Under this suffocating standoff, Flender was the first to back down, drawing in the pressure of a Spirit Saint.
He didn't want to give up on Xiao Wu, either, but she was still a stranger who had only just joined his academy.
Still, he had done everything he could to help his good friend Yu Xiaogang's disciple, Tang San, ensuring he wouldn't be taken away. At least he had saved the boy's life.
As for Xiao Wu, there really was nothing he could do.
He couldn't put himself and everyone else in danger for a genius who had only just joined the academy, with no connections and no strength.
On this continent, such things were commonplace. A genius only counted as a genius once they had grown strong.
Geniuses dying before their time happened all the time, whether or not someone had caused it.
When Flender gave up, Xiao Wu's already fearful expression grew even more frightened, and her body began to tremble.
Tang San's rough right hand, hardened by years of farmwork, clutched Xiao Wu's soft left hand tightly. He stood resolutely in front of her, giving her a deep sense of security.
Her cold left hand warmed slightly in Tang San's palm. Beside her ear, Tang San's voice rang out, firm and resolute:
"No! I won't allow it!"
"Xiao Wu is my sister. Whatever happens, I should be there with her. Besides, we've been together for the past six years. She couldn't have done anything wrong!"
Seeing Tang San shield her and Xiao Wu's heartbreaking appearance, Lin Chuan's gaze gradually turned cold.
"What do you think you are? You think I can't arrest her just because you say so?"
"Get out of my way!"
The instant the words left his mouth, a surge of Soul Power burst forth and slammed into Tang San and Xiao Wu.
The two were struck head-on and staggered back several steps, clutching their aching chests, their faces deathly pale.
Just then, an angry shout rang out from the village on the left:
"Kid, you dare cause trouble at my Shrek Academy? Are you tired of living?"
The speaker was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his fifties. He was burly, with a naturally imposing and ferocious expression. His muscles bulged, and his broad shoulders were like city walls; his jacket could barely conceal their fierce contours.
Seeing his newly joined students being bullied, he didn't give it a second thought. He leapt forward, clearing seven or eight meters in a single bound. The ground beneath his feet caved into a large pit, and he landed in front of Tang San and Xiao Wu.
Flender thought, This is bad! He hurried forward, grabbed the burly middle-aged man by the arm, and hastily explained to Lin Chuan:
"Sorry to trouble you. This is the vice dean of our Shrek Academy. He doesn't know what's going on, so please don't take offense. I'll take him away right now."
He didn't dare act tough at a moment like this. The other party's identity was no simple matter, and every time he looked at him, his heart leapt.
Whether they could win a fight was hard to say. What mattered most was whether they could survive it.
But Zhao Wuji, who knew nothing about the situation, was still struggling. He looked at Flender in confusion and asked:
"What's gotten into you? An outsider's come to the academy to bully our students..."
Before he could finish, Flender clapped a hand over his mouth.
Drawing on his authority as the senior, he put on a stern expression.
"Don't get involved. That's the Holy Son of Spirit Hall. Never mind the people protecting him from the shadows—he's a Spirit Saint himself. What can you do to protect her?"
"Don't forget, Spirit Hall hunted you down once, too. If I hadn't gotten you out of there in time, the grass on your grave would be three or four meters tall by now."
When Zhao Wuji heard that the other party was the Holy Son of Spirit Hall, his body gave an almost imperceptible shudder.
He knew how terrifying Spirit Hall was. The hunt back then had been little more than child's play.
If they truly offended the Holy Son, they might not even be left with whole corpses.
"Boss Fu, but... the one who beat me a few days ago..."
Zhao Wuji trailed off, but Flender knew perfectly well who he meant: the Clear Sky Douluo.
If they couldn't protect Tang San, then once the Clear Sky Douluo learned Spirit Hall had taken his son, he might take out his anger on them and wipe them out, too.
"It's fine. The Holy Son said he's only taking Xiao Wu."
Once they had this explanation, both men visibly relaxed.
The powerless and the unconnected had it rough; even watching the commotion could put them in danger.
They wanted to help, but couldn't afford to offend either side.
As everyone watched, Lin Chuan took a small step and slowly approached Tang San and Xiao Wu.
Those simple steps seemed to land on their hearts. Each one made their hearts tremble.
The Sleeve Arrow on Tang San's left wrist had long been primed. He only had to wait for his prey to come closer, then strike for the kill!
But Lin Chuan's spiritual power had already laid bare his every move.
Just as Tang San silently counted down to "four meters"—
A terrifying force of gravity crushed him, leaving him in agony. The hand poised over his Sleeve Arrow slammed painfully into the ground, supporting the weight pressing down on him.
The pressure of Void-Stepping was focused on Tang San, making him suffer immensely.
Lin Chuan casually took another step.
An even more crushing pressure forced Tang San to his knees. His bones creaked throughout his body, a sound that set one's teeth on edge.
"Tang San, if you want to live, keep your mouth shut. I'll give you only this one chance."
Not knowing whether Tang San could still hear him under the pressure, Lin Chuan couldn't be bothered to pay him any more attention.
He lightly tapped the ground with his toes. Fine cracks, like spiderwebs, spread across its surface. In an instant, he appeared before Tang San and kicked him away.
Tang San's battered body had yet to recover from the gravity when another heavy blow struck him.
He flew backward and crashed into an abandoned building nearby, passing out.
Not a single person around them dared to intervene.
That was the benefit of having both influence and strength.
Lin Chuan reached out a slender finger, then easily clamped his broad right hand around Xiao Wu's delicate, fair neck.
Xiao Wu trembled with fear.
Her eyes, veiled by a misty haze, slowly reflected the face of the young man in front of her, his brows suddenly cold and indifferent.
She grabbed at the hand choking her, struggling to break free. Tears as large as beans fell from her eyes, and her despairing appearance stirred pity in anyone who saw her.
Lin Chuan didn't care in the slightest. He held her by the neck as if she were a rabbit, helplessly kicking about.
Her usual carefree air had vanished in the face of death. Scene after scene from the past echoed through her mind.
Amid the bustling life of the mortal world, she had inevitably become stained with its worldly ways, long forgetting her resolve to avenge her mother.
"I... I... hate... all of you!"
Memories of her and her mother surfaced. Xiao Wu's eyes filled with hatred as she murmured the words.
But his hand held her throat fast, making every breath difficult. Even speaking came out in broken fragments, and her hoarse voice was almost impossible to hear.
Even if Lin Chuan heard her, he paid her no mind.
What good would hating him do? Weakness itself was a sin.
And yet, after taking human form, she hadn't devoted herself to desperate cultivation. Instead, she'd come to the human world to learn, out of curiosity about it.
In human society, the weak were pushed aside, looked down upon, ignored, despised, and hated...
These similar reasons didn't mean that everyone was bad.
They were changes people were forced to make in order to survive.
Still, some people couldn't hold to their principles and took the wrong path, while others stayed true to themselves and saved lives.
Conflicts of interest arose even between people, let alone Soul Beasts.
In the end, this was a complicated world. Survival of the fittest was its law, and everything that took shape in it revolved around that law.