Chapter 88: Elder Xuan's Arrogance: Death Messenger? Just a Roadside Weed!
The border winds howled, carrying the faint scent of pine and frost as Liu Yuan and his party crossed the threshold of the Heaven Soul Empire.
Ever since Du Busi sent his curt confirmation to the Emperor, the imperial machinery had moved with terrifying efficiency. For an ordinary academy, handling the bureaucratic red tape of the All-Continent Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Tournament would take months. But for the sovereign of an empire, a single decree was all it took. Overnight, Liu Yuan and his six companions were smoothly registered as the absolute number one seed team of the Heaven Soul Imperial Academy. Forged documents, elite badges, and royal mandates were prepared and handed over without a single question asked.
Now, their boots crunched against the rugged terrain of the Star Luo Empire. The transition across the border was stark; the air here felt heavier, tainted by the lawlessness that festered in the empire's untamed fringes.
They did not have to wait long to experience it firsthand.
On a desolate stretch of the trade route leading toward Star Luo City, the shadows elongated unnaturally. A cloying, metallic stench of rotting blood rolled over the path, heralding the arrival of an ambush.
Twelve figures emerged from the dense underbrush, their eyes gleaming with malicious intent. They were an Evil Soul Master squad. The sickening, eerie auras of their martial souls twisted the air around them. At the forefront stood two leaders radiating the distinct pressure of four-ring Soul Ancestors, flanked by ten three-ring Soul Elders.
On any normal day, a hunting pack of this caliber would be a death sentence for even a heavily armed merchant caravan. They would leave nothing but stripped bones and plundered goods in their wake.
Unfortunately for them, they had just bared their fangs at the core disciples of the Body Sect.
"Disperse," Liu Yuan commanded. His voice was flat, carrying not a sliver of panic. He stood perfectly still in the center of the dirt road, his hands resting casually at his sides. "Standard formation. Finish this quickly."
He did not even bother summoning his martial soul, his Double Pupils merely tracking the flow of hostile soul power with cold precision.
The clash erupted in a heartbeat.
Long Aotian was a blur of violence. A dark green luster coated his fist, hardening his flesh into something tougher than steel. He did not bother dodging. He met the leading Soul Ancestor head-on, his fist colliding with a sickeningly pale bone claw.
Crack!
The sound of shattering bone echoed through the clearing. The Evil Soul Master's defensive soul power fractured like thin ice under a sledgehammer. Long Aotian's tyrannical strength did not just break the claw; the kinetic force traveled straight up the arm, instantly pulverizing the man's internal meridians. The leader collapsed, dead before he hit the dirt.
On the flanks, Wang Yanfeng and Chen Lu moved with practiced lethality. Wang Yanfeng's muscles swelled, tearing through his sleeves. Every block and counter-strike he delivered carried the crushing, mountainous weight unique to a Body Martial Soul, sending Soul Elders flying with caved-in chests. Chen Lu, in stark contrast, was a phantom. using a hyper-flexible movement technique, he weaved through the chaotic melee. His strikes were surgical, his fingers acting as blades that severed the soul power circulation nodes of his targets, leaving them paralyzed and gasping.
Behind them, Vina raised her slender hands. A soft, invisible ripple of mental energy pulsed outward, centering on her. This was the terrifying utility of her Brain Martial Soul. Under her telepathic network, the Body Sect disciples moved as a single, flawless organism, anticipating each other's blind spots without uttering a single word.
Realizing their prey were actually apex predators, the remaining four-ring Soul Ancestor and his closest subordinate desperately tried to turn the tide. They bit their tongues, spitting out mouthfuls of black blood to ignite a bloody, wide-range Soul Skill. Thick, corrosive black mist began to boil from the earth beneath their feet.
"Gu Tong," Liu Yuan murmured.
Standing in the rearguard, Gu Tong's eyes flared with blinding light. The Eye Martial Soul activated. A concentrated, fan-shaped shockwave of mental energy tore through the air, slamming directly into the channeling Evil Soul Masters.
Their incantations choked off in their throats. Their bodies locked up rigidly, eyes rolling back into their skulls as the mental backlash caused their volatile soul power to violently rebel, tearing their minds to shreds.
Long Aotian did not let the opening go to waste. He vaulted high into the air, his leg descending like a falling executioner's axe.
Thud! Thud!
Flesh met compacted earth. The final traces of the rotting, evil aura dispersed into the wind, leaving behind nothing but silence.
The entire slaughter had taken less than five minutes. Twelve Evil Soul Masters lay dead, their bodies twisted in grotesque angles. Meanwhile, Liu Yuan and his party had not even broken a sweat. Their breathing remained perfectly even.
Long Aotian slowly retracted his soul power, the dark green hue fading from his skin. He kicked a mangled corpse out of his way and clicked his tongue in annoyance. "This is the third wave we've run into since crossing the border, right? The frequency is ridiculous. Has Star Luo Empire's internal security completely collapsed?"
