The slap hadn't packed much force, but the humiliation was immense.
Flender had no reaction at all when Dugu Bo slapped him. His big head rang.
Ye Shuyuan said to Dugu Bo, "Come on. Let's take them over there."
Dugu Bo nodded and stepped between Flender and Zhao Wuji.
"I'll give you two choices. First, we beat you up and then take you with us. Second, you come with us."
Liu Erlong struggled to prop herself up. Her eyes burned like a tiger's, and her voice was hoarse.
"If you think we'll go with you, you can forget it. Don't think being Titled Douluo gives you the right to bully people."
"We will never submit!"
Dugu Bo's pressure came crashing down again, forcibly pinning Liu Erlong in place.
Liu Erlong's body shuddered. She pitched forward and hit the ground face-first.
"You can't even afford to be arrogant. What are you acting so high and mighty for?"
"What about you two?" Dugu Bo looked at Flender and Zhao Wuji again.
Zhao Wuji had lost all his usual arrogance and bluster. He was the first to beg for mercy.
"We'll go with you. We'll go with you. Poison Douluo, please withdraw your divine power."
What a joke. Liu Erlong had only spoken up once, and Dugu Bo had crushed her into this sorry state.
If he didn't beg for mercy, wouldn't his fate be even worse?
Flender made the same choice as Zhao Wuji. Both men begged for mercy.
"Poison Douluo, Medical Saint Douluo, please calm down. Our Liu Erlong was blind to Mount Tai just now. Anger clouded her judgment. Please be the bigger people and forgive her."
Liu Erlong lay on the ground, unable to believe her eyes as Flender and Zhao Wuji groveled before the Titled Douluo.
"Boss Fu, Zhao Wuji, you..."
Dugu Bo turned his back on Flender, Zhao Wuji, and Liu Erlong. "Let's go. If you dare try anything, don't blame this old man for taking your lives!"
Ye Shuyuan and Dugu Bo led the way toward the Skywater Academy field. Zhao Wuji followed behind them, while Flender helped Liu Erlong to her feet and brought up the rear.
Liu Erlong's face was filled with defiance toward Dugu Bo and Ye Shuyuan.
"Erlong..." Flender began, but Liu Erlong cut him off. "Shut up, you useless coward."
"This is why you'll never measure up to Xiao Gang!" Liu Erlong glared at Flender, leaving him speechless.
On the Skywater Academy field, Shui Qingrou stopped releasing her Soul Emperor's pressure.
Children should settle their own disputes. As long as no adults stepped in, she wouldn't interfere.
She wouldn't bully the weak unless there was no other choice.
Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai gasped for breath. Clearly, this was their first time experiencing the pressure of a powerful soul master.
Seeing a boy his own age—three years younger than him—step forward, Dai Mubai's eyes filled with disdain.
"Kid, if we can't take on a Soul Emperor, you think we can't handle you?"
Ma Hongjun was only a Soul Master on the verge of reaching the second ring. Someone his age would surely have about the same level of cultivation.
Ye Qingzhou looked at Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun impassively, his tone relaxed. "Looks like they're underestimating me."
Shui Bing'er stepped beside Ye Qingzhou, her voice cool. She didn't want him getting involved.
"They came for me. Let me handle this."
"Ice Phoenix, possess me!"
A phoenix's cry rang out as the shadow of an ice-blue phoenix soared into the sky. Frigid air swept across the field, and three Soul Rings—yellow, yellow, purple—rose from beneath Shui Bing'er's feet.
Ma Hongjun immediately recognized the Martial Soul behind Shui Bing'er as belonging to the same phoenix family as his own. Excitement crept into his voice.
"An ice-blue Phoenix Martial Soul! The Ice Phoenix—you're Shui Bing'er!"
He leered at Shui Bing'er's body. Her figure, age, and beauty all fit his tastes perfectly.
She was practically the woman of his dreams. He licked his lips greedily.
"She's Shui Bing'er?" Dai Mubai turned to look at Ma Hongjun and laughed. "She's pretty, all right. An Ice Phoenix and an Evil Fire Martial Soul—what a perfect match. And she's a Soul Elder, too."
A Soul Elder at thirteen—she completely met Shrek's enrollment standards.
Ma Hongjun stared at Shui Bing'er, looking her up and down.
"Bing'er, our Martial Souls are both phoenixes. We're a match made in heaven. So stop rejecting me..."
"Shut up! Who said you could call me Bing'er?" Shui Bing'er stared at Ma Hongjun, her eyes icy and her voice as cold as a wintry tide. "I've rejected you countless times already. You're all disgusting!"
Though Ye Qingzhou had known Ma Hongjun for some time, he hadn't expected the other boy to have such thick skin.
"Ma Hongjun, you really know how to flatter yourself. How could a barnyard fowl Martial Soul compare to a true phoenix?"
"Big Sister Bing'er, let's attack together."
"Barnyard fowl" were the two words Ma Hongjun hated most. He couldn't stand anyone calling his Martial Soul a barnyard fowl.
"Ye Qingzhou, shut your trap! Nobody asked you!"
"Fatty, why waste your breath on him? Let's go!"
Dai Mubai immediately entered Martial Soul Possession, and two yellow Soul Rings appeared. Ma Hongjun did the same.
The Evil Fire Phoenix possessed him. Purple-red flames rose around him as the short hair on his head suddenly grew longer and swept toward the middle. Long feathers sprouted from his exposed arms, and both hands turned into claws. A yellow Soul Ring appeared.
"Pfft!" The moment they saw Ma Hongjun in his possessed form, everyone present burst out laughing.
Shui Yue'er laughed the loudest.
"That's supposed to be a phoenix? It looks more like a barnyard chicken to me! Hahahaha!"
At her words, deafening laughter erupted across Skywater Academy.
His Martial Soul had been mocked. How could he save face now?
Ma Hongjun's face looked as if he'd swallowed a mouthful of shit.
Even Shui Bing'er couldn't help smiling a little when she saw Ma Hongjun's possessed form.
That Martial Soul looked neither like a barnyard fowl nor a phoenix. Calling it a phoenix was an insult to the Phoenix Martial Soul.
Ye Qingzhou watched the White Tiger and Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Souls with a faint, mocking smile. He shook his head and sighed. "A mere barnyard fowl Martial Soul thinks it can pass itself off as a phoenix?"
"You insolent brat! You don't know your place!"
"First Soul Skill: Dark Fragrance Bind!"
Magnolias blossomed in Ye Qingzhou's palm, and their fragrance spread through the air. Four Soul Rings—purple, purple, black, black—rose from beneath his feet.
"A Four-Ring Soul Ancestor!"
"And he's only nine years old!"
"His Soul Rings start at a thousand years, and his third ring is ten thousand years old!"
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