Canghui Academy

The atmosphere in the restaurant was lively. Even before Fu Hua and the others arrived, five or six tables were already occupied. Ma Hongjun ordered the food while the others rested in silence. Just then, another group entered through the door.

Leading them was a middle-aged man in his forties. He was fairly handsome, with his hair combed to a glossy sheen. His moon-white Soul Master robe was exquisitely tailored, embroidered with silver-thread patterns that gleamed as he moved.

Behind the middle-aged man followed seven youths—six boys and one girl—who looked to be around twenty. They wore the same moon-white Soul Master robes, though without the silver-thread embroidery of the man at the front.

Whether the middle-aged man or the seven youths behind him, each had a green circular insignia on their left shoulder. Within the circle were two embroidered characters of the same color—Canghui.

Their attire made it obvious that they were all Soul Masters. Fu Hua and her group were dressed casually and looked no different from ordinary people, while these people were far more ostentatious.

The restaurant owner hurried over as soon as he saw them enter, bowing and scraping with unmistakable politeness.

This small town made its living off the Star Dou Great Forest—or, more simply, off Soul Masters. Not only were Soul Masters a noble profession, they were also a wealthy one. Naturally, the owner did not dare slight them.

"That chick's pretty cute! Boss Dai, those people should be from Canghui Academy, right?"

The fat man's tiny eyes were fixed on the only girl among the group of eight.

That girl did have some looks and could be considered above average.

Xiao Wu, Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong were beautiful, but they were only around twelve years old. They could not compare to a young girl in full bloom who had already completely developed.

To the fat man, more mature girls were plainly more alluring. Coupled with the evil fire burning within him, his eyes gleamed as he stared at her without restraint.

Dai Mubai curled his lip.

"It's only some pathetic Canghui Academy. What the hell are they showing off for?"

Neither the fat man nor Dai Mubai deliberately lowered their voices. Soul Masters had much sharper hearing than ordinary people, and despite the restaurant's bustle, the middle-aged man among the eight still looked over, his brows slightly furrowed.

When he saw that Shrek Academy's table was occupied by nothing more than a group of children, his expression immediately darkened further.

Oscar sat beside Tang San and chuckled softly. "Looks like there'll be a show."

Tang San looked at him with some confusion.

"What show?"

Oscar lowered his voice. "This is part of our training too. Dean Flanders once said that a Soul Master who doesn't dare cause trouble isn't a good Soul Master. As they say, those who don't dare cause trouble are mediocrities. Besides, picking a fight with people from a Soul Master Academy is the safest. At worst, it's just a brawl."

Fu Hua rolled her eyes, but Tang San could not help laughing.

"If we put all of our dean's sayings together, we could make a whole monster anthology. Judging by their ages, this Canghui Academy should be an advanced Soul Master Academy, right?"

On the other side, Canghui Academy's group of eight had already taken their seats, separated from Shrek Academy by two tables. Out of the corner of his eye, Tang San saw the middle-aged man, who was clearly their teacher, whisper a few words into one youth's ear.

Very soon, that youth rose from his seat and headed toward Fu Hua's table. Based on his path, he was clearly approaching Dai Mubai.

A trace of disdain showed in Dai Mubai's evil eyes. Tang San could see it, so of course Dai Mubai knew as well. Yet he did not even spare the other man a proper glance.

Just then, a waiter brought over the first dish for their table. The Canghui Academy youth suddenly quickened his pace and, amid the waiter's startled cry, crashed right into him.

The plate of food was about to be dumped straight over Dai Mubai's head.

"Don't waste food," Tang San said blandly.

His left hand shot out like lightning, steadying the waiter's body. His right hand extended and caught the plate perfectly. Using Control Crane Seize Dragon, he held the food fast so that not a drop spilled, then lightly set the plate on the table.

At the same time, his left hand had already pulled the waiter aside.

The Canghui Academy youth froze for a moment. With the waiter's body blocking his view, he had not seen Tang San's movements clearly. But a sly smile soon appeared on his face.

"I'm terribly sorry."

Though he said that, he continued forward as if he were about to pass Dai Mubai. Yet one foot silently swept out, kicking directly at one of the legs of Dai Mubai's chair.

It was only an ordinary wooden chair. If one leg were snapped, Dai Mubai naturally would not be able to stay seated. Moreover, the youth's kick was extremely concealed—his upper body did not move at all. Unless one watched closely, it would have been impossible to notice.

The moment the youth kicked out, Dai Mubai moved.

Did a tiger have a good temper? The answer was, of course, no.

