DD Black White [337-338] (Patreon)

Chapter 337: Shrek's Desperate Struggle

On the other side, Xian Lin'er gently laid the already-cold body of Qian Duoduo flat in a relatively safe corner inside the city wall, her movements so tender it was as if she feared disturbing his sleep.

When she straightened and turned back to face the battlefield, her entire aura underwent a cataclysmic change.

The cyan flames no longer merely wreathed her; they fused completely into her skin, her hair, her eyes, as if alive.

Her long hair billowed without wind, all of it transforming into burning azure fire. In her pupils remained only a cold, consuming will to annihilate.

A terrifying aura, far beyond her usual level and bordering on self-destruction, surged madly from within her.

She had actually begun burning her own life force and soul essence.

This was the most tragic, most resolute forbidden method in the soul master world—trading irreversible demise for a short burst of power beyond one's limits.

Qian Duoduo's fall completely ignited the long-suppressed anger and grief in the hearts of all Shrek's powerhouses.

Yan Shaozhe's holy light flames swelled severalfold as if exploding. A golden phoenix phantom formed entirely of radiant fire let out a blood-crying lament behind him; every swoop, every scattering feather carried a resolve to fight to mutual destruction without rest or retreat.

He no longer cared about soul power consumption; even his most costly, bottom-of-the-box soul skills were unleashed without reservation at the Scarlet King.

Even when the Ten Thousand Demon King ambushed him and pierced his shoulder with vines, he only grunted, then lashed back with a strand of phoenix trueflame condensed to the extreme, burning those vile vines and a section of their source branch into nothingness in an instant.

Shi Xing's spacetime silver disk spun so fiercely it nearly tore space apart. Time delay, spatial folding, dimensional slicing… all kinds of high-consumption spacetime soul skills were fired as if they cost no soul power at all.

He even bit through the tip of his tongue, spraying essence blood onto the spacetime silver disk, sacrificing his own origin to forcibly amplify his soul skills.

Invisible space blades grew denser and sharper, like countless unseen webs of death, slicing the Ten Thousand Demon King's conjured, thick vines into pieces. Oily dark-green stench sprayed across the battlefield like a torrential rain.

Cai Meier fully released the dragon soul sealed within her Evil-Bane Dragonlance. A solid, radiant energy dragon wreathed in exorcising gold light raised its head and roared, meeting the Hell Demon Dragon King, Zi Ji, who commanded the power of darkness.

Dragon roars shook the heavens as gold light and black miasma collided and corroded. Two titans battled savagely in the sky, each clash erupting with deafening thunder.

As for Xian Lin'er—she had long become a cyan inferno of vengeance.

She did not release her Martial Soul True Body, for her very life and soul had already become the fiercest, most resolute fuel.

She turned into a streak of cyan lightning that tore through the battlefield; where she passed, all things decomposed, the blue fire scorched the sky, as she launched a suicidal charge straight at the true culprit—Bear Lord.

"Bear Lord, I'll have your life!"

Xian Lin'er's voice was hoarse like sandpaper scraping; every word was steeped in blood and madness.

Her whole being became a meteor burning with vengeful cyan flame. Ignoring all her defenses, at a speed beyond limits, she dove straight at the Darkgold Dreadclaw Bear as towering as a mountain.

The Azureflame Dragonlance in her hand trembled at high frequency. The surrounding gales were compressed to the extreme, concentrating that terrifying azure flame with disintegration properties into a single point of icelike cold gleam.

Each thrust made the tip keenly shriek as it tore space, carrying a resolve to perish together with the enemy.

At first, Bear Lord tried to tough it out with his indestructible darkgold pelt and claws.

But when that hyper-condensed azure spear light first grazed his claws—sharp enough to shred dragon scales—it left a clearly visible, sizzling, charred mark. A flicker of doubt and dread flashed in his violent golden eyes.

Xian Lin'er's attacks had abandoned all form and technique, leaving only the purest, maddest trade of life for injury—every move aimed at mutual destruction.

Under this death-defying style that ignored the self and sought only to kill, even though he far outclassed her, Bear Lord was momentarily cowed by that overwhelming hatred and ferocity, forced into a brief passive defense.

It wasn't just Xian Lin'er. Yan Shaozhe, Shi Xing, Elder Lin, and the others had all gone blood-mad as well, adopting the same brutal, life-for-life posture.

