Having learned from the previous attack on the Far Ocean and Star Luo ships by the Demon Soul Great White Shark leading the Sea Soul Beasts, this time, the Federation made thorough preparations for the return voyage of the Far Ocean and Heavenly Sea ships.
With warships and fighter jets escorting them, there were no unexpected incidents along the way.
On their last journey from the Douluo Continent to the Star Luo Continent, the Far Ocean had to tow the Star Luo ship, which slowed them down to nearly three months.
This time, however, with the Star Luo and Heavenly Sea operating at full capacity, they covered more than half the journey in less than a month.
At this pace, they would reach Sky Sea City on the Douluo Continent in no more than two months.
As the two massive ships gradually approached the Douluo Continent, the Five Great Legions also mobilized reinforcements toward Sky Sea City.
The Sun-Moon Federation was preparing to deploy five legions—three naval legions and two army legions.
Once the Far Ocean and Heavenly Sea docked safely at Sky Sea City, these legions would be ready to storm Star Luo and Dou Ling Continents.
However, Chen Xinjie had another matter to attend to.
He had already made arrangements—once the Far Ocean and Heavenly Sea reached port, the Sun-Moon Federation's exchange delegation members would be immediately detained.
He could not let the betrayal that led to the Far Ocean's power system being leaked go unpunished.
After experiencing the Wu Family's treachery, Chen Xinjie had developed an intense hatred for traitors.
Yet, he was unaware that the Sea God Pavilion was already in complete chaos.
A few days earlier, Shrek Academy had received a video showing Lan Muzi betraying the Far Ocean's power system.
The sender demanded that Shrek Academy hand over their most prized treasure—the Vast Sea Universe Crystal—or the video would be exposed to the public.
With Yun Ming missing and Yali still at sea, the academy could only communicate with her via satellite, but contacting her now would be like exposing themselves to military surveillance.
Moreover, Yali did not carry a satellite communicator with her.
At this moment, the only one left in charge of Shrek Academy was Dragon Staff Douluo Long Hai, a Rank 97 Super Douluo and the Inner Court Dean.
However, Long Hai had no authority to make decisions regarding the Vast Sea Universe Crystal, as it was the academy's most sacred treasure.
"If we had known this earlier, Moon Jie and Lan Muzi shouldn't have joined the Blood God Legion under Shrek Academy's name," Long Hai said solemnly.
Lan Muzi and Long Yeyue had already been expelled from Shrek Academy by Yali, yet they had joined the Blood God Legion under Shrek Academy's name without any objection from the academy.
Long Hai was not worried about Chen Xinjie seeing the video.
What he feared was the video being made public.
If that happened, even if Chen Xinjie chose not to pursue Long Yeyue and Lan Muzi, the Sun-Moon Federation would not let it go.
At a time when Tang Sect and Shrek Academy were already struggling, being accused of treason would completely destroy Shrek Academy's reputation.
Inside the Sea God Pavilion, Long Hai looked at the other Pavilion elders, massaging his temples.
"Have we been able to contact the boss?"
"No," Zhuo Shi shook his head, his face filled with helplessness. Looking at the grim faces around him, he sighed."Who would've thought that the once-mighty Sea God Pavilion would end up like this?"
"What about Moon Jie? What does she say?" Blazing Dragon Douluo Feng Wuyu asked nervously.
"Moon Jie said she's no longer part of Shrek Academy and that we should handle this ourselves." Long Hai smiled bitterly.
It was clear that Long Yeyue was shirking responsibility—she did not want to bear the burden of handing over Shrek Academy's most sacred treasure.
Unbeknownst to the Sea God Pavilion, the missing Yun Ming was still inside Shrek Academy.
He had fully merged with the Golden Ancient Tree, the Life Core of the Douluo Plane, and extended his God-level spiritual power deep into the plane.
Yet, his search had been fruitless—until he activated the Life Seed within the Golden Ancient Tree.
Suddenly, he sensed a faint, fragmented mental signal:
"Be… careful… Xia… Yi… outside… the plane…"
The voice was weak, barely discernible, but Yun Ming caught it.
"Be careful? Xia Yi? Outside the plane? What does this mean? Could it be that Xia Yi is not from the Douluo Continent but from another dimension?"
Yun Ming frowned deeply.
For some time, he had been trying to contact the Plane's Master, Tang Hao, but only recently had he managed to establish a link.
However, Tang Hao was in a deep slumber. If not for the Life Seed's power, Yun Ming would not have been able to reach him at all.
Without alerting the other Sea God Pavilion members, Yun Ming quietly left Shrek Academy and headed straight for the Blood God Legion.
Upon arrival, he quickly found Ruthless Douluo Cao Dezhi, Light-Dark Douluo Long Yeyue, and Overwhelming Sky Douluo Guan Yue.
To his surprise, Amorous Douluo Zang Xin was also in the Blood God Legion.
"Why are you here, Yun Ming? Long Hai has been looking for you everywhere—don't you know that Shrek Academy is in deep trouble?" Long Yeyue asked urgently.
"I already know about it, but it's not urgent—we still have time." Yun Ming shook his head."I came here for another reason."
"What could be more important than Shrek Academy's reputation?" Long Yeyue questioned.
"I want detailed information on Heavenly Phoenix Douluo's breakthrough," Yun Ming said seriously.
"Why?" Guan Yue asked, his expression darkening.
"I suspect that Heavenly Phoenix Douluo reached the Quasi-God level so quickly because she encountered another plane's cultivation methods, techniques, or energy sources."
