Seeing the weapon the system had rewarded him with, Chu Feng's mouth nearly split into a grin.
Still, he explained, "Because he was assigned to Freshman Class One, Teacher Zhou Yi's class. Everyone knows Teacher Zhou Yi's teaching methods. Old man, with this kid's physique, how many lessons do you think he'll last before he gets expelled?"
"Freshman Class One? Oh..." Mu En fell silent on the spot.
The look he gave Huo Yuhao was full of sympathy... This kid really was unlucky. Not only had he been beaten up for no reason, he'd also been assigned to Zhou Yi's class.
Zhou Yi didn't care whether you were from the Sugar Sect or the Salt Sect. If you couldn't make it through her training, you'd be expelled. Students who'd struggled to make it to their third year could be kicked out by Zhou Yi just for failing to meet her training standards or talking back once, wasting years of effort.
As for the high proportion of Zhou Yi's students who entered the Inner Court, those students had been heaven's favored children from the start. Their admission to the Inner Court had been all but guaranteed.
If not for Fan Yu, Zhou Yi might have been stripped of her teaching position long ago, after being impeached by every teacher and student.
Although Zhou Yi might rein herself in a little as a homeroom teacher for a freshman class, her training was still more than Huo Yuhao could handle.
"School starts in about two days, and I'm in Freshman Class One too. If I injure Huo Yuhao, then even if he can't get through Teacher Zhou Yi's training, he'll have an excuse. I'm really helping him here~" Chu Feng twisted the knife again.
"Although what you said makes a lot of sense, I still feel like you're doing this on purpose..." Mu En glanced at Chu Feng and spoke faintly.
"Old man, you're bad at reading people." Chu Feng smiled nonchalantly, unwilling to say more.
Mu En: So you're calling me blind?
Mu En gave Chu Feng a long look, then turned his gaze to Huo Yuhao.
Seeing how stubborn Huo Yuhao was, Chu Feng deliberately walked over and stood close to him. Looking down at him, he continued, "Still not admitting defeat? If I had a weapon in my hand, you might already be dead."
"Cough... cough, cough, cough..."
Huo Yuhao kept coughing, but his gaze remained resolute, blazing with fury. It was the "unyielding spirit" and "iron will" every protagonist needed!
Huo Yuhao stared at Chu Feng and enunciated each word. "I! Huo Yuhao! Haven't lost!!!!"
"I'll fight you to the death!! Aah—"
At the very last moment, Huo Yuhao's protagonist microcosm finally exploded!!!
His Spirit Eye flashed abruptly as he unleashed his strongest attack!
"Mental Shock!!"
An invisible mental shock entered Chu Feng's mind.
Then... it shattered with a crash!
It was like an egg hitting a Level 9 Soul Tool. The mental shock shattered without having any effect at all.
Give me a break. Although Chu Feng was a Soul Beast who had taken human form and no longer had his cultivation, he hadn't lost much of his mental power. What's more, he had cultivated a mental-power technique far beyond anything in this world. The vastness of his Sea of Consciousness rivaled that of a Titled Douluo. How could Huo Yuhao's protagonist microcosm possibly shake him?
The moment Huo Yuhao's Mental Shock shattered, he suddenly clutched his head and let out a howl of agony that sounded almost inhuman...
"AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH—"
"Thump, thump, thump..."
Huo Yuhao clutched his head and rolled around on the ground. His face instantly flushed red, and the veins stood out on it as he clearly endured excruciating pain.
This was mental backlash.
Huo Yuhao's Mental Shock was connected to his own Sea of Consciousness. Against an opponent with weaker mental power, his Mental Shock could leave the target dazed for at least two or three seconds.
But against an opponent with stronger mental power, this move could easily cause backlash against him. The greater the gap between their mental powers, the worse the backlash.
However, the Sky Dream Ice Silkworm was inside Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness. Though he looked miserable, he'd recover completely in just a few days.
"Kid, what happened?!"
Seeing Huo Yuhao suddenly collapse, Mu En hadn't reacted in time. He turned to Chu Feng, his tone full of accusation.
Faint golden light flickered in his murky eyes. He didn't fully release his aura, but he seemed like a gigantic dragon awakening, ready to swallow someone whole.
