why was Shrek Academy not even willing to step forward to save even a piece of land for the Tang Sect?
At this moment, Tang Ya's heart was filled with only boundless resentment. She had completely gone down a dead end. Her hatred for Shrek had reached an unprecedented high.
She slowly got up from the bed. The ultimate evil soul power was taken into her body under her control. Then she looked at the letter Bei Bei had left for her on the table.
The letter was still filled with Bei Bei's longing for her, as well as a series of rehabilitation plans customized for her. It also mentioned that he was going to participate in the Soul Dueling Tournament and told her to take good care of herself.
However, the current Tang Ya had long been blinded by hatred. She didn't even read the rehabilitation arrangements Bei Bei had made for her carefully, but instead stared intently at the part where Bei Bei told her about his group going to Star Luo to participate in the competition.
Bei Bei, is the glory of the academy really more important to you than me?
Tang Ya smiled sorrowfully, like a lily just beginning to bloom, refreshing the heart.
The next moment, a blue-black color covered her pupils. She sneered coldly, then left this small house that held their common memories and sped towards the outside of Shrek City.
"Saintess, after you wake up, come to the north gate of Shrek City for a gathering! At that time, my church will grant you the power you desire, the supreme power!"
The words of the old evil soul master who had saved her that day constantly echoed in Tang Ya's mind. She never turned her head to look in the direction of the academy again.
"We respectfully welcome the Saintess!"
Just after Tang Ya rushed out of the north gate of Shrek City and was about to release her evil martial soul, an old voice sounded in her ear.
"You are the evil soul master organization, right?" Tang Ya walked slowly towards the direction the old man's voice came from, a cruel smile on her face. "There's something I want to tell you..."
---
Ming Dou Mountain Range.
"Boom, boom, boom, boom, boom..." A violent roar echoed one after another in the cave. A terrifying explosion accompanied by flesh and blood flew everywhere.
The seven members of the preparatory team had just entered not long ago, and they were also within the range of Cao Jinxuan's Time Stop Domain. He had reacted at the first moment, and after activating his first soul skill, he quickly pushed his companions to a place where there were no corpses. The group was not affected much.
But the seven disciples of the inner court who were in the middle of a fierce battle and had killed a large number of enemies might be in trouble. They were completely in the core area of the explosion.
The power of the Corpse Explosion was simply too great. The bones, muscles, and blood vessels of those dead bodies all became weapons after the explosion. The stronger the corpse was in life, the greater the power of the explosion would be. Especially that Soul King expert who had been torn apart by Dai Yueheng, when he exploded, it felt as if the mountains were shaking and the earth was moving.
Scree—
Accompanied by a clear phoenix cry, a terrifying flame instantly swept through the entire cave. The formidable ultimate fire instantly separated everyone from the explosion, forming a solid wall constructed of ultimate flames.
The terrifying explosion lasted for a full ten-odd seconds before gradually calming down. The Shrek supervisors had never expected to face such a situation. How could a bandit gang led by only a Soul King possess such a skill? And its power was actually so great. This had already exceeded their judgment, and it was precisely because of this that they had almost suffered a huge blow.
At the same time the explosion sounded, the old man with messy hair who had been sitting on top of the cave entrance outside, leisurely drinking wine, was slightly stunned. Immediately after, he transformed into a stream of light and drilled into the cave.
Elder Xuan had been guarding outside all along. He had quietly followed behind the group and, after arriving here, he had clearly felt through the aura that the strongest enemy here was only at the five-ring Soul King cultivation level. Although there was more than one, in his view, these bandits had no possibility of resisting in front of the elite disciples of Shrek Academy. What's more, there was also the steady and prudent Wang Yan presiding over the grand situation. So he was very reassured to drink outside. No one liked the smell of blood.
But Elder Xuan had also never expected that such a drastic change would suddenly occur. The powerful explosion just now had completely surpassed the offensive capability that a Soul King or Soul Emperor level could produce.
"Jie jie jie! How does my Corpse Explosion taste? No matter how strong you are, in the face of my chain Corpse Explosion, you will surely die. If you don't die from the explosion, you'll be poisoned to death!"
At this time, the entire cave was filled with a thick smell of blood, and also a thick feeling of dampness. Almost every part of the cave was covered with a layer of blood plasma. The corpses of the hundred-odd bandits who had been killed earlier had all produced a violent explosion just now.
