"Jing Hongchen! You dare block me?!"
Xuan Zi gave a sudden roar, his gray hair and beard bristling; he no longer cared about hiding his presence.
Only one thought filled his mind: Run!
He absolutely could not be caught red-handed by the Tournament Organizing Committee!
If the charge of "sneaking into a rival academy's residence late at night with ill intent" was confirmed, tomorrow's headlines across the continent would definitely be a Shrek scandal.
If Mu En found out, he would be truly finished.
"Roar—!"
A deafening roar exploded in the narrow corridor as a terrifying yellow light instantly erupted from Xuan Zi's body.
Nine spirit rings rose beneath his feet, and terrifying spirit power surged from within him, emitting a suffocatingly fearful Aura.
A massive phantom of the Taotie emerged behind him, its bloody maw wide open as if to devour heaven and earth.
"Since you won't step aside, don't blame me for being impolite!"
Xuan Zi stepped forward and threw a heavy right punch, carrying the immense power of the earth element, smashing hard toward Jing Hongchen.
Although he held back some strength to avoid destroying the hotel, this punch was enough to blow away an ordinary Titled Douluo!
"Hmph! You want to run? It won't be that easy!"
Facing Xuan Zi's fierce strike, Jing Hongchen didn't retreat but advanced, his eyes flashing with sharp light.
"Ninth-Rank Defensive spirit tool—Red Dust Blessing!"
With a low shout from Jing Hongchen, his dark red robes instantly erupted with brilliant gold-red light, and layers of crystal-like shields appeared out of thin air, enveloping him.
"Boom—!!!"
The violent explosion echoed through the corridor, and the terrifying shockwave instantly reduced the decorations on the walls to powder.
As the dust settled, although Jing Hongchen had been pushed back a few steps and his face was slightly pale, the shields on his body were actually intact!
"As expected of the Taotie Douluo, your strength is indeed astonishing," Jing Hongchen sneered. "However, wanting to Breakthrough my defense in a short time won't be that simple!"
"Old man, stay right here!"
Before his voice faded, Jing Hongchen waved his hands, and two streaks of light flew out.
"Ninth-Rank Binding spirit tool—Heavenly Net!"
"Ninth-Rank Control spirit tool—Gravity Quagmire!"
Hum—!
In an instant, the entire corridor seemed to turn into a bottomless swamp.
Xuan Zi felt his body suddenly sink, as if he were carrying a mountain on his back; his originally agile movements instantly became incredibly sluggish.
Immediately after, countless golden threads appeared out of thin air, wrapping frantically around his limbs and torso as if they were alive.
These threads were incredibly tough; even if Xuan Zi used his spirit power to snap a few, more would immediately wrap around him.
"Dammit! These damned spirit tools!"
Xuan Zi howled in anger, struggling frantically. Each punch scattered large amounts of golden light, but Jing Hongchen was like a piece of sticky candy, clinging to him relentlessly.
In a life-and-death battle, he could indeed crush Jing Hongchen.
But in this situation, he couldn't use his full power to tear down the hotel, and he had to face a Ninth-Rank Soul Engineer who only wanted to stall for time. For a moment, he was truly trapped!
And while this massive commotion was reaching its peak...
Click...
"What's going on?"
"Is it an earthquake?"
The surrounding closed doors opened one after another, and figures in robes stepped out.
It was the students of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy who had been woken up.
Walking at the very front were the siblings Xiao Hongchen and Meng Hongchen, followed closely by Liu Yuan and the others.
"This..."
Seeing the terrifying spirit power fluctuations in the corridor, the roaring Xuan Zi trapped in golden light, and Jing Hongchen standing as if facing a great enemy, everyone was stunned.
"Grandpa? What's happening?" Meng Hongchen rubbed her eyes, looking bewildered.
Seeing Liu Yuan and the others come out, Jing Hongchen controlled the spirit tools to suppress Xuan Zi while shouting loudly:
"Children! Quickly, get behind me!"
"This old fogey! A dignified Shrek Elder actually sneaked to Xiao Yuan's door in the middle of the night!"
"If I hadn't arrived a step earlier, there's no telling if he would have broken in!"
"Look at his shifty eyes—he's likely plotting something against Liu Yuan! He might even be trying to assassinate our Sun Moon Team's strongest combatant!"
"Now that I've caught him red-handed, this old fellow actually wants to silence me! He is utterly shameless!"
Jing Hongchen's words were filled with righteous indignation, each word cutting deep.
"What?!"
As soon as these words were spoken, the crowd erupted.
Xiao Hongchen's eyes widened, and he pointed at Xuan Zi, cursing, "How shameless! You can't beat us, so you play dirty? Is this the so-called Shrek integrity? It's sickening!"
Even the usually good-tempered Meng Hongchen looked at Xuan Zi with eyes full of disdain and wariness.
Standing in the center of the crowd, Liu Yuan's brow was furrowed deeply.
He looked at Xuan Zi, a deep flash of disgust in his eyes.
That look was exactly like one would look at a disgusting fly.
"Jing Hongchen! You're talking nonsense! What on earth are you saying?!"
Seeing Liu Yuan's disgusted gaze, Xuan Zi was about to go mad, nearly spitting out a mouthful of blood from anger.
"I... I was only..."
He wanted to explain, to say he was here to apologize, to give money, to beg him to come back!
But the words reached his lips and he just couldn't say them.
In front of so many people, saying he was here to beg? Wouldn't that be even more humiliating?
Besides, in his current wretched state of being caught red-handed, even if he said it, who would believe him?
"Only what? Only wanted to have a heart-to-heart with Liu Yuan? In the middle of the night?"
Jing Hongchen didn't give him any chance to explain, interrupting directly:
"Xuan Zi, stop making excuses! Facts speak louder than words!"
"As long as I am here today, don't even think about touching a single hair on Xiao Yuan's head!"
"Argh! You're infuriating me! You're infuriating me!"
Xuan Zi was now unable to defend himself. Looking at Jing Hongchen's face and then at Liu Yuan's cold eyes, he truly wished he could rush over and perish together with Jing Hongchen.
The apology plan he had prepared was completely ruined!
Not only did he fail to persuade the boy to return, but the grudge had deepened even further!
What a mess!
Just as Xuan Zi was about to lose control and go on a rampage regardless of the consequences...
"Stop! Everyone stop!"
"The Tournament Organizing Committee's Enforcement Team is here! Who is causing a disturbance and fighting here?!"
A series of hurried footsteps approached.
A squad of high-level Spirit Masters wearing white-gold uniforms with the tournament Tournament Organizing Committee's badge on their chests rushed up aggressively, led by the hotel manager.
Seeing the enforcement personnel finally arrive, the smile on the corner of Jing Hongchen's mouth deepened. He slowly retracted the soul tool cannons on his body, but the light net binding Xuan Zi did not loosen in the slightest.
He gave a slight smile to the leading Adjudicator and pointed at the ashen-faced Xuan Zi.
"You've all arrived at the right time."
"There is an 'assassin' here with intent to harm, and I have already apprehended him."
"I'll leave it to you all to... enforce the law impartially!"
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