This disregard for life made Bi Ji, the Ten Thousand Demon King, the Scarlet King, and other fierce beasts hesitate, their offensives no longer as wantonly aggressive as before.

What they feared most was precisely the path these top human powerhouses might choose when driven to the end—self-detonation of the soul core.

Self-detonating the soul core was the strongest—and most tragic—ultimate method of a Titled Douluo.

Once one decided to detonate the soul core that embodied a lifetime of cultivation, the destructive energy produced would allow an ordinary Titled Douluo to erupt in an instant with destructive power comparable to an Ultimate Douluo.

If super Douluo like Yan Shaozhe, Shi Xing, or Elder Lin chose to self-detonate, the destructive force would level everything within several kilometers, turning it into an absolute dead zone.

Shrek Academy still had several super Douluo present. If even one resolutely self-detonated, the fierce beasts—even with their might—would be grievously wounded, perhaps even slain.

If two—or three—chose that final path together… the consequences might well drag even top beasts like Bi Ji and Bear Lord to the grave, while the tens of thousands of soul beasts below would almost certainly face annihilation.

The beasts yearned to raze Shrek City, but they would not pay with their lives and their kind's very foundation.

The blast radius of a soul core self-detonation was terrifying, no less than the Sun Moon Empire's dreaded Grade-9 fixed soul tool shells.

Once it detonated, not only they but the surrounding soul beast army would suffer devastating blows. Even if they won this war, the Star Dou Forest would be crippled, unable to recover for ten thousand years.

Thus, the beasts were forced to change tactics, no longer pressing an all-out assault. Instead, they shifted to defense, harassment, and attrition—seeking to stall for time and exhaust the already-dwindling soul power and near-collapsing stamina of Yan Shaozhe and the others.

The Ten Thousand Demon King controlled countless poisonous vines to harass and ambush from afar, while hiding its body deep underground, never revealing it lightly.

The Scarlet King's hellfire was used more for long-range suppression of the soul tool batteries, avoiding a direct clash with Yan Shaozhe, who burned with holy light flame.

Bear Lord cautiously dodged Xian Lin'er's go-for-broke attacks, while searching for an opportunity to seriously injure her without risking his own safety.

At times like this, vigilance mattered most—lest one be taken along by the enemy's final, crazed counterattack before the enemy perished.

On the battlefield, Yan Shaozhe and the others were entangled in a melee with the great beasts. The roar of soul tool shells, the explosions of soul skills colliding, the wails of soul beasts and the shouts of humans intertwined—the carnage was extreme.

Yet no one noticed that far off at the horizon, Di Tian—who had been frozen by Ganyu's arrow of ultimate ice—had shown no sign of breaking free from the beginning.

With the Beast God Di Tian's unfathomable strength, even if frozen by the ultimate ice for a time, given enough time to stir his oceanic soul power, he could always find a way to break the seal.

But now, that vast black dragon hung motionless within the enormous ice crystal like a puppet stripped of life. Even his iconic golden dragon pupils were dim and lifeless, betraying not the slightest struggle—a deathly stillness that unsettled the heart.

While everyone's attention was drawn to the brutal clash on the front lines, a faint, near-transparent cyan flame appeared soundlessly above Shrek City like a wraith.

This flame was bizarre; it seemed not to exist in this dimension. It bypassed Shrek City's layered soul tool defenses with ease, slipped past the wall where shouts and energy raged, and drifted through streams of panicked evacuees and alleyways.

Its target was clear—the very heart of Shrek Academy, Sea God Island.

The flame moved at a speed beyond imagination. Humans and soul beasts along its route were oblivious to it, as if it were a phantom projection.

Only when it reached the air above the rippling, life-rich Sea God Lake did the cyan flame slow and hover quietly before the golden ancient tree that blotted out the sky, towering into the clouds as if supporting heaven and earth.

The Golden Tree's trunk was so massive dozens of people would be needed to encircle it. Its canopy spread like a royal parasol; layers of emerald leaves formed a vast green ocean, each leaf emanating a gentle, pure halo of life.

Countless ancient vines coiled about the trunk like flood dragons. The air was thick with palpable life energy; even an ordinary soul master would feel their soul power grow livelier with a single deep breath here.

"So this is the Golden Tree… the most precious core of life on this planet."

The cyan flame flickered, and a seductive, icy, faintly greedy thought-voice sounded softly.

It was the voice of the Lord Ravager, Phantylia.

