FE—Chapter 152: Xuan Zi Wants to Die to Apologize
As soon as Xuan Zi entered the Sea God Pavilion, he said quite skillfully: "I voluntarily withdrew from the Sea God Pavilion."
It was clear that Xuan Zi's proposal to withdraw was very experienced—nothing surprising. He was very adept at this, and everything was based on his extensive experience.
After all, it was not the first or second time.
However, the elders still showed shock, taking turns to speak in an attempt to persuade Xuan Zi.
"Elder Xuan, I estimate that 80% to 90% of the soul masters on the entire continent would not bother to destroy the corpse after killing the enemy."
"No one knew about the corpse explosion technique before, so naturally they wouldn't go to the trouble of destroying the corpse."
"Besides, the evil soul master's methods are so bizarre that it's hard to believe. The five-ring soul king controlling a corpse to explode, causing lethality comparable to a full-strength attack from a soul saint, is beyond the scope of the usual soul master world."
All the elders urged Xuan Zi not to blame himself too much.
Seeing their cooperation, Xuan Zi's expression of resignation deepened, as if to make his departure from the Sea God Conference more meaningful.
From his initiative to resign... to his reluctance to remain in the Sea God Pavilion as an elder under everyone's persuasion—this process couldn't be too smooth; it had to involve some twists and turns. So Xuan Zi said seriously:
"As early as the last time and the time before that, I wanted to resign due to serious mistakes in leading the team to hunt for soul rings. Due to various unavoidable reasons, it's been delayed until now, and this tragedy is the result."
Xuan Zi's eyes reddened, and his gaze grew moist as he spoke: "Mr. Mu, this time I led the team to eliminate the evil soul master, resulting in the death of three disciples from the regular team. Such a serious mistake—how can I continue to stay in the Sea God Pavilion?"
Yan Shaozhe was shocked. He thought Xuan Zi was going to say how he lacked the face to live in the world.
Fortunately, although Xuan Zi felt extremely guilty, he did not think about suicide. Yan Shaozhe heaved a sigh of relief. With Xuan Zi's powerful martial soul, he would surely be a future pillar of the martial soul system.
After hearing Xuan Zi's words, the entire Sea God Pavilion fell into silence for a moment.
Elder Mu lay on the first seat's recliner, his eyes slightly closed, looking calm and composed. In the dimness, a few beams of light shone on his face, adding a touch of mystery—making it hard to guess what he was thinking.
"Xuan Zi, sit down and listen first." Mu En's voice was calm, devoid of emotion. "The fact that a five-ring evil soul king can achieve this with a soul guidance device also reflects deeper flaws in the academy's educational structure."
All the elders watched Xuan Zi take his seat in silent understanding.
But the first thing Xuan Zi did after sitting down was to stand up again.
"Huh?" Mu En's tone rose twice, his eyes slightly open, majestic yet calm: "Xuan Zi, are you dissatisfied with this meeting of the Sea God Pavilion?"
Xuan Zi's face was full of grief, tears blurring his vision.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Mu. It was I who caused the three children to die in battle. It's entirely my fault. I will personally visit their families and do my best to console them."
He walked slowly and silently toward the outside of the Sea God Pavilion, going through the entire procedure.
When Mu En saw this, his heart—which had been silent for decades—surged with anger.
"Come back! Are you here to resign, or to notify? Did I agree to let you go?"
Xuan Zi's heart trembled at this, and his steps froze.
"Mr. Mu, I have committed such a huge mistake. I truly have no face to stay in the Sea God Pavilion anymore." Xuan Zi turned his back to the elders, trembling slightly.
Mu En's eyes condensed slightly, releasing a faint pressure: "You coward who made a big mistake and only wants to evade responsibility—come back here."
Watching the elders surrounding Xuan Zi's act of "voluntarily resigning to be an idle person," Mu En couldn't help but feel a little sad.
The previous two times Xuan Zi led the team to hunt soul rings, it was similar. As soon as he returned, he said "I am guilty!" and quickly convened a meeting in the Sea God Pavilion.
It seemed this could temporarily ease his inner guilt.
