"Where is Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang? Where did he go?"
Atop the Star Luo Imperial City.
Emperor Xu Jiawei looked at his sister approaching Lu Cheng, his eyes filled with a bit of expectation. Seeing the youth in the Shrek Academy rest area below shake his head, he sighed helplessly and sat back down. Suddenly remembering something, he looked around, frowning slightly, and spoke.
On one side, White Tiger Duke General Dai Hao said after a moment of thought, "It is said that Douluo Cheng seems to have gone into secluded meditation." It seems last night's incident was a significant blow to him."
"Hmph, that's for the best," Emperor Xu Jiawei snorted coldly.
He didn't go as far as to call him a fool again.
No matter how much of a mess that guy made, he still had to help clean it up. The Star Luo Empire had invested heavily to nurture a top combat power of the titled Douluo level. If he were really targeted and quietly killed by Shrek Academy and other factions, it would be no different from carving out a piece of the Star Luo Empire's own flesh.
Meanwhile, at this moment.
Outside Star Luo City, in a dense forest.
A depressed figure stood in place, looking around with quite some anger. "Just who are you, Your Excellency? And what business do you have calling me here?!"
He had already made a massive fool of himself last night, and his heart was filled with intense frustration.
He hadn't expected to be summoned outside the city by a mysterious person's voice transmission early this morning.
"Kid, you've got some nerve, daring to touch my person?" A robust old man clad in a pitch-black robe, looking completely ordinary, stood with his arms crossed over his chest, sizing up Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang with a smile.
"Your person? Are you from Shrek Academy?"
Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang's pupils contracted suddenly. He had laid a hand on Lu Cheng last night, so it was quite reasonable for a powerhouse from Shrek Academy to come knocking today.
"No."
Du Busi smiled and shook his head. "Take a guess."
"Heh," Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang sneered. He cracked his neck, clenched his hands into fists, and slammed them together, the terrifying, colossal strength seemingly crushing the air itself.
Tapping his toes sharply on the ground, his figure shot forward. A pitch-black soul ring rose from beneath his feet, and his entire body was covered in a layer of hard, thick carapace. His fist, carrying a sharp, fierce wind, smashed toward Du Busi's cheek with lightning speed.
"Hahaha!"
Du Busi laughed heartily towards the sky, his eyes reflecting Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang's rapidly approaching figure, filled with mockery.
Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang's fist smashed into Du Busi's face, but his pupils suddenly dilated. In the next instant, his figure was violently sent flying backward as he sprayed a mouthful of blood. The arm he had punched with was twisted into a grotesque deformity, snapped clean in half, and his expression changed dramatically.
His body slid across the grass, leaving two long skid marks from his soles.
Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang clutched his broken arm in terror, letting the blood flow freely as his throat bobbed. In the distance, the black-robed old man still maintained a leisurely and relaxed posture; his face, which had clearly been struck by the punch, didn't have even a scratch…
"May I ask just who you are, Senior?" Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang knelt on one knee, his head hanging low as fine beads of sweat broke out on his forehead, his voice trembling.
It was only today that he realized there were always mountains beyond mountains, so high as to be completely unreachable.
This single punch had completely shattered his arrogance and self-confidence.
"Guess?" Du Busi said with a smile.
"Shrek Academy's Elder Bai?" Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang's throat bobbed as he spoke softly.
Crack!
But in the next instant, an intense wave of pain shot from his other arm. The black-robed old man had appeared beside him at some unknown point and snapped his remaining intact arm clean in half. The sound of the bone breaking was crisp and loud, and even his soul bone was completely shattered.
"Aaaaargh!!!" Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang knelt on the ground, his expression agonizingly distorted as his two arms hung down limply.
"Keep guessing," Du Busi said, leisurely stroking his beard and shaking his head in disappointment.
Terrified, Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang could only endure the pain as his mind raced. "Could it be someone from the Douling Empire's… Argh!"
His left leg was crippled.
"Wrong," Du Busi said, shaking his head.
"The Heavenly Soul Empire's Consecration Hall… Argh!"
With all four limbs now crippled, Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang's body was a broken mess. His blood stained the surrounding green grass red, and bloody tears welled in his eyes as he looked up at the black-robed figure with a hint of pleading.
"The next thing to be wrung off will be your head, kid. Think carefully before you answer," Du Busi said with a smile.
"…"
After a moment of silence, Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang finally recalled a useful piece of information: a Body Martial Soul. "Are you a senior from the Body Sect?!"
"Hahaha…" Du Busi laughed as he patted Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang's face. His smile gradually turned fierce as he crouched down, staring coldly at Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang. "You little brat, I held back for a long time last night. If those old fogeys hadn't been around, and I had to avoid exposing myself, I would have rushed in immediately, broken your limbs, and thrown you in front of my boy Lu Cheng to apologize."
"Daring to provoke someone from my Body Sect… do you have a death wish?"
"Senior, spare my life! Senior, spare my life!!" Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang wailed miserably.
"Heh, I'll spare your life this time, but remember, the next time you see that youth, take the long way around…" Du Busi snorted softly, then slowly got up and walked away.
Leaving behind only Guardian Douluo Cheng Gang, with all four limbs crippled, slumped helplessly on the ground.
His eyes were filled with deep regret.
That Yan Shaozhe was no good either. Shrek Academy indeed didn't value that youth, but they never mentioned he had the Body Sect backing him. He was a fool too…a body martial soul; he should have made the connection long ago.
But now, it was too late.
With his limbs crippled and his soul bone shattered, even if they were repaired in the future, he probably wouldn't be able to increase his combat power and cultivation further.
The quarterfinalists had been decided.
The matchups for the quarterfinal knockout stage were announced.
Shrek Academy faced the Heavenly Soul Team. Lu Cheng did not play, not because he didn't want to, but because Yan Shaozhe forced him onto the 'cold bench. 'Aside from him, the three true main-force members… Ling Luochen, Gongyang Mo, and Ma Xiaotao…finally made their debut.
This drew a burst of cheers from the audience.
Ma Xiaotao, naturally being impatient, fully displayed her power as a soul saint. Her Divine Phoenix Fire dyed the entire arena into a sea of fire, making Teacher Wang Yan's face turn green with anger below. Before she went up, he had repeatedly warned Ma Xiaotao to prioritize the bigger picture since she was the Shrek Team's ultimate trump card, but she had still treated his words as wind passing by her ears.
With Ma Xiaotao's series of moves, she held almost nothing back, completely exposing all her cards.
Yan Shaozhe was also dissatisfied, but knowing his disciple's temperament all too well, he only scolded her harshly a few times and didn't say much else.
As for the semifinals, they ran into the Dio Team, one of only two teams anchored by a Soul Emperor.
Yan Shaozhe originally didn't want Lu Cheng to play, but with Bei Bei crippled, they only had three main-force members left, and the opposing side had a Soul Emperor. Shrek placed too much importance on this championship to allow even the slightest slip-up, so he no longer stopped Lu Cheng from taking the field.
The outcome was naturally clear. The captain of Dio Academy, Jiang Peng, was focused down and quickly kicked out of the arena, and Shrek Academy easily took the victory once more.
Soon, a few days flew by in the blink of an eye.
And the day of the grand finals arrived.
The arena was packed with a sea of people, all waiting for the final showdown between the old rivals, Shrek and Sun Moon.
Notes:
(2/3)