Zhao Wuji: I Was Knocked Senseless by a Soul Emperor?

Lin Mu stowed the Eight Spider Lances in his Storage Soul Tool, transformed into a whirlwind, and vanished from the spot.

Traveling at full speed, he could teleport a thousand meters in a single second. In just a few minutes, he had returned to the inn from before.

From the innkeeper, he learned that Tang San and Xiao Wu were in a room upstairs.

Inside the room, Xiao Wu lay on the bed. Although the Man Faced Demon Spider's poison had been neutralized, she still needed time to recover.

Seeing her master push open the door and enter, Tang San was both startled and delighted. The weight that had been hanging over his heart finally lifted as he said, "Master, it's great that you're all right."

"How is Xiao Wu?"

Lin Mu waved a hand, his expression calm.

"Thanks to Master's pills, the toxins in Xiao Wu's body have already been cleared."

Tang San's eyes were full of gratitude. If his master had not stayed behind to hold the enemy off, neither he nor Xiao Wu could have escaped the Titan Giant Ape alive.

"Thank you, Brother Lin Mu~"

Xiao Wu looked up at Lin Mu. Her voice was weak, and her eyes brimmed with gratitude, though a trace of indescribable complexity remained hidden deep within them.

She vaguely sensed that something major seemed to have happened deep within the forest. That feeling of dread would not leave her, yet she could not say exactly what it was.

Lin Mu had long grown used to how Xiao Wu addressed him. This hundred-thousand-year-old rabbit just loved pretending to be young.

"Little San, once Xiao Wu has rested for two days, we'll set out for Heaven Dou City."

"Master, is there such a hurry?"

"This trip to Heaven Dou City is mainly to get you into Heaven Dou Royal Academy. It has the best simulated cultivation environment, so the sooner we go, the better."

Lin Mu gave a brief explanation.

Compared to the impoverished Shrek Academy, Heaven Dou Royal Academy lacked nothing. Its only flaw was that its students were not much to speak of.

Still, the worse the students were, the more they could temper Tang San.

Since his master had already made up his mind, Tang San naturally had no objections. As long as his master and Xiao Wu could stay by his side, that was enough.

Two days later, the three hired a carriage and headed toward Heaven Dou City.

Meanwhile, after helping Oscar acquire his third soul ring, Zhao Wuji brought the students back to Shrek Academy.

"Xiao Ao, how did it go? What's your third soul skill?"

Faced with Flender's question, Oscar's gaze darted away, and he seemed somewhat embarrassed to demonstrate his soul skill.

At that moment, Zhao Wuji sighed and explained, "Dean, I originally planned to attach the soul ring of a Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent to Xiao Ao. Maybe it could have given him a flying soul skill—"

Before he could finish, Yu Xiaogang interrupted him with an air of authority and nodded slightly.

"Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent. That truly would have been a good choice. If Oscar absorbed it, there was a high chance he would obtain a short-duration flight-type soul skill. For a Food System Soul Master lacking the ability to protect himself, it would indeed have been an excellent option."

Hearing this, the disappointment in Oscar's eyes deepened.

At the same time, Zhao Wuji's expression grew increasingly unpleasant. He said irritably, "But unfortunately, another soul master got to the Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent first and subdued it."

Flender frowned deeply, a hint of displeasure in his tone. "Old Zhao, didn't you know to take it? Unless the other party was also a Soul Sage, they definitely wouldn't have been your match."

"Take it?"

Zhao Wuji forced out an incomparably bitter smile, his face full of helplessness. "If it had been a Soul Sage, that would have been manageable. With my strength, I might have been able to compete. But the strength that person displayed was far beyond anything a Soul Sage could possess!"

"Not a Soul Sage? Could he have been a Soul Douluo? Don't tell me he was a Titled Douluo?"

Flender's expression changed abruptly, his eyes filled with disbelief.

Zhao Wuji did not answer. He merely nodded solemnly. That terrifying power that had utterly crushed him was most likely that of a Titled Douluo.

Seeing this, Flender's pupils contracted sharply. He confirmed again, "He really was a Titled Douluo?!"

"Without using a single soul skill, that Your Excellency completely crushed me with strength alone. Even if he wasn't a Titled Douluo, he was undoubtedly an exceptionally powerful Soul Douluo."

Only then did Flender notice the bruises on Zhao Wuji's face that had yet to fade completely. He hurriedly asked, "You didn't offend this important figure, did you?"

Hearing that, Zhao Wuji pointed at the injuries on his face, looking thoroughly displeased. "Offend him? Hmph! This was all thanks to the school rules you set! Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun dared to provoke that Your Excellency's disciple, only to get taught a lesson instead!"

"To appease that Your Excellency's anger, I had to spend all the savings I'd accumulated over the years! Flender, you have to compensate me for this!"

The moment he heard the word compensation, Flender's eyes widened. Looking slightly awkward, he said, "Old Zhao, we're brothers. Talking about money hurts our relationship. You know the academy's situation—we're so poor we can barely keep food on the table."

"If you have no money, why are you running an academy? Am I supposed to pay to work here?"

Just as the two argued without end, Yu Xiaogang suddenly asked, "Teacher Zhao, did this expert have any distinguishing features?"

Zhao Wuji thought back for a moment before saying, "That Your Excellency looked no older than his twenties. His talent was simply unimaginable. Oh, right—his disciple was a Blue Silver Grass soul master, and despite his young age, he was already a Soul Elder."

"A Blue Silver Grass soul master..."

Yu Xiaogang's pupils suddenly shrank, and his face turned deathly pale. He staggered and involuntarily took two steps back.

After steadying himself, he muttered, "How is that possible? Could it really be Lin Mu? He's actually that strong? He could even easily defeat Zhao Wuji, a Soul Sage."

If that person really was Lin Mu, didn't that mean Shrek Academy was no longer safe either?

Noticing Yu Xiaogang's strange reaction, Flender quickly reached out and patted his shoulder. "Xiaogang, don't tell me you know this expert?"

"Boss Flender, I think I know who this person is. If he truly is the Lin Mu I know, then he definitely isn't a Soul Douluo, much less a Titled Douluo. At most, he's only a Soul Emperor!"

Yu Xiaogang took a deep breath, barely steadying himself as he spoke in the calmest tone he could manage.

"A Soul Emperor?" Flender and Zhao Wuji both froze.

Yu Xiaogang nodded firmly, forcing himself to remain composed. "That's right. He's only in his early twenties—how could he possibly have cultivated beyond Soul Sage? I just never expected him to defeat Zhao Wuji."

Hearing this, Flender instead breathed a sigh of relief and laughed. "So he's only a Soul Emperor. You scared me to death. I knew it—how could there possibly be a Titled Douluo in their twenties? Wouldn't that leave us old men with no way to live?"

At that, he turned to Zhao Wuji with a hint of reproach.

"Old Zhao, I think you were beaten senseless this time and made a bad call in the moment. Maybe he used some special method and caught you off guard. If you'd decisively used your Martial Soul Avatar from the start and gone all out, how could a mere Soul Emperor have been your match?"