The Very Unhappy Quartet

The night was deep, and in the dormitory building of Shrek Academy, the lights in most rooms had been extinguished.

Only that four-person dormitory, piled high with miscellaneous items, still glowed with a faint light.

To be precise, it was not light from a lamp, but the weak Exotic Flame in the palm of Xiao Yan.

Han Li sat cross-legged on a bed missing one leg, using bricks to prop it up and barely maintain its balance.

He closed his eyes, his breathing steady, as the spiritual power within his body circulated along mysterious trajectories.

He tentatively absorbed the heaven and earth spiritual energy of this realm, only to find it was vastly different from the spiritual energy of the cultivation world—more impure, heavier, and far more difficult to refine.

But the Heavenly Bottle could still be used.

Inside his sleeve, the small, emerald-green bottle was slowly absorbing moonlight, converting it into an energy similar to the soul power of this realm, and then feeding it back to Han Li.

Although the efficiency was less than one-tenth of that in the cultivation world, it was already several times faster than the cultivation speed of other soul masters.

There is a way, no need to panic.

Han Li calculated silently in his heart.

Although the rules of this realm were different, the essence of cultivation remained the same: absorb the energy of heaven and earth, temper one's body, and break through limits. As long as he could find the right method, returning to his peak was only a matter of time.

He maintained an expressionless face, but the slight curve at the corners of his mouth betrayed his true mood.

Xiao Yan was not so calm.

He sat cross-legged on the floor—not because he didn't want to sit on a bed, but because among the three beds, only Han Li's was barely usable. Shi Hao's bed board was cracked, and Wang Lin's had no quilt and was occupied by an unknown soul beast, which was fast asleep.

None of the four went to chase the soul beast away, as none of them wanted to touch that filthy creature.

Xiao Yan ignited a weak flame in his palm, the cyan light illuminating half of his face.

The Exotic Flame was still there, but it was as weak as a newborn infant, unable to even roast a chicken.

He tried to absorb the soul power of this realm to convert it into Dou Qi, but the efficiency was infuriatingly low; after cultivating for an hour, the increase in Dou Qi wasn't even enough to unleash a single Eight Extremities Collapse.

"Damn it."

Xiao Yan punched the floor, leaving a small crater.

He rubbed his hair irritably, muttering, "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river... I will tear this broken realm apart sooner or later."

Shi Hao was not cultivating; he was working out.

To be precise, he was doing handstand push-ups.

"Arbitrating the Ages... eighty-nine... Arbitrating the Ages... ninety... Arbitrating the Ages... ninety-one..."

With every push-up, he would shout "Arbitrating the Ages," his voice neither too loud nor too soft, just enough for the three people in the dormitory to hear.

Xiao Yan endured it ten times, finally exploding on the ninety-ninth: "Can you shut up?"

Shi Hao turned his head while still in a handstand, his inverted face full of innocence: "I am cultivating, why should I shut up?"

"You call that cultivation?"

"This is body cultivation. Arbitrating the Ages, the flesh becomes holy, one punch breaks ten thousand laws," Shi Hao said with great seriousness, as if this were some peerless technique.

Xiao Yan's mouth twitched: "That is just exercising!"

Shi Hao thought about it seriously and nodded: "Right, exercising is also cultivation."

Xiao Yan was choked, as he actually found no way to refute this.

Wang Lin had not spoken the entire time.

He leaned against the wall, eyes closed, as if he had fallen asleep.

But his fingers moved slightly within his sleeves, the Heavenly Inverse Bead rotating slowly at his fingertips.

Gray light emanated from the bead, merging into the surrounding air before returning to the center of his brow.

He was sensing the laws of causality in this realm.

Unlike the cultivation world, the threads of causality in this realm were looser and more unstable, but for that very reason, they were easier to manipulate.

Although the Heavenly Inverse Bead was suppressed, it could still be used with some effort.

As long as he found the right causal node, he could even perform some low-level causal arts in this realm.

A strange smile curled the corners of Wang Lin's mouth.

Then he opened his eyes, his gray-white pupils glowing with a ghostly light in the dimness.

He glanced at Han Li; this person was feigning sleep, his spiritual power fluctuations were very stable, and his cultivation speed was not slow.

He looked at Xiao Yan again; irritable, but with a good foundation, and the flame was somewhat interesting.

Finally, he looked at Shi Hao; a madman, but purely mad—this kind of person was the hardest to deal with.

Wang Lin withdrew his gaze and closed his eyes once more.

Four people, four ways of cultivation, neither interfering with nor bothering one another.

This night passed just like that.

The next morning, sunlight shone into the cafeteria.

The Shrek Academy cafeteria was not large, with only a few long tables and a few dozen seats. It was usually crowded, but today it was even more so, thanks to the addition of four newcomers.

Han Li held his tray, quietly waiting in the food line.

He deliberately chose an inconspicuous spot, keeping his head down and trying his best to appear ordinary and unremarkable.

However, the reputation of the "man who fell from the sky" had already spread throughout the academy; no matter how low-key he tried to be, he could not escape those curious and critical gazes.

Whispers drifted from behind him.

"Look at that guy, he's the one who fell down yesterday."

"Which one?"

"That one, the one who looks... quite unique."

"Oh, that one. He looks so ugly."

"Isn't he? To think someone like that is cultivating soul power? A waste of resources."

"I heard he's just a one-ring loser. Ugly people sure cause a lot of trouble."

Han Li's ears twitched, catching every word clearly.

He did not turn around, did not retort, and did not even show a change in expression.

Only the corner of his mouth twitched ever so slightly.

Noted. Window number three, the two in blue and the one in yellow. If this world has a rule about paying back debts, these people will pay sooner or later.

