"Raaaaaa!" Elder Xuan screamed at the night sky full of rage, sorrow, and regret.
His aura as a rank 98 Transcendent Douluo radiated from his transformed body momentarily caused a powerful shockwave that caused the trees to sway uncontrollably.
The nine soul rings rotating his body shone dazzling colors of yellow, purple, black, and red.
Thankfully he was in the sky, so much of the pressure coming from his body didn't crush his students to death.
Thinking about them, Elder Xuan snapped out of his trance. He gritted his teeth and forcibly retracted his aura.
"Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit! Raaaaugh!!"
His eyes were completely bloodshot as he unhesitatingly clenched the neck of the corpse in his right hand, instantly obliterating it to ashes.
It didn't bring him any sense of satisfaction, it actually made him feel even more infuriated. The corpse he was carrying, which was supposed to be the Ghost Emperor Douluo's body, was just an empty husk.
His martial soul, Ghost, wasn't some separate entity like some kind of summon-type, but his actual literal Ghost, his Spirit, to be precise. His martial soul hadn't awakened when he was six years old like his peers, instead, it had awakened when he died in a drowning accident.
He turned into a Ghost. The body he was using wasn't even his own original body but of his childhood best friend.
In his Ghost form, using his seventh soul ring skill, all physical and soul power related abilities will have no affect on his incorporeal body. Elder Xuan tried everything in his abilities to restrain him, but to no avail.
He could only watch as the Ghost Emperor Douluo fled like a coward in the direction of the Sun Moon Empire.
Helpless, Elder Xuan could only return back to the group with the corpse in hand, hoping to find any clues about the Ghost Emperor Douluo's group. With a frown on his face, he was worried about how the students were faring against the group of Evil Soul Master; even if Huo Yuhao and the others had caught them by surprise.
But, that shouldn't have been what he should be worried about. No. He should have been more cautious, more vigilant.
It was a mistake. He, had made a mistake in taking back the body. Whatever Ghost Emperor Douluo did, he had somehow put something explosive, hidden in the bodies of Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan that would only detonate if he was in their proximity. Whether he be dead or not.
It was the eighth soul skill of Ghost Emperor Douluo, Spiritual Explosion. The only few spiritual-type skills he has. This soul skill puts a very concentrated trace of the user's spirit into the target's soul. It was extremely well-hidden and unless someone scans the targets' souls deeply, it could never be found. To activate the explosion of the soul skill, the user has to put a sort of 'activation command' into the soul skill.
The ones he put into both Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan were simple: Death of the user. So when the Ghost Emperor Douluo dies, within a certain range of the target and a time limit of 30 minutes, the soul skill activates; using the power of a Titled Douluo's spiritual power and the target's soul, the explosive power is quite intense.
Tears streamed down Elder Xuan's face, memories of his past replayed in his mind.
Again, it happened again. He failed another group of students, of another Shrek Monsters, under his observation...
Was he cursed? Was his teacher, Mu En, wrong about him? Elder Xuan shut his eyes and clenched his hands.
"...This isn't the time for me to self-loath, I have to go back and check up on the children." He muttered under his breath and his figure blurred, reappearing before the....accident.
It was a mess. Every student and Wang Yan were heavily injured, tears streaming down their faces as they catered to their injuries while also looking over their severely injured fellow schoolmates.
But the scene that broke Elder Xuan's heart were the a blanket covering a body and two urns laid down on the side. The redness in his eyes intensified and he wiped his tears, though he wanted to mourn them, there was still a duty he needed to do first.
"How is the situation?" Elder Xuan asked.
Wang Yan replied, still filled with grief and horror. "Chen Zifeng and Yao Haoxuan had both instantly died from the explosion. Then Gongyang Mo sacrificed himself to save Ning Tian, Ling Luochen, Xiao Xiao, and Wang Dong. I...tried to piece together as much of their remains as possible but... We won't be able to bring back their complete bodies."
Elder Xuan painfully closed his eyes. He expected it but, "How are the others? What's the state of their injuries?"
"That's...it's a bit complicated. Most of the children only suffered minor injuries from the shockwave of the explosion. The ones that were in the vicinity of the explosion are, I'm not saying this in a bad way but, they're supposed to have life threatening injuries and possibly even death."
"But Ling Luochen, Ning Tian, Xiao Xiao, and Wang Dong who were saved by Gongyang Mo have mysteriously sustained only....severe injuries; Broken bones, some ruptured meridians and other internal injuries. It's incredibly strange. Did one of them have some high-level soul tool? It might be Ning Tian's."
He furrowed his brows, he swore he saw a golden trident erecting a translucent golden barrier before he was momentarily knocked out.
Elder Xuan heaved a sigh of relief. "Regardless of the reason, they're alive. That's all that matters. With the academy's medicinal pills, they should be able to recover in at least half a month."
Wang Yan nodded and deeply frowned. "Also, Huo Yuhao had sustained heavy injuries. He was the first to notice that something was wrong and tried to stop the bomb but... When I come to, he was thrown against a tree with most of his clothing torn and his orifices spilling out blood."
"His body is pretty sturdy, so most of the injuries on his body are superficial. However, that doesn't seem to be the case for his eyes. Blood keep spilling out of his eye sockets. I thought for sure that he might've overused his Sharingan in trying to save them, that his eyes popped or something. Thankfully, it hadn't come to that point."
"I bandaged his eyes at the moment and with the medical pills, he'll likely to recover in just a few days. However..." He paused and his brows creased in contemplation.
Elder Xuan nodded along and raised an eyebrow at his pause. Wang Yan snapped out of his daze and shook his head. "Nevermind. It's just mere speculation for now. If I'm right, it would be a cause of celebration. What about that Titled Douluo?"
At Wang Yan's question and cold expression, Elder Xuan shook his head and explained everything to him.
Wang Yan's expression shifted into a fierce scowl, his hands balling into fists.
"That cowardly bastard! Elder Xuan, don't worry. No one would blame you for the incident. Anyone would've done the same actions, it's logical after all. And even a rank 98 Transcendent Douluo such as yourself couldn't see through such tricks, then no one besides the Sea God Pavilion Master would've seen through them." He said.
Ma Xiaotao added with a firm nod, holding her injured right arm. "Teacher Wang's right, Elder Xuan. I speak for everyone here that we don't blame you. This was an unforeseeable accident. We're pretty lucky enough to still be alive after what had happened."
The other students behind her nodded in agreement.
"You all..." Elder Xuan weary eyes trembled and he closed his eyes, trying to hold back the tears. After seeing them standing strong despite their injuries, he felt a surge of resolve.
"Thank you, everyone," Elder Xuan said, his voice steadying. "Wang Yan, you'll have to bear the burden of this difficult task. Bring them back to the military camp, and once Huo Yuhao and the other four are stable, make haste towards Star Luo City and join the tournament. I'll.... bring the remains of Chen Zifeng, Yao Haoxuan, and Gongyang Mo back to the academy and give them a proper send off. We can't afford to waste any time and must move immediately."
Elder Xuan took a deep breath and then spoke in a grave tone, "The situation has now changed, and the responsibility lies with me. I'm afraid there isn't enough time to send for new team members from the academy anymore."
"We can only rely on you lot for the time being. At the very least, Ma Xiaotao and others are still here to help you after they recover. Children, the academy can only rely on you all to preserve its glory."
"I promise you all, if you win, I will personally grant each of you a reward beyond your wildest dreams. Your fallen comrades would want you to carry on, to fight and honor their memory by emerging victorious in the upcoming tournament. Do not let their deaths be in vain."
The students, despite their exhaustion and grief, nodded with determination.
"Yes, sir!"
.....
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