Hearing this, Long Yeyue's face changed.
"Are you saying that Spirit Pagoda has been contacting another dimension? That's impossible—even the Federation hasn't achieved that yet!"
"No, that's not what I mean. I suspect that Xia Yi himself is from outside the Douluo Continent."
Yun Ming explained his conversation with the Plane's Master and added:
"There's something strange about Xia Yi. The day I wanted to kill him in Star Luo Empire, I suddenly had the absolute certainty that I couldn't. You're all Ultimate Douluos—you must have had moments where you sensed an opponent was beyond your power. That feeling wasn't baseless, which is why I backed off."
As the discussion continued, they realized a chilling possibility—if Xia Yi really was from another plane, then Heavenly Phoenix Douluo, Gu Yue, and Dark Phoenix Douluo Leng Yulai could also soon reach Quasi-God status.
"If Xia Yi is an alien invader, he must be eliminated," Long Yeyue said coldly.
"It's not that simple…" Yun Ming sighed.
For now, however, they had to deal with Shrek Academy's crisis first.
"There's actually a possibility," Guan Yue's eyes showed a contemplative look as he said, "The current Heavenly Phoenix Douluo exudes an indescribable sense of majesty. Sometimes, I even feel like I can't look directly at her and can only look up to her in awe."
"Yes, I feel the same way. If I stare at her for too long, I get the sensation that my life and death are within her mere thoughts," Long Yeyue gritted her teeth and spoke angrily.
Every time she thought about how Leng Yaozhu, who was once inferior to her, had now reached a point where she didn't even have the courage to look her in the eye, she was filled with resentment.
"If the Heavenly Phoenix Douluo truly obtained some sort of extraterritorial fortune from Xia Yi, then it won't be long before Xia Yi, Gu Yue, and the Dark Phoenix Douluo Leng Yulai all become the next Heavenly Phoenix Douluo," the Merciless Douluo Cao Dezhi said, his expression growing solemn.
"Senior brother, what should we do?" Guan Yue asked Yun Ming.
"What else can we do? Extraterritorial invaders must be eradicated!" Long Yeyue coldly declared before Yun Ming could answer.
"It's not that simple," Yun Ming shook his head and said, "This is all just our speculation. The current Shrek Academy has lost its former prestige. Unless the Lord of the Plane awakens and personally confirms that Xia Yi is from beyond this world, others will only think we're deliberately seeking revenge."
"So what should we do now?" Long Yeyue asked.
"Let's deal with the immediate issues at Shrek Academy first," Yun Ming said helplessly.
"How do we handle it?" Long Yeyue asked again.
"Isn't someone in the shadows after the Hanhai Universe Crystal? Then let's give it to them—but let's see if they have the ability to take it," Yun Ming sneered. "Contact Chen Xinjie via soul communicator and inform him of the situation. Have him mobilize the military's forces to assist us. We'll set up an ambush at the transaction site. Only by capturing this person will Shrek Academy truly be safe."
If Shrek Academy handed over the Vast Se Universe Crystal too easily, there was no guarantee that the person in the shadows wouldn't try to blackmail them again.
By turning the tables and drawing out this hidden figure, not only could they resolve the issue once and for all, but they could also keep the Vast Universe Crystal.
"Why Chen Xinjie specifically? Aren't the forces of the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy enough?" Guan Yue asked.
It made sense now why Yun Ming had approached Long Yeyue—asking a high-ranking military figure to help deal with someone who had evidence of treason was quite a move.
"It's different. If this person dares to blackmail us, they will definitely be wary of strong figures from the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy. Only by using military forces can we catch them off guard. They would never expect that Shrek Academy would dare to seek the military's help in a matter like this," Yun Ming chuckled coldly and continued, "If they think they can threaten Shrek Academy, I'd like to see if they can live to take away our academy's most prized treasure."
"I'll handle this. If Chen Xinjie dares to refuse, he'll regret it," Long Yeyue sneered and turned to leave.
"I'll go too and help persuade the Hall Master," Guan Yue followed after her. As the Deputy Hall Master of the War God Hall, he naturally had to be involved.
After Long Yeyue and Guan Yue left, Yun Ming turned to Tang Sect's Zang Xin and clasped his fists. "I'm afraid we'll also need the Tang Sect's assistance in this matter."
"Didn't you just say the enemy is already wary of us? What can we do?" Zang Xin asked indifferently.
"I need Amorous Douluo and the Tang Sect to step forward and make the enemy believe that you are our trump card. That way, they will think everything is within their control. As for me, I've been keeping a low profile for so long—I'll stay hidden and strike when they least expect it," Yun Ming said in a serious tone.
"That might be difficult. I have things to take care of, and I still owe Dezhi a huge debt," Zang Xin glanced at Cao Dezhi and said.
Yun Ming was momentarily stunned but quickly understood. He chuckled and said, "That's no problem. I'll settle it for you."
"Yun Ming, Zang Xin's debt to me isn't just about money," Cao Dezhi reminded.
"I never said I'd repay it with money," Yun Ming smiled.
"I did leave suddenly back in the Star Luo Empire, putting the Tang Sect in a tough spot against Shrek Academy. Consider this my compensation to Zang Xin," Yun Ming thought to himself.
Looking at Zang Xin and Cao Dezhi, he secretly swore—no matter what Zang Xin owed, be it rare metals, precious herbs, or anything else, as long as he could provide it, he wouldn't refuse.