The security of Shrek Academy was quite good, with the Dragon God Douluo Mu En personally guarding the gate.
Lying at the main entrance, Mu En suddenly felt a pang of unease, as if something major was about to happen.
Mu En abruptly opened his eyes, his brows tightly knitted.
"Xuan Zi has changed quite a bit, and there should be no issues with him leading the team this time. Could it be just my imagination?"
Mu En muttered to himself, preferring to believe it was his imagination rather than thinking Xuan Zi would cause problems again.
To be honest, Xuan Zi really didn't do anything wrong this time.
Facing an evil soul master at the Soul King level, the Shrek Seven Monsters were more than enough.
Moreover, Xuan Zi hadn't neglected his duties in the slightest. The moment the corpse explosion occurred, he immediately launched a rescue, rather than waiting until after the explosion to realize something was wrong.
But the corpse explosion happened in an instant. Not only could Xuan Zi not save them, even if Mu En had been on the scene, he wouldn't have been able to save them either.
Their deaths weren't due to their weakness, but rather their arrogance that doomed them!
Zhu Lu listened to advice, and she survived, didn't she?
Suddenly, Mu En seemed to sense something, his pupils contracting, his face filled with disbelief, nearly falling off his recliner.
"No, it's impossible!"
In the next moment, Xuan Zi appeared at the entrance of Shrek Academy.
After setting down Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Chen Zifeng, he knelt straight in front of Mu En.
"Elder Mu, Xuan Zi is incompetent..."
Mu En shakily stood up, looked at Xuan Zi, then at the severely injured Ma Xiaotao and others, almost collapsing to the ground.
"What... what happened?"
"Did you... did you encounter a large number of evil soul masters?"
With just one glance, he noticed the corpse poison within Ma Xiaotao and the others. It was definitely the work of an evil soul master.
For Xuan Zi to be in such a disheveled state and for Ma Xiaotao and the others to be severely injured, it must have been the doing of evil soul masters.
Evil soul masters had only gone into hiding, not disappeared.
In the past, Shrek Academy had hunted down evil soul masters, making their lives miserable.
Now, with Shrek Academy heavily damaged, it was only natural to face retaliation from the evil soul masters.
"Uh..."
Xuan Zi didn't know what to say for a moment.
A large number of evil soul masters?
If that were the case, he wouldn't be kneeling here.
After carefully recounting the events, Mu En fell into deep thought, his gaze towards Xuan Zi changing.
An evil soul master at the Soul King level had caused heavy losses to the Shrek Seven Monsters and their substitutes?
The previous Shrek Seven Monsters, led by Xuan Zi on a soul hunt, had suffered heavy casualties, leaving only Zhang Lexuan alive.
Back then, Xuan Zi had neglected his duties and deserved death!
This Shrek Seven Monsters, still led by Xuan Zi in the competition, was supposed to be foolproof. He hadn't neglected his duties this time, yet they still suffered heavy losses.
This... this guy is a jinx!
"Master, we're leaving..."
"Elder Mu, my sword..."
"With me, Yao Haoxuan, here, Shrek..."
"..."
Recalling the words of those who had left, Mu En felt a bit dazed. Moments later, a mouthful of blood sprayed from his mouth, and he collapsed straight to the ground.
At this moment, Mu En felt exhausted, truly exhausted. He couldn't hold on any longer.
The future of Shrek Academy would be ruined by Xuan Zi's own hands!
Over the years, the number of Shrek geniuses killed by evil soul masters didn't even come close to the losses under Xuan Zi's leadership...
Xuan Zi, are you sure you're not the Supreme Elder of the Holy Spirit Cult?
"Elder Mu!!"
Seeing this, Xuan Zi slid on his knees to Mu En's side, his face filled with panic.
"Elder Mu, Elder Mu!"
"It's Xuan Zi's stupidity, it's Xuan Zi's fault. Kill me, no, I'll do it myself. You must not fall!"
If even Elder Mu collapsed, Shrek Academy would truly be finished!
Mu En didn't blame him, nor did he speak to him, but was nearly angered to death... This was too much of a blow for Xuan Zi.
Perhaps Elder Mu was right. Xuan Zi shouldn't have been resurrected. If he had died back then, none of this would have happened.
Mu En's cloudy eyes looked at Xuan Zi, his mouth slightly open, as if wanting to say something but stopping himself.
After a while, Mu En finally murmured, "Xiaotao is severely injured, but not in life-threatening danger. Dai Yueheng is severely injured and has lost a leg, cutting off any chance of becoming a Title Douluo in this lifetime."
"Chen Zifeng has lost an arm and a leg. Even if treated, he will be crippled."
"Yao Haoxuan and Gong Yangmo died in battle, their bodies lost."
"Ling Luochen and Xi Xi were poisoned by corpse poison and sustained some injuries..."
"Except for He Caitou and Zhu Lu, all the substitutes..."
"Is heaven determined to destroy Shrek Academy?"
As soon as Mu En finished speaking, a slightly authoritative and extremely beautiful female figure appeared beside him. She looked angrily at Mu En and Xuan Zi.
"Time and time again, I guided them to avoid this crisis, telling them to retreat from the cave and use the Invincible Barrier, but they not only ignored it, they also acted as if it didn't matter."
"This is a problem with your education. When something goes wrong, you blame it on me. What kind of logic is that?"
Mu En and Xuan Zi: "..."
The Plane Consciousness glared fiercely at Mu En and Xuan Zi, flicked her sleeve, and disappeared.
Mu En and Xuan Zi exchanged glances, momentarily at a loss for words.
This... this was a "shifting blame" tactic, with no one else to blame, so they shifted it to heaven.
But... but the Douluo Continent has consciousness, and heaven didn't accept this blame, instead scolding the two of them.
"Elder Mu... what the Plane Consciousness said is... true."
Xuan Zi lowered his head, recalling Wang Yan's warnings and He Caitou's methods and the Invincible Barrier.
Although he had been outside the cave at the time, he could hear what was happening inside.
"This... our past has doomed us!"
Mu En sighed, as if he had aged several years in an instant.
Indeed, this calamity was brought upon them by their past.
Arrogance, ignoring "cowardly" words.
After a while, Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Chen Zifeng received treatment, while Mu En and Xuan Zi had to consider more matters.
This incident had dealt a heavy blow to Shrek Academy, truly a case of "falling before even setting out."
"Xuan Zi, your punishment will be decided after the competition."
"Whether you live or die then, I won't interfere."
"Now, you and Shaozhe escort them to Star Luo City. Also, have Mei'er go to Star Luo City. She's more normal than you and Shaozhe."
Yan Shaozhe and Xuan Zi twitched at the corners of their eyes but dared not refute Mu En's words.
"After escorting them, return to Shrek Academy and apologize to each family one by one. Though the fault isn't yours, you were the leader, so the responsibility lies with you."
"Yes, Elder Mu!"
Xuan Zi quickly agreed, feeling a headache coming on.
He would rather die than face the parents of those children pointing fingers at him!
Such a thing would be too cruel for a man over two hundred years old.