What About Flender?

The middle-aged man intervening in such a manner was clearly trying to bully the weak with his superior status.

The surrounding crowd had been on the verge of an uproar, but upon seeing the seven soul rings rising from the man, they fell into an instant, deathly silence.

Only Tang San and his sister whispered to each other that they had seen this man before.

Seeing the middle-aged man strike, Zhu Zhuqing could no longer stand by. She tore a talisman, used the Shadow Flow technique to swap positions, and moved in front of Luo Xiaoshi. She then channeled her soul power into an attack talisman and flung it at the middle-aged man with the precision of a shuriken.

The middle-aged man dared not approach easily for a moment, and as he watched her with vigilance, she lashed out in anger.

"I've finally seen it for myself: Shrek Academy only knows how to bully the weak."

Seeing Zhu Zhuqing standing before him, Luo Xiaoshi stopped forcing himself to stay upright and lost consciousness.

The middle-aged man narrowed his eyes, staring at Zhu Zhuqing while remaining on high alert.

"What a sharp-tongued little girl."

Dai Mubai, having regained consciousness, tried to say something.

"Principal."

Flender glanced at Dai Mubai and spoke with grave seriousness.

"Step back."

"Yes."

Flender was rarely this serious, and Dai Mubai, who knew him well, naturally understood that he was furious.

He retreated with a somewhat dejected air to the side of Li Yusong, the old man at the gate.

"Provoking me at my own doorstep? Call your elders here, or I shall teach you a lesson on their behalf."

Flender said with a dark expression.

He was usually the one scamming others, and being scammed himself had clearly lit a fire under him.

Moreover, with so many people watching, if he failed to handle this properly, the reputation of Shrek would stink even more.

Although the name Shrek didn't have the best reputation abroad, it was an academy he had founded with his own hands; it was like his own child.

Who would want their own child to be looked down upon? It was hard to say.

"I..."

Zhu Zhuqing was still thinking of retorting, when a large hand patted her on the shoulder. It nearly scared her to death.

She hadn't even sensed someone approaching, despite considering herself an agility-type soul master.

Turning around, the stone in her heart dropped, and a smile appeared on her face.

"Master~"

The person who arrived was Chen An. He had originally intended to observe and let Little Zhu resolve it using the talismans.

She had indeed used them, though crudely, failing to unleash the talisman's true power; he blamed himself for not teaching her how to use them properly.

"Mm, take Little Stone to that teacher first. I will handle things here."

Zhu Zhuqing looked in the direction he indicated, wondering to herself why it was a female teacher.

Yet, she didn't hesitate, scooping up Luo Xiaoshi and rushing over there.

"So, you are the teacher of these two?"

Flender's tone was extremely hostile.

"Your students tried to kill mine; how do you intend to resolve this?"

He dared not act rashly now, as the inability to perceive the other party's Soul Power Level forced him to be cautious.

On this continent, there were only three possibilities: the opponent had no soul power at all, or they were using a concealment method.

What made Flender truly cautious was the possibility that the opponent's soul power was stronger than his own.

"Friction is normal during a duel. If I recall correctly, it was your disciple who struck with the intent to kill first."

This left Flender with no response; he had merely been trying to bluff Chen An.

He shifted the topic instead.

"Then how do you explain snatching my students here?"

Chen An had no intention of explaining, nor did he intend to drag this out. He raised an eyebrow slightly and let out a cold snort, which was enough to break the other man's composure.

"No explanation."

Flender was instantly incensed. To be looked down upon like this—he was cowardly, perhaps, but he was no coward who would hide in his shell.

"I wanted to give you a choice, but it seems you are determined to fight."

That was exactly it; that was precisely Chen An's intention.

What was the use of explaining so much? After a fight, the other party would understand regardless.

"I have heard of the Golden Iron Trio of Trash; today, I shall finally open my eyes."

Chen An spoke up.

He had no fondness for profiteers or turtles, so speaking this way was naturally intentional.

"You are courting death."

One of Flender's bottom lines was the Golden Iron Triangle, and now that someone had insulted it, he threw his last shred of reason to the wind.

So much so that he shouted as he opened his stance.

