A Little Exercise

"So this is your academy? It doesn't look like much!" Madara stood at the entrance of Shrek Academy, sizing up the place that looked more like a small village than an academy, his tone carrying a trace of disdain.

Shrek Academy looked shabby and dilapidated, without the slightest resemblance to an academy. It did not even have a proper place for teaching, looking utterly impoverished.

"This is so embarrassing!" Xiao Wu said, rubbing her forehead. She had gained an even deeper understanding of Headmaster Flender's stinginess.

"Ahem! Let's go inside first! The injured come first!" Even Flender, that shrewd businessman, could not quite save face after seeing his academy scorned by an outsider.

Madara strode inside without a care, saying bluntly, "Then I want to see what exactly you people are up to."

What Madara did not know was that the academy was so rundown not because its headmaster was up to something, but because it had no money!

The moment they entered the academy, a burly middle-aged man in his thirties or forties, built like a bear, approached them. When he saw the battered Dai Mubai, he froze. After recovering, he asked anxiously and angrily, "Dai Mubai, what happened?"

"I was only injured a little at the Great Soul Arena! Teacher Zhao, I'm fine!" Dai Mubai forced his head up and gave a weak smile.

"You call this a little injury? You call this fine?" The burly man grumbled as he heavily patted Dai Mubai on the shoulder, immediately making him cough violently.

"Enough! Old Zhao, stop being so rough! Get Mubai inside to rest!" Flender shot Zhao Wuji a fierce glare and said slowly.

Everyone quickly helped Dai Mubai into a room, and under a teacher's treatment, he finally drifted into an exhausted sleep.

Only then did the Shrek group recount the entire incident in full to Zhao Wuji and the other instructors.

This made Zhao Wuji and the others look at Madara with increasingly hostile gazes, as if they wanted to devour him alive.

"What a fine brat! You still dared to come to our Shrek?" Zhao Wuji clenched his knuckles until they crackled and squeezed out the words through gritted teeth.

"Oh? Why should I run?" Madara instead stepped forward, fearlessly meeting the gaze of Zhao Wuji, a Soul Saint. He seemed even more arrogant because of it.

"You think that just because Tang San is protecting you, we truly wouldn't dare touch you?" Zhao Wuji laughed loudly, baring a row of neat white teeth.

"Teacher Zhao! I'll bear full responsibility for my brother's actions!" Tang San still defended his brother as fiercely as ever. He stepped forward and stood between Madara and Zhao Wuji.

"Are we fighting? Hm?" Madara licked his dry lips, shoved Tang San aside, and battle intent blazed fiercely in his eyes.

"Nothing could be better! I'll give you some exercise!" Zhao Wuji walked toward the door. When he reached it, he turned back and lifted his chin, signaling Madara to follow.

"Brother! You're being impulsive!" Tang San had wanted to stop Madara, but he was clearly too late. He sighed and said, "Teacher Zhao is a seven-ring Soul Saint!"

Madara's expression was eager every day, and the chance to exchange blows with a seven-ring Soul Saint thrilled him beyond measure. The corners of his lips curled up as he said, "Then that really is... wonderful!"

Tang San was completely speechless. With Madara so fired up, nothing anyone said would get through to him.

"Then I'll make sure to give you a proper workout!" Madara followed without falling behind in the slightest, showing not a shred of fear toward Zhao Wuji.

Seeing Madara rush out so excitedly, Tang San helplessly shook his head, sighed, and followed as well.

The two soon arrived at the open grassland outside the academy and took positions on opposite sides. At that moment, the Shrek group also hurried over and stood some distance away to watch their contest.

"Then let's begin!" The moment Madara finished speaking, he impatiently charged forward, looking incomparably reckless.

"What overconfidence!" Zhao Wuji did not even use Martial Soul Possession. Like Madara when he had faced Dai Mubai, he simply stood there as if no one else existed.

Madara darted rapidly across the grass, kicking up fierce winds as he ran and flattening the weeds to one side.

Zhao Wuji laughed heartily, folded his arms as thick as water buckets, raised one foot slightly, then stomped down with vicious force.

The ground trembled slightly as an enormous yellow wave of earth surged toward Madara like a raging tide.

"Cheap trick!" Madara leaped high into the air, narrowly avoiding the earthen wave. After landing, he did not slow down at all and continued charging ahead.

"Interesting!" Zhao Wuji was also stunned by Madara's nimble footwork, and a hint of interest suddenly rose within him.

Attack was the best defense, and Madara was a ninja who embodied offense through sheer violence.

In the blink of an eye, Madara flashed before Zhao Wuji. His speed was so fast that even Zhu Zhuqing, an agility-type Soul Master, felt ashamed.

"Isn't that speed too fast?" Ning Rongrong watched intently from the side and could not help exclaiming.

"Of course! Big Brother Madara has plenty more skills!" Xiao Wu pouted, boasting with pride.

Madara was ultimately only a Three-ring Soul Master. No matter how fast he was, he could not be faster than Zhao Wuji, a Soul Saint.

Just as Madara swung his scythe down, Zhao Wuji's bear paw was already there, having anticipated the attack.

His broad palm easily gripped the scythe's blade, instantly leaving Madara unable to move.

Yet Madara showed no surprise. Instead, he revealed a cryptic smile, making Zhao Wuji's heart skip a beat.

"Explode!" Madara softly uttered a single word, and the third soul ring behind him shone with dazzling light.

The scythe in Madara's hand exploded with a thunderous boom. Caught off guard, Zhao Wuji was instantly swallowed by surging flames.

The Shrek group stared at the scene in disbelief. "What?"

Madara's third soul ring was Copy. During his time fighting in the Soul Hunting Forest, he had encountered a soul skill that suited him rather well, so he copied it for his own use.

This soul skill closely resembled Exploding Blade Spray of the Seven Ninja Swordsmen of the Mist from the Hidden Mist Village, but Madara had creatively applied it to his own scythe.

As for the Soul Master who had provided the soul skill, he had been fed to Spirit Beasts!

"Pah! An eighty-year-old mother got thrown by her own child! I actually got tricked by you?" As the smoke dispersed, Zhao Wuji appeared before everyone completely unharmed. Aside from looking a little dusty and disheveled, he had suffered no other injuries.

Zhao Wuji blocking his attack so casually had long been within Madara's expectations. After landing a blow, Madara did not linger. He immediately leaped back, his eyes gleaming as he thought, Martial Soul Possession? Looks like it's time to show some real skill!

The reason Zhao Wuji had been so easily struck by Madara was that Madara had planned while Zhao Wuji had not. Seeing Zhao Wuji use Martial Soul Possession, Madara immediately sharpened his focus.

Now, the real exercise was about to begin!