Wenwu fell heavily to the ground.
The Great Protector arrived in time and engaged in a fierce battle with the Dwellers in Darkness.
Wenwu, whose face was pale, saw his son surrounded by golden rings, anxiously helping him up, and finally revealed a long-lost gentle smile.
"You... You really resemble your mother."
After being sucked by the Dwellers in Darkness, Wenwu speaking at all was the result of his soul stabilizing over thousands of years.
"You have proven that you are qualified to possess them."
Looking at the golden rings swirling around him again, Wenwu struggled to free himself from his son's support and looked at the Dwellers in Darkness battling the Great Protector. A trace of anger flashing in his eyes.
"I have been wrong all along... But even though I had a vague feeling, I still chose to delude myself and pursue that less than one-in-a-million possibility."
"But now, I no longer have the ability to correct my mistake—
I will pay the price for what I have done, but as the heir of this family, Shang-Chi, can you help me correct this mistake?"
"I will!"
Shang-Chi wiped away the tears in his eyes and put on the Ten Rings on both arms. He walked resolutely in front of his father and stared at the terrifying Dwellers in Darkness.
"If it's about repaying a debt of a father, I accept it this time! But Dad, you..."
"I will teach you how to use the Ten Rings."
Wenwu looked at his son's back who was now capable of standing on his own, and then his gaze shifted to the Azure dragon, who was cleaning up the Dwellers in Darkness' avatars. He smiled bitterly and shook his head.
"Don't worry, I won't die now. I still have to personally thank your Chairman Oaks."
...
"These things have such strange structures."
On the surface of the lake between the gate and the village, Oaks had taken over the role of the Great Protector and was clearing up the densely packed avatars of the Dwellers in Darkness.
These things couldn't be killed by conventional energy and weapons. The unique divine dragon power of the Great Protector was the most effective against them.
In his azure dragon form, Oaks had refined the Astral energy into his own unique "Qi". Of course, he retained the magnificent and overpowering power of the divine dragon that countered evil.
However, unlike the Great Protector, who was accustomed to infusing power into water and casting spells, Oaks had a more diverse range of spell forms.
Thus, the starfall launched with Astral energy and the lightning strike unleashed with the Nature Energy had become the dragon-qi version of smashing evil.
Jade-green lightning and starlight danced around, and Oaks swept away all Soul Eaters in the sky.
However, even as the Great Protector and Shang-Chi attacked the main body of the Dwellers in Darkness together, there was still an endless stream of avatars rushing out from the damaged gate.
"What's the situation inside there?"
After finishing cleaning up this area, Oaks turned around and flew towards the damaged section of the gate.
Oaks glanced at Wenwu, who was loudly teaching Shang-Chi how to use the Ten Rings, and exhaled a breath of jade mist that visibly restored his complexion.
"Chairman Oaks..."
Wenwu raised his head sharply and saw the body enveloped in lightning and stardust charging into the gate.
"Over a thousand years... I've lived for nothing."
As Oaks rushed into the gate, Soul Eaters didn't stop charging towards him.
However, the lightning and stardust surrounding his body made it almost certain death for those creatures upon contact.
And just as Oaks rushed into the gate, he felt a bone-chilling cold that seemed to penetrate his marrow.
"What is this...?"
In the deepest part of the cave, there was chaos—
That is the passage leading to the original dimension of the Dwellers in Darkness, which was destroyed by the sacrifice of three demi-gods of nature!
Even in the midst of that chaos, occasional traces of three special auras could be seen—flames, earth, and storms.
The elemental attributes of the three demi-gods.
"What a mess!"
What shocked Oaks wasn't the chaotic passage. That thing was clearly deadly to touch, and even the Dwellers in Darkness dared not come into contact with it.
But the real problem causing the constant generation of Soul Eaters was the nauseating egg-like objects on the cave walls!
Most of these egg-like objects had already cracked open, and Soul Eaters that kept rushing towards Oaks were crawling out from inside!
And the energy that triggered their "hatching" was none other than several dying colorful light orbs on the ground—
Those are souls!
"Die!"
Intense emerald-colored lightning swept through the entire cave, and countless egg-like objects were directly blasted apart by the furious Oaks!
The onslaught of the Soul Eaters came to a sudden halt.
The eggs left by the Dwellers in Darkness' main body in the cave were all eradicated by Oaks—
Before hatching, they could even be directly destroyed by starlight.
Oaks landed on the ground and transformed into human form. Frowning, he approached the several fading soul orbs.
"These few are beyond salvation... They have been drained to the point where their soul imprints have dissipated."
Oaks shook his head and sighed. He had already figured out that these few souls were once practitioners of powerful divine dragon techniques.
Only such souls could pass through the gate sealed by the same source of power and be used by the Dwellers in Darkness to incubate countless avatars!
In the process of incubating so many avatars, who knows how many souls were directly extinguished—
Could it be that over thousands of years, the grandmasters of Ta Lo's divine dragon techniques, after their deaths, were silently detained here by the Dwellers in Darkness?
