Ma Hongjun: Teacher Zhao! They attacked first!

Xiao Wu's left hand moved like a spirit snake darting from its hole, so fast it left only a blur. With pinpoint precision, she pierced through the gap in Dai Mubai's hastily raised arms and clamped her hand around his throat!

Her fingers were slender, yet they contained terrifying strength, instantly sealing off Dai Mubai's breath and cutting off the flow of most of his soul power.

Immediately following this, Xiao Wu's right fist clenched tight, a visible layer of pink soul power halo condensing over her knuckles, and she slammed it fiercely into Dai Mubai's abdomen!

BANG—!!!

A dull, teeth-aching thud echoed through the room!

Dai Mubai's eyes bulged, a short, pained grunt escaping his throat. It was as if he had been struck head-on by a battering ram; his feet left the ground, his body arched like a boiled shrimp, and he flew backward!

CRASH! CLATTER—!

He smashed through three or four sturdy wooden tables and benches before finally coming to a halt amidst the wreckage. He collapsed to the floor, unable to even groan, curled into a ball and twitching in agony.

But it wasn't over yet!

Xiao Wu's figure blurred again, appearing beside the fallen Dai Mubai as if she had teleported.

She reached out with her small hand, grabbed Dai Mubai by the collar, twisted her waist, and exerted force through her arm. She effortlessly tossed Dai Mubai—who was much taller and far more robust than her—into mid-air as if he were a sandbag!

Dai Mubai's soul fled his body, his world spinning in a dizzying blur.

Under the horrified gazes of the onlookers, Xiao Wu tapped her toes against the ground and leaped upward, arriving directly above the airborne, defenseless Dai Mubai before he could even begin to fall!

A pink light flashed in her eyes, and her presence suddenly became incredibly heavy. She let out a sharp, clear cry, "Thousand-Jin Drop!"

Her petite frame seemed to gain the weight of a thousand catties in an instant. Carrying an unstoppable downward force, she bent her right knee and stomped down fiercely toward Dai Mubai's spine!

THUD—!!!!

Another heart-trembling, muffled impact rang out!

Dai Mubai's body was slammed into the floor by the immense force, his frame making intimate contact with the hard boards with a sickening crunch of grinding bones.

He spat out a mouthful of blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs. His vision went black, and he lost consciousness entirely, lying there like a heap of mud, his life or death unknown.

Xiao Wu landed lightly, brushed the dust from her hands, and didn't even glance at the unconscious Dai Mubai on the ground.

Instead, she turned her gaze toward Tang San and the others, who were deathly pale and stiff with shock.

"Now, do you still want us to apologize?"

Tang San's Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed dryly, his back soaked in cold sweat.

He lowered his head, gritting his teeth so hard they ached, not daring to utter a single word.

He could clearly feel that Xiao Wu had become even more powerful than when she left Notting Academy half a year ago!

That sheer, overwhelming dominance of speed and strength left him without even a flicker of a thought to resist.

Oscar clutched his wound, his soul terrified out of his body, trembling uncontrollably.

It was Ma Hongjun who reacted first. Enduring his intense pain, he tore open his raspy, duck-like throat and shrieked toward the staircase with all his might.

"Teacher Zhao!!! Teacher Zao Wuji!!! Come down quickly!!! Someone is bullying us at Shrek! Boss Dai is about to be beaten to death!!!"

In truth, with Zao Wuji's Soul Saint-level perception, everything that happened in the tavern was already perfectly clear to him.

He had felt a headache the moment he sensed the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda martial soul. He had wanted to stay out of it and let the juniors like Dai Mubai handle it themselves; even if things got out of hand, he could just dismiss it as "children playing around."

But he never expected that the petite, harmless-looking girl in the pink dress in the opposing camp would possess such terrifying strength!

Her strikes were ruthless and decisive, taking down Dai Mubai in a matter of seconds!

Now, he had no choice but to step in.

Heavy footsteps sounded as Zao Wuji, his face dark and stern, walked slowly down the stairs.

His gaze swept over the chaotic hall, lingering on the heavily injured Oscar and Ma Hongjun, and the unconscious Dai Mubai, whose fate was uncertain.

Finally, his eyes landed on Xiao Wu, who had just retracted her aura, his expression so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water.

"Which blind fool dares to touch someone from my Shrek Academy?!"

Zao Wuji's voice was like a rumble of thunder, making the tavern windows hum and rattle.

"It's them! Teacher Zhao! It's them!"

Ma Hongjun, as if grabbing a life-saving straw, pointed at Xiao Wu and her companions, accusing them with tears streaming down his face:

"We... we just saw they were alone and wanted to go over to make friends, to get to know them... and they... they suddenly launched a vicious attack, Teacher Zhao!"

He pointed at the miserable Dai Mubai on the ground. "Boss Dai just couldn't stand it and said a couple of words to them, and they ambushed him and beat him like this!"

"Teacher Zhao, you must seek justice for us!"

Zao Wuji's gaze swept over the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda in Ning Rongrong's hand, weighing the pros and cons in his heart.

The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect was indeed powerful, but since the other party had attacked and injured his students first, he, as a teacher, had a justifiable reason to stand up for them.

As long as he didn't kill them, he could teach these ignorant little girls a lesson, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect wouldn't be able to pursue the matter too aggressively afterward.

Thinking this, he snorted coldly and said in a deep voice to the three girls:

"Regardless of the cause, you have injured my Shrek Academy students to this extent. You must give my Shrek a formal explanation!"

"Shameless!!" Ning Rongrong was trembling with rage, her teeth clenched. Never in her life had she seen someone so thick-skinned and capable of turning black into white!

"Your Shrek Academy, from top to bottom, are all birds of a feather! Shameless!"

Zhao Wuji merely shot her a cold glance, ignoring her entirely; he had clearly made up his mind to use his status to pressure them, intending to secure an "explanation" first.

Just then, a gentle yet incredibly clear voice drifted down slowly from the top of the stairs.

"An explanation? Shouldn't you people at Shrek Academy be giving me an explanation for this matter first?"

Everyone looked up to see a black-haired youth dressed in simple black martial attire, his features refined and his gaze calm, walking down the stairs at a leisurely pace.

Half a step behind him followed a hulking man like an iron tower, clad in dark gold half-plate armor.

Zhao Wuji turned his head at the sound, his gaze sweeping over Zhao Linchuan and Jin Da.

Seeing that Zhao Linchuan was young and showed no aura, and that although Jin Da was burly, he could not sense any strong fluctuations of soul power from him, he immediately dismissed them in his heart.

"You injured my students, and now you turn around and demand an explanation from me?!"

Zhao Wuji laughed in extreme anger, his voice shaking dust from the rafters. "Kid, who do you think you are?!"

What the hell!!! Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes while listening from the side, having already cursed Shrek Academy from top to bottom in her heart.