A Scam Checkpoint at Shrek Village? An Inspection Order Terrifies Flender and Zhao Wuji
Early the next morning, the dirt road in the countryside outside Suotuo City's south gate was bustling with activity.
In front of a dilapidated little village that did not even have a stone wall stood a crooked sign pieced together from rotten planks. Written on it were the words "Shrek Academy."
Under a large tree at the village entrance sat an old wooden desk with peeling paint. Li Yusong, a level sixty-three Dragon Pattern Staff Soul Emperor, sat behind it with his eyes closed, resting. Beside the desk was a wooden chest full of Gold Soul Coins.
Dai Mubai, half his face bruised and swollen from his fall at the Rose Hotel the day before, stood with his arms crossed in the tree's shade, acting as a door god.
Young Soul Masters who had come because of the academy's reputation and their parents formed a long queue. Yet time and again, no sooner had they paid the ten Gold Soul Coin registration fee than Li Yusong felt the bones in their hands and chased them away for being "over the age limit" or having "less than level twenty-one Soul Power."
"What kind of lousy academy is this?! You reject them after feeling their hands, so give us our ten Gold Soul Coins back!" the parent of one rejected youth shouted, slamming the desk in anger.
Li Yusong planted his Dragon Pattern Staff on the ground, and six Soul Rings lit up. "Registration is voluntary. No refunds. Anyone who wants to cause trouble can ask the staff in this old man's hand first."
Dai Mubai sneered in agreement from the side. "You heard him! If you don't meet the requirements, it's because you're trash. Now get lost!"
The parents around them were furious but dared not speak. Tang San and Xiao Wu, halfway down the queue, were also guarding their few remaining Gold Soul Coins as they prepared to step forward.
The night before, Tang San had lacked the money to buy expensive Plate Crystal at the blacksmith's shop, so he had been forced to buy some inferior pig iron from a general store and forge a few Bone-Piercing Needles. Now he was fired up to make a stunning debut at Shrek Academy.
Just then, the sound of hooves approached from afar, and the Eastern Palace carriage came to a stop right in the open space at the village entrance.
After a whole night of nourishment on the red waterbed, the deathly frost that had long settled between Zhu Zhuqing's brows had completely melted away, and her fair skin had a soft, dewy glow.
Dai Mubai had been striking a cool pose under the tree, but when he saw Zhu Zhuqing sticking close to Lin Feng's side without leaving him for a moment, his pupils instantly filled with jealousy and suspicion.
"Zhu Zhuqing? Why are you with this brat?!" Dai Mubai could not help stepping forward to demand an answer.
Zhu Zhuqing coldly spat out one word. "Scram."
"You!" Dai Mubai's breath caught, and his face turned as black as the bottom of a pot.
Meanwhile, Paimon, floating by Lin Feng's shoulder, looked at the wooden chest full of Gold Soul Coins under the tree, then at the run-down village that did not even have school buildings or a wall. She planted her hands on her hips and shouted in midair:
"Wow! Lin Feng, look! There's actually a scam shop here that can't even afford to build a wall! They set up a shabby desk at the village entrance without writing out their admission requirements beforehand, trick people into paying ten Gold Soul Coins, feel their hands, and send them packing. Isn't that just plain robbery?"
Paimon's loud voice instantly carried across the entire village entrance, and the dozens of Soul Masters' parents who had been too intimidated to speak up cheered and voiced their agreement.
Li Yusong's face darkened. He gripped his Dragon Pattern Staff and stood up. "Where did this wet-behind-the-ears brat come from, daring to make trouble at Shrek Academy? The registration fee is ten Gold Soul Coins. Pay if you want to register; otherwise, get lost immediately!"
Lin Feng looked at the wooden chest crammed with gold coins behind the desk, then turned to Qian Renxue beside him. "Qinghe, didn't you bring an order to inspect Soul Master Academy subsidies, jointly issued by the Heaven Dou Empire's Ministry of Revenue and Spirit Hall, on this trip south in disguise? Make a note: Shrek Village, south of Suotuo City, has set up an unauthorized checkpoint and deliberately swindled Soul Masters of eligible age out of their money. How should that be dealt with under imperial law?"
