Night fell.
Starlight dotted the sky.
Silence filled the inside and outside of the village, broken only by the moonlight.
Compared to other academies, Shrek Academy had one major advantage: plenty of dormitories.
The number of dormitories was many times greater than the number of students.
Thus, students could freely choose whichever dorm they pleased. Looking across the entire continent, not many Soul Master Academies could pull that off.
It could truly be called lavish.
During the day, Oscar dragged Tang San to the pond with a rope. After washing him clean,
he picked a fairly decent room for him,
cleaned it up,
and since there were no quilts or mattresses,
Oscar even laid his own brand-new bedding on Tang San's bed. As for why it was brand new,
it was entirely because Oscar couldn't get past his own psychological barrier.
Even if it was bedding he had used himself and Tang San used it later, the mere thought that the two of them had shared a set of bedding
gave him a wave of creeps.
He simply couldn't accept it.
On the other side of Shrek Academy,
in the vice dean's office,
Zhao Wuji lay in a chair with his feet propped up on the desk as the moonlight outside the window spilled in.
Gazing at the moon,
Zhao Wuji covered his face and let out a long sigh.
If today's events got out, he'd probably be laughed at for a lifetime...
Ah...
That kid should be fine. I held back my strength and gave him a recovery sausage. At most he'd be knocked out for a couple of hours, and by dawn he should wake up normally. Who would've thought Blue Silver Grass could produce a genius...
Get out here!
Suddenly, a low voice suppressed with anger, like a volcano on the verge of eruption, traveled from outside the room into Zhao Wuji's ears.
He froze.
He shouted in a booming voice, "Who is it?!"
He immediately unleashed his Soul Saint-tier perception. Every blade of grass and tree within a hundred meters outside could be sensed with crystal clarity, but the exterior was dead silent, with not a single person in sight.
Able to bypass my perception?
Stronger than me?
Who is it?
Zhao Wuji's heart sank as he immediately rushed out of the room.
He saw a dark figure standing on the grass under the moonlight. The figure was draped in a tattered black robe, obscuring his facial features and revealing only the black stubble on his chin.
It was a middle-aged man.
Zhao Wuji hesitated for a moment. At such close range face-to-face, he still couldn't sense the other's aura.
The man could only be stronger than him.
Overwhelmingly stronger!
Zhao Wuji immediately changed his expression. He cupped his fists, bowed, and saluted, "Senior, may I ask who you are..."
Stronger than him?
Then he had to be respectful.
Rough and boorish as he seemed, he knew what was what. To wander the soul master realm for many years and remain safe and sound—if he relied purely on brute force, he would have died countless years ago.
What he relied on was knowing how to be flexible.
The robed man did not speak, still silently standing in place.
For Zhao Wuji, this was not a good sign.
Then,
the robed man's left hand made a grasping motion in the empty air, gripping a massive black hammer as a single yellow soul ring slowly rippled upward.
Zhao Wuji could only bite the bullet and continue saluting, "Senior, this junior is dull-witted and unaware of how I have offended you. I hope senior will enlighten me!"
The robed man remained silent, a second yellow soul ring lighting up on his body, followed by a third, a fourth...
Soul ring after soul ring was released, all the way to the ninth soul ring.
A blood-red hundred-thousand-year soul ring!
Zhao Wuji's pupils constricted sharply, a wave of creeps traveled down his spine, and his heart instantly leaped to his throat.
Two yellow, two purple, four black, one red!
A Titled Douluo!
He bent his waist even lower, hastily offering a forced smile as he said, "This junior is so bold—may I ask which senior has graced us with your presence..."
Tang Hao did not respond, standing silently in place.
Only the chirping of crickets among the blades of grass
made the desolate stillness even more pronounced.
Zhao Wuji only felt his mouth go dry. He truly had no idea what he had done to provoke this Titled Douluo, leaving him no choice but to bite the bullet and continue, "Please forgive me, Senior. This junior..."
A furious Tang Hao was unwilling to spare another word.
He swung his hammer down to smash him.
"No! Senior! This junior..."
Before Zhao Wuji could finish speaking,
heavy fists and the giant hammer intertwined, raining down blows upon him and rendering him unable to utter a single word...