Elder Mu's tone slowed slightly: "Xuan Zi, you are just a deserter. Have you ever considered the children who are about to participate in the Soul Master Competition and perform in the game?"
"Do you realize how heavy the burden of Shrek's 'ten thousand years glory' is on the disciples?"
Xuan Zi turned back and sat down again with a trembling voice. He took a deep breath, and his lips trembled: "Elder Mu, this time, the elimination of the evil soul master encountered a sudden change. I understand the difficulty of this Soul Master Competition, but..."
As he spoke, Xuan Zi wiped his eyes and argued:
"If the children fail in the competition, resulting in the interruption of our 'Shrek's Ten Thousand Years Glory,' I alone will bear the responsibility, the failure, and the shame."
Elder Mu took a deep breath, his eyes revealing an indescribable severity.
"The kids go into battle with gritted teeth. If they lose, they will carry the label of 'being deprived of Shrek's ten-thousand-year crown' for life! Xuan Zi, how will you bear this responsibility?"
Hearing this, Xuan Zi's lips moved slightly, but he remained silent.
Even if teams from other academies defeated Shrek's reserve team in the competition and broke the so-called "Shrek's ten-thousand-year glory," it would be considered an unfair victory.
What if the Sun Moon team, which regarded Shrek as its only opponent, also sent a reserve team no older than fifteen, with combat power comparable to or even exceeding theirs? How would Shrek respond?
Mu En sighed many times... sometimes, our people are far more dangerous than the enemy.
"Xuan Zi, the reserve team's children are still young. You resigned voluntarily, but those little guys failed, lost the ten thousand-year glory, and their confidence was shattered... can you bear to see them carry the shame and pressure of future losses?"
The ten thousand-year glory was indeed an unparalleled honor for Shrek. But Mu En saw it as a shackle.
After hearing Elder Mu's words, Xuan Zi's previous confidence completely vanished. His body trembled uncontrollably again, tears flowing silently.
Elder Mu angrily snapped: "If you don't want the kids to be branded with shame, listen carefully."
Seeing Xuan Zi straighten, seemingly having corrected his attitude, Elder Mu felt an unprecedented heaviness.
Xuan Zi may not be very useful now, but Elder Mu was in his twilight years. After Elder Mu passed away, Xuan Zi would be the most powerful figure in Shrek Academy. Ultimately, the strength of Xuan Zi would be relied upon to deter evildoers.
The first time Xuan Zi led the team, he encountered a hundred-thousand-year soul beast. Most disciples couldn't compare. In that case, accidental casualties were acceptable.
But this time, the team had two soul emperors and five soul kings—all genius students of the academy. Any one of them could crush opponents at their level.
These were the Shrek Seven Devils. They were so miserably treated by a five-ring evil soul master, falling into such a situation.
Elder Mu sighed sadly: "We will discuss Xuan Zi's treatment later. The corpse explosion soul skill has not been recorded before, but it must be regarded as a warning for the future."
"Anyway, Xuan Zi is the backbone of our Shrek. His level 98 cultivation is enough to deter many with ulterior motives. He didn't catch the evil soul master in time—ah..."
Elder Mu gently raised his hand to Elder Zhuang and didn't continue talking about Xuan Zi. Perhaps, in the future, if the academy faces a major crisis, Xuan Zi might turn the tide.
Elder Zhuang immediately understood Elder Mu's implication and said in a calm tone: "The toxins invading Dai Yuheng's broken arm have been completely removed, and he is out of danger."
"Afterward, the medical department can use high-strength, high-toughness rare metals to make an artificial arm. If the Immortal Doctor Douluo of the Star Luo Royal Family helps, he can return to the competition after some recuperation."
Originally, Dai Yuheng's talent indicated a high chance of becoming a title Douluo or even a super Douluo. Now, it depends on how much treasure White Tiger Duke is willing to spend and whether he can acquire a high-quality soul-guidance artificial arm.
Hearing this, Xuan Zi felt a sharp pain in his heart, and a surge of grief and guilt overwhelmed him again.
Elder Zhuang thought for a moment: "As for Xu Sanshi, I heard from Elder Xuan that he was captured by an evil soul master and had some kind of countdown soul guidance devices installed on his waist, which Old Xuan failed to remove immediately."
