The ever-changing situation in the battle left all the students present completely bewildered.
In their eyes, Su Wen was indeed brave and his talent was beyond their reach, but Zhou Yi was a Soul Emperor! So, no matter what, no one expected Su Wen could actually end up in a stalemate with Zhou Yi.
In other words... a tie!
Are you kidding us?
We really thought you were just talking big, but you actually meant it?
Watching the Soul Emperor-level battle, with Zhou Yi and Little Gold radiating waves of power, the scene was intimidating, yet Su Wen calmly stood in the back watching. Many people were envious—this summoner is just so cool.
Zhou Yi, fused with her Fire Dragon Martial Soul, dropped all pretense and didn't hold back at all.
But even though she went all out, even using her fifth (Ten-thousand-year) soul skill—Fire Dragon Dance—the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was completely unfazed. Its physical strength was truly terrifying.
It was like a massive, immovable mountain.
The fire dragon collided with it, only to produce some sparks that were quickly extinguished.
"No wonder the inner court values him so highly!" Zhou Yi seemed calm on the outside, but inside, her heart was in turmoil.
This Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear always shielded Su Wen behind it, and its age was at least over four thousand years!
To be able to control such a terrifying soul beast without any sign of backlash—this alone revealed Su Wen's monstrous nature—she had underestimated him!
Zhou Yi's anger dissipated as reason returned.
Now, the question wasn't whether she could accidentally kill Su Wen, but if she could even defeat him at all.
Gritting her teeth, she shouted, "Su Wen! Attacking a teacher and showing no respect—aren't you going too far? If you stop now and bow to apologize, maybe I'll be generous enough to let you off this time!"
Her voice echoed across the sky.
Many students looked shocked.
Zhou Yi actually gave in?!!
Then they realized, utterly astonished—this old witch can't do anything to Su Wen! She's used her full power, but as a Soul Emperor, she can't handle a freshman. Her reputation in the outer court is about to be ruined.
This was her last shred of dignity.
"Roar!"
But Su Wen had no intention of giving her a way out.
Little Gold roared, its huge body leaping up, bear claws swiping at Zhou Yi. The claws were as sharp as blades, slicing the air, and the massive bear paw seemed to carry the weight of a thousand mountains.
"Damn it!"
Zhou Yi was furious too.
Fine, then.
"Dragon Flame Bomb!"
Her sixth soul ring appeared beneath her, deep black and flickering.
"Rooaaar~!"
The fire dragon behind her let out a piercing dragon's cry.
A fireball shot from its mouth, carrying the force of dragon fire and the aura of a thirty-thousand-year soul ring, hurtling toward Little Gold.
"Careful!" Wang Dong shouted anxiously.
Ning Tian and the others also looked worried.
A Soul Emperor's full-force attack was definitely not to be underestimated.
But Su Wen just couldn't help but smile.
"Ice Emperor!"
The Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion appeared in the arena for a moment, and the scorching heat instantly dropped. The sky was still bright, but all the students shivered—a cold that seeped into their bones.
A pale blue aura radiated from the Ice Emperor's body.
Like ripples, it spread outwards.
Domain of Eternal Frost!
Centered on the Ice Emperor, frost quickly spread. While its raw power was weaker than Little Gold's, the Ice Jade Emperor Scorpion's strength wasn't its body, but... magic!
This was the Ice Emperor in its true form!
Under the shocked gazes of students from all the teaching buildings,
In just a few breaths,
The entire building, the distant square, and everything in sight were covered in frost, as if this was a city near the far north.
Lan Susu and her sister stared wide-eyed.
The older sister whispered in disbelief, "So he was holding back in the arena?!!"
"Holding back? This is flooding the whole place..." Huang Chutian shook his head with difficulty. If he wanted, not just Zone 1, but the whole competition area would be turned into ice sculptures.
...
"What?!"
Zhou Yi suddenly froze.
She could feel her inner dragon fire being suppressed, as if encountering its true nemesis. This bone-chilling cold, which she hadn't really felt when watching Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo suffer, now, experiencing it herself, she understood its horror.
Ultimate Ice!
She nearly shattered her teeth from clenching.
She'd forgotten about this!
