The expressions of all the elders completely changed, and their gazes toward Mu En were filled with dread.
The Dragon God Douluo, who had been recuperating peacefully and rarely took action since his Breakthrough to Limit Douluo, seemed to have revealed his sharp edge once again at this moment.
The fear of everyone present was reawakened.
Yet, Mu En seemed to have done nothing more than a trivial matter; his hunched body showed no significant change.
He withdrew his gaze from Yan Shaozhe, and his cloudy eyes turned back toward Xuan Zi, who was kneeling on the ground nearby:
"Xuan Zi, tell me, what were you doing when the team was surrounded by the pack of Moon-Eating Silver Wolves?"
Xuan Zi trembled all over, cold sweat soaking his back.
What was he doing then? Could he possibly say that he had found a rare Nine-Colored Brocade Chicken in the Star Dou Great Forest and was currently plucking and preparing it for a feast?
He opened his mouth, but in the end, he couldn't utter a single word.
Mu En's gaze grew even colder.
Just then, a senior elder bit the bullet and stepped forward, bowing slightly as he said:
"Elder Mu, perhaps Elder Xuan cannot be entirely blamed for this matter. The appearance of a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Beast in the mixed zone of the Star Dou Great Forest was truly an accident; no one could have predicted it."
This elder was not blind to the situation; on the contrary, he was well aware of Shrek's current state.
The fact that Mu En's lifespan was nearing its end was no secret among Shrek's high ranks. From his perspective, perhaps the successor after the next Sea God Pavilion Master would be Zhang Lexuan.
However, the next Sea God Pavilion Master, judging by both strength and seniority, could only be Xuan Zi.
He was certain that no matter how disappointed Mu En was with Xuan Zi, he would never truly take his life; at most, he would impose a punishment. Standing by Xuan Zi now was undoubtedly the politically correct choice.
Sure enough, once someone took the lead, more elders immediately rose to concur:
"Yes, Elder Mu, Elder Xuan's Spirit is the Gluttonous Divine Ox, and he requires large amounts of food to maintain his state; this is due to his Spirit. The situation that occurred this time may not have been Elder Xuan's intentional negligence, but an accident!"
"Yes, Elder Mu, Elder Xuan is, after all, a pillar of Shrek. How can he be punished arbitrarily? Moreover, only two students unfortunately perished this time. As long as the academy provides sufficient compensation to their Families, there shouldn't be any issues."
The elders spoke over one another, attempting to use "reason" and "precedent" to gloss over the tragedy lightly.
As their discussion grew more animated, the horrific sight of Yan Shaozhe being severely wounded moments ago seemed to be deliberately forgotten amidst the "lively" pleas for leniency.
Zhang Lexuan listened and watched silently, the last faint glimmer of light in her eyes completely extinguished by these words—words that were indifferent, evasive, and treated human lives as mere statistics.
'Only two students died?'
What exactly did they consider life to be?!
An unspeakable sorrow and indignation surged within her chest. She was about to step forward and question them, but the next moment,
"Buzz!"
The space within the Sea God Pavilion suddenly rippled.
The next moment, a robust figure stepped out from the spatial ripples, carrying two humanoid beings—bloody, barely breathing, like dead dogs—in his hands.
"Poison Undying?!"
An elder cried out in surprise, naming the newcomer.
Poison Undying's gaze swept contemptuously across the entire hall. He glanced at Yan Shaozhe, who was still barely alive on the ground far away, then looked at Xuan Zi kneeling nearby, and a sinister curve spread across his lips:
"Oh, you're all here? Perfect."
With his identity fully confirmed, all the elders instantly reacted as if facing a formidable enemy, their spirit power instinctively circulating. Even Xuan Zi, who was kneeling, circulated his spirit power, instantly activating his Spirit Possession and attempting to stand up.
However, Mu En remained calm.
He didn't even spare Poison Undying a glance, merely speaking plainly to Xuan Zi:
"Xuan Zi, did I tell you to stand up? Continue kneeling."
Xuan Zi, who had just fully stood up, stiffened. He tried to speak in protest, but under the gaze that was plain yet contained supreme majesty, the Aura he had just raised instantly collapsed.
Gritting his teeth, Xuan Zi did not dare to speak and knelt back down.
Poison Undying paused slightly, raising an eyebrow in surprise.
He glanced at Mu En's figure nearby, then let out an undisguised sneer before casually throwing the two people he held onto the ground, pointing at them as he spoke to Mu En:
"Mu En, this fellow is from your academy, right? He tried to threaten the Family members of a contracted employee of my Mingmeng Chamber of Commerce. I happened to run into him, so I crippled him on the way. And there's this one—"
He kicked the other half-dead figure. "—This one was a buy-one-get-one-free deal. No problem, right?"
The severely injured Yan Shaozhe struggled to lift his head and hissed, "Poison Undying! Do you know where this place is?! This is the Sea God Pavilion! How dare you trespass into the Sea God Pavilion!"
Poison Undying casually dug his ear and said indifferently:
"Why can't this old man come? Get your facts straight, kid. It was your Shrek's Team Leader Teacher who was a complete and utter piece of trash, causing a promising future employee favored by my Chamber of Commerce to suffer an unfortunate loss!
"And I am here to seek justice for them!" His gaze suddenly sharpened, cutting across the assembled elders like a knife.
"If I hadn't come, what were you planning to do? You were probably going to let this matter drop entirely, right! After all, to you, how could the deaths of mere two students compare to the honor of a rank ninety-eight Super Douluo?
"In fact, even if the entire team had died, you still wouldn't have done anything to Xuan Zi. Am I wrong?"
The elders remained silent, not daring to utter a single word.
The situation was too obvious: Mu En not moving to drive Poison Undying away proved that Poison Undying's presence was likely tacitly approved by Mu En. Otherwise, how could he have gotten here?!
"Tsk."
Poison Undying looked at the completely silent elders and clicked his tongue softly, but the next moment, he let out a savage laugh.
"Since two people died... let's be fair and make it a life for a life!"
Before his voice faded, he abruptly raised his hand and grabbed at the elder who had just said, "only two students died," snatching him through the air!
"No—!"
The elder screamed in terror, his eight optimally matched spirit rings simultaneously appearing. His spirit power erupted fully in an attempt to resist, but beneath the enormous dark-green hand that materialized out of thin air and grabbed him, his efforts were like an ant trying to shake a tree.
An irresistible immense force instantly pulled him into Poison Undying's grasp.
Grasping his skull with one hand, Poison Undying did not grant him a quick death, but instead spoke slowly:
"One of the two children who died had his legs dismembered and severed. You can experience that too."
As he spoke, he raised his other hand, which transformed into a blade, and severed the elder's lower body at the waist!
"Ah!!!!"
Pain mixed with agonizing screams echoed inside the Sea God Pavilion, yet Poison Undying remained expressionless, waiting patiently.
After a full ten minutes or more passed like this, and the elder's voice gradually ceased, Poison Undying held the elder's head with one hand, then applied slight pressure with his five fingers—
"Pfft!"
As if crushing an overripe fruit, red and white matter splattered from Poison Undying's hand.
Subsequently, the elder's headless, half-severed body was tossed aside like trash.
(End of Chapter)
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