Another Challenge

"Is something the matter?" Wang Dong'er was about to leave when someone suddenly blocked her path.

She shot the boy in front of her a cold glance, her expression shifting as she asked, "What do you want?"

The person blocking her was none other than Dai Huabin, who had been driven into a furious rage by Feng Piaoling not long ago.

His anger had long since faded, and even his earlier arrogance had vanished. Facing Wang Dong'er, now that she had revealed her true appearance, he wore an awkwardly bashful look that didn't suit him at all.

He scratched the back of his head and said awkwardly, "It's nothing. I just wanted to get to know you. My name is Dai Huabin, the second young master of the White Tiger Duke Mansion, and a descendant of Dai Mubai, the leader of the first-generation Shrek Seven Devils."

Behind Dai Huabin, Zhu Lu's eyes flashed with a strange light. She lowered her head and clasped her hands in front of her.

Feng Piaoling had been keeping an eye on things. Seeing this, he could no longer hold back the grin tugging at his lips.

In the original story, before Dai Huabin saw Wang Qiu'er, the transformed Emperor Auspicious Beast, he'd been as arrogant as they came. But after meeting Wang Qiu'er, he'd quickly turned into a lovesick lapdog.

Now, having met Wang Dong'er, who looked exactly like Wang Qiu'er, it seemed he was falling for her.

Wang Dong'er had seen this coming.

The reason she'd disguised herself as a boy earlier was, on the one hand, that she'd been following her First and Second Uncles' arrangements.

On the other hand, her beauty was peerless. If she enrolled as a girl, she'd be surrounded by countless admirers, which would affect every aspect of her life, from daily routines to cultivation and making friends.

But when she saw Feng Piaoling's grin, her already simmering anger and humiliation at having her identity exposed flared even hotter.

What the hell was that bastard smiling about?

Was he laughing at her for making a fool of herself?

At that thought, Wang Dong'er suddenly got an idea. She glanced at Feng Piaoling, curled her lips, and looked at Dai Huabin. "What, are you trying to court me?"

"Huh?" Dai Huabin's eyes widened.

He really had started thinking along those lines, but having Wang Dong'er call him out in front of his fiancée and all the other freshmen left him mortified.

"Are you or aren't you?" Wang Dong'er asked, seemingly oblivious to the many eyes now fixed on her.

Dai Huabin froze. He looked at Zhu Lu beside him. She shook her head imploringly, hoping he would deny it and spare her, his fiancée, at least a little face.

But Wang Dong'er wouldn't let it go. "Are you a man or not? If you are, say so. If you aren't, say so. Can't you even answer a question?"

"Yes. I want to court you."

Dai Huabin liked women who were both beautiful and powerful.

For now, it was only Wang Dong'er's beauty that attracted him.

But if he denied it now, he'd become a laughingstock among the freshmen.

Wang Dong'er nodded at him, then pointed at Feng Piaoling. "All right. If you can defeat that guy and become the top freshman, I'll give you a chance."

With that, she shot Feng Piaoling a sly glance and strode outside, leaving the freshmen staring after her in shock.

Feng Piaoling was taken aback, too. He hadn't expected that watching the spectacle would somehow make him part of it.

"Feng, do you dare to fight me in the Soul Fighting Arena right now?"

Dai Huabin had already taken a dislike to Feng Piaoling. The moment he heard Wang Dong'er's condition, he challenged him without hesitation.

When Dai Huabin challenged him, Feng Piaoling simply raised a thumb. "One Soul Ascension Pill."

"What?" Earlier, he'd seen Feng Piaoling wager two Mysterious Water Pills and a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins against Xu Sanshi, with expulsion as the stake.

He'd sneered at him then.

He'd thought the guy was dirt poor.

He hadn't expected the bastard to turn around and shake him down, too.

"What, are you afraid? Or is the dignified second young master of the White Tiger Duke Mansion unable to produce even one Soul Ascension Pill?"

Feng Piaoling stood tall, eyes narrowed to slits, striking a pose like Guan Yu. "If you're afraid to wager, then admit defeat. There's no shame in people knowing you lost to me."

"Fine, I'll wager. But if you lose, I want you out of Shrek Academy immediately."

Dai Huabin had been used to throwing his weight around since childhood. How could he take such a provocation? In a fit of anger, he agreed.

"Huabin..." Zhu Lu tried to stop him.

But Dai Huabin glared at her. "Shut up. This is none of your business."

Zhu Lu lowered her head, tears welling in her eyes.

Feng Piaoling shook his head inwardly. Sure enough, not one of the Dai Family was any good. They had special provisions from the imperial family—no, they weren't the imperial family anymore.

He already had a fiancée with an incredible figure and heterochromatic eyes, yet he still couldn't keep his eyes from wandering.

"Then go back and get the Soul Ascension Pill ready. Come challenge me once you have it."

As he spoke, Feng Piaoling left the white teaching building.

Passing the notice board, he glanced at the listings: Zhou Yi, homeroom teacher of Freshman Class One; the homeroom teacher of Freshman Class Two...

After only a glance, Feng Piaoling lost interest.

To be honest, he wasn't very interested in Shrek.

It occupied more cultivation resources than anywhere else on the continent, yet its teaching methods were still hopelessly outdated.

Especially Zhou Yi, who wore that old-woman mask every day. Ten thousand years had passed, and she was still following Gangzi's old teaching method of making students run with weights.

To make matters worse, she liked to punish students physically and expel them.

Her so-called teaching philosophy was to expel every student who wouldn't obey and keep the ones who would.

And the obedient students were often the most talented, because those with lesser ability couldn't meet her demands in the first place.

Still, come to think of it, if he really ended up assigned to Old Lady Zhou's class, he'd be more than happy.

That way, he could go back and report to Xu Tianran.

He wouldn't have to keep staying in this stomach-turning place, either.

Passing between the white teaching building for freshmen and the yellow teaching building for second- and third-year students, Feng Piaoling reached the dormitory building.

The dormitory covered a vast area. Though it was a single building, it had six floors, with white, yellow, purple, and black sections marking the living quarters for students of the four different teaching buildings.

When Feng Piaoling arrived at the entrance to the white section, he saw an old man lying in a rocking chair.

The old man wore gray cloth clothes. His face was so wrinkled they could have trapped flies, and his cloudy eyes drooped beneath heavy lids. He looked like a candle guttering in the wind.

Feng Piaoling knew this had to be Mu En, the Limit Douluo of Shrek Academy.

He couldn't be bothered with him. After casually showing his freshman badge, he walked inside.

Mu En couldn't be bothered to pay Feng Piaoling any attention, either. He assumed the boy was some noble-born young master, then silently grumbled about how rude he was, as usual.

The freshman dormitories were all doubles.

When Feng Piaoling followed the room numbers to his dorm, another freshman had already arrived.

The boy was cleaning the room. From his clothes and the patchwork bedroll, it was easy to tell he was a commoner.

His Soul Power was only rank fifteen, just enough to meet Shrek Academy's admission requirements.