"Ah?"
Wang Dong'er's pinkish-blue eyes froze. Watching the three crimson arrows rising and streaking across the pitch-black night sky like beautiful fireworks, her expression became a bit shy. "Is there even a part for watching fireworks? I really like—"
But in the next instant, Lu Cheng suddenly grabbed her hand. Their toes tapped the ground, and their figures shot violently toward the direction of Shrek City's eastern gate.
Behind Lu Cheng, a pair of dazzling fiery wings bloomed. With a sudden flap, the lifelike wings, resembling those of a phoenix, instantly transformed into a streak of crimson light, flying toward the horizon.
"Eh?" Wang Dong'er was somewhat taken aback.
But immediately, where her gaze fell, tragic wails rang out from where those three arrows had landed. Several black-robed figures fled from the lush forest, their bodies covered in eye-catching intense flames. Like blooming clusters of fire, they were reduced to ashes with a boom.
The young girl's vision gradually returned to the front, her face a bit stiff.
"Lu Cheng, it seems there are pursuers?"
Another dozen or so black-robed figures charged from the low altitude, brimming with Killing Intent, as they locked onto their two figures.
"Mhm."
That handsome face remained expressionless, even somewhat calm and relaxed. Facing powerful enemies behind them that made her heart race with fear, this guy was as steady as ever.
"They're about to catch up?" Wang Dong'er said cautiously.
"Mhm."
"Will we die?" Wang Dong'er suddenly asked.
Her arms gradually wrapped around Lu Cheng's neck, letting the gale whistle past her ears. Her beautiful eyes stared blankly at Lu Cheng; she suddenly felt she must be ill because at this moment, she had an illusion that if she were buried here with Lu Cheng, it seemed like a very beautiful thing—
"No."
Lu Cheng frowned slightly. "Be quiet."
He patted the girl's bottom in his arms.
The latter let out a muffled hum, her pretty face flushed with a hint of red, and she buried her head in Lu Cheng's chest, speaking no more.
"Little animal, stop and face your death!"
The leading man, whose aura was as grand as a rainbow, had a deep voice filled with irritation. They had clearly made full preparations, yet they were still detected in advance by that little animal.
What made him even more furious was that with just three arrows, he had lost three experts at the Soul King realm.
Even if it was a surprise attack, even if those arrows were so fast it was hair-raising, he could only watch helplessly as they pierced through the clansmen by his side, unable to stop them.
"This boy must be killed today!" Xu Geliu's eyes were clouded with gloom.
The flying spirit tool behind him sped up a bit more.
"Heh, only an idiot would stop—"
Lu Cheng chuckled and glanced back at the group of pursuers with a playful look in his eyes. He kept his speed at a distance that was neither too close nor too far. His physical fitness allowed him to handle more powerful flying spirit tools, so what he was using now was a peak Rank 7 biomimetic flying spirit tool.
As for the technology—naturally, he learned it from the Sun Moon Empire. There was too much to reap from there.
Biomimetic technology was one of them. In the original story, Jing Hongchen had once displayed a Rank 9 flying spirit tool; this technology was already nearing maturity.
However, the distance from the pursuers was also narrowing bit by bit.
"Die, little animal!" Xu Jiangliu's eyes flashed with a cold light, unable to hold back any longer. The sound of mechanical assembly came from his arm, and in just a few seconds, a Rank 8 long-range spirit tool ray with three barrels revealed its sharpness in the dark night.
His martial soul, the Xuanming Turtle, was too conspicuous. To avoid exposing his identity and leaving Shrek Academy with any leverage, he chose to rely on spirit tools to kill the opponent.
Buzz—
Boom!
A heatwave swept across the sky. A terrifying force came straight for Lu Cheng.
Two shots were narrowly dodged by Lu Cheng. But one of them struck Lu Cheng squarely. Flames erupted and black smoke gathered. Just as Xu Geliu's eyes showed joy and he intended to turn his troops around to retreat, a figure cut through the black smoke, fleeing forward at an even faster speed.
"What?!" Xu Geliu's eyes were blank with shock, and it wasn't until he saw a fleeting light-blue shadow behind the opponent that his face turned even uglier.
"Damn it, it was blocked by some kind of barrier. Keep chasing!"
Lu Cheng glanced back at the murderous crowd, withdrew his wrist where the "Snow Empress's Protection" had dimmed, and a cold sneer played on his lips. "Fools—"
Ahead, the Shrek City walls were less than two hundred meters away.
