Flender

It was foreseeable that if Qian Qiao was truly hit by Zhao Wuji's punch, he probably would not be able to get out of bed for a while.

Watching Zhao Wuji streak toward him like a meteor, Qian Qiao could only use his ultimate move.

Qian Qiao took out a small device and fitted it onto his foot.

Qian Qiao opened the phone on his belt and pressed the button.

"Exceed Charge!"

Closing the phone, the belt activated by the command sent Photon Blood into his right foot.

As Zhao Wuji rapidly closed in, Qian Qiao instead calmly crouched halfway down.

With his left foot as support, Qian Qiao rested his right arm on his right thigh while letting his left hand hang naturally at his side.

Zhu Zhuqing could even see the savage expression on Zhao Wuji's face.

Yet Zhu Zhuqing was still full of hope for Qian Qiao.

Suddenly, Qian Qiao moved. His speed was so fast that even Zhu Zhuqing could not see his trajectory.

Using his astonishing speed and tremendous power, Qian Qiao launched himself into the air.

Qian Qiao wrapped his arms around his legs and spun once through the air like a ball before suddenly stretching his whole body out.

The symbol on Qian Qiao's right foot flared crimson, firing out a deep-red glow.

A spinning dark-red drill pressed its tip tightly against Zhao Wuji as he descended from above.

"What?!"

Zhao Wuji suddenly found that he could not move. He could not leave his current position at all.

Though Zhao Wuji could still raise his arms and legs, he could not move even an inch from where he was.

Zhao Wuji was currently in free fall from the sky, yet it was as though something invisible had enclosed his entire body.

Zhao Wuji also saw the dark-red drill fired by his opponent. He had not expected that even he, a Soul Saint, could not break free.

"Hah!"

Zhao Wuji only saw Qian Qiao leading with his right foot, his left foot pressed against his right leg, his left fist seemingly poised to strike Zhao Wuji, and his right fist held straight.

When Qian Qiao entered the red cone, the cone spun at high speed, drilling into Zhao Wuji's heart like a bullet.

"Argh!"

Zhao Wuji truly had not expected a Soul Elder to break through his defenses.

Zhao Wuji had made his name by taking on several Soul Saints of his own rank by himself.

Yet now, a Soul Elder had broken through his defenses—and had genuinely hurt him.

If the spinning red cone had continuously drilled into Zhao Wuji's heart, then Qian Qiao himself passing through the red drill had truly injured Zhao Wuji.

Qian Qiao landed unsteadily on the ground and barely managed to stay on his feet.

Following the code of a true man, Qian Qiao did not look back. He walked straight to Zhu Zhuqing and patted her shoulder.

Zhu Zhuqing, meanwhile, stared without blinking at Zhao Wuji's predicament.

A Faiz symbol appeared on the cone.

Boom!

The explosion rang out, followed by a blast wave.

Zhu Zhuqing was about to dodge the blast wave, but a huge figure unexpectedly blocked her way.

Just as Zhu Zhuqing squeezed her eyes shut and prepared to endure the blast wave head-on, nothing happened.

Zhu Zhuqing cautiously opened her eyes and found that Qian Qiao was standing before her, shielding her from the blast wave.

Warmth filled Zhu Zhuqing's heart, and her hand involuntarily came to rest on Qian Qiao's collarbone.

The blast wave brought more than wind; it also swept up clouds of dust.

The flying dust turned the entire field hazy.

Whoosh!

A gust of wind blew through, scattering the dust storm that blanketed the area.

"Zhao Wuji, cough cough, Zhao Wuji!"

Franky had arrived. With such a huge commotion, it was not as if Franky was an idiot.

When he got there, Flender was still wondering how a group of students could have caused such a scene.

But he could not see his hand in front of his face, so Franky could only use Soul Power through the wings of his owl Martial Soul to blow all the sand and dust off the field.

"My money..."

When Flender saw the enormous crater in the field, he felt both heartbroken and delighted.

He was heartbroken because he would have to spend money on repairs again, especially with a crater that large.

He was delighted by Zhao Wuji's current appearance.

Zhao Wuji had one eye shut. Blood slowly ran down from a scar on his head. He knelt on one knee, and not a single piece of his clothes remained intact—only a few strips of cloth were left.

Although Zhao Wuji was injured, apart from the scar on his forehead, he had no other wounds. That meant his opponent had only managed to inflict that one injury.

The only people who had fought Zhao Wuji on the field were the newly enrolled students, so Flender could basically confirm that those talented students were responsible.

As for whether someone from Spirit Hall had come to hunt Zhao Wuji down, Flender believed that if it had truly been Spirit Hall, Zhao Wuji would not have suffered only these injuries.

Moreover, when he had dispersed the smoke with Soul Power, he had seen a mysterious red, black, and white Armored Man barely holding himself upright. This made Franky even more certain that the students had caused it.

"Zhao Wuji, are you all right?"

There was an unmistakably gloating tone in Flender's words that made Zhao Wuji feel miserable.

"Hmph, wasn't it those students you recruited? But I have to say, they're pretty strong!"

Zhao Wuji had originally wanted to complain to Flender, but seeing such gifted students made him happy inside despite himself.

Although these students had left him in such a miserable state, Zhao Wuji did not care about looking disheveled. As long as the students were impressive, he was happy.

It was much the same as in the original story. When he saw the ten-thousand-year Titan Giant Ape that had come for Xiao Wu, his first thought was to hold it off so the students could escape first.

One had to know that Zhao Wuji was a fugitive wanted by Spirit Hall.

Survival was the greatest principle for someone like Zhao Wuji, yet he was willing to risk his life for the Shrek students he had known only briefly. He was even willing to follow them into the depths of the forest and risk his life. It was obvious that Zhao Wuji truly cared about his students.

Otherwise, what was the point of staying in this lousy little place, unable to get anything good while working himself to death?

So Zhao Wuji's feeling about Qian Qiao leaving him like this was—

It was probably like having a student who never listened in class, yet always ranked first in every exam and regularly brought back awards for you.

Teachers loved that kind of student the most. They might complain that the student never listened and understood everything after just one explanation, but in truth, they were happier than anyone.

"However, they still need to be taught a lesson."

He was happy, but Zhao Wuji still planned to give those few some trouble.

"Sigh, you should put some clothes on first. The smoke will clear soon enough."

As he spoke, Flender uncharacteristically acted generously, taking clothes from his Storage Ring and tossing them to Zhao Wuji.

Zhao Wuji looked at Flender in disbelief. He was actually being so generous as to give him clothes? This was nothing like Franky.

"Cough, cough. There's a reason for it. Oh, right, the cost of these clothes will be deducted from your salary."

Seeing Zhao Wuji's expression, Flender's old face reddened. He pretended to be calm as he said something that made Zhao Wuji miserable.

"Fine. I'll leave the rest to you. Just keep it within limits. I'm leaving first."

Flender left the rest to Zhao Wuji, then used Martial Soul Avatar and flew off into the distance to watch the battle.

Honestly, Avataro was really good-looking, but unfortunately the other teams did not have the resources.