FE—Chapter 144: Xuan Zi Receives the Death List
Xuan Zi was extremely sorrowful, holding a broken arm belonging to an unknown person in his hand. His eyes, through the hazy blood mist mixed with poison gas, scanned the entire cave blankly and dully.
As for the broken arm in his hand, Xuan Zi hoped it belonged to a bandit. However, there was also a situation he was afraid to face.
"Disciples! How are the disciples? Are any of them seriously injured…?"
Xuan Zi muttered absentmindedly, his tone even a little crazy, while using his spiritual power to perceive the scene inside the cave—an apparent bloodbath.
When his eyes fell on Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan, Xuan Zi's pupils suddenly widened. He saw the extremely tragic state of his disciples.
"How come Yao Haoxuan only has half of his body left?"
"No—no breath?"
The feedback from his spiritual perception flashed through Xuan Zi's mind. He was suffocating and gasping for air, his lips trembling.
From the moment he entered the cave of the Death Hand Bandit Group to eliminate the evil soul masters, Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan rushed most fiercely, killing evil soul masters without hesitation.
Now, Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan were indiscriminately slaughtering in the crowd. After the corpses exploded, it was clear that these two would unlikely survive.
"Beasts! Beasts!!" Xuan Zi cursed in extreme grief.
Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan were at the center of the corpse explosion, and both of their limbs had been blown off.
Yao Haoxuan suffered the most tragic death. After activating his martial soul, his body became larger, increasing the affected area of the explosion several times... He was directly blown to death on the spot, leaving behind an enormous half-body.
Chen Zifeng was not entirely dead; he seemed to still be hanging on, but his limbs had been blown off, and he couldn't find the force points to control his body. His body jerked from time to time, screaming in pain. It was already hopeless for him—better to die than to live.
Xuan Zi was heartbroken.
"Save him! Save Zifeng quickly!"
Xuan Zi, afraid of missing this slim chance at treatment, struggled to get up, but his disciple's tragic condition—like a myocardial infarction—caused him to stagger and collapse again.
Famous for his speed and reaction, Xuan Zi quickly released the soul power belonging to the Taotie Divine Bull to prevent residual toxins from harming his disciples after the corpse explosion.
A layer of khaki-colored air waves swept across the entire cave, dispersing all the blood mist and poison fog.
The scene inside the cave became clear.
At the same time, Xuan Zi's heart suddenly felt like a knife was slicing through it—severe pain. He beat his chest, wanting to vomit but unable, and tears of turbidity welled up from the corners of his eyes.
"That… that's Dai! Dai Yaoheng?! How could the Six-Ring Soul Emperor be like this?!"
The broken arm in Xuan Zi's hand belonged to Dai Yaoheng. Seeing his disciple's condition, he felt dizzy, as if his vision was torn.
Dai Yuheng's entire left arm had been blown off in the corpse explosion. His upper body was bloody, with poison and blood mud mixed.
Before the explosion, Dai Yuheng had torn a five-ring soul king in half.
Who could have expected that the evil soul master's method would be a corpse explosion? The disciples hadn't even considered the possibility of corpses exploding, so Dai Yuheng had torn the body of the five-ring soul king to pieces and tossed the fragments in all directions.
The front side of the body didn't have much impact—he rushed forward enough, and no team members were directly in front of him.
But on the sides and behind him were his younger brother Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, who were still cleaning up the bandits that had slipped through the net. They had been discussing using the Hell White Tiger to kill a large number of evil soul masters when the next wave of bandits attacked.
However, the corpse explosion prepared by the Death God Envoy struck.
Dai Yaoheng saw that the half of the Soul King's body he had thrown to the side was about to explode. The other half was farther away, so it was unaffected, but this half was sent directly toward Dai Huabin, who was a few meters away.
Although there was a buffer distance of several meters for the shockwave, this was the body of a Soul King, and the power generated by the corpse explosion was certainly beyond what a three-ring Soul Elder like Dai Huabin could withstand.
So, Dai Yuheng decisively activated the White Tiger Vajra Transformation, pounced sideways, and stretched out his left arm to hug Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu, using his body to absorb most of the impact of the Soul King's body.
This act, which in the original work had allowed Dai Yuheng—who was not seriously injured and had even fought Meng Hongchen in level 6 full armor—to survive, now caused him to resist the corpse explosion for Dai Huabin and blow off his left arm.