Bang!

A dull thud rang out.

The Canghui Academy youth felt as if he had kicked an iron plate. His entire lower leg went numb from the impact, and then Dai Mubai slapped out with one hand.

The youth's expression changed drastically. He raised his arm to block.

But the Soul Power attached to Dai Mubai's palm completely knocked his guard aside, and the slap still landed squarely on his chest.

The youth was tall and powerfully built, yet Dai Mubai's strike bent his body backward before sending him flying. He crashed through two tables in succession and hurtled toward the Canghui Academy group.

The middle-aged man from Canghui Academy hurriedly rose to his feet and raised both hands.

He caught the youth by the shoulders, barely stopping him. The youth's face turned pale, and with a "wah," he spat out a mouthful of blood. His entire body went limp and listless.

Dai Mubai straightened up and used the motion from his earlier strike to stretch lazily.

"I'm terribly sorry. My hand slipped."

The Evil Eye White Tiger showed his true colors. The disdain and contempt on his face carried an intense arrogance. Not only outsiders—even his own companions felt like punching him when they saw it.

The restaurant erupted into an uproar. The diners near Shrek Academy's and Canghui Academy's tables hurriedly got up and moved aside, afraid of being caught in the crossfire. Yet most did not immediately leave the restaurant, instead watching the scene before them with excited expressions.

Normally, anyone wanting to watch Soul Masters fight had to go to the Great Soul Arena, and that came at a considerable price. Now that they could watch for free, ordinary people who also possessed martial souls naturally grew excited. Besides, Soul Masters often appeared in this place to begin with.

Canghui Academy's group could not endure it. The remaining six students all stood up at once, glaring furiously at Shrek Academy's table. They wanted to rush over, but the middle-aged man stopped them.

The middle-aged man helped the youth he had caught into a chair, his face dark as he barked at Dai Mubai, "Which academy are you brats from?"

Dai Mubai's twin pupils gleamed wickedly.

"Trying to find out our background? You're not qualified."

With that, he returned to his seat.

The fat man moved quickly, especially when it came to eating. He had already started, commenting as he ate, "Mm, the taste is passable, but the heat was a little off. It'll do!"

The teacher's face instantly turned livid.

"What an arrogant bunch of brats. Teach them a lesson!"

The Canghui Academy students had been waiting for him to give the word. Apart from the one Dai Mubai had injured and the sole female student, the other five immediately charged toward Fu Hua's table.

"A fight? I like that."

Xiao Wu excitedly sprang up from her seat and rushed forward without hesitation.

Once Xiao Wu moved, Tang San naturally would not remain idle. He stood up, a faint violet hue veiling his eyes.

Neither side summoned their martial souls. The five young men saw that the one coming to meet them was actually a delicate-looking little girl.

Though she appeared young, Xiao Wu was already around 1.7 meters tall—much taller than Fu Hua. With her adorable blinking eyes and harmless appearance, she immediately caused their momentum to falter.

Relaxing in the face of a powerful enemy had doomed them to defeat.

The five youths froze and unconsciously stopped. Xiao Wu smiled sweetly at them.

"Hello, big brothers."

Stopped by such an adorable-looking little girl, their fierce expressions stiffened at once. For a moment, they hesitated, unsure what to do.

But just as they exchanged glances, Xiao Wu moved.

It seemed as though her foot slipped, and she pitched forward, falling toward one of the youths.

The youth instinctively raised his hands, only to suddenly see a glossy black braid fly toward him out of nowhere. Before he could react, Xiao Wu's scorpion braid had already wrapped tightly around his neck.

Xiao Wu halted her forward fall, curled her body, and sprang upward with her back to the youth, both feet kicking straight at his chest.

With his neck wrapped and Xiao Wu's feet flying toward him, the youth hurriedly lifted his arms to block.

But he did not know that Xiao Wu's feet were not attacking at all—they were merely a fulcrum. In almost an instant, he was flung away along with Xiao Wu's forward handspring.

Xiao Wu moved with incredible speed. Her feet did not pause in the slightest. Using the momentum of her forward handspring, after flinging one person away, her feet landed toward another.

The remaining four had yet to fully react. Faced with Xiao Wu's second attack, another youth hurriedly raised both arms, trying to block her strike.

But was Xiao Wu's Soft Skill really so easy to block?

His arms did indeed catch Xiao Wu's feet, but the Canghui Academy student discovered in shock that there was not a trace of force in her feet. They were as supple as noodles.

Her feet slipped down, sliding beneath his arms and accurately clamping around his neck.

