"I knew it!" Ning Tian clenched her fists, though she hadn't participated, only cowering within the now-fortified Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
"Alright, I won't waste more words. You'll still have use for me…" Ning Hao didn't linger. Flames burst from the tail of his flying soul device, and he shot off like a meteor disappearing into the sky.
"That guy… what a shame he was taken away by people from the Clear Sky Sect." Elder Zhu looked regretfully at the ruined room.
"It's fine. As long as we survive, that's our greatest victory." Ning Tian smiled.
"Senior Sister! What are you doing?! Come with us now!"
A group of Shrek Academy students shouted in panic.
This was at the southern defense of Mingdu.
Countless soul engineers had their soul cannons aimed, ready to intercept the fleeing Shrek Academy members.
Yet Zhang Lexuan stood coldly amidst the Sun Moon Soul Engineer Legion, silently watching the retreating Shrek forces.
"Enough! Don't say another word!" Xuan Zi roared.
"You've received the grace of Shrek Academy, yet because of the Sun Moon Empire's manipulations, you chose to betray it. Shrek will never need a treacherous snake like you!"
Upon hearing this, all the teachers and students present were shaken.
Aside from the teachers, the rest were Inner Court disciples.
As the senior-most disciple in the Inner Court, Zhang Lexuan held an undeniable position—she was even designated as the next heir to the Sea God's Pavilion after Elder Xuan.
And now, this pillar of Shrek had defected to the enemy. To the crowd, the blow was nothing short of a tsunami.
Countless disciples stared at her in disbelief.
"Elder Xuan, you should know my origins, shouldn't you?" Zhang Lexuan's expression remained unchanged.
"I…" Xuan Zi fell silent, stunned. She really knew what Elder Mu had done back then? But… he remembered that everything had been handled cleanly. They had even enlisted help from the Holy Spirit Church. Wait… the Holy Spirit Church!!
His face filled with regret. Why hadn't he thought of this sooner?
Seeing Xuan Zi's reaction, the last trace of hesitation in Zhang Lexuan's heart vanished. Her gaze swept across Yan Shaozhe, Xian Lin'er, Qian Duoduo, Elder Lin… none dared meet her eyes.
"Senior Sister's origins… what are they?" Mo Xuan whispered to Fan Yu.
"How would I know…" Fan Yu shook his head, sighing helplessly.
"Heh."
Zhang Lexuan let out a cold laugh.
"Silver Moon!"
She clenched her palm, and a silver moon slowly rose into the sky.
What shocked all the Shrek students was that this silver moon looked nearly identical to the one shown earlier by Kong Deming.
"You…" Xuan Zi pointed at her, horror-struck.
So it was true. He should've figured this out earlier.
With Zhang Lexuan's temperament, even if she had discovered that Elder Mu had used her and that her adoptive Zhang family had been massacred, she wouldn't have defected so easily, given all that Shrek had nurtured her for years.
That left only one possibility.
Under the stares of Shrek's senior staff, Zhang Lexuan said calmly,"Actually… I am of the royal bloodline of the Sun Moon Empire. My surname is Xu. What you may not know is that the royal martial spirits of the Sun Moon Empire are not only the sun—but also the moon. That's why it's called the Sun Moon Empire."
"Impossible! Senior Sister is a princess of the Sun Moon Empire?!!"
"Huh?"
"The Sun Moon Empire… no wonder it's called that. I always thought the royal martial spirit was just the sun."
"…"
Instantly, chaos erupted among Shrek Academy's ranks.
The high and respected senior disciple of the Inner Court… was actually a direct royal of the Sun Moon Empire. Even across the continent, this would be explosive news.
Shrek's senior members all looked stunned, helpless, and emotional.
On the Sun Moon Empire side, faces showed joy, anger, and indignation—how dare Shrek steal away their princess and train her as their own genius?
"Everyone, Mu En saw my potential and orchestrated the massacre of the Zhang family that adopted me, then brought me to the academy. He made me swear three rules and even arranged for me to be Bebe's child bride. All to tie me to Shrek. But fortunately, I discovered the truth. From that day, Mu En and I were mortal enemies," Zhang Lexuan said coldly.
"However, I have no direct grudges with the rest of you teachers, so this time, I'll only target Mu En. I won't lay a hand on any of you—but don't expect me to help Shrek, either."
Another bombshell.
Shrek Academy exploded again.
"Mu Lao? Did I hear that right?!"
"No way… Elder Mu couldn't possibly be that kind of person. Senior Sister must be mistaken!"
"…"
Inner Court disciples were visibly shaken.
But the expressions of the Sea God Pavilion elders and the dean made it worse—they looked silent.
This… it's true?!!
"Lexuan, Elder Mu had his reasons. Back then, Shrek Academy had no successor. If not for you, no one could have taken up the mantle. Elder Mu lived with deep guilt every day after that. He told me many times…" Xuan Zi sighed.
"Elder Xuan, I'll call you that one last time. Don't expect me to return to Shrek Academy. The academy has hurt me too deeply once before. Have you forgotten how, ten years ago, you let us face a hundred-thousand-year soul beast alone? I haven't. I still remember—over a dozen fresh lives were left behind in the Star Dou Forest because of your so-called negligence."
Zhang Lexuan stared at Xuan Zi coldly.
"Lexuan!" Yan Shaozhe frowned.
"Elder Xuan already feels guilty. Don't—"
"Don't what? Those were lives! The youngest was only sixteen! I'll never forget—Xiao Yan told me she was in pain, she wanted to go home… Later I returned her ashes to her sect, but after your so-called apology, Elder Xuan had the nerve to urge me to leave quickly because he wanted to go back and drink! Drink your damn wine!!"
Zhang Lexuan finally erupted.
Her aura crushed down on the Shrek members, leaving them unable to raise their heads.
"In Shrek Academy, I've never felt any true respect for students. If anything, the academy is actively burning out its geniuses! You recruit the best talents across the continent, and then what? The Inspection Team goes to eliminate Evil Soul Masters—do you even know how many geniuses die every year? You erect a monument in the academy and act like that proves your commitment?"
"Let me ask you, Elder Xuan—how many missions have you, as the deputy head of the Inspection Team, taken on personally? Aside from taking Shrek teams to tournaments, none in the last three years! That last mission, you got Yao Haoxuan killed and left others severely injured! What's the difference if you show up or not?!"
"…" Elder Xuan was speechless.
"And what about the rest of you?" Zhang Lexuan turned to the other high-ranking members of Shrek.
"Do the missions you've taken in a year even add up to five?!"
"But they can!"
Her eyes welled up as she pointed to the Inner Court disciples.
"Each one of them takes at least five missions every year!"
"A bunch of old relics, drunk on your past glory, lounging while commanding the young to throw their lives away. Look at other powers—do they send their disciples into danger? They protect their youth like precious gems!"
"Shrek… should've died long ago!"
(End of Chapter)