Sea God Island.
Huo Yuhao's excitement gradually calmed. He put away the Golden Tree. His aura gradually returned to normal.
After returning, he would reshape Electrolux's true body.
"Di Tian has also finished on his side. Only some loose ends remain. If you cannot wait, Yuhao, you can go back now."
Snow Empress came to Huo Yuhao's side and said softly, "Leave the rest to us."
Knowing how important Electrolux was to Huo Yuhao, she naturally understood his mood at this moment.
Huo Yuhao thought for a moment and was about to nod when a sudden roar came from the distance, clearly audible even here.
"Hanhai Douluo, what are you trying to do? Are you going to betray the Federation and let her go?"
Huo Yuhao frowned slightly and looked toward the place where he had fought Er Ming.
Now, there were four Limit Douluo's auras there. They were Yu Guanzhi, Dong Zi'an, Long Yuye, and Chen Xinjie. The latter two seemed to be confronting the former two.
"Chen Xinjie and Long Yuye?"
Thinking of what Snow Empress had told him earlier about Chen Xinjie going to find Long Yuye, Huo Yuhao narrowed his eyes.
Earlier, his focus had been on searching for and taking the Vast Sea Universe Cover. He had not struck Long Yuye heavily, only with a Semi Divine's strike. Moreover, Long Yuye had been in her Sacred Dragon true body form at the time, which was naturally more durable. She should have recovered by now.
Now, was this like the original work, where Old Love Never Dies?
A strange look passed through Huo Yuhao's eyes. Then, thinking of a hidden aura he had sensed on this battlefield earlier, he thought for a moment and said, "Let us go take a look. If Chen Xinjie acts unwisely, without a divine level expert to stop him, his trump cards could cause considerable casualties. Some preparations I can make here are the same as back home. There is no need to return immediately."
As mentioned earlier, there was more than one Limit Douluo observing this battlefield. Huo Yuhao had also discovered another person, also near Sea God Island.
However, that hidden Federation expert's frontal combat ability should be inferior to Chen Xinjie's, whose spiritual realm had reached the Divine Origin level. Not to mention that Chen Xinjie also had a trump card that could briefly reach the divine level.
However.
Thinking of that person's concealment methods, which even he had not been able to immediately detect after using the Ice Empress True Body, Huo Yuhao's eyes flickered.
"If Chen Xinjie is careless because of rekindled old feelings, he might also suffer a great loss."
...
Let us go back to when Long Yuye was knocked into Sea God Lake by Huo Yuhao.
The attack, which in Huo Yuhao's view was not heavy, had also been coordinated with divine consciousness power. So Long Yuye, knocked into Sea God Lake, only felt an irresistible will invade her soul with that strike, making her vision go black, her consciousness scattered, and her aura disappearing for a period of time.
At that moment, sensing Long Yuye's aura disappeared, seemingly killed by a Federation expert, Chen Xinjie was dazed and panicked.
He had thought he could calmly face the outcome of Long Yuye's death. But when it became a reality, he realized he still could not forget her. It seemed there was nothing in his life more important than her.
Understanding his own feelings, Chen Xinjie ignored the battle at the Golden Tree and quickly used spatial power to rush to where Long Yuye had been.
One could say that Huo Yuhao had barely left the spot before Chen Xinjie arrived.
When he arrived, he saw Federation experts clearing the remaining resistance from the battlefield. Yu Guanzhi noticed his arrival and greeted him.
But Chen Xinjie was oblivious to all of this.
Under everyone's strange gazes, his eyes searched the Sea God Lake. A look of joy suddenly appeared on his face. He suddenly looked at a certain spot in the lake.
Thank goodness. Yue Yue was not dead. (Chen Xinjie's behavior matches his portrayal in the original work. See original work Chapter 1244 for details.)
The Federation experts around also quickly noticed something amiss in the lake. The originally calm surface of Sea God Lake suddenly churned violently. Amidst the swirling undercurrents, a figure burst out of the water.
It was Long Yuye.
There was still blood at the corner of her mouth that had not been washed away by the water. There was a huge dent in the center of her battle armor. Her body was covered in burn marks. Her aura had even dropped a level. Her wet hair clung to her pale cheeks. After emerging from the water, her figure visibly swayed before she barely steadied herself.
"Ha, quite tenacious." Dong Zi'an glanced at her and muttered quietly, "After taking that hit, she went completely silent. I thought she was dead. Turns out she was just playing dead."
