Contradictions

Ye Zhi Qiu was furious, too. He hadn't expected this bunch of kids in their teens to be so capable, making him lose face right from the start. He roared, "Fourth Soul Skill: Mystic Turtle Charge..."

In an instant, Ye Zhi Qiu's defense rose again, and he charged toward Dai Mubai.

"Entanglement..." Tang San activated his first Soul Skill again, but this time Ye Zhi Qiu broke free after only two seconds. Tang San shouted, "Everyone, spread out..."

In an instant, the eight of them scattered, surrounding Ye Zhi Qiu in the middle. Although the Mystic Turtle's defense was strong, its weak attacks and slow speed were still serious flaws.

"What are you all doing?" Just then, Zhao Wuji came out. The fight immediately stopped. Zhao Wuji was quite pleased that these Little Monsters had been able to fight Ye Zhi Qiu, a Soul King, for so long. After all, they were his students.

But even though he was pleased inside, he still had to keep up appearances. With his hands behind his back and the air of an expert, he scolded them, "It's the middle of the night. Why aren't you sleeping? What are you all doing out here? Get back inside and go to bed."

"Yes." The Shrek students then withdrew their Martial Souls and headed back to the inn.

As the Shrek students passed him, Zhao Wuji continued to scold them. "Useless! You've been at it all this time and still couldn't handle a single turtle. I'm absolutely increasing your training load when we get back."

"Wait a moment. You're their teacher, aren't you?" Hearing Zhao Wuji's words, Ye Zhi Qiu grew even angrier. As expected, students took after their teacher. He rebuked him, "Your students just humiliated our Blue Sunshine Academy. As their teacher, don't you have anything to say?"

Zhao Wuji ignored Ye Zhi Qiu completely and glared at the Shrek students. "What are you looking at? Get inside. Now."

Seeing Zhao Wuji completely ignore him made Ye Zhi Qiu even angrier. Only then did Zhao Wuji speak. "If you ask me, my students were right. Your Blue Sunshine Academy is always so arrogant and overbearing. A lesson today will do you good."

Ye Zhi Qiu grew even more furious. It had clearly been Zhao Wuji's students who started the trouble, yet now he was turning the blame around. Zhao Wuji snorted. "If you're unhappy, then settle it with strength."

Zhao Wuji was a Soul Saint, and his strength completely overwhelmed Ye Zhi Qiu. He took care of him in just a few moves. Watching from behind the door, Ma Hongjun and the others were thrilled. "Teacher Zhao really is amazing! He took care of that old turtle in just a few moves."

"He really is impressive." Zhao Zilong, standing nearby, replied calmly, "But this means we've completely offended Ye Zhi Qiu-and even the Blue Sunshine Academy. I'm afraid that won't be a good thing."

Hearing Zhao Zilong's words, Ma Hongjun immediately looked down on him a little. "Come on, Zi Long! You're way too timid. So what if we offended the Blue Sunshine Academy? We're monsters."

Zhao Zilong gave a cold laugh and looked at Ma Hongjun. "Monsters? Ma Hongjun, I admit you're a genius. You can provoke the students from Blue Sunshine Academy, even humiliate them. They're about our age, and their talent is far inferior to ours. They're destined to spend their lives beneath our feet. But you shouldn't have humiliated their teacher. You've brought great trouble upon yourself."

Hearing Zhao Zilong's words, Ma Hongjun was immediately displeased. In a sarcastic tone, he said, "Oh? Zhao Zilong, since when did you learn to respect your teachers? I remember you criticizing the dean's sayings before!"

Zhao Zilong smiled scornfully and looked at Ma Hongjun. "Ye Zhi Qiu suffered such a great humiliation here today in front of his students. Anyone would feel resentment. He can't beat Teacher Zhao, so he has no way to take revenge on him. Naturally, he'll shift that hatred onto us. You, Ma Hongjun, humiliated him the most. If he wants to kill anyone, he'll kill you first."

Hearing this, Ma Hongjun panicked a little. The others, too, had come down from the high of bullying Blue Sunshine Academy just moments ago. Bullying others felt good, but the thought that they might face retaliation still worried them.