Huo Yuhao was a member of the Tang Sect, and Mu En's great-grandson Bei Bei had personally brought him in. If anything happened to the boy right under Mu En's nose, Bei Bei might never forgive him!
Though Mu En was a Level 99 Limit Douluo who had long since become indifferent to life, with almost nothing left to interest him, seeing Huo Yuhao gravely injured still sent violent ripples through his heart.
"Old man, I didn't even touch him."
"He must've used Mental Shock, but his mental power was far too weak to hurt me at all. Instead, his own mental power rebounded on him, which is what caused this."
Chu Feng raised both hands, looking utterly innocent. He wasn't the least bit afraid, though. This had all happened because Huo Yuhao had brought it on himself.
Huo Yuhao had two abilities, Mental Interference and Mental Shock. Mental Interference had a wide range but a weak effect, though it was very safe.
Mental Shock, on the other hand, required a connection to his own Sea of Consciousness, so it naturally carried a risk of backlash. He'd brought this on himself. Who could he blame?
He knew he couldn't win, yet he still pulled off these ridiculous stunts. Did he really think he was the protagonist, destined to turn the tables no matter what?
"You're sure?"
Mu En was a little stunned by what he heard, but he quickly calmed down.
Chu Feng really hadn't touched Huo Yuhao, and Huo Yuhao did seem to have used a mental attack. Even Mu En had almost failed to notice it.
But they were both twelve-year-old students. Their mental powers couldn't possibly be that far apart. Even if there was backlash, it should've only made Huo Yuhao dizzy.
But looking at the way the kid was acting now, you'd think his parents had died!
Something wasn't right!
"What's going on?!"
"Fighting is forbidden inside the academy! What are you doing?!"
Just then, the teacher in charge of the dormitories finally noticed the commotion and hurried over, glaring furiously at Chu Feng.
She was a middle-aged woman. Though her strength was only at the Soul King level, that was more than enough to manage the freshman dormitories.
At the sight of Huo Yuhao writhing in pain on the ground while Chu Feng stood nearby, the middle-aged woman naturally assumed that Chu Feng had caused everything that had happened to Huo Yuhao.
She'd made up her mind before hearing the facts and decided Chu Feng was bullying someone weaker than himself. Her opinion of him plummeted.
"The two of them were just sparring. Take him for treatment. He'll be fine after resting for a few days," Mu En said from where he sat nearby.
When the middle-aged woman saw Mu En, her expression immediately grew respectful.
She didn't know who Mu En was, but she knew he was an important figure in the academy. The teachers all treated this elderly, disabled man with great respect, so she naturally wouldn't dare offend him.
"Understood. I'll take him for treatment right away!"
After speaking, the middle-aged woman hurriedly picked up Huo Yuhao and rushed toward the Medical Room.
After they left, Chu Feng went to the spot where Huo Yuhao had fallen. He crouched down and picked up the other boy's dormitory key—Dormitory 108.
"Ugh, why am I starting to look more and more like a villain? This doesn't feel right..." Chu Feng gripped the key, feeling more and more uneasy.
"You beat him up that badly just to steal a dorm room?" Mu En saw what he'd done and the corner of his mouth twitched violently. He couldn't make sense of Chu Feng's train of thought.
Chu Feng didn't answer. Instead, he asked, "Old man, do you think Shrek Academy's system is fair?"
Mu En was taken aback again. He fell silent for a few seconds, then nodded. "I've been at Shrek for many years. I've seen everything the academy has done. It's fairly just."
"Fairly just means there are still privileges, right?" Chu Feng pressed.
Mu En: ...
Chu Feng ignored him and continued on his own. "Ordinary people work their fingers to the bone cultivating and still can't get into Shrek. But Huo Yuhao got in through connections despite having only Level 11 Soul Power. Do you think that's fair to the nearly one thousand freshmen Shrek admits every year?"
Mu En: ...
"He gets to make your Shrek bend the rules for him because he has privileges. So what's wrong with me using my strength to take his dorm room? I don't think I'm invincible under heaven, but among people my own age, I can beat the geniuses of any academy."
Mu En: ...
Chu Feng finally looked at Mu En and grinned. "Old man, I hear everyone at Shrek is a monster. Who do you think the real monster is, me or him?"
Mu En: ...
Mu En was speechless.
Chu Feng's argument made a lot of sense, but this kid was just begging to get beaten up.
Before you continue