Because of Unsettled Storm and the sheer number of surrounding experts, Chen Xinjie could not even display his strength before being overwhelmed by attacks.
Yu Guanzhi, Dong Zi'an, and the others watched this scene, their feelings mixed. An expert who had once fought alongside them, now standing on the opposite side, had met his end in this way. Although it was only part of his divine consciousness and his physical shell, his final wail still left them with complex emotions.
In the end, after the heavenly and earthly origin energy calmed, only a broken body remained, floating quietly.
Chen Xinjie's burning of his life had been useful. At least it had preserved his body. But his battle armor and the Sea God Helmet were shattered beyond repair.
Huo Yuhao, expand his Reincarnation Domain, indicated he would gladly accept them.
Although the divine consciousness was gone, the foundation of a peak Near Divine expert was not to be underestimated. The body, whether transformed into an undead or converted and its energy devoured to breakthrough cultivation, was a good choice.
Although he would not recklessly devour just anyone, Chen Xinjie, who had sworn Never to Coexist with Him Under the Same Sky, apparently did not fall into that category.
Harossa, seeing the gray mist swallow Chen Xinjie into it, a look of realization appeared in his eyes.
So that was it. It was because of this domain, whose aura was somewhat similar to the Netherworld Rebirth Domain, that he had been drawn to Huo Yuhao.
The mist, as if possessing a spirit, entangled around Chen Xinjie's broken body. Under Harossa's uncertain gaze, an even more peculiar scene occurred.
It was as if time was flowing backward.
The cracked, dull, and faded body, under the infiltration of the gray mist, saw its cracks visibly mend and disappear. However, the battle armor and divine weapon did not recover.
"This domain contains the power of time. It is fundamentally different from my domain." Harossa thought to himself.
Having Experimented with his new domain to this extent, Huo Yuhao finally thoroughly devoured Chen Xinjie into his domain.
"Doing just that was the limit. If the domain had not been pre-expanded to record, it would not be possible to jump the state back to before. Only physical repair is possible. However, as long as it is confirmed that this ability can affect others, its strategic value increases considerably. But rather than reincarnation, this is more like Save File and Load File, is it not?"
Huo Yuhao's thoughts turned, giving a more precise definition to his Reincarnation Domain's new ability.
Besides the abilities inherited from the Netherworld Domain, the Reincarnation Domain also involved the mysteries of time and space. It could completely record and seal the previous state and position of a target within the domain's coverage (Save File), and then, under Huo Yuhao's control, "restore" it to that recorded state (Load File).
This was more akin to a high level state operation involving time and space laws, rather than the traditional "reincarnation" of soul rebirth and cause and effect.
But Huo Yuhao's Reincarnation Domain was, after all, a reincarnation pieced together from his own years of understanding, unique to his own path. It did not completely follow the known system of laws. And did reincarnation not also contain the true meaning of recording and reproduction?
He had simply defined this through the power of time and space.
However, this ability, in Huo Yuhao's view, was somewhat similar to the Time Rewind Domain of the original Tang Wulin, though different in essence. The latter leaned more toward the overall time reversal within the domain. Although it could also affect others, because it did not involve space, the reversal was a collective one, acting on an area.
He, on the other hand, might have integrated his understanding of spatial laws into it, allowing him to reverse the time and spatial position of only a single target, acting on a point.
But regardless of whether the target of the reversal was himself or another, it consumed his own power. Reversing his own state would not restore the consumption, but it could repair injuries.
And although he had not yet tried it, Huo Yuhao was certain that truly performing a temporal and spatial reversal on another expert would consume a great deal of his power, several times more than reversing himself. After all, ordinary experts could not resist time abilities, but they could resist spatial transfer and domains. If the enemy used their domain to resist the Reincarnation Domain, preventing it from enveloping them, this ability would even struggle to take effect.
"Reversing others as a trump card. Reversing oneself can be developed in the direction of Tang Wulin's style, increasing fault tolerance in battle."
Huo Yuhao thought to himself, "Having tacitly accepted the identity of a deity today, while bearing its benefits, I must also bear the troubles it may bring. The Holy Spirit Cult, learning of today's events, will probably also feel a sense of urgency. Within two years, I must at least break through to level ninety and condense the Yin Yang Complementary Triple Soul Cores. I can take some of the energy devored by this domain."
Just as he was thinking, Huo Yuhao looked at Chen Xinjie's corpse, which he had sent into the Reincarnation Domain, sensing the soul fluctuations within it, and raised an eyebrow slightly.
"I almost forgot. There are still you."
Huo Yuhao waved his hand. Three spirit souls were stripped from the corpse, each reacting differently. Two of them gave a sense of confusion, while the Demon Soul Great White Shark King silently watched the experts around her, as if aware of the situation.
Yu Guanzhi, who had just stepped forward intending to speak with Huo Yuhao, saw this with some surprise.
"Chen Xinjie's spirit souls are still here? Is it because Chen Xinjie is still alive that they did not die with the spirit soul contract?"
"No. Chen Xinjie dissolved the spirit soul contracts before his divine consciousness left."
Huo Yuhao shook his head.
Could he not tell whether the spirit soul contract he had developed was present on a person? During Chen Xinjie's earlier battle, the reason no spirit rings appeared around him was because there was no spirit soul contract on him at all. He had dissolved all the contracts.
This was also the reason Huo Yuhao had noticed Chen Xinjie's divine consciousness fleeing.
A person who wanted to escape would not cripple their own strength. Unless they had already left and, worried about the side effects of the spirit soul contract, had dissolved the contracts in advance.
