Tang Wulin's six friends were already half-buried under mud from the force of the explosion, but most of the explosive force failed to make it to the ground down below.

During the final moments of the explosion, only Ye Xinglan caught sight of a ball of silver light hurtling away into the distance through her peripheral vision.

It was over. Everything truly seemed to have come to an end this time. The terrifying explosion had finally subsided.

Ye Xinglan brushed off the soil on her body and jumped out of the crater first before helping all of her friends out of it as well.

"Waah!" Xu Xiaoyan was unable to repress her grief any longer, and she burst into loud sobs. Yue Zhengyu hurriedly enveloped her in his embrace.

Ye Xinglan wore a grim expression on her face as she said, "Now's not the time to cry, and nor do we have any right to cry. The pavilion master gave his life so we could survive, and Wulin shielded us from that soul missile, so we have to live on. We are the final seeds of Shrek Academy; we are Shrek’s Seven Monsters, and we have to shoulder the duty of avenging Shrek Academy. Come with me."

She turned and rushed toward the edge of the colossal crater that they were situated in as she spoke.

Yuanen Yehui picked up Yali in her arms and quickly followed along.

Xie Xie was gritting his teeth as he ran alongside her, and Xu Lizhi wore a slightly twisted expression on his face as his lips were pursed into a thin line.

Xu Xiaoyan wiped away her tears and also followed along behind everyone with Yue Zhengyu in accompaniment.

They had no time to be struck down by grief. In the aftermath of this disaster, their top priority was to survive for themselves, for Shrek Academy, and for the Tang Sect.

Ye Xinglan looked as calm as ever, but how could she not be in pain? However, Tang Wulin had disappeared, and no one knew whether he was dead or alive. If he had truly died to save them, then she definitely couldn't let his sacrifice go to waste. She had to leave here with her friends and live on. Where there was life, there was hope.

Following the demonic island military training, their mental fortitude had become a lot stronger than that of normal people. Thus, they didn't completely fall apart in the aftermath of this disaster. As long as they were still alive, the legacy of Shrek Academy would live on, and there was a chance that the academy would be resurrected in the future.

……

"Smash!" A crystal glass fell to the ground and shattered into countless pieces.

The president's face had turned deathly pale.

"Shrek Academy has been completely destroyed by two Godslayer missiles?" His body was trembling uncontrollably.

As a man of his power and status, he was supposed to remain calm at all times, but how could he keep calm at a time like this?

He was well aware of what it entailed for Shrek Academy to be destroyed. He had always wished to be able to control Shrek City one day, but never had he hoped for the destruction of the number one academy on the continent that had stood for over 20,000 years.

Shrek Academy was a neutral entity, but it was undoubtedly one of the most powerful guardians of the continent, and it was truly a force to be reckoned with.

On top of that, Shrek Academy had connections all over the entire continent. The Godslayer missiles were devastating weapons under the control of the federation. Now that Shrek Academy had been destroyed by two such missiles, the federation would definitely come under immense pressure. Not only did this spell the end of his political career, the entire government and the continent would most likely be plunged into complete chaos.

"Launch an investigation into the three Godslayer missiles right away! Go!"

The president forced himself to calm down before issuing a series of orders. However, he knew that none of this would help his cause. The destruction of Shrek City was going to turn virtually the entire continent against him.

……

"Why? Why?! Tell me why!" Heavenly Phoenix Douluo Leng Yaozhu's eyes were completely bloodshot. She slammed her hands down onto the desk before her amid a resounding boom, and despite the fact that the desk had been constructed from many types of resolute alloys, it was still instantly reduced to dust.

A tall and broad middle-aged man stood on the other side of the desk. He had a set of handsome facial features with a pronounced nose, but a pair of rather small eyes. There was a powerful aura emanating from his body.

His brows were tightly furrowed at the sight of the distraught and furious Leng Yaozhu. "Calm down, Yaozhu. Everything happened far too abruptly, and I have no idea what the situation is like, either. A thorough investigation will have to be launched before we learn what's truly happened."

"Do you think I'm a naive little child, Qiangu Dongfeng? Do you think I don't know what kind of man you are? No matter how powerful the Holy Spirit Cult is, there's no way they could've gotten their hands on Godslayer missiles! There's no way they could've snuck all of those soul missiles into Shrek City unless you gave them your assistance! It was you, wasn't it?"

Leng Yaozhu stabbed a finger directly at Qiangu Dongfeng as she spoke. The man standing before her was the chairman of the Spirit Pagoda, a powerful being who ranked alongside Atlas Douluo Yun Ming.

