Provocation

Bai Yu had not deliberately lowered her voice. Though she was not speaking loudly and was seated in a corner of the hall, which of the Soul Masters present was not sharp-eyed and keen-eared?

Bai Yuan did not mind. Hearing Bai Yu's words only made him want to laugh.

It was not that he wanted to laugh at Bai Yu. He had simply suddenly recalled the fifth rule in the Tang Sect's Mysterious Heaven Treasure Record: General Principles from the novels of his previous life.

Tang Sect disciples must not easily provoke trouble, but if others took the initiative to offend them, they were permitted to answer with thunderous force!

And now Tang San had been taught that those who did not dare cause trouble were mediocre.

How could that not be funny?

The Shrek Seven Devils immediately turned their gazes toward the two masked figures in the corner.

Dai Mubai snapped, "What are you laughing at? So what if I want to start something? If you have the guts, come stop me!"

Bai Yuan merely smiled without speaking. Bai Yu stood on his thigh, seemingly believing that this would make her look taller and thus prevent her from losing in terms of presence.

"If I'm going to stop you, then I'll stop you! My Master is definitely going to beat you until you're crawling around looking for your teeth today!"

The smile on Bai Yuan's face froze.

The socially anxious girl from back then had not changed in appearance after six years, but her personality had changed enormously. She had become fond of setting her Master up.

Dai Mubai immediately turned his gaze toward Bai Yuan.

"If a disciple does not know how to speak, then there must be something wrong with the teacher's guidance. If you have the guts, come out. Let me see whether I'll beat you until you're crawling around looking for your teeth, or what."

Bai Yuan felt a flicker of anger as he listened.

What did he mean by a disciple not knowing how to speak being the teacher's fault? Was he saying that the upper beam was crooked, so the lower beam followed suit?

Bai Yuan sneered. "What? You want to stir up trouble, but no one is allowed to say anything? I think your teacher is the brainless one, saying something like those who don't dare cause trouble are mediocre."

The Shrek Seven Devils immediately glared at him furiously.

Zhao Wuji, who had been observing in secret, also looked somewhat grim.

The six young men among Canghui Academy's eight members also stepped forward. One of them said, "What? You want to start trouble, but no one can talk about it? And now you want to gang up on the few?"

The young man snatched the platter from the waiter beside him and smashed it straight down at Dai Mubai's head.

Tang San's gaze sharpened. He immediately used Controlling Crane Capturing Dragon to seize the platter and the food on it, preventing it from spilling.

But just as Tang San was about to catch it securely, an extremely intense sense of danger struck him, forcing him to use Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track and hurriedly dodge to the side.

An invisible Sword Qi flashed past, and the platter split in two like paper cut by scissors.

The food spilled everywhere, and the oil splashed across the table, splattering Tang San and Oscar from head to toe.

"Not bad reflexes. You actually dodged it." Bai Yuan's soft laugh rang out.

Since he had a grudge against Tang San from six years ago, and had even nearly been killed by Tang Hao, now that he had encountered him, he naturally wanted to kill him in a single strike if the opportunity arose.

However, Bai Yuan had not expected Tang San's reaction speed to be so fast. He had dodged Bai Yuan's sneak attack in an instant.

I should have let Bai Yu make the move. Bai Yuan sighed inwardly, regretting that he had missed such a good opportunity.

The Sword Qi Bai Yuan had just released was naturally the Sword Qi he had cultivated from the Green Lotus Swordplay he had learned alongside Bai Yu.

In terms of strength, their cultivation levels were the same. But Bai Yu had the support of the Azure Lotus Heavenly Heart Art, while Bai Yuan did not. Naturally, Bai Yu's Green Lotus Sword Intent was far stronger than Bai Yuan's.

Dai Mubai glanced at Tang San and Oscar, both covered in oil, then at the platter split in half on the table. He rose to his feet and glared angrily at Bai Yuan.

"Are you two looking to die?"

Xiao Wu also stood at the same time, glaring furiously at Bai Yuan and Bai Yu. Ma Hongjun, Oscar, and Zhu Zhuqing soon rose as well.

Only Ning Rongrong hesitated for a moment before standing up.

