Chapter 219: Public Opinion Rises Again! Is Shrek Academy Colluding with Evil Soul Masters?
The night sky hung heavy over the capital of the Heavenly Soul Empire, a suffocating blanket of ink that choked out the stars.
The city streets had fallen into a deathly, terrified silence following the daytime bloodbath. Yet, beneath this veneer of quiet, the intelligence networks spanning the entirety of the Douluo Continent were boiling over. The shockwaves of the Execution Platform incident had detonated across the land.
Within a mere handful of hours, carrier birds, soul communication devices, and urgent couriers had scattered the news to the four winds. From the towering citadels of the Heavenly Soul, Star Luo, and Dou Ling Empires, to the metallic fortresses of the Sun Moon Empire—even down to the most desolate border outposts—a single, explosive topic dominated every conversation.
The absolute paragon of righteousness, Shrek Academy, was now inextricably linked to the continent's most despised scum: the Evil Soul Masters.
In a dimly lit, smoke-filled tavern on the outskirts of the capital, a group of Spirit Masters huddled around a sticky wooden table, their voices hushed but frantic.
"You heard what went down at the Execution Platform today, right?" A dark-faced, middle-aged man took a heavy gulp of cheap ale, his voice a low, trembling rasp.
"How could I not? You'd have to be deaf and blind to miss it," a younger Spirit Master replied, swirling his cup with a sneer of open disdain. "Dean Yan Shaozhe. The great, untouchable Dean of Shrek Academy's Martial Soul Department... saved by an Evil Soul Master. If you ask me, they've been in bed with those dark bastards the whole time."
"Watch your tongue, boy," an old man in the corner barked, slamming his fist against the wood. "Shrek Academy has stood for ten thousand years! They are the absolute vanguard against the evil arts. There is no way they would collude with such filth. There has to be a hidden truth to this."
"A hidden truth?" The young Spirit Master scoffed, leaning forward. "What kind of 'hidden reason' makes a bloodthirsty Evil Soul Master risk their neck to pull a Shrek Dean out of the fire?"
"Look at the cold, hard facts," the dark-faced man agreed, pointing a thick finger at the old man. "What did Shrek actually lose today? Nothing! Ma Xiaotao survived, which is exactly what they wanted. Yan Shaozhe walked away breathing. If they aren't colluding, why didn't those dark cultivators just slaughter Yan Shaozhe while he was helpless? Why protect him?"
"Exactly," the young man nodded, his eyes gleaming with the thrill of a scandal. "Words are cheap. Results don't lie. Shrek profited from this chaos. The harder they try to scrub themselves clean, the filthier they look."
Similar whispers echoed in taverns, guild halls, and noble estates everywhere. The tide of public opinion was a landslide, burying Shrek Academy's pristine reputation under a mountain of suspicion. The masses did not care for subtle truths; they hungered for the scandalous narrative of a fallen idol.
Meanwhile, miles away, hidden within a concealed encampment on the outskirts of the capital, the atmosphere was suffocatingly grim.
Yan Shaozhe slumped heavily in a rigid wooden chair. Thick layers of medicinal bandages bound his left shoulder, yet a dark, ominous crimson continued to seep through the white linen, dripping steadily onto the dirt floor.
His complexion was the color of ash. The usually dignified and commanding Dean stared blankly at the flickering brazier, his eyes hollow. Beside him, the air crackled with frantic energy as Elder Song and Xian Lin'er paced the confines of the tent, their boots wearing a path into the earth.
"Shaozhe, it's a disaster. The narrative is completely out of our hands." Elder Song's voice wavered. He clutched a crumpled stack of intercepted intelligence reports, his knuckles white. "These are coming in from every major region. The public refuses to listen to a single word of our defense. The louder we deny the collusion, the more convinced they are that we are covering our tracks."
Xian Lin'er stopped pacing, dragging a hand down her exhausted face. Deep lines of stress framed her mouth. "He's right. If we don't sever this connection immediately and decisively, the ten-thousand-year glory of Shrek Academy will be dragged through the mud and buried forever."
Yan Shaozhe finally moved. He tilted his head up, the motion agonizingly slow. The boundless confidence that usually radiated from him had been entirely extinguished, replaced by a suffocating, heavy powerlessness.
"The masses..." he rasped, his voice sounding like grinding stones. "The masses do not care for reason. They only care for the spectacle."
Every syllable he forced out caused the torn muscles in his shoulder to spasm, sending fresh waves of agony radiating down his arm. "We cannot fight ghosts in the wind. We must break camp immediately. We return to Shrek and issue a formal, continent-wide proclamation."
Far to the west, within the opulent confines of the Sun Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, the mood was drastically different.
