The Fatty's Tearful Complaint

Noticing Grandmaster's grim expression, the members of Shrek Team exchanged glances, none daring to speak.

They knew all too well that if Grandmaster were to get annoyed, he might just punish them by making them run all the way back to Shrek Academy.

In the end, it was Tang San who stepped forward. "Fatty hasn't returned yet; he must have been delayed by something."

Yu Xiaogang's face darkened, and he flicked his sleeves in anger. "Utter nonsense!"

As for Ma Hongjun, what else could possibly delay him besides a woman?

Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but sneer. "The team match starts in ten minutes, and he's still out fooling around at this hour? It seems your training hasn't been rigorous enough. After tonight's matches, everyone will carry a fifty-kilogram stone and run back to the academy!"

In his view, since they were a team, if one person made a mistake, everyone had to be punished together.

"Ah?" The group cried out in unison, collapsing onto the sofa.

They had been thoroughly ruined by Fatty this time.

"Xiaogang, the children have been competing all day. Isn't this a bit too harsh?" Flender couldn't help but interject from the side. Seeing the little monsters looking so listless, he felt a pang of heartache.

After all, they were still just children; such heavy training and competition were more than they could handle.

"Say no more. They brought this upon themselves." Yu Xiaogang's face was livid. Only by making everyone share the consequences of one person's mistake would they learn not to repeat it.

"Teacher, I want to go out and look for Fatty." Dai Mubai didn't say much else; he was already accustomed to Grandmaster's punishments.

But it was truly strange that Fatty hadn't returned after so long.

"Indeed, let's all go out and search for him together," Tang San said, standing up to propose.

With the team match starting in ten minutes, the fact that there was still no sign of Fatty was indeed suspicious.

"Mm-hmm." The three girls nodded in agreement.

"No need." Just as Yu Xiaogang was about to say that the six of them would suffice, the door behind him was suddenly pushed open.

"Ah, a pervert!" Ning Rongrong grabbed a teacup from the table and hurled it at the exposed man who had stumbled in, then dove into Zhu Zhuqing's arms.

Beside them, Oscar watched Zhu Zhuqing with a look of envy; when would he ever get to hold Rongrong in his arms like that?

"Ouch... that hurts..." Ma Hongjun clutched his crotch, having been caught off guard by the teacup flying straight at him.

"Fatty?" Dai Mubai recognized the voice instantly; it was none other than the tardy Ma Hongjun.

His fat body was covered in a crisscross of bruises, and his face was beaten so badly it was unrecognizable, but from his physique, one could still vaguely identify the shadow of the Fatty.

"Who did this to you?" Tang San's expression turned cold as he pulled a blanket from his storage soul tool and draped it over Ma Hongjun.

To think someone dared to lay a hand on his companion.

A fierce glint flashed in the depths of Tang San's eyes; whoever it was, that person had already invited their own death.

"Fatty, who did this! I'm going to kill them!!" Flender roared in fury. He had raised Fatty himself, and he treated him like his own son.

To think—to think they dared to hurt Fatty to this extent! Did they think Shrek Academy had no one left to defend it?!

"Ah? Is that Fourth Brother?" Ning Rongrong poked her head out from Zhu Zhuqing's arms, looking uncertainly at the battered, unrecognizable Fatty.

"Pfft, Fourth Brother, how did you get beaten up again?" Xiao Wu giggled, clutching her stomach.

"Tell us, what happened?" Yu Xiaogang asked with a stiff face, looking at Ma Hongjun, who was being helped to sit on the sofa.

Speaking of this, Fatty was full of grievances and recounted the sequence of events in fits and starts.

It was essentially that he had encountered a female soul master during his match, and she had deliberately picked a fight, beating him into this state.

Of course, he conveniently left out how he had flirted with her, dismissing it as mere banter between a man and a woman.

"Do you remember her name?" Grandmaster's expression was icy. To dare humiliate their Shrek Team like this—she clearly had a death wish.

"I think it was something like Qiankun, but she was wearing a white mask with squinting eyes." Ma Hongjun touched his face, wincing in pain. The sensation felt strangely familiar.

He hadn't taken her seriously, so he naturally hadn't bothered to remember her name, never expecting to suffer such a massive loss.

"It's her?" Yu Xiaogang was somewhat surprised; he hadn't expected her to be matched against Ma Hongjun.

Tang San noticed the strange look in his teacher's eyes and asked, "Teacher, do you know her?"

"She is a young soul master from the Death Arena. She seems to possess an extremely fast Ghost Asynchronous Method. Fatty, you were far too careless." Yu Xiaogang shook his head.

"However, since she dares to hurt a member of our Shrek Team, she must be prepared to pay the price. Fatty, Zhuqing, I will increase your training load over the next few days. As soul masters under level 30, you will inevitably encounter her again. You must defeat her in your next soul fight and trample her beneath your feet. Next time you meet, you may use hidden weapons."

A murderous intent flashed in Yu Xiaogang's eyes. First she rejected him, then she beat his student—it seemed she needed to be taught a lesson.

"Why wait for the next match? We can just surround her after our match ends!" Dai Mubai slammed his palm on the table, filled with rage.

"Exactly, it's too bullying," Ma Hongjun agreed, nodding frantically.

"I am very pleased to see you have such thoughts. Our Shrek Team is a collective; we will never allow anyone to be humiliated by others. Prepare for the upcoming match first," Yu Xiaogang said with great satisfaction.

"Grandmaster is right." After hearing Grandmaster's words, Tang San stood up excitedly. "We at Shrek are a whole. Every one of us is family. If our family is insulted, how can we sit idly by? I, Tang San, will be the first to refuse to let anyone bully my family."

"Xiao San is right!" Dai Mubai reached out his hand. Tang San placed his hand on top of Dai Mubai's, followed by Ma Hongjun, still wrapped in his blanket.

"Yes, we are a whole," Ning Rongrong said.

"We are family." Xiao Wu, Oscar, Zhu Zhuqing, and the others all reached out their hands, stacking them together.

"Avenge Fourth Brother!" Xiao Wu gritted her teeth. She had never had a family, and hearing Tang San say this moved her deeply.

From this moment on, she had a family too.

"Shrek Team? Shrek Team? If you do not take the stage now, it will be treated as a forfeit," the host's countdown echoed throughout the arena.

"Let's go, the match is what matters. Fatty, can you still manage?" Dai Mubai took a deep breath, his composure returning, though his mood remained sour.

Oscar stepped forward and patted Ma Hongjun on the shoulder. "Fatty, don't worry, we will settle this score sooner or later!"

"Fatty, here's your clothes." Tang San had requested a set of clothes in the right size from the staff