Yan Shaozhe, You Bastard!

"Xuan Zi! Look at the mess you've made!"

Yan Shaozhe's roar shattered his usual refined composure. His face was full of fury and disbelief.

"Four of them! Four of Shrek Academy's elite! They're the hope of our academy, the mainstays of the next Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament! And now... now they're gone?!"

Yan Shaozhe pointed at Xuan Zi, who was sitting in a wheelchair. His finger trembled.

If Xuan Zi hadn't been a Sea God Pavilion Elder and Mu En's nephew-disciple, Yan Shaozhe would have loved to shove that greasy chicken leg right up his nose.

Xuan Zi looked awful too. His face was deathly pale, and his eyes darted nervously. He was clearly feeling guilty.

Still, he jutted out his chin, trying to find an excuse for his ridiculous blunder.

"Shaozhe, this... you can't blame me for all of it."

Xuan Zi took a vicious bite out of the chicken leg in his hand and argued through a mouthful.

"It's all that damn Scarlet King's fault! If it hadn't suddenly released its aura, how could I have gotten distracted? And if I hadn't gotten distracted, how could I have choked on my chicken leg? If I hadn't choked, how could I have lost those children?"

At that, Xuan Zi seemed to find an outlet for his anger, and his voice rose sharply.

"And that guy in the river! Right, him! He completely misunderstood what I meant! How is that my fault? Huh? How is that my fault?"

Yan Shaozhe drew a deep breath, suppressing the fury roiling inside him as he stared coldly at Xuan Zi, who was still shifting the blame.

"Enough!"

"I don't want to hear any more of your pointless excuses. There's only one thing I want to know: what will it take to get those children back?"

At that, Xuan Zi hunched his shoulders and spread his hands helplessly.

"Unless... we kill that guy in the river, there's probably no chance..."

"But my legs... he's the one who did this to them."

Xuan Zi patted his numb thighs, a trace of resentment flashing in his eyes.

Even he, a Super Douluo, had been as helpless as an infant before Lin Feng.

"If you knew how important this trip was, why did you treat it like a joke?!"

Yan Shaozhe finally lost it and roared.

"Eating a chicken leg? Choking on it? Is that the kind of mistake a teacher leading a group should make?! Even a first-year student in the Outer Court wouldn't make such a stupid mistake!"

"Now that this has happened, what are we supposed to tell those children's parents? What are we supposed to tell the academy? You've crushed those children's spirits!"

Yan Shaozhe was heartbroken. Just thinking about the upcoming Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Dueling Tournament gave him a splitting headache.

Of the original Shrek Seven Devils, only three remained.

Pick replacements from the Inner Court?

That would take time for them to get used to one another. And a team thrown together at the last minute would never be as strong as those seven carefully trained children.

"Shaozhe, don't be so pessimistic. What's done is done. We can only look ahead."

Just as Yan Shaozhe was despairing, Xuan Zi suddenly pointed a greasy finger at Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochеn, who were standing nearby. His words made it sound as if Yan Shaozhe were the one chiefly responsible.

"Don't we still have these three promising talents?"

A crazed glint flashed in Xuan Zi's eyes.

"Have all three of them jump in too! Then we'll have nine elite students!"

At that, Ma Xiaotao and the other two, standing in the corner, were all stunned.

All of them jump in?

Put their lives in the hands of the hopeless Xuan Zi?

They had just watched the whole thing unfold with their own eyes. They knew exactly how unreliable Xuan Zi was. They figured his reckless behavior must have been what led to the heavy casualties among Senior Sister Zhang Lexuan's generation of disciples years ago.

They had respected Xuan Zi before. After all, he was a Super Douluo and one of the academy's top fighters. But now... they didn't trust him at all.

"Roar!"

The Scarlet King's growl rang out. It was clearly drawing closer!

Yan Shaozhe's expression changed as he sensed the terrifying pressure of the Ferocious Beast.

He glanced at Xuan Zi in the wheelchair, then at Ma Xiaotao and the other two. He made his decision at once.

"Let's go!"

Without another word, Yan Shaozhe swept up Ma Xiaotao, Dai Yueheng, and Ling Luochеn with a wave of his hand, then transformed into a streak of light and sped toward Shrek Academy.

He didn't even say goodbye to Xuan Zi.

"Yan Shaozhe! You heartless bastard! I'm still your senior by seniority! How could you leave me here all alone?!"

Watching Yan Shaozhe disappear, Xuan Zi was dumbstruck. Sitting in his wheelchair, he waved his chicken leg frantically and cursed Yan Shaozhe out.

"You're abandoning your fellow disciple! You've let Mu En down! You're not even human!"

But all he got in reply was the howling wind and the Ferocious Beast's increasingly close roar.

"Roar!"

As the earth shook, three enormous dog heads emerged from the depths of the woods. It was the Scarlet King, one of the Ten Great Ferocious Beasts—the Three-headed Crimson Demon Mastiff!

As its six blood-red eyes fixed on him, Xuan Zi felt his scalp crawl. The chicken leg in his hand no longer looked appetizing.

The Scarlet King had a cultivation of three hundred thousand years. At his full strength, Xuan Zi wouldn't have feared it. But now his legs were ruined and he was badly injured. Forget fighting it—he couldn't even outrun it.

"Damn it... I'll have to risk it!"

Xuan Zi looked at the nearby little river, a determined glint in his eyes.

"Splash!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Xuan Zi slammed his hands against the wheelchair's armrests. He and the wheelchair sailed through the air in a decidedly inelegant arc and crashed into the river with a huge splash.

A short while later, the Scarlet King reached the riverbank with heavy steps.

A strange little beast stood before it.

The beast was no more than three meters long, its body covered in brilliant golden fur, as if it had been crafted from pure gold. It looked part lion and part tiger, and golden flames burned beneath its four paws. Most unusual of all, an upright eye sat in the center of its forehead, radiating an unsettling light.

It was the auspicious beast of the Star Dou Great Forest: the Three-Eyed Golden Lion, the Imperial Auspicious Beast!

"Hm? I clearly sensed that damn guy's aura. Why can't I sense him now?"

Confusion filled the Scarlet King's six eyes. It then looked at the Imperial Auspicious Beast with concern. This little troublemaker really never knew when to stop. She'd actually run all the way here. What if she ran into a powerful human? Wouldn't that be trouble?

It had been worried that it would run into those damn humans, but fortunately, the Imperial Auspicious Beast was safe and sound.

The Imperial Auspicious Beast blinked its third eye, gazing curiously at the unremarkable little river before it.

To her senses, the river seemed to contain some strange law. Even her Eye of Destiny, which could see through illusions, couldn't fully see through it.

As she spoke, the Imperial Auspicious Beast started toward the riverbank.

"Don't!"

The Scarlet King jumped in fright and hurriedly blocked the Imperial Auspicious Beast with its massive body.

"There's still a human's aura here. For all we know, he's hiding in the river, waiting to ambush us."

The Scarlet King watched the water warily. All three of its heads released powerful spiritual energy, scanning every inch of the river.

But the results stunned it.

It couldn't detect anything at all. There was something strange about this river!

While the Scarlet King was distracted, the Imperial Auspicious Beast could no longer contain her curiosity. Taking advantage of its inattention, she leaped nimbly right over the Scarlet King's blockade.

"Splash!"

The golden figure cut through the air and plunged headfirst into the mysterious little river.