On the stage, the girl announced her name. "Mingdu Soul Engineering Academy, Xu Tianzhen!"
He Caitou instantly froze when he heard that name. His eyes turned vacant, and an unstable aura surged around his body. However, he quickly regained control, suppressing the violent turmoil in his heart without revealing anything. Only his expression changed—his previous simplicity was gone, replaced by sharpness and a trace of hatred.
His sudden shift drew Zheng Zhan's attention, but he couldn't sense the hatred in He Caitou's eyes. He simply assumed it was a sign of He Caitou preparing to go all out.
"Match, begin!" Zheng Zhan announced.
The arena instantly fell silent. The expected clash never came. After the declaration, neither Xu Tianzhen nor He Caitou made the first move. The two simply stood still, creating a strange and heavy atmosphere.
"Sister Xiaotao, something's wrong—get ready to act!" Zhu Ziyang was the first to sense that something was off. He gave the curled-up Ma Xiaotao in his arms a quick pinch and whispered.
"Really?!" Ma Xiaotao sat up at once, thrilled by the prospect of chaos, and eagerly watched the platform.
The second person to notice something wrong was Xu Tianzhen. Horrified, she saw the face of the big guy across from her morph into a completely different one. Although his skin remained dark, his features had become much more handsome—and more importantly, those facial features bore a shocking resemblance to her older brothers!
"Y-You…!" The girl was so frightened she pointed at He Caitou and stammered, "Are you human or ghost?!"
"Heh… Xu Tianzhen, long time no see," He Caitou, now revealing his true face, stared coldly at the cousin who used to chase after him as a child. There was no joy in this reunion—only hatred. His voice was icy, his expression teetering on madness. He roared, "Xu Jiusong slaughtered my entire family. Today, I want him to taste the pain of losing his own loved ones too! Go to hell!"
As he finished speaking, He Caitou moved. His entire body was instantly covered in layers upon layers of soul tools. A ferocious barrage followed—he unleashed every single soul tool in his arsenal, including a Grade-7 soul tool shell!
In a flash, the platform was filled with at least a hundred soul tool shells of varying sizes and powers. If they didn't level the entire platform, they'd at least take half of it down.
Xu Tianzhen had already been frightened senseless. By the time she remembered to defend herself, a Grade-4 soul shell had already struck her. The explosion sent her flying through the air. That blast finally jolted her awake. Regardless of who this person was, in this moment, he was clearly out to kill her. As she soared, she activated her martial soul and deployed her invincibility shield.
Following the first explosion, the remaining hundred shells seemed to detonate in sequence, one after another.
The entire arena descended into a deathly silence. The only sounds were the endless explosions—and He Caitou's deranged laughter.
"Th-This… Caitou's going way too far, isn't he?" Xu Sanshi stood slack-jawed and asked Beibei in shock.
"Don't ask me, I have no idea!" Beibei was equally dumbfounded.
"Senior Brother, Second Brother—something's wrong. Third Brother's state isn't right!" Huo Yuhao, though also surprised, sensed the abnormality first due to his martial soul. He immediately alerted them.
On the platform, Zheng Zhan finally reacted. He didn't have time to think—he charged straight into the explosion in an attempt to rescue Xu Tianzhen. She was the emperor's only daughter. If she died on stage during a match he officiated, not even ten Zheng Zhans could quell the emperor's fury!
At that moment, Zheng Zhan wanted to shout: Why the hell did you come back after escaping?! That's right—he had recognized He Caitou's true identity. When He Caitou's real face was revealed, Zheng Zhan saw it too. The shock delayed his reaction, costing him the chance to save Xu Tianzhen before the bombardment.
Now, all Zheng Zhan could do was pray that Xu Tianzhen's defensive soul tools were strong enough to withstand the blast—which was already comparable to a Grade-8 soul cannon.
"Bastard! What the hell is Zheng Zhan doing?!" On the VIP platform, Xu Tianran was furious. He slammed his fists into the armrests, his face grim as he roared, "If anything happens to my little sister, I swear Zheng Zhan and everyone from Tang Sect will be buried with her!"