"Although Xu Sanshi's condition is less severe than Dai Yuheng's,..." Elder Zhuang
hesitated.
Elder Mu closed his eyes slightly, then opened them again: "Just say it directly. Three disciples sacrificed themselves for the glory of Shrek in this mission. Compared to that, what else is there to say?"
Xuan Zi silently took out the special list of the Supervisory Group, tears in his eyes, and wrote the names of Chen Zifeng, Yao Haoxuan, and Gong Yangmo.
After some thought, Elder Zhuang said: "Evil soul master's micro soul missiles are also very dangerous. One of Xu Sanshi's kidneys was nearly blown up... There is a high probability he cannot recover. Fortunately, the other injuries are not very serious."
Several elders exchanged looks, sighing secretly. Xu Sanshi was also a victim.
While such injuries wouldn't weaken combat ability significantly, they would impact some functions. Still, after being rescued from the evil soul master, this injury was somewhat fortunate.
Yan Shaozhe pursed his lips: "Elder Mu, now three of the regular team members have died in battle. The competition hasn't even officially begun. We need to select suitable replacements."
"The Soul Guidance Department disciple that Xiaotao replaced earlier is one of them."
Qian Duoduo, vice dean of the Soul Guidance Department, sneered: "Look at your Martial Soul Department. It's incompetent."
"Some classes in the lower grades of the outer courtyard run around all day. I, Qian Duoduo, can't stand it. This is a waste of precious time for the soul master."
Qian Duoduo believed that cultivating physical fitness through running was not a problem, but doing it all the time was misguided.
With this time, it would be better to come to their department and spend two more hours engraving the core array.
Yan Shaozhe frowned slightly: "Qian Duoduo, have you forgotten who developed this training method?"
"You dare question our ancestral training methods?"
He paused, then continued: "I'm not against the training, but I hope we can make it more scientific."
He produced a list of the selected students and pointed to their martial souls and cultivation levels.
"Yan Shaozhe, look carefully. The disciples who went with Elder Xuan to perform this mission are the most talented martial soul disciples under 20 in our academy. You have no reason to deny this."
Yan Shaozhe snorted coldly and said nothing.
Among the inner courtyard disciples eligible for the competition, Ma Xiaotao was indeed the most talented.
Qian Duoduo slapped the list onto the table: "But what's the result? The regular team ended up in such a miserable state."
"If not for our Soul Guidance Department disciples and Cai Tou stepping in with Soul Guidance Shields to resist the shockwaves of multiple corpse explosions, the reserve team might have been seriously injured."
Elder Mu had always wanted to develop the Soul Guidance Department, but the Martial Soul Department had long been dominant.
The lack of opportunities for the Soul Guidance Department led to suppression, which made the department's dean and vice dean unhappy.
It was somewhat improper for Xian Lin'er, the Dean of the Soul Guidance Department, to say some harsh words, but resource competition was necessary.
Qian Duoduo's words carried weight.
"The five-ring soul king's speed was so fast that even the Elder Master couldn't catch him for a while."
"Much of the credit goes to the advanced flying soul guidance device of the Sun Moon Empire, while ours and the Star Luo Empire's are just copies."
Yan Shaozhe's face darkened. He was afraid of offending Xuan Zi, so he quickly stood and refuted: "Silence! Without the disciples relying on their physical strength to resist the corpse explosion, casualties would have been even worse."
Qian Duoduo joked: "Are you stupid? If all the regular team's disciples had level 5 or 6 soul guidance devices, would Chen Zifeng, Yao Haoxuan, and Gong Yangmo still have died?"
The two often quarreled, but every word felt like a sharp blade stabbing Xuan Zi's heart, causing him to tremble uncontrollably.
His emotions grew more unstable. His voice rose, tears filling his eyes:
"It's all my fault. I killed the children! They are the future of the academy, but I killed them in Mingdou Mountain. How can I still live with dignity in this world? I, I... I am willing to die in apology!"
Xuan Zi's voice grew more frantic, tears pouring down his face, appearing emotionally broken.
Suddenly, he raised his hand, and the surging, terrifying earth-yellow soul power gathered in his palm, slamming toward his heart.
(End of chapter)