Conflict

"Heh! 'Young,' indeed." Dugu Yan let out a cold snort, and just as she prepared to say something more, Qingxi pressed down on her hand.

Qingxi offered a brilliant smile. "In that case, thank you, big brother."

"You're welcome, little sister." Dai Mubai gave a gentlemanly smile; she really was a bright and cheerful little girl.

Qingxi beckoned the waiter standing nearby. "Did you hear what that big brother just said?"

The waiter nodded; both sides were Spirit Masters, and he couldn't afford to offend either.

"Sigh, you keep eating slowly, I'm going to the restroom." Qingxi patted Dugu Yan's hand and turned to walk toward the backyard.

She wound her way into the kitchen and ordered five hundred portions of every dish on their menu.

The head chef was both shocked and delighted, hurriedly arranging for people to restock.

The head chef's sentiment: Can't stir-fry it all, absolutely can't stir-fry it all.

When Qingxi left the kitchen, feeling quite satisfied, she saw the front hall in complete disarray.

The two factions were brawling, or more accurately, a hundred-thousand-year-old rabbit spirit was pinning the other side down and beating them.

And her well-behaved disciple was standing to the side with an expression that was thirty percent cold, thirty percent mocking, and thirty percent interested.

"What's going on?" Qingxi asked curiously.

Dugu Yan told Qingxi everything that had just happened; essentially, that fat guy had been acting lecherous toward a female student from Canghui Academy, and then that Dai Mubai had directly mocked the other side as a trash academy.

The male students accompanying them couldn't take the insult and wanted to teach them a lesson, only to end up getting beaten.

"Bullying the weak and fearing the strong! Pfft!" Dugu Yan couldn't help but spit, watching the fight with an itch to join in.

She mostly wanted to poke that fat boy's eyes out; she had never seen such an overbearing academy.

A Spirit Master who doesn't dare to cause trouble is a mediocre talent.

How ridiculous!

By that logic, if she killed them without any grievances or grudges, could they only blame themselves for being incompetent?

"Canghui Academy?"

"Mm, a high-level Spirit Master academy, they have a bit of a reputation." Dugu Yan nodded, rubbing her palms in anticipation.

Seeing that the two Canghui Academy students were no match, their team leader, Ye Zhiqiu, had no choice but to step forward, speaking with good intentions and hoping to settle the matter peacefully.

But Shrek wouldn't listen at all.

Ye Zhiqiu had no choice but to reveal his spirit rings—one white, two yellow, and two purple—still trying to negotiate reasonably.

But the fat guy immediately started being sarcastic. "Yo! So it's just a turtle, no wonder you dare to play the coward here."

As for Tang San, he had already begun planning how to beat up the opposing teacher.

"I won't! It was our fault to begin with, and they were already being very polite." Ning Rongrong hadn't joined Shrek long ago, and having never truly integrated into the group, she still stood on the side of justice at this moment.

"If that's how it is, then do as you please." Tang San's tone paused, sounding somewhat unkind.

The remaining six ignored her and followed Ye Zhiqiu out the door.

Ning Rongrong stomped her foot in anger, but in the end, she followed them out anyway.

Qingxi and Dugu Yan exchanged a glance, and she suggested, "Let's go, let's go watch the show."

The two of them followed them out the door as well.

The Shrek group was already locked in combat with Ye Zhiqiu, with various spirit skills flying everywhere, though the destructive power was pitifully small.

As time passed, Ye Zhiqiu, who possessed over fifty levels of spirit power, was actually on the losing end.

"If you were to fight them, who do you think would win?" The two found a tree and sat on it, watching the farce not far away.

Dugu Yan looked at the one-sided situation, her expression grave.

The Shrek members mostly had spirit power around level thirty, yet they were able to pin down and beat a Spirit King of over level fifty.

It was truly inconceivable.

She deliberated for a moment and said, "In terms of spirit power alone, I might not be their match, but if I add my Foundation Establishment late-stage cultivation, I would win."

Qingxi nodded. "But in terms of pure talent as Spirit Masters, these children are geniuses, it's just a pity they haven't been taught well."

What use is talent if one's character is flawed?

"Master, I want to try." Dugu Yan's eyes were restless.

"What? You want to bully the young with your seniority?" Qingxi glanced at her, her gaze falling on the battle not far away, and she said indifferently, "Besides, I can sense that there is a level 95 Titled Douluo protecting them from the shadows."

Her eyes narrowed slightly; she had sensed that person in the shadows the moment Shrek walked into the hotel, which was why she hadn't let Dugu Yan make a move inside.

