You wouldn't happen to be Su Mo, would you?

The night was deep and quiet.

In the dorm room Su Mo shared with Xiao Wu.

Su Mo suddenly opened his eyes in the middle of meditation. The room was dim, moonlight spilling in through the balcony and coating the floor in a cool silver sheen.

Still sitting cross-legged, he noticed that Xiao Wu had fallen asleep with her head resting on his legs.

He carefully moved the little girl to the other side of the bed, then spread out his Spiritual Detection to search for Zhao Wuji's quarters.

His detection range now exceeded a kilometer, more than enough to cover all of Shrek.

"Has the show started?"

In the Sea of Consciousness, Tian Meng grew interested as soon as Su Mo shared the detection images with him. He conjured a plate of sunflower seeds and munched on them while watching.

"Soon."

As Su Mo spoke, he happened to locate Zhao Wuji's quarters.

Zhao Wuji was lying in bed, tossing and turning, unable to sleep. The scenes from that day's assessment kept replaying in his mind, irritating him more with every recollection. He had never imagined that scratching his itch for a fight and stretching his muscles would end with him losing face repeatedly in front of a few students.

In the old days, he would have slapped Su Mo and Tang San to death without a second thought.

Oh, right...

There was also Xiao Wu, who had called him a "little blind bear."

But things were different now. He was a teacher and the academy's vice dean. Losing his temper like that with a bunch of students wouldn't do. It wouldn't do.

Still, he was fairly pleased with the abilities those three youngsters had displayed.

Su Mo could not only fly, but also simulate soul rings, and he had mastered some powerful wood-type soul skill. Most importantly, the boy really had guts.

Although Tang San's martial soul was Blue Silver Grass, both his soul skills were quite good.

That look in his eyes, especially, had made even Zhao Wuji's heart tremble.

Xiao Wu hadn't seemed to do much at first glance, but the soul skill she had used to take Su Mo away was clearly spatial teleportation, an exceptionally rare ability.

By comparison, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong's performances had been unremarkable.

"Ah, just my rotten luck today. But now that you're Shrek students, won't it be up to me how I whip you into shape? Hmph, jade has to be carved before it becomes a treasure. Heh heh heh..."

Zhao Wuji muttered to himself, a wicked grin creeping onto his face.

Su Mo: "..."

Tian Meng: "..."

Well, well. Teacher Zhao was planning to make life difficult for them, was he?

"Tsk, Teacher Zhao, oh, Teacher Zhao. I only wanted to sit back and watch the show. But since you don't intend to let me off, don't blame me for stirring things up."

A sharp gleam flashed in Su Mo's eyes.

Tian Meng couldn't help asking curiously, "What are you planning this time?"

"Heh heh, you'll find out in a moment."

"Zhao Wuji~"

Just as Zhao Wuji was imagining how he would put Su Mo's trio through their paces, an eerie voice suddenly called from outside. It sounded as though someone were speaking right beside his ear.

The smile that had just appeared on his face froze instantly.

"Who?"

Zhao Wuji sprang out of bed, a cold gleam blazing in his eyes.

Had an old enemy come knocking?

"Zhao Wuji~ Come out~~"

Along with the voice, a faint, elusive aura locked onto Zhao Wuji.

Knowing he couldn't escape, Zhao Wuji decisively left his room. Soul power enveloped his body as he guarded against any attack from the shadows, his fierce eyes searching his surroundings with complete focus.

Seeing no one, he immediately followed the direction in which that trace of aura led him.

Moments later, he had left Shrek Academy and reached a small grove outside, where the aura vanished.

"I'm here. Stop hiding."

Zhao Wuji shouted in a low voice, immediately activating Martial Soul Possession.

A black-robed man slowly emerged from behind a large tree.

"Who are you?" Zhao Wuji demanded coldly.

The black-robed man didn't answer. Instead, he said mildly, "I merely accompanied a junior here to have a look at Shrek Academy. Seeing you bully the young seemed rather interesting, so I thought I'd try it myself."

Zhao Wuji: "???"

Why did this feel so familiar?

Wait, wasn't that exactly what that little brat Su Mo had said while pretending to be a Titled Douluo earlier today?

Su Mo: "???"

Tian Meng: "???"

Well, well. Putting what he'd just learned straight into practice, was he?

Boom!

The black-robed man slowly raised his right hand, and a streak of black light gathered in his palm, taking the shape of an enormous object.

At the same time, nine soul rings appeared beneath his feet.

Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black!

The final soul ring even carried a faint reddish tint.

Seeing the black-robed man release nine soul rings, Zhao Wuji felt as though cold water had been poured over his head. A chill swept through his entire body.

Su Mo knew his moment had arrived.

He immediately used Emotional Control from afar, diminishing Zhao Wuji's fear while amplifying his doubts about the black-robed man.

Zhao Wuji, who had been trembling slightly, regained the sharpness in his eyes.

He was known as the Immovable Wisdom King, and he had killed countless people in his day. After Su Mo's repeated provocations and the humiliation he had suffered that afternoon, anger immediately surged in his heart.

"You wouldn't happen to be Su Mo, would you?"

Tang Hao: "???"

"Pulling this trick again? Haven't you had enough? Do you really think I'll fall for it twice? To be honest, you did scare me at first, but your biggest mistake was using the exact same lines as this afternoon."

Zhao Wuji wore the expression of someone who had long since seen through everything.

Tang Hao: "..."

That had been careless.

Whoosh!

Without waiting for Tang Hao to respond, Zhao Wuji charged forward, intending to teach the black-robed man a lesson. In his eyes, the man was definitely Su Mo, most likely trying the same old trick to make a fool of him again.

But this had given him a chance to get even.

As he reached the black-robed man, Zhao Wuji couldn't help breaking into a savage, triumphant grin.

His right hand, broad as a palm-leaf fan, rose high...

At the same time, the second soul ring beneath his feet blazed.

Bam!

Yet the very next instant, Zhao Wuji, who had just come face-to-face with the black-robed man, was sent flying by a kick. His body smashed through two enormous trees.

"Pfft... Cough, cough..."

Zhao Wuji coughed up a mouthful of blood on the spot, his eyes filled with terror.

This... seemed to be the real thing.

"Your Excellency, perhaps there's been some misunderstanding..." All the swagger had vanished from Zhao Wuji's voice, and his tone softened.

"Heh, there's no misunderstanding. I simply feel like bullying someone younger."

Every time Tang Hao remembered that this fellow had hurt his son, anger welled up within him. He released no overwhelming aura, yet every step he took forward placed incomparable pressure on Zhao Wuji.

Suddenly, the black-robed man stopped.

"Since you're here, come out."

A middle-aged man wearing square-framed glasses stepped out from behind another tree. It was none other than Shrek Academy's dean-the Four-Eyed Cat Owl, Flender.

Zhao Wuji relaxed at the sight of him.

"Boss..."

Flender waved a hand at Zhao Wuji, then faced the black-robed man and bowed respectfully.

"My respects, Your Excellency Haotian."

"Gasp!"

Zhao Wuji was horrified.

When had I offended this man?

Wait!

The Clear Sky Douluo's surname was Tang. One of today's new students seemed to be surnamed Tang too, and I beat him pretty badly.

Zhao Wuji: "..."

Fuck!