Xuan Zi Wants to Claim the Credit

The corner of Ma Xiaotao's mouth twitched.

She knew Xuan Zi's temperament. Though this elder usually seemed lazy and unrestrained, spending all day drinking and sleeping, the moment the words "merit" came up, he became more eager than anyone.

It was not because he coveted fame and profit, but because Shrek Academy had a tradition: elders who rendered great service to the academy could gain higher status in the Sea God Pavilion and greater authority over resource allocations.

Xuan Zi had been stuck at Level 98 for many years. He had always wanted to break through to Limit Douluo, and that required vast cultivation resources.

And the Sea God Pavilion had rules for distributing those resources. The greater one's merits, the more one received.

"Elder Xuan, you intend to...?"

"I'm going with you." Xuan Zi made the decision without room for argument. "I want to see who still dares to swindle people under Spirit Hall's banner these days.

"If it's fake, we'll wipe them out while we're at it.

"But if it's real..."

He chuckled, revealing two rows of yellowed teeth.

"Then that'll be an enormous achievement!"

Ma Xiaotao and Dai Yueheng exchanged glances, neither raising any objection.

Xuan Zi was a Level 98 Super Douluo. Across the entire continent, there were only a handful capable of matching him.

With him accompanying them, even several Titled Douluo—let alone a few more—were nothing to fear.

"Then it's settled." Xuan Zi lifted his wine gourd and took a swig, wiping his mouth. "Let's go. We'll leave tonight.

"This old man hasn't stretched his limbs in ages. These Spirit Hall remnants will be perfect for a little practice."

He strode toward the city gates, his steps as light as a young man's, utterly unlike an old man who had lived for over a hundred years.

Dai Yueheng watched Xuan Zi's back and felt a weight lift from his heart.

With this elder present, no matter how strong Martial Soul Academy was, they would have to bow their heads.

Yet a faint unease still lingered within him.

His mother's letter had said that Shen Zhou possessed two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings.

He understood better than anyone what Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings meant—they represented strength sufficient to contend with a Super Douluo.

Xuan Zi was indeed Level 98, but the other side also had several Titled Douluo, including one with two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Rings...

"Yueheng, what are you thinking about?" Ma Xiaotao patted his shoulder.

"Nothing." Dai Yueheng shook his head and followed the group.

The group of seven sped through the moonlight toward White Tiger City.

Shrek City was dark as ink beneath the night sky.

Dai Yueheng and the other six left the Inspection Group headquarters and rushed along the main street toward the city gates.

Shrek City was not quiet at night. The taverns and shops on both sides of the street were still lit, and the occasional pedestrian moved through them.

But once the residents recognized the group's attire, the previously bustling street fell silent in an instant.

It was not reverence. It was fear.

A fear that ran to the bone, like mice seeing cats or rabbits seeing hawks.

"Move! Get out of the way!" The Black-clothed Youth at the front waved away pedestrians blocking the road, his tone harsh.

An Old Man selling late-night food was a little too slow in packing up his stall, and the youth kicked his cart over, spilling hot soup all over the ground.

The Old Man fell to the ground and stared at the scattered bowls and dishes. His lips trembled, but he did not dare make a sound.

Someone beside him pulled him up and whispered, "Don't say anything. They're from the Inspection Group... Do you have a death wish?"

The Old Man bit his lip and kept his head lowered, not daring to look again.

A young mother carrying a child spotted the group from afar. She immediately turned and slipped into an alley.

The child in her arms let out a cry. She hurriedly covered the child's mouth and hid behind a wooden door, scarcely daring to breathe.

Only after the footsteps had faded did she release her hand, her forehead covered in cold sweat.

"Mother, I'm scared..." the child whispered.

"Shh—" The mother covered his mouth again. "Don't speak. Don't let those people hear you."

It was not the first time she had seen people from the Inspection Group.

Last month, the son of the Zhang family next door had merely talked back to someone from the Inspection Group. He was beaten half to death. When they dragged him back, he was covered in blood and needed half a month before he could get out of bed.

No one dared seek justice, nor was there anywhere to seek it—because the Inspection Group was justice, and Shrek was the law.

Shrek City had no city lord and no government offices. Shrek Academy was everything.

The Inspection Group was Shrek Academy's law enforcement organization, and its authority surpassed that of any imperial official.

They could arrest people, beat people, even kill people, all without any trial.

So long as they deemed someone "suspicious," they could act.

"Sister Xiaotao, there's someone acting suspiciously up ahead." The Black-clothed Youth pointed at a figure crouching at the mouth of an alley.

Ma Xiaotao glanced over. "Just drive him away. Don't waste time."

The Black-clothed Youth walked over and kicked the person. "Get lost!"

The person rolled over from the kick, clutching his leg and screaming. Yet he did not even dare raise his head to look, scrambling away as fast as he could.

The Black-clothed Youth sneered and caught up with the group.

Windows along both sides of the street shut one after another, and the lights went out one by one.

It was not because people were going to sleep, but because they did not want to be seen—in Shrek City, being "noticed" by the Inspection Group was the beginning of disaster.

An old man stood at his doorway, watching the group's receding backs, and sighed.

His grandson was due to awaken his Martial Soul this year. He wanted to send him to Shrek Academy, but he did not dare.

The academy's assessments were too strict, its tuition too costly, and besides... he knew too many people who had entered and never come back out.

They had not died. They had been expelled.

Those expelled could not survive in Shrek City and could only seek a living elsewhere.

"Grandfather, the Inspection Group people are so fierce." His grandson poked his head out through the crack in the door.

"Don't look." The old man pulled his grandson back and shut the door.

"Grandfather, aren't they good people? The books say Shrek Academy is the continent's number one academy, and the Inspection Group protects us..."

The old man remained silent for a long time.

"What books say isn't necessarily true."

That whispered sentence was swallowed by the sound of the closing door. No one heard it.

Xuan Zi walked at the back of the group, hunched over and carrying his wine gourd. With his smiling eyes, he looked like a kindly old grandfather from next door.

Yet wherever he passed, the residents fled even faster than when they saw Ma Xiaotao.

It was not because they feared him. The ordinary people of Shrek City had no idea he was a Level 98 Super Douluo. Rather, everyone knew that the old man carrying a wine gourd behind the Inspection Group was even more terrifying than the Inspection Group itself.

Last winter, a Merchant had an argument with someone from the Inspection Group at the city gate, and Xuan Zi happened to pass by.

He did not make a move. He merely glanced at the Merchant.

The Merchant vomited blood on the spot and lay unconscious for three days and three nights. When he woke, he had gone mad and still lay at home to this day.

No one knew what Xuan Zi had done.

And no one dared ask.

The residents of Shrek City shared a common understanding: in Shrek City, you could accidentally step on an Inspection Group member's foot, but you could not spare a second glance for that old man carrying a wine gourd.

The group left the city gates and vanished into the night.

The street lights came back on, and windows opened one after another.

The Old Man selling late-night food helped his cart upright and picked up the bowls and dishes scattered across the ground.

His fingers had been cut by broken porcelain, blood dripping onto the ground. He wrapped them with a rag and said nothing.

The person who had been kicked crawled out of the alley and limped away.