Although everyone did not know the backdoor he had left in the spirit soul contract, there was one thing they did know. If a spirit soul died, the soul master would also die.
Chen Xinjie's fleeing divine consciousness apparently could not bring the spirit souls, as they would easily be detected by Di Tian, also a spirit beast. He should have only taken the storage soul tool containing Long Yuye's body. So, to prevent the spirit souls from falling into their hands and causing problems in the future, he might as well sever the root.
"So that is it."
Yu Guanzhi's expression was one of realization. He looked at the three spirit souls with complicated eyes. "May the Federation handle these spirit souls?"
These spirit souls had been with Chen Xinjie for so long that they surely knew a lot.
"Yes."
Di Tian nodded.
Yu Guanzhi thanked him, then looked at Huo Yuhao, Di Tian, Gu Yuena, and Snow Empress. Suddenly, his expression turned solemn as he clasped his fists in salute.
"Today's events are largely thanks to your support. Without you, it would have been difficult to eliminate Shrek. The Federation will remember the merits of this battle. Later, the Federation will draw up a formal commendation and offer heavy thanks to you and the Spirit Transmission Tower."
"After the losses at Shrek are accounted for and post battle processing completed, you may take whatever assets you wish from among them."
Although some things were not said openly, everyone knew that Shrek's assets would naturally be divided. The Spirit Transmission Tower held the primary merit in this battle, so whatever they wanted, the Federation would naturally give.
However, the most important things at Shrek had already been pocketed by the Spirit Transmission Tower.
"By the way, there is also this divine weapon." Yu Guanzhi remembered something and took out the divine sickle that had been in Long Yuye's hands, handing it to Huo Yuhao.
"Strictly speaking, this is your trophy. Now it is returned to its rightful owner."
When Long Yuye had been blocking Huo Yuhao's attack, she had hurriedly transformed into her Martial Soul True Body and had not used the divine weapon. As a result, after she was struck down, the divine weapon had been knocked elsewhere. Huo Yuhao had ignored it at the time, and it was later picked up by Yu Guanzhi.
Now it should be returned.
"Thank you."
Huo Yuhao took the sickle, sensing the natural aura within it, and looked thoughtful.
It seemed to be a third class god's divine weapon, under the Goddess of Life's lineage. It was somewhat useful to him, but not much.
Nevertheless, Huo Yuhao still put it away. His gaze turned to the ruins of Shrek Academy.
The former glory of the continent's number one academy had been reduced to a shocking wasteland under the impact of successive battles. The Seven Devils statue in the outer courtyard, symbolizing Shrek, had not been spared. It had been destroyed when the Federation experts rushed into the academy, leaving only remnants.
Yu Guanzhi also turned to look at Shrek, gazing at the ruins he had personally participated in destroying. A flicker of complex emotion passed through his eyes, but it was quickly replaced by determination.
He took a deep breath. His powerful spirit power, mixed with his spiritual power, transformed into a clear proclamation, rolling across Shrek City and beyond.
"Shrek Academy, having colluded with Xingluo, harbored ill intentions, and resisted the Federation, has today been legally dissolved and suppressed."
"From this day forward."
His voice suddenly rose, carrying an unassailable authority and iron blood. "Shrek Academy is expunged from the continent."
The proclamation was like thunder, rolling over the dead ruins, over the streets still smelling of gunpowder, over the hearts of the former Shrek teachers and students, each with complex emotions. Even the waves of Sea God Lake seemed to still under this declaration.
A ten thousand year legacy, overturned in a single day.
The sacred place in the hearts of the continent's soul masters had been, in the harshest and most public manner, nailed to the pillar of history's shame, and its complete end announced.
Outside the Sea God Pavilion, a Federation soldier who was collecting spirit souls heard the proclamation and smiled with a sense of shared glory.
Shrek Academy was finally destroyed.
"Heh, heh heh."
A creepy laugh drifted over, startling the excited Federation soldier. He turned his gaze toward the Sea God Pavilion.
A disheveled, ragged old woman leaned against the corner of the wall. Her turbid eyes reflected the firelight of the ruins and the afterglow of the distant proclamation.
She laughed wildly, as if in her last gasp. Her laugh was hoarse and broken, filled with endless madness and despair.
The Federation soldier recognized her. She was Shrek's rebel, Yuehua Douluo Cai Yue'er.
"Gone. It is all gone."
Cai Yue'er laughed, but tears mixed with the grime on her face streamed down.
"The ten thousand year foundation. The ancestors' hard work. Students everywhere. All gone. Destroyed by you. And destroyed by us."
Her voice suddenly stopped, as if she had exhausted her last strength. Her body slid down the wall, leaving only her shoulders still heaving, emitting a suppressed, bellows like sob.
The soldier frowned and snorted coldly. "You deserve it."
He looked away, unwilling to look at the maddened old woman any longer. He turned to continue his work.
Just then.
"Rumble."
A deep cracking sound came from deep within the Sea God Pavilion. This ancient building, having suffered so much damage, had finally reached its limit.
Rubble and broken beams fell like a waterfall.
The soldier turned back. He saw the maddened Cai Yue'er staggering to her feet. Her face was a mixture of relief and endless sorrow.
She did not dodge. Instead, she spread her arms and stumbled toward the collapsing ceiling.
"Boom."
The stone and rotted wood collapsed completely. Dust, like a gray tsunami, instantly devoured everything.
That Sea God Pavilion, which had witnessed countless of Shrek's glories and decisions.
That spiritual hall of Shrek.
In the end, together with Shrek, it collapsed.
***
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