Xu Tianran still hadn't realized the man on the stage was Xu Tianhe. His first thought was that it was a mistake in the match, not a deliberate assassination. Although the consequences were the same, the intent was different.
At the same time, Xu Tianzhen's protector finally made his move. Like Zheng Zhan, he too had hesitated due to He Caitou's familiar appearance. But once he snapped out of it, he dashed into the explosion to assist Zheng Zhan in saving Xu Tianzhen.
Everything happened too fast to fully grasp. From He Caitou's release of nearly a hundred soul shells, to Xu Tianzhen being engulfed in the blast, to Zheng Zhan and the protector's rescue—it all took less than three minutes.
When Zheng Zhan carried Xu Tianzhen out of the explosion zone, she was deathly pale and gravely injured. If she hadn't been the princess, armed with top-tier defensive soul tools, she might not have lasted long enough to be rescued.
The explosions lasted five minutes before they began to die down. On the platform, Xu Tianzhen stood weakly between Zheng Zhan and her protector. Zheng Zhan's eyes were filled with complicated emotions as he stared at He Caitou. The protector, on the other hand, was furious—if not for Xu Tianzhen pulling him back, he might have torn He Caitou apart already.
"Damn it…" He Caitou looked at Xu Tianzhen—though pale and wounded, she wasn't dead. His face twisted with frustration and rage. If not for a shred of remaining sanity, he might have charged up and finished her off in front of two Title Douluo.
"You're… Brother He, aren't you?" Xu Tianzhen, though nearly killed, didn't react with anger. Instead, she asked sorrowfully, "Why did you try to kill me? I remember… you used to love me the most."
"Hahahaha!" He Caitou burst into maniacal laughter. "Love you? I wish I could kill you! That way, your bastard father and traitor brother would finally know what it feels like to lose someone they love!"
"What?!" Xu Tianzhen froze. She didn't know what He Caitou had gone through over the years, but she could tell he blamed her father and brother for the deaths of his uncle, cousin, and family. She quickly tried to explain, "That's not true, Brother He! It wasn't my father! Royal Uncle and the others were killed by Evil Soul Masters! My father already avenged them!"
"Ahahaha!" He Caitou laughed until tears flowed. He had no intention of arguing with her. Since he had revealed himself, he had no intention of leaving alive. He looked up at the VIP platform and shouted, "Xu Tianran, do you still recognize me?!"
He infused his voice with soul power so that it echoed throughout the arena. In the stunned silence, it rang out clearly. The crowd didn't understand what was happening—but many sensed something big was coming.
"Xu Tianhe!" Xu Tianran finally recognized him. Wasn't this the sole survivor of his uncle's family? To think he would appear at the Soul Master Tournament—and in such a manner! Xu Tianran felt like he had been publicly slapped.
He Caitou, or rather, Xu Tianhe, didn't wait for a reply. He shouted again, "What a pity—I couldn't kill your sister. Couldn't make you feel the pain of losing family. Oh wait, why would someone like you even care about family? Wasn't it your own brothers who crippled your legs and manhood? Hahaha! Serves you right! So what if you got the throne? You're just a useless cripple whose heir won't even be your own! Hahaha!"
"Xu Tianhe, you're courting death!" Xu Tianran exploded with rage. "Wei Hong! Kill him!"
Wei Hong was Xu Tianzhen's protector. Receiving the order, he immediately shook off her grip and charged toward He Caitou. As a Title Douluo, He Caitou stood no chance against him.
A massive blade appeared in Wei Hong's hands, surrounded by two yellow, three purple, and four black soul rings—nine in total. With blade in hand, he slashed toward He Caitou.
Just as the blade was about to cleave He Caitou in two, a graceful figure appeared on the stage with a clear phoenix cry. A high kick struck Wei Hong squarely in the chest, sending him flying backward. He crashed to the ground, vomiting blood, and fainted on the spot.
One kick. Crippled!
The woman revealed her face—charming yet domineering, with an expression that brooked no defiance.
"What kind of trash do you think you are? You dare touch a disciple of Shrek Academy?!"
(End of Chapter)
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