That was why the Soul Masters waiting in line at the entrance had been so astonished when Oscar smashed a rock with his bare hands.
Many of them couldn't do something like that.
Dai Mubai's face reddened. He clenched his teeth, enduring the pain between his legs.
"You—you guys..."
Oscar shot Dai Mubai a sympathetic glance and sighed. Soul Power rippled through his body, and two Yellow Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet.
"I Have a Big Sausage!"
The Soul Incantation escaped his lips. His First Soul Ring shone, and a puff of pink light appeared in his hand. A brown sausage materialized in his palm.
"Here. My sausage has healing properties. Eat it, and it'll ease your pain."
"You—you—you..." Dai Mubai's eyes widened as he pointed at Oscar, unable to speak.
He hadn't expected that Oscar, who was younger than him yet had easily blocked his attack, would also be a Soul Grandmaster.
Even more surprising, Oscar was a Food-Type Soul Master, widely recognized in the Soul Master World as having the lowest combat ability.
How was that possible???
Dai Mubai couldn't stop himself from shouting inwardly. He even briefly forgot the pain between his legs.
Seeing Dai Mubai's stunned expression, Oscar waved the sausage in his hand again.
"Hey, are you going to eat it or not? We still have to go to the training field for the practical assessment afterward."
At that, Oscar suddenly realized something.
"Wait, are you disgusted by my Soul Incantation?"
"I never thought that a genius Soul Master like you would have such a shallow attitude."
"If you ask me, Xiao Feng is right. Our academy really doesn't need someone as arrogant and conceited as you, with such an absurdly fragile ego."
After spending so much time with Shen Feng, Oscar's personality had changed considerably from the original story.
Shen Feng had never once mocked his Soul Incantation.
So Oscar no longer felt inferior. Kind, resilient, cheerful, and frank—those were the qualities that defined how he acted now.
But hearing Oscar's half-joking words, Dai Mubai found them especially grating.
Damn them. Damn them both. Now even a Food-Type Soul Master dared to look down on me, Dai Mubai?
And that disgusting Soul Incantation—was it meant to humiliate me?
His eyes filled with resentment. Dai Mubai clenched his fist and knocked away the sausage Oscar had offered him.
"Get lost. I don't need your disgusting help."
"A sausage? Shove it in your own mouth!"
"You..." Oscar had meant well, but Dai Mubai had thrown it back in his face. Even someone as good-natured as Oscar was furious now.
Shen Feng picked up the fallen sausage, brushed off the dust, and casually popped it into his mouth.
"Let's go, Xiao Ao. There's no saving a piece of trash like him."
With that, Shen Feng turned and left, ignoring Dai Mubai's impotent, furious glare.
Shen Feng had no intention of saying more to Dai Mubai. A fledgling who'd just run away from home and hadn't yet been hardened by life wouldn't listen to anyone's advice.
Just as he couldn't understand his own father.
He'd always believed his father favored his eldest brother, Dai Weisi—letting him send people to assassinate him, helping him seize everything he had, and constantly squeezing him out of any room to survive.
But was that really the truth?
Could his father truly have been so blind as to overlook his innate ninth-rank talent?
His eldest brother was at least six years older than him and had enough power to kill him with ease. He'd had countless chances to do it.
And yet Dai Mubai had still made it to the age of twelve without serious harm.
Zhu Zhuqing, the most talented girl of her generation in the Hell Spirit Cat Clan.
As soon as her Martial Soul awakened, the Star Luo Emperor had forcibly bound her to Dai Mubai and arranged their engagement.
And Dai Mubai? He'd believed the Star Luo Imperial Family was cruel and heartless, constantly driving him toward death.
Unable to bear the oppression unique to the imperial family, he'd abandoned his country and fled alone to another, becoming an arrogant, cowardly ostrich.
But then, was there any country where the imperial family's struggle for power wasn't brutal?
As the saying went, it was easy to dodge an open spear, but hard to guard against a hidden arrow.
At least the Star Luo Imperial Family laid everything out in the open. Straightforward spears were far better than arrows shot from who knew where.
Perhaps he'd suffered too much mistreatment in the Star Luo Empire. After fleeing to the Heaven Dou Empire, Dai Mubai had suddenly felt as though the world was vast and there was nowhere he couldn't go, and he'd given himself over to unrestrained indulgence.
Just as his emotions were running wild and his arrogance had reached its peak, he'd suffered a major defeat at the hands of Shen Feng and Oscar.
The swollen confidence he'd built up after crossing the Star Dou Forest had been brutally ground into the dirt again.
How could Dai Mubai, whose inferiority was rooted to the bone, endure such a drastic fall?
Watching Shen Feng and Oscar walk away, Dai Mubai slowly got to his feet. His lips quivered, and his body trembled uncontrollably.
Was it anger, humiliation, or pain in his balls?
"Second Soul Skill: White Tiger Intense Light Wave!!"
When a king's wrath struck, a million corpses fell. When a common man's wrath struck, blood was spilled within five paces.
When Dai Mubai got angry, he just got angry.
Sensing the violent Soul Power fluctuations behind him, Shen Feng's right hand suddenly glowed with an intensely solid purple-black light.