The pressure from Little Gold had left her no room to consider anything else—she even forgot he still had two trump cards!
And what about that mutated Wind Baboon?
Zhou Yi's pupils shrank—she tried to turn, but after exhausting her soul power fighting Little Gold, and with the Domain of Eternal Frost dulling her senses and the enemy's speed being too fast, all she could do was watch as a fist the size of a sandbag smashed into her head.
"Boom!!!"
A ripple spread through the air.
Then Zhou Yi crashed to the ground like a meteor.
The rumble echoed throughout the outer court.
...
Above the academy.
Several elders from the Sea God's Pavilion watched the scene.
Their expressions were complicated.
Xian Lin'er swallowed hard. She really wanted this kid, but unfortunately, he was only interested in soul tools on a superficial level, and none of her or Qian Duoduo's overtures had worked.
After all, nothing they could offer tempted Su Wen at all.
To get so many elders together, to watch this fight so leisurely, and to completely crush someone despite a twenty-level soul power difference—this kind of monster isn't just a genius; he's the sort of monster that can suppress an entire era.
She even suspected Zhang Lexuan's position as the Sea God Pavilion's next successor might change.
But that girl got along well with Su Wen, so maybe she'd be happy about it.
"Zhou Yi... it's time to deal with her," Yan Shaozhe spoke up.
"But..." Xian Lin'er frowned.
She wanted to dismiss this woman too, but Fan Yu was the backbone of the Soul Tool Department, and had been loyal to the academy for years. If they did this, would it break his heart?
"Hesitating," Yan Shaozhe muttered.
"What did you say?" Xian Lin'er snapped.
"Enough."
Elder Mu's gaze fell on Su Wen, his voice calm: "Lin'er, 'deal with' doesn't mean destroy her completely. Should the academy keep accommodating Zhou Yi just because of Fan Yu?"
"Yes..." Xian Lin'er was stunned, then nodded.
She glanced at the other elders—she knew these words weren't just for her.
"The entire outer court needs a clean-up," Mu En said, closing his eyes. "Otherwise, if the roots of Shrek's great tree begin to rot, that's when the countdown to collapse begins."
"But Elder Mu," one elder frowned.
"Want to plead for your grandson?" Mu En still had his eyes closed, voice calm.
"...I wouldn't dare." The elder broke out in cold sweat, shaking his head, realizing his thoughts had been seen through, and said no more.
Yan Shaozhe watched, sighing inwardly.
Shrek is a mess.
Many elders did contribute a lot in their youth.
But as people age, they prefer to rest on their laurels and arrange benefits for their descendants, which is understandable. The problem is when these descendants become teachers in the outer court and, unwilling to be ordinary, use their status to amass wealth and disrupt order.
With Zhou Yi, Yang He, and others' misdeeds exposed under his investigation, everyone was shocked at just how much these parasites had corrupted Shrek's outer court.
"If you won't act, then I'll be the bad guy," Mu En said softly.
"Shaozhe, from tomorrow, dismiss those who should be dismissed, punish those who should be punished, and kill those who should be killed." At this moment, the usually gentle elder showed the decisiveness and ruthlessness of a true leader.
...
With a gust of wind, Zhou Yi was lifted by the neck.
No one knew if she was ashamed to have lost to Su Wen, or just overwhelmed, but she spat out blood and fainted.
Su Wen clicked his tongue.
Classic fake faint.
But it was actually a good way to avoid embarrassment.
But Su Wen wouldn't let Zhou Yi off that easily.
He waved his hand.
The Gale Baboon nodded, grabbed Zhou Yi's head, and slammed it into the ground. In the distance, students gasped—it was clear they were just recovering from the shock of Su Wen's victory.
"Let me go! My husband is Fan Yu!" Zhou Yi's face scraped against the ground, blood trickled from her mouth, but her eyes now showed fear and panic.
Su Wen really intended to kill her!
"Oh?" Su Wen walked over slowly, crouching down.
He looked at Zhou Yi with interest, still smiling, but his tone was confused: "Who's Fan Yu?"
"You don't know him? You—"
"Destroy her meridians. Letting her die like this is too easy." Su Wen smiled and spoke to the Ice Emperor.