She had yet to fully integrate into this group.

Of course, Ning Rongrong wanted to fit into the group as well, but after she had revealed her true nature last time, everyone had begun excluding her.

"You think we're afraid of you?"

The six young men from Canghui Academy showed no fear whatsoever. The one who had spoken first was a man of few words and ruthless action, launching the attack first with a punch aimed at Dai Mubai.

However, the gap in strength between the two sides was simply too great. Coupled with Dai Mubai's current mood, the two had only exchanged a single blow before a dull bang rang out, and the young man was sent flying backward like a weightless scarecrow.

The middle-aged man among Canghui Academy's eight members who had not participated in the matter earlier hurriedly rushed out, catching the young man by the shoulder.

Even so, the young man's face remained pale. With a "wah," he spat out a mouthful of blood, and his entire body looked much more listless.

Dai Mubai straightened up and used the motion of his earlier palm strike to stretch lazily. With a smile full of disdain and contempt, he said, "I'm terribly sorry. My hand slipped."

The middle-aged man's face turned livid.

As though he had not seen it, Dai Mubai looked toward Bai Yuan and slightly raised his chin, as if to say that this would be Bai Yuan's fate soon enough.

A wave of uproar erupted throughout the restaurant.

The diners near the tables of Shrek Academy and Canghui Academy, as well as those in the corner where Bai Yuan sat, hurriedly stood up with their food in hand to avoid getting caught in the crossfire.

However, most of them did not leave. Instead, they watched excitedly from the side.

It was a spectacle, after all.

Who did not enjoy watching a spectacle?

As long as they didn't get dragged into it themselves, that was fine.

"Which academy are you from?" The Middle-aged Man settled the young man into a chair, his face dark as he barked the question.

Dai Mubai gave a light laugh. "With strength like yours, you think you're worthy of knowing where we come from?"

The Middle-aged Man was so furious he could not speak.

At that moment, Bai Yuan's mocking voice rang out. "So this is Shrek Academy? This so-called 'those who dare not cause trouble are mediocrities'—turns out it just means bullying the weak."

Dai Mubai turned to look at him. "You really want to die, don't you?"

Bai Yuan used Yin-Yang Power as he said, "What? People aren't even allowed to speak the truth now? The truly strong only draw their swords against those stronger than themselves. If you have the guts, go provoke a Soul Emperor or a Soul Saint. What kind of skill is it to bully people who are only in their twenties?"

Though the Shrek group was young, even Ning Rongrong, the one with the lowest Soul Power Level, was already at level twenty-six. Dai Mubai, the strongest among them, had reached level thirty-seven.

Leaving aside the quality of their martial souls, in terms of Soul Power Level alone, the Shrek Seven Devils' average was a full tier above the students of Canghui Academy.

Dai Mubai was startled. He truly had not expected someone to know their origins.

"Shrek Academy? I don't think I've heard of it." The Middle-aged Man raised a brow, a thoughtful gleam appearing in his eyes.

Yet he was also deeply shocked inside.

Bai Yuan had actually seen through the approximate cultivation of his students, yet still said that the Shrek students were bullying others.

That was enough to suggest that these young children were at even higher levels than his students.

"If you haven't heard of it, that only shows how ignorant you are." Dai Mubai snorted coldly in disdain.

Bai Yuan explained, "Shrek Academy is an academy that only accepts monsters. Unlike other academies, it has only seven students, but every one of them is exceptionally gifted."

His words made all seven of them feel quite pleased. Even the anger in Dai Mubai's heart eased somewhat.

But Bai Yuan suddenly changed tack. "Actually, in my opinion, Shrek Academy is nothing special. Monsters will be monsters anywhere. Put them in any slightly better academy, and they could still be trained into successful talents. You could say that eighty percent of their current achievements come from talent, ten percent from hard work, and as for that final ten percent, it has little to do with the academy either. It should probably be credited to luck."

Hearing Bai Yuan speak of their academy like that, Dai Mubai immediately flew into a rage. Anger also surfaced on Tang San and the others' faces.

Among the Seven Devils, only Ning Rongrong's eyes flickered, as though she were pondering Bai Yuan's words.