Zhao Zilong looked at Meng Yiran as he listened. Meng Yiran gazed back at him with a resentful look, gave a soft huff, and turned her head away. Zhao Zilong immediately stepped forward. "Well, Yiran! How about this? I'll get you a ten-thousand-year spirit ring someday, all right?"
Meng Yiran said unhappily, "What do you mean, Yiran? Are we that close? Don't call me so intimately."
"Then what should I call you?" Zhao Zilong asked.
Meng Yiran blushed slightly and said, "I'm three years older than you. You have to call me Sister, understand?"
"Fine, Sister Yiran."
Hearing Zhao Zilong actually call her Sister, Meng Yiran's face reddened, and she felt somewhat flustered. Zhao Zilong continued, "So, Sister Yiran, what do you think of my proposal? Once your Soul Power reaches Rank 50, I'll get you a ten-thousand-year spirit ring."
"Hmph, since you called me Sister, I'll let the matter of you stealing my spirit ring go," Meng Yiran said somewhat haughtily. "But I want to compete with you once more."
Zhao Zilong chuckled and said confidently, "Sure. We can talk after you obtain your spirit ring."
"No, I don't want to compete in martial souls or Soul Power. I want to compete in this." As she spoke, Meng Yiran took out several Soul Breaking Daggers. "I have thirty-two Soul Breaking Daggers here. We'll take sixteen each. In a moment, I'll have my grandfather shake leaves down from the tree. Then we'll throw our daggers. Whoever hits more leaves wins."
Zhao Zilong spread his hands. "Throwing daggers? But I don't know how! Isn't that a little unfair to me?"
Meng Yiran smiled confidently. "It's fine. Since you called me Sister, I'll naturally go easy on you. How about this? You get twenty Soul Breaking Daggers, and I'll only take twelve. That can't count as bullying you, right?"
"Uh, all right." Zhao Zilong agreed with a troubled expression.
Tang San, standing nearby, was speechless. You clearly know throwing techniques for hidden weapons, don't you? Although throwing daggers were much heavier than Blue Silver leaves, Tang San had seen Zhao Zilong's technique. He was extremely skilled.
"All right, let's begin," Meng Yiran said.
"Wait..." Zhao Zilong stopped her.
A smile curled across Meng Yiran's lips. "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 smiled. "If I lose, I'll find your Rank 50 spirit ring for you. But if you lose, don't worry, I won't ask you to find me any spirit ring. You just have to kiss me once."
"You..." Meng Yiran's face flushed with both anger and embarrassment at Zhao Zilong's frivolous tone.
Xiao Wu was also angered. "You jerk, why are you always trying to take advantage of girls?"
Meng Shu nearly burst with delight at Zhao Zilong's wager and said, "Good. It's settled, then."
"Grandfather..." Meng Yiran's face turned crimson when she heard that Meng Shu had actually agreed.
Meng Shu stroked his beard and smiled. "If young people aren't a little passionate, can they still be called young people?"
Zhao Zilong grinned. "If you don't want to kiss me, you can kiss Tang San instead."
"As if I would! He's so ugly..." Meng Yiran gave a delicate huff, glanced disdainfully at Tang San, and said arrogantly, "Besides, it's not certain who will win."
Tang San's face instantly darkened. He had not said a single word here. How had he gotten caught in the crossfire while doing nothing?
Xiao Wu also looked at Tang San and Zhao Zilong. Though Zhao Zilong was not particularly handsome and fell far short of the two great hunks, Dai Mubai and Oscar, his looks were indeed better than Tang San's. Especially those peach-blossom eyes of his, coupled with the wicked smile that always lingered at the corners of his lips—he was still quite attractive to girls.
At that moment, Xiao Wu suddenly felt that Tang San was no longer so appealing.
"All right, Yiran goes first." As he spoke, Meng Shu struck the tree trunk with his palm, sending countless leaves fluttering down.
Meng Yiran looked at the twelve throwing daggers in her hand and swiftly threw them out. Every dagger had pierced at least one leaf, while some had even pierced two or three. Meng Shu watched and praised her. "Mm, not bad, not bad. Twenty-nine leaves in total. Zilong, it's your turn."
"Good."
Meng Shu shook down another wave of leaves. Zhao Zilong threw out the daggers in his hand, faster and more accurate than Meng Yiran's. Every dagger had two or three leaves on it. Since Zhao Zilong had twenty daggers, his total naturally far surpassed Meng Yiran's.
Meng Yiran was stunned when she saw Zhao Zilong's display. Embarrassed and furious, she said, "You lied to me! Didn't you say you didn't know how?"
"A bet is a bet. You're not going to go back on your word, are you?" Zhao Zilong asked with a teasing smile.
Meng Yiran gave a delicate huff, then walked up and kissed Zhao Zilong on the cheek. Her pretty face slightly flushed, she ran away.
Meng Shu watched from the side, stroking his beard in satisfaction. "All right, since you've found your companions, come with us. I'll take you to find Zhao Wuji." After speaking, Meng Shu glanced at Xiao Wu again. He still found Xiao Wu somewhat strange, yet he could not put his finger on why.
Along the way, Meng Yiran's little face remained red as she secretly stole glances at Zhao Zilong. Dragon Duke smiled. To him, it would be excellent indeed if Meng Yiran could win herself such a grandson-in-law.
With Dragon Duke and Snake Grandma's help, they soon found Zhao Wuji and the others. The rest of Shrek Academy was also overjoyed to see Xiao Wu.
When Zhao Wuji saw Dragon Duke and Snake Grandma, he naturally assumed the couple had saved Zhao Zilong and the others. He immediately stepped forward, cupped his fists, and thanked them. "I am Zhao Wuji. Thank you, Seniors, for saving my students."
"No need to be so polite." Dragon Duke stroked his beard, then looked at the Shrek group and asked, "Children, what ranks are your Soul Powers at?"
Though they did not understand why Meng Shu was asking, they still stated their Soul Power ranks. Dragon Duke was quite astonished after hearing them. His granddaughter was already exceptionally talented, yet he had not expected every one of these children to be even more gifted than she was.
Even the one with the lowest Soul Power was Rank 26 at twelve years old. Not even Yiran had reached Rank 26.
Meng Shu stroked his beard. "Brother Zhao, the teachers of your Shrek Academy are truly capable. For these children to possess such strength at their age is indeed rare!"
"You flatter us, Senior." Zhao Wuji cupped his fists.
Meng Shu then directly stated his purpose. "Brother Zhao, my Yiran is fifteen this year and her Soul Power is Rank 30. Once she obtains her spirit ring, she should rise to Rank 31. I would like her to join Shrek Academy. Do you think that would be possible?"
Before you continue