Qiangu Dongfeng's expression immediately darkened upon hearing this. "Yaozhu, you're the vice-chairman of our Spirit Pagoda; how could you accuse me of something like this? Have you forgotten that the founder of our Spirit Pagoda, Spirit Ice Douluo Huo Yuhao, was once one of Shrek’s Seven Monsters? Our Spirit Pagoda has no direct conflict with Shrek Academy; why would I plot against them? Besides, just because I'm the chairman doesn't mean I get to call all the shots."

His tone became a little softer as he continued, "Yaozhu, this incident has taken place far too abruptly, and even I'm still reeling in its aftermath. Who could've possibly predicted that the Holy Spirit Cult would already be brazen enough to attack Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters? Do you think it benefits me in any way to see the Holy Spirit Cult become more powerful? What we should be doing now is contributing as much as we can to the rebuild effort and to track down the Holy Spirit Cult. I know that Yun Ming's death has dealt you a heavy blow, and I'm also very sad to see him pass. However, we must remain calm in the face of this calamity."

"Remain calm? How do you expect me to remain calm?" Leng Yaozhu's aura was fluctuating violently as she threatened, "Qiangu Dongfeng, don't let me find out that you were behind this. Otherwise, I'll kill you even if it means giving my own life!"

After that, she departed from the room, leaving Qiangu Dongfeng standing alone with a thunderous expression on his face.

He looked on as Leng Yaozhu departed, and of course, he was well aware of why she would suspect him of foul play here. He had pursued Leng Yaozhu for many years in the past, but she simply couldn't get over Yun Ming. Even after Yun Ming married Yali, she still couldn't forget him, and she refrained from getting married for her entire life.

During these past years, the Spirit Pagoda and Shrek Academy had been steadily growing apart, not least due to the complex love-triangle relationship between the three of them.

"Chairman." A side door was opened, and a middle-aged man with an ordinary appearance walked quickly into the room. Despite his mundane looks, there was a sharp aura about him.

"Give me the breakdown."

"Shrek Academy was completely destroyed with no survivors. Our sources have gathered that Shrek’s Seven Monsters were also in the academy at the time. In the end, Yun Ming broke his own demigod berth and temporarily attained the power of a god to nullify the destructive power of the two Godslayer missiles, thereby saving around half of the population of Shrek City. However, Shrek Academy and the Tang Sect headquarters were situated at the epicenters of the explosions, and there were no survivors from them. They even launched another ninth-grade soul missile toward Shrek Academy after the event to kill any remaining survivors. However, the Holy Spirit Cult also suffered quite severely during this attack.

"In order to detonate those two Godslayer missiles, they sacrificed close to 20 of their Soul Douluos and also hundreds of the intermediate evil Soul Masters. Prior to Yun Ming's death, he destroyed their Armageddon Skull, and aside from the master of the Holy Spirit Cult, who managed to get away, eight of their Titled Douluos were killed. That's definitely a significant setback for them."

Qiangu Dongfeng's eyes narrowed slightly as a pleased look appeared on his face. "Very good! As expected, Yun Ming really hasn't disappointed me. The Holy Spirit Cult has been in hiding for 10,000 years and accumulated so much power, yet they still paid such a heavy price even though they'd been plotting against Shrek Academy for so long. Both sides have paid dearly during this incident; this is the best outcome for us. We should take advantage of this opportunity to make our presence felt. With the destruction of Shrek City, the entire parliament is definitely going to be forced into liquidation. We need to step in and strive to secure as many parliamentary spots as we can."

"Your wisdom is truly unmatched, Chairman! You've killed many birds with one stone here," the middle-aged man praised with admiration in his eyes.

Qiangu Dongfeng turned to him with a cold expression. "What do you mean I killed many birds with one stone? We didn't do anything here. I'm also extremely sad and shocked that Shrek City has fallen under such tragic circumstances."

The middle-aged man immediately gave a knowing nod as he said, "Indeed, we express our deepest condolences to Shrek Academy."

"Alright, you may go now. I'm going to release an order to the entire Spirit Pagoda to hunt down all evil Soul Masters; you know what to do. Remember not to leave any evidence that can be used as leverage against us, and also, get someone to track Vice-chairman Leng so she doesn't do anything foolish."

"Yes."

The middle-aged man departed, and Qiangu Dongfeng made his way over to the window, casting his gaze toward the white clouds outside with his eyes narrowed in contemplation.