That afternoon, everyone at Shrek Academy was called into the classroom. Flender stood at the lectern, looking at the students chatting below. He pretended to cough, then said, "Little Monsters, we have another Little Monster joining you today. Come on in, Meng Yiran."
As soon as Meng Yiran walked in, Ma Hongjun began whistling from below, excitedly saying, "Isn't that the girl from the Star Dou Great Forest?"
Dai Mubai slapped Ma Hongjun and said, "Obviously. Didn't you hear what Dragon Duke said back then? Looks like our academy is finally starting to feel like an academy this year. We actually have nine people now."
Ma Hongjun grinned slyly. "This is great. Another girl has joined our academy."
Dai Mubai gave Ma Hongjun a look. "Fatty, she's older than you."
Oscar ran over and sat beside Zhao Zilong. "Zilong, now that Meng Yiran's here, you'd better treat her well. After all, she came to Shrek Academy for your sake." Oscar said this because he wanted Zhao Zilong to back off, so he wouldn't have to compete with him for Ning Rongrong.
Zhao Zilong sounded exasperated. "You really don't know when to quit. Even if it was just you and Fatty left, I'd still think Fatty had a better chance of winning Rongrong over than you do."
Ning Rongrong was sitting in front of Zhao Zilong. Hearing this, she immediately turned around and cursed, "Bullshit! Do you think I'd ever be interested in that damned Fatty?"
Oscar was overjoyed when he heard that. Ma Hongjun had suddenly been caught in the crossfire, and he cried out in protest. "What the hell? I haven't said a word! What did I do to deserve this?"
"I wouldn't be interested in you either." Ning Rongrong gave Oscar a disdainful little hum as she watched his expression.
A smile curled at the corner of Zhao Zilong's mouth. Ning Rongrong then turned to him and said, "You're no different."
"There isn't a single decent man," Zhu Zhuqing said coldly.
Dai Mubai hurried over to comfort her. "No, Zhuqing, I'm not like them. You can't condemn all men with one stroke!"
"Hmph, aren't you just the same?" Zhu Zhuqing said with a disdainful hum, not even bothering to pay Dai Mubai any mind.
"All right, quiet down and get back to your seats. What will the new student think of us?" Flender was a little exasperated with these Little Monsters. At his words, everyone returned to their seats.
Ma Hongjun immediately jumped up to contradict him, asking for trouble. "Teacher, don't you always call us monsters? If we're monsters, then of course we should be a little unconventional, right?"
Flender's eye twitched. These Little Monsters really did need a beating every day, or they'd climb onto the roof and tear it down. He gave a low, mocking chuckle. "Unconventional, is that it? Fine. This is a good chance to see how you've been training lately. Everyone, come out for a practical lesson."
Meng Yiran, standing nearby, looked confused. Flender said, "Meng Yiran, you're joining in too."
They went out to the training field, and Flender called all the teachers over as well. "We'll have a practical lesson right away. Old Zhao, Old Lu, Old Li, you three go."
Dai Mubai immediately complained, "Seriously, Dean? Two Soul Emperors and a Soul Saint? Are you trying to get us killed? Even all of us together couldn't beat Teacher Zhao, and now you're adding Teacher Li and Teacher Lu?"
Flender's mouth curled into a smile. "Didn't you want to be unconventional? Here's your chance! Besides, I think this is quite fair. Li Yusong has Soul Power at level 63, Lu Qibin at level 66, and Zhao Wuji at level 76. The three of them have just over 200 levels of Soul Power combined. The nine of you have more than that, for sure."
Oscar immediately wailed, "No, Dean, that's not how you calculate it!"
Zhao Zilong also complained, "If it were just one person, we might still have a chance. Against three, we'd just be asking for a beating!"
"Fine. Since you said that, we'll do it your way. The three teachers will come up one at a time, and you can have up to seven people on the field at once. That should settle your complaints, right?" Flender replied at once.
Without waiting for Zhao Zilong and the others to answer, Flender continued, "All right, you have the time it takes one stick of incense to burn to discuss your strategy and tactics."
Hearing Flender's words, they had no choice but to accept. Every one of them wore a long face.
Zhao Wuji came over and said, "All right, stop whining. Here's the deal: when I fight you, I won't use my seventh Soul Skill, Martial Soul Avatar. That should be fine, right? Of course, you'll have to prove you can defeat Li Yusong and Lu Qibin before you get to me. By the way, Tang San, you can't use that strange Hidden Weapon of yours either."
Tang San nodded. "Yes, Teacher Zhao."
Tang San then asked, "Teacher Zhao, you said we have to defeat Teacher Li and Teacher Lu first. Does that mean you'll be last?"
Zhao Wuji very generously told them the order they would fight in. "That's right. First Li Yusong, then Lu Qibin, and finally me."
After hearing the order the teachers would fight in, Zhao Zilong and the others went off to discuss their strategy and tactics. Dai Mubai looked at everyone and said, "Brothers, this is going to be a tough fight. Even though the three teachers will come up one at a time, I'm afraid our Soul Power won't last until the end."
Dai Mubai looked at everyone and said, "Let me tell you about the three teachers' Martial Souls. Teacher Li's Martial Soul is the Dragon Pattern Staff. He's a Power Attack System Battle Soul Emperor. Teacher Lu's Martial Soul is Star Luo Chess. He's a Control System Battle Soul Emperor. Teacher Zhao's Martial Soul is the Great Vajra Bear. He's a Power Attack System Battle Soul Saint."
Zhao Zilong spoke up. "The key is figuring out how to deal with them. If there were only one, we could use a relay battle and slowly wear him down. But there are three. Even if we fought with everything we had and beat one, there'd still be two more."
Tang San said, "Then we'll need to arrange our tactics carefully. There are nine of us, and up to seven can go up each time. That means the other two can rest. If we make good use of the breaks in between, we should still have a way."
Zhao Zilong struck his left fist against his right palm. "Forget it. When the soldiers come, we'll block them; when the water comes, we'll hold it back with earth. We'll give it everything we've got in the first round. Even if we can't win in the end, we have to beat Teacher Li Yusong decisively in the first match."
Everyone looked toward Zhao Zilong as they listened. Dai Mubai asked, "Zilong, what do you have in mind?"
Zhao Zilong grinned. "If we're going all out, then we should send out our strongest fighters. You, me, Xiao Wu, Xiao Ao, and Yiran are all Soul Elders, so all five of us will go first. Then we'll add Rongrong's support and Fatty's aerial assistance. We should be able to handle Teacher Li Yusong."
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