Qian Renxue had seen Zhu Zhuqing come out of Lin Feng's room that morning, and she was already holding in a burst of Evil Fire. On hearing this, she immediately stepped forward, snapped open her folding fan, and said coldly:
"In answer to you, sir, under the current education laws of the Heaven Dou Empire and the Balak Kingdom, any sham academy that has not been formally registered with the kingdom's Ministry of Education and has unlawfully collected more than a hundred gold from students shall have its property seized on the spot and all illegal proceeds confiscated, and the person in charge shall be thrown into a high-security prison! Guards, show them the gold inspection order!"
Snake Lance Douluo She Long, who was guarding the carriage shaft, stepped forward and turned his hand to display a solid gold inspection order engraved with the Swan crest of the Heaven Dou Imperial Family and the great seal of the empire's Ministry of Revenue. A trace of the terrifying presence of a level ninety-two Titled Douluo escaped him, pressing the Dragon Pattern Staff in Li Yusong's hand three inches into the dirt with a crack!
"What?! A specially appointed imperial inspector?!"
Before the words had died away, a fierce wind suddenly swept out from deep inside the village. Dean Flender, who had just received his old friend Yu Xiaogang the night before and had been hiding in his room, happily counting money through a telescope, came scrambling out of the village. Behind him followed Yu Xiaogang and the four-eyed Soul Saint Zhao Wuji, both wearing grave expressions.
Yesterday, Flender had heard Yu Xiaogang mention the Eastern Palace carriage on the imperial highway, guarded by a Titled Douluo. Now, at the sight of the genuine imperial gold inspection order and the unfathomable She Long, cold sweat instantly soaked through the back of his clothes.
Shrek Academy had never been formally registered with the Balak Kingdom and relied entirely on the registration fees collected at the start of each school year to keep going. If it were charged with fraud and extortion and shut down on the spot, his twenty years of hard work would be finished!
"A misunderstanding! A monumental misunderstanding, my lord!"
Flender pushed up the black-framed glasses on his nose, his shoe-sole-like face covered in a fawning smile. He darted to the desk and slapped Li Yusong on the back of the head.
"Old Li, have you gone senile?! The academy has long had a rule that the registration fee must be refunded in full to anyone who fails the preliminary tests. How could you withhold it on your own?! Quick! Return all the registration fees to the parents whose children didn't pass just now! As for these honored guests, one look tells me they're dragons and phoenixes among men. I hereby grant them a special exemption from the first three preliminary tests and waive all registration fees. They may go straight in and tour the academy!"
Watching Dean Flender, usually so proud and stingy, bow and scrape in public and return several hundred Gold Soul Coins, Dai Mubai and Yu Xiaogang, who was shrinking back behind a tree, wore extremely ugly expressions.
Paimon gave a smug huff in midair. "At least you know what's good for you, shoehorn-face uncle!"
Tang San and Xiao Wu, having saved ten Gold Soul Coins, also took the opportunity to follow Ning Rongrong, who had passed the tests, and Zhu Zhuqing to the fourth trial grounds inside the village. Flender, meanwhile, respectfully invited Lin Feng and Qian Renxue to watch from a shaded canopy at the edge of the grounds.
In the middle of the training ground stood the Immovable Wisdom King Zhao Wuji, over two meters tall and covered in bulging muscles, his arms folded across his chest. Dai Mubai was originally supposed to administer the fourth trial, but to show off Shrek Academy's formidable teaching staff in front of the "special inspector," Flender deliberately signaled Zhao Wuji to take the field himself and hold down the fort.
"My name is Zhao Wuji, a level seventy-six Beast Soul Saint! As long as you youngsters can last one incense stick against me, you'll pass!"
Zhao Wuji bellowed in a muffled voice, but his eyes flicked warily toward She Long outside the canopy, and he did not dare let his guard down too much.
