Standing before Huo Yuhao's stall was a girl with a well-developed figure. Though she was only fourteen or fifteen, her long legs were perfect. Her slender, tall figure was complemented just right by her black dress, and while the buds on her chest weren't large, they had begun to bloom.
Looking higher, the girl's features were stunning, and her long black hair fell loose down her back.
Though she was only fourteen or fifteen, she had an air of allure about her.
"No, this is my dinner. I'm going to eat it myself. Come back next time."
To everyone's surprise, Huo Yuhao shook his head and firmly turned down the girl's request.
Jiang Nannan froze. She seemed not to have expected him to refuse, and a faint blush rose to her cheeks. "Sorry, young man. I didn't know this was your dinner."
"Even though I'm out of grilled fish, I still have milk tea. Would you like to buy a cup and try it?" Huo Yuhao didn't mind and continued promoting his milk tea.
"Sure, I'll have a cup." Jiang Nannan nodded.
"Kid, you dare refuse to sell it?" Just then, a deep voice full of anger rang out, and a young man in black suddenly appeared behind Jiang Nannan.
A streak of golden light shot straight toward Huo Yuhao. He snorted, flicked his hand, and caught it. It was a Gold Soul Coin.
The young man in black strode over to Huo Yuhao's grilled-fish stall and rudely reached for the only fish left.
Huo Yuhao hadn't activated his Sharingan, but his reflexes were still nothing to scoff at.
The young man's hand was fast, but Huo Yuhao was faster. He seized the man's wrist, stopping him from reaching any farther.
Now Huo Yuhao could see what the young man looked like. He was tall, broad-shouldered, with thick eyebrows and big eyes. His short hair gave him a sharp, tidy appearance.
The young man in black stared at Huo Yuhao in astonishment, clearly not expecting him to react so quickly. But the young man's face soon flushed red with anger. He had embarrassed himself in front of the woman he loved, and he was furious.
"Kid, you're pretty quick. But you're asking for death!" the young man in black roared. A colossal phantom of a Mystic Turtle appeared behind him. His Martial Soul hadn't fully possessed him, yet his aura had already surged.
With his aura surging, he shook his right hand and broke Huo Yuhao's grip. Then he struck out with another palm, smashing Huo Yuhao's entire stall to pieces.
Wood chips flew and sparks scattered everywhere. The only grilled fish fell to the ground.
As soon as the man's aura had begun to surge, Huo Yuhao had already retreated. He wasn't caught in the shockwave of that palm strike.
He looked at the stall in splinters on the ground, then turned his cold gaze on the other man.
Their clash had been swift as a rabbit darting out and a falcon swooping down.
Only now did the surrounding people come to their senses.
Jiang Nannan cried out furiously, "Stop right there!"
The young man in black's expression shifted at once, and he put on a fawning smile. "Nannan, this kid doesn't know what's good for him. I'll teach him a lesson for you."
Jiang Nannan's face filled with undisguised disgust. "Xu Sanshi, don't call me that familiarly. You and I have nothing to do with each other. I don't need you doing anything for me. Please stay away from me. You make me sick."
"Nannan, I..." Xu Sanshi stood there, at a loss.
"Xu Sanshi, right? Do you know there's a rule for buying my grilled fish?" Huo Yuhao interrupted their conversation.
"What rule?" Xu Sanshi froze.
"Bootlickers don't pay; wimps pay extra. You gave me a Gold Soul Coin, so that means you're a wimp, right?" Huo Yuhao sneered, openly mocking him.
"Bastard! Kid, what do you mean?" Xu Sanshi glared at him, eyes blazing. Even if he didn't understand Huo Yuhao's words, he knew that neither "bootlicker" nor "wimp" could be a compliment.
Huo Yuhao didn't answer. Instead, as if by magic, he produced a freshly made cup of milk tea and offered it to Jiang Nannan. "That'll be one Silver Soul Coin, please."
