The Usual Bullying the Weak and Fearing the Strong

In the eyes of the three men, Shrek Academy's trip to the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt spirit beasts was the perfect opportunity.

After all, the Star Dou Great Forest had a complicated environment. If they killed Shrek Academy's people there, it would be difficult to find the culprit even if Shrek Academy tried to investigate.

Moreover, within the Star Dou Great Forest, Shrek Academy's strength would inevitably be scattered. When that time came, the three of them would have a chance to take revenge.

Yet the people of Shrek Academy had no idea that the trouble Ma Hongjun and the others had caused back then had now taken root and was about to sprout and bear fruit.

Not even they knew it—Li Ang himself did not know that the plot had suddenly deviated. A story that had never existed in the original timeline would now become entangled with Shrek Academy's journey to the Star Dou Great Forest.

As for just how far this deviation would develop, no one knew.

A day later, the Shrek Academy group had arrived near the Star Dou Great Forest. Seeing that they would not be able to reach the forest today, they simply decided to rest for the night in a Small Town nearby.

As for what followed, there were no major changes.

The people of Shrek Academy settled into an inn in the Small Town, where they encountered students from Canghui Academy.

At first, the two sides kept out of each other's way. However, Shrek Academy's older students could not behave themselves. First, the fat man Ma Hongjun kept leering at several female students from Canghui Academy. Then Dai Mubai spoke rudely and launched a sweeping insult, calling everyone from Canghui Academy trash right to their faces.

How could the people of Canghui Academy possibly endure that? Thus, after finding an excuse, a group of Canghui Academy members started fighting with the people from Shrek Academy.

Clearly, it was Shrek Academy's students who had too much time on their hands and went looking for trouble, yet these people had their own twisted logic. They claimed that a spirit master who dared not cause trouble was not a good spirit master.

Of course, Shrek Academy's older students were not truly stupid. At the very least, they understood whom they could provoke and whom they could not.

In Oscar's words, provoking people from spirit master academies was the safest option. At most, it would only lead to a fight.

So really, all that nonsense about those who dared not cause trouble being mediocre was simply picking soft persimmons to squeeze—arrogant, domineering, bullying the weak, and fearing the strong.

At their core, these Shrek Academy people were no different from the petty thugs who bullied merchants and tyrannized the streets. Perhaps the only difference was that they were stronger than ordinary hooligans and had the Protagonist Halo protecting them, so even when courting death, they were not so easily killed.

Therefore, the people from Canghui Academy who clashed with Shrek Academy naturally gained no advantage.

Although Canghui Academy had a teacher of the Five Ring Soul King level backing them up, he was utterly powerless when facing Zhao Wuji.

Zhao Wuji was not someone who liked to reason with others either. At least, he never reasoned with people weaker than himself.

By the same logic, if he encountered a spirit master stronger than himself, that person would not reason with him either.

That was the true reason why a powerful spirit master like Zhao Wuji had chosen to hide away as a teacher at a third-rate school like Shrek Academy.

On Douluo Dalu, Zhao Wuji's reputation was truly atrocious. He had offended far too many factions and did not dare show himself openly on the continent at all. Otherwise, he might not even be able to keep his life.

Thus, even though Shrek Academy had taken the initiative to provoke them, Canghui Academy was still the side that suffered this time. From students to teachers, every one of them received a brutal beating.

They could only swallow their anger and resign themselves to their misfortune.

It was worth noting that two people had not participated in the conflict from beginning to end. They stood off to the side the entire time, watching coldly.

They were clearly estranged from Shrek Academy's other five students.

Those two were naturally Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong.

Under their teacher Li Ang's guidance, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong had developed values completely different from those of the original timeline.

The two girls truly looked down on the arrogant, domineering, weak-bullying behavior of Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun. Therefore, neither of them had any intention of helping throughout the entire affair.

Perhaps because their values aligned, Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing's relationship in this timeline was much better than it had been in the original one.

The two had now formed a small clique within Shrek Academy, clearly distinct from Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and their group.

As Shrek Academy's vice dean, Zhao Wuji had clearly noticed the internal divide within Shrek Academy. However, the forces behind Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing made him deeply wary.

Thus, when it came to educating Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, Zhao Wuji could only rely mainly on persuasion.

But how could Shrek Academy's theory, riddled with holes as it was, possibly persuade Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, who had already rebuilt their values?

Therefore, every time Zhao Wuji tried to lecture Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, the sharp-tongued girls would leave him speechless and make him fly into a rage out of humiliation.

So although they had put Canghui Academy in its place this time, Shrek Academy's people were not particularly happy. Zhao Wuji especially had just tried to lecture Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, only to be rebuked by them and left looking thoroughly embarrassed.

With no other choice, after dinner, Zhao Wuji returned angrily to his room at the inn and went to rest early.

Time passed quickly, and before long, night fell.

Just as the Small Town had fallen completely silent, a group of uninvited guests suddenly infiltrated it.

"Rat, are you sure? Those bastards from Shrek Academy are staying at the inn in the center of this town?" Bu Le's venom-filled voice rang out.

His already exceedingly ugly face was now badly twisted by anger and excitement.

"That's right, Captain Bu Le. I personally saw the people from Shrek Academy enter that inn. Oh, and before this, they even had a conflict with Canghui Academy's people," Rat nodded and said earnestly.

"Good. Good." The expression on Bu Le's face became increasingly excited, making him look like a lunatic.

Seeing that Bu Le's state was becoming more and more abnormal, Tian Ya hurriedly tried to persuade him. "Bu Le, don't get worked up yet. With just the few of us, dealing with Shrek Academy will still be somewhat difficult. Wait patiently for a while. Once Lao E finishes on his end, we'll move out and avenge you."

"I know!" After hearing Tian Ya's words, Bu Le finally calmed down somewhat. At least, his expression was no longer as twisted as before.