Then, Xiao Wu's forward-flipping body defied inertia and turned into a backward flip, sending the second person flying as well.

Everything happened in the blink of an eye. The diners around them watched as five people from Canghui Academy charged forward, only for two of them to be cleanly and efficiently thrown out in an instant by a beautiful little girl.

The teacher was also startled by Xiao Wu's method of attack. Shocked and enraged, he roared—

"Idiots, use your martial souls!"

Meanwhile, Fu Hua secretly praised her. Girls were indeed not as strong as boys, but using softness to overcome hardness suited them perfectly.

But then she thought of herself, this oddity. If girls were weaker than boys, should she try throwing a punch?

Oscar rubbed his eyes hard and could not help saying, "Damn, that's fierce. Good thing I never offended your Xiao Wu."

Tang San merely smiled without speaking.

At that moment, Dai Mubai stood again and said in a deep voice, "Xiao Wu, come back! With us boys here, why should you girls need to fight?"

In a flicker, Dai Mubai had arrived beside Xiao Wu. Xiao Wu turned to look at Tang San. Only after Tang San nodded at her did she refrain from attacking again and calmly walk back.

The fat man, Ma Hongjun, took two huge bites in succession. Chewing the food in his mouth, he reluctantly walked out and stood beside Dai Mubai, his fat hands clasping and cracking loudly.

Tang San walked forward to meet Xiao Wu, switched places with her, and stood on Dai Mubai's other side.

Three youths faced five young men. No matter how one looked at it, Tang San's side appeared to be at a disadvantage—but was their strength really inferior as well?

Since Xiao Wu had not used her martial soul earlier, the two men she had flung away were badly dazed but not truly injured.

When the five Canghui Academy students regrouped, their anger had already reached its peak. Almost without hesitation, they summoned their martial souls.

They simply refused to believe that, as students of an advanced Soul Master Academy, they could lose to these youths before them.

For a moment, lights of various colors flared. The five youths' Soul Rings were all the same: one white and one yellow, representing a ten-year and a hundred-year ring.

All five were Battle Soul Masters without exception, including two weapon-type Battle Soul Masters and three beast-type Battle Soul Masters.

The two weapon martial souls were a spear and a trident, while the three beast martial souls were a deer, a goat, and a horse. Judging from the martial souls themselves, none of them were particularly powerful.

Watching them summon their martial souls, the disdain in Dai Mubai's wicked eyes deepened.

"Are these the so-called students of an advanced Soul Master Academy? You even have ten-year Soul Rings? Brothers, show them our Soul Rings!"

Dai Mubai was the first to roar, "White Tiger, Possession!"

A fierce pale-white light suddenly burst from his body. At the same time, he stretched both arms out to his sides and thrust out his chest. His bones crackled, his muscles rapidly swelled, and his clothes were stretched taut.

Every muscle beneath his clothing became sharply defined. Even the air around him seemed to turn frenzied.

His head of golden hair instantly became a mix of black and white, with white taking up most of it, though the few strands of black stood out all the more clearly.

Four faint lines appeared on his forehead—three horizontal and one vertical—forming the character for king.

His hands enlarged, white fur covering his palms entirely. As his ten fingers flexed, dagger-like claws continuously extended from and retracted into his palms.

Each claw was like a blade, eight inches long and glinting with a chilling, eerie light.

Dai Mubai slowly bent forward, his twin-pupiled eyes turning a deep, tranquil blue. An icy killing intent spread invisibly from him, filled with overwhelming intimidation.

Three gleaming rings rose in succession beneath his feet, silently ascending—two yellow and one purple. As the Soul Rings revolved, surging Soul Power formed a wave-like pressure that bore down on them.

Perhaps because their Martial Souls countered each other, the three Battle Soul Masters on the other side who possessed beast Martial Souls could not help but tremble and retreat several steps when Dai Mubai completed his Martial Soul Possession.

How could deer, sheep, and horses not fear a tiger?

In particular, the thousand-year purple Soul Ring on Dai Mubai's body shook the hearts of the five Canghui Academy students before him.

As Dai Mubai released his Martial Soul, Tang San and Ma Hongjun also unleashed their strength.

"Phoenix, Possession."

Purple-red light surged from the fat boy's body. The short hair on his head suddenly lengthened and gathered toward the middle, becoming a Mohawk hairstyle.

Two yellow Soul Rings rose simultaneously beneath his feet. Long feathers extended from his thick, bare arms, and his hands became clawed as well.