He expressionlessly collected his food, carried his tray to a corner, sat down, and began to eat in silence.

In the distance, Xiao Yan was not nearly as composed.

He was standing at the serving counter, locking eyes with the auntie serving the food.

"I want meat."

"Only vegetables."

"I want meat."

"Only vegetables."

"Thirty years east of the river..." Xiao Yan instinctively wanted to roar his classic line, but then realized the situation and forced it back, his face turning beet red.

A student behind him laughed and said, "I heard you were going to shout something about thirty years east of the river? Haha, you're killing me, you scrub!"

Xiao Yan's face darkened as he turned around to stare at the student.

"What did you call me?"

"A scrub." The student grinned, completely unaware of the danger. "What's wrong? You're a one-ring loser, what else would you be if not a scrub?"

Xiao Yan's right arm lit up.

The patterns of his Exotic Flame surged beneath his skin, and a cyan flame erupted from his palm, burning directly toward the student's eyebrows.

"Ah!" The student shrieked as his eyebrows were instantly incinerated and his face scorched black.

The cafeteria descended into chaos. Ning Rongrong reacted the fastest, summoning her Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda and using a water-attribute buff to splash a bowl of cold water precisely onto the student's face, extinguishing the fire.

Xiao Yan stood his ground, his anger still burning, and roared: "Thirty years east of the river, thirty years west of the river, don't you dare bully a young man because he is poor!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than Zhao Wuji appeared from nowhere and slapped Xiao Yan to the ground.

"Causing trouble in my cafeteria? You're asking for a beating!"

Xiao Yan was left dazed and confused, but even while sprawled on the floor, he couldn't help but mutter: "Thirty years..."

Zhao Wuji added a kick: "Thirty years won't save you either!"

On the other side, Shi Hao punched a hole through the cafeteria wall.

The reason was simple: his steamed bun was too hard, and he was angry.

"What kind of bun is this? It could kill someone!" Shi Hao slammed his fist into the wall, sending bricks and mortar flying, leaving a massive hole in the north wall of the cafeteria.

Zhu Zhuqing appeared behind him like a ghost and delivered a kick.

"You lunatic!"

Shi Hao was sent flying, crashing through the south wall of the cafeteria. With the north and south walls now open, the ventilation in the cafeteria improved instantly.

Ma Hongjun exclaimed: "Well, our cafeteria is now an open-air pavilion."

Flender, watching from afar, clutched his chest: "My wall... money again..."

The situation on Wang Lin's side was even more bizarre.

While he was waiting in line, an upperclassman patted him on the shoulder: "Beauty, eating so early? Want to be friends?"

Wang Lin turned his head slowly, his grey-white eyes locking onto the other man.

Only then did the student see the Adam's apple, the flat chest, and... although that face was too delicate to belong to a man, it was undeniably a man.

"Sorry, brother, I misjudged..." The student stammered, trying to run away.

A dangerous arc curled at the corner of Wang Lin's mouth.

"This Seat shall exterminate your entire clan."

The Heavenly Inverse Bead flickered faintly within his sleeve, and the student suddenly felt his legs go weak, collapsing to the ground with a deathly pale complexion, as if he had just experienced something terrifying.

Dai Mubai rushed over and grabbed Wang Lin, "Don't get excited, don't get excited."

Wang Lin cast a cold glance at Dai Mubai, "This Seat is not excited; This Seat is merely stating a fact."

Dai Mubai, "...You call this not being excited?"

Wang Lin turned around and walked away with his food tray.

He left the student slumped on the floor, muttering to himself, "I will never run my mouth again..."

Evening, dormitory.

Four people lay on their respective beds—or to be precise, Han Li was lying down, Xiao Yan was sitting, Shi Hao was doing a handstand, and Wang Lin was leaning against the wall.

A long silence followed.

Han Li was the first to speak, his tone as flat as if he were commenting on the weather.

"Today, who got scolded?"

Xiao Yan: "Me."

Shi Hao: "I got scolded too."

Wang Lin: "This Seat was also scolded."

Han Li paused, "...Me too."

Another three seconds of silence.

Xiao Yan suddenly spoke, his voice filled with confusion and anger: "Why? Back in the Great Thousand World, who didn't call me Flame Emperor when they saw me? How did I end up being called a noob in this dump?"

Shi Hao tilted his head: "I don't know, but they said I was a psycho. What does psycho mean?"

Wang Lin let out a cold snort: "Ants failing to recognize Mount Tai."

Han Li said nothing, but his hand was unconsciously tracing something on his pillow. If one looked closely, they would see rows of names and strings of numbers.

"Forget it." Han Li closed his eyes, "Sleep."

The four of them turned over, each facing the wall.

Xiao Yan ground his teeth against the wall, nearly shattering them.

Shi Hao continued doing push-ups against the wall, silently chanting about ruling through the ages.

Wang Lin closed his eyes to rest against the wall, the Heavenly Inverse Bead rotating slowly between his fingertips.

Han Li faced the wall and opened his eyes.

Under his pillow lay a small notebook.

It was densely packed with writing: names, characteristics, what was said, and the time and place of each encounter.

Three more lines had been added today.

Window number three, two in blue, one in yellow.

"Ugly freak," "wasting resources," "ugly people make trouble."

The corners of Han Li's mouth curled up as he closed the notebook and tucked it back under his pillow.

Just wait.

One cannot kill at will in this realm, but... one can make your lives worse than death.

He closed his eyes, yet the arc of his smile did not fade for a long time.

That night, the four of them each had their own schemes.

But one thing remained the same.

They were all suppressing a fire.

And that fire would, sooner or later, burn everything down.