Vina delicately adjusted her pristine cuffs, her expression serene as she stepped over a pool of dark blood. "It is a matter of geopolitical priorities," she explained calmly. "Unlike our Heaven Soul Empire, Star Luo does not have a reclusive powerhouse like the Body Sect actively hunting down evil practitioners for sport. Their provincial garrisons are stretched thin, entirely preoccupied with border defense and vicious internal political strife."
She glanced at the bodies with mild disgust. "As a result, their suppression campaigns are half-hearted at best. A larger living space naturally breeds a larger population of rats. Though," she added with a faint, elegant shrug, "it is still marginally better than the Sun Moon Empire, where these lunatics operate almost out in the open."
As the group conversed, the ambient chatter faded into the background for Liu Yuan. He stood with his hands clasped behind his back, his deep, layered Double Pupils fixed on the jagged silhouette of a distant mountain range. A faint, almost imperceptible smile tugged at the corner of his lips.
Noticing his silence, Long Aotian walked over, wiping a speck of blood from his cheek. "Junior Brother, what are you looking at? Did you sense another rat hiding nearby?"
Liu Yuan withdrew his gaze, turning to his companions with a smile that held a deep, mysterious weight. "No. I just suddenly remembered something very entertaining."
Within the depths of his mind, fragments of the original timeline's history surfaced like bubbles in a dark pond.
If the wheels of fate were still turning as they should, Shrek Academy's expedition team, led by the famously arrogant Elder Xuan, was currently marching toward those very mountains. Their target was a notorious bandit group known as the Hand of Death.
And it was there that the legendary Level 98 Super Douluo would commit a blunder so catastrophic it would echo through history. Blinded by his own hubris, Elder Xuan would allow a mere Soul King, the so-called Death Messenger, to detonate a horrifying Corpse Explosion right under his nose.
That single moment of negligence would severely cripple Shrek's main team, leaving them battered, bleeding, and forcing Huo Yuhao and the inexperienced reserve team to step into the brutal spotlight of the tournament far ahead of schedule.
'Elder Xuan's escort...' Liu Yuan let out a low, breathy chuckle. The sound was laced with pure, unadulterated mockery.
He understood the old glutton's psychology perfectly. Elder Xuan was a man who had sat at the pinnacle of the continent for so long that he had forgotten what it meant to look down. He genuinely believed that his mere presence was an absolute aegis, that no filthy Evil Soul Master could possibly scheme their way past his overwhelming might.
It was exactly this blind arrogance that would soon paint one of the ugliest, most humiliating stains on Shrek Academy's vaunted ten-thousand-year legacy.
'If that tragedy plays out exactly as it did before, the joke on Shrek will be a spectacle for the ages,' Liu Yuan mused silently.
He had zero intention of intervening. He would not send a warning, nor would he lift a finger to change their fate. He was merely a spectator now, a cold, pragmatic competitor waiting to watch his enemies bleed.
Meanwhile, on the rugged western border of the Star Luo Empire, deep within the heavily fortified territory of the White Tiger Duke.
In stark contrast to the quiet, lethal efficiency of Liu Yuan's group, the expeditionary force from Shrek Academy moved with all the pomp and majesty befitting their legendary status.
As the continent's undisputed holy land for soul masters, their arrival at the border had been met with the highest standard of military fanfare. At this very moment, Elder Xuan was leading Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, Huo Yuhao, and the rest of the chosen disciples out of the White Tiger Duke's sprawling military encampment.
Tucked securely into Dai Yueheng's robes was an emergency military briefing. Their objective was clear: eradicate the Hand of Death, a vicious bandit syndicate lurking in the nearby mountain ranges, led by a ruthless figure calling himself the Death Messenger.
Elder Xuan swaggered at the very front of the formation. Having spent the previous night being thoroughly buttered up and toasted by the highest-ranking generals of the military camp, the old man was in exceptionally high spirits.
He tipped his massive gourd back, taking a long, greedy gulp of premium liquor. Wiping his mouth with a stained sleeve, he cast a dismissive glance over his shoulder at his tense students.
"Relax, all of you," Elder Xuan slurred slightly, his tone dripping with absolute indifference. "They are nothing but a disorganized mob of petty thugs who turned to banditry. The only reason the White Tiger Duke's army hasn't wiped them out is because they're slippery rats hiding in caves. But in front of this old man? These fools are nothing but chickens and dogs waiting to be slaughtered."
Ma Xiaotao, marching just behind him, practically vibrated with aggressive battle intent. The crimson flames of her martial soul seemed to dance in her eyes. "Elder Xuan, the military advisors at the Duke's mansion warned us to be careful. They said this Death Messenger possesses extremely bizarre methods. He supposedly specializes in manipulating corpses."
Elder Xuan let out a loud, disdainful sneer, the sound echoing through the trees.
"Manipulating corpses?" He took another swig of wine, his eyes crinkling with arrogant amusement. "In the face of absolute strength, any crooked, underhanded trick is nothing but a pathetic joke! Go in there and fight with absolute confidence! You are the elite students of Shrek Academy. Crushing this caliber of trash will be as easy as flipping your hands!"
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