Yan opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Everyone in Spirit Hall knew that the Worship Hall was under the authority of Grand Pontiff Qian Daoliu.
Ji Ye looked at him and said unhurriedly, "Pope Hall is over there. If you want to follow orders, go listen to them there. This is the Worship Hall. I don't take orders here. If you've got the nerve, get Bibi Dong to come beat me up herself."
Yan's face flushed the color of pig liver.
Xie Yue frowned but said nothing.
Hu Liena hadn't spoken once.
She stood to the side, arms crossed over her chest, her gaze fixed on Ji Ye.
She'd been watching him ever since he opened the door.
Not because he was handsome.
Though he was, admittedly, handsome.
It was because she'd already used her charm skill.
She'd used it from the very first second they met.
But the boy before her, three or four years younger than she was, hadn't reacted at all.
His eyes had remained clear, completely unaffected.
How was that possible?
Hu Liena had great confidence in her charm skill.
Among their generation, no one was completely immune. At the very least, they'd be dazed for an instant.
But this boy named Ji Ye hadn't even looked dazed. When he'd just sized up her figure, his gaze had been one of simple appreciation, without the slightest trace of infatuation from being charmed.
She took a deep breath and intensified her charm.
Ji Ye walked past her.
As they brushed shoulders, he turned his head and glanced at her, his lips moving as he murmured in a voice only the two of them could hear.
"Don't bother using your charm on me. It won't work."
Hu Liena's body went rigid.
Ji Ye walked away without looking back.
"Please leave."
The three stood at the doorway for a while.
Xie Yue was the first to turn around.
"Let's go."
Yan was unwilling to accept it.
"We're just leaving like this? That kid's way too arrogant!"
"He's from the Worship Hall, and we're from Pope Hall," Xie Yue said calmly.
"Starting a fight here would be hard to explain."
Yan gritted his teeth, glanced again in the direction Ji Ye had disappeared, and cursed viciously.
The three of them left.
Hu Liena brought up the rear, head lowered, Ji Ye's words turning over and over in her mind.
Don't bother using your charm on me. It won't work.
How had he noticed?
Had he realized from the very first second they met?
Hu Liena bit her lip.
She wasn't convinced.
Ji Ye walked to the entrance of the Worship Hall and stopped.
He looked back to make sure the three hadn't followed him.
He sighed.
Bibi Dong had sent the Golden Generation to look for him. That meant she'd started paying attention to him.
That wasn't good.
That woman was far too vicious. Who knew what she was scheming?
Whatever. As long as he stayed in the Worship Hall, she couldn't touch him.
Ji Ye stepped into the Worship Hall.
It was quiet inside.
He glanced around. All six of the worshippers were there.
Mighty Lion Douluo wasn't.
Ji Ye paused.
Only then did he remember that yesterday, Mighty Lion Douluo had soared into the sky and headed for Suotuo City.
Had he really gone to beat up Flender?
He looked around once more.
Sure enough, Mighty Lion Douluo was nowhere to be seen.
"Where's Senior Mighty Lion?" Ji Ye asked.
Demon Subduing Douluo looked up at him and grinned.
"Old Lion Head? He left yesterday."
"...Where did he go?"
"Suotuo City, of course," Demon Subduing Douluo replied matter-of-factly.
Ji Ye fell silent.
Meanwhile.
South of Suotuo City.
A dilapidated village stood beside the road. At its entrance was a crooked wooden sign bearing four words.
Shrek Academy.
It was admissions season.
A long line stretched out behind the sign, mostly parents with their children.
The children were generally eleven, twelve, or thirteen years old.
One parent was chatting with the person beside him.
"I heard this academy's amazing. It only accepts monsters."
"My kid's Martial Soul is a snake. That should count as a monster, right?"
"What's a snake? My kid's Martial Soul is a lump of shit. Now that's what I call a monster."
"...That's definitely strange."
At the very front of the line, a white-haired, elderly man sat in a chair behind a table.
"Teacher, here are ten Gold Soul Coins."
"Hold out one arm."
"Mm..."
"You're too old. You can leave."
"Ah, Teacher, my son only just passed the age limit. Could you make an exception?" the child's parent asked quietly.
But the old man wasn't moved. He sighed.
Then he announced again:
"It's the academy's rule. We don't accept anyone over the admission age. You knew that already."
"Then what about our registration fee?"
"Registration fees are nonrefundable."
"Th-this... Nonrefundable? You're obviously just scamming people!"
The parent froze at first, then panicked as soon as he understood.
Who wouldn't be upset at losing ten Gold Soul Coins for nothing?
"Move along. Don't hold up the people behind you."
"No! You have to give our registration fee back, or we're not leaving!"
"If we'd known Shrek Academy was such a dump, we never would've come!"
The old man shook his head and called out:
"Mubai, someone wants their registration fee back. Handle it."
"Sure. If you want your registration fee back, beat me, and I'll refund every coin."
A blond-haired man jumped down from a tree. He looked at the father and son with a haughty expression, his eyes full of disdain.
Then he released his Martial Soul.
Yellow, yellow, purple.
A three-ring Soul Elder.
The display shocked the parents and students around them.
"Xiao San, isn't he the guy we met at the hotel?"
A little girl with pink rabbit ears spoke to the blue-clad boy beside her.
"Mm, Xiao Wu. I didn't expect to run into him here, either."
Suddenly, a voice rang out, dripping with disdain.
"Hmph! A three-ringed brat, acting like he owns the place!"
A figure descended from the sky and landed at the entrance of Shrek Academy.
He had a tall build, short red hair, a square face, and eyes like copper bells.
He wore deep golden armor, the Spirit Hall insignia embroidered on his chest.
Mighty Lion Douluo.
He looked up at the crooked wooden sign and read it aloud.
"Shrek Academy."
Then he turned and looked at the ramshackle village before him, followed by the long line of parents and children.
He grinned.
"That's it?"
Li Yusong stood up, his smile freezing on his face.
He recognized the insignia on the man's armor.
Spirit Hall.
And that imposing aura...
This man was definitely a Titled Douluo!
"May... may I ask who you are, Your Excellency?"
Mighty Lion Douluo folded his arms over his chest and looked down at the gray-haired old man before him, making no attempt to hide the disdain at the corner of his mouth.
"Get Shrek Academy's dean out here. I've got business with him."
Li Yusong was startled.
He was here to see the dean?
He'd lived most of his life, but this was the first time he'd seen a Titled Douluo come calling on someone—and use the words "get out here" to boot.
He hesitated, then decided not to ask any more.
"Mubai, pour Your Excellency a cup of tea and take good care of him."
Dai Mubai answered:
"Yes, Teacher Li."
Li Yusong turned and hurried into the academy. He moved less like a man in his sixties and more like a young man of eighteen.
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