MTL NOVEL Chapter 82: Chapter 82: Crush Their Honor, Then Stomp on It Twice
Sun Moon Empire.
Inside a laboratory.
Xu Cheng watched the recording crystal with a look of admiration, clapping his hands lightly.
"Now this is true destiny. Look at this—being able to severely wound the entire Shrek Academy team while also toying with Xuan Zi like he's a mere puppet. Tell me, is there any other Soul King in this world who could accomplish such a feat?"
"If I didn't know the full context, I'd honestly suspect that Xuan Zi..." Wu Yun shook his head repeatedly.
"What? That he's an undercover agent?" Xu Cheng smirked.
"Just kidding! He's one of the Supreme Elders of our Holy Spirit Cult—higher in rank than even Dragon Elder. I remember ten years ago, he sent Shrek Academy's inner court students to fight a hundred-thousand-year-old soul beast, resulting in heavy casualties. And now, he's just burned through several of their top talents. His achievements are simply extraordinary."
"Brother, is he really our guy?!"
Nana's beautiful eyes widened in disbelief.
If they had managed to plant a Holy Spirit Cult mole within Shrek Academy's highest leadership, wouldn't that mean the entire academy had been infiltrated beyond repair?
"Silly girl, you actually believed that?"
Elder Cheng chuckled.
With his level of strength, he could clearly see from the footage that Xuan Zi hadn't held back.
The reality was that the Death God's Messenger had simply been too cunning, paired with ridiculous luck, which led to the current outcome.
However...
Elder Cheng frowned slightly.
"Why does Xuan Zi keep making the same mistakes over and over again? Does he ever learn?"
"If he learned from his mistakes, he wouldn't still be called 'Drumstick Douluo' Xuan Zi," Xu Cheng chuckled.
That Death God's Messenger at least had some foresight, leaving behind a recording of everything.
This recording stone would be of great use to him in the future!
To the uninformed, it might even seem like Xuan Zi had deliberately let the evil soul master go.
Wouldn't that just be perfect for stirring up trouble?
If it could even trigger an internal conflict within the Sea God's Pavilion, that would be ideal.
"Given this situation, Shrek Academy will be sending a weakened team to the tournament. Even if this weren't the Sun Moon Empire's strongest lineup in history, they'd still have no chance of winning. Do you think they can keep their thousand-year winning streak?"
"A thousand-year honor? Ha! Let's see if they can even make it to the semifinals." Xu Cheng smirked.
"I don't just want Shrek Academy to lose—I want them to lose completely. If this thousand-year honor is their lifeblood, then I'll crush it, then stomp on it twice."
Shrek Academy.
Elder Xuan sat on the stairs with disheveled hair, chugging wine. Footsteps sounded behind him as a white-robed elder approached.
"How are they?"
The elder respectfully stood behind Elder Xuan and replied, "Their conditions have stabilized. It was corpse poison—thankfully, it was a single type of toxin. You brought them back just in time. Their lives are no longer in danger."
Elder Xuan exhaled deeply, relieved.
Another person entered—it was Yan Shaozhe.
"Elder Xuan, the Sea God's Pavilion meeting you requested is ready. You..."
"Let's go." Elder Xuan stood up and walked out.
Inside the Sea God's Pavilion.
The hall buzzed with angry voices.
"Are you f*cking kidding me?! After everything that's happened, you still won't allow students to carry invincible soul shields? Yan Shaozhe, do you even have a conscience? If the students had been wearing invincible soul shields, do you know how many fewer deaths there would have been?! You're risking their lives for some so-called honor?"
Xian Lin'er slammed the table and stood up, shouting at Yan Shaozhe.
"...But if we start using soul devices on a large scale, the prestige of the Martial Soul Department—"
Yan Shaozhe remained unmoved, his expression as indifferent as a dead pig unafraid of boiling water. (In the original novel, even after Elder Mu ordered all inner-court students to use soul devices, Yan Shaozhe still hesitated. What a heartless bastard.)
The Martial Soul Department and the Soul Tool Department had always been in conflict.
Because the inner court belonged to the Martial Soul Department, they chose to completely reject the use of soul tools.
"The students' lives are more important than your so-called honor!"
"..."
"Enough, Lin'er. Let Elder Xuan speak first."
Elder Mu calmly interrupted Xian Lin'er, diffusing the situation for the moment.
Elder Xuan entered the hall, scanning the room before speaking in a deep voice:
"You all already know what happened. As the leader of this mission, I bear full responsibility. Therefore, I am resigning from my position as Vice Head of the Shrek Supervision Group and withdrawing from the Sea God's Pavilion. I will live the rest of my days as a mere academy member."
"Additionally, publicly announce across the continent that this was entirely my fault..."
The room fell silent in shock.
After all, Elder Xuan was a Rank 98 Super Douluo—second only to one man in Shrek Academy.
He was the first in line to succeed Elder Mu. If Elder Mu were to pass away, Elder Xuan was supposed to take charge. If he stepped down, then who would lead?
Yan Shaozhe paled. "Elder Xuan, everyone makes mistakes. Besides, this wasn't entirely your fault! The lack of action from the supervising teacher, Wang Yan, also played a huge role! And Ma Xiaotao and the others were careless as well!"
"Not to mention, that evil soul master had a special ability—despite being just a Soul King, he managed to unleash an attack at the level of a Soul Sage."
"Elder Xuan, the Sea God's Pavilion needs you!"
His words were perfectly calculated to shift blame away from Elder Xuan.
Since Ma Xiaotao couldn't be blamed, that left Wang Yan as the scapegoat.
As for the public announcement...
Elder Xuan was the future leader of the Sea God's Pavilion. If he had any scandals, it would damage Shrek Academy's reputation. How could they let an unreliable old man become their highest authority?
The academy's prestige was tightly bound to Elder Xuan's image.
"There's no need to persuade me. My mind is made up."
Elder Xuan shook his head and strode out with unwavering determination, as if heading to his execution.
"Come back," Elder Mu said flatly.
"Elder Mu, I truly have no face left to stay here." Elder Xuan's back trembled slightly.
"...Sigh."
Elder Mu shook his head helplessly.
He was too old for this nonsense.
Honestly, if Xuan Zi weren't his junior apprentice brother—someone he had watched grow up—he might've started suspecting that something was off about him...
Elder Mu said calmly, "You can leave if you want. But first, pass down your Taotie Divine Bull martial soul bloodline. Otherwise, forget it."
"I..." Elder Xuan's face turned red.
The other elders looked at him strangely, while Lin Lao simply burst out laughing.
"Shaozhe."
Elder Mu suddenly turned to Yan Shaozhe.
"Yes, teacher?"
"Ever since the Tang Sect heirs were exiled three years ago, you still haven't learned your lesson..." Elder Mu sighed.
"Shrek's so-called honor has shackled all its members—it has become a burden, an arrogance. I keep asking myself: should we tear it down and rebuild? Or should we continue forward as we are? Should we break these thousand-year chains, or remain bound?"
Elder Mu slowly closed his eyes.
The hall grew heavy with silence.
(End of Chapter)