Tang San's Collapse: I Don't Have a Mother Anymore!

"Chen Xuan!"

A furious roar exploded as Dai Mubai struggled to climb up from the ground. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, his evil eyes burning with raging flames of fury.

"What exactly are you trying to do! Do you call this a sparring match? This is a slaughter!"

Chen Xuan finally shifted his gaze from Ah Yin and let it fall upon Dai Mubai's face.

That gaze was very calm—no mockery, no disdain, just as if he were looking at a rock by the side of the road.

"I was under the impression that the defeated have no right to question the victor."

Chen Xuan's voice was not loud, yet it carried clearly across the entire arena.

"You!"

Blood rushed to Dai Mubai's head, and a sweetness rose in his throat; he nearly spat out another mouthful of blood.

"Mubai, stop!"

A steady voice rang out.

Flender, accompanied by Liu Erlong and Grandmaster, walked down from the spectator stands.

Flender's expression was so gloomy it seemed as if water could drip from it, while soul power surged around Liu Erlong, who was clearly on the verge of an explosion of rage.

Only Grandmaster, Yu Xiaogang, wore a face of ashen defeat.

He looked at his unconscious disciple on the field, looked at Ah Yin—the woman who looked exactly like the one in legends—and then looked at Chen Xuan, the man who stood there as light as a cloud.

The theories he took such pride in, his entire system of knowledge, had been shattered into pieces by reality today.

Possession?

A concept he had never heard of.

He knew of the absolute suppression the Blue Silver Empress held over Blue Silver Grass.

But what was that lashing that directly stripped away the origin of life?

And Dugu Yan—why was she a Spirit King? In just one short year, how was that possible!

"Your Excellency must be the Dean of Blue Silver Academy, Chen Xuan."

Flender suppressed the fury in his heart, walked into the center of the field, and spoke to Chen Xuan in a deep voice.

"It is I."

Chen Xuan nodded.

"We, Shrek Academy, admit defeat in today's individual matches."

Flender said each word with deliberate weight.

"However, according to our agreement, there is still a team battle. We hope that the team battle can be a... fair contest."

He deliberately emphasized the word "fair."

Upon hearing this, a trace of a smile escaped the corners of Chen Xuan's mouth—it was faint, yet it made Flender feel a tremor of heart-palpitations.

"Fair?"

Chen Xuan retorted.

"When Dai Mubai's soul power was stronger than Dugu Yan's, bullying the weak, you thought it was fair."

"When Tang San used hidden weapons to ambush, you thought it was fair."

"Now that my disciples and my wife possess strength superior to yours, you start talking about fairness?"

Chen Xuan shook his head.

"Dean Flender, don't you find that ridiculous?"

Flender's face turned from green to white, and he was choked into silence, unable to utter a word.

Chen Xuan ignored him further and swept his gaze over the Shrek group.

"The seven-day pact still has the team battle remaining."

"Tomorrow, same time, same place."

"I will be waiting for you."

Having said this, he turned around and spoke indifferently to his disciples: "Let us go."

"Yes, Teacher."

Dugu Yan, Ning Rongrong, and the others bowed in unison.

Ah Yin took one last look at Tang San, who was held in Xiao Wu's arms; her expression remained an impenetrable indifference.

Following that, she walked behind Chen Xuan, and the group departed slowly under the watchful eyes of the crowd.

Not until their backs disappeared at the end of the Martial Arts Arena did the atmosphere, which had been pressing down on everyone until they could barely breathe, finally loosen slightly.

"Thud."

Dai Mubai could no longer support himself; he collapsed onto the ground, gasping for air in great, ragged gulps.

Defeated.

Lost so thoroughly, so humiliatingly.

"Dean..."

Oscar looked toward Flender, his voice strained.

"Tomorrow's team battle, do we... still have to fight?"

It wasn't just him; Ma Hongjun, and even the usually composed Zhu Zhuqing, revealed a trace of wavering in their eyes.

The strength of Blue Silver Academy was unfathomable.

They had only sent out three people, yet they had nearly wiped out the entire team.

That healing-type spirit master named Ye Lingling, along with the two defense-types, hadn't even really made a move from start to finish.

How were they supposed to fight this?

Flender looked at the dejection on his disciples' faces, a sharp pain piercing his heart.

When had Shrek ever suffered such a miserable defeat?

He took a deep breath and looked toward Grandmaster, who stood silently to the side.

"Xiaogang, what do you think?"

Grandmaster's gaze remained fixed on the bluestone slab stained red by Tang San's blood.

His lips moved a few times before he let out a hoarse voice.

"Fight."

Only a single word.

"But, Grandmaster..." Ma Hongjun couldn't help but speak up, "We have absolutely no chance of winning! That Dugu Yan is a Spirit King, and then there's that traitor Ning Rongrong..."

"Silence!"

Grandmaster whipped his head around, his eyes stern.

"Rongrong simply chose a place more suitable for her; that is her freedom."

His gaze swept over the group.

"What is Shrek's school motto?"

The group was stunned.

"Only recruit monsters, never ordinary people," Dai Mubai answered instinctively.

"Correct."

Grandmaster nodded.

"Would a monster be so easily struck down?"

"Would a monster shrink back just because of a single failure?"

"If you cannot even withstand this small setback, then you are not worthy of being my, Yu Xiaogang's, disciples, nor are you worthy of being students of Shrek!"

Grandmaster's voice was not loud, yet every word rang out with force, deafening and awakening.

A glimmer of light slowly began to reignite in the eyes of Dai Mubai and the others.

That's right.

They were monsters.

They were the best among their peers.

Even though they had lost today, they could not let their spirit be defeated as well!

"Grandmaster, we understand!"

Dai Mubai was the first to stand up, his gaze turning firm once more.

"In tomorrow's battle, even if we die, we will bite a chunk of flesh off them!"

"That's right! Screw them!" Ma Hongjun also roared.

Flender watched his disciples regain their spirit and nodded in gratification.

He walked to Grandmaster's side and patted him on the shoulder.

"Xiaogang, thank you for your hard work."

Grandmaster shook his head, his gaze falling back onto Tang San.

"The most critical thing right now is San."

"The blow he has suffered is too great."

The hearts of everyone sank.

It was true.

Physical wounds could heal, but what about the trauma to his spirit?

His mother had become his enemy, and his very existence had been completely denied.

For anyone else, such a thing might have led to a total mental collapse.

"Take him back first."

Grandmaster said in a deep voice.

"Regardless of anything else, we cannot do without him in tomorrow's battle."

The night was as deep as water.

Inside the villa where Shrek Academy was temporarily staying, the room was silent.

Tang San lay quietly on the bed, his eyes wide open, staring hollowly at the canopy above.

He had been awake for a long time.

His body had mostly recovered, thanks to Oscar's sausages and the lingering effects of the healing soul skill left behind by Ye Lingling.

Yet, his heart felt as though it had been hollowed out.

The scenes from the day played back in his mind like a nightmare, over and over again.

Ah Yin's look of loathing.

Those words that pierced his heart.

"Thief."

"To reclaim everything that belongs to my child."

Tang San's hands tightened involuntarily, gripping the bedsheets.

He desperately tried to recall everything from his past and present lives.