Like-Minded

As Ma Hongjun rose to his feet, Zhu Zhuqing could only helplessly join the fight as well. A flicker of excitement flashed through Ning Rongrong's eyes at the sight. As the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she naturally feared neither heaven nor earth.

At Shi Yi's table, Xiao Wu's restless nature could not be contained either. Tang San could only send Shi Yi an apologetic look, a violet gleam surfacing in his eyes. Shi Yi merely smiled and nodded slightly. Only Oscar and Shi Yi remained seated without making a move.

"Xiao Yi, isn't this a little inappropriate?" Oscar asked awkwardly. What he really meant was that he wanted to join in too, but from the standpoint of right and wrong, he believed Shi Yi was right. This concerned his own safety, after all. As a support-type soul master, he understood that the most important thing was finding someone strong to rely on.

"If you don't want to suffer, stay seated. There's no point in you going out there now. Just wait for Teacher Zhao to clean up their mess," Shi Yi said, lifting the hot tea from the table and taking a light sip.

Oscar settled down after hearing that. Shi Yi was right. Even if they could not win, Teacher Zhao would step in. As things stood, his usefulness as a support soul master was not even comparable to Ning Rongrong's.

"I'd better not get in their way," Oscar said sheepishly.

A trace of disdain flashed through Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun's eyes.

"Trash like that deserves Teacher Zhao's intervention?" Dai Mubai said sarcastically.

Shi Yi said nothing, simply drinking the tea before him without the slightest change in expression.

Before long, the Shrek students had beaten the Blue Sunshine Academy students into a miserable rout. However, that also forced their Soul King teacher to step forward.

A level-fifty Soul King might not count as a true expert, but he was more than enough to handle a Soul Elder and several Soul Grand Masters. More importantly, Ye Zhiqiu was a Defense Type Soul King. Everyone knew that while defense-type soul masters did not excel in combat, they were the most troublesome opponents to deal with—especially for a group of children unable to break through their defenses.

Ye Zhiqiu had already possessed his body with his martial soul. Tang San inwardly cursed at the sight. As Yu Xiaogang's disciple, he understood just how troublesome defense-type soul masters could be.

Ye Zhiqiu spoke quite tactfully, first showing courtesy before resorting to force. "You children are ignorant. Watch your mouths in the future. Call out your academy's teacher."

Ma Hongjun let out a strange cry. "You old turtle think you're worthy of meeting our teacher? The few of us are enough to deal with you."

Shi Yi could not help but snort with laughter. Ma Hongjun's face immediately became awkward, but having witnessed Shi Yi's strength, he could do nothing to him. Even Tang San could not help cursing Ma Hongjun inwardly for being foolish. Could they possibly break a Defense Type Soul King's defense? They would probably be worn to death before that happened.

Senior Disciple Brother was right. A teammate like this really is a burden, Tang San thought to himself.

Ye Zhiqiu possessed the Mystic Tortoise Martial Soul. The word "turtle" was what he hated most in his life, as was the case for most tortoise-type soul masters.

Originally, he had only intended to frighten these young people a little and leave it at that. He did not want to be accused of bullying the weak, and he had no idea how powerful the academy behind these children was. An academy capable of gathering so many geniuses was clearly no simple institution.

Soon, at the innkeeper's pleading, the battlefield shifted outside. Oscar looked curiously toward the exterior, his eyes full of eagerness.

"If you want to watch, go ahead. But there's not much point. They won't be able to break a defense-type soul master's defense in a short time. In a prolonged battle, they will inevitably expose openings. Even defense-type soul masters equip themselves with offensive abilities, and most of those are area attacks. That allows them to restrain multiple enemies at once. Once that Soul King finds an opportunity, they'll be waiting for Teacher Zhao to clean up their mess," Shi Yi said blandly to Oscar.

Oscar stared at Shi Yi in surprise, then walked outside in disbelief.

Standing among the crowd, Oscar watched the battle. The surprise in his peach-blossom eyes grew increasingly intense. The battle unfolded almost exactly as Shi Yi had predicted. Just as Ye Zhiqiu's soul skill was about to put the Shrek students at a disadvantage—

A lazy voice suddenly rang out, interrupting the match. "It's the middle of the night. Why aren't you resting? What are you doing out here?"

"Teacher Zhao." Oscar glanced at Zhao Wuji with a guilty expression.

"Mm..." Zhao Wuji gave a quiet grunt and said nothing more. He had naturally heard Shi Yi's analysis of the battle just now. Even with Oscar added to the mix, the situation would not have changed much.

