"Leng Yaozhu, if I find out that you have ill intentions, don't blame me for severing our ties!" Ya Li bit her lip so hard it bled. With a sharp cry, she vanished from Leng Yaozhu's embrace, leaving only a flickering afterimage behind.
"Yun Ming, I hope you really were a victim too. Otherwise, you've truly let down Sister Ya Li." Leng Yaozhu's gaze was profound—she was beginning to regret bringing this up to Ya Li.
From the bottom of her heart, Leng Yaozhu had always respected Ya Li. That was also why, even when Ya Li took Yun Ming away, she could still treat Ya Li as a sister.
On the current Douluo Continent, the only person willing to burn her own life force for the sake of ordinary people was Ya Li.
The reason Ya Li was unable to bear children stemmed from a major plague that once broke out in a poverty-stricken region. In order to expand the scope of rescue, she had burned her life force without hesitation.
That time, she saved tens of thousands of lives who were doomed to die from the epidemic. But she herself ended up on the verge of death due to extreme life force depletion.
Even after joining Shrek Academy, every time a natural disaster or catastrophe occurred, she would always be there.
Over the years, the number of people she had saved was simply uncountable.
Why is it that when Shrek Academy faced a storm of criticism, with Yun Ming and Long Yeyue condemned by all, Ya Li, the Pavilion Master of the Sea God Pavilion, remained untouched in terms of reputation?
Because of her utterly selfless kindness.
Now, on the Douluo Continent, who knows how many households have her longevity memorial tablet placed and worshipped.
This was also why the power of faith within her could effortlessly support a martial soul evolution for Xia Yi.
At that time, after she burned herself out, Yun Ming carried her all the way from Mingdu to Shrek Academy with a single spear. But even Shrek Academy couldn't revive her.
It was only because Yun Ming shared his life with her that she survived.
Even so, she permanently lost her ability to bear children.
Since then, she and Yun Ming had depended on each other for decades. She could feel that Yun Ming genuinely loved her. She would not allow anyone to slander the relationship between her and Yun Ming.
Not even Leng Yaozhu.
But now Yun Ming was dead, and Leng Yaozhu told her that the shared life force between her and Yun Ming was a lie.
Decades of affection—now possibly a lie. How could Ya Li accept such a cruel truth in such a short time?
Yun Ming was already gone. She couldn't let his final image in her heart be tainted.
"You really didn't have to," Xia Yi stared at the spot where Ya Li had disappeared. There weren't many people in Shrek Academy whom he had a good impression of—Ya Li was one of the few.
Even though Xia Yi had scolded Ya Li several times, he had to admit her kindness came from the depths of her heart. There was not a trace of pretense.
Whether it was the conflict between Xia Yi and the Spirit Pagoda, or between Shrek Academy and the Sun-Moon Federation, Ya Li always acted as the intermediary.
Even when she was wronged by Xia Yi, humiliated by the Spirit Pagoda, and even faced pressure from Long Yeyue and other Sea God Pavilion elders after returning to Shrek—she simply swallowed her bitterness.
She wasn't some kind of martyr—she just feared that any spark of conflict would lead to rivers of blood.
Though Xia Yi often disagreed with her approach, there was one thing she once said that he never argued with:
She had no malice.
Even when some of her actions harmed Xia Yi's interests, he could see she truly meant no harm.
Her intentions were always good.
"This is called breaking down before rebuilding." Leng Yaozhu glared at Xia Yi.
"What exactly are you trying to build?" Xia Yi asked curiously.
"Light and Darkness Douluo Long Yeyue will never give up on rebuilding Shrek Academy. The Passionate Douluo and Heartless Douluo will never give up on rebuilding the Tang Sect. But given the current reputations of Shrek and the Tang Sect, if they want to rebuild, Ya Li's reputation is the key. Only she has the power to rally the people," Leng Yaozhu looked toward the direction of the former Shrek Academy and said in a low voice, "I'm doing this because I don't want her to continue being used and manipulated by Long Yeyue."
"…Fair enough," Xia Yi nodded. Then he asked, "You mentioned something about information on the Demon Empress?"
At this, Lan Fozi also leaned in and asked, "Sister Yaozhu, what's going on with my mom?"
Leng Yaozhu turned to Lan Fozi and asked, "Has your mother's spiritual world been unstable—does she occasionally fall into a frenzied state?"
