The fish had taken the bait. All that painstaking planning had paid off.
Oscar froze for a moment. Dai Mubai had a point. He was locked in a fight, while Seven Battles' support Soul Master was just a young girl.
That gave him confidence. Although she had left a deep impression on him, for the academy's honor, he gritted his teeth and prepared to go all out.
"Finally decided to come over?" Ning Rongrong muttered.
Watching the support Soul Master across from her charge over, she really wanted to laugh.
"Sorry about this."
When Oscar got close, he actually sounded a little apologetic as he said it.
"Huh?"
Ning Rongrong was puzzled. How had Shrek raised someone like this? They'd been on the stage and competing for a while already, and he was still saying "sorry about this."
And that look in his eyes—ugh.
She'd seen that look plenty of times in her clan, and there were one or two people at the academy who had it, too.
"What a drag."
With all that experience, how could she not know what was on his mind?
She muttered to herself, but her hands never stopped moving. She looked soft and weak, yet one palm strike was enough to leave anyone stunned.
"Tianshan Plum-Plucking Hand."
Oscar staggered back several steps from that first strike, and even that had only been a feint.
"No, wait. Is the Tianshan Plum-Plucking Hand that strong, or is my opponent just that weak?"
Ning Rongrong was starting to doubt herself. She didn't think she was all that strong. Whenever she practiced moves with Zhu Zhuqing, she was the one getting suppressed.
So why was this so powerful now? Impossible. Absolutely impossible.
"Whatever. I'll try a few more moves."
Maybe she'd caught him off guard. Since she'd decided she could keep him suppressed, naturally she pressed in.
"Take this!"
She launched several palm strikes in a row, without a single feint. Every one was real.
"Oh no!"
Oscar was a total weakling right now, with virtually no combat experience. He relied entirely on things like Wild Baseball Fist to protect himself.
How could he withstand Ning Rongrong's fierce assault?
Forget using his third Soul Skill to send sausages flying—he didn't even have time to eat a sausage with healing effects.
She kept attacking. If that next palm landed, he'd be done for, so Ning Rongrong decisively turned her palm into an Iron Mountain Lean and slammed him away.
She redirected the force of her palm strike elsewhere.
"Pathetic."
Looking at the unconscious Oscar, she nudged him off the stage with her foot and shouted toward Shrek's waiting room.
"Someone from Shrek, come collect your weakling!"
Facing outsiders—enemies, no less—Ning Rongrong instantly reverted to her Little Witch, spoiled-princess self.
The people from Shrek were so furious their teeth ached.
Chen An had returned to his seat in the stands.
Watching Ning Rongrong's ruthless performance onstage, Ning Fengzhi swallowed hard, unable to believe his eyes. Just as most fathers couldn't believe how much their children could change, Ning Fengzhi had never expected Ning Rongrong to surprise him. But now that he'd seen it for himself, he was convinced.
"Dean Chen, is this why you asked me to come watch?"
He'd watched the whole thing. The Hidden Weapons and Ning Rongrong's transformation had both amazed him. He felt the trip with his entourage had been well worth it.
"That's not all. Keep watching."
As their teacher and master, Chen An knew Ning Rongrong still had more up her sleeve.
No, it's not that I'm too strong. My opponent's just too weak. If he'd attacked me like that, Zhuqing would've probably put him on the ground.
Ning Rongrong was proud, but she was still clearheaded. After a quick, instinctive assessment, she looked toward Dai Mubai.
Her eyes lit up.
She looked like a hunter who'd spotted a kitten.
"Senior Brother, I'll help you. No need to thank me."
Ning Rongrong called out, casting the defensive Golden Light Divine Incantation on herself and refreshing Luo Xiaoshi's Soul Skill. Then she charged into the fight.
She didn't understand anything about one-on-one battles being for real men. Right now, she just wanted to gleefully gang up on someone in the name of justice.
"Hey, Junior Sister, wait—"
Luo Xiaoshi hadn't finished speaking before Ning Rongrong came charging in, shouting something about, "Take my Tianshan Plum-Plucking Hand!"
