The battle was quickly turning against Shrek's inner court disciples.
Zhang Lexuan, Han Ruoruo, and the others were growing increasingly desperate.
"ROAR!"
The Ghostmoon Python Emperor suddenly unleashed a furious burst of power. Its massive body trembled violently, sending every soul master around it flying. Then, silver light bloomed from its twin horns, coalescing into a glowing sphere of moonlight—unstable, pulsing as if it were about to explode at any second.
"Xiaotao! Luo Wei! RUN!"
Zhu Ziyang had been closely watching the battlefield. The moment he sensed the energy buildup between the python's horns, he shouted the warning.
His call proved prophetic.
The python's head moved slightly, and the glowing orb between its horns shot toward Ma Xiaotao and Luo Wei like a blazing artillery shell, impossibly fast.
Fortunately, both girls had been on alert. As soon as they felt the danger, they reacted.
Ma Xiaotao spat a searing jet of fire, and Luo Wei fired a pink crystal arrow. Both attacks struck the orb precisely.
But to their shock—the orb absorbed both attacks.
Its size instantly expanded.
"RUN!"
Ma Xiaotao and Luo Wei exchanged a glance, then sprinted in opposite directions without hesitation.
BOOM!
The orb exploded in a deafening blast. Waves of searing heat rolled outward, and a mushroom-shaped cloud of black and silver mist rose from the epicenter.
Lunar Compression Ray—the Ghostmoon Python Emperor's most powerful technique. A soul skill that fused its lunar affinity with its innate ability to absorb and redirect soul energy. The more energy it absorbed, the more terrifying the final detonation.
The explosion was more than enough to instantly obliterate a Soul Emperor.
And yet, Ma Xiaotao and Luo Wei survived.
Barely.
Thanks to the efforts of Han Ruoruo and Zhang Lexuan.
Han Ruoruo had deactivated her Martial Soul True Body just in time. In the final moment before impact, her Shining Rope lashed out and pulled Luo Wei to safety.
Zhang Lexuan, meanwhile, had thrown herself between the blast and Ma Xiaotao, shielding her junior with her own body. She took the brunt of the force.
"Senior Sister!"
Ma Xiaotao clutched the now-unconscious Zhang Lexuan and retreated toward Zhu Ziyang and Su Meng, her voice choked with tears.
"I'm fine…"
Zhang Lexuan coughed, blood trickling from her lips. Her face was deathly pale. She weakly pushed Ma Xiaotao away.
"Go help the others. Don't mind me."
But losing four of their strongest fighters—Zhang Lexuan, Han Ruoruo, Ma Xiaotao, and Luo Wei—meant the remaining Shrek disciples were suddenly overwhelmed.
The Ghostmoon Python Emperor unleashed a barrage of attacks.
Zhang Weiwei, Shen Xu, Wu Ming, and Long Yu struggled under the onslaught. They were barely hanging on.
"Got it!"
Ma Xiaotao didn't hesitate. Though her soul power was nearly gone, she turned and charged back into battle without a second thought.
Zhang Lexuan coughed again, more blood spilling from her lips.
There was no time to rest. She wiped her mouth, preparing to rise again.
"Wait, Senior Sister!"
Zhu Ziyang stopped her.
"Don't worry," she said, turning toward him. Despite her pale face, she forced a faint smile.
"We'll win this."
"Senior Sister…" Zhu Ziyang took a deep breath.
"If I can immobilize the Ghostmoon Python Emperor for three seconds, would you all still have enough strength left to kill it?"
Zhang Lexuan and Su Meng both stared at him, stunned.
Hope lit their eyes. Doubt remained—but hope, too.
"Ziyang… can you really do that?" Zhang Lexuan asked, her voice shaking slightly.
Zhu Ziyang nodded solemnly.
"It's one of my second martial soul's abilities. But I only get one shot—so it has to count."
Zhang Lexuan's eyes flashed with shock at his words—second martial soul?!
But there was no time to dwell on it.
She pressed her lips into a determined line and nodded.
"Leave it to me."
"Alright."
Zhu Ziyang pulled out a soul tool shield and passed it to her.
"Take me to the python—up close."
Without a word, Zhang Lexuan grabbed his arm and took off into the air, heading straight for the battlefield.
"Please… be safe!"
Su Meng whispered hoarsely. Her soul power was long depleted. All she could do was cradle the unconscious Zhu Lie and pray.
On the battlefield, the situation was grim.
