159: The tragic scene at the venue, Young Master Benyu

The sky over Shrek City seemed to be covered by a heavy, lead-gray curtain, weighing down heavily over the city. The once bustling Youth Genius Competition venue, formerly filled with hope and vitality, had now been reduced to a silent ruin, permeated by suffocating sadness and despair.

Inside the arena, broken walls and debris were everywhere. The once incredibly sturdy arena walls now consisted only of jagged remains, like the collapsed skeleton of a giant beast, silently recounting the tragic battle that had just occurred.

Huge stones were piled up in a chaotic mess, some even embedded several feet deep into the ground. The stands were an even greater mess, with seats twisted and deformed, tilted in every direction as if they had suffered a frenzied ravaging. Dried blood stained the ground and broken seats, a shocking sight like the wounds of the earth, each mark recording a moment of life fading away.

Despite Holy Spirit Douluo Yali's best efforts to provide treatment, the number of casualties remained appalling.

After all, those were the aftershocks caused by the clash between the Beast God in a frenzied state and the Sky Pillar Douluo!

The bodies of the victims had been gathered in a corner of the arena and covered with white cloths. Although they had been arranged as neatly as possible, the twisted and disarrayed limbs were still visible—proof of their struggle in their final moments of life.

Their relatives gathered around, their wailing reaching the heavens in heartbreaking grief. Some family members collapsed on the ground, their eyes empty as if their Souls had vanished along with their loved ones; others beat the ground, questioning the injustice of fate. Children hid fearfully behind adults, their eyes full of terror and confusion, as this sudden disaster left an indelible trauma in their young hearts.

This was the insane retaliation launched by the King of Vicious Beasts against humanity!

Staff from the Spirit Pagoda moved through the ruins and the crowd, methodically recording victim information and distributing compensation. Every name registered and every payment handed out was accompanied by the cries and sighs of the families.

As the organizer, the Spirit Pagoda was now caught in a storm of responsibility and condemnation. Qiangu Dongfeng looked grave as he surveyed the unbearable scene, his heart filled with helplessness.

Who could have imagined that Beast God Di Tian would actually lead the Star Dou Vicious Beasts to attack? After an emergency discussion, the Spirit Pagoda had to make the difficult decision—announcing the suspension of the competition.

Of course, Shen Guyan, using the pseudonym Gongzi Yu, was already far ahead of the rest in points, making his position at the top of the rankings an established fact.

Spirit Pagoda was quickly organizing personnel; on one hand, they were repairing the venue and strengthening its defenses to prevent such an accident from happening again, and on the other, they were arranging the distribution of compensation to soothe the grief of the victims' families and provide them with necessary help and support.

Limit Douluo like Yun Ming, Zang Xin, and Guan Yue, who had engaged in a fierce battle with the Vicious Beasts, returned to the scene one after another, each looking extremely grave. These Kings of Vicious Beasts no longer cared about the battlefield at all, unlike before when they would consciously fly high into the sky to fight and avoid harming the innocent.

From this, one could see just how far the hatred of the remaining Spirit Beasts on the continent toward humans had reached!

But these powerhouses of the current era were different from those Kings of Vicious Beasts. Although they had the enhancement of their four-word battle armor and were far superior to these Vicious Beasts in one-on-one combat, they were unable to strike with full force due to their concern for innocent bystanders.

Even so, Yun Ming and the others still held the absolute upper hand. Later on, if Beast God Di Tian hadn't rushed back to tear open a space crack and take away the Jade Swan, the Demon Empress, the Bear Lord, and the other Beast Kings, several Beast Kings might have been left behind today to be buried with the victims.

Several of the Vicious Beasts were severely injured. Di Tian was even pierced by Yun Ming's spear while covering the retreat of the Beast Kings, so he likely won't be able to cause any trouble for a short while.

Several Limit Douluo returned to the venue exhausted, their hearts filled with complex emotions as they looked at the devastated landscape.

Yun Ming gazed at the ruins before him, deep concern showing in his eyes. He knew that the occurrence of this disaster meant those Spirit Beasts had been pushed to a dead end; Spirit Beasts were on the verge of extinction, and the retaliation of the Vicious Beasts had finally arrived.

Qiangu Dongfeng stepped forward, exchanged looks with Yun Ming and the others, and said heavily, "We all bear responsibility for this incident. The immediate priority is to appease the public and handle the aftermath properly. At the same time, we must strengthen our defenses to prevent similar tragedies from happening again."

"Then let it be as you say." Yun Ming and the others nodded one after another. They knew deep down that those Beast Kings probably wouldn't let things go so easily, but from the perspective of human Spirit Masters, they had no choice but to join hands and face everything that was to come together.

Qiangu Dongfeng took a deep breath and said, "Spirit Pagoda will conduct a comprehensive investigation into this incident and publicize the results to all factions on the continent. At the same time, we will also use the resources of the Spirit Pagoda to greatly strengthen the control and research of Spirit Beasts, seeking ways to coexist peacefully with them and avoid similar conflicts in the future."

"And then there are those two Evil Soul Masters." Zang Xin frowned deeply. "Is the Holy Spirit Cult already so arrogant? To actually dare to come to Shrek City and run wild..."

Hearing this, a flicker of unnatural light flashed in Qiangu Dongfeng's eyes, and he immediately feigned worry. "Those fellows truly have a lot of nerve. I wonder how Heavenly Phoenix is doing now."

"It's hard to say..." Yun Ming rubbed his nose awkwardly. From Leng Yulai's previous remarks, it seemed the conflict between the Leng sisters was quite significant, and apparently, it had started because of him... "In short, once there is any news of the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, let's notify each other." Guan Yue sighed as he spoke, though his heart was dwelling on the whereabouts of that Genius.

Such a favored son of heaven had actually slipped away from right before his eyes... The old man felt a surge of regret in his heart... "Alright..." The several great powerhouses of the era nodded and then flew off in different directions. Whether it was investigating the attack by the Beast Kings or the activities of the Holy Spirit Cult, these had become the top priorities for the various factions.

Meanwhile, the youth who was the source of all the trouble was standing coldly inside the internal space of the Divine Artifact, the time-space divine shuttle, looking down at Leng Yulai.

Leng Yulai's face was now completely covered by the azure dragon mask. All of her memories were being transmitted into Shen Guyan's mind, and the brand was quietly being planted.

Leng Yaozhu finally regained her ability to move. She did not return to her sister Leng Yulai's side, because everything had already been settled. The way she looked at Shen Guyan had also changed from before.

"So, your Spirit has this kind of ability... Do you want to control us sisters?" Leng Yaozhu's voice was cold and her tone very distant; the youth before her seemed to be becoming a stranger.

Shen Guyan had no intention of hiding it from them, because if he wanted to rise quickly in this World, he had to do this! After all, he was Gongzi Yu!

"Yes, I want you, and the power of the Holy Spirit Cult."