Chapter 272: Shrek's Collapse – The First Admission of Defeat
Silence.
The whole place was dead silent.
The soul masters of the Sun Moon Empire were undeniably powerful—this was a truth everyone who had watched the competition thus far had come to accept. But this time, they were facing Shrek Academy. Shrek! The pride of the Douluo Three Kingdoms! The legendary institution that had stood unshakable for generations.
Almost no one in the audience believed that Shrek would lose badly, even if they didn't win. And yet—Xu Sanshi, a powerful Soul Emperor and one of Shrek's aces, was killed instantly the moment the match began.
"It must be fake! That's a Soul Emperor! And not just any Soul Emperor—Shrek's Soul Emperor! Weren't they supposed to be invincible among peers? How could he be defeated so quickly?"
"No, it's not that Shrek is too weak. Look at the soul rings of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy's representative!"
All eyes turned to Nana, the soul master who had just obliterated Xu Sanshi.
And what they saw made their hearts skip a beat.
Not six or seven rings.
But eight soul rings—black, black, black, black, red, red, red, red!
"An Eight-ring Soul Douluo! And those are all high-level soul rings—ten-thousand-year and even hundred-thousand-year soul rings!"
"This must be a mistake… That shouldn't be possible, right?"
Xiao Qiang observed the competition stage with calm detachment. Normally, such a soul ring configuration—four black and four red—was impossible without divine intervention. But this wasn't divine power. This was soul technology. Refined, evolved, and perfected over years of research and sacrifice.
Even without a Soul Raising Platform, souls had their own way of growing. Though it was difficult to raise undead soul beasts using traditional methods, Xiao Qiang had long found his own path. Nana's Human-Faced Demon Spider possessed an innate devouring attribute, and thanks to the corpse of the Extreme Douluo Moon—preserved under absolute zero—it had consumed enough to catapult her soul ring to the hundred-thousand-year level.
As a result, Nana had surged from Soul Emperor to Soul Douluo. Her fifth and sixth rings became 100,000-year-level soul rings. Her eighth soul ring? A genuine hundred-thousand-year soul ring that granted two soul skills. If she had focused solely on cultivation, her soul power might already be past level 83. Even now, she was more than a match for ordinary Titled Douluo.
And she hadn't even needed to awaken her second martial soul.
"Xuan Zi, they're not going to fight back?" Xiao Qiang murmured to himself, eyes still locked on the Shrek camp. "As expected. Shrek never provokes stronger foes—just like Flander once taught. Cowards in the bones."
It was no surprise. The match was being held on Sun Moon Empire soil. The advantage was theirs. The risk of retaliation was near-zero. And so, even after such a humiliating loss, Shrek Academy chose silence over defiance.
"Good, good!" The Emperor of the Sun Moon Empire stood from his seat, face beaming with pride. "My Sun Moon Empire is full of talent! I can't wait to watch our Academy crush Shrek seven-to-one!"
This victory, unfolding under his reign, would go down in history. With soul technology reaching its peak and the next generation maturing, they would soon dominate the continent. In another ten years, they could directly eliminate rival Emperors and Titled Douluo.
His dream of becoming the Greatest Emperor in History was closer than ever.
As for the death of the previous Emperor—his older brother—it would soon be dismissed as a mere footnote. A tiny blemish in the face of total domination.
But while the old emperor basked in glory, Prince Xu Tianran was collapsing inside.
His father was ascending toward eternal greatness. But what of him? If the old emperor didn't die, he would never become emperor. Worse, if he lost favor, the position of crown prince could be taken from him. He glanced at Xiao Qiang's direction—thankful that Feng Ling had sensed danger and returned early. Otherwise, the Holy Spirit Church might've already chosen another pawn.
In the stands, Shrek's war zone was a battlefield of despair.
"Eight-ring Soul Douluo! Four black, four red soul rings! Is that even possible?"
Vina's face was pale. They had speculated about such ratios based on what Xiao Sheng had displayed earlier, but seeing it in reality was entirely different. Worse still, Nana had never been on their radar as one of the academy's strongest.
"What should we do, Senior Brother? Should we… still fight?"
Huo Yuhao asked Beibei hesitantly. He was willing to fight for Shrek's honor. But this wasn't a matter of courage—it was suicide. They were up against an eight-ring Soul Douluo with four hundred-thousand-year soul skills. Their strongest, Beibei, had just barely reached the Soul Saint stage with a ten-thousand-year seventh ring.
It was no contest.
It was a massacre waiting to happen.
Beibei took a deep breath and walked to the competition stage.
The referee raised his hand, ready to call the next match.
But before he could speak—
"We admit defeat."
The words came out like broken glass in Beibei's throat.
The crowd was stunned.
Shrek Academy had surrendered.
For the first time in the history of the All-Continent Senior Soul Master Competition—Shrek Academy had admitted defeat.