Bonus Chapter. Enjoy!
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Everyone was still guessing who the first challenger to take the stage would be, but before that bedraggled figure could even steady his footing, someone beneath the Golden Ancient Tree let out a gasp.
Bei Bei's gaze was locked tightly onto that figure, and the expression on his face was full of disbelief.
"That is... Xuan Zi?!"
Hearing this, Xu Sanshi and the others nearby couldn't help but look at the figure on the stage.
That white-haired old man covered in grease all over and with messy hair, wasn't that precisely Xuan Zi?
Yan Shaozhe stood to the side, his eyes equally filled with incredulity.
How could Xuan Zi appear here?
Back then, after Xuan Zi had one of his arms destroyed by Bei Bei, he fled straight away from Shrek Academy.
Yan Shaozhe had thought that he would never have a way to see Xuan Zi again in this lifetime; after all, ever since Xuan Zi left, there had been no news of him at all, as if he had vanished from this World entirely.
Yet who could have imagined that today, he would see Xuan Zi once again in such a manner.
At this very moment, the crowd watching this scene through the light screen also exploded into an uproar.
"Isn't that Gluttonous Douluo Xuan Zi?!"
"It really is him! I recognize that face; back then at the Spirit Master exchange assembly of the Star Luo Empire, I caught a glimpse of him from afar!"
"But... isn't Xuan Zi a rank 98 Super Douluo? Didn't Dean Lin Feng say just now that the rule is that only those below Super Douluo can challenge the bottom ten?"
"That's right! A rank 98 Super Douluo, isn't this already considered a Super Douluo? How can he take the stage?"
"Could the rules have changed again? But it was clearly explained just fine a moment ago..."
For a time, discussions arose everywhere, and everyone's faces were filled with bewilderment.
After all, Xuan Zi's reputation throughout the entire Douluo Continent was truly not small. The dignified Gluttonous Douluo was one of the figures standing at the pinnacle of the Spirit Master's world.
Moreover, he was Shrek Academy's pillar of support besides Mu En. Because of his physical condition, Mu En stayed inside Shrek Academy year-round and did not go out, so naturally all external affairs were handled by Xuan Zi.
Therefore, Xuan Zi's reputation on the continent could be said to be thunderous; anyone with any understanding of the Spirit Master's world could not possibly have failed to hear of the moniker Gluttonous Douluo.
However, why did that renowned Gluttonous Douluo now have only a single arm left?
Looking at the empty right sleeve in the light screen, a look of curiosity involuntarily surfaced on everyone's faces.
What on earth happened here?
A dignified rank 98 Super Douluo, exactly what kind of person crippled one of his arms?
Could it be that he provoked someone he shouldn't have?
For a time, everyone discussed animatedly, and all sorts of guesses emerged endlessly.
And Xuan Zi, standing on the competition stage, clearly had not expected that he would actually be chosen by a fellow like Lin Feng.
He had only called out with a try-it-out mindset; after all, Lin Feng had said that as long as one called out, they could be directly teleported. He had originally doubted the truth of these words, but when a flash of light crossed before his eyes and he opened them again, he was already standing on this familiar competition stage.
However, since he had already been selected, he was bound to secure the rewards of this time.
Xuan Zi's gaze swept across those names; these rewards likewise possessed a fatal attraction for him.
He lowered his head and glanced at his own empty right sleeve. Nowadays, he only had a single arm, and when truly fighting, he would ultimately fall into a disadvantaged position.
Xuan Zi took a deep breath, then slowly raised his head, his gaze falling upon the figure standing with hands behind his back not far away.
That was Lin Feng. He had seen Lin Feng, and even one could say that the entire origin was his meeting with Lin Feng.
If not for him going to contact Lin Feng back then, if not for him encountering those things inside that secret room, if not for this fellow Lin Feng locking him inside that secret room...
Afterwards, there followed that series of quite aggravating experiences.
Elder Mu also because of this...
Xuan Zi's gaze gradually turned gloomy and cold, a surge of anger welling up from the bottom of his heart.
If it weren't for Lin Feng, then Elder Mu wouldn't have died either.
Yet he never thought that the reason Mu En was angered to death was, fundamentally speaking, because of his own actions as Xuan Zi.
But when people are angry, they often do not reflect on their own faults, instead habitually shifting the responsibility onto others.
