Dai Mubai sneered.
"Heh! Fatty!"
"Looks like you've been getting a little full of yourself lately. Let's have a spar!"
He happened to be full of pent-up anger with nowhere to vent it. Since Ma Hongjun had foolishly walked right into it, Dai Mubai would not hold back.
"D-Dai the Boss!"
"What are you doing?"
"Don't come any closer! Aaah..."
Only then did Ma Hongjun realize what was happening. He turned and tried to run.
"Hmph! Trying to run? Did you ask me first?"
Dai Mubai snorted.
"White Tiger Transformation!"
"Dead Fatty, get back here!"
Dai Mubai grabbed Ma Hongjun by the back of the neck with one tiger claw.
Then he flashed to an open patch of ground and gave him a merciless beating!
Dai Mubai said without the slightest restraint.
"First Soul Skill: White Tiger Protective Barrier!"
"Second Soul Skill: White Tiger Fierce Light Wave!"
"Third Soul Skill: White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"
"Dead Fatty, face my wrath!"
Dai Mubai beat Ma Hongjun with complete abandon. He used all three Soul Skills without holding anything back, paying no heed to the depletion of his Soul Power.
"Aaaahhh!"
"It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"
"Teacher Zhao, come save me!"
Under the absolute suppression of their Soul Power Levels, even when Ma Hongjun tried to fight back, Dai Mubai quickly forced him down again.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk! He's getting beaten pretty badly!"
"Oscar, look. This is what happens when you run your mouth!"
Li Xiaoyao watched with great interest. As he handed Oscar a handful of sunflower seeds, he did not forget to offer a few comments.
"Fatty brought this on himself!"
Oscar was rather speechless as well.
Ma Hongjun was beaten black and blue, but no one pitied him—he had no tact and a foul mouth. He had only himself to blame.
"Hmph! Fatty!"
"If you run your mouth again next time, I won't go this easy on you!"
After venting his frustration, Dai Mubai felt refreshed. Most of his anger had faded, though he had also spent a good deal of Soul Power. The hostility in his eyes gradually receded as he released Ma Hongjun's collar and snorted.
Ma Hongjun rubbed his bruised arm and jumped away with a pained grimace. His hair still carried the scorched smell from the White Tiger Fierce Light Wave, yet he still refused to back down.
"Who was running their mouth? You were the one bottling up your anger and using me as a punching bag!"
Though he said that, he did not dare approach again. He merely shot Dai Mubai a furtive glare.
Oscar had already prepared for this. He raised his hand and tossed two Recovery Sausages to Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai.
"Enough! Dead Fatty, say less!"
"Dai the Boss, restore some Soul Power!"
Dai Mubai did not stand on ceremony. He took the sausage and bit off a large mouthful. Warm Soul Power flowed down his throat and into his body. Some of the seventy percent of Soul Power he had just exhausted gradually returned, and the sweat at his temples vanished.
Ma Hongjun devoured his even more eagerly, finishing it in a few bites. Rubbing his stomach, he muttered.
"Oscar's sausages are still the most useful!"
"Otherwise, this young master would've had to sleep on his stomach tonight."
After doing all that, Oscar sat back down in his original spot. He had no intention of giving the others any sausages.
After all, Li Xiaoyao's Chronos could use Time Reversal. Neither he nor Ning Rongrong needed sausages to recover.
As for Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing, they could not accept the Soul Incantation Oscar needed to make his sausages.
Just then, Zhao Wuji finally could not bear it any longer. He stepped forward and interrupted their bickering.
"Have you little brats made enough noise yet?!"
"What time do you think it is? And you're still making such a racket?"
"You came to Shrek Academy to cultivate, not to fight and dredge up old grudges!"
"Dai Mubai, say less!"
"Zhu Zhuqing, stop getting hung up on it too!"
"And Ma Hongjun, no one will think you're mute if you keep your mouth shut!"
The named Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ma Hongjun instantly fell silent. The lively scene from moments ago suddenly became quiet.
Dai Mubai suppressed the smile at the corner of his mouth and nodded slightly.
After all, Zhao Wuji was the Vice Dean of Shrek Academy and a genuine Level 76 Soul Saint. When he became serious, very few students dared defy him.
Zhu Zhuqing had always been a woman of few words. After being called out, her eyelashes merely trembled slightly as she turned her gaze elsewhere and stopped dwelling on the earlier friction.
Ma Hongjun still had half a sausage stuffed in his mouth. He forcibly swallowed the retort that had reached his lips, puffed out his cheeks, and nodded. He looked rather comical.
Just like that, time slowly passed.
An hour passed in the blink of an eye. Zhao Wuji called out in a deep voice.
"Alright!"
"The one-hour rest period is over!"
"Everyone, get up and move out!"
"Mubai, bring up the rear and keep an eye on everyone!"
"Zhu Zhuqing, keep up with the group. Don't fall behind!"
Li Xiaoyao and Ning Rongrong were the first to rise and match Zhao Wuji's pace.
Oscar and Ma Hongjun followed after them.
Zhu Zhuqing also stood, dusted herself off, and walked straight toward the front of the group without even looking at Dai Mubai.
Dai Mubai gazed at Zhu Zhuqing's retreating figure, took a deep breath, and suppressed the complicated emotions in his heart. He silently followed at the back of the group, but his gaze never left that cool, distant figure.
Suotuo City was very close to the Star Dou Great Forest. If a seven-ring Soul Saint traveled at full speed, he could reach the town outside the Star Dou Great Forest in just a few hours.
However, with several burdens in tow, Li Xiaoyao's group of nine did not reach the town outside the Star Dou Great Forest until dusk.
They had rushed nearly five hundred kilometers. Aside from Zhao Wuji and Li Xiaoyao, everyone else was exhausted beyond measure.
Zhao Wuji turned to look at the group. Li Xiaoyao was neither flushed nor out of breath, and he was even carrying Ning Rongrong, who had already collapsed from exhaustion. The others could only curse him as a freak in their hearts.
Along the way, they had not seen Li Xiaoyao use Chronos's Time Reversal on himself even once.
Tang San had the Mysterious Heaven Skill to recover with, as well as Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track for traveling. He was far stronger than the others, yet he was not in much better condition, because he too was carrying an exhausted Xiao Wu on his back.
Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar had long since sprawled flat on the ground, their chests heaving like bellows as they panted heavily.
As for Zhu Zhuqing, she leaned against a tree with her tongue hanging out and her eyes rolled back, as though she had been thoroughly worn out.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk! That boy Li's physical condition is absurdly monstrous!"
"And even Ning Rongrong, the Young Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, has been completely won over by Li Xiaoyao."
Li Xiaoyao's exceptional performance secretly astonished Zhao Wuji.
But when he turned to look at the others, he frowned deeply.
"Tang San did well. Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing were decent too. Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun have been slacking in their cultivation lately. I'll have to train those little brats hard after a while!"
After making his plans, Zhao Wuji called out.
"It'll be dark soon. Entering the Star Dou Great Forest now would be dangerous."
"Everyone is tired too. Let's find somewhere to rest and set off again tomorrow."
Before you continue