Chapter 79 – The Broken Promise and the Sea God's Gambit
At the Shrek Academy.
Outside the gates of what was once the Blue Tyrant Academy in Heaven Dou City, a familiar group gathered. The years had been kind to their power, but the world around them had grown cold.
Tang San, now nineteen, stood at the center. His appearance had changed drastically after awakening the Blue Silver Emperor; his hair was a long, flowing azure, and his gaze carried the weight of the vast ocean. Beside him stood Dai Mubai, Oscar, Ma Hongjun, and Ning Rongrong. Replacing the Zhu Zhuqing was Tian Long, a powerful young talent from the Stregth clan.
They looked up at the academy gates. The sign Shrek Academy still hung there, but it looked weathered. Since Flender and Yu Xiaogang had taken over, the academy's enrollment had plummeted. By enforcing the Monsters Only rule and stripping away Liu Erlong's vision of a school for commoners, they had turned a thriving institution into a ghost town after taking over, completely twising the once beautiful academy that once hold a beatifik meaning. Only a handful of elite students remained, while the rest of the city's youth flocked to the Sovereign Diwa branches, it became the new heaven even for commoners.
"Teacher," Tang San greeted as Yu Xiaogang walked out to meet them.
The Grandmaster looked older, but his eyes burned with a new, frantic light. He had heard the rumors of Tang San's progress. When Tang San revealed that he had been chosen as the Sea God's Successor and was undergoing the Quasi Divine Trials, Xiaogang's reaction was nothing short of pathological.
"A God's successor..." Xiaogang whispered his hands reaching out as if trying to hold tang San, then his chest puffing out with a shameless, newfound arrogance. He looked at the other teachers and barked, "Do you hear that? My theory was correct! I am not just a researcher! I am the Teacher of the God of the Sea!"
Claiming all the credit as if his teachings are what allowed Tang San to become a god successor.
Tang San, blinded by his filial piety, bowed deeply. "Everything I am is because of your guidance, Teacher."
The reunion was cut short by a grim directive. Tang San revealed the truth whispered to him by the Sea God through his trials.
"The Heaven Dou Empire is compromised," Tang San stated, his voice echoing with a divine resonance. "The Crown Prince, Xue Qinghe, is an impostor. The Sea God has shown me that she is a daughter of the Martial Soul Hall. My mission is to expose her, protect the Imperial family, and claim the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud- the key to my True Nine Trials."
"Then we strike now," Dai Mubai growled, his tiger claws itching for a fight.
The Imperial Palace:
The Shrek Seven, backed by Tang Hao (who remained hidden in the shadows) and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile support, stormed the Imperial Palace under the cover of a "state of emergency."
In the palace garden, they were met by "Xue Qinghe" and her two loyal guardians: Snake Spear Douluo and Porcupine Douluo.
"Tang San," the Prince spoke, her voice calm and melodic. "You've grown. But you are interfering in matters beyond your comprehension."
"Your mask is off, Qian Renxue!" Tang San roared. He didn't hesitate. He unleashed his Death God Domain, the blood-red aura he had honed in the Slaughter City. "Exploding Rings Technique!"
As the battle erupted, Tang San's group pushed hard. But they were met with a resistance they didn't expect. Qian Renxue didn't just use her Seraphim soul skills; she signaled her guardians.
"Ang Pintig ng Walong Pintuan(Eight Gate)—OVERDRIVE!"
The air around the Snake Spear and Porcupine Douluos detonated. Their auras shifted from gold to a violent, vibrating crimson. This was the x5 Surge, a technique Lakan had taught the elders of the Spirit Hall to bridge the gap between mortal and divine energy.
Snake Spear Douluo moved like a blur of red light, his spear clashing against Tang San's Clear Sky Hammer with a force that shattered the stone tiles. The "Overdrive" allowed them to match Tang San's "Exploding Rings" without sacrificing their life force. The garden became a geometric slaughterhouse of lightning, hammers, and crimson shockwaves.
Just as Tang San prepared to unleash his hidden weapons to finish the Porcupine Douluo, the very fabric of space above the palace garden folded.
It didn't tear, it creased like a piece of paper.
From the silver-blue ripple, three figures stepped out as if descending a staircase made of air. Lakan Diwa walked in the center, his THE ONE form deactivated, yet his passive aura so dense that the battle below came to a grinding halt.
On his left was Shui Bing'er, her Ice Phoenix aura radiating an Absolute Zero that froze the falling blood in mid-air. On his right was Zhu Zhuqing, her voluptuous figure clad in dark, shimmering leather, her feline eyes fixed on her former teammates with a look of bored pity.
"Such a noisy reunion," Lakan's voice carried over the garden, silky and mocking. "Tang San, I leave you alone for five years and you immediately start breaking the furniture. Is this how a God behaves?"
Tang San recoiled, his hammer trembling. "Lakan! You... you're part of this? You're protecting the impostor? As expected, all your bravado was never true after all"
Lakan landed softly on the grass, his presence instantly neutralizing the killing intent of the Death God Domain. He walked past the combatants as if they were statues in a museum.
"Impostor? Truth? Those are such small words," Lakan chuckled, stopping beside Qian Renxue. He reached out and casually adjusted her collar, a gesture of intimate authority. "She is a member of my Council. That makes her Truth the only one that matters on this continent."
Tang San's eyes turned blood-red. "The Sea God has decreed your Hall's destruction! I will fulfill my mission!"
Tang San lunged, his Hammer wreathed in Blue Lightning and Sea God's Light. Lakan didn't even manifest a weapon. He simply flicked his wrist, a wisp of Chaos Qi dancing on his thumb.
CLANG!
The hammer stopped dead against an invisible wall of spatial geometry. Lakan looked at the hammer, then at Tang San's sweating face. "You've been playing in a puddle for five years, Tang San. I've been rewriting the stars. We aren't even playing the same game anymore."
Lakan turned his back on Tang San, a gesture that made Yu Xiaogang—watching from the distance—shriek in indignation.
"You! You arrogant brat!" Xiaogang yelled. "Tang San is the chosen one! I am the God's Teacher! You cannot disrespect—"
Lakan glanced at Xiaogang, and the "Grandmaster" suddenly found his mouth fused shut by a thin layer of crystalline ice. "The God's Teacher should learn the value of silence," Lakan said.
"Renxue, Elders, we're leaving," Lakan commanded. He grabbed Renxue by the waist and looked at Tang San one last time with his signature confident smirk. "Keep the Shrek name, Tang San. It suits you. A small, muddy pond for a small, muddy boy. Come find me when you actually find the Nine Trials. I'm getting bored of winning by default."
With a snap of his fingers, the spatial fold swallowed Lakan's group. They vanished, leaving Tang San screaming into the empty air, the Vast Sea Cosmic Shroud still locked within the palace vaults, and the pride of the Shrek Seven shattered on the ground.