The corners of Lu Cheng's lips curled up. His voice was full of energy, spreading across the entire Shrek City wall.
"Dean Yan, save me!!!"
The scene suddenly fell silent.
The many pursuers behind him were stunned for a moment. Xu Geliu, the leader, had a drastic change in expression, looking toward the city wall with some terror. In his blurred vision, there indeed seemed to be several figures there.
Standing on the city wall, Yan Shaozhe's face froze, his mind going a bit blank. After all, he never expected that Lu Cheng would actually discover him.
"Dean Yan, if you are refusing to save me because of our friction from the other day, then I apologize!" Lu Cheng continued to speak, his tone mixed with urgency and a forced sense of indignation and anger.
Yan Shaozhe's face gradually turned black.
The many surrounding city defense generals looked at him with strange expressions, secretly sizing him up. If he didn't act now, he would surely be labeled as "narrow-minded" forever.
Although he indeed was quite petty.
But—he, Yan Shaozhe, needed to save face!!!
Even from the corner of his eye, he could see the bright red figure of Ma Xiaotao, who had rushed over from the inner court upon hearing the noise. His face became even more unsightly.
This had completely put him on the spot.
"Who dares to cause trouble before the gates of Shrek Academy?" But no matter how dark Yan Shaozhe's face was, he swallowed his frustration and stepped forward, his sharp gaze sweeping over the group of black-robed men lingering behind.
Seeing Yan Shaozhe take action. The two figures on the top floor of the Treasure Pavilion simultaneously let out a sigh.
"Still couldn't keep his cool—" Mu En said with a distant gaze.
"That little fellow was clearly bluffing. If Shaozhe had continued to play dead and left quietly, then only a few defense generals would have known, and it would be easy to handle. But once he appears—then this matter will spread throughout the city," Elder Lin lamented.
"Forget it, forget it; we still have to keep a close eye on things." Mu En's eyes narrowed slightly.
To play his disciple, Yan Shaozhe, in the palm of his hand. This kid—
"Damn it! Retreat!"
Xu Geliu made a decisive choice in the face of danger. He slammed on the brakes in midair and fled backward.
Yan Shaozhe's face was also quite ugly.
The moment he acted, he understood Lu Cheng's intention.
He shouldn't have shown his face—
And once he did, it confirmed the fact that the dean of the Shrek Martial Soul Department was "extremely petty." Now, even if he had a reason, he couldn't explain it away.
"These animals—" Yan Shaozhe's expression grew colder.
Looking at the figures fleeing rapidly opposite him, if it weren't for these useless fools exposing their tracks early and failing to even force out that little animal's trump cards, why would he be in this position?
But although his gaze was resentful, there was no killing intent.
After all, Shrek Academy had no intention of completely offending the Xuanming Sect to death, especially because of this little animal who had schemed against him.
"Capital crimes may be avoided, but punishment is inescapable."
Yan Shaozhe whispered.
The Bright Phoenix martial soul behind him was fully revealed; the combat power of a Level 95 Super Douluo was laid bare. He glanced indifferently at the dozen or so black-robed figures about to flee. With a wave of his hand, those figures all froze in mid-air, as if frozen in time.
The brilliant power of holy light fell upon them, and the latter's faces were filled with extreme terror.
He would let the Supervisory Group interrogate them, and then he would step in to secretly release these guys, which would count as giving the Xuanming Sect some face.
The Xuanming Sect was quite accomplished in alchemy. Although their overall strength wasn't that great, they were considered a local powerhouse in the Heavenly Soul Empire. At that time, he would make the Xuanming Sect bleed a little to compensate for his losses.
Yan Shaozhe's expression improved slightly.
At least tonight, he hadn't lost everything down to his underwear.
He still won back some face.
But in the next instant. The smile in Lu Cheng's eyes was hard to hide.
He drew his long bow, and several arrows shot toward those black-robed men unexpectedly. The speed was so fast that even Yan Shaozhe didn't have time to save them.
"AAAAAHHH!!!"
Wails echoed throughout the world.
Even the leader, Xu Geliu, didn't even get to display a hint of his Soul Douluo power before his head was pierced by a crimson arrow. His brains were scorched by the scalding fire waves, and his hood along with his head was blown apart. Only a black-robed figure remained, falling downward as if losing balance.
Yan Shaozhe: "…"
The latter was now completely red with rage, his face cold, staring fixedly at Lu Cheng nearby.
While the latter was currently using an ice sword to sever the body of a soul saint.