The Ice Emperor's scorpion tail, its scales like a work of art, rose.
"What are you doing?!" Zhou Yi's eyes filled with terror.
At this moment, Su Wen's smile looked like the face of a demon to her—horrifying and cruel!
"Huh?"
Su Wen's eyes narrowed, suddenly looking behind him.
A scorching beam of light shot from somewhere in the sky, carrying a terrifying aura of destruction. Little Gold blocked in front of him, instantly activating its soul bone skill—Golden Left Arm.
Its left arm's defense soared.
Combined with the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear's natural toughness, it managed to block the soul tool's sneak attack.
When the beam faded,
A sullen-faced middle-aged man hovered in the air, glaring at Su Wen, fists clenched in forced restraint, with a hint of shock—he hadn't expected the summoned beast to take the attack unharmed.
"A level-seven fixed-mount soul tool cannon... you really think highly of me, Director Fan." Su Wen raised an eyebrow, looking at Fan Yu, still smiling gently.
Except under the blazing sun, that gentle smile made Fan Yu's back turn cold.
"Hand her over to me!" Fan Yu took a deep breath.
Su Wen had spent some time in the Soul Tool Department,
But mostly just interning with Director Qian, so they'd only met a few times, never spoken.
"Why?" Su Wen tilted his head, looking confused.
"Because you're the Soul Tool Department's director?"
Under Fan Yu's dark expression, Su Wen's smile slowly faded, replaced by cold indifference.
"Ah!!!!"
The Ice Emperor crippled Zhou Yi's limbs. She howled in agony, the Ice Emperor's poison spreading through her body, meridians destroyed, soul power dissipated—she would struggle to even live as an ordinary person, likely a vegetable for life.
Then Su Wen waved his hand.
The Gale Baboon lifted Zhou Yi by the ankle and flung her toward Fan Yu.
"You!!!"
Fan Yu caught Zhou Yi carefully, fists trembling in uncontrollable rage.
"Why did you do this?!" Fan Yu roared.
"She forced a twin martial soul student to add a soul ring to their second martial soul, just for assessment scores," Su Wen chuckled.
"Frequent, excessive physical training left many students with hidden injuries, just for her so-called assessment results. If the inner court entry rate didn't meet standards, she'd find excuses to expel them..."
He looked at Fan Yu's increasingly evasive eyes: "Do you know hidden injuries in youth can affect a student for life? High-intensity but low-efficiency training—methods even second-rate academies on the continent have abandoned—are treasured by Zhou Yi. Dare you tally up how many talented students she's ruined, left stuck at Soul Sage or Soul Douluo level because of hidden injuries?"
"I... I really didn't know before." Fan Yu turned away. He was well aware of the rumors outside; that's why Zhou Yi never dared leave the academy.
Many people outside wanted her dead. If not for hiding in Shrek—and his protection—she'd have been gone long ago...
"Well, now you know." Su Wen smiled.
Fan Yu: "..."
...
"What? Something happened in the outer court?!!"
Du Weilin rushed back in a panic.
Looking at the pockmarked ground in front of the new student teaching building, he was stunned.
"Director, did an enemy invade the academy?" a teacher exclaimed.
"Nonsense! The academy is full of strong people—how could we let enemies in?" Du Weilin glared.
Mu Jin looked around—seeing no blood, she didn't speak, still shocked at this Soul Emperor-level battle. Which teachers could have caused this? Or was it inner court disciples...
"Teacher Mu Jin, you're finally here!"
Seeing Mu Jin return, several sharp-eyed students from Class Two hurried over to explain.
"What! While I was gone, Zhou Yi that old hag came to our class to cause trouble?!"
"She even fought with Su Wen!"
"She's gone too far!!!"
Mu Jin was furious.
She was about to go fight Zhou Yi,
But the students' next words left her stunned.
"Teacher Zhou Yi has already been crippled by Su Wen."
Mu Jin: ???
She looked at the boy, incredulous: "Say that again?!!"
"It's true! These battle marks were left by Su Wen and Zhou Yi... plus the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear! All three thousand-year soul beasts worked together to cripple Zhou Yi's limbs!"
Mu Jin: "..."
Du Weilin: "..."
All the outer court teachers: "..."
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