Zhu Zhuqing lay in Li Luo's arms, her eyes meeting his.
For a moment, their gazes locked. There were three parts awkwardness, three parts flirtation, and three parts...
Three parts Dai Mubai gnashing his teeth as he watched from the side.
Dai Mubai was jealous! Why was his fiancée in another man's arms?
But at that moment, no one noticed Dai Mubai's face growing darker by the second.
Meeting Li Luo's gaze, Zhu Zhuqing felt terribly shy. A blush quickly crept across her cheeks.
Li Luo, however, seemed much more at ease. He'd been pestered by Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu since childhood, so pretty girls didn't faze him at all. He was a seasoned hand.
In the end, Zhu Zhuqing was the one who couldn't take it anymore. She quickly got to her feet, turned her back to Li Luo, and hid her embarrassment from him.
Li Luo didn't mind. He turned to look at Zhao Wuji, who was staring at him.
Zhao Wuji's expression was bizarre. He'd just witnessed Li Luo flirting with a girl right before his eyes.
Did Zhao Wuji want to use this opportunity to launch a sneak attack on Li Luo?
Obviously. Zhao Wuji wasn't about to let such a golden opportunity slip by.
But Tang San and Xiao Wu seemed intent on covering for Li Luo. A row of Blue Silver Bamboo Poles rose up in front of Zhao Wuji.
They blocked Zhao Wuji from reaching Li Luo.
On top of that, countless Blue Silver Kings appeared across the ground, making it easy for Zhao Wuji to trip if he wasn't careful.
Xiao Wu kept blinking around Zhao Wuji, wielding a Blue Silver Bamboo Pole and repeatedly striking him hard.
Though he was a powerful Soul Saint, with his Soul Skills restricted, he was pinned in place by several Soul Elders and couldn't move freely.
Just then, Li Luo summoned a Blue Silver Bamboo Pole and charged at Zhao Wuji, swinging it as he ran.
The row of Blue Silver Bamboo Poles in front of Zhao Wuji dispersed. Li Luo hefted his pole and struck Zhao Wuji directly.
Zhao Wuji raised an arm to block as his First Soul Ring lit up.
With the Immovable Wisdom King Body bolstering him, Zhao Wuji's defensive power increased tremendously.
Li Luo's heavy blow landed, yet it didn't inflict any damage.
But Li Luo didn't stop at one strike. He raised the Blue Silver Bamboo Pole and swung it again, using the force of the first blow to power the next.
This was the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer technique Tang San had taught Li Luo. Now Li Luo was performing it with a Blue Silver Bamboo Pole.
One, two, three...
Fifteen, twenty-five...
Thirty-six, thirty-seven, thirty-eight...
Seventy-nine, eighty...
The eighty-first strike!
With a shout, Li Luo gripped the Blue Silver Bamboo Pole and unleashed the eighty-first accumulated strike at Zhao Wuji.
The force and momentum of the blow surged straight to the level of a Soul Emperor's full-powered attack.
Sensing danger, Zhao Wuji took the initiative to break the rules he'd set and unleashed his Martial Soul Avatar.
His Seventh Soul Ring lit up. Zhao Wuji let out a deafening roar at Li Luo, and his body began to transform into a beast as fur sprouted across his skin.
In an instant, he became a giant bear.
In an instant, Zhao Wuji's defensive power doubled.
At the same time, the First Soul Ring on bear-form Zhao Wuji flashed repeatedly as he used the Immovable Wisdom King Body again and again.
In the state of a Martial Soul Avatar, other Soul Skills had no cooldowns or usage limits, and their power increased to one hundred and fifty percent.
With multiple layers of the Immovable Wisdom King Body stacked together, Zhao Wuji took Li Luo's eighty-first strike head-on.
The instant the Blue Silver Bamboo Pole connected with him, the giant bear that was Zhao Wuji in his Martial Soul Avatar form turned into a cannonball and hurtled backward.
Zhao Wuji dug all four limbs into the ground, but still couldn't withstand the force driving him back.
A cloud of dust billowed up at once.
Bear-form Zhao Wuji slowly emerged from the dust, his heavy footsteps carrying him closer to Li Luo one step at a time.
Although Li Luo's final strike had knocked Zhao Wuji back a full twenty-five meters, Zhao Wuji's defenses were maxed out, so he hadn't sustained much damage. The reason he'd been sent flying twenty-five meters was the Blue Silver Bamboo Pole's knockback effect.
"Kid, you've really made me mad!"
Zhao Wuji was truly furious. He'd been bested today by a bunch of twelve-year-old children, and his pride had taken a beating.
He was going to give Li Luo and the others a thorough thrashing. He'd even broken the rule he'd set for himself—using only his first four Soul Skills—but he still had to teach them a lesson. Otherwise, what would be left of his dignity as a teacher and a Soul Saint-level powerhouse?
Li Luo watched Zhao Wuji charge toward him, but his expression remained calm, without a ripple.
Could Li Luo handle Zhao Wuji going all out?
What a joke. Zhao Wuji was a seventy-sixth-level Soul Saint.
So why was Li Luo so completely unfazed?
It was simple. The time it took to burn a stick of incense had already passed. Zhao Wuji had no reason to test them any further.
Li Luo raised a hand in front of him, fingers spread wide.
Zhao Wuji wondered what other move Li Luo could use to stop him.
But the next moment, Zhao Wuji heard some infuriating words.
"Teacher Zhao, the time it takes to burn a stick of incense is up!"
"You can't attack us anymore!"
Hearing that, Zhao Wuji's anger surged.
"Damn it, I'm going to teach you all a lesson today!"
Ignoring the rules of the assessment, Zhao Wuji lunged straight at Li Luo.
But Li Luo wasn't going to sit around and wait for it. He picked Zhu Zhuqing up and blinked away from Zhao Wuji several times, charging into Shrek Academy and vanishing from sight.
Before leaving, Li Luo also took Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Ning Rongrong with him, leaving Zhao Wuji with no one to vent his anger on.
Got a problem? Swallow it!
The whole sequence happened in the blink of an eye. Before Zhao Wuji could react, Li Luo and the others had all disappeared.
Though Zhao Wuji ground his teeth in frustration, he eventually canceled his Martial Soul Avatar and returned to human form.
Then an ill-timed voice rang out: "Teacher Zhao, would you like a sausage?"
It turned out Oscar had arrived right on the heels of Li Luo and the others.
He had no idea what had happened here. Seeing how grim Zhao Wuji looked, he tried to curry favor by using his Soul Skill to make him a few Big Sausages.
Zhao Wuji had been thinking of finding someone to take his anger out on, but Oscar was so considerate that he decided not to make him the target.
"Mm. Hahahaha!"
An ill-timed laugh rang out. It wasn't loud, but it carried just far enough to reach Zhao Wuji's ears.
Zhao Wuji glanced around and finally noticed Dai Mubai standing to one side, covering his face as he snickered.
Dai Mubai had watched Zhao Wuji get humiliated from beginning to end. Seeing the usually imposing Teacher Zhao in such a sorry state, he couldn't help covering his mouth and laughing.
Zhao Wuji strode toward Dai Mubai with a hostile look. Only then did Dai Mubai realize something was wrong. He tried to make a run for it, but it was already too late.
Zhao Wuji's massive hand came down on Dai Mubai's shoulder.
"Mubai, something funny happen? Why don't you share it with your teacher? Let me have a laugh too, okay?"
Zhao Wuji stared at Dai Mubai, smiling without warmth.