Wu Feng was completely incapable of lying. Fearing she might reveal a flaw, Wang Dong'er stepped forward, pretending to look terrified while inwardly marveling at the superb acting skills of Xuan Zi, the Supreme Elder of the Holy Ghost Cult. "We were attacked by evil Soul Masters..."
"Describe it to me in detail. Do not leave out a single detail."
Wang Dong'er nodded and recounted the events. She described how they were sweeping through the enemy from the very beginning, up until Zhou Yi ordered everyone to attack, which resulted in the corpses exploding. To escape the blast, she and Wu Feng fell into a rocky cavern, and by the time they broke through the rubble to come out, everything had already turned into this state.
The more Xuan Zi listened, the more furious he became. He turned his gaze toward Zhou Yi, only now noticing that apart from being disfigured by the venom splashed on her face, she was actually completely unharmed.
In other words, not only did she rashly advance to claim unearned merit, but she had also failed to step up and protect her students when they encountered danger.
A moment later, the others slowly woke up, except for the heavily injured Gongyang Mo, Xu Sanshi whose legs were severed from the roots, Bei Bei who had lost his manhood, and Huo Yuhao who remained unconscious due to mental backlash.
Before they could even figure out what was happening, they heard Xuan Zi fiercely berating Zhou Yi. "Zhou Yi, look at the disaster you've caused! Because of your rash advancement to claim credit, two inner court students have died tragically, one is crippled, one preparatory team member has died, two are crippled, and everyone else has suffered various degrees of severe injuries. For such a monumental loss, you cannot escape blame today!"
Human nature was often thus: when faced with consequences too heavy to bear, the very first instinct was to shift the blame.
If Bei Bei had not lost his manhood, Xuan Zi might have just accepted the responsibility himself; after all, no one could truly hold him accountable. Elder Mu would at most give him a token scolding. He would never punish him over a mere handful of students and might even comfort him in return instead.
But now that it involved Elder Mu's great-great-grandson, he absolutely had to find a scapegoat.
"No... it wasn't like that, I didn't know things would turn out this way either..."
Crushed under the weight of such a massive blame, Zhou Yi could barely breathe.
However, the others turned a blind eye. It was obvious that Zhou Yi's cowering and silence when facing the Titled Douluo-level evil Soul Master earlier had already bred deep resentment in Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Ling Luochen, Xi Xi, and even Dai Huabin himself.
As for Xuan Zi, they only believed he was the one who had rescued them. They were too full of gratitude to harbor any complaints against him.
"You think a simple 'I didn't know' settles it? I might as well tell you right now, Bei Bei is Elder Mu's great-great-grandson. Once we get back, I want to see exactly how you intend to explain this to the academy, and how you will answer to Elder Mu..." Xuan Zi dropped another bombshell.
Hearing this, Zhou Yi broke down completely, tears blurring her vision. She did not understand how things could have devolved to this point. It was supposed to be a straightforward inspection team mission, and their opponents were merely a group of evil Soul Masters whose highest cultivation didn't even exceed Soul King. Why did such a massive disaster occur?
Not only were three members of the Seven Monsters and three members of the preparatory team killed or crippled, but it had even cost the life of He Caitou, her husband's eldest disciple, and caused Elder Mu's great-great-grandson to be castrated.
No, this was a problem she didn't know how to solve, she couldn't solve it. At this moment, it felt as if an icy snow was drifting over Zhou Yi's head.
Wu Feng and Wang Dong'er watched coldly from the sidelines the entire time. On one hand, they felt Zhou Yi deserved it, but on the other hand, they silently mocked Xuan Zi's acting skills. He was clearly the Supreme Elder of the Holy Ghost Cult who had set this trap to harm them, yet he could still shift the blame here with such righteous indignation.
They had seen the truth clearly. If it hadn't been for the divine sense left behind by the Sea God, Tang San, activating to protect Dai Huabin, the two Titled Douluos and over a dozen Soul Saints from the Holy Ghost Cult who appeared later would have succeeded in their plot.
Ling Luochen and Xi Xi also watched coldly as Zhou Yi suffered. After all, this was not the first time Zhou Yi had caused the deaths of Shrek students.
The two women exchanged glances, seeing identical looks of confusion in each other's eyes. They were originally supposed to die too. But just as they were about to be engulfed by the corpse explosion, a golden light had suddenly risen from beneath their feet, blocking the otherwise fatal blast for them.
Furthermore, that golden light gave them a sense of familiarity, as if they had seen it somewhere before.
Just as they opened their mouths to question Xuan Zi, Wang Dong'er and Wu Feng walked up to them and made a shushing gesture. Only then did the two drop the matter.
"Elder Xuan, what should we do next?" Ma Xiaotao asked as she struggled to push herself up from the ground.
By now, the venom on her back had been completely evaporated by the Light of the Sea God released by Tang San's divine sense. However, the wound itself wouldn't heal so easily. It felt scorching hot and intensely painful.
"Right now, adding Shrek's official team and preparatory team together, there are only nine people left who can still step onto the field to compete. And that is assuming your injuries can heal in time. However, in all the past iterations of the Soul Master Tournament, our Shrek Academy has never been absent. No matter what, even if Shrek Academy is no longer at its peak, you must secure the championship of the Soul Master Tournament," Xuan Zi said resolutely.
Hearing his words, everyone nodded heavily, though the high-spirited pride they once possessed was completely gone from their faces.
Just like that, Xuan Zi utilized his immense soul power to give everyone a brief breath-regulation session, fed them the specialized detoxification pills formulated by Shrek, and bandaged their wounds. Finally, he gathered the remains of Yao Haoxuan, Chen Zifeng, and He Caitou.
Only then did they leave the cavern that had devastated Shrek's forces, looking exactly like defeated soldiers retreating from a lost war.
Xuan Zi carried Bei Bei, who had lost his manhood, carefully in a bridal carry.
Wu Feng and Wang Dong'er constructed a crude stretcher to carry Xu Sanshi, who had lost both legs and whose stumps were wrapped tightly in bandages.
Ling Luochen and Xi Xi likewise made a simple stretcher to carry Gongyang Mo, who was left with only a single arm.
Dai Huabin carried Huo Yuhao, who was unconscious from mental backlash, on his back.
Dai Yueheng and Ma Xiaotao rejected Zhou Yi's attempts to support them, instead hunching their backs and following painfully on their own.
This left only the disfigured Zhou Yi following miserably at the very back, her eyes filled with complete vacancy and helplessness.
From beginning to end, not a single person uttered another word.
....
Just as the Shrek group was returning in total defeat after arriving with such high hopes, the Death Envoy had already crawled out of a secret underground tunnel. At the tunnel's exit, twelve figures who didn't even possess breath immediately dropped to one knee before him.
"Rise, my corpse slaves. You will stay behind to cover my retreat. We've run into massive trouble this time; even a high-ranking Titled Douluo elder has fallen. But it matters not. In ten years at most, I will be able to achieve that same realm. When that time comes, I will have nothing left to fear."
Right at that moment, a cold voice suddenly rang out. "I'm afraid you won't have that opportunity."
The Death Envoy froze and quickly scanned his surroundings, only to realize that a youth had appeared at the tunnel's exit at some unknown point. He wore green robes, had long hair, and carried a longsword at his waist. The scabbard was engraved with the words 'Lei Jie'—Thunder Tribulation—and he possessed a handsome countenance.
What astonished him the most was the youth's eyes. Those crystal-clear eyes carried a soul-stirring power, and his sword intent was ethereal and formless. He seemed like a born swordsman, sharp and unstoppable. If the longsword at his waist were to leave its scabbard, it would surely be invincible.
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