Chapter 92: Elder Xuan Makes a Wager: If We Don't Win the Championship, I'll Kowtow to You in Public!
Du Busi stood with his arms crossed over his broad chest, his sharp eyes tracking the rapid, ugly shifts in color washing over Elder Xuan's weathered face. The Body Sect Master had absolutely no intention of letting this matter rest. To him, Elder Xuan's gross negligence—ruining the futures of his own disciples simply to satisfy his gluttony—was the biggest joke in the entire Soul Master world. It was also the perfect weapon. A flawless blade to ruthlessly tear down the hypocritical pedestal Shrek Academy had perched upon for the past few days.
"Why so quiet all of a sudden?" Du Busi's voice dripped with mocking amusement, cutting through the tense air outside the city gates. "Elder Xuan, aren't you usually quite the silver-tongued orator? I seem to recall your voice being remarkably loud the last time you stood before our sect, groveling and barking out your apologies."
Du Busi took a single, deliberate step forward. His heavy boots struck the cobblestone. He did not actively summon his martial soul, nor did he deliberately unleash the crushing pressure of a Level 98 Super Douluo. Yet, the sheer ambient aura radiating from his towering frame was enough to suffocate the surrounding air. Behind Elder Xuan, the reserve members of the Shrek team staggered back, their chests heaving as they gasped for breath under the invisible weight.
Raising a thick finger, Du Busi pointed directly at Ma Xiaotao. The once-proud fire phoenix of Shrek was now wrapped tightly in thick, blood-spotted bandages, leaning heavily on her juniors just to remain upright.
"Look at these children," Du Busi sneered, his voice carrying over the growing crowd. "They were exceptional seedlings. Top of their generation. But because they had the misfortune of following an unreliable, gluttonous fool of a team leader like you, they have been reduced to this pathetic state. Their soul power fluctuations are a chaotic mess. Their breathing is ragged. Half of them look ready to collapse into early graves."
"If I were Elder Mu," Du Busi continued, his tone turning ice-cold, "I would have slapped you into a bloody mist the moment you returned. I would have ended you right then and there, just to ensure you could never step outside and embarrass the academy again. You have squandered Shrek's ten-thousand-year foundation, all to satisfy your pathetic appetite."
Elder Xuan's chest rose and fell in jagged, heavy heaves. His gnarled fingers dug into the metallic surface of his wine gourd, the metal groaning and warping under his terrifying grip. Thick, dark veins bulged at his temples and the corners of his bloodshot eyes, throbbing violently with a rage that threatened to consume his sanity. Du Busi's words were not just insults; they were barbed spears, driving deep into his most hidden, agonizing vulnerabilities. Every syllable tore at the guilt and shame he had desperately tried to bury.
"Du Busi! That is enough!" Elder Xuan finally snapped. A raw, beast-like roar tore from his throat. He jerked his head up, revealing eyes so bloodshot they appeared to weep crimson. His voice was raspy, distorted by a fury that bordered on madness.
"This is a matter between me and the Academy! It is not your place to stand here and point fingers! Do not trick yourself into believing I am truly afraid of you. Even if you hold the upper hand today, there must be a limit to your arrogance!"
The clash of their voices, amplified by the violent oscillation of their immense soul power, echoed like thunderclaps across the massive stone archways of the city gate. The shockwaves rippled outward, instantly halting the bustling flow of traffic. Pedestrians carrying luggage, merchants tending to their stalls, and participating students from dozens of rival academies all froze in their tracks. Hundreds of heads turned, their eyes widening at the unfolding spectacle.
"Look over there! That is the Shrek Academy uniform!" a passerby shouted, pointing a trembling finger at the iconic dark green outfits huddled behind the furious old man. "That elder leading them... wait, is that the legendary Taotie Douluo? Elder Xuan?"
"It is definitely him!" another voice chimed in, laced with disbelief. "But how did they end up so severely injured? Look at that girl in the front, she is practically mummified in bandages. And the boy next to her... his complexion looks like a walking corpse."
"Look at the group confronting them. Those are the uniforms of the Heavenly Soul Imperial Academy." A middle-aged man, clearly an experienced Soul Master judging by his calloused hands and steady stance, whispered to his companions. His gaze shifted to the towering figure of Du Busi, his brow furrowing in deep suspicion. "What did the Shrek elder call him just now? Du Busi? Heavens... could they be from the Body Sect?"