"Go back and sleep." Zhao Wuji did not even spare the Blue Sunshine Academy group a glance. With a wave of his hand, he ordered all the Shrek students back to the hotel.

Ye Zhiqiu was unwilling to let things end like that. "Wait."

Zhao Wuji turned around impatiently. "What is it?"

Ye Zhiqiu said coldly, "You're a teacher from that Shrek Academy, aren't you? Your academy's students insulted our Blue Sunshine Academy just now. Shouldn't you give us an explanation?"

"An explanation? What's there to explain? Isn't Blue Sunshine Academy just a trash academy? What they said doesn't even count as an insult." Zhao Wuji spoke calmly. As a Soul Saint, he had every bit of confidence to say such words. He naturally did not regard the other party as worthy of notice.

"You..." Ye Zhiqiu flew into a rage. He no longer bothered to argue and strode toward Zhao Wuji. Judging by his aggressive bearing, he clearly had no intention of letting the matter rest.

Zhao Wuji turned to the Shrek students. "You're all useless. You can't even deal with an old turtle. I'll settle with you once we return to the academy."

Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai's expressions became extremely ugly. Shi Yi's words had landed on them like a silent slap across the face.

Under everyone's gaze, Ye Zhiqiu was sent flying several meters by a single slap from Zhao Wuji. He hurriedly left with the Blue Sunshine Academy students.

Before long, Zhao Wuji led the Shrek students back into the hotel and said irritably, "You lot have truly embarrassed me. I'll remember this for now. Once we return, it seems I'll have to put you through special training."

After saying that, Zhao Wuji's gaze fell on Shi Yi, who was drinking tea nearby. "Why didn't you make a move just now? Since you've joined Shrek, you're one unit. You need to help one another. With your talent, if you had coordinated well, it wasn't impossible for you to defeat that old turtle."

A hint of amusement flashed through Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai's eyes as they looked at Shi Yi, as if they were saying that someone was about to be in trouble.

Shi Yi slowly set down his teacup and said softly, "You heard what I said earlier, didn't you? Since you were going to step in and clean up their mess anyway, what difference would one more or one less make? There's no point in fighting a few pieces of trash. It wouldn't build experience, and it would only invite trouble."

Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai's expressions immediately turned extremely ugly.

"Then what about fighting that old turtle?" Zhao Wuji pressed.

"Wasn't their outcome already very clear when you stopped the fight?" Shi Yi replied with a smile.

Zhao Wuji fell silent. Indeed, if he had not stopped the battle just now and allowed that old turtle to unleash his soul skill, these little brats would probably all be lying in bed.

"Teacher Zhao, think about when you were young. Why have you become a teacher now?" Shi Yi asked with a light laugh.

Zhao Wuji glanced at Shi Yi and sighed inwardly. Shi Yi was right. The Immoveable Bright King's reputation was great, but he had also offended plenty of people. He had only survived because he hid in Shrek as a teacher, and Spirit Hall did not care too much about a mere Soul Saint. Otherwise, he would have died long ago. Moreover, Tang Hao's beating was still fresh in his memory. If he had not foolishly wanted to play with a few children, Tang Hao would not have given him such a thrashing.

This kid seems to know everything. That old Flender keeps finding trouble for me. So he's the so-called Horn of Wisdom. No wonder, Zhao Wuji thought, a trace of helplessness appearing on his face. He truly could not outargue this brat.

"Enough. Once you're done eating, get upstairs and rest. If you dare cause trouble again, I'll skin you when we get back," Zhao Wuji snapped at Shi Yi.

With that, he slowly went upstairs.

Shi Yi picked up his teacup and took a satisfied sip. To Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, the sound of Shi Yi drinking water was unbearably grating.

Dai Mubai snorted coldly and slowly stood up, heading upstairs. Seeing that Ma Hongjun had not moved, he said, "Fatty, what are you waiting for? Waiting for someone to laugh at you?"

Ma Hongjun slowly got to his feet. A trace of reluctance appeared on his face. He had ordered quite a few dishes for himself. Leaving now would be an enormous loss.

Under Dai Mubai's gaze, Ma Hongjun still slowly went upstairs.

Once the two had gone upstairs, Oscar could no longer hold back. "Xiao Yi, you're incredible. The battle unfolded almost exactly as you said."

Everyone who remained looked at Shi Yi with astonishment.