Through Di Tian's memories, she had long known of the Golden Tree's existence and understood that this sacred tree was not only Shrek Academy's foundation but also a crucial node in the Douluo Star's life-energy network.

And her true goal this time was never simply to destroy Shrek City, but to seize this golden ancient tree that contained near-infinite life energy, to transform and corrupt it—making it a perfect, powerful new vessel.

As for stirring a beast tide to make humans and soul beasts slaughter each other in rivers of blood—that was a casual side move for her, a smokescreen to tie down the enemy's top combatants and sow chaos.

If that side move could escalate into total war between humans and soul beasts, so much the better.

Chapter 338: Ningguang's Doubt

Sea God Lake, on Sea God Island.

Gazing up at the sky-piercing Golden Tree and deeply sensing the restrained yet vast, terrifying life force within, Phantylia could not help but show a trace of excitement and determination in her thoughts.

Without hesitation, the cyan flame drew tight, turning into an infinitesimal stream of light that, like a drop of water merging with the sea, silently darted straight into the ancient, colossal trunk of the Golden Tree and vanished.

At this moment, Yan Shaozhe, Xian Lin'er, and the others fighting to the death beyond the city walls knew nothing of what was happening behind them in the forbidden zone.

They were still expending everything to protect the city beneath their feet—unaware that the very core they swore to guard, their greatest heritage, had already been quietly infiltrated by their most dangerous foe.

"Hm?"

No sooner had she merged her consciousness into the Golden Tree's vast inner sea of life energy than Phantylia's powerful mental body gave the slightest pause, her tone tinged with clear surprise.

As a Heliobus—pure energy without form or substance, her sensitivity to spiritual power far surpassed any soul master in this world. She was an absolute expert and sovereign in the spiritual realm.

Almost upon entering the Golden Tree, her immense perception detected a discordant note.

Deep within the ocean of pure life energy inside this great tree, beyond those soul fragments that had voluntarily merged and become its nourishment, there hid two unusually powerful, condensed, and environment-alien independent spiritual entities.

"How interesting… truly unexpected."

Amusement and mockery rippled through Phantylia's thoughts, like a hunter discovering unexpected prey.

"So there are 'kindred' who beat me to it? Decent taste."

She had already read Di Tian's memories and was no stranger to the concepts of divinities and divine sense on the Douluo Continent.

In her view, so-called divine sense was essentially spiritual power elevated through some special method to the extreme—hundreds of times purer and stronger than that of ordinary soul masters.

What she now sensed from these two spiritual entities was precisely genuine divine sense.

One of them was especially powerful, its mental fluctuations like an endless, deep sea—vast and grand—radiating a solemn, sacred, inviolable aura, standing guard with unwavering devotion by the side of the other, relatively weaker, divine sense, shielding it tightly.

The other, relatively weaker divine sense felt brimming with vitality, flexible yet indomitably tenacious. Its current state drew Phantylia's keen interest.

It was slowly and continuously assimilating, absorbing, and merging the Golden Tree's immense life energy. At this rate, it seemed intent on refining and devouring this ancient sacred tree—the life core of the Douluo Star—making it a part of itself.

Which happened to be exactly what Phantylia intended to do next.

"It seems this trip will be even more entertaining than expected."

Filled with the thrill and greed of a child finding a new toy, Phantylia began moving silently toward the source of those two divine senses.

A variable had appeared in her plan, yet Phantylia felt no irritation. Instead, the cyan flames in her mind's eye flickered with deeper interest and playfulness.

If a true divine body had descended, with her current not-yet-restored strength she might have needed to bide her time and tread carefully.

But now, it was merely two divine-sense avatars, severed from their bodies… To the Lord Ravager, they were like rare delicacies delivered to the door of a starving traveler—an unexpected boon, not a problem.

The Heliobus were rare pure-energy lifeforms in the cosmos, whose existence hinged on devouring all spiritual energy and emotional waves.

And Phantylia, a paragon among Heliobus and a Lord Ravager, had achieved near-law mastery in the spiritual domain.

What soul masters on the Douluo Continent could only yearn for—divine sense—was, to her, merely a refined and larger-magnitude aggregate of pure spiritual power—still her favorite food in essence.

She even began cheerfully calculating: after devouring these two high-quality divine senses with a hint of divinity, to what level could she restore her power? Twenty percent? Thirty?

By then, seizing this vast-energy Golden Tree would become a breeze—easily corrupted, assimilated, and made into the most perfect vessel.

