On the other side, at Shrek Academy.
"Boss Dai, you have to avenge me!"
Ma Hongjun, his face swollen and bruised, clung to Dai Mubai's leg.
Dai Mubai looked at Ma Hongjun with disgust and tried to push him off his leg.
Oscar came over and said gleefully, "Ma Hongjun, who beat you up?"
Ma Hongjun complained to Oscar and Dai Mubai. "I went to a brothel today and got beaten up by some sleazy middle-aged man. You have to avenge me!"
"A brothel?" Dai Mubai's expression darkened. He kicked Ma Hongjun in the butt. "You went to a place like that without inviting us? You deserved to get beaten!"
Oscar nodded in agreement. "Exactly. You didn't even invite your brothers along. That's just not right."
Hearing Ma Hongjun and the others from a distance, Ning Rongrong wore a look of disgust.
She regretted joining Shrek Academy a little. If she hadn't wanted to prove herself, she would have left long ago to go have fun somewhere else.
Tang San, cultivating beneath a tree, heard Ma Hongjun and the others. He glanced at them, then continued cultivating.
After joining Shrek Academy, they weren't nearly as close as they had been in the novel.
When Dai Mubai learned Tang San's Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass, he thought of what had happened to him and isolated Tang San along with Oscar and the others.
Ning Rongrong also disliked spending time with Tang San, who had acne covering half his face and was ugly to boot.
At Shrek Academy, Tang San was a loner.
He didn't care about this at all. There was only one thing on his mind: defeating Xu Yuan.
Ma Hongjun clung to Dai Mubai's leg and said, "Boss Dai, you're my boss! You have to avenge me!"
Dai Mubai said helplessly, "All right, all right. I'll avenge you. Show me the way."
Ma Hongjun's face lit up with joy. Ignoring the pain in his face, he scrambled to his feet. "It's in Drunk Spring Alley, south of the city. That middle-aged man's still drinking at a stall by the alley entrance!"
Dai Mubai patted him on the head. "Lead the way."
Oscar pulled two sausages out of his Soul Tool and handed them to Ma Hongjun. "Eat these first, so you'll have enough strength to cheer us on later."
Ma Hongjun took the sausages and stuffed them into his mouth, mumbling indistinctly, "Just watch me burn his beard with my Phoenix Flame later..."
The three walked off with their arms around each other. As they passed Ning Rongrong,
Dai Mubai whistled. "Rongrong, want to come watch the fun? I guarantee it'll be exciting."
He was interested in the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect and wanted to woo Ning Rongrong.
If he managed to win her over, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would become his backing.
If he couldn't defeat his eldest brother in the future, he'd have a way out.
Love someone?
As if. How could a prince like him love only one person?
His father had married plenty of women. He'd have to marry at least five or six himself, and if he became emperor, he'd marry even more.
Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes and turned away. "Who wants to watch you fight? How childish."
But she secretly muttered to herself that Drunk Spring Alley sounded like a seedy place. These people really were a bunch of degenerates.
Beneath the tree, Tang San didn't even lift his eyelids. He had heard every word they said.
Ever since Dai Mubai and the others had isolated him, he'd had more time to focus on cultivating.
"Let's go, let's go!" Dai Mubai's voice faded into the distance.
Tang San slowly opened his eyes, a cold glint flashing in them.
He stood up, brushed the grass off his clothes, and didn't follow them. Instead, he turned and walked toward a grove deep within the academy.
At that moment, in Drunk Spring Alley south of the city, a middle-aged man in his forties was drinking.
The man was of medium height, perhaps a little short, and extremely fat. His face was piled with rolls of flesh, and his tiny eyes were squeezed into slits.
A lecherous, sinister, greedy light always glimmered in those slits. Whenever he looked at someone, he wore an undisguised leer.
"Burp—" He belched and glanced at the passersby at the alley entrance.
His gaze lingered especially on young women who walked by. An unsettling glint flashed in his slit-like eyes, and an oily smile tugged at his lips.
The owner of the nearby drink stall was a wiry old man. As he wiped a bowl, he stole glances at the newcomer. His eyes held a trace of apprehension, but he didn't dare say a word.
Ma Hongjun spotted the man from afar and ground his teeth in anger. He tugged at Dai Mubai's arm. "Boss Dai, that's him! His name's Bu Le. Look at how sleazy he is!"
Dai Mubai narrowed his eyes at the fat man and snorted. "That guy? He thinks he can beat up my brother?"
Oscar leaned over too and said quietly, "Boss Dai, let's make this quick. This place gives me the creeps."
The three were about to approach when Bu Le seemed to sense something. He suddenly turned around, his tiny eyes fixing on Ma Hongjun.
Bu Le then gave a mocking smile. "Well, if it isn't the little brat I slapped twice earlier. What, you actually dared to bring people?"
He rose slowly, patted the fat on his belly, and rolled his wrists. "I haven't had enough to drink. Empty your pockets, and maybe I'll spare you a beating."
Incensed by his attitude, Ma Hongjun was about to release his Martial Soul when Dai Mubai pressed a hand to his shoulder.
Dai Mubai stepped forward. Soul Power abruptly surged around him. "Enough talk. Either apologize or get beaten. Choose one."
Bu Le looked disdainful. A mere Soul Elder—he was a Soul Ancestor.
The next moment, white, yellow, purple, and purple Soul Rings appeared beneath Bu Le's feet.
"A... a Soul Ancestor?!" Oscar's expression changed drastically, and he reflexively took half a step back.
He had never expected this sleazy fat man to be a Soul Ancestor of over level forty.
Ma Hongjun was so frightened that he forgot his anger, his mouth hanging open wide enough to fit an egg.
He had actually dared to challenge a Soul Ancestor? No wonder he'd been powerless to fight back when the man attacked.
Dai Mubai's pupils contracted, and his clenched fist tightened slightly.
He cursed Ma Hongjun furiously in his heart for provoking a Soul Ancestor.
Although Bu Le's Soul Ring Configuration wasn't perfect, that didn't change the fact that he was a Soul Ancestor.
Dai Mubai took a deep breath and forced himself to remain calm. "I didn't expect you to be a Soul Ancestor, senior. We were rather rude just now..."
He secretly decided to return and bring Zhao Wuji over, then teach Bu Le a proper lesson.
"Senior?" Bu Le sneered, a cruel glint flashing in his tiny eyes. "Now you're calling me senior? Weren't you pretty tough just now?"
He patted the fat on his belly and advanced step by step, Soul Power pressing down on the three like a rising tide. "If you dare come looking for revenge, you'd better be ready to face the consequences."
"Boss Dai, what do we do?" Ma Hongjun's voice trembled.
Oscar had already put some distance between himself and Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun. He silently started backing away.
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