Mediocrity Fears Trouble

Ye Zhi Qiu lowered his stance because he was deeply wary.

This was not just one genius, but a whole group of them! Who would believe that such a group of geniuses had been cultivated without the support of a powerful force behind them?

"We're from Shrek Academy!"

Ma Hongjun could not help snickering as his gaze brazenly swept toward the only girl from Blue Sunshine Academy. To his disappointment, though, she was clearly more interested in Dai Mubai and Zhao Xuan, who stood at the front.

"Shrek Academy?"

Ye Zhi Qiu froze for a moment, his heart filled with mixed feelings. He had thought these boys and girls were disciples of some extraordinary sect, but it turned out they had also been trained by an academy.

However...

"Shrek Academy? Never heard of it."

Ye Zhi Qiu racked his brains but could not recall any advanced Soul Master Academy called Shrek. He went through every advanced academy in Heaven Dou, Star Luo, and even the other duchies.

No matter how hard he thought, he could never have imagined that Shrek Academy was merely an obscure intermediate Soul Master Academy, so rundown that it had to rent an ordinary village for its campus.

"That only proves how ignorant you are!" Dai Mubai snorted.

Ye Zhi Qiu's expression darkened. These youngsters had already humiliated Blue Sunshine Academy with their arrogance, yet even after he stepped forward, they still showed no restraint.

"Do you really think Blue Sunshine Academy is so easy to bully?!"

A sharp gleam flashed through Ye Zhi Qiu's eyes. His aura suddenly surged, forcibly pushing back everyone from Shrek except Zhao Xuan, who remained seated.

"Mysterious Turtle, possess me!"

Ye Zhi Qiu shouted. His limbs simultaneously retracted, and a faint glow flashed across his back. A dark turtle shell abruptly rose from it, while five shining soul rings—white, yellow, yellow, purple, purple—rose beneath his feet.

"Soul King!" A diner cried out in alarm. Some quick-witted people had already begun backing away. This was a fifth-rank title that could be considered powerful anywhere on the continent.

Dai Mubai's gaze sharpened as he exchanged looks with Tang San and Zhao Xuan. Tang San looked toward Zhao Xuan, while his hand quietly touched Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges Night.

After summoning his soul rings, Ye Zhi Qiu seemed to find his confidence. He spoke in a lofty tone. "You children don't understand proper conduct. Don't talk nonsense in the future. Call out your academy teacher."

Zhao Xuan suddenly laughed. "You're just a Soul King. We've seen plenty of Soul Emperors and Soul Saints. What are you putting on an act for, you old turtle!"

Ye Zhi Qiu's eyes narrowed as he looked hesitantly at Zhao Xuan, unable to tell whether his words were true.

"Soul Emperors and Soul Saints? That has to be a joke," someone among the diners muttered.

"Shh, keep your voice down. Don't bring trouble upon us." His companion hurriedly covered his mouth.

Ye Zhi Qiu was equally unsettled. But he had already stepped forward and revealed his martial soul. If he backed down now, Blue Sunshine Academy would lose all its face.

"Stop looking around! Our teacher isn't here. Old turtle, I'll play with you."

Zhao Xuan saw Ye Zhi Qiu's wandering gaze and immediately knew what he was thinking. He sneered, his eyes blazing as he looked at Ye Zhi Qiu. This was a rare opponent.

"You brat! You don't know your place!"

Having been called an old turtle again and again, Ye Zhi Qiu's anger surged. Once rage clouded his reason, no one bothered considering the consequences.

The innkeeper, who had come out after hearing the commotion, looked at the tense situation and nearly burst into tears.

"Brat, let me teach you some manners on behalf of your teachers." Ye Zhi Qiu's rage burned as his fan-sized palm slapped toward Zhao Xuan.

Zhao Xuan smiled disdainfully and shot out a hand like lightning, catching Ye Zhi Qiu's hand.

Smack!

Ye Zhi Qiu felt as though his hand had been clamped by an iron vise weighing ten thousand pounds. He could not move it in the slightest.

"How is this possible?"

The cold water of reality extinguished Ye Zhi Qiu's anger. He stared in horror at the relaxed Zhao Xuan. Although he was a defensive Soul Master, his heavy Mysterious Turtle martial soul gave him considerable strength. How could a mere Soul Elder seize him one-handed?!

Other than the Shrek Academy group, the diners were also dumbfounded. A Soul King had actually been caught by a Soul Elder.

Zhao Xuan applied a slight force, and Ye Zhi Qiu was sent tumbling through the air.

"Hurry up and use your soul skills, or you'll lose even faster!"

The Shrek group quietly watched Zhao Xuan show off, without the slightest surprise on their faces. After all, this was the ruthless guy who could send Zhao Wuji flying with a single slap.

Ning Rongrong loosened her clenched palms and looked somewhat dejectedly at Zhao Xuan's relaxed expression. She had wanted to support him just now, but she had not gotten the chance.

After rolling through the air, Ye Zhi Qiu steadied himself and landed firmly. He stared fixedly at Zhao Xuan but did not attack again.

At that moment, the innkeeper gritted his teeth and hurried out. "My lords, this inn is small and cramped. Could you perhaps fight outside?"

Zhao Xuan swept his eyes around the area, then scratched his head awkwardly. "Xiao San, help me compensate the owner for the damages."

Then he turned to Ye Zhi Qiu. "Old turtle, dare to settle this outside?"

"Why wouldn't I?!" Ye Zhi Qiu's face was ashen. If he were truly suppressed by a half-grown boy, he would never be able to hold his head up again.

Once they came outside, the space became much wider. Quite a few people who had arrived after hearing the commotion stood far away in a circle, watching with interest and no fear of getting hurt.