"The Body Sect! That explains everything," someone gasped in sudden realization. "Who else on this continent would dare to publicly slap Shrek's face right at the gates of Star Luo City?"
As the murmurs swelled into a cacophony of gossip, the onlookers' gazes darted back and forth between the two opposing factions. It did not take long for the crowd's attention to drift past the towering Du Busi and lock onto the quiet, imposing figure standing just behind him. Liu Yuan.
"Hey, look closely! That young man standing there..." a student from a rival academy muttered, his eyes widening in recognition. "Isn't that Liu Yuan? The one who caused that massive uproar a while back? The peerless genius that Shrek Academy actually kicked out!"
"It really is him! Look at his eyes, those Double Pupils! You cannot fake a trait like that," another spectator exclaimed, straining his neck to get a better look. "The rumors said he was taken in as a personal disciple by Du Busi himself. It seems the stories were true. He is actually here to compete on behalf of the Heavenly Soul Empire!"
"Tsk, tsk. No wonder the tension is so thick you could cut it with a blade," an older merchant chuckled darkly. "Back then, Elder Xuan personally drove him away like a stray dog. Now, that same boy has become the absolute treasure of the Body Sect. Just look at the contrast. Shrek looks like a band of defeated, broken remnants, while Liu Yuan stands there looking like a conquering king. The irony is thick enough to choke on."
The relentless tide of public gossip surged directly into Elder Xuan's ears. Every whispered phrase about Liu Yuan, kicking out a genius, and Shrek being blind acted like a barrage of poisoned needles, piercing straight through his eardrums and stabbing directly into his fragile psyche. His mind descended into absolute chaos.
He felt the burning stares of hundreds of people boring into his spine, stripping away his dignity layer by layer. The overwhelming, suffocating sense of public shame clawed at his throat, pushing his already frayed sanity to the very brink of madness.
Listening to the crowd do his work for him, the sneer on Du Busi's face deepened into a cruel, highly satisfied grin. He pressed his advantage, closing the distance with a predatory swagger. His tone dripped with lethal provocation.
"Do you hear them, Elder Xuan? Listen closely to what the world thinks of you! Your reputation is already dragged through the mud across the entire Douluo Continent. Dragging this crippled, half-dead team behind you, do you actually still possess the sheer audacity to walk through these city gates? If I were in your shoes, I would have found a solid stone pillar and dashed my own brains out long ago, rather than stand here and bleed away whatever face Shrek has left."
"You—!" Elder Xuan's voice cracked. His reason shattered into a million irreparable pieces.
The compounding weight of these heavy blows, the lingering terror of Elder Mu's wrath, and the visceral humiliation of being stripped bare in front of representatives from the entire continent caused his mental strings to snap completely in that single, agonizing instant.
He lunged forward. The soul power contained within his aged body detonated like a volatile volcano. A berserk, suffocating aura exploded outward in a shockwave of golden light, tearing through the cobblestones and sending a gale-force wind sweeping across the terrified onlookers.
"Du Busi! Do you truly believe Shrek has no one left?!" Elder Xuan roared hysterically, his arm snapping back to point a trembling finger at the battered disciples huddled behind him. Spittle flew from his lips as he screamed. "Even if the main team is crippled, we at Shrek are still the undisputed champions of ten thousand years! As long as I draw breath, as long as these children stand upon that stage, the championship trophy will never, ever fall into the hands of outsiders!"
He locked his bloodshot eyes onto Du Busi. The look in his gaze was no longer that of a respected elder, but the deranged, desperate glare of a cornered gambler willing to bet his own life.
"Since you look down on me so thoroughly, since you look down on Shrek so easily, then if you have even a shred of courage, stop flapping your tongue and prove it! Do you dare to make a wager with me?!"
Du Busi paused, the violent winds of Elder Xuan's aura washing harmlessly over his sturdy frame. He slowly raised a thick eyebrow, looking at the raving old man with genuine, morbid interest. "Oh? And what exactly shall we wager?"
