Soul Land 3: Legend Of The Dragon King

"You sure left it until the very last minute! Weren't you worried that those two would piss themselves from fear? You really are worthy of your 'Heartless' Douluo title!" Zhang Huanyun chuckled.

Cao Dezhi also chuckled in response, "I wasn't the one who ordered to have them executed, so they'll only thank me for saving them. You'll be the one that's resented for being a cruel and unreasonable tyrant."

Zhang Huanyun's smile faded upon hearing this. "You were the one who came up with this ploy, yet I have to play the bad guy! You really are a nasty piece of work! Also, is this really necessary? This situation is rather forced; it's quite easy to verify their identities, especially because they've only just recently participated in that competition."

Cao Dezhi nodded in response. "This is still a necessary evil. With their aptitudes and performances during the competition, it's inevitable that they'll be quite conceited and untamed. If we don't take them down a notch here, it might not be a good thing to have them follow Wulin in the future. Wulin is undoubtedly going to stand at the pinnacle of the continent someday, but even the most powerful of beings require allies, and he'll need more powerful and reliable allies than just his friends from Shrek Academy. That Sima Jinchi's martial soul seems to have a certain level of synergy with Wulin, while A'Ruheng is his senior disciple brother from the Body Sect, and both of them are quite trustworthy. All we have to do now is tame them so they'll be of better use to Wulin in the future."

Zhang Huanyun gave Cao Dezhi a meaningful look. "I had thought that if I had met Wulin first instead of you, perhaps I would've been able to take him under my wing, but I can now see just how much effort you've put into paving the way for his future."

Cao Dezhi chuckled, "There was no way I was ever going to let you take him. Don't forget that he's a disciple of our Tang Sect, and the higher-ups of our sect have had our eyes on him for many years now. From the moment he became one of Shrek’s Seven Monsters, our Tang Sect had already decided to do everything in our power to nurture him. The surprise attack caught both our Tang Sect and Shrek Academy completely off guard and dealt us extremely heavy blows, but if they think that this is enough to completely uproot two super organizations that have stood at the pinnacle of the continent for tens of thousands of years, then they couldn't be more wrong.

"The Tang Sect and Shrek Academy didn't strike back right away, and that's because we're accumulating power, waiting for a new leader to appear. Now, the time is just about right; the new leader is about to emerge, and he's going to continue to advance and improve through hardships. I was never under the impression that Shrek Academy would be permanently erased in the aftermath of the attack; in my eyes, Shrek Academy will simply be reborn from the ashes, and when it returns, it will be more glorious than ever."

Zhang Huanyun couldn't help but be surprised by Cao Dezhi's words. He had also always held the belief that Shrek Academy wouldn't fall so easily, but he didn't have as much confidence in it as Cao Dezhi did, either.

"Just wait and see. You've definitely made the right decision by choosing to have the Blood God Legion side with us, and this is definitely a decision you'll be thankful for in the future. The Blood God Legion will most definitely be elevated to even greater heights for this decision."

Zhang Huanyun nodded in response. "I would've brushed off your words as mere hyperbole if you had told me this a few days ago, but after I sensed his spiritual power reach the Spirit Domain realm, I had no choice but to acknowledge everything you just said. It's just that the burden on his shoulders is extremely heavy. It's naturally important for him to continue to improve in power, but we have to keep an eye on him and help him in his mental development."

"You're right, this is my concern as well. However, there are some things in life in which one can only rely on themselves, and I believe Wulin can handle everything that's thrown at him. He is an exceptional prodigy who is blessed by the heavens, so it won't be that easy to strike him down."

......

A'Ruheng and Sima Jinchi had already begun to shiver uncontrollably about two hours ago.

The normal temperature in the area surrounding the Blood God Legion base was around -30°C, [-22°F for mah American homies] but the bone-chilling winds could drop the apparent temperature to as low as -50°C. [-58°F for mah American homies]

Under normal circumstances, these low temperatures would pose no issues to them; with their powers, they were already virtually completely impervious to temperature changes.

However, their powers had been completely sealed away, so all they could rely on was their physical constitution. Under these circumstances, no one could remain unfazed after standing in the cold for so long!

The soldiers that were guarding them were armed to the teeth, yet the two of them were severely underdressed. More than six hours had passed since that middle-aged man went to speak to the legion commander about them. There was a coat of ice over their eyebrows and facial hair, and if a pair of normal people were in their shoes, they would've most likely been frozen to death long ago. Even with their powerful physical constitutions, their faces were still completely devoid of color.

A'Ruheng was in slightly better condition among the two. He was a powerful being from the Body Sect, after all, so there were very few people who could match his physical constitution. Sima Jinchi also possessed an extremely powerful body, but even he was beginning to struggle.

"Can you go and ask about us..." Sima Jinchi asked in a trembling voice, but the soldiers were standing nearby like statues, displaying no reaction whatsoever and completely ignoring them.

A wry smile appeared on A'Ruheng's face. "Save your energy; these guys are no different from robots. What did I do to deserve this? How could something like this happen to me? If I had known this was going to happen, I wouldn't have come here in the first place. I wonder where my junior disciple brother is."

Sima Jinchi rolled his eyes in response. "Are you an idiot? You didn't even contact him before coming here? You deserve this for being such a stupid buffoon!"

A'Ruheng immediately flared up with rage. "I'M a stupid buffoon? You speak like you're some kind of genius! Did you contact him beforehand? What right do you have to denounce me? I don't really mind the cold anyway; my body can still handle it."

"F*ck off!" Sima Jinchi retorted, "There's no way you're in much better condition than me! Besides, we're both gonna get shot here, so we're both in the same boat."

A'Ruheng suddenly turned to one of the soldiers, and said, "Hey, do you know Golden Dragon King? You know, the one from your legion who became the champion of the Star Battle Net Inter-federation Competition? He's my junior disciple brother! How about you get him to come here so he can vouch for our identities? I fought him in the grand final not long ago; did you not watch the match?"

The soldiers continued to ignore him in a stoic statuesque manner.

"I feel like I'm speaking to a wall!" An enraged look appeared on A'Ruheng's face. All of a sudden, a thought seemed to have occurred to him, and he looked around to inspect his surroundings.

The Blood God Legion base had been set up on a mountain peak, and even though it spanned quite a large area, its barracks were packed far more densely together than in normal legions in order to trap as much heat as possible.

A'Ruheng took a deep breath, and his chest slowly began to expand. He was the most exceptional disciple of the current generation in the Body Sect, and he had also cultivated the congenital secret method. As time passed, the restriction that Zhang Huanyun had planted on his body seemed to have also weakened a little, and as he took a deep breath, his entire body seemed to have expanded slightly like a balloon.

Sima Jinchi immediately sensed that he was up to something, but he had no idea what exactly he was planning to do.

Right at this instant, A'Ruheng suddenly opened his mouth, and roared with all his might, "Tang Wulin, your senior disciple brother is here; come and save me!"

Even though he still couldn't draw upon any soul power, his lung capacity was far superior to that of the normal person, and this roar of his was truly like a clap of thunder. Even the soldiers that were guarding them reflexively took a backward step in unison in the face of his thunderous voice.

"Tang Wulin, your senior disciple brother is here; come and save me!"

A'Ruheng was howling like a madman. Tang Wulin had to be in this legion base; why didn't he think of this method to seek help from Tang Wulin earlier? It may be a very crude method, but it was most likely going to be extremely effective as well!