The Academic Affairs Committee's doors were kicked open with a violent thud, the jarring sound instantly shattering the room's previously cordial atmosphere.
Xue Beng, his face bruised and swollen, cowered behind Prince Xue Xing, glaring at the Shrek Team with venomous hatred.
Dai Mubai in particular—he wanted nothing more than to tear him limb from limb.
Beside him stood Prince Xue Xing, dressed in a luxurious princely robe embroidered with serpents. His face was haughty, his brows and eyes brimming with arrogance.
At the prince's side, Dugu Bo hunched over in an unremarkable gray cloth robe. Yet the ominous poisonous mist emanating from him, along with the oppressive aura of a Soul Douluo, sent the temperature in the entire Academic Affairs Committee office plummeting.
"Grandpa, what brings you here?"
Just as everyone was cowed by Dugu Bo's imposing presence, Dugu Yan's voice instantly dispelled the tension.
"Yan Yan, you're here too?" Dugu Bo's imposing aura receded like a tide.
The moment he saw Dugu Yan, his originally aloof, chilling expression transformed as if by magic into the kindly face of a grandfather.
"Yan Yan?" Dugu Bo's voice was gentle, even carrying a hint of carefulness.
"Are you hurt?"
He hurried over, paying no heed to the tense atmosphere, and carefully looked his granddaughter over first—as if the oppressive presence that had just made even Soul Douluos shudder had never existed.
Everyone was stunned by the sight.
Prince Xue Xing and Xue Beng most of all. The smug, arrogant looks on their faces froze, replaced by utter disbelief.
Their greatest support, Poison Douluo Dugu Bo, had actually... actually backed down because of a few words from his granddaughter?
"I'm fine, Grandpa." Dugu Yan shook her head, but her gaze couldn't help drifting toward Tang Sanmei in the crowd.
A complicated, unfathomable