"His build wasn't particularly large, but his body and limbs were incredibly solid. Yet he lacked Teacher Zhao's sense of raw strength. The Mystic Tortoise Martial Soul ranks among the best in defense even among Beast Souls. Since he was a defense-type soul master, you had little chance of winning. You couldn't break his defense in a short time, and defense-type soul masters are not limited to defensive soul skills. Sometimes, offense is also a form of defense. Especially when you outnumber your opponent, small-scale area attacks that cover the body are extremely useful. Even if you broke through a defense-type soul master's defense, you might not be able to knock him out of the fight with a single slap like Teacher Zhao did. Once you saw that you had broken his defense, you would definitely swarm him. At that moment, if he unleashed an area-attack soul skill, your bodies would not be able to withstand a Soul King's soul skill. Every one of you would end up in bed."

The others recalled their battle scene after hearing that, and their expressions grew increasingly astonished. It had been exactly as Shi Yi described. Even Xiao Wu, who disliked Shi Yi the most, had to admit that he was right.

When it comes to theory, I am indeed far inferior to Senior Disciple Brother. He judged the outcome merely from his opponent's martial soul and his understanding of us, Tang San thought.

Soon, amid the silence, they swept the dishes clean and returned to their respective rooms to rest.

The following day, Shi Yi, who was used to rising early, came downstairs and found Zhao Wuji already seated nearby, eating breakfast.

"Morning, Teacher Zhao." Shi Yi greeted him with a smile, sat across from him, and picked up the menu to order.

"Mm..." Zhao Wuji responded indistinctly through a mouthful of food.

After swallowing, Zhao Wuji looked at Shi Yi meaningfully. "You see things too clearly, kid. That won't earn you any friends."

Shi Yi smiled faintly. "Teacher doesn't have many friends either. I have high standards for friends. At the very least, we need to be like-minded. Not just anyone can be my friend."

Zhao Wuji grinned and nodded. "That's true enough. So, kid, who in the academy do you think can be your friend?"

Shi Yi spread his hands. "Probably no one."

Zhao Wuji looked at him in surprise. "Not even Tang San?"

Shi Yi shook his head slightly. "Xiao San only counts as half. He's my Disciple Brother, and we both want to become strong, but our paths are different. Zhuqing can count as half too. We are like-minded, at least."

"And what about being of one accord?" Zhao Wuji asked curiously.

"Oscar, perhaps," Shi Yi said with a light laugh.

"Oscar?" Zhao Wuji asked in disbelief.

"Though Oscar is only a support soul master, to be honest, I'm rather envious of him. All he needs to do is rely on someone powerful. He can sleep more when there's nothing to do, and with his talent, his cultivation won't fall behind. Frankly, I've thought about living that kind of life too. It would give me more time to study the things I want to study," Shi Yi said softly.

As someone who had been a modern corporate drone, Shi Yi naturally understood how happy such a life could be.

Zhao Wuji looked at Shi Yi and more or less understood. To put it simply, while Shi Yi was quite strong, he was not someone who loved fighting.

"Then why do you cultivate so diligently?" Zhao Wuji asked.

"There are many things I want to do. If someone interferes with the things I want to do, then I happen to know a little about fighting," Shi Yi said with a smile.

Zhao Wuji looked at Shi Yi helplessly. He finally understood how Shi Yi's mind worked.

Shi Yi continued, "Actually, if it weren't for the Dean's sake, I couldn't even be bothered to say those things last night. Offending them for no reason brings no benefit. I only needed to coast along. According to my assessment, you would have stepped in at the end anyway."

Zhao Wuji looked at Shi Yi. A student like this gave him an exceptionally difficult headache. The reason was simple: everything Shi Yi did was right—so right that no one could refute him. Yet that kind of correctness would never allow him to blend into the collective of Shrek.

"No wonder I always felt that Tang San isn't particularly close to you, his Senior Disciple Brother," Zhao Wuji said pointedly.

Shi Yi smiled faintly. "Xiao San and I are different. Even when certain choices are wrong in his eyes, Xiao San will still choose to be more tolerant. He is willing to pay for other people's mistakes, though the prerequisite is that those people must possess a certain amount of value. If Shrek's students were merely ordinary soul masters, Xiao San would not have chosen to join the battle last night. In his heart, I carry more weight than ordinary soul masters."

Zhao Wuji frowned slightly. "That's how you interpret your Disciple Brother?"

"Teacher Zhao, you know that I see things clearly. I keep a measure in my heart of how others treat me. My understanding of Xiao San runs deeper than you imagine," Shi Yi said with a soft laugh.

After that, he said nothing more, simply drinking the tea on the table as he waited for his breakfast.