Dai Huabin saw his elder brother Dai Yuheng's missing arm and bloodied upper body. He quickly stood up, ran forward, and hugged him tightly. His eyes suddenly turned red, and he cried out in pain: "Brother! I've always looked up to you. Without you, what's the point of my hard work in cultivation? You must hold on!!" Dai Huabin's face was full of sadness and sorrow. When the corpse exploded just now, he felt the aura of his elder brother's at the level of a six-ringed Soul Emperor—rushing past him like a dazzling white light. It was Dai Yuheng who protected him. Dai Huabin had thrown himself to the ground to shield Zhu Lu. The shockwave from the corpse explosion swept past, leaving scars on his back. His back was skinned and fleshy. Zhu Lu's cheeks were pale, overwhelmed by Dai Yuheng's tragic appearance. She couldn't even imagine how devastating Dai Yuheng's irreversible lifelong disability would be for a strong attacking soul master, especially one missing an arm.
Dai Yuheng's physique, as a six-ringed Soul Emperor, was quite formidable. Relying on the White Tiger Shield Body Barrier and the comprehensive strengthening of the White Tiger Vajra Transformation, he did not die instantly despite being at the center of the explosion caused by half of the Soul King's body.
Fortunately, after tearing apart a Soul King, Dai Yuheng did not jump back and forth among the evil soul masters' corpses, or he would have ended up like the two strong attacking soul kings that Elder Xuan had praised.
"Why... we separated this time, why did this happen while I was leading the team..."
Xuan Zi saw Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan, whose limbs had been blown off, and Dai Yuheng, who had lost his left arm. He sobbed hoarsely in grief.
At this moment, the remaining disciples of both the regular and reserve teams, who still had intact limbs, were all extremely weak, lying on the ground in pain.
Several disciples missing arms and legs arched their bodies, struggling violently, emitting heart-wrenching and painful wails.
"Ma Xiaotao is still alive!"
Xuan Zi was in despair. When he thought of her, he suddenly raised his head and released his spiritual perception to locate Ma Xiaotao.
"Xiao Xiaotao, are you okay?"
Ma Xiaotao, standing with one hand holding the rock wall for balance, gently stroked her red collar with her other hand and coughed a few times, looking uncomfortable: "I'm fine."
There were relatively few corpses around Ma Xiaotao. Most of the lower-cultivation two- and three-ring evil soul masters of the Death Hand Bandit Group had been burned into gas and evaporated by her powerful phoenix flames, leaving no corpses.
Therefore, the area where Ma Xiaotao had just fought was relatively safe.
Xuan Zi breathed a sigh of relief. This time, he didn't feel the usual stabbing pain in his heart. Ma Xiaotao's limbs appeared intact, and she looked fine—she was not in immediate danger.
The corpse explosion on her side was not very powerful. She had been blown back by the shock wave but had hit the rock wall, suffering some internal injuries.
Her phoenix flames had effectively restrained the toxins produced by the corpse explosion.
Ma Xiaotao was the least injured among the seven inner courtyard disciples. After a short rest, her internal injuries had almost recovered.
"Luochen, can you still stand?"
Ma Xiaotao's phoenix wings flashed on her back. She quickly flew over to Ling Luochen, gently helping her up and inquiring about her injuries.
During the fight, Ling Luochen waved her staff behind Ma Xiaotao to control her. Ma Xiaotao's phoenix flames had burned the corpses to gasification, so there were few corpses near Ling Luochen.
Although she was blown away by the shock wave, she defended in time, condensing a layer of ice over her body. Her overall condition was not too bad, and she just needed some time to recover.
Wang Yan, at the end of the regular team, was less affected by the explosion. He was blown away, hitting the rock wall, and had broken several ribs.
He barely opened his eyes, covered in dust. He rushed to check the injuries of his disciples. Seeing the tragic state of everyone, especially Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan, Wang Yan trembled all over and was momentarily short of breath.
"Where's Elder Xuan?"
Wang Yan turned his head in horror and saw Xuan Zi sitting on the ground with a dull, soulless expression. An unknown resentment suddenly surged in his heart.
This level-98 Taotie Douluo bore much of the blame for the tragic scene. After all, it was the mission specially assigned to him by Elder Xuan.
He was also the team leader, so he bore some responsibility. But Wang Yan's cultivation was only at the five-ring level—lower than some inner court disciples. Faced with the sudden threat of the corpse explosion, Wang Yan felt powerless.
