Chapter 187: The Continent in Uproar, Shrek's Ten-Thousand-Year Myth Shattered
At this moment, the heavy air hanging over the shattered tree-lined path seemed to freeze entirely.
Du Busi's massive foot, entirely encased in a layer of dark green, armor-like keratin, remained firmly planted on Elder Song's left wrist. He slowly shifted his weight, applying a deliberate, agonizing pressure that produced the sickening, faint grinding sound of fracturing bone.
"Yan Shaozhe, this is your absolute last chance," Du Busi said, his voice as cold and unyielding as forged iron. "Do you want to hold onto those hard bones, or do you want to keep the remaining limbs of your old comrade?"
"Stop! I will give them to you! Isn't it enough that I give them to you?!"
Yan Shaozhe let out a hoarse, sorrowful roar. His normally careful, dignified hair now hung in a messy, sweat-drenched tangle over his forehead.
With a violently trembling right hand, he brushed his fingers against the storage soul tool at his waist. A brilliant flash of white light erupted, and three exquisite jade boxes materialized in his palm. They were completely pristine, emitting a biting chill that frosted the air around them.
Each box was heavily sealed with three golden talismans. Yet, even through the thick jade and restrictive seals, everyone present could instantly feel a tidal wave of rich, boundless life force rushing toward them. That deep fluctuation of origin energy, a signature belonging exclusively to a one-hundred-thousand-year soul beast, was so dense that the surrounding withered vegetation actually began to sprout fresh green shoots in the blink of an eye.
"This is what you want." Yan Shaozhe ground his teeth together so hard his jaw ached, violently throwing the three jade boxes toward the towering Body Douluo.
Du Busi merely waved his large hand. A surging tide of emerald-green soul power manifested, transforming into gentle, grasping tendrils that steadily caught the three priceless treasures mid-air.
He casually tore off one of the golden seals. The lid popped open, revealing a soul bone bathed in a captivating, pale blue stream of light. Seeing the flawless quality of the treasure, an extremely smug, arrogant smile stretched across Du Busi's face.
"As expected of Shrek's ten-thousand-year foundation. You hypocrites can pull out such heaven-defying treasures with a casual gesture." Du Busi pocketed the soul bones directly into his own storage ring and finally relaxed his foot, lifting his boot off the mangled wrist of the nearly unconscious Elder Song.
He turned around, waving his hand at the three disheveled, battered figures as if shooing away a swarm of annoying flies. "Alright, since the goods are in hand, I am not a person who goes back on his word. Get lost. While I haven't changed my mind, take your pitiful dignity and get out of the Heavenly Soul Imperial City!"
Yan Shaozhe said nothing. He kept his head lowered, but buried deep within his bloodshot eyes was a tempest of extreme humiliation and venomous killing intent.
He stumbled forward, his breathing ragged. Together with Xian Lin'er, he hauled the severely maimed Elder Song up from the cratered earth. The three of them did not utter a single word of retort. They transformed into three extremely unstable, dim streams of light, fleeing toward the horizon in absolute panic, their retreating figures shrouded by the thick, blood-like glow of the setting sun.
As the suffocating aura of the Super Douluos finally faded from the capital, Princess Weina exhaled a long breath and waved her hand. The tense, heavily armed Imperial Guards began to withdraw to their barracks in an orderly fashion. However, the shattered blue bricks, uprooted trees, and cratered earth of the path still silently recounted the one-sided, tragic battle that had just concluded.
Liu Yuan walked forward at a measured pace, his footsteps light against the broken stone, and stood beside Du Busi. Watching the distant sky where Yan Shaozhe and the others had disappeared, a cold, mocking curve lifted the corner of his mouth.
"Master, breaking their bones and bleeding their treasury is only the first step."
"To make Shrek truly feel pain, we must pull off their 'Holy Land' shell right from the root."
Liu Yuan turned his head to look at Princess Weina as she approached, his voice calm and strictly pragmatic. "Weina, I need you to do me a favor. Immediately mobilize every propaganda agency within the Heavenly Soul Empire. Send out your most elite spies, bards, and storytellers. I want what happened tonight spread, word for word, across every corner of the Douluo Continent."
Weina, who had just finished directing the logistics officers to clean up the battlefield, froze slightly upon hearing this. She looked at him with a trace of hesitation. "Liu Yuan, do you want to completely tear off the mask? If the details of this humiliation spread, Shrek will likely fall into an irreconcilable, blood-feud situation with us."
Liu Yuan's expression remained entirely unchanged. The purple-gold light swirling within his Double Pupils was deep, calculating, and utterly unfathomable. "If we don't spread it, how do you think Yan Shaozhe will explain his missing elders and lost soul bones when he returns to the academy? He will definitely twist the narrative. He will claim that the Heavenly Soul Empire betrayed the alliance, illegally imprisoned Fan Yu, and he will paint himself as a tragic hero who was grievously injured while valiantly trying to save a colleague."