Her formless consciousness, greedy and graceful, spread through this life-filled spiritual sea, quietly drawing near the two lighthouse-like sources of divine sense.

Within the Golden Tree—this sacred domain that should have been serene and pure—a perilous, bloody spiritual struggle beyond mortal comprehension was about to begin in secret.

…

Meanwhile, atop Shrek's towering walls, the brutal slaughter raged on. The thunder of battle cries and soul skill detonations drowned out every subtle disturbance.

No one knew that Shrek Academy—and indeed the entire Douluo Continent's—most lethal crisis had already bypassed all defenses, slipping in to erode its innermost foundation.

"Time to go. Let Phantylia and those two divine senses have their little playdate. We don't need to stick around for the show—too risky, not worth the ticket."

The doll-like Little Herta walked over to Ningguang and Ganyu with quick, light steps, her crisp, pleasant voice breaking the heavy silence atop the Jade Chamber's upper terrace.

She tilted her head slightly, glanced at the distant wall-front where energies still flared and shouts shook the sky, then precisely flicked her gaze toward the seemingly calm Sea God Lake.

There, on a level undetectable to ordinary senses, two obscure yet overwhelming spiritual waves had begun probing, colliding, and strangling each other like deep-sea leviathans.

Clearly, Phantylia had already engaged the two prior guests within the Golden Tree.

Following Little Herta's gaze, Ningguang looked down at Shrek City's streets.

All core and non-core staff of the Jade Chamber had assembled according to the highest alert plan. They stood in orderly ranks on the plaza beneath the main building, faces tense yet showing absolute obedience to orders.

She was silent for a moment, her slender jade-white fingertips unconsciously caressing the luxurious jade-marrow pipe in her hand. The gilt bowl glimmered faintly in the dim light.

Her tone held a barely perceptible complexity and sigh.

"This city that has stood for ten thousand years—before long, perhaps it will truly become dust in history…"

She had invested far more into Shrek City than most could imagine.

From a humble little loft to today's opulent commercial complex dominating the city center, the resources, planning, favors, and effort poured in were immeasurable.

To say she felt no regret or heartache would be self-deception.

But such business losses, before Lu Jingming's grand design, were paltry—like a grain of sand before a crashing wave.

"Lady Herta, with your true body's capabilities, you could stop Phantylia right now, couldn't you?"

Ningguang did not immediately give the final evacuation order. Instead, she turned, sharp gaze settling on the petite doll beside her.

In her gold-amber eyes that read the world, questions flickered.

She saw clearly that although Yan Shaozhe and the others at the walls were exhausted and at a disadvantage, with their do-or-die ferocity and what remained of the wall defenses, they could last at least another half-hour.

That was enough time for them to evacuate all personnel and materials calmly via preset channels.

Moreover, with this doll-avatar of Herta here, even if circumstances suddenly deteriorated, a single ultra-long-range teleport could whisk the core staff back to Haiyuan City in an instant—no need to rush.

What truly puzzled her was Lu Jingming and Herta's attitude.

Herta's true body was not engaged in the seemingly chaotic battle at Mingdu, and with Key of Infinity's near-bug-level cross-space mobility, Herta was fully capable of descending in person to precisely snipe the Lord Ravager Phantylia.

Even if she could not kill her, she could at least repel or seriously wound her and safeguard the Golden Tree.

Yet both Herta and Lu Jingming, who was issuing orders from Mingdu, tacitly chose to stand by.

As if they had already, wordlessly, accepted the outcome of Phantylia seizing the Golden Tree—and even the destruction of Shrek City.

This was no oversight. It felt like a cold-blooded acquiescence.

"No wonder you'd have that question."

Little Herta put her hands on her hips, her doll face arranging itself into a cute, almost helpless expression.

"You've long managed Shrek City's operations independently, without joining Haiyuan City's top strategic planning. It's normal not to grasp Xiao Ming's deepest strategic logic. But, Miss Ningguang, you're smart enough to understand a basic truth—"

She wagged a finger.

"For some matters—especially ones concerning the course of civilization and continent-wide unification—you absolutely cannot judge by immediate appearances or be blinded by local carnage. You must set your gaze far enough ahead, step off the chessboard, and see the grand layout ten years, a hundred years, even longer down the line."

"I understand."

The doubt in Ningguang's eyes scattered like mist in the wind, replaced by sudden clarity and depth.