With her current Nascent Soul late-stage cultivation, she might have the strength to fight, but for a level twenty-something Great Spirit Master to be on par with a level 95 Titled Douluo would inevitably attract the attention of various factions.

That would be the real trouble.

"Beat the small, and the old ones come out."

"Remember, in a one-on-one fight, if the gap is too large, try not to expose your cultivation in front of others. Such a technique will only bring disaster for now."

Dugu Yan felt surprised. No wonder her master had always forbidden her from making a move; it turned out there was someone else lurking in the shadows.

"Rest assured, Master, I understand this principle."

Her grandfather had said the exact same thing before.

Qingxi nodded. The battle not far away had already entered a white-hot stage.

Ye Zhiqiu had originally only wanted an explanation, so he had remained on the defensive, hoping to make the other party realize the difficulty and retreat.

He did not believe there could be such an unreasonable academy, assuming the students below were merely arrogant and wanting to have a word with the teacher in charge.

Good grief, the moment the teacher appeared, he had directly declared that their Canghui Academy was trash, a bunch of useless fools.

At this point, it would be impossible for him not to be enraged.

Fuming with anger, he stepped forward to demand justice, only to be slapped over ten meters away by Zhao Wuji, crashing heavily to the ground.

Zhao Wuji wore a look of disdain. "Trash will always be trash."

With that, he turned, hands behind his back, and returned to his room.

Qingxi rubbed her palms together, itching for a fight. She suspected she had been infected by Dugu Yan.

Why... suddenly... did she feel such an urge to slap someone?

This wasn't how one insulted people, surely.

"Pah!" Dugu Yan couldn't help but spit, her face full of disgust. "Truly, if the upper beam is crooked, the lower ones will be too! There isn't a single good thing in that entire academy."

She was naturally referring to Shrek Academy.

On the other side, Ye Zhiqiu, already severely injured, was so enraged by that remark that he spat out a mouthful of blood and was helped away by his students.

They had originally intended to find a spirit ring for their youngest junior sister, but they had ended up with the entire group suffering heavy injuries right at the start...

"Let's go, time to find that spirit ring." Qingxi patted Dugu Yan and flew toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

Qingxi didn't take Dugu Yan with her this time, fearing she might get motion sickness again.

"Master, what do you think would be best for my fifth spirit ring?" Dugu Yan asked, riding the wind behind her.

Her martial soul had evolved from the Jade Phosphorus Snake to the Jade Phosphorus Snake Emperor, which did not inherently possess the ability to fly, but she possessed Foundation Establishment cultivation and, combined with her Wind Spirit Root, she could ride the wind.

"Hmm... we'll see when the time comes." Qingxi had her own plans, but she wasn't certain they could catch it. She took a jade pendant from her robes and tossed it to Dugu Yan. "Take this. I swindled it from that fool earlier; one for each of us."

"What is this?" Dugu Yan examined the pale green jade pendant in her hand, which had a tiny character for 'Dao' carved into it.

"It's similar to your storage spirit tools, with roughly the same function, though the space is larger. I've placed some high-grade medicinal pills and spirit stones inside," she replied indifferently.

Dugu Yan's eyes lit up. As her divine sense probed into the jade, she saw a small mountain of spirit stones, a pile of delicacies, and several bottles of pills above the second grade.

One sixth-grade Violence Pill, in particular, made her ecstatic: it could strengthen one's own power tenfold, provide infinite energy, last for three minutes, and had no side effects.

The materials for this pill were scarce and incredibly precious.

What she hadn't expected was that her own master could actually refine them.

Dugu Yan looked at the black-haired girl flying ahead, her eyes burning with fervor. She hadn't imagined her master was also an alchemist.

"Master, actually, I still have many questions regarding alchemy that I'd like to ask. My success rate is always quite low."

Her current cultivation could only refine second-grade pills, and even then, the success rate was low.

Her master's generosity was truly enviable.

"It's fine. Alchemy is a matter of... aptitude. When I was at Three Stars Cave, my senior brothers and sisters and I had to refine at least 500 cauldrons of pills every day..." She seemed to recall something amusing and laughed. "I remember my senior brother saying back then that even dogs wouldn't dare eat the pills I refined."

Her senior brother likely never dreamed that she would one day become a master herself.

In an instant, the smile on Qingxi's face faded bit by bit.

She hadn't reminisced about the past in a long time; people always had to look forward.

Her cold and strict senior brother, the one who demanded she cultivate for nine hours a day, had ultimately remained forever at the foot of Spirit Mountain...

Dugu Yan decided that sometimes, not speaking was also a virtue.