He crossed his arms, his tone turning frigid. "When it comes to public opinion, whoever speaks first holds the absolute initiative. We must strike first. We will make their ugly deeds—forcing their way into a sovereign Imperial Palace, attempting to abduct a high-ranking official, and ultimately being utterly defeated and forced to pay reparations—public knowledge."
Watching Liu Yuan's composed, ruthlessly calculating demeanor, Weina couldn't help but mutter under her breath, "You guy... not only is your combat strength terrifying, but your heart is truly wicked. You are dragging Shrek's pristine, ten-thousand-year reputation directly into the mud."
Although she voiced her shock, Weina's actions were entirely aligned with his logic. As a royal princess raised in the imperial court, she understood the lethal importance of political warfare all too well. She gave a firm nod, immediately turning to issue the royal decrees.
In just one night, the news grew wings. Through various long-distance soul tool communication networks, merchant caravans, and underground secret channels, the explosive truth detonated across the major cities of the Douluo Continent.
[Shock! Three Shrek Elders Snuck Into the Heavenly Soul Imperial Palace in the Dead of Night, Intending to Forcibly Abduct an Imperial First-Class Earl!]
[Shrek Dean Yan Shaozhe Defeated! Hands Over Three 100,000-Year Soul Bones on the Spot to Save His Life!]
[The Myth of the Ten-Thousand-Year Holy Land Shattered? Body Douluo Suppresses Three Shrek Giants Single-Handedly!]
All over the continent, whether in bustling taverns, quiet teahouses, or the grand halls of the Soul Master Guilds, people were discussing the headlines with frantic, wide-eyed disbelief.
"Is this true or false? Dean Yan Shaozhe is a Level 97 Super Douluo! Yet he was beaten to the point of having to offer up supreme treasures just to apologize and escape?" a burly mercenary slammed his mug onto a tavern table, his face flushed with shock.
"How could it be fake?" his companion shot back, waving a freshly printed broadsheet. "The Heavenly Soul Empire has already issued an official royal announcement. It is said that tens of thousands of imperial soldiers witnessed the beating with their own eyes!"
"Shrek is indeed in the wrong this time," an older soul master stroked his beard thoughtfully. "The person they were chasing had already gone through the formal resignation process. Yet they still insisted on crossing borders to forcibly abduct him. That is simply too overbearing. They treat the laws of empires like toilet paper."
"But I really didn't expect the Body Sect to be this monstrously powerful. Yan Shaozhe, Xian Lin'er, and Elder Song—three pillars of Shrek Academy—couldn't even scratch him..."
Various voices and heated debates intertwined in every city. Although long-time Shrek believers and alumni were desperately arguing in the streets, trying to defend their alma mater's honor, the obvious outcome and the tough, uncompromising stance of the Heavenly Soul Empire spoke louder than any excuse. In a single night, the shining reputation of Shrek Academy suffered its heaviest, most humiliating blow in ten thousand years.
...
Meanwhile, Shrek Academy, Sea God Pavilion.
Inside the grand pavilion, the faint, golden aura of the ancient Golden Tree was still rich and soothing, filling the air with a serene vitality. Elder Xuan was currently sitting slumped in front of an exquisite, long wooden table. Spread out before him were several plates piled high with shiny, greasy roasted chicken legs.
His mood was abysmal.
Just yesterday, he had attempted to break through to the Level 99 Limit Douluo realm, and he had failed yet again. That invisible barrier, known as the threshold to the Divine Rank, was like an impossible, suffocating mountain pressing down on his chest, leaving him gasping for air and drowning in self-doubt.
"Sigh... failed again. Elder Mu, is there really no hope for me in this lifetime?"
Elder Xuan let out a long, ragged sigh. He grabbed a massive chicken leg and took a fierce, tearing bite, desperately trying to use the rich, greasy aroma to alleviate the crushing depression in his heart. This pathetic method of relieving his deep-seated anxiety through binge eating had become his sole coping mechanism over the years.
Just as he was about to take a second, savage bite, the heavy wooden doors of the Sea God Pavilion emitted a dull, echoing thud.
A staff member responsible for external liaison rushed into the sacred hall, his legs moving so fast he was practically crawling. Blinded by extreme terror, the man slipped on the polished floor and crashed directly to his knees right in front of Elder Xuan's table.
"Elder Xuan! It's bad!" the liaison shrieked, his voice cracking into a desperate sob. "Dean Yan and the others... they have had a catastrophic accident in the Heavenly Soul Empire!"
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