Bullying the Weak and Fearing the Strong

Zhao Wuji merely watched coldly from the side and did not join their formation as he left the academy with the nine students. Given Shrek Academy's miserly nature, there were naturally no carriages. The moment they left the academy, everyone began running.

As they continued on their journey, even Dai Mubai and Tang San's stamina was steadily being drained.

Only Gu Chen and Gu Yuena, with their powerful dragon bodies, merely broke into a light sweat after running for so long, unlike Tang San and the others, who were drenched in sweat.

This was also why Gu Chen and Gu Yuena could have thousand-year Soul Rings as their first Soul Rings, while Tang San and the others could only have hundred-year ones.

It had to be said that because of Gu Chen's words, Tang San placed greater emphasis on body training in his later cultivation. His second Soul Ring was already one thousand and eighty years old.

With Oscar's sausages as supplies, they were surprised to discover that the exhaustion caused by running was practically nothing.

As long as they ate one of the sausages conjured by Oscar's martial soul every hour, everyone could remain energetic. Even Ning Rongrong could barely keep up with the group.

Without truly putting it to use, one would never understand the importance of an auxiliary martial soul. Because of the marvelous effects of his sausages, Oscar gained everyone's renewed respect and received the best treatment. Since they had yet to enter the forest, Dai Mubai and Tang San took turns supporting Oscar by the arm, helping him bear part of his weight as they traveled so that he could recover his Soul Power more easily and continue providing support.

Ning Rongrong naturally did not receive such treatment. She was very quiet and did not use her Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda to provide anyone with support along the way. She seemed to have isolated herself from the entire small group, neither refusing Oscar's sausages nor using her own martial soul.

The Star Dou Great Forest lay southeast of the Balak Kingdom. A small part of it bordered the Balak Kingdom, while Suotuo City itself was also located in the kingdom's southeast. It was less than five hundred kilometers from the Star Dou Great Forest.

Thus, this was naturally the best choice for Shrek Academy's students to obtain Soul Rings.

With Oscar's sausages supporting them, the Shrek Academy group covered more than four hundred kilometers in just one day. By the time night fell, they were already very close to the Star Dou Great Forest.

Seeing that they would not be able to reach their destination that day, Zhao Wuji gave the order to rest. They had happened upon a small town, and if they continued onward, there was no telling whether they would find supplies.

Upon entering the town, they found it far livelier than they had imagined. It was roughly three times the size of the village where Shrek Academy was located. Aside from lacking city walls, it was practically a small city, with shops lining the streets and all manner of businesses available.

Tang San and the others took a careful look and found that the shops here mainly dealt in things related to Soul Masters. There were stores specializing in weapons, armor, antidotes, recovery potions, and even clothing. The clothing shops sold special outfits with more than a dozen pockets that could hold all kinds of miscellaneous items, suitable for Soul Masters venturing out on adventures.

Oscar sighed. "Living off the mountains by the mountains, living off the water by the water—that must be what this means. This town clearly survives by relying on the Star Dou Great Forest. There are probably quite a few towns like this around the forest."

"Only the weak need to adapt to their environment in order to survive. The strong can make the environment change for them," Gu Chen said calmly.

"Hey, aren't you being a little too arrogant? You want the environment to change for you?" Ning Rongrong finally could not help speaking.

Gu Chen sneered. "When did I ever say that strong person was me? Speaking of arrogance, this little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect puts even me to shame."

"You!" Ning Rongrong was furious.

At that moment, Zhao Wuji pointed at an ordinary-looking inn ahead and said, "We'll stay here. Rest for the night, and we'll leave at dawn tomorrow. You'll pay for your own lodging and meals."

The inn was a two-story building. The first-floor hall was a simple restaurant, while the second floor contained the rooms. Zhao Wuji rented a single room for himself and went straight upstairs. After briefly discussing things with the others, Dai Mubai rented one four-person room and one single room for the five boys, as well as one four-person room for the four girls.

"Let's eat before going upstairs. After eating sausages all day, I'm about to throw up," Ma Hongjun said, voicing everyone's thoughts. Even Zhu Zhuqing nodded in agreement. The nine of them found a table in the corner and sat down.

Tang San asked Dai Mubai, "Should we invite Teacher Zhao to eat with us?"

Dai Mubai shook his head. "No need. When teachers come out with us, they won't pay any expenses for us, but they also won't accept even the slightest favor from us. That's a rule set by Headmaster Flender."

The fatty laughed. "Isn't that pretty good? Everything is clear and straightforward. What I like most is how unpretentious the academy is."

Unpretentious? In my previous life, that was simply taken for granted. Gu Chen thought.

Dai Mubai said irritably, "Dead fatty, cut the nonsense and order. You're the best eater here."

Ma Hongjun cooperatively replied, "So you're treating us today, right? Your subsidy is the highest. You're loaded."

Dai Mubai smiled faintly. "No problem. It's fate that we can study together at Shrek. I'm the oldest, so let today's meal be a welcome feast for Gu Chen and the others."

The fatty burst into laughter, the flesh on his plump round face trembling along with it. "Good, great! Don't worry, Dai Laoda, I won't go easy on you."

Before long, the fatty demonstrated exactly why Dai Mubai had called him a good eater. He summoned a waiter and quickly ordered more than a dozen dishes. Tang San had never even heard of many of their names, while the fatty looked thoroughly delighted.

"Not bad, not bad. This place may be small, but it has quite a full selection. Hopefully the taste is up to standard too."

Dai Mubai said helplessly, "Aside from spending his subsidy on women, this fatty spends the rest on food. I honestly suspect that if you weren't a Soul Master, you'd definitely become a cook."