Elder Xuan's voice boomed, carrying his desperate challenge to every corner of the plaza. "Let us bet on the final champion of this Soul Master Tournament! If we at Shrek claim the championship once again, you, Du Busi, will kneel on the ground and kowtow three times to me in front of the entire continent! You will loudly admit that your Body Sect is, and always will be, inferior to Shrek Academy!"
"And if your Heavenly Soul Imperial Academy manages to win the championship..." Elder Xuan ground his teeth together so hard a sickening crack echoed from his jaw. He practically screamed the final terms. "Then I will kneel! I will kowtow three times to you in public! And from that day forward, wherever you walk, I will take the long way around to avoid your shadow!"
The moment those words left his mouth, the entire plaza erupted into an absolute uproar. The sheer absurdity of the stakes sent shockwaves through the crowd. Two Level 98 Super Douluos, figures who stood at the absolute pinnacle of the mortal realm, wagering on public kneeling and kowtowing? It was a bizarre, unmatched spectacle that the continent had not witnessed in a hundred years.
Du Busi blinked, genuinely stunned for a fraction of a second. Then, he threw his head back and erupted into devastating laughter. The booming sound shook the dust from the city walls. He looked down at Elder Xuan not as a rival, but as a pathetic, deranged madman who had just pushed his entire family fortune to the center of the gambling table on a losing hand.
"Good! Excellent! Elder Xuan, you certainly have guts!" Du Busi abruptly snapped his jaw shut, his smile vanishing into a look of absolute, predatory ruthlessness. He slashed his right hand through the air, a sharp, decisive motion that severed any chance of retreat for either side. "I accept this wager! I cannot wait to see how you, dragging a pack of injured cripples behind you, intend to defend your crumbling pedestal! You had best start practicing those three kowtows for me!"
Elder Xuan let out a heavy, frigid snort. The scattered, chaotic energy around him forcibly coalesced, bound together by the sheer, desperate gravity of his insane wager.
Without uttering another syllable, he spun on his heel. His large, tattered sleeves whipped through the air. With a face as dark as a thundercloud, he marched straight toward the gates of Star Luo Imperial City, leaving a deeply dejected Ma Xiaotao, a pale Huo Yuhao, and the rest of the battered Shrek team to limp silently in his wake.
Watching the retreating backs of the Shrek team as they disappeared into the city, the hushed discussions among the bystanders did not fade. Instead, they ignited into a fervent wildfire of gossip.
"Heavens above, we are in for a legendary show now. Shrek versus the Body Sect, and one of those supreme experts is going to be forced to kowtow!"
"Has Elder Xuan completely lost his mind? Look at the state of the students trailing behind him. It is a miracle they can even walk, let alone take the arena stage. What exactly is he planning to win with?"
"It is hard to say. Shrek is, after all, Shrek. Perhaps that old monster still has some hidden trump card up his sleeve."
However, the atmosphere suffocating the Shrek team as they handled the bustling streets of the city was infinitely more oppressive than the tension at the gates.
Huo Yuhao kept his head bowed low. The lingering, throbbing pain from his recent wounds, combined with the crushing psychological pressure of the scene that had just unfolded, made his every step feel as though he were dragging iron weights.
He cast a sideways glance at Bei Bei, noting the unnatural pallor of his senior brother's face. Then, his gaze drifted forward to Ma Xiaotao, who was limping heavily with every stride. Unable to hold it in, Huo Yuhao asked in a barely audible whisper, "Senior Brother... is it really okay for Elder Xuan to have made such a massive wager just now?"
"In our current state, almost none of the main team seniors can fight at full power. Meanwhile, the Body Sect looks to be at the absolute peak of their momentum. Can we... can we really win this?"
Bei Bei shook his head, a bitter, helpless smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. His fists were clenched so tightly at his sides that his knuckles trembled. "I do not know... but right now, we have absolutely no way back. Sigh..."
Walking at the very front of the formation, Elder Xuan's sharp ears picked up the quiet, despairing whispers of his students. His broad shoulders stiffened for a fraction of a second.
The truth was a bitter pill to swallow. He had completely lost his head out there. As the cold reality of their situation began to wash over him, the current Elder Xuan finally realized that his actions just now had been far, far too impulsive.
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