She was just like those people who shouted about friendship and love before suddenly breaking through their limits.
Her palm struck Dai Mubai, hurting him—but it also made him even more furious, his face flushing red with rage.
"Roar!"
The enraged Dai Mubai swept out with a claw. Ning Rongrong had only the Golden Light Divine Incantation for defense and no evasive footwork, so she took half the blow head-on.
The other half had been blocked by Luo Xiaoshi.
"Cough, cough, Senior Brother."
Ning Rongrong didn't have Luo Xiaoshi's formidable physique. Even taking half the blow had left her in rough shape.
Her face immediately paled, and her hands trembled slightly.
"I'll deal with him."
Seeing Ning Rongrong in pain, Luo Xiaoshi immediately felt he'd broken his promise.
His face darkened. He fixed Dai Mubai with an even sterner gaze.
"Anyone who hurts my junior sister must be punished."
Who cared about right and wrong? What was the point of sorting that out now?
Luo Xiaoshi stopped holding himself back. He channeled the Great Sage Scripture at full power and used his second Soul Skill as well. His aura suddenly soared, and he seemed to take on the shadow of someone from another time.
"How is this possible? His aura's on par with Dai Mubai's!"
The people from Shrek still couldn't believe it. Only Chen An gazed at the stage, deep in thought.
Their auras were evenly matched again? Then his suspicion had been right. That damned monkey was using the Great Sage Scripture to stir things up.
Back on the stage.
As Luo Xiaoshi's aura shifted, two opposing pressures clashed across the arena, like two Conqueror's Haki users colliding.
His staff swept out, his momentum unstoppable.
This time, Luo Xiaoshi didn't build up momentum with successive swings. He simply fought head-on, forcing his way through.
Dai Mubai showed no fear. He unleashed White Tiger Vajra Transformation and White Tiger Intense Light Wave at full power.
As the energy wave was smashed apart, Dai Mubai charged right up to Luo Xiaoshi and brought down a claw.
Luo Xiaoshi raised his staff to block, planted his feet in a horse stance, then twisted and swung down. His staff moved with his body.
"Bang!"
The staff came down. Dai Mubai's fighting instincts had been fully roused, and he raised a claw to block. Luckily, he'd moved fast enough. All he'd been forced to do was drop to one knee.
Dai Mubai rolled in close, then unleashed an Intense Light Wave at point-blank range, maximizing the damage.
"Whoosh, whoosh."
The Intense Light Wave hit, instantly raising a thick cloud of black smoke. It looked like Luo Xiaoshi had taken a brutal hit. Normally, that would mean trouble.
But there was a bizarre law of Soul Master duels: if there was smoke, there was no damage.
That law didn't always hold true. Luo Xiaoshi was indeed still alive, but he'd also been injured.
Dai Mubai pulled back, but Luo Xiaoshi pursued him, closing in. The instant the smoke rose, his staff came swinging after him.
"Take a swing from your grandpa!"
If that staff landed, Dai Mubai would almost certainly be in serious trouble. Luo Xiaoshi was fired up and had no intention of holding back. His instincts wouldn't let him, either.
"Smack!"
Flender ignored the attempts to stop him and rushed onto the stage, catching the staff strike. Chen An also stepped in and separated the two.
"We concede." Flender didn't look at Chen An. He spoke to the host instead.
Afterward, he made Luo Xiaoshi take two steps back, then sighed and looked at Chen An.
"Your students are excellent. I lost."
Flender didn't want to admit it, but it was the truth. As far as he knew, Luo Xiaoshi had been Chen An's disciple for only a little over a year.
In one-on-one battles, their team had been routed across the board, each of them beaten in a one-on-one fight. Well, except for Ma Hongjun, who hadn't been fighting against a main-team member and had managed to win one round.
"There's another match tomorrow. We'll fight again then."
With that, Flender dragged Dai Mubai off the stage.
Before you continue