However, his gaze did not linger on Long Yuye. Instead, he looked at Chen Xinjie, frowning deeply.
This War Temple Master's emotions were very off. The way he looked at Long Yuye seemed full of lingering affection. That kind of undisguised, almost dazed concern was something even he, a rough man, could detect.
This guy wouldn't pull off something big at the last moment, would he?
Yu Guanzhi, who had also noticed this, was also alarmed. He instinctively called out, "Lord Chen, calm down. She is a rebel of Shrek who would rather die than surrender."
Although it was Emotionless Douluo's merit, for a major event like Shrek's fall, even Vice Palace Master Guan Yue, who had a deep relationship with Shrek, had maintained his stance. With the greater picture at stake, he had not failed.
This War Temple Master, always known for his composure and iron face, must not, at this final juncture, cause something that could not be contained because of some old scores, or rather, old feelings.
Chen Xinjie, however, ignored everything. He completely disregarded Yu Guanzhi's reminder.
His entire mind was now on Long Yuye. Seeing her burst out of the water, though battered, still standing, the wild joy of recovering what he had lost, followed by heart wrenching concern, almost made him forget everything around him. He instinctively stepped forward.
In midair, Long Yuye's breathing steadied slightly. Her cold gaze swept over the Federation forces waiting on the shore. Finally, it met Chen Xinjie's burning gaze directly.
She was slightly startled, as if she had not expected him to be here, nor had she expected him to look at her like that.
What surprised her even more was Chen Xinjie's subsequent actions.
Chen Xinjie strode forward, directly before her, and embraced her in front of everyone. Long Yuye was shocked and wanted to resist, but she heard Chen Xinjie's low, hoarse voice, as if suppressing a hundred years of time.
"Thank goodness. Yue Yue, you are still alive."
That familiar, intimate address that existed only in memory, and the fear that almost drowned her in his voice, the wild joy of recovering what he had lost, made Long Yuye's entire body stiff. Her hand, raised to resist, froze in midair.
Feeling the stiffness in the body in his arms, Chen Xinjie did not loosen his hold in the slightest. His gaze only grew softer.
At the same time, as if to melt the coldness around her, or perhaps moved by deep emotion, light and shadow flowed around Chen Xinjie. A beautiful, hazy Thought Manifestation.
This was an ability only Semi Divines possessed, using spiritual power to present one's thoughts and memories in an almost tangible form.
And the scene Chen Xinjie displayed was his and Long Yuye's story.
Their first meeting by the Sea God Lake. Their mutual attraction, sharp and brilliant. The tacit understanding and trust when fighting side by side. The fierce arguments over differing ideals, neither willing to yield. In the end, figures Running in Opposite Directions.
And the anxiety of rushing over after realizing he still loved Long Yuye.
"We were both so stubborn back then. Both sharp, unwilling to be subordinate, liking to control everything. That was also why we separated. I thought I had forgotten you over these years."
"But the moment you might have died, I understood. I had never forgotten you. Those stubbornness, those pride, that self-righteous control. In the face of the fear of possibly losing you forever, they were all Worthless."
"Thankfully, you are still here now."
Long Yuye stared at him blankly, looking at the pain and deep affection no longer hidden in his eyes. She finally let down her rigid hand.
Her figure became younger at this moment. Seeing this, Chen Xinjie's eyes lit up. He also became young. The two seemed to return to the beginning.
Long Yuye said with complex emotion, "I never expected that at the last moment, these words would come from you, of all people, the stubborn one."
Chen Xinjie shook his head violently, staring into her eyes, his voice resolute. "No. This is not the last moment. I missed one chance. I cannot miss another. Leave the rest to."
"Hanhai Douluo, what are you trying to do? Are you going to betray the Federation and let her go?"
Dong Zi'an roared.
On the shore, the Federation experts' expressions had long since turned ugly as Chen Xinjie spoke. The War Gods of the War Temple were shocked and especially at a loss.
Their master now felt very strange to them.
Hearing this, Chen Xinjie turned around, shielding Long Yuye behind him. His expression returned to coldness.
"The word betrayal is too heavy for me. I, Chen Xinjie, have fought for the Federation and the War Temple for a hundred years. I have never had any private interests."