Han Ruoruo and Zhang Weiwei were badly injured, blood dripping from their mouths.
Shen Xu had a gaping wound in his abdomen.
Long Yu's legs had been crushed.
Wu Ming, Ma Xiaotao, and Luo Wei were covered in cuts and burns.
They were all on the brink of collapse.
But the Ghostmoon Python Emperor wasn't doing much better.
Its once-glorious silver scales were cracked and torn. Entire patches of flesh had been ripped away. Most notably, the seventh scale beneath its jaw was now festering—poisoned by Wanwan's venom.
If the battle continued, the python might die from attrition—but the Shrek disciples would be annihilated long before that.
"Senior Sister—ready!"
As they arrived, Zhu Ziyang leapt from Zhang Lexuan's arms and landed at the center of the battlefield. His shout drew everyone's attention.
They turned—only to witness a sight that left them frozen.
Zhu Ziyang released his second martial soul.
His right arm transformed into an enormous frost-white dragon claw, and a single crimson soul ring—marked with golden script—rose behind him.
A hundred-thousand-year soul ring.
Everyone stared, stunned—including the Ghostmoon Python Emperor. Even it was momentarily shaken.
Zhang Lexuan was just as shocked—but in that instant, she felt something else too: hope.
She didn't hesitate.
She ignited the core of her martial soul, burning her soul origin to momentarily return to peak strength. Her first, second, sixth, and seventh rings lit up. With her Martial Soul True Body active and every boost stacked, she now surpassed the level of a Pseudo–Soul Douluo.
At the same time, Zhu Ziyang acted.
"Heavenly Frost Saint White Dragon, first soul skill—activate!"
A wave of pure blue frost erupted from him, instantly freezing the surrounding hundred-meter radius in absolute stillness. The Ghostmoon Python Emperor found itself trapped in this ice-drenched domain.
It sensed the danger—but it was already too late.
Zhu Ziyang's right arm glowed, and he unleashed the soul bone ability of his Silver Dragon Wolf right arm bone.
Heavenly Frost Chill + Frozen Time!
Together, these two abilities fused into a terrifying effect:
The extreme cold of Heavenly Frost froze space and time itself, paralyzing any lifeform caught within it.
Frozen Time extended the effect with direct temporal stasis.
While normally the duration would be three seconds, due to the Ghostmoon Python's vastly superior cultivation, the net effect was reduced:
1 second from the soul skill.
2 seconds from the soul bone.
Total: 3 seconds.
In that moment, the Ghostmoon Python Emperor was completely immobilized.
Only its terrified eyes still moved.
Zhang Lexuan seized the moment.
With all her power, she unleashed her strongest attack ever. Her full moon true body condensed into a massive cannon of light, unleashing a beam even thicker than the Ghostmoon Shockwave.
The beam struck the python's head, melting its eyes, boring through its skull—straight into its brain.
"ROAR!!"
Faced with death, the Ghostmoon Python Emperor let out one final, frenzied spasm.
It broke free from Zhu Ziyang's frozen grip—but its brain was no longer in control. Its body writhed and flailed. Its tail swept out wildly, striking everything in its path—including a dark shield inscribed with a black dragon.
Zhu Ziyang, weakened from his domain skill, had only 10% of his soul power remaining. With it, he activated the soul skill of his Dark Dragon Shield, a soul tool given to him by Qian Duoduo:
Dark Dragon Shield Array!
Thanks to this defensive tool, he avoided instant death. But the python's tail still struck him with overwhelming force.
"BOOM!"
Zhu Ziyang and the shield were sent flying.
"ZIYANG!!"
Ma Xiaotao screamed. She stumbled toward him—but collapsed after a single step, her strength and soul power fully drained.
She could only watch in despair as his figure vanished into the distance.
Zhang Lexuan, having burned her soul core, collapsed where she stood.
She couldn't even move as the python's giant tail came crashing toward her.
The others were equally powerless. Some were unconscious. The rest were too weak to intervene.
But just as the tail was about to crush her—just inches away—it suddenly froze midair, then collapsed limply to the ground.
The Ghostmoon Python Emperor was dead.
"BEAST! HOW DARE YOU!!"
A thunderous voice roared from above.
A gray-cloaked elder descended from the sky, landing heavily on the devastated battlefield.
It was none other than—
Elder Xuan.
He looked around at the bloodied students… and then at the fading soul ring drifting from the python's corpse.
A heavy silence fell.
"…I'm an absolute fool," he muttered bitterly.