"Oh, oh, sure." Jiang Nannan came back to herself and, still dazed, gave Huo Yuhao a Silver Soul Coin.
"I'm sorry, young man. I'll pay for the damage to your stall..." Jiang Nannan said awkwardly, a pained look in her eyes.
Huo Yuhao shook his head. "The damage to the stall has nothing to do with you. There's a debtor for every debt. I'll collect from the person responsible."
"Hmph, Nannan, don't listen to him. Those bits of scrap metal aren't worth anything. The Gold Soul Coin I gave him is enough for him to buy several new stalls," Xu Sanshi snorted.
"Unfortunately for you, my stall really is special. It's made entirely from ten-thousand-year-old pinewood from the Core Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest, and the person who crafted it was the greatest divine blacksmith in the world. Add in my lost wages and damages for emotional distress, and it comes to, oh, about ten thousand Gold Soul Coins." Huo Yuhao spoke calmly.
"Bullshit! Ten thousand Gold Soul Coins? Kid, you're trying to scam me? What if I don't pay?" Xu Sanshi said in a low voice, his face darkening.
"Don't pay? That makes things even simpler." Huo Yuhao smiled, and his eyes gradually turned from calm to cold.
Elsewhere, on a street in Shrek City.
Two stunning women were looking around the street as if searching for something, drawing curious glances from passersby.
"Where did that kid run off to? He was gone in the blink of an eye. How long are we going to keep looking like this, Sister Lexuan? With your cultivation and Mental Power, can't you find him?"
Han Ruoruo had spent ages wandering around Shrek City without finding Huo Yuhao. Growing impatient, she complained to Zhang Lexuan beside her.
Zhang Lexuan rolled her eyes. "This is Shrek City. Who knows how many powerful seniors live here? What if we offend one of them by spreading our Mental Power around?"
"Oh, right. Then what do we do?" Han Ruoruo asked, suddenly understanding.
Zhang Lexuan sighed. "If there's really nothing else we can do, we'll have to go back to the academy first. I remember him saying he planned to apply to Shrek Academy. We can keep an eye on the Freshman Assessment area for the next couple of days."
"That's all we can do." Han Ruoruo nodded.
"Quick, go look! There's a fight over by the snack street, and one side is a Shrek student!"
"Seriously? Who are they fighting?"
"I heard it's just a snack-stall owner. This'll be interesting: a Shrek Outer Court student against a snack-stall owner. That's a sight worth seeing."
Just then, Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo overheard two passersby talking.
Zhang Lexuan frowned. "An Outer Court student is fighting outside the school? There should be a patrol from our academy in the city. If they get caught, they'll be expelled. Who would be so reckless?"
Han Ruoruo's eyes lit up, and she said excitedly, "Sister Lexuan, let's go see! It's been years since the academy's had this kind of entertainment. We've got to check it out while we have the chance."
Zhang Lexuan shook her head helplessly, and the two headed toward the gathering crowd.
A short while later, they reached the snack street outside Shrek Academy.
The usually bustling street was now packed shoulder to shoulder. Onlookers had formed a circle around the scene.
There were residents of Shrek City, students from Shrek Academy, and even snack vendors who were taking advantage of the crowd to sell their wares, delighted to have a spectacle.
"Sunflower seeds, drinks, and stools! Same price for everyone, no haggling!"
"Boss, do you sell popcorn?" a Shrek student asked.
"Sure do, sure do."
Both Zhang Lexuan and Han Ruoruo were cultivators, so they easily made their way to the front of the crowd.
When the two saw who was in the middle of the circle, their pupils suddenly shrank.
At the very center of the ring, two people stood facing each other, squared off and ready to fight.
One was a young man dressed in black, tall and furious.
Opposite him stood an exceptionally young boy with black hair and black eyes. He was handsome, plainly dressed, and utterly calm.
It was Huo Yuhao, the person they had been searching for all this time!
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