Splatter~
He became a soul / saint.
"Lu Cheng! What the hell are you doing?!" Yan Shaozhe was almost about to explode, his anger off the charts, as he rebuked through gritted teeth, word by word.
"Ah?" Lu Cheng's body froze, his eyes instead flashing with a bit of confusion, helplessness, and grievance.
"Didn't you mean to control these enemies and then let me personally deliver the finishing blow?"
Yan Shaozhe clenched his fists, several black lines appearing on his forehead.
He just wanted to snap back but suddenly realized that what this kid said was very reasonable—
After all, for them to publicly assassinate a Shrek disciple outside Shrek City, killing them on the spot would never be wrong. Now, in the eyes of the outside world, it probably really looked like he, Yan Shaozhe, had restrained these assassins to let Lu Cheng finish them off.
"Then you shouldn't have left any survivors!" Yan Shaozhe suppressed his rage, trying to win back a point.
"I left one."
Lu Cheng coughed twice.
Dragging the upper part of the soul/saint: "With Elder Zhuang here, he won't die for a while."
Yan Shaozhe: "…"
Looking at that headless corpse of the leader, he finally realized that his plan to befriend the Xuanming Sect and reap some benefits from them had completely gone down the drain. A few days ago, Xiaotao killed one of their sect elders, and today, he "cooperated" with Lu Cheng to kill these people from the Xuanming Sect.
The result was obvious—he had instead formed a blood feud with the Xuanming Sect. The irreconcilable kind.
After all, a Soul Douluo-level expert was most likely someone like a Grand Elder within their sect, with extremely high status.
Yan Shaozhe's cheek twitched. Such a backfire was definitely not his intention.
But if he were to explain, it would instead be demeaning. As the Dean of the Martial Soul Department, how could he possibly lower his head and run to the Xuanming Sect to plead for forgiveness? And since their sect elder had died, how could they easily forgive him?
This situation was unsolvable.
"I must thank Teacher for this!" Ma Xiaotao's figure appeared in a hurry. Seeing that Lu Cheng was unharmed, she finally breathed a sigh of relief, her eyes looking at Yan Shaozhe with some gratitude.
The latter's face darkened a bit more. He took a deep breath and squeezed out a smile: "It's fine; this is my duty as dean."
"Check him for injuries; I'm heading back first." At this moment, Yan Shaozhe didn't even want to look at Lu Cheng. Carrying the half-body of the soul/saint, his figure flashed, and he vanished on the spot.
Lu Cheng curled his lips into a smile.
He's probably hiding somewhere to spit blood. This time, Dean Yan lost everything down to his underwear.
It wasn't to say it was that serious, but purely that the psychological attack was paramount. A person like Yan Shaozhe valued face immensely; being toyed with repeatedly like this, he probably suffered internal injuries from the frustration.
"Are you okay?!"
Ma Xiaotao had a straightforward personality; how could she care about those little schemes? Her heart and eyes were all on Lu Cheng. Her two great mountains were extremely oppressive, towering and majestic, blocking the view, while her delicate hands roamed over him, checking for injuries.
A few minutes later, she finally let out a long sigh of relief.
"Who was it? I'll take the supervisory group tonight and kill them until not even a chicken or dog is left!" Ma Xiaotao's crimson phoenix eyes were full of ferocity, her aura quite strong. Behind her, there were also some Supervisory Group disciples who had been alarmed and rushed over, looking at the unscathed Lu Cheng with surprised eyes.
A tall, exceptionally beautiful woman with a cold, pale, and proud face glanced at Lu Cheng in surprise.
Those on the opposite side were all experts of the Soul Saint and Soul Douluo realms. With such a powerful lineup, if it were them, the Inner Academy Disciples, they would probably only have the option of waiting for death. Let alone struggling until Dean Yan's rescue, they would probably be wiped out in an instant.
Yet this guy actually managed to break through the encirclement while carrying a burden.
He could even counter-kill with ease.
And—Ling Luochen's eyes glanced at the corpses being gathered by the Supervisory Group members. On the half-body of that Soul Saint, there was still a familiar elemental power.
Ultimate Ice! This was the martial soul she dreamed of.
In the distance, a burly figure, a stalwart young man, also narrowed his eyes slightly, glancing at Lu Cheng's figure.
He didn't expect this Devil King of the Outer Academy to be such a monster.
By the looks of it, he would be participating in the next Continental Spirit Master Tournament with him. He didn't know if it was a blessing or a curse—
Notes:
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