Hallmaster Jing Hongchen reclined in his plush leather chair behind a massive mahogany desk. A cup of premium, steaming spirit tea rested lightly in his palm. Spread out across the polished wood was a high-priority, top-secret intelligence dossier freshly relayed from their spies in the Heavenly Soul Empire.
It outlined every chaotic second of the Execution Platform incident: Yan Shaozhe's crippling injuries, the abduction of the mutated Ma Xiaotao, and the impressive, sudden manifestation of the Snow Empress.
Jing Hongchen's eyes scanned the parchment. There was no outrage, no fear. Instead, the corners of his mouth curled upward, stretching into a wide, deeply amused smile.
"Excellent. Truly excellent." Jing Hongchen set his teacup down with a soft clink and drummed his thick fingers against the desk, the rhythmic tapping echoing in the quiet office.
"The esteemed elders of Shrek must be tearing their hair out right about now," he chuckled, his eyes gleaming with predatory delight. "It would be rude of me not to add a little oil to their roaring fire."
He gestured lazily to the shadow-like assistant standing at attention near the door. "Duplicate this dossier. Distribute it to every major financial consortium and every influential member of the imperial royal family."
"Do not add a single word of commentary. Let the raw facts speak for themselves. Let them see the mighty Shrek Academy shielded by the very darkness they claim to purge. The collapse of Shrek's divine pedestal is a once-in-a-millennium opportunity for our Sun Moon Empire."
Jing Hongchen leaned back, bathing in the sheer schadenfreude of the moment. He didn't even need to lift a finger. By simply letting the venomous rumors ferment, the so-called number one academy in the world would drown in a quagmire of its own making.
Elsewhere within the sprawling grounds of the Sun Moon Royal Academy, Huo Yuhao stood rigidly by his dormitory window, staring out into the oppressive, pitch-black night.
The intelligence report in his grip had been crushed into a mangled ball of paper.
Deep lines of anxiety creased his forehead. The news was a bitter pill to swallow. Yes, Ma Xiaotao had survived the execution, but falling into the clutches of the Holy Spirit Cult was a fate arguably worse than death. She would be twisted, broken, and reforged into a mindless weapon of slaughter. And while Dean Yan had escaped with his life, Shrek Academy's pristine reputation had been dragged through the filth.
This was a complete disaster. It was the exact opposite of what he had fought for.
"Not only did we fail to bring Sister Xiaotao home, but the entire board has flipped against us," Huo Yuhao muttered, his voice heavy with a bitter sense of helplessness. He leaned his forehead against the cold glass. "Sigh... what an absolute mess."
Deep within his spiritual sea, the mental world rippled. The elegant, chilling projection of the Ice Empress slowly materialized over the golden waters. She paid no heed to the political chaos of the human world; her emerald eyes were locked onto Huo Yuhao's consciousness, swirling with intense confusion and deep-seated worry.
"Yuhao," her voice echoed, crisp and serious. "Why did the Snow Empress intervene today?"
Her question struck the very core of the doubt that had been gnawing at him for hours.
"I don't understand it either," Huo Yuhao replied, his mental avatar manifesting beside her. "Ever since Liu Yuan took the Snow Empress away from the auction, she vanished without a trace. We had zero intelligence on her status. Could she have struck some sort of binding deal with Liu Yuan?"
The Ice Empress's delicate brows pinched together. "It defies all logic. The Snow Empress is the absolute sovereign of the Far North. She is unfathomably proud and has always harbored a deep disdain for humanity. What possible terms could a human offer that would compel her to act as his shield?"
A golden light shimmered as Tianmeng Iceworm drifted into the conversation, his phantom form pulsing thoughtfully. "What if it wasn't a trade of services, but a debt of life? Think about it. When the Snow Empress was trapped inside that God-Sealing Platform, her origin energy was critically unstable. She was on the verge of detonating. Yet today, she casually blocked a strike from a Limit Douluo. That proves she has completely stabilized and recovered her terrifying strength. The only common denominator here is Liu Yuan."
"But how?" The Ice Empress demanded, her tone sharp with disbelief. "He is just a human boy. How could he possibly possess the heaven-defying means to stabilize a hundred-thousand-year soul beast's collapsing origin?"
Tianmeng scratched his head, equally stumped. "That's the million-year question, isn't it? I'm completely baffled. The sheer power required to do that shouldn't exist in a kid his age."
Huo Yuhao's eyes suddenly widened as a jolt of realization struck him like lightning.
"Wait," he interjected, his mental voice echoing loudly across the spiritual sea. "Liu Yuan might not have the power himself... but what if it wasn't him?"
The two great soul beasts looked at him.
"Don't forget who is residing within him," Huo Yuhao continued, a complicated mix of awe and dread pooling in his chest. "Elder Yi is with him. With the unfathomable, divine-like magic of the Holy Necromancer... pulling the Snow Empress back from the brink of destruction isn't just possible. For him, it might have been easy."
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