Tang San spoke up. "It can't be that serious, can it? Besides, he was beaten so badly by Teacher Zhao. Surely he wouldn't..."

By then, Zhao Wuji, who had been about to come inside, was standing in the doorway. He had actually known about it since Ma Hongjun provoked Blue Sunshine Academy, but had deliberately stayed out to see how far these Little Monsters could go. He hadn't expected Zhao Zilong to be so cautious.

Still, Zhao Wuji couldn't refute him, because Zhao Zilong wasn't wrong.

Zhao Zilong didn't answer Tang San. Instead, he continued, "Also, I still can't agree with the saying, 'A Soul Master who doesn't cause trouble isn't a good Soul Master.' Of course, maybe I'm just an ordinary person."

Ma Hongjun was immediately speechless. If Zhao Zilong was an "ordinary person," then their talents weren't much better. In a sarcastic tone, he said, "What are you afraid of? Even if we couldn't beat that old turtle today, we still had Teacher Zhao, didn't we? Do you really have to be so careful?"

Zhao Zilong smiled at that and said, "Ma Hongjun, do you know about the Clear Sky Douluo?"

"The Clear Sky Douluo? I think I've heard that name somewhere." Ma Hongjun rubbed his head, trying hard to recall it.

Dai Mubai looked at him and smacked him on the head. "You don't even know about the Clear Sky Douluo? Didn't the dean tell us about him before? The youngest Titled Douluo in Douluo Continent."

"Oh, now I remember." With Dai Mubai's reminder, Ma Hongjun recalled it.

The others also looked at Zhao Zilong in confusion, not knowing why he had suddenly brought up the Clear Sky Douluo.

Zhao Zilong continued, "More than ten years ago, the Clear Sky Douluo fought the previous Pope, Qian Xunji, and severely wounded him. That battle made the Clear Sky Douluo famous. But not long afterward, Pope Qian Xunji died of his injuries. Enraged, Spirit Hall attacked the Clear Sky Sect. In the end, the Clear Sky Sect only secured a truce with Spirit Hall by going into seclusion, and the Clear Sky Douluo disappeared after that battle."

"Even the mighty Clear Sky Douluo and the Clear Sky Sect, the greatest sect under heaven, had enemies they couldn't afford to provoke. What's more, we're only rookie Soul Masters at levels twenty or thirty. We should already be grateful if no one comes to bully us."

Hearing Zhao Zilong say this, everyone fell silent. Ning Rongrong looked at Ma Hongjun with disdain and switched sides, sneering, "Hmph, so this fatso deliberately started trouble. Zhao Zilong was right. You'd better stop going out at all hours from now on, or sooner or later you'll get beaten up."

"You..." Zhao Zilong's scolding had already left Ma Hongjun unable to argue, and that had made him inexplicably irritated. Now Ning Rongrong was mocking him like this, and Ma Hongjun's fat face turned bright red with anger.

Just then, Zhao Wuji pushed open the door. Seeing that the atmosphere among the Shrek students was off, he said, "Hongjun, Zilong, remember that you're on the same team. Neither of you was wrong in this matter. Also, Ye Zhi Qiu has already been warned. He won't dare come looking for trouble with you."

"Thank you, Teacher Zhao." Hearing Zhao Wuji's words, Ma Hongjun immediately thanked him. Zhao Zilong's words had frightened him a little, after all. In the past, whenever Ma Hongjun provoked someone, the academy had cleaned up after him. He had never considered what Zhao Zilong said.

Then Zhao Wuji looked at Zhao Zilong. "Zilong, you're careful and cautious in how you handle things, and I'm pleased. But young people should act like young people. Sometimes, you ought to be a little more arrogant. If you're too cautious, you don't seem young anymore. Don't worry. If you run into trouble, I'll handle it for you. I knew about it as soon as Hongjun provoked Blue Sunshine Academy. I would've come down to stop you if the other side's Soul Power had been higher than mine."

"Little Monsters, remember that you're a team. Whatever happens, you must stand together against outsiders. You can settle any disagreements among yourselves after you get home. Understand?"

"Yes."