Chidori could even cleave through invisible lightning. What was a Soul Skill unleashed by a Soul Master in comparison?
Using his hand like a blade, he flashed it once. The purple-black light vanished in an instant.
Dai Mubai's White Tiger Intense Light Wave split cleanly in two.
Explosive Step!
A flash of lightning burst beneath Shen Feng's feet, and he appeared before Dai Mubai as if he'd teleported.
Taking advantage of Dai Mubai's shock—
Collapse Fist!
Shen Feng clenched his right hand, Soul Power surging through it, and drove a heavy punch into Dai Mubai's abdomen.
Elbow strike!
He raised his arm and smashed it into the back of Dai Mubai's head. Dai Mubai crumpled to the ground.
Foot down!
The sole of Shen Feng's boot pressed against the black-and-white tiger's head.
He leaned forward slightly.
"A tiger? On my turf, you lie down when I tell you to. Got it?"
Thick blood mixed with saliva spilled from the corner of Dai Mubai's mouth. Pain stabbed through his abdomen, twisting his features.
His lips opened and closed several times, but he couldn't manage to say a complete sentence.
Just then, Shen Feng sensed a faint ripple of Soul Power. Frowning slightly, he looked toward a shadowy corner not far away.
"A guardian? What a pain."
Muttering under his breath, he lifted his foot from Dai Mubai's head, then turned and called to Oscar, "Xiao Ao, feed him a sausage. It'd be bad for the academy's reputation if he died here."
Night fell, and the admissions ceremony at Shrek Academy came to an end. The Soul Masters gathered at the village entrance all dispersed.
Dai Mubai, whom Shen Feng had injured, was ultimately accepted by Flender.
Shen Feng didn't know whether Flender valued his potential or Dai Mubai's guardian had secretly contacted him.
In any case, Dai Mubai's name had been added to Shrek Academy's student roster.
Fortunately, Flender knew there was bad blood between them and hadn't put them in the same room.
Shen Feng continued to share a room with Oscar, while Dai Mubai stayed in the attic next door.
Clouds gathered, the moon disappeared, and the night was unusually dark.
Shen Feng tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep.
The figure he'd seen in the shadows earlier kept haunting his thoughts. He suddenly realized that Shrek Academy wasn't such a safe place after all.
Now that Dai Mubai had arrived, the Star Luo Imperial Family was already watching the academy.
When Tang San arrived in the future, there'd be another major headache: Tang Hao, a ninety-fifth-rank Titled Douluo.
When Ning Rongrong arrived, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would also turn its attention here.
When Yu Xiaogang arrived, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan would likely have spies following him, too.
That meant four of the major powers—the Spirit Hall, two empires, and seven sects—would all have their eyes on this tiny Shrek Academy: the Star Luo Empire, the Clear Sky Sect, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan.
Ah, no, wait. Given how twisted and lovesick Bibi Dong was—
If she found out Yu Xiaogang was here, she'd probably send spies to keep an eye on the place, too.
Hiss—
At the thought, Shen Feng sucked in a breath.
What kind of peaceful haven was Shrek Academy? It was a storm's eye.
It seemed utterly calm, with peaceful days stretching on—but outside, everything had already descended into chaos.
"No, I have to move the plan up. With no way back, I really can't feel at ease."
Shen Feng opened his eyes and glanced at Oscar, who was already asleep. He slipped out of bed and quietly left the room.
In the silent night, only the disordered chirping of insects could be heard. Shen Feng sneaked over to the residence of Shen Rui and Ling Na.
Knock, knock, knock!
The door had barely been tapped when Shen Rui opened it from inside.
"Xiao Feng?"
"Dad!"
Shen Rui looked puzzled. "What are you doing here?"
"I need to talk to you about something."
Shen Rui nodded. "Come in. There's something I need to talk to you about, too."
Once they were inside, Shen Feng saw that Ling Na was still awake. She boiled a pot of water for the father and son, then joined them at the table.
Shen Rui produced a letter and handed it to Shen Feng. "Take a look at this first. We'll talk after you've read it."
Puzzled, Shen Feng took the letter and read it carefully, word by word.
A moment later, his brows drew together. He thought for a while, then slowly set the letter down on the table.
"Fels, the deputy mayor of Suotuo City, is offering a deposit of one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins to hunt Soul Beasts under twenty thousand years old?"
"Mom, Dad, what do you think?"
Shen Rui took a sip of tea. "I'm thinking of taking the job."
"More than a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins is a fortune, and we only need to hunt Soul Beasts under twenty thousand years old. Your mother and I can handle it."
"Soul Masters can't just bury themselves in cultivation. Building wealth is important, too."
"You're growing quickly, and you'll need more resources in the future. We're your parents—we should start making plans for you."
Shen Feng froze. He studied Shen Rui's face, then asked thoughtfully, "You've already made up your minds? Are you planning to form a Soul Hunting Guild?"
Shen Rui nodded. "Yes. Gathering unaffiliated Soul Masters from across the land so they can stand together and rely on one another—that's a good idea."
"The new houses that have sprung up around Shrek Academy over the past three years are a perfect example."
Before you continue