Inside the room, there was total silence.
A deathly silence.
After listening to Dai Yueheng's humiliating and detailed explanation, the air in the room seemed to freeze.
Xuan Zi sat there quietly, motionless, but his old face had turned as ashen as the sky before a storm.
He didn't roar or shout, but the sound of his teeth grinding, squeezed out from between his jaws, was more terrifying than any thunderous rage.
Dai Yueheng and the scout stood with their heads bowed, intentionally slowing their breathing to the extreme, fearing that even a single extra movement would ignite the volcano before them that was about to erupt.
They could clearly feel an invisible but mountain-heavy pressure enveloping the entire space, pressing down on them until they could barely breathe.
At this moment, they were both lamenting in their hearts; truly, they would rather face a ten-thousand-year Spirit Beast right now than endure Elder Xuan's silent fury.
Finally, in this suffocating silence, Xuan Zi spoke.
His voice was hoarse and low, every word sounding as if it had been pulled from an ice cellar, carrying a bone-chilling coldness: "So, that is to say..."
"He would rather choose that Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy, which only knows how to take shortcuts, than choose our Shrek that reigns over the continent?"
He said these words one by one, almost grinding his back teeth.
The words "reigns over the continent" sounded incredibly ironic at this moment.
Cold sweat instantly poured down Dai Yueheng's forehead like a waterfall; he swallowed hard, feeling his throat so dry it was as if it were about to smoke.
Facing Elder Xuan's gaze that could pierce through one's heart, he could only brace himself and answer in a barely audible voice: "...Y-yes."
"Good... Good! Very good!"
Xuan Zi was furious and slammed the table; the heavy solid wood desk was instantly covered in spiderweb-like cracks.
His chest heaved violently, clearly having been pushed to his limit by anger.
Shrek's glory and Shrek's dignity were, at this moment, stepped on and crushed by an unknown youth!
"Call Xi Xi here!" Xuan Zi ordered through gritted teeth, the coldness in his eyes almost enough to freeze someone.
"Yes!"
Dai Yueheng felt as if he had been granted a grand pardon and didn't dare to delay for a second, immediately bowing and withdrawing.
A moment later, he returned to the top floor of the Sea Gods Pavilion with a somewhat apprehensive Xi Xi.
As soon as Xi Xi stepped inside, she immediately felt the unusually oppressive atmosphere.
Seeing Elder Xuan's ashen face and Dai Yueheng standing aside as quiet as a cicada in winter, her heart skipped a beat, wondering what had happened.
"Xi Xi," Xuan Zi looked at her, his voice softening slightly, but the coldness remained. "I heard from Yue Heng that you once fought alongside that youth, so you should understand his strength very well."
Xuan Zi's gaze became sharp as he asked word by word, "Tell me honestly, how strong is he exactly?"
Facing Elder Xuan's personal inquiry, Xi Xi didn't dare to hide anything.
She recalled the youth's figure, like a descending deity, during their battle together, which still made her heart palpitate.
She took a deep breath and said in an extremely grave tone, "Reporting to Elder Xuan, his strength... is terrifyingly powerful!"
To be more convincing, she briefly described the battle that night: "At that time, I was surrounded by seven Evil Soul Masters, each of whom was a Spirit King level expert. I was in a desperate situation, but once he acted... everything was over."
"In just an instant," a flash of horror and reverence crossed Xi Xi's eyes, "a streak of green-gold light flashed, and those seven Evil Soul Master Spirit Kings couldn't even put up any effective resistance before they were all instantly killed on the spot! It was clean and efficient, with no hesitation!"
"Instantly killed seven Spirit Kings?"
Xuan Zi's furrowed brows tightened even more, forming a deep "river" shape.
He was silent for a moment and then asked, "How do you think his strength compares to Xiao Tao's?"
Ma Xiaotao, the undisputed number one in the Shrek Inner Academy and Shrek's peerless Genius, was the highest benchmark in his heart for measuring the combat power of the younger generation.
This question also left Xi Xi in deep thought.
She analyzed seriously, "Elder Xuan, this... is hard to say. With Sister Xiao Tao's strength, I believe she could also kill seven Evil Soul Master Spirit Kings at once. But..."
Xi Xi paused, seemingly searching for the most accurate wording: "But Sister Xiao Tao's fighting style is extreme burst and destruction; the scene would be incredibly grand."
"Whereas that youth gives me the feeling of extreme speed and precision. He is more like a ruthless assassin who ends the battle before the enemy can even react."
"So... Senior Ma might not be that fast."
"So you're saying Xiao Tao isn't as good as him?" Xuan Zi's face instantly became even more unsightly, and his voice suddenly rose several decibels.
"No! That's not what I meant!" Xi Xi was startled and quickly shook her head to explain, "Spirit Masters' combat styles are divided into many types; strength cannot be judged simply by speed. Perhaps he is just better at speed, or his Spirit's characteristics had a greater advantage in that situation."
She didn't dare to speak with absolute certainty, but in the end, she gave a conclusion that made Xuan Zi's heart sink to the bottom: "But I can be sure of one thing: at the very least, his strength isn't much worse than Senior Ma's. It might... it might even be stronger."
"Stronger..."
Xuan Zi muttered those two words repeatedly, the light in his eyes dimming a bit.
He waved his hand tiredly, his voice full of powerlessness: "Alright, I understand. You all... may leave."
"Yes."
Dai Yueheng and Xi Xi felt a sense of relief and quickly bowed, cautiously exiting the Sea Gods Pavilion.
When Xuan Zi was the only one left on the top floor, the dignity he had been forcing himself to maintain finally dropped, replaced by endless gloom and irritability.
This time, it really was all bad news! One after another, not a single thing was going well!
A youth with such terrifying talent and strength, a Prodigy who might even be stronger than Ma Xiaotao, yet they couldn't recruit him. And what was most disgusting was that he had actually joined their biggest rival, the Sun Moon Royal Academy...
Xuan Zi could almost imagine just how smug Jing Hongchen, the head of the Sun Moon Academy, must be right now!
With the All-Continent High-Rank Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament about to begin, that Liu Yuan will surely represent the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy.
If his strength is truly as formidable as Xi Xi said, or even stronger...
At that time, wouldn't he become a major threat to the Shrek Team? A terrifying existence capable of threatening Ma Xiaotao and even overturning the entire situation!
Shrek Academy has gone too long without tasting defeat.
And this glory must absolutely not be lost in his hands!
Even more so, if... if in the future he truly defeats the Shrek Team they are so proud of in the high-profile Soul Master Tournament and takes away the championship glory that should have belonged to them...
Thinking of that scene, of Shrek's myth of invincibility being shattered, and of himself becoming Shrek's sinner, an uncontrollable surge of rage and panic erupted from the depths of Xuan Zi's heart!
*Crack—*
With a crisp sound, the beloved purple clay wine pot in his hand, which he had used for who knows how many years, was actually crushed into pieces by him!
Wine mixed with pottery shards dripped from between his fingers.
"Impossible!" Xuan Zi's eyes were instantly bloodshot, a hideous expression appearing on his face as a low roar echoed within the empty Sea Gods Pavilion.
"I will absolutely not let such a thing happen... absolutely not!"
-------------------------------
I've already uploaded 40 chapters of this story on Patreon!
If you enjoy it, come check out the latest chapters in advance.
Here's the link:
[email protected]/DaoistRoeoNQ
Thank you so much for your support!!!
"And If you're enjoying it, drop a Power Stone for me!"