Looking at Elder Xuan with turbid tears, Wang Yan's emotions erupted. He cried out in a voice like weeping blood: "Master Xuan, what are you still looking at? Go kill him! Kill that Envoy!"
Xuan Zi suddenly awakened from his grief when he heard Wang Yan's scream. Releasing a powerful level-98 soul force, he locked onto the Death God Envoy, who had turned into a ball of gray smoke, about to slip away.
"Asshole!" Master Xuan roared, his surging soul power causing the entire cave to tremble violently, with falling gravel.
He raised his right hand, making a virtual pulling gesture toward the deepest part of the cave.
Suddenly, his palm produced an extremely terrifying suction force, pulling out a black figure from the depths of the cave. The figure was about to be caught by Xuan Zi.
The Death God Envoy looked pained by Xuan Zi's grip, but there was a teasing glint in his eyes as he stared fiercely.
Unable to resist being seized, the Death God Envoy made a gesture in the air.
Wang Yan's expression suddenly turned horrified, and a surge of dread filled his heart.
In the next moment, half of Yao Haoxuan's huge body swelled again, glowing with dangerous red light.
The Death God Envoy triggered a second corpse explosion.
"Beast! Beast!!"
Xuan Zi's eyes turned red at the sight. He quickly used his level-98 soul power to wrap up half of Yao Haoxuan's massive body and shoved him into a corner of the cave.
The Death God Envoy would not miss this fleeting opportunity to escape.
The fifth soul ring on his body flashed, and he instantly turned into a wisp of smoke. But instead of fleeing directly, he rushed toward the reserve team like lightning.
Wang Yan's face suddenly changed, and he cried out in a voice like weeping blood: "Master Xuan! Aren't you a level-98 Super Douluo? How can you let the Five-Ring Soul King escape?! Go! Chase him!"
Xuan Zi was furious. As a level-98 Super Douluo, this was the greatest humiliation he had ever suffered.
The soul beast, less than 100,000 years old, had almost escaped his grasp—an insult to Xuan Zi. Now, a mere five-ring soul king could be crushed at will, yet he allowed him to slip away.
This was tantamount to trampling on his dignity, fiercely humiliating him, and then pointing at him, scolding him like a loser with his spine pulled out.
"Roar!" With a thunderous roar, Xuan Zi, whose anger meter was once again full, released his true martial soul.
Taotie Divine Bull!
Xuan Zi's immense pressure spread out, causing the cave to shake like an earthquake. Boulders on the ceiling fell one after another.
Wang Yan felt the terrifying power of Xuan Zi's soul and knew he was serious. He cursed inwardly, not knowing who he was directing it at. But the next second, his wide-open eyes froze.
The aura of Xuan Zi's Taotie Divine Bull was so overwhelming that even the falling boulders seemed to accelerate, crashing down at an incredible speed—comparable to Xuan Zi's own.
Chen Zifeng, in his dying state with all limbs broken, still had a faint breath of life. But the boulder shaken loose by the "power of Taotie Divine Bull" struck his chest directly, ending his life.
After the corpse explosion, Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan died. The remaining disciples of the inner courtyard at Shrek Academy were all severely injured to varying degrees.
Wang Yan watched this scene with a blank, almost hollow expression. His mind seemed to spin out of control, holding his head with trembling hands.
He couldn't imagine why Xuan Zi could still cause such casualties at this tragic moment.
The entire cave was already in ruins, unable to withstand further damage.
But Xuan Zi was undeterred.
The massive rocks on the ceiling kept falling. Nearby, Dai Yuheng, whose left arm had been blown off, was about to be struck again by a falling boulder.
Ma Xiaotao quickly cast their Phoenix Meteor Shower, smashing the rocks before they could hit. They looked silently at Xuan Zi, lips trembling, unsure of what to say.
"I'm sorry, children. I'm sorry..."
Turbid, hot tears flowed from Xuan Zi's eyes, and a deep regret and hatred filled his heart.
Seeing the danger resolved, he took a deep breath, then burst out with the terrifying speed of a Level-98 Super Douluo—chasing into the depths of the cave, determined to eliminate the Death God Envoy once and for all.
The Death God Envoy screamed again with a playful shriek: "Hehe, what you did is very much in line with this Envoy's style. Why not join me..."
(End of this chapter)