The Corpse Explosion did not recognize people. It not only exploded towards the students of Shrek Academy, but also a large number of the still-living bandits had fallen. But most of these bandits were somewhat prepared. Some of them quickly hid in the recesses under the cave walls, which was why they were not all affected.
The most terrifying thing was that the liquid produced after the explosion was actually as corrosive as a strong acid. From the top of the cave to the cave walls, the hissing sound of corrosion could be heard everywhere. The hidden enemy not only made the corpses explode but also made them all have a potent poison, which was extremely vicious.
When the Corpse Explosion occurred, the seven were protected by Ma Xiaotao, and everyone was doing their best to protect themselves. Except for Dai Yueheng, who was in direct contact with the opponent and was directly blown away, the other five were not seriously injured.
Ma Xiaotao, as the strongest among the seven, not only had to block the secondary poison damage brought by the Corpse Explosion but also had to open up a sheltered terrain for her companions. The huge consumption directly overdrawn her.
The seven great disciples of the inner court of Shrek Academy had all suffered minor injuries, and one was even heavily injured. The originally overwhelming situation had actually turned into such a miserable state.
All of this had happened too suddenly. The seven members of the preparatory team, because they were on the periphery, were not affected much, but they were all dumbfounded.
"Bastard," Elder Xuan's aged, angry roar then sounded, shaking the entire cave violently. A thick white light instantly filled every corner of the entire cave, and all the corroding poisonous blood actually evaporated and disappeared in an instant.
He raised his right hand and made a pulling motion towards the cave in front. A terrifying suction force came from his palm. A figure in the cave was pulled out by this suction force and came straight towards him.
Elder Xuan's mood at this time could no longer be described with humiliation. Under the situation where he was personally leading the team, a huge loss had almost occurred. And, they were all the new generation of the Shrek Seven Devils of Shrek Academy!
In a few days, they still had to represent the academy to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament. If Ma Xiaotao had not been there to protect them, this team would probably have been completely wiped out, heavily injured or even dead.
The figure that was grabbed out of the cave by Elder Xuan out of thin air was a person completely shrouded in a black robe. Looking at his figure, he seemed very thin. His appearance could not be seen. One could only see the five soul rings on his body—three yellow, two purple—shining with light.
He was indeed only a Soul King. But it was precisely such a Soul King, whom Elder Xuan was not even willing to look at straight, who had caused the shocking drama just now!
Being grabbed by Elder Xuan, he immediately let out another terrified scream and struggled desperately. But what was Elder Xuan's cultivation? How could he possibly resist? Seeing that he was about to be captured, right at this moment, the other Soul King who had been torn apart by Dai Yueheng earlier, the half of his body lying next to Dai Yueheng, suddenly swelled up again.
"Senior Brother Dai, be careful," Wang Dong couldn't help but cry out in alarm.
Elder Xuan's perception was not weak in the slightest. Compared to that evil soul master, the disciples were clearly more important! A tragic loss had almost occurred just now. How could he tolerate someone else being in danger?
Elder Xuan's hands suddenly lifted, and a ball of solid white light instantly enveloped the half-corpse. On the other side, his finger flicked, and the Soul King who controlled the Corpse Explosion was instantly struck as if by a giant hammer.
But, a strange scene also appeared at this moment. The fifth purple soul ring on his body suddenly lit up, and his entire person turned into a wisp of smoke. He did not run away directly, but instead rushed towards the source of the voice, Wang Dong, like lightning.
Although Cao Jinxuan had always been on guard, the opponent's strength was simply too much higher than his. His first soul skill had no effect on him at all. Immediately after, Wang Dong felt the world spin around her, and Elder Xuan's angry roar still echoed in her ears.
A violent roar followed. The half-corpse exploded, leaving no bones behind, but the mighty force of the explosion was all controlled by Elder Xuan. But it was precisely because of this that Elder Xuan's action to aid Wang Dong was a little slower. His palm only managed to grab the stone slab of the ground that had been flipped up by the underground passage entrance, while Wang Dong and the evil soul master had already disappeared into the distance.
"Bastard," Elder Xuan roared in shame and anger, clearly having truly been angered. He slammed a fist fiercely onto the ground, instantly smashing the flipped-up stone slab to pieces. But he didn't dare to release too much soul power, for fear of harming the Wang Dong below. Just this one delay, and there was already a series of violent explosions in the tunnel below. A severe collapse occurred in the tunnel. As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows. It was clear that the true leader of this cruel Hand of Death Bandit Gang was him.
"Dong'er—" Xu Sanshi rushed over, letting out a heart-wrenching, painful cry.