The Immovable Bright King Body Defense he usually took pride in
was as weak as a newborn chick before a Titled Douluo employing no soul skills whatsoever, possessing zero ability to resist. Zhao Wuji dared not resist either,
fearing he would anger Tang Hao even further.
Tang Hao could originally have held back,
but by the end, he was a hair's breadth away... he almost couldn't hold back. Just a hair's breadth away from beating Zhao Wuji to death in broad daylight!
A humiliating disgrace!
How dare someone insult the son of Clear Sky Douluo!
Punch after punch, Tang Hao struck him.
The desolate, empty grass echoed with Zhao Wuji's miserable screams.
Once Tang Hao finished venting,
Zhao Wuji lay collapsed on the ground.
His head was swollen to a full circle larger, looking just like a pig's head. Both eye sockets were pitch black, blood trickled from the corners of his mouth, and all his arms were broken. There wasn't a single uninjured spot on his body. Tang Hao driving dark force into his body with every punch had churned his internal organs and muscles into agonizing pain.
He could only lie on the ground, panting heavily, gasp by gasp.
"Many... cough, cough... Many thanks, Senior... for sparing my life... cough, cough, cough..."
Tang Hao put away the Clear Sky Hammer, flicked his black robe, and stood with his hands behind his back.
Flender, who had been hiding in the dark, stepped out from the shadows, bowing in salute, "Many thanks, Senior, for sparing his life."
He had arrived while Zhao Wuji was screaming, but he couldn't show himself, nor did he intend to slip past a Titled Douluo's perception.
Tang Hao sneered, "Hmph, Four-Eyed Owl Flender."
Unwilling to say much more, he gave a direct command:
"You two, protect my son Tang San well. Do not let him suffer any harm that could affect his entire life."
"Matchmake him and Xiao Wu."
"There is also a boy named Xia Yan in your academy. Keep a close eye on him. If he wants to stand in opposition to Tang San, wants to defect to Spirit Hall, or even wants to grow close to Xiao Wu, execute him immediately!"
A fierce light flared in Tang Hao's eyes:
"I will not tolerate any mistakes!"
Tang Hao's lifelong obsession was revenge—to annihilate Spirit Hall!
Yet during these years of living in seclusion in Soul Birth Village,
he saw no hope for revenge. Bearing internal injuries and drowning his sorrows in alcohol day after day,
his son had suddenly awakened with Innate Full Soul Power, the Clear Sky Hammer, and Blue Silver Grass!
It was hope!
It was just that relying on the two of them alone to kill nearly twenty Titled Douluo including Bibi Dong, along with those Soul Douluo and Soul Saints...
was somewhat difficult.
Tang Hao had originally intended for Tang San and Xia Yan to become good friends. Xia Yan also possessed Innate Full Soul Power, with talent and strength far surpassing his peers, making him entirely capable of becoming a major pillar of support for his father and son when they exacted revenge on Spirit Hall.
Yet he never expected that Tang San and Xia Yan wouldn't become friends, instead turning into enemies. That trash Yu Xiaogang couldn't even handle a tiny matter properly!
What was even more serious was that Xiao Wu actually took a liking to Xia Yan!
He hadn't failed to consider killing Xia Yan, but the white moonlight of a dead person was the most terrifying thing of all.
What if Xiao Wu missed Xia Yan for the rest of her life?
Only by keeping Xia Yan alive and letting Xiao Wu see the flaws in him that she could not accept could her affection for him be erased.
He could not kill him.
Tang Hao regretted countless times why he had not struck sooner, or else the situation would not have looked this ugly now.
After Tang Hao finished his instructions, he flew into the night sky.
Meanwhile, Flender remained respectfully in place, waiting until the burly, black-robed figure vanished into the night sky.
Only then did he stand up.
He helped Zhao Wuji to his feet.
"Sigh..."
Flender cautiously watched the direction of Tang Hao's departure. "I finally understand why Xia Yan came to Shrek..."
He had asked him before, and Xia Yan had only said that Shrek did things mysteriously and strangely, which suited his tastes, so he came.
Now it seemed,
that he had actually just wanted to find a remote place to hide from Tang Hao.
He simply hadn't expected to still run into him at Shrek...
Zhao Wuji was in excruciating pain; wanting to take a medicinal pill but not daring to, his lips turned black and swelled into a sausage as he asked in slurred words, "Then... what do we do? We surely can't actually make a move, right?"
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