Seeing Du Bushi activate his martial spirit, Xuanzi's eyes also turned serious.
With a long howl, Xuanzi's figure soared into the sky, and intense yellow light erupted from him. As the yellow light reached its peak and spread out, Xuan Lao had transformed into a different form.
A monster with the body of a sheep and the face of a human, eyes under its armpits, tiger teeth, human claws, and a pair of enormous bull horns appeared out of thin air. It was over thirty meters long, even more massive than Du Bushi in terms of size.
Intense yellow light burst forth, and nine soul rings, forming halos, floated up and down between the pair of horns that extended over five meters.
As his aura exploded, the dense yellow light also illuminated the sky above Shrek.
Yellow and green lights stood distinctly separate in the high sky.
However, compared to Du Bushi, Xuanzi's soul rings were somewhat inferior: two yellow, two purple, four black, and one red. At least in terms of hundred-thousand-year soul bones, he had two fewer than Du Bushi.
If the saying "there are no useless martial spirits, only useless soul masters" rarely finds strong examples, Xuan Zi would definitely be one of them.
His martial spirit, the Gluttonous Divine Bull, possessed part of the bloodline of the Glutton, a being on par with the Dragon Clan's major dragon kings. Even the current patriarch of the Black Dragon Clan, Golden-Eyed Black Dragon King Di Tian, would call the Glutton "Uncle."
It could be said that Xuanzi's martial spirit was in no way inferior to Mu En's Bright Holy Dragon or Long Xiaoyao's Dark Holy Dragon, making it one of the top beast martial spirits. However, this incredibly powerful martial spirit was utterly wasted by the overreaching Xuan Zi.
Despite having a terrifyingly strong True Dragon-type martial spirit, he had only one hundred-thousand-year soul ring. One can only wonder what he did in his youth.
Even in the original story, with Huo Yuhao's help, he achieved the rank of an Ultimate Douluo, but remained the weakest Ultimate Douluo, becoming a mere unit of measurement in combat strength.
As expected, after a fierce battle in the sky, Xuanzi was ultimately no match for Du Bushi. His body was rendered a dark green as he was knocked back, clearly at a disadvantage after the final collision.
"Xuan Zi, although our cultivations are equal, your soul rings are inferior to mine. I also possess the innate advantage of a Body Sect martial spirit. If not for wanting to keep a worthy opponent like you in this world, you would already be dead."
Xuanzi stabilized himself a kilometer away, the green on his body fading. Outwardly, he seemed unchanged, even his aura was not weakened, but a hint of impatience showed in his eyes.
"Du Bushi, stop the sweet talk. Do you dare fight me to the death? Even if I die, I'll drag you down with me, at least ensuring you can't live normally!"
Du Bushi snorted lightly and said calmly, "I have no interest in wasting words with you. I came here to take our Body Sect member, not to beat you. Hand over Huo Yuhao, and we will leave immediately! Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless. Don't forget my name – if I unleash my innate poison, how much can you withstand?"
"If Xuan Zi can't stop you, what about me?"
At this moment, a gentle voice quietly echoed. Immediately afterward, a soft halo of light suddenly emanated from the direction of the freshmen dormitory area within Shrek Academy.
The gentle golden light spread slowly but swiftly, reaching high into the sky in an instant. Both Xuan Lao and Du Bushi found their auras completely dissipated under this golden light, and the oppressive atmosphere in the sky vanished as well.
Huo Yuhao felt his body lighten as he was lifted by the golden light, ascending into the sky.
The always imposing Du Bushi's expression changed drastically upon witnessing this strange scene and seeing Shrek City below turned into a golden city.
"The Sea God's Light? How is this possible? How can there still be someone in Shrek who can wield the Sea God's Light?"
"Du Bushi, it's been years. It seems you've forgotten about me."
The gentle voice spoke again, followed by a faint yet clear dragon roar. Mu En's slightly hunched figure appeared beside Xuanzi.
"You are... Dragon God Douluo Mu En?! You're still alive? How is this possible? Back then, you..."
Du Bushi stared in shock at Mu En, sweat beading on his dark green forehead.
"If I were dead, would you then oppress our Shrek Academy?" Mu En said calmly.
In an instant, the intense golden light flashed, and Du Bushi's dark green body suddenly shrank by a meter, with intense emerald green light spilling out from him.
"Mu En, I came this time only to take Huo Yuhao with me. I have no intentions against Shrek Academy." Du Bushi no longer showed the arrogance he had when speaking with Xuan Zi, but maintained a respectful tone without losing his dignity.
"We cannot give up on this child. Considering your age, you should understand that we are not far from our limits, and our Body Sect has no successor."
"A successor!" Mu En's eyes flashed with surprise at Du Bushi's words. "This child is that important to you?"
"Although Shrek Academy is renowned as the holy land of soul masters, your understanding of Body Martial Spirits is limited," Du Bushi sneered. "Did your Sea God Pavilion think our Body Sect was a fool, buying a piece of information for five million gold coins that could be true or false? Our sect hasn't seen a newcomer in nearly twenty years, and heaven had mercy to let me encounter such a gifted child."
"The information we bought from the Treasure Pavilion mentioned that Huo Yuhao's eyes glowed red when he used his Body Martial Spirit. You, of course, don't know that typically, a soul master with a Body Martial Spirit focused on their eyes would show white or golden light. The red light indicates that this child's martial spirit has undergone a secondary awakening!"
"Dragon God Douluo, out of respect for you, I will not forcibly take the child from Shrek Academy. Instead, I will give him the choice to stay or leave. But if you insist on blocking him from joining our Body Sect and sever our lineage, we will fight Shrek Academy to the end!"
"Even if you're still alive, I don't believe my brother left you unscathed. I might not be your match, but the cost for you to kill me would not be small, possibly even your life! Shrek Academy's enemies are not limited to just our Body Sect; think about it!"
The twenty or so figures from the Body Sect, hearing these words, raised their already fierce auras to another level. The combined force of so many powerful individuals even pushed back the golden light in the sky by several dozen meters.
"A secondary awakening? No, this can't be!" Xuanzi was momentarily stunned. He had previously criticized Huo Yuhao's Body Martial Spirit for not undergoing a secondary awakening. He hadn't considered the possibility that it might have already awakened!
Damn, I was too careless!
Mu En pondered for a moment, then gently waved his hand. The Sea God's Light carried Huo Yuhao's body to a position between Mu En and Du Bushi.
"Huo Yuhao? Heh, I've been watching you since your first day here," Mu En smiled at Huo Yuhao but didn't elaborate further.
"You were not far from us earlier, so you must have heard our conversation. I won't hide it from you; the Body Sect's research on Body Martial Spirits spans millennia and is unmatched. They certainly have the means to make your Flame God Eyes martial spirit even more powerful. What you choose to do is up to you. Give me an answer, and then we can decide how to negotiate with the Body Sect."