Although the nine of them sat around the same table, the atmosphere was far from harmonious. Zhu Zhuqing wore a cold expression, Ning Rongrong kept her head lowered as she thought about something, and Gu Chen and Gu Yuena sat quietly together waiting for the food. Fortunately, the fatty kept cracking jokes, so the atmosphere did not become too stiff.

The restaurant was already sixty to seventy percent full when a group of people suddenly entered from outside.

At the front was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his forties. He was fairly handsome, with his hair combed so smoothly that it shone. His moon-white Soul Master robe was especially refined, embroidered with silver thread patterns that glimmered as he moved.

Behind the middle-aged man followed seven youths, six men and one woman, all appearing to be around twenty years old. They wore the same moon-white Soul Master robes, only without the silver-thread embroidery of the middle-aged man in front. However, whether it was the middle-aged man or the seven youths behind him, all had a green circular emblem on their left shoulders. Inside the circle were two embroidered characters of the same color: Canghui.

Their attire made it obvious that they were all Soul Masters. Tang San's group dressed casually and looked no different from ordinary people, but these people were much more ostentatious.

The moment the restaurant owner saw them enter, he hurried over to greet them, bowing and scraping with excessive politeness. As Oscar had said, this town lived off the Star Dou Great Forest. Put simply, it lived off Soul Masters. Soul Masters were not only noble, but wealthy as well. Naturally, the owner did not dare slight them.

Just like in the original story, Ma Hongjun could not hold himself back and began stirring up trouble.

Hearing Ma Hongjun's words, Dai Mubai curled his lip. "It's just some tiny Canghui Academy. What the hell are they showing off for?"

Neither Ma Hongjun nor Dai Mubai deliberately lowered their voices. Soul Masters naturally had sharper hearing than ordinary people. Though the restaurant was somewhat noisy, the middle-aged man among those eight people still looked over, his brows slightly furrowed. When he saw that Shrek Academy's table was occupied by nothing more than a group of children, his expression immediately darkened.

"Picking fights for no reason. Boring." Gu Chen spoke calmly. Seeing the food arrive, he picked up his chopsticks and began eating.

Oscar whispered to Gu Chen, "This is also part of our training. Headmaster Flender once said that a Soul Master who doesn't dare cause trouble isn't a good Soul Master. As the saying goes, those who don't dare cause trouble are mediocre."

"So you only bully the weak and fear the strong? If Soul Masters from Spirit Hall came here, would you still dare pick a fight?" Gu Chen said calmly, his tone mocking.

"This... how can matters between Soul Masters be called bullying the weak and fearing the strong?" Oscar was momentarily speechless before trying to argue.

Oh, he was pulling a Kong Yiji.

Gu Chen merely smiled and sent a voice transmission to Gu Yuena beside him and Xiao Wu farther away. "We're not getting involved in this."

By then, the eight people from Canghui Academy had also taken their seats, with two tables between them and Shrek's group. From the corner of his eye, Tang San saw the middle-aged man, who was clearly a teacher, whisper a few words into one youth's ear. Soon, that youth stood from his seat and walked toward Tang San's table. Judging from his path, he was heading straight for Dai Mubai.

A trace of disdain showed in Dai Mubai's Evil-Eyed White Tiger eyes. Tang San could see it, so Dai Mubai naturally could as well. Yet he did not even spare the other party a proper glance.

At that moment, the waiter happened to bring over the second dish for their table.

The youth from Canghui Academy suddenly quickened his pace. Amid the waiter's startled cry, he crashed directly into him, and the plate of food tipped toward Dai Mubai's head.

"Don't waste food," Tang San said calmly. His left hand shot out like lightning, steadying the waiter's body, while his right hand extended beneath the plate. Using the Control Crane Capture Dragon Skill, he held the food in place without spilling even a bit and gently set the plate on the table. At the same time, his left hand pulled the waiter aside.

The Canghui Academy youth froze for a moment. With the waiter's body blocking his view, he had not clearly seen Tang San's movements. However, a sly smile soon appeared on his face. "I'm truly sorry."

Though he said that, he continued forward as if he were passing beside Dai Mubai. Yet one of his feet quietly swept out, kicking directly at a chair leg beneath Dai Mubai.

It was only an ordinary wooden chair. If one of its legs were broken, Dai Mubai naturally would not be able to sit steadily. Furthermore, the youth's kick was extremely concealed. His upper body did not move at all, and unless one was watching particularly closely, it would have been impossible to notice.

Of course, to Gu Chen, Gu Yuena, and Tang San, whose spiritual power far surpassed others', this speed was as slow as a crawling turtle.

The instant the youth kicked out, Dai Mubai moved.

With a dull bang, the Canghui Academy youth felt as though he had kicked an iron plate. His entire calf went numb from the impact, and then Dai Mubai's palm was already striking toward him.

The youth's expression changed drastically. He raised both hands, intending to block Dai Mubai's hand, but his arms were completely knocked aside by the Soul Power carried in Dai Mubai's palm. The strike still landed squarely on his chest.

The youth was fairly tall and powerfully built, but Dai Mubai's palm strike bent his body backward. Like a weightless scarecrow, he was sent flying, crashing through two tables in succession as he flew toward the Canghui Academy group.

The middle-aged man from Canghui Academy hurriedly rose to his feet. Raising both hands, he caught the youth by the shoulders and barely stopped him. The youth's face turned pale, and with a "wah," he spat out a mouthful of blood. His entire body immediately became much more limp.

Dai Mubai straightened up and used the motion from his earlier strike to stretch lazily. "I'm really sorry. My hand slipped."

The true nature of the Evil-Eyed White Tiger showed itself. The disdain and contempt on his face carried intense arrogance. Not only outsiders, even his own companions felt that he was asking for a beating.

No one has responded to the contract application so far. Today's two chapters total six thousand words. Please send some recommendation votes~

()