Within the Holy Spirit Cult, everyone stared through the light screen at what Pluto Douluo Halosa had said, completely stunned.
The entire grand hall was dead silent, enough to hear a pin drop; those arrogant and domineering Evil Soul Masters who usually viewed human lives as mere grass were now as pale as sheets, trembling all over.
If it were in the past, if anyone dared to stand before them and say they would annihilate all the Evil Soul Masters, they would definitely shout in arrogance.
Did they really think Evil Soul Masters were soft persimmons that could be kneaded at will by others?
The blood stained on their hands was more than what most Spirit Masters had ever seen, and their ruthless and cruel methods were enough to give ordinary people nightmares.
But at this moment, looking at the blood droplets falling from the slender cross sword in the light screen, and looking at Sleep Nightmare Douluo's head rolling on the ground, their thoughts changed instantly.
Especially with that final speech, Pluto Douluo Halosa, the head of the Holy Spirit Execution Department, made it very clear: the locations of all Evil Soul Masters had been recorded, and they must not attempt to harm innocent people during this period, because their lives no longer belonged to them.
Fear spread like a tide, rapidly sweeping through the grand hall of the Holy Spirit Cult.
Those once high-and-mighty Elders and Protectors now wore expressions full of panic.
Evil Soul Masters across the entire Douluo Continent also witnessed this scene through their respective light screens at this very moment.
Those hiding in the deep mountains and old forests, concealing themselves in market alleys, and disguised as ordinary people lurking for decades—all of them felt an unprecedented chill at this moment.
For the longest time, it had always been them killing for amusement; for the longest time, it had always been them using the pain and despair of others to elevate their own cultivation.
Even when encountering powerful Spirit Masters in pursuit, they had sufficient means to evade and escape, then go into hibernation to continue developing, and wait for an opportunity to wreak havoc in a region once again.
Their numbers were too vast and their distribution too wide; across the entire Douluo Continent, no single faction possessed the strength to annihilate them all.
But now it was different.
That Shrek Academy in the Sky completely possessed such strength.
Moreover, that light screen had exposed the locations of all their Evil Soul Masters. No matter how deeply they hid or how far they fled, none of them could escape detection.
Among the upper echelons of the Holy Spirit Cult present, a woman who looked to be in her forties or fifties had the most unsightly expression.
Her face was withered, her hair was graying, her eyes were filled with fierce evil Qi, and deep wrinkles were carved between her brows, radiating an eerie aura that made people's hair stand on end.
This person was none other than Supreme Patriarch Ye Xishui of the Holy Spirit Cult.
She stared fixedly at the headless corpse within the light screen, her emaciated hands tightly gripping the armrests of her chair.
"Are we really just going to sit here and wait for death?"
Supreme Patriarch Ye Xishui's voice was icy as she turned her head to look at the equally aged figure beside her.
Long Xiaoyao stood by her side, his aged face filled with a complex expression. He glanced at the woman he loved deeply, and then could not help but let out a sigh.
"Things have reached this point, and it is already difficult to turn back."
His voice was low and hoarse, carrying a deep sense of exhaustion. Becoming a member of the Holy Spirit Cult was also a burden to him, but no matter how much he tried to justify it, it was useless. The Holy Spirit Cult's development to its current state was inseparable from his own operations.
Those once-sharp eyes now held only turbidity and helplessness.
"From the very day we decided to become Evil Soul Masters, we already knew that we had staked our lives on the gambling table."
"There is always a possibility of perishing at any moment, even if one has reached the Realm of a Ninety-Nine-Rank Limit Douluo."
Supreme Patriarch Ye Xishui's expression turned somewhat uglier. She fell silent for a moment before speaking once more.
"If I use that Death God Tower, would it be of any use?"
Long Xiaoyao shook his head.
"Your Spirit Tool is merely a Class 9 Spirit Tool. In the eyes of that academy, it has no effect whatsoever."
"Even if it evolved into a Class 10 Spirit Tool, it would still be the same."
Supreme Patriarch Ye Xishui's gaze flickered, a fierce and ruthless light flashing through those sharp eyes of hers.
"At worst, we die together. After all, I still have a Class 9 Spirit Tool in my hands. If used under unexpected circumstances, it might truly achieve some unforeseen effects."
The Death God Tower was an ultra-long-range Spirit Tool. Although Shrek Academy was floating thousands of meters high in the sky, if they were willing, they could also transport this Death God Tower to an altitude of a thousand meters, and then launch a long-range strike across a distance of over five thousand meters.
Her voice carried a trace of desperate madness, like a drowning person grasping at the final straw.
After hearing these words, Long Xiaoyao let out yet another sigh.
"Do not do anything superfluous."
"That Shrek Academy can locate our positions, so how could they not know our plans? Do you really think they haven't anticipated what you are thinking?"
Supreme Patriarch Ye Xishui fell silent for a long time after hearing these words.
She looked at Long Xiaoyao's aged face and his turbid eyes, a cluster of indescribable emotions welling up in her heart.
"Just accept it like this?"
Supreme Patriarch Ye Xishui's fists clenched abruptly, her heart filled with unwillingness.
"Long Xiaoyao, do you intend to just accept this? Are you truly willing to sit here and wait for death?"
Her voice was a few notches higher than before, carrying a long-suppressed anger and unwillingness.
Long Xiaoyao looked at her, a complex gleam flashing through those turbid eyes of his.
"If there truly was the power to resist, naturally I wouldn't be willing either, but nowadays, the strength of this Shrek Academy is not something you and I can easily handle."
He paused for a moment before speaking slowly.
"Nowadays, the era has changed. It is no longer an era where one or two Limit Douluos can alter the overall situation, nor is it an era where a single Class 9 Soul Engineer possesses the ability to threaten a faction."
Supreme Patriarch Ye Xishui abruptly interrupted him.
"If you are unwilling to resist, I will go myself."
"In all my life, I, Ye Xishui, have never placed my hopes on anyone else, whether in the past or now."
After finishing these words, her gaze fell once again upon Long Xiaoyao. Looking at his aged and exhausted appearance, an indescribable feeling inevitably welled up in her heart.
The Long Xiaoyao of the past was not like this.
Supreme Patriarch Ye Xishui's memories drifted back to a very, very long time ago.
At that time, Long Xiaoyao was handsome, dashing, and high-spirited. His eyes were filled with sharp radiance, and his entire body radiated an indomitable overbearing aura.
The reason she fell in love with Long Xiaoyao, and the reason she schemed to let him take her most precious possession, was precisely because she valued his innate sharpness and unruliness.
At that time, Long Xiaoyao was like an unsheathed sharp sword, ringing clearly.
Yet, I do not know when it began, but Long Xiaoyao had actually grown dull.
His sharpness had vanished, his vigor had dissipated, and it was replaced by a submissive and resigned demeanor, just like Mu En.
Thinking of this, Supreme Patriarch Ye Xishui clenched her fists even tighter. In short, she could not die—even if her hands were already stained with the blood of tens of thousands of people, it remained the same.
She had worked so hard to reach today, how could she just submit to fate like this? She had yet to bring disaster and sufficient pain to this Douluo Continent that had harmed her, she had yet to rule this World, and after finally outliving that old ghost Zhongli, now another Shrek had arrived?
Why did the heavens treat her like this?
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A/N:
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