Chapter 82: Leave It to the Pagoda Master! Trust the Pagoda Master!

A giant bear covered in dark golden fur stood over three meters tall. Its eyes were devoid of any emotion, filled only with coldness and cruelty.

Its entire body was enveloped in dark golden fur, with arms that were particularly thick and shoulders as broad and robust as a city wall.

At the ends of its powerful arms were razor-sharp dark golden claws, each over a meter long.

As the bear spread its massive arms, its claws cut through the air, producing a chilling "hiss" sound.

Trapped in a confined space by dozens of ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts, the seven Soul Kings had no room to dodge.

The Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear, with its ten-thousand-year cultivation, wasted no time in attacking.

A proud and powerful soul beast such as this naturally targeted the strongest defense-type Soul King among the seven.

But even with the augmentation of One-Word Battle Armor, the defense-type Soul King was as fragile as tofu before the devastating power of the bear's claws—sliced into pieces in an instant.

Blood splattered, and the air filled with the stench of iron.

"Ah—!"

The auxiliary-type Soul Kings, who had weaker nerves, were so terrified that they screamed uncontrollably.

Of course, their cries didn't last long.

In just a few moments, all traces of human life in that area had been wiped out. The only sounds remaining were the excited roars of the victorious soul beasts.

Among them, the Dark Gold Dreadclaw Bear was the most exhilarated, standing atop the corpse of a dragon-type Soul Master.

Out of all the competing ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts, it had successfully claimed two kills from the seven prey, making it the most triumphant of them all.

At the same time, throughout various parts of the Star Dou Forest, every Soul Master who had purchased a Spirit Pagoda entry ticket and entered the forest met a bloody end—none survived.

Days passed, and the Star Dou Fortress became overcrowded with people—most of them members of the organizations behind the fallen Soul Masters.

"Bang!"

A leader from the Sun-Moon Royal Soul Engineering Academy slammed his palm onto a soul-forged alloy table.

"What?!"

"You're telling me people are dying in there, and you have no way to help?!"

"Then why sell tickets?!"

"I want to file a complaint!"

"We all want to file complaints!"

"..."

The Spirit Pagoda's arrogance enraged the crowd, filling them with dissatisfaction.

The Star Dou Fortress staff, who had been handling the complaints, were already drenched in sweat. Clearly, someone at his level was incapable of handling such an intense situation.

Fortunately, his savior arrived quickly.

"Silence!"

"Star Dou Fortress prohibits shouting!"

A large, potbellied middle-aged man stepped forward—the administrator of Star Dou Fortress and one of the thirty-six elders of the Spirit Pagoda.

Every elder of the Spirit Pagoda was a Titled Douluo and a Three-Word Battle Armor Master. As soon as he released his soul power pressure, the uproar was immediately subdued.

He raised his right hand slightly, where two soul-forged metal spheres spun in a Taiji-like motion in his palm.

His first words came with absolute dominance:

"Complaint?"

"Sure, go ahead. We warmly welcome complaints, very much so."

"In fact, we strongly encourage complaints."

"But let me remind you all in advance—on the sixty-seventh page, article three hundred and forty-one, section two of the safety agreement you signed before entering, it is clearly stated in black and white—anyone who enters the Star Dou Forest through the Star Dou Fortress is fully responsible for their own safety. The Spirit Pagoda bears no liability whatsoever."

"You were too stingy to buy a few more tickets and send in stronger Soul Masters to protect your people—so who do you have to blame?"

"Did you really think hunting soul beasts in the Star Dou Forest would be the same as in the Spirit Ascension Platform, where death is not a concern?"

His sarcastic and domineering words immediately silenced those who had previously clamored for complaints. Their faces alternated between red and pale, but in the end, they had no choice but to retreat and discuss their next steps with their respective organizations.

A subordinate beside the elder hesitated before cautiously saying, "Elder, after all, the Spirit Pagoda is in the service industry. Wouldn't this approach be… inappropriate?"

The moment the words left his mouth, he regretted them. The elder's foul mood was written all over his face—how could he have brought it up at this moment?

As expected, the elder's face turned cold.

"Hmph!"

Ignoring the question, he gave direct orders instead:

"First, close the entry and exit points of the Star Dou Fortress and temporarily suspend the sale of Star Dou Forest entry tickets."

"Second, without my direct order, no one—including Star Dou Fortress personnel—is allowed to enter the Star Dou Forest."

"Third, prepare a report and submit it to the Spirit Pagoda headquarters—report it to the Tower Master, Qiangu Dongfeng."

After finishing, the elder continued rolling his two soul-forged metal spheres in his palm and left without another word.

In truth, if it weren't for the countless setbacks in the past two to three years, he wouldn't have handled things so bluntly.

The grand plan to fully develop the Star Dou Forest had been spearheaded by Qiangu Dongfeng himself and was progressing in full swing.

As the elder in charge of Star Dou Fortress, he had hoped to use this achievement to climb higher within the Spirit Pagoda, possibly even striving for the position of Spirit Pagoda Envoy.

But things never went as planned.

Qiangu Dongfeng had transferred all of the Spirit Pagoda's influence in the Parliament, which slowed down the progress of the Star Dou Forest development bill.

Furthermore, the Tang Sect and Shrek Academy—who opposed the Spirit Pagoda's gains—used their influence in the Parliament to have the bill indefinitely postponed.

The ladder to his promotion had been forcefully torn apart. How could he possibly be in a good mood?

And now, every Soul Master who had entered the Star Dou Forest with a ticket had died, causing a public outcry.

With all these misfortunes piling up, anyone would be in a terrible mood.

So, he decided not to deal with it anymore.

Since Qiangu Dongfeng had initiated the project, it was only right to report it to him and leave it in his hands.

As for investigating the cause of this sudden mass slaughter in the Star Dou Forest?

What a joke. Anyone with common sense could guess that it had to be related to the powerful beasts lurking within.

Was this something a "small figure" like him could possibly handle?

Once again, the answer was clear:

Leave it to the Pagoda Master! Trust the Pagoda Master!

However, in the following days, Qiangu Dongfeng never personally visited the Star Dou Fortress.

Weighing his priorities, he was currently fully focused on accelerating the plan to bomb Shrek Academy.

As a mere formality, he sent a mecha battalion into the Star Dou Forest for reconnaissance.

The result was predictable—total annihilation.

The entire battalion was wiped out, becoming mere practice dummies for Di Tian's grand training exercises in the Star Dou Forest.

(End of Chapter)