Mighty Lion Douluo stood where he was, making no move to sit.
Dai Mubai walked over with a cup of tea, his back bent low as he put on an extremely respectful air.
"Your Excellency, please have some tea."
Mighty Lion Douluo glanced down at him.
"Weren't you just acting pretty cocky, kid?"
Dai Mubai's hand, holding the tea, froze for a moment.
"If you can beat me, I'll return every last coin."
Mighty Lion Douluo repeated his words verbatim, his tone casual.
"That's what you said, wasn't it?"
Dai Mubai's expression turned awkward.
He opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but not a single word came out.
Mighty Lion Douluo looked away from him and swept his gaze over the parents and children.
The parent who'd been driven away earlier suddenly burst out of the crowd, seemingly emboldened by something, and dropped to his knees in front of Mighty Lion Douluo.
"Sir! Please give us justice!"
He pointed at Dai Mubai, his voice trembling.
"This lousy academy swindles people! They take ten Gold Soul Coins, then refuse to refund them if you fail the age test! They even threaten us!"
"My son was considered a genius at his junior academy, but this academy not only turned us away, they looked down on us, too!"
His words were like a match tossed into a vat of oil.
The crowd erupted at once.
"Exactly! The kid next door to us, too! They took his money last year, said he didn't qualify, and didn't refund a single coin!"
"What Shrek Academy? It's just a den of swindlers!"
"I heard a parent stood up to them last time and they beat him up and threw him out!"
"Sir, you have to give us justice!"
The parents all chimed in at once, each one raising his voice above the last.
As Mighty Lion Douluo listened, the curve of his mouth grew wider and wider.
He turned and looked at Dai Mubai again.
"Seems your academy doesn't have much of a reputation."
Sweat began to bead on Dai Mubai's forehead.
"Sure enough, what kind of dean, that's the kind of students he raises."
After saying this, Mighty Lion Douluo snorted through his nose.
Just once.
"Hmph."
The sound wasn't loud, but accompanied by the pressure of his Soul Power, it slammed straight into Dai Mubai's chest.
Dai Mubai flew away like a kite with its string cut, tumbling twice through the air before crashing into the sturdy trunk of a tree thirty feet away.
With a crack, a fissure split the trunk.
Dai Mubai slid down the tree and slumped onto the ground, already unconscious.
A trace of blood hung at the corner of his mouth.
The whole plaza fell silent in an instant.
Everyone stared at the golden-haired boy lying motionless on the ground, then at Mighty Lion Douluo, their eyes filled with fear and awe.
Mighty Lion Douluo hadn't even lifted a hand.
He'd merely snorted.
A dignified three-ring Soul Elder couldn't even withstand a single snort.
This was a Titled Douluo.
Mighty Lion Douluo brushed at the nonexistent dust on his breastplate. Just as he was about to say something, his nose suddenly twitched.
He turned and swept his gaze over the line of people waiting.
Soon, his eyes settled on a girl in a pink dress.
The girl looked about eleven or twelve. A long scorpion braid hung behind her, and her eyes were large. At that moment, she was huddled tightly behind a boy in blue, her body trembling slightly.
Mighty Lion Douluo's eyes lit up.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast.
A Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast that had taken human form!
But he didn't rush.
Now wasn't the time to deal with this.
He drew his gaze back and looked toward the academy gates again.
Several people were hurrying out through the gates.
At the front was a middle-aged man wearing glasses. Two medicated plasters were stuck to his face, one eye was bruised purple, and he walked with a slight limp.
Flender.
Following him were Li Yusong and another chubby middle-aged man, whose belly was big enough to look eight months pregnant.
Shao Xin, a teacher at Shrek Academy, with a Food-type Martial Soul.
Behind them came a burly man with short hair, a hard expression, and an air of steely resolve.
Zhao Wuji.
One of only two Soul Saints at Shrek Academy.
When they reached the academy entrance and saw Dai Mubai lying unconscious on the ground, their expressions all changed.
Flender's eyelid twitched.
But he didn't lose his temper, or even demand an explanation.
He hurried over to Mighty Lion Douluo, clasped his hands, and bent low at the waist.
"I am Flender. May I ask who Your Excellency is?"
His voice was respectful, flawless in every way.
Mighty Lion Douluo looked down at him.
"You're Flender?"
"That's right."
"I am the fourth Worshipper of the Worship Hall, Mighty Lion. Back then, were you the stray-feathered bird who kept Ji Ye under house arrest for six years?"
"Ji... Ji Ye? He went to Spirit Hall?"
"Looks like I was right."
Flender's heart gave a thump.
"Your Excellency, what did that kid tell you?"
Mighty Lion Douluo didn't answer the question.
He pointed a finger at Flender, then at Dai Mubai lying on the ground.
"But what I didn't expect was that even a three-ring Soul Elder at your academy could be this arrogant."
"A student threatens commoners in broad daylight. What a display of authority."
Flender's expression changed.
"Your Excellency, there may have been some misunderstanding—"
"Misunderstanding?"
Mighty Lion Douluo's voice suddenly rose several octaves.
"I saw it with my own eyes and heard it with my own ears, and you're telling me it was a misunderstanding?"
Flender stumbled back two steps at the roar, beads of sweat rolling one by one down his forehead.
Zhao Wuji stepped forward and stood in front of Flender.
He looked up at Mighty Lion Douluo, his expression grim.
"Your Excellency, you're a Titled Douluo. Is it really appropriate for you to attack juniors like us?"
Mighty Lion Douluo looked down at him.
"Who are you?"
"I am Zhao Wuji, vice dean of Shrek Academy."
"So you're Zhao Wuji, the Immovable Wisdom King? How interesting."
Mighty Lion Douluo laughed, his laughter booming.
The next moment, his gaze suddenly turned cold.
The pressure of a nine-ring Titled Douluo burst forth without restraint.
Yellow, yellow, purple, purple, black, black, black, black, black.
Terrifying pressure radiated out, striking everyone present with awe.
Zhao Wuji's legs instantly gave way.
The gap between a Soul Saint and a Titled Douluo was simply too great.
Flender and the other teachers were also crushed to their knees by the pressure.
The students and parents nearby had retreated dozens of yards away, all of them trembling.
Mighty Lion Douluo withdrew his pressure.
Zhao Wuji and the others sprawled on the ground, gasping for breath, their backs soaked through.
"I didn't come here today for anything else," Mighty Lion Douluo said, his voice calm again.
"I simply came to teach you a lesson on Ji Ye's behalf."
"I have to say, you really are a madman, you stray-feathered bird."
"When he was six, you found a child in a village who had awakened Twin Martial Souls and possessed Innate Full Soul Power."
"You bribed a Spirit Hall deacon and didn't report the news."
"You kept that child by your side for six years, not letting him leave or anyone find him."
"Isn't that... especially despicable?"
With every sentence Mighty Lion Douluo spoke, he took another step closer to Flender.
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