Sudden Upheaval

A group of people pushed through the door. Leading them was a Middle-aged Man wearing glasses, his face covered in a thick beard, with a tuft of white hair at the crown of his head. Behind him came a muscular, crew-cut Big Man, followed by a scholarly-looking Middle-aged Man in a black robe with short, cropped hair. Behind them were seven teenage boys and girls—four boys and Three Women.

Xiao Yun's pupils abruptly contracted—the distinctive hooked nose and square black-rimmed glasses. Wasn't that Flender, the headmaster of Shrek Academy? That muscular Big Man was naturally Immovable Ming King Zhao Wuji, while the scholarly Middle-aged Man had to be Master Yu Xiaogang. Then the ones following behind them...

Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing... Xiao Yun's gaze unconsciously lingered on the three girls for several seconds.

Especially Xiao Wu. Her long pink hair and lively eyes made her even cuter than she had been described in the original work. Her pink scorpion braid glowed with a honey-like sheen beneath the setting sun, bouncing playfully at her waist as she walked lightly. Though she was only fourteen, her figure had already begun to show graceful curves. Her long legs, wrapped in white stockings, were as springy as a newborn fawn's. As expected of a transformed Soft Bone Rabbit.

Beside her, Ning Rongrong's sea-blue hair was loosely tied up with a pearl ribbon. The cool, pale skin unique to an aristocratic girl appeared nearly translucent under the sunlight. Unlike the other two girls, she retained the bearing of a noble Young Lady even as she walked.

As for Zhu Zhuqing, she had the most developed figure of the three. Her tight black leather outfit vividly displayed her alluring curves, making her seem nothing like a girl who had only just turned fourteen.

She was also the most vigilant of the three. She immediately noticed Xiao Yun's appraising gaze and looked back at him. When she saw his face, she was startled as well. She had thought Dai Mubai and Tang San were already quite handsome, but she had not expected this Tavern owner to surpass them, with an even more natural aura.

Xiao Yun quickly withdrew his gaze, but even in those few brief seconds, Tang San, Dai Mubai, Oscar, and the others had noticed it.

"Boss, bring out whatever you have. We've been traveling all day." Flender sat down carelessly, while the others found seats of their own.

Xiao Yun forcefully suppressed his excitement and greeted them as naturally as possible. "Please wait a moment, Lord Soul Masters. I'll have everything ready shortly."

When he served dishes to Xiao Wu's table, he could not help adding, "You ladies are very beautiful. Are you headed for Heaven Dou City?"

Hearing the compliment, Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong were naturally pleased. They looked up at Xiao Yun, only to find that he was extremely handsome, and they stared blankly for a moment before smiling in reply. "Thank you for the compliment. We are indeed heading to Heaven Dou City."

Xiao Yun immediately asked, "Are you going to participate in the All-Continent Advanced Academy Elite Competition?"

Zhu Zhuqing immediately asked warily, "How did you know that?"

Xiao Yun smiled. "I run a shop here, and this has been the hottest topic these past few days. Besides, you're all around the right age and you're all Lord Soul Masters, so it was only natural to guess."

Xiao Yun kindly reminded them, "Be careful once you reach Heaven Dou City. Don't act recklessly, or you may easily cause trouble."

After saying that, Xiao Yun returned to the back and continued preparing food for Tang San's table.

While Xiao Yun had been talking with Xiao Wu and the others, Tang San's expression had already darkened. A cold glint flashed through his Purple Demon Eyes as he stared fixedly at Xiao Yun's face.

When they left the Tavern, Tang San deliberately lagged behind and whispered something to Flender.

Flender frowned, but he still nodded and led the others away first.

Xiao Yun was clearing the tables when the door was suddenly kicked open.

Tang San entered with a grim expression, followed by Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun.

"A mere lowborn without Soul Power dares to leer at Xiao Wu and the others?" Tang San's voice was as cold as ice. "You have earned yourself a death sentence."

Xiao Yun had intended to resist, but seeing that there were three of them and that their strength vastly surpassed his current abilities, he could only pretend to react too slowly as Tang San's heavy fist slammed into his abdomen.

He doubled over in pain, and Dai Mubai immediately followed with a kick that sent him sprawling to the floor.

Xiao Yun reacted as an ordinary commoner should have. He curled into a ball with his arms wrapped around his head, allowing Tang San, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun to beat him.

Seeing Xiao Yun lying on the ground and wailing, Ma Hongjun said uneasily, "Third Brother, a simple lesson should be enough."

Tang San sneered and pulled a dagger from Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night. "Scum like this relies on his pretty face to flirt with girls everywhere. If he isn't taught a profound lesson, he'll never remember it."

Xiao Yun deliberately looked at the approaching Tang San in terror and begged shakily, "I... I only said they were pretty..."

"Shut up!" Tang San planted a foot on Xiao Yun's chest and viciously slashed a long wound across his face with the dagger. "Remember this face. From now on, stay away whenever you see a beautiful woman!"

The searing pain nearly made Xiao Yun pass out. Blood streamed down his cheek, staining the white front of his clothes red.

Tang San still seemed unsatisfied. He added several more kicks to Xiao Yun's abdomen. The last kick in particular used a technique from the Tang Sect, striking directly at Xiao Yun's vital point. Only then did he leave with Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun.

Xiao Yun curled up on the ground, his vision blurred by blood and tears. The pain was not merely physical—it was also the humiliation carved into his heart.

He hated his own helplessness, hated this world where the strong preyed upon the weak, and hated Tang San's lofty, contemptuous expression even more.

What a fine death sentence... Xiao Yun coughed up a mouthful of bloody foam. Eighteen years of suppressed resentment and fury finally burst through their dam. Drops of blood fell from his chin onto the Tavern floor as his trembling fingers touched the savage wound that stretched from the corner of his right eye to his jaw. Tang San's contemptuous gaze before leaving coiled around his heart like a venomous snake.

Just as his consciousness was about to fade away, he vaguely sensed a gaze that had crossed endless void.

An indescribable existence casually flipped through his memories, as though browsing an idle book after a meal.

In an extremely short span of time, It finished reading everything in Xiao Yun's mind and gained a fairly clear understanding of Douluo Continent. It greatly disliked Tang San's conduct in the anime and novels, and wanted to personally erase Tang San from existence. Unfortunately, Its power was simply too overwhelming. Even this casual glance had nearly caused the entire Douluo World to collapse, and the many God Kings of the Douluo God Realm all seemed to sense the peril of the apocalypse descending.

It extended Its right hand and fished a world out from among the countless worlds about to fall into a dark abyss. It let out a soft breath, sent it into this world, and casually carried out massive alterations upon it.

After finishing, It flicked a finger. The world vanished from thin air, and when it appeared again, it was already at Xiao Yun's glabella, instantly merging into him. Xiao Yun's body then recovered as though time had reversed. The only thing that remained was the long wound on his face.