Even the Great Protector hadn't discovered this, which could only mean that the Dwellers in Darkness is truly cunning and treacherous.
Oaks's gaze turned to the only soul that still had a chance of salvation.
Then, his expression became strange.
This aura... feels very familiar!
...
Outside the gate, the Soul Eaters were unable to obtain even a single soul from the Ta Lo, the Ten Rings members, or even the random bystanders with the support of Oaks's soul spells, and were completely wiped out.
Therefore, the main body Dwellers in Darkness could only be pitifully and ineffectively hammered by the Great Protector and Shang-Chi.
The fully restored Great Protector served more as support, while the main attacking force was Shang-Chi, who wielded the Ten Rings.
Because the divine dragon knew very well that although its own power was strong, it was not good at attacking, whereas the Ten Rings were the perfect solution.
Under the dual guidance of Wenwu and the Great Protector, Shang-Chi unleashed a powerful attack with the Ten Rings, amplifying the power of the divine dragon, and directly blasted the Dwellers in Darkness.
With the dust settled, Shang-Chi finally became the true master of the Ten Rings, as well as a master of the divine dragon's power.
"Chairman Oaks went inside just now... those small Soul eaters didn't come out again."
As the Great Protector went to search for any remaining avatars of the Dwellers in Darkness, Shang-Chi joyfully reunited with his father.
Wenwu stared blankly at the shattered gate and his eyes were filled with endless despair.
I have utterly failed.
His weak mind was deceived by monsters which caused the death of his wife. He neglected his children and had been lured by the monsters to come and destroy the seal, even during that time when he had a chance to awaken, he still deluded himself.
Facing the terrifying Dwellers in Darkness, he didn't even have the ability to resist, and it was only through his son that he managed to survive...
However, the best news was that his son had inherited the powers of both his parents and defeated the mastermind who had shattered their family!
"Brother! Dad!"
Wenwu slowly raised his head and saw the divine dragon arriving here while carrying his daughter, Xialing, and setting her down.
When Xialing saw them unharmed, she couldn't help but burst into tears of joy.
"That's great!"
She rushed forward and hugged her brother.
"You're all safe!"
"How is it on the village side?" Shang-Chi enjoyed the emerald mist treatment from his sister, exhaling a long breath.
"Everyone is fine. Teacher's spells protected everyone's souls and allowed the spirit beasts to join the battle!"
While answering, Xialing spread the emerald mist to envelop Wenwu, revitalizing his spirit—
Although he had already received Oaks's treatment, this time... it was the care from his daughter.
"Xialing."
He walked up fearlessly, looking directly into his daughter's eyes, and smiled bitterly.
"I'm sorry for not personally teaching you martial arts."
He stretched out his arms and embraced his teary-eyed daughter, a gesture that had been absent for many years.
"Your achievements make me incredibly proud—
In the past, I was too arrogant. I thought that with me protecting my daughter, it would be enough."
"Dad..."
Xialing burst into tears. This was the first time she felt warmth from her father since her mother's death, even though it was many years too late.
"Dad, it's really great that you've awakened!"
Shang-Chi also approached and hugged his father and sister.
"Our family needs you."
"Shang-Chi, you have inherited my Ten Rings and your mother's divine dragon power."
After a while, the three of them separated. Wenwu let out a deep sigh, he glanced at Ta Lo Village on the opposite bank, and the dragon flying in the sky, and his expression became resolute.
"I have made a great mistake, compounded by past sins. I am no longer worthy to be your father—
I must pay the price for what I have done before."
He smiled and glanced at the shattered gate, where faint green light was emerging, nodded slightly, and turned to his astonished children.
"Shang-Chi, you have the final say in what the Ten Rings Society will become.
As for me, I will go find your mother first... Farewell, my children. I wish you a lifetime of peace and happiness!"
"Dad!"
Shang-Chi and Xialing exclaimed, but it was already too late!
Wenwu, who was fully healed, exerted all his lifelong strength and struck his chest with a palm—
Severing his own life force!
As a grandmaster of martial arts, perhaps he couldn't instantly kill someone with a single strike, but he could definitely commit suicide with one!
"Yingli... I can finally... see you..."
"No!"
Xialing desperately cast the emerald mist, but it was a mortal wound. With the limited time she had learned the emerald mist, she couldn't save Wenwu's life at all!
"Hmm? You're so quick to commit suicide? Don't be in such a hurry!"
Oaks's voice sounded behind the grief-stricken siblings, and then a dense green light enveloped Wenwu's eyes that had started to lose focus!
"You haven't thanked me yet, and besides..."
Oaks walked forward amidst the astonished gazes of the siblings. And Wenwu opened his eyes again with a bewildered expression—
With Oaks' current proficiency in healing spells and the amplification from Ta Lo, Can he really die even if he wants to!
"Don't you want to see your wife? Here she is. So, don't be in such a hurry to leave!"
"..."
The father and son stared blankly at the soul orb in Oaks's hand, dumbfounded!
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