Scorching air currents swirled around the fat boy's body. Although he was considerably shorter than the Canghui Academy students opposite him, once those purple flames erupted from within him, his entire presence changed completely. Together with Dai Mubai's White Tiger Martial Soul, they suppressed their opponents until they could barely breathe.

Only Tang San's Martial Soul remained relatively calm. Two yellow rings, identical to Ma Hongjun's, rose beneath his feet as dense Blue Silver Grass quietly emerged, winding around his body and slowly spreading outward.

There was no need to fight at all. The moment Dai Mubai revealed his three Soul Rings, the five Canghui Academy students opposite them had already lost all their nerve.

They understood all too well how vast the difference in strength was when separated by a single Soul Ring. What was more, this person's third Soul Ring was thousand-year level. How could they possibly contend with that?

What left the Canghui Academy students especially unbalanced was that these youths before them looked far younger than they did, yet the strength they displayed already surpassed their own.

"Stop!"

The Canghui Academy teacher finally could not hold back any longer and stepped forward, waving at his students.

"All of you, step back."

The students might have felt indignant, but this teacher was deeply shocked. He clearly recognized that the three youths before him—whether the slightly older one in the middle or the two on either side who looked only twelve or thirteen—could all be called geniuses among geniuses.

Especially the one in the center. He looked no older than seventeen, yet he already possessed three Soul Rings and had reached the Soul Elder realm. It was something the teacher had never even heard of, and that thousand-year Soul Ring was particularly glaring to his eyes.

This teacher was, after all, a middle-aged man. Seeing Dai Mubai reveal his true strength, countless possibilities came to mind. Not only were his students no match for them, but even if they could win, he would not allow them to attack again. Some troubles simply could not be provoked.

"I am Ye Zhi Qiu, director of external affairs for Canghui Academy. May I ask which sect you belong to?"

As Ye Zhi Qiu approached the three of them, he withstood the pressure of their released Soul Power without even using his Martial Soul.

Dai Mubai was inwardly alarmed as well. In this situation, he could be certain that this middle-aged man's Soul Power far exceeded his own.

"We're from Shrek Academy."

Before Dai Mubai could speak, the fat boy answered smugly.

As he spoke, his brazen gaze gave the only female student from Canghui Academy a hard once-over.

Ye Zhi Qiu froze for a moment, a thoughtful look appearing in his eyes. Clearly, he was not very familiar with the name Shrek Academy.

"Shrek Academy? I don't think I've heard of it."

Dai Mubai snorted coldly.

"That only proves how ignorant you are."

Hearing that they were not disciples of some sect, Ye Zhi Qiu felt relieved, but he also could not help feeling powerless.

He had always believed that Canghui Academy's students were already outstanding. This time, they were heading to the Star Dou Great Forest to help one student obtain the third Soul Ring needed to advance at level thirty—the girl who had not appeared earlier.

Yet the youths before him dealt him a tremendous blow.

Ye Zhi Qiu understood that these three youths truly had the right to look down on Canghui Academy.

But how had they cultivated such powerful Soul Power at such a young age?

They were practically little monsters.

Of course, although their strength had shocked him, if he simply backed down now, Canghui Academy would lose all face before so many diners.

His students might not be capable, but he had to win back at least a little dignity for Canghui Academy himself.

With that thought, Ye Zhi Qiu no longer hesitated. A flash of light passed through his eyes as he released his Martial Soul as well.

"Black Tortoise, Possession."

Beast Martial Soul: Black Tortoise.

A ring of black ripples spread from Ye Zhi Qiu's body, forcibly suppressing the momentum of Tang San, Dai Mubai, and the fat boy.

His limbs simultaneously shrank by a third, while his back bulged outward, forming an enormous shell.

Black light flickered across his entire body as five Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet and circled above him. Five Soul Rings: one white, two yellow, and two purple.

The director of external affairs at Canghui Academy was actually a Soul King ranked above level fifty.

Although Ye Zhi Qiu's Soul Rings were not particularly strong among those of the same rank, his Soul Power in the mid-fifties was there for all to see, instantly suppressing Shrek Academy's side.

The entire restaurant erupted in cries of surprise.

After all, Soul Kings were already rare Soul Masters on the continent. They were extremely powerful, and in some kingdoms, they could even be granted the titles of viscount or earl.

PS: There was a lot of original text, so I trimmed and edited it before posting it all at once. Otherwise, it really would have felt like filler.

PS1: Next up, it's time for our A-Fu and Ning Rongrong.

PS2: I'm wondering whether I should post the next chapter too. It still feels a bit like filler.