At this very moment, looking at Lin Feng's composed face, Xuan Zi felt as if he were meeting a mortal enemy, his eyes burning with intense hostility.
But after all, he did not flare up directly, because he knew that the most important thing for him right now was to win the rewards of this contest.
Xuan Zi shifted his gaze away from Lin Feng, landing it on the list of the bottom ten within the light screen.
He had, after all, observed the battles concerning Zhao Chen.
Within that Five Extremes Grand Competition, Zhao Chen's ranking was at the very end. Moreover, Xuan Zi had carefully watched this Zhao Chen's combat process, evaluating him as having no real strength.
After all, when Zhao Chen was participating in the Five Extremes Grand Competition, what he drew were basically competition events like mecha, weapons, battle armor, and Spirit Souls, and these were basically all of Zhao Chen's weak events.
He himself wasn't the type who was good at controlling external objects to begin with.
Then again, when matched into comprehensive battles, the opponents Zhao Chen encountered were basically top-ranking students like Tang Wulin, Huo Yuhao, Xie Xie, Gu Yue, and Wu Siduo, and then he was basically instantly killed directly.
Such a quite terrible performance was what gave Xuan Zi the confidence to challenge.
Since he was going to fight, he might as well pick the softest persimmon to squeeze. He wasn't putting on airs at this time; after all, he just wanted to fight the weak one and grab the rewards.
Xuan Zi slowly opened his mouth, his voice hoarse and low.
"I want to challenge Zhao Chen."
Xuan Zi directly named him, and Zhao Chen, who was named, couldn't help letting out a long sigh upon hearing this. After all, he was ranked dead last, so being challenged by someone was entirely normal.
Zhao Chen was just planning to walk directly onto the arena when he saw Xuan Zi suddenly turn his head, his gaze landing on Lin Feng.
"Lin Feng, I remember that you can even do things like resurrecting people, so restoring this severed arm of mine should be no problem, right?"
As soon as these words came out, the entire audience was stunned dumb.
Xuan Zi's gaze stared straight at Lin Feng, and he continued speaking.
"You are now the dean of Shrek Academy. Since you've held this contest, you should ensure the fairness of the match, right?"
"Now I only have a single arm left, and my strength is severely impaired. Compared to my prime, how much more lacking am I?"
"You're making me use this incomplete body to fight your students—is this fair?"
"So hurry up and restore my severed arm. Only then can this match be considered fair and just."
Xuan Zi said this series of words with complete righteousness and confidence.
After Xuan Zi spoke these words, everyone was already dumbfounded. Was Xuan Zi an idiot?
To actually dare to speak to Lin Feng in this tone—he truly didn't take Lin Feng seriously at all. Did he really think that the current Douluo Continent was still an era ruled by their Counterfeit Shrek Academy?
They saw Lin Feng slowly raise his hand and give a light wave toward Xuan Zi's direction.
The next second, Xuan Zi's body abruptly exploded, transforming into a sky-filling mist of blood.
Those fragments of flesh and blood splattered in all directions through the air, and the bloodiness of the scene was shocking to behold.
But before anyone could react, those flesh and blood fragments re-condensed in an instant, and Xuan Zi's body once again appeared intact in its original spot.
However, the expression on his face had already twisted out of shape, the pain causing his facial features to almost twine together.
Yet this was merely a beginning.
The next instant, Xuan Zi's body exploded once more, blood mist pervading, and then recovered yet again.
Exploding, recovering, exploding, recovering.
Repeating thus, cycling endlessly.
A full several dozen times.
Every single explosion was ultimate agony, and every single recovery required enduring the tearing sensation of flesh and blood being reassembled.
And with every repetition, that pain seemed to be magnified dozens of times over.
Xuan Zi's screams gradually turned from initial roars into hoarse whimpers, and later on, he couldn't even emit a sound anymore.
His body trembled violently between each explosion and recovery, and his entire mental state was on the verge of collapse.
His gaze gradually became unfocused, and that old face was covered with cold sweat and bloodstains, looking utterly battered and a hundred times more miserable than when he had just taken the stage.
And right at this moment, Lin Feng finally withdrew his hand, smiled at the battered Xuan Zi, and said.
"You are still not qualified to negotiate with me."
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A/N: This makes me so happy, lol.
5 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter
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