The Second Trial

Zhao Zilong heard this and looked at Meng Yiran. Meng Yiran was also looking at him with a resentful gaze. She gave a delicate snort and turned her head away. Zhao Zilong immediately stepped forward and said, "Um, Yiran, how about this? I'll make it up to you with a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring someday!"

Meng Yiran heard him and said unhappily, "What do you mean, Yiran? Are we that close? Don't call me so familiarly."

"Then what should I call you?" Zhao Zilong asked.

Meng Yiran blushed a little and said, "I'm three years older than you. You should call me big sister, understand?"

"Fine! Big Sister Yiran."

Hearing Zhao Zilong actually call her big sister, Meng Yiran's cheeks turned faintly red, and she felt somewhat flustered inside. Zhao Zilong continued, "Then, Big Sister Yiran, what do you think of my proposal? Once your Soul Power reaches level 50, I'll make it up to you with a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring."

"Hmph, since you called me big sister, I'll let you off for taking my Soul Ring," Meng Yiran said, sounding a little haughty. "But I want to compete with you again."

Zhao Zilong chuckled confidently. "Sure! Let's talk after you get your Soul Ring!"

"No. I don't want to compete with you in Martial Souls and Soul Power. I want to compete with you in this." As she spoke, Meng Yiran took out several Soul Breaking Daggers. "I have thirty-two Soul Breaking Daggers here. You and I will each take sixteen. In a moment, I'll have my grandfather shake the leaves off the tree. Then we'll throw the daggers. Whoever hits more leaves wins."

Zhao Zilong spread his hands. "Throwing daggers? But I don't know how. That's a little unfair to me."

Meng Yiran smiled confidently. "It's fine. Since you called me big sister, your big sister will naturally go easy on you. How about this? You take twenty Soul Breaking Daggers, and I'll only take twelve. That can't count as bullying you, right?"

"Uh, fine," Zhao Zilong agreed, as if it were a difficult decision.

Tang San, standing nearby, was speechless. The guy clearly knew how to throw Hidden Weapons! Although daggers were much heavier than Blue Silver leaves, Tang San had seen Zhao Zilong's technique. He was extremely skilled.

"All right, let's get started," Meng Yiran said.

"Wait..." Zhao Zilong called out to stop her.

The corner of Meng Yiran's mouth curled into a smile. "What, are you scared? If you can't do it, you can admit defeat."

"Are you kidding? How can a man say he can't do it? I just want to add a little wager." Zhao Zilong's lips curled into a smile. "If I lose, I'll find you a Soul Ring for level 50. But if you lose, don't worry, I won't make you find a Soul Ring for me. You just have to kiss me once."

"You..." Hearing Zhao Zilong's frivolous tone, Meng Yiran's face flushed with anger and embarrassment.

Xiao Wu was also annoyed. "You always think about taking advantage of girls, don't you?"

Meng Shu was overjoyed when he heard Zhao Zilong's wager. "Good, it's settled."

"Grandfather..." Meng Yiran blushed with embarrassment when she heard that Meng Shu had actually agreed.

Meng Shu stroked his beard and smiled. "If young people aren't passionate, can they still be called young?"

Zhao Zilong grinned. "If you don't want to kiss me, you can kiss Tang San instead."

"I wouldn't want to! He's so ugly..." Meng Yiran gave a delicate snort and shot Tang San a disdainful glance. Then, haughtily, she said, "Besides, it's not certain who'll win."

Tang San's face immediately darkened. He hadn't said a word this whole time, so how had he gotten hit while lying down?

Xiao Wu looked at Tang San and Zhao Zilong, too. Zhao Zilong wasn't particularly handsome, and he was nowhere near as good-looking as the two handsome guys, Dai Mubai and Oscar. But he really was better-looking than Tang San, especially with those peach-blossom eyes and the mischievous smile that was always on his lips. He was quite attractive to girls.

At that moment, Xiao Wu suddenly felt that Tang San wasn't so appealing anymore.

"All right, Yiran goes first." As he spoke, Meng Shu struck the tree trunk with his palm, and countless leaves fluttered down.

Meng Yiran quickly threw the twelve daggers in her hand. Each dagger hit at least one leaf, and some even hit two or three. Meng Shu watched and praised her. "Mm, not bad, not bad. Twenty-nine leaves in total. Zilong, it's your turn."

"Okay."

Meng Shu shook the leaves down again. Zhao Zilong threw the daggers in his hand. They were faster and more accurate than Meng Yiran's, with two or three leaves on every dagger. Since Zhao Zilong had twenty daggers, his total naturally far surpassed Meng Yiran's.

Meng Yiran was astonished by Zhao Zilong's skill. Embarrassed and indignant, she said, "You lied to me! Didn't you say you couldn't do it?"

"A bet's a bet. You're not going to go back on your word, are you?" Zhao Zilong said, the corner of his mouth curling into a teasing smile.

Meng Yiran gave a delicate snort, then walked over and kissed Zhao Zilong on the cheek before blushing and running off.

Meng Shu watched with satisfaction and stroked his beard. "All right, since you've found your companion, come with us. I'll take you to find Zhao Wuji." After he finished speaking, Meng Shu glanced at Xiao Wu again. He still thought Xiao Wu seemed a little strange, but he couldn't put his finger on why.

Along the way, Meng Yiran's little face was flushed as she secretly stole glances at Zhao Zilong. Dragon Duke's lips curled into a smile. As far as he was concerned, if Meng Yiran could get herself such a good grandson-in-law, that would be excellent.

With Dragon Duke and Snake Granny's help, they soon found Zhao Wuji and the others. The rest of Shrek's group were all very happy to see Xiao Wu.

When Zhao Wuji saw Dragon Duke and Snake Granny, he naturally assumed that the couple had rescued Zhao Zilong and the others. He came over at once and cupped his fists in thanks. "I'm Zhao Wuji. Thank you both, seniors, for saving my students."

"Think nothing of it." Dragon Duke stroked his beard, then looked at the Shrek students and asked, "Children, what levels are your Soul Power?"

Although they didn't understand why Meng Shu had asked, they each stated their Soul Power levels. Hearing them, Dragon Duke was quite astonished. His granddaughter was already exceptionally talented, but he hadn't expected that every one of these children was even more talented than she was.

Even the one with the lowest Soul Power was level 26, at twelve years old. Yiran wasn't even level 26.

Meng Shu stroked his beard. "Brother Zhao, the teachers at your Shrek Academy really are capable. It's truly rare for these children to have such strength at their age."

"Senior, you flatter us," Zhao Wuji said, cupping his fists.

Meng Shu also stated his purpose directly. "Brother Zhao, my Yiran is fifteen this year and has Soul Power at level 30. After she gets a Soul Ring, she should be able to rise to level 31. I'd like her to join Shrek Academy. What do you think?"