Nine Heart Begonia Appears, and Paimon Shatters Their Composure with One Sentence!

At noon, on the broad white-stone avenue linking western Suotuo City to its main district.

The auction had only just ended. Shops lined both sides of the avenue, and plenty of Soul Masters still traveled along it.

Chu Yuan and his group of five made their way unhurriedly along the tree-shaded avenue.

Walking just behind Chu Yuan to his left, Ning Rongrong was curiously studying Keqing and Mona, who walked at his side.

Now that she was closer, she could sense the otherworldly girls' extraordinary, untainted bearing all the more clearly.

Keqing wore a magnificent, dignified purple-and-black formal dress. Her purple twin tails swayed gently with each step, and her long, straight legs were clad in deep-purple stockings. She radiated an imposing sword might that made people afraid to look directly at her.

Mona wore a pointed witch's hat, while her tight, one-piece astrologer's outfit and black stockings fading into a starry sky showed off every curve of her full, graceful figure. Every movement she made carried a mysterious rhythm of the stars.

"My lord, are we heading back to the hotel to rest first? If you don't mind, I know of a separate residence in eastern Suotuo City that belongs to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. It's much more spacious and comfortable than the Rose Hotel..."

Eager to demonstrate her worth as a newly appointed maid, Ning Rongrong edged half a step closer and spoke in a sweet voice, trying to please him.

Before she had finished, however, a heavy, rapid rushing sound suddenly came from the far end of the street!

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Two formidable, overbearing waves of Soul Power swept openly toward them from the other end of the avenue. Ordinary pedestrians and low-level Soul Masters on the street were struck by their force and cried out in alarm, retreating to either side.

In the blink of an eye, five figures strode through the crowd and spread out in a fan, blocking the path directly in front of Chu Yuan's group!

At their head were Flender, with his hooked nose and black-framed glasses, and the "Immovable Wisdom King," Zhao Wuji, who stood over two meters tall, his body covered in muscles knotted like rocks.

Dai Mubai, Tang San, and Xiao Wu followed close behind them.

"Zhu Zhuqing?! You really are with this little bastard!"

The moment he saw Zhu Zhuqing standing quietly behind Chu Yuan in a tight-fitting black combat outfit, Dai Mubai's eyes turned red. He stepped forward, fixed her with a fierce stare, and shouted:

"Do you even know who you are? You're my fiancée, betrothed to me, Dai Mubai, since childhood! You were supposed to register at Shrek Academy today, but instead of coming to the academy to find me like you should, you're trailing behind some pretty boy of unknown origin as his lackey? Get over here, now!"

Tang San, standing beside Dai Mubai, immediately fixed his gaze on Chu Yuan. His pupils contracted slightly, and he instinctively moved half a step in front of Xiao Wu to shield her.

The instant Xiao Wu saw Chu Yuan's face clearly, her nostrils twitched.

For some reason, she could faintly sense a supreme life presence from the black-haired youth opposite her, one that made even her bloodline as a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast feel an immense longing and closeness. It was much clearer than when she had sensed it through the crowd at the night market yesterday.

Faced with Dai Mubai's furious roar, Zhu Zhuqing did not so much as lift an eyelid.

She walked slowly forward, her dark-purple cat eyes fixed on Dai Mubai with bone-chilling coldness. There was not a trace of warmth in her voice:

"Dai Mubai, put away that sickening self-importance. I personally crushed the jade pendant representing the marriage agreement between the Zhu and Dai families last night. From this day forward, I have nothing whatsoever to do with you or the Star Luo Imperial Family. If you dare speak disrespectfully to my lord again, don't blame me for showing no mercy."

"What did you say?! You crushed the betrothal pendant?!"

Dai Mubai's entire face instantly turned the color of pig's liver.

Though he usually spent his time pursuing pleasure with women, in his subconscious, Zhu Zhuqing's status as his fiancée meant she was destined to be his alone and a tool in his future struggle for the throne.

Now Zhu Zhuqing had publicly declared that she had crushed the pendant and become another man's subordinate. She was practically grinding his dignity into the dirt!

Flender, meanwhile, paid no attention to the younger generation's jealous quarrel.

He pushed up the black-framed glasses on his nose. His gaze lingered on Ning Rongrong for a moment before falling on Chu Yuan at the head of the group, and Keqing and Mona at his side.

Even with the discerning eye of a level seventy-eight Soul Saint, he could not see through the depths of the Soul Power of the man and two women before him!

Nevertheless, Flender stepped forward, assumed the bearing of an academy dean, and addressed Ning Rongrong and Chu Yuan:

"You must be my young niece Ning Rongrong of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect? I am Flender, dean of Shrek Academy. Your father, Ning Fengzhi, previously sent someone to speak to me on your behalf. Why didn't you come to the academy to register today?"

Without waiting for Ning Rongrong to answer, Flender turned to Chu Yuan, his gaze seemingly polite but tinged with scrutiny:

"And you, young friend, I hear you purchased three strange objects that fell from beyond the heavens at the Rare Treasures Auction House today. I am quite interested in those objects from beyond the heavens. Would you be willing to part with one? Also, I see that all of you have attained such cultivation at a young age. You're all monster geniuses, one in ten thousand. Rather than venturing out alone, why not all join Shrek Academy and receive personal instruction from me and Vice Dean Zhao Wuji?"

At those words, Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes on the spot, planted her hands on her hips, and gave a haughty huff:

"You're the dean of that Shrek Academy built in some shabby village? I'm not going to your miserable little place to suffer! Why should my lord hand over a treasure he bought to you? How is your skin thicker than a city wall?!"

"You little girl...!"

Flender's expression stiffened. He had not expected Ning Rongrong to speak so mercilessly, or to keep saying "my lord"!

The little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, one of the mighty Upper Three Sects, was actually serving a youth as a maid?!

Chu Yuan looked at Flender and Zhao Wuji's ugly expressions, the corners of his mouth curling into a faint, indifferent sneer:

"Flender? A makeshift country outfit that amasses wealth through exorbitant registration fees and can't even provide a Mimicry Cultivation Environment dares claim it can teach my people? And as for what's in my possession, who are you to covet it? Take your students and get out of my sight immediately."

Silence!

The entire street fell quiet in an instant, and the Soul Masters watching from a distance all sucked in a breath of cold air!

No one had expected the white-robed youth to show two long-renowned Soul Saints above level seventy no respect whatsoever and tell them outright to get lost!

"What an arrogant brat!!"

Before Flender could react, the "Immovable Wisdom King" Zhao Wuji, standing beside him, completely exploded!

Back then, he, Zhao Wuji, had fought his way through Spirit Hall's pursuit. When had a teenage brat ever pointed at his nose and called him part of a "makeshift outfit," then told him to get lost?

"Flender, you heard him, didn't you? This brat refuses a toast only to drink a forfeit! If I don't teach him a proper lesson on behalf of his elders today, I'll write my name, Zhao Wuji, backward from now on!"