Once Ye Zhi Qiu had taken his position, he immediately activated his First and Second Soul Skills: Mysterious Turtle Bodyguard and Mysterious Water Ice Seal.

Mysterious Water Ice Seal was a wave of cold air that could freeze the blood in a person's body and slow their movements.

But it was useless against Zhao Xuan. His vitality and blood were abnormally vigorous. He might have been somewhat wary if a level-seventy Soul Saint had used it, but a level-fifty Soul King was nothing to him.

He did not even need to make an extra movement. The blood flowing through his veins dispersed the cold air.

At the same time, two clear feminine shouts sounded from behind him.

"Spring Water Gushes Forth!"

"Seven Treasures Produce Glazed Tile: First, Strength! Second, Speed!"

A stream of clear light and two rainbow beams fell into Zhao Xuan's body one after another, leaving him feeling refreshed.

He was somewhat surprised. Hermione was understandable, but why had that spoiled young miss supported him too?

Hermione also looked at Ning Rongrong beside her in surprise, her eyes filled with wariness. Ning Rongrong, however, seemed completely unaware. She lightly pursed her lips, recalling Oscar's whispered words when they came out earlier: "If you want to earn recognition, prove through your actions that you belong to Shrek."

"Seven Treasures Glazed Tile?"

Ye Zhi Qiu's expression changed again. There was actually a disciple from that sect here? No Soul Master was unaware of the reputation of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, but why would they let one of their clansmen attend an academy outside?

"Old turtle, stop overthinking it. Hurry up."

Zhao Xuan looked impatiently at Ye Zhi Qiu. If he had not wanted to see more of this world's magnificent and mysterious soul skills to broaden his knowledge, he would have punched this old turtle to death long ago.

Ye Zhi Qiu's face darkened as he activated his Fourth Soul Skill. His Fourth Soul Skill was a thousand-year soul skill that granted him the ability to control rain.

Countless crystalline raindrops suddenly condensed around Zhao Xuan, hanging high in the air a foot above him.

"Fall!"

Ye Zhi Qiu shouted fiercely. The raindrops instantly turned into streaks of rain and crashed down. Zhao Xuan's Third Soul Ring flashed, and his body instantly vanished from where he stood.

Those raindrops seemed to weigh ten thousand pounds each. They struck the ground with loud bangs, leaving fist-sized pits behind.

One of Zhao Xuan's clones tried to block them, only to find that each raindrop was like an armor-piercing shell. His clone was torn apart in an instant.

"Not bad."

Zhao Xuan's voice sounded behind Ye Zhi Qiu, sending chills down his spine.

Bang!

A fist slammed fiercely toward Ye Zhi Qiu's turtle shell. Just before it hit his back, a thin curtain of light suddenly appeared to block it. It was Ye Zhi Qiu's previously untriggered First Soul Skill, Mysterious Turtle Bodyguard.

The two forces remained locked for several breaths before the light screen shattered. Ye Zhi Qiu was sent flying backward, but his Third Soul Ring lit up at the same time, and he turned to spit a mouthful of black freezing current toward Zhao Xuan.

Third Soul Skill: Mysterious Water Surge!

Zhao Xuan did not move. The instant the black freezing current touched his body, a layer of white frost spread across him, but it was quickly dispelled by a stream of clear light.

Hermione's First Soul Skill, Spring Water Gushes Forth, made dealing with such negative effects effortless.

Meanwhile, Ye Zhi Qiu crashed to the ground. The tremendous force made him cough up a mouthful of blood, sending the Blue Sunshine Academy youths into a panic.

Not only were the onlooking passersby stunned, even the Shrek group stared wide-eyed. A level-fifty Soul King had been taken down just like that by a Soul Elder in his thirties?

Zhao Xuan clapped his hands and glanced at Ye Zhi Qiu lying on the ground. "Boring."

Just then, a lazy voice suddenly rang out. "It's the middle of the night. Why aren't you brats asleep?"

Following the voice, they saw a short but burly middle-aged man push through the crowd. Some of the people he shoved aside tried to resist, but none had the strength to fight back.

"Nothing much. Just getting some exercise." Zhao Xuan stretched lazily. To him, this level of fighting was about the same as exercise.

Zhao Wuji glanced at Ye Zhi Qiu lying on the ground. Oh, Blue Sunshine Academy. Then that was that.

"Go back and sleep!"

With a wave of his hand, Zhao Wuji drove the Shrek boys and girls back toward the inn. They still had to enter the Star Dou Great Forest tomorrow. Where did they get all this excess energy?

"Wait!" Ye Zhi Qiu's gloomy voice suddenly came from behind them.

The Shrek group stopped. The spectators who had begun to leave also turned around. Was there more to come?

Ye Zhi Qiu looked disheveled as several Blue Sunshine Academy youths supported him. He said coldly, "You must be the teacher from that Shrek Academy. Your academy's students insulted our Blue Sunshine Academy just now. Shouldn't you give us an explanation?"

Zhao Wuji's eyes widened. Zhao Xuan's eyes widened. Everyone from Shrek Academy widened their eyes. Even the spectators who had not yet left widened their eyes.

An explanation? What explanation could they possibly give him? Did he not know that in the Soul Master world, strength was reason? A Soul King swept aside by a Soul Elder in his thirties—what gave him the courage to demand an explanation?

Zhao Wuji smiled as seven soul rings slowly rose beneath him.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black.

The seven soul rings drew every eye like seven dazzling gemstones. Those who had heard Zhao Xuan earlier sucked in a cold breath. He really was a Soul Saint?

"What was it you said you wanted?" Zhao Wuji asked with his arms folded across his chest, raising an eyebrow.

Ye Zhi Qiu stood there blankly, speechless. Only after a long while did he recover, casting a deep look at the Shrek group before slinking away in disgrace.