"Avatar of the Martial Soul!"

After Flender activated his seventh soul skill, he transformed into a massive Cat-Eagle and dove straight toward Chen An.

Chen An, on the other hand, was unhurried; after releasing his Myriad Silk, he did not even use a soul skill.

After exchanging a few moves with Flender, he offered his critique.

"Your counterattacks are powerless, your frontal assault is unrefined, your footwork is loose, and your reactions are sluggish. Not a single movement is decent."

It was truly boring; it was too much of a stomp.

The greatest value Flender provided him was the chance to reflect—to reflect on whether he had truly been overly cautious.

"???"

Flender was utterly astonished at this moment.

All of his moves had been neutralized one by one, without even grazing his opponent.

Then, Chen An pushed out with a palm, sending Flender fluttering backward several times before he could steady his body.

"One move. If you can take one move from me, not only will I apologize, but I will also give you one hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins."

Chen An spoke to himself; Flender did not answer, his gaze locked onto Chen An, the pressure reaching an explosive level.

"Hum."

He revealed his soul rings completely, without any concealment.

Except for his two disciples, no one had ever seen such a soul ring configuration, and their expressions were varied.

The reason he dared to reveal it to the world now was entirely because he had just sensed his bottleneck break.

His body felt full and brimming with power; it must have been because the trio had finished recruiting students.

"Wait..."

Before Flender could surrender, Chen An's iron fist had already descended.

In an instant, Chen An moved above Flender's head, clasped his hands together, bowed slightly, and delivered a simple, unadorned smash directly onto his crown.

How could his movements be this fast?

This was the last thought Flender had before losing consciousness.

As a holder of the Cat-Eagle martial soul and a powerhouse at the Soul Saint level, his visual sensitivity was naturally superior to those of the same rank.

He had clearly seen and perceived Chen An's movements, but his body could not keep up with his vision and thoughts. Thus, he took the full force of the smash.

"Xiao Wu, what's wrong?"

Tang San, who was watching the battle, noticed Xiao Wu's body trembling and asked in a low voice. The scene before them was indeed frightening, but what truly terrified Xiao Wu were the soul rings on Chen An.

"N-nothing, I'm fine."

Compared to this, Li Yusong spoke up to question him.

"You are using your strength to bully the weak."

The tables had turned, which was more interesting than the duel itself.

"I am. So what?"

"You, you, you..."

Li Yusong could not speak clearly; he had not expected this person to be so thick-skinned and shameless. Yet, he dared not say more. There was no helping it—he could not beat Chen An. Or rather, the entire Shrek Academy could not beat Chen An.

Chen An paid no further mind to the emotions of the Shrek teachers and students; to him, this was merely tidying up trouble for his disciples. So, he shouted aloud.

"Phantom Star Academy is recruiting! Those interested may head to the academy to register."

Aside from those already recruited by Zhu Zhuqing, most were very tempted, and some had already decided not to waste any more time at Shrek.

After all, a Soul Douluo coming out to recruit was incredibly persuasive.

Only a portion of the crowd still thought that since they were already here, they might as well get tested at Shrek first.

For this group, Chen An would still accept them, provided they could pass his assessment.

There was another small group who believed that having strength wasn't everything. In the world, one looked at credentials; Shrek had many excellent graduates, and following Shrek was surely the right path.

As for this group, if they failed, Chen An would not accept them, for their intentions were impure.

At this moment.

Chen An walked over to Zhu Zhuqing. Seeing the girl with her head bowed, he was just about to say something when she spoke first.

"Master, I was wrong..."

He never had any intention of blaming her; by allowing Zhu Zhuqing to come here, he had already anticipated that something like this might happen.

"Why are you hanging your head? It's no big deal, it's not as if your master can't handle it."

Hearing Chen An say this, Zhu Zhuqing immediately lifted her head, the dejection on her face instantly transforming into a smile.

She was faster at it than a performer changing masks in a Sichuan opera.

"Hehe, I knew Master was the best to me."

He had no idea who had molded Zhu Zhuqing into such a quirky and mischievous personality, but it seemed it was himself, so that was fine.