Five hundred Royal Knights escorted the fifteen Soul Master Academy teams that had advanced from the preliminary rounds.

The carriage was much slower than walking alone, and it took ten days just to reach the outskirts of the Martial Soul Holy City.

The Royal Knights always traveled on official roads, only taking shortcuts through remote areas.

The rugged cliffs are barren.

Five hundred Royal Knights, along with fifteen teams from Soul Master Academies, totaling nearly eight hundred people, passed through the valley road between the two hills.

Just as they were halfway through their journey, countless huge rocks began to tumble down from the two low hills, hurtling rapidly toward the large group passing below.

The Royal Knights of the Heavenly Dou Empire were well-trained and formed a defensive formation, managing to withstand the falling rocks with relative ease.

But after a sudden whistle, countless men in black appeared on the hills on both sides, swooping down at an astonishing speed. The Royal Knights' advantage was instantly shattered, and they were forced to adopt a more passive defensive posture.

The boulders that rolled down ahead cleverly cut off the distance between the various academies, trapping people from different academies separately, unable to see each other or provide timely support.

Brilliant light shone on the Soul Masters one after another, and everyone entered combat mode.

The Spirit Hall guards, disguised as bandits, were dressed entirely in black from head to toe, and their teamwork was exceptionally impressive. Especially when facing the black-clad men from Shrek Academy, the four Soul King-level men, despite being three realms below Dean Flander, a Soul Douluo, were able to easily engage Flander in combat, preventing him from turning back to support their true target—the Shrek Six Monsters.

Four agility-type Soul Kings transferred Flander and Liu Erlong, the strongest combatants in Shrek Academy, away. Zhao Wuji, who was close to becoming a Soul Douluo, stayed behind at Shrek Academy in Tiandou and did not come along. Yu Xiaogang, the last member of the Golden Iron Triangle, had already gone to the Martial Soul Holy City alone before.

Although Liu Erlong broke through to the Soul Douluo level in the two months after Sunset Forest, the internal injuries she suffered at the hands of Yue Guan and Gui Mei were not fully healed.

The four agility-type Soul Kings from the Spirit Hall coordinated well, acted in perfect harmony and with cunning, and soon entangled them.

Facing three formidable enemies, Tang San and his companions were in for a tough time.

The other men in black were unable to get close to them due to the attacks of hidden weapons, but three men in black with extraordinary auras suddenly appeared from behind, two of whom were seven-ring Soul Saints.

Qin Ming, a six-ring Soul Emperor accompanying the group, fought against two opponents alone, and together with several Soul King-level Royal Knights who stayed near their academy carriage, they barely managed to hold back the two six-ring Soul Emperors.

But the real problem is the last man in black.

He is an eight-ring Soul Douluo powerhouse!

Faced with the powerful attack of a Soul Douluo who directly activated his Martial Soul True Body, the Shrek Six Monsters, who were at the strongest Soul Master level, were extremely passive and were constantly being attacked. If they relaxed even slightly, they would be mercilessly knocked away by the enemy, and soon they were covered in injuries.

Just when Tang San was extremely anxious, the Dragon Duke and Snake Lady, whom they had met once before, came to their aid and subdued the Soul Douluo who was attacking them. However, the situation was quickly disrupted again by the arrival of the familiar white-clad masked man.

"Loldiala, you're getting worse as you get older. You can't even handle such a simple task?"

Yue Guan's soft, feminine voice was highly distinctive, and the Shrek Six Monsters practically memorized it.

Because the other party was the culprit who kidnapped one of their important companions!

"It's you!"

Dai Mubai stared bloodshot at the white-clad, masked man who had silently appeared not far from them.

"Oh? It's you guys again." Yue Guan reprimanded his subordinates for drawing the black and white portrait.

Who drew the wanted poster? I'll go back and change that one.

"Why did you kidnap Zhu Qing?! Give Zhu Qing back!"

The Evil-Eyed White Tiger Martial Soul instantly possessed Dai Mubai, causing his muscles to swell to twice their normal size. Dark golden qi mixed with a powerful tiger roar spread out, immediately reaching Yue Guan's ears.

"Tsk, if I'd known you were the target of this trip, I should have finished you off back then." Yue Guan sneered, his indifferent gaze sweeping over the Dragon Duke and Snake Granny, whose faces were filled with fear upon seeing his arrival, as he spoke threateningly:

"You two, the peerless dragon and snake couple, are you still not planning to leave after seeing my appearance? If you need me to personally send you on your way, that's fine too."

Long Gong broke out in a cold sweat. Under the puzzled gaze of his granddaughter Meng Yiran, he grabbed her arm, bowed to Yue Guan with a grim expression, and silently left.

"No, they just left like that?"

Seeing the departing figure of the Dragon and Snake, Ma Hongjun's eyes widened. He wondered if they were being too cowardly. Even the strongest Soul Masters who had only reached the Soul Sect level hadn't retreated, but these two had.

"It's already very kind of the couple, the Peerless Dragon and Snake, to help us without holding a grudge. After all, our opponents... are a Title Douluo and a Soul Douluo..." Oscar said in a slightly lower voice.

Ning Rongrong was also feeling heavy-hearted, but she knew that what her beloved Oscar said made sense.

I helped them out of kindness and goodwill, not out of obligation.

Moreover, this time, the other side has such a large presence, it's obvious they won't be as wary of the power behind them as they were last time.

Tang San looked at Xiao Wu, whose face had turned pale since Yue Guan arrived, and felt both despair and resentment.

He couldn't think of any way to break the deadlock.

His Twenty-Four Bridges Under the Moon belt appeared silently in the principal's office of Shrek Academy on the fourth day after Zhu Qing was kidnapped. However, the hidden weapons he had painstakingly crafted, the pills he had refined, and his life-saving trump card, the Yama's Decree, were all empty inside.

The magic bag the old monster gave him also returned, but all the rare and precious materials stored inside were swept away, leaving him not even a single leaf.

Unfortunately, the old monster has not been found yet. According to him, he was searching for an enemy he had a long-standing feud with, and has not returned to this day.

Dean Flander and Vice Dean Liu Erlong were still recovering from their injuries and were entangled by other powerful Soul Masters.

Are they destined to die in this desolate canyon today?

Tang San's figure instantly became desolate.

Having scared away the peerless dragon and snake couple, Contra Lordiala glanced at Moon Pass not far away and felt completely safe.

Urged impatiently by Yue Guan, he once again entered the True Body of Martial Soul, which had been extinguished by the Peerless Dragon and Snake Couple. His arms transformed into two sharp eagle claws, and his body rapidly contracted and changed, becoming more and more like the Golden Eagle Martial Soul illusion behind him. He poured his enormous soul power into his claws and fiercely grabbed at Tang San, who was suppressed by Yue Guan's Title Douluo aura.

He wants to get off work!

"Bang—!"

The eerie green ray shot straight at Lordiara from afar, striking her at incredible speed.

A mournful cry rang out from the golden eagle.

The condensed soul energy and the golden eagle phantom image shattered like torn paper, and Lordiara in mid-air spat out a mouthful of bright red blood.

Lordiara, who was knocked away for the second time: "#@￥￥%"

He struggled to lift his head from the sunken pit, spitting out the dirt and grime from his mouth, with a mouthful of profanities to utter.

Who is it this time?!