"Huh? Sister Yaozhu, how do you know?" Lan Fozi looked up at her in surprise. "My mom's spiritual world has been unstable. That's why she's spent most of her time in seclusion to stabilize it. Even so, sometimes she still loses control. But she's fine now."
"She's fine now?" Leng Yaozhu was momentarily stunned.
"Yes. After Xia Yi helped Mom forge the Ocean Cauldron, she used it to suppress the killing aura in her spiritual world. Then, by comprehending some insights from the Heavenly Map and Earth Chart, she was able to seal the killing intent. Now she's completely stable. She said once she becomes a first-rank god and uses the Ocean Cauldron, she can completely eliminate both the killing intent and the killing aura from her spirit."
"Wait… why didn't your mother tell me about this? Why is there something so terrifying in her spiritual world that it needs her to become a first-rank god and rely on a divine artifact to resolve it?" Xia Yi asked immediately, his brow furrowed.
"Mom said there's nothing you can do about it now and didn't want to burden you with worry. She told me not to say anything—but I didn't expect Sister Yaozhu to already know." Lan Fozi lowered her head.
"Tell me everything," Xia Yi said seriously. The thought that the Demon Empress had such a dangerous force inside her mind made him determined to find a solution no matter what.
Lan Fozi's eyes reddened as she slowly opened her right hand. A multicolored bead appeared in her palm. "You already know my father was the million-year Deep Sea Devil Whale King. This is one of his soul cores, left to me before he died. If I refine it, I could reach a million-year level in a short time without even needing to re-cultivate in human form. But Mom has never let me absorb it—only allowed me to keep it near to absorb its laws passively. That helps with breaking through to demi-god or quasi-god level, but I can't use its true power. If I want to grow stronger, I have to do it the slow way."
As Lan Fozi recalled these memories, tears began to fall from her sapphire eyes.
"Take your time," Xia Yi gently wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes.
"Besides the soul core, Dad also left something for Mom—a core of his energy. After absorbing it, she discovered it contained terrifying killing god power. That power took advantage of the moment to invade her spiritual world. If her will hadn't been strong, she would've been completely taken over long ago." Lan Fozi's gaze grew cold. The soul core she held also contained traces of that power—this was why her mother never let her absorb it.
"Killing god power?" Leng Yaozhu frowned slightly.
"It's the power of the Shura God," Lan Fozi said coldly. "Back then, the Sea God brought the original Shrek Seven Devils to attack my father, but they weren't his match at all. If it hadn't been for the previous generation's Sea God and Shura God working together to trap him, the Seven Devils would've been killed."
"Realizing he'd been tricked and had no way out, my father split off his energy core and a soul core ahead of time and secretly teleported them to my mom and me. He himself was ultimately killed by the Sea God and Shura God. Even the Deep Sea Devil Whale Clan's most precious Whale Pearl was taken by the Sea God and used to repair the Sea God Trident."
Lan Fozi was sobbing as she continued. That Whale Pearl was a god-tier object—its power was far greater than the energy core and soul core combined.
She wiped her tears and went on: "But by then, my dad's body had already been invaded by Shura divine power. His energy core and soul core were both contaminated. Mom didn't know and absorbed the energy core. That's how her spiritual world got partially taken over. Even though it wasn't much power, the Shura God is a Divine King—it's incredibly hard to remove. Mom's been enduring this corruption for 20,000 years."
"Is there no other way besides what she's doing now?" Xia Yi asked gravely.
"There is another way!" Lan Fozi nodded. "She can align with the Shura divine power—become a god through slaughter. The Shura God governs killing. With his divine power, Mom would find it easier than anyone to ascend through slaughter. She was planning to do that at first… until she met you. That's when she changed her mind."
Lan Fozi looked up at Xia Yi. "She said, what you need is a Queen of the Ocean, someone who can rule the seas—not a madwoman driven by hatred and blood. For you, and for the future of soul beasts, she chose to change."
"Thank you," Xia Yi said sincerely, pulling Lan Fozi into a hug. "I promise—I'll find a way to purge the Shura divine power from both of you. And I'll get your father's Whale Pearl back too."
"I believe in you," Lan Fozi nodded, then turned to Leng Yaozhu, curious. "Sister Yaozhu, how did you know my mom's spiritual world was unstable?"
(End of Chapter)