Zhu Zhuqing, at the back of the group, followed their gaze and jolted.
Her cool eyes brimmed with shock.
It was him!
Zhu Zhuqing recognized Qin Feng at once, and her heart skipped a beat.
Back in the Star Dou Great Forest, this very youth had slain a Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast like a god descending from the heavens and rescued her from danger.
Seeing Qin Feng's calm, handsome face, Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu couldn't help thinking how dashing he was.
Thoughts raced through Zhu Zhuqing's mind, and she immediately figured out what had happened.
Those troublemakers, Dai Mubai and the others, must have provoked him again, and now they were paying the price.
In her heart, Qin Feng was a good person with principles. He would never bully the weak without reason.
Qian Renxue looked down at the bunch of buffoons, suppressing her irritation.
A half-smile of mockery curled her lips as her gaze swept over Dai Mubai and the others.
"You're students of the Royal Academy?"
At the crown prince's sudden question, the atmosphere among the Shrek group turned awkward.
They sensed that things weren't going quite as they'd expected.
Yu Xiaogang hurriedly stepped forward, swallowing his pride, and clasped his hands respectfully.
"Your Highness, we're from Shrek Academy. We're about to formally join the Royal Academy."
Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the others lifted their chins smugly and glared at Qin Feng.
With all these important figures backing them, they couldn't wait to see Qin Feng bow his head and apologize.
Under everyone's gaze, Qin Feng remained seated, unhurriedly setting down his teacup.
"So what if I am?"
Qin Feng didn't even spare Dai Mubai a proper glance. His voice was flat and emotionless.
"You're nothing but trash from some backwater academy. I beat you because you deserved it."
The entire hall fell silent.
Everyone stared, eyes wide with fury, at the youth sitting in his chair.
What arrogance!
He dared to spout such insolence in front of the crown prince and three Royal Pontiffs. It was utterly lawless.
Meng Shenji's face darkened as if rain were about to pour from it.
As one of the Royal Academy's three education committee members, he was furious at being publicly humiliated like this.
"Young man, you can eat whatever you like, but you can't say whatever you like!" Meng Shenji shouted. "In Heaven Dou City, you'd better watch yourself!"
Just as the situation grew tense and threatened to spiral out of control,
a guard came tumbling into the hall.
"Your Highness, the academy's guest, Poison Douluo, has arrived!"
At the mention of Poison Douluo, the three Royal Pontiffs immediately turned their anger into delight.
A Titled Douluo had come in person. That reckless brat was finished today.
The Shrek group were even more excited, nearly jumping for joy. Wearing the smug look of someone with a powerful patron, Dai Mubai pointed at Qin Feng and shouted.
"Your Highness, you heard that!"
"Please punish him at once! Teach this arrogant fool his place!"
Qin Feng was getting annoyed.
He rose slowly and suddenly pushed off with his feet.
He moved like lightning, leaving an afterimage where he'd stood.
Before anyone could even react,
Smack! Smack! Smack!
Three crisp, resounding slaps echoed through the hall.
Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar once again flew through the air in graceful arcs, crashing hard onto the stone floor.
Everyone in the hall was stunned into silence.
Who could believe that this youth dared to hit people right in front of so many powerful figures?
Dai Mubai clutched his badly swollen face and lay there, dumbfounded.
His head was filled with a buzzing echo.
This wasn't right!
They had powerful backing. This wasn't how the story was supposed to go. Why had he been beaten again?
Just as everyone stood there, utterly dumbfounded,
a thick green poisonous fog rolled in through the entrance, and the air hissed faintly wherever it passed.
Dugu Bo walked in with his hands behind his back, his expression sinister.
Dugu Yan followed close beside him, looking docile.
Dai Mubai and the other two had just gotten back to their feet when they looked up and met Dugu Yan's disgusted gaze.
Their faces changed at once, and their smugness was replaced by terror.
It was over!
The sky above the Heaven Dou Royal Academy had just collapsed!
Seeing the guilty, ghost-struck looks on Dai Mubai and the others, Meng Shenji and the other two old foxes immediately sensed something was wrong.
There was definitely more to this than met the eye.
Dugu Yan strode to the middle of the hall and fixed her gaze on the men with swollen faces.
"Grandpa, these self-proclaimed Shrek students are hooligans. They openly harassed me at the academy today!"
Dugu Yan pointed at Dai Mubai and the others, her voice full of hurt and anger.
Then she turned her gaze to Qin Feng, who had just finished beating them and returned to his seat. A blush rose on her cheeks.
"This young master stepped in just in time and saved me."
The moment Dugu Yan finished speaking, the air in the hall seemed to freeze.
Meng Shenji, Bai Baoshan, and Zhilin were so shocked their jaws nearly hit the floor.
Cold sweat instantly soaked their backs.
They'd harassed Poison Douluo's precious granddaughter?
Were those three little bastards tired of living?
And they'd had the nerve to accuse someone else first and come to them for support.
Without the slightest hesitation,
the three Royal Pontiffs all took a big step to the side.
Their movements were perfectly synchronized, and they put a wide distance between themselves and Yu Xiaogang's group.
"Grandmaster, you can eat whatever you like, but you can't say whatever you like!"
Meng Shenji put on a stern face and proclaimed loudly, "Our Royal Academy has nothing to do with your Shrek Academy!"
Seated at the head of the hall, Qian Renxue had witnessed the entire farce below.
Neither Dai Mubai with his comical pig's head nor Ma Hongjun with his furtive, chubby face escaped her notice.
Disgust rapidly spread through her heart.
These so-called geniuses might be weak, but their character was even more wretched.
To openly harass a female student at the Royal Academy—they deserved to die.
At the back of the hall, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing stood side by side, all three pretty faces filled with disgust.
They had already been sickened by the way these men frequented brothels and other places of pleasure.
Now, after hearing Dugu Yan's accusation with their own ears, their cheeks burned. They felt ashamed on Shrek's behalf.
Zhu Zhuqing turned her face away, unwilling to spare Dai Mubai even a glance.
Yu Xiaogang stood frozen, eyes wide.
His head buzzed, and he couldn't accept what he was seeing.
This wasn't how the script was supposed to go!
Just outside the hall, the three committee members had been all smiles, thumping their chests and promising to help Shrek settle the score.
Why had those three old foxes turned their backs the moment Poison Douluo showed up?
Their eagerness to wash their hands of the matter was almost as if they were fleeing a plague.
Yu Xiaogang, consumed by anger, hurried over to Meng Shenji.
"Committee Member Meng Shenji!"
"You didn't say that outside!"
"You clearly promised to punish this brute. How can you now..."