"Now, Shrek Academy is as good as destroyed. One person's life or death is no longer that important. The crimes she bears, I am willing to bear for her. I will take all the consequences."
"But today, I am taking her away."
Accompanying his words, the "Thought Manifestation" light and shadow around Chen Xinjie, which had been involuntarily externalized by emotional turmoil and reflected a century of entanglement, began to withdraw and fade like a tide.
This also meant that he was pulling himself out of the emotional torrent, facing the outside world again with the complete bearing of Hanhai Douluo.
And it was precisely in this subtle interval of transition between old and new states, as his mind shifted from inward to outward focus, that Chen Xinjie's spiritual perception, as if suddenly awakened by ice water, suddenly caught a trace of "discordance" around him.
That "discordance" was not an aura, not a fluctuation, not even a fold in space, but a violation of "existence" itself.
When had an expert of the same level, skilled in concealment, approached? While he was using Thought Manifestation?
This thought exploded like thunder in Chen Xinjie's mind.
But it was already too late.
The change came silently.
In the empty space less than a meter to Long Yuye's right rear, the air seemed to be gently wiped open by an invisible brush, creating a crack.
A slender cross sword extended from it. The blade, condensed a peak Near Divine strike, traced a simple gray line.
It was so fast that Long Yuye, only now noticing it, had no time to react.
Chen Xinjie's "Be careful" barely tore through the first syllable. The deep blue barrier he had had only just blasted out its first ripple from his palm.
The gray line had already silently passed by.
The complex expression on Long Yuye's face suddenly froze. She had never imagined that she would encounter such a certain kill beside Chen Xinjie. She had not even been able to detect the slightest hint of danger.
The attacker's speed, the extreme concealment of killing intent and aura, and the mastery of concealment related spatial methods had all reached perfection.
Yet she and Chen Xinjie had sunk into their feelings for each other. They had been careless.
Long Yuye wanted to turn her head toward Chen Xinjie. The final reflection in her eyes was the man's face, twisted by extreme shock and rage, and an expanding grayness that filled her entire field of vision.
Was she going to die?
This realization, like a final icy stream, dispersed all the chaos and confusion at the edge of her consciousness.
She had not completed the Sea God's Ten Thousand Year Plan.
Shrek's glory had not been revived in her hands.
And that stubborn man who had just put down his pride, with renewed fervor in his eyes.
Regret, like countless fine ice needles, pierced Long Yuye's remaining perception. Various unwillingnesses made her let out a silent roar from the depths of her soul.
Where had Shrek gone wrong? Why was heaven treating her like this?
She had not even truly touched the hand he had reached out to her, and she was going to.
Her thoughts suddenly stopped. Long Yuye's vision went completely dark.
There was no sound, no blood. Only the dead silence of life instantly drained and annihilated.
Her head flew through silently the air and fell into the lake.
The remnants of this Light and Dark Douluo slowly fell backward.
"No. Yue Yue."
Chen Xinjie's roar tore through his throat. He reached out and caught Long Yuye's body, feeling it rapidly lose warmth. His mind was blank.
The sword wielding figure that had appeared in the void, having succeeded in one strike, retreated like a phantom. His face showed neither joy nor sorrow. His heroic face held only deathly stillness.
"The Barrier of Love is the most misleading. A hundred years of Hanhai, Calm and Unruffled. Yet because of a single emotional obstacle, his mind was lost, and a Weakness appeared."
"Chen Xinjie, because of love, you have grown weak."
The pale faced, heroic man said so.
On the shore, Dong Zi'an, who had been about to rush forward to angrily question, even try to slap Chen Xinjie, suddenly froze.
Yu Guanzhi's angry expression also instantly solidified. His pupils contracted in shock as he, along with many Federation experts, stared at the gray figure.
That figure. That iconic, seemingly light absorbing dark gray Four Word Battle Armor. The outline of that strange gray thin sword that had just been sheathed. And that aura, which remained as dead calm as a Ten Thousand Year Cold Pool even after completing such a shocking assassination.
"The Speaker. He recalled him too?"
Yu Guanzhi's anger gradually subsided. His expression became complicated.
There was no mistake.
Although he rarely revealed his true form, this attire, this unique aura as if returned from the underworld, belonged to only one person on the continent.
The continent's number one agility attack system battle soul master, one of the Federation's pillars, the Dark Department Head, Hades Douluo, Harossa.
***
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(End of Chapter)