"Tch, a level seventy-six bullying kids barely in their teens, and he still has the nerve to call himself the Immovable Wisdom King. I think Shameless Black Bear would be more like it!" Paimon loudly complained from under the canopy, holding the candied dried fruit Ning Rongrong had handed her.
Zhao Wuji's weathered face darkened, but he could not lash out.
At that moment, Yu Xiaogang quietly signaled Tang San from the sidelines. Tang San drew a deep breath. The terrible humiliation of falling into a flowerpot and eating dirt at the Rose Hotel yesterday had weighed on his mind ever since. Today, with his teacher watching and that beauty in black leather and the girl from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect present, he had to seize the chance to defeat the level seventy-six Soul Saint Zhao Wuji and firmly establish his authority!
"Senior, forgive the offense!"
Without even waiting for Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing to coordinate with him-Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong had already retreated to the canopy and had no intention of taking action-Tang San released his Blue Silver Grass to wrap around Zhao Wuji's legs. At the same time, he used Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to leap into the air, his hands hidden in his sleeves as he quietly readied the dozen or so Bone-Piercing Needles he had rushed to make overnight!
Zhao Wuji snorted and casually tore apart the Blue Silver Grass, preparing to let the brat attack him with fists and feet to demonstrate the Immovable Wisdom King's defense.
Just as Tang San flew within three feet above Zhao Wuji's head, an instant before the mechanism at his wrist was about to fire-
Paimon suddenly pointed at Tang San in midair and began providing a live commentary in a voice loud enough for everyone present to hear clearly:
"Everyone, look! That blue-grass guy is playing dirty again! He's not trying to fight with his fists at all. He's got seven iron needles coated in Mandala Snake paralytic venom hidden in his left sleeve, and another five Bone-Piercing Needles between the fingers of his right hand, specially meant to shoot people in the eyes and belly button. He's angling his wrist thirty degrees to the left and getting ready to sneak-attack Uncle Black Bear's eyeballs!"
An uproar swept through the crowd!
Every hair on Tang San's body stood on end in midair, and his wrist froze for half a beat. How could that damned white dumpling see so clearly how many needles he had hidden in his sleeve, what poison they were coated with, and even the angle at which he was applying force with his Tang Sect technique?!
Zhao Wuji, who had originally planned to take the attack head-on, flew into a rage when he heard "poison-coated iron needles" and "shoot his eyeballs."
"You treacherous little bastard! You dare use poisoned needles to ambush my eyes during a sparring test?!"
Hum!
Zhao Wuji held nothing back. His First Soul Ring instantly lit up, and his Immovable Bright King Body erupted with the full force of his dense, level seventy-six Soul Power! The twelve Bone-Piercing Needles Tang San had steeled himself and flung out had not even come within three inches of Zhao Wuji's face when the now-alert Zhao Wuji unleashed a violent protective blast, shattering them in midair into a cloud of iron dust!
"Not good!"
Tang San's face went deathly pale. He tried to retreat with Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, but Paimon immediately yelled again:
"His right toe is stepping left! He's going to use it to spring backward and run away!"
Zhao Wuji gave a savage grin. His palm, as large as a fan, precisely cut off Tang San's retreat to the left in advance, then struck the protective Mysterious Heaven Skill on Tang San's back with a solid slap carrying tremendous force!
Boom!!
With a dull, thunderous crash, Tang San flew like a tattered sack swatted away by a flyswatter. He plunged straight down from the air, his head slamming into a mud pit in the middle of the training ground that had been watered just yesterday!
Mud splashed three feet into the air. Tang San's legs twitched twice outside the pit, and when he pulled his face out, it was plastered with a mixture of nosebleed and yellow mud. He looked ten times more miserable than he had yesterday when he had chomped on a flowerpot at the Rose Hotel.
"Xiao San!!"
Yu Xiaogang cried out in alarm from the sidelines, his stiff, weathered face turning the color of pig liver. He rushed forward and frantically pulled Tang San, whose mouth was full of yellow mud, out of the pit.
Xiao Wu had been about to rush in and fight for her life, but a packet of honey-glazed pork jerky Paimon threw at her landed squarely in her arms. She froze on the spot, clutching the jerky.