"I thought he was a peacemaker. Didn't expect him to stand up for us after all. Go get 'em, Feng Xinglie!"
Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, who had been watching from behind, stared in astonishment.
Ma Hongjun was already in a foul mood, and now someone else was picking a fight. Then Ning Rongrong egged him on, clearly enjoying the spectacle. His Evil Fire blazed up in an instant, and he cursed:
"I'm already in a foul mood, you know. Are you looking to die?"
Feng Xinglie spread his hands and smiled.
"Yeah. I'm a pretty petty person. When someone messes with my friends, I have to help them get even."
"Then go die! First Soul Skill: Phoenix Fireline!"
Ma Hongjun roared and spat a concentrated stream of purple Evil Fire toward Feng Xinglie's face. The crowd then witnessed a bizarre sight: Feng Xinglie's upper body vanished. His legs remained rooted to the spot, but his upper body disappeared as abruptly as if someone had erased it with a rubber. Naturally, Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Fireline struck nothing but empty air. When everyone blinked, thinking they'd imagined it, Feng Xinglie's upper body had returned. Only Zhu Zhuqing's pupils contracted. She had seen Feng Xinglie use this move while they were being pursued by the Zhu Family. Back then, she'd thought exhaustion had made her hallucinate, but now it seemed...
"W-Was that just me?"
Xiao Wu covered her mouth in astonishment.
Only Tang San, with the aid of his Purple Demon Eye, could just barely make out Feng Xinglie's movements. He had dodged so quickly that it created an optical illusion: while his lower body remained still, his upper body shifted position at a speed invisible to the naked eye.
"What kind of martial art is that?"
Tang San was utterly shocked. He couldn't help wondering: could his own secret skill, Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, achieve an effect like that?
The battlefield changed in an instant, and Feng Xinglie seized the opening created by Ma Hongjun's momentary distraction. He pressed close to the Phoenix Fireline and charged right up to Ma Hongjun. Then he lifted a hand from below and shoved Ma Hongjun's chin upward. Ma Hongjun's mouth snapped shut, cutting off his own Soul Skill, and his plump body was sent flying into the air. Feng Xinglie grabbed one leg with one hand and slammed him into the ground like he was whipping a towel.
The onlookers could almost see Ma Hongjun's round body flatten into a giant pancake when it hit the ground.
"Fatty! What are you doing?"
After Ma Hongjun was taken out in one move, Dai Mubai's voice rang out from nearby. Everyone looked over and saw Boss Dai hurrying toward them, his face tense. He helped Ma Hongjun, who was lying on the ground with a dazed look in his eyes, to his feet. "What happened? Why are you fighting?"
Before Feng Xinglie could say anything, Ning Rongrong cut in.
"What else could it be? This guy was harassing us in the street. The way he looked at us, he was practically going to devour the three of us. Luckily, Lie stepped in and taught him a lesson."
After hearing this, Dai Mubai sighed and tapped Ma Hongjun on the head.
"You idiot. You know exactly how many Soul Masters there are in this little village. You just met three junior schoolmates who'd joined the academy, and you wanted to take all of them for yourself? You've got some nerve."
Ma Hongjun had caught his breath by now. He clutched his sore head and said aggrievedly,
"But Boss Dai, you know about my Evil Fire problem. Cuihua just broke up with me, so of course I couldn't hold it back, right? You're always visiting the brothels, too, and you even took in a pair of twins..."
"Shut up!"
Dai Mubai's expression changed, and he hurriedly cut him off. He sneaked a glance at Zhu Zhuqing and saw that her face was icy. She gave a disgusted snort and turned away, no longer looking at him. A nameless fury flared in his heart. Ma Hongjun, who hadn't noticed, kept talking.
"Fine, fine, I won't bring it up. But the new kid this year hit way too hard! I feel like every bone in my body's about to fall apart. Boss Dai, you've got to stand up for me!"
"I'll stand up for you? Then who'll stand up for me? If you've got what it takes, hit him back yourself. Don't bother me!"
Dai Mubai shoved Ma Hongjun aside and yelled irritably. He'd disliked Feng Xinglie from the start, but setting aside the fact that his Soul Power Level and Soul Ring Configuration were who knew how many times greater than his own, Feng Xinglie had even gone toe-to-toe with Zhao Wuji alone yesterday. He was no match for him, a mere Soul Elder. Dai Mubai wanted to teach him a lesson and vent his anger, but he didn't want to die.
"Ah, fine..."
Seeing that his backer had no intention of stepping in, Ma Hongjun sighed and climbed to his feet.
"I've got to go to the brothel and deal with my Evil Fire. Boss Dai, you really aren't coming with me this time?"
"Get lost! When have I ever been to a place like that?"
Dai Mubai kicked Ma Hongjun in the rear, then looked guiltily at Zhu Zhuqing. But she wasn't even looking their way, and his heart finally eased.
"All right, let's stop talking about unpleasant things. Weren't we heading out to eat? Dai Mubai should know the village pretty well, right? I said I'd treat everyone, so let's hurry up and eat. We still have to get back for class."
Seeing Ning Rongrong smooth things over, Dai Mubai gladly took the chance to change the subject.
"Yeah, I know this place well. Leave the wayfinding to me. And Rongrong's right—we have to hurry back as soon as we're done eating. The headmaster hates students who are late."
A little while later, after a simple farmhouse meal, they returned to Shrek Academy. They saw Ma Hongjun and a bespectacled man standing on the training field. It was Flender.
"Headmaster, we're back."
At that, Flender nodded at Dai Mubai. Then his gaze swept over the new students one by one, lingering especially on Feng Xinglie and Zhu Zhuqing.
"Not bad. We've got five more Little Monsters this year. I've even dealt with two of them before. All of you, go see Teacher Li and pay a hundred Gold Soul Coins in tuition. As for Lie..."
Clearly, Li Yusong had already told him about waiving the tuition. But how could a money-grubber like Flender watch so much money slip through his fingers—especially when this kid had used the patrol squad to con a piece of crystal out of him?
At that moment, Feng Xinglie saw two parts reluctance to let go of a genius, three parts desire for money, one part inner struggle, and four parts irritation at being fooled in Flender's eyes.
Buddy, have you got a pie chart in your eyes or something?
That was what Feng Xinglie thought.
"Since Teacher Li already agreed to waive your tuition, you don't need to go, Lie."
In the end, Flender couldn't bear to let go of this Little Monster who dared to stand up to a Soul Sage. Besides, he'd promised that Feng Xinglie could leave whenever he wanted. And only by keeping him around could he put him through his paces and squeeze every last drop of value out of him. After chuckling a few times, Flender put on a serious face and said,
"Dai Mubai, find a chance to tell them the academy's rules. Oscar and Ning Rongrong, you're the only ones who don't need to rest. Everyone else, go rest and get into the best possible shape. As for you two support-system Soul Masters, you must learn to protect yourselves in battle. So your first lesson is physical training. Starting now, run twenty laps around the entire village. If you haven't returned by lunchtime, you can forget about eating."
After that, he pointed at Tang San.
"You. Come with me alone."
Feng Xinglie knew Flender had recognized Twenty-Four Bridges Moonlight Night at Tang San's waist and wanted to pass along the letter from Yu Xiaogang. Feng Xinglie wasn't interested in that part of the story. Seeing that Ning Rongrong and Oscar had already run off, he headed back to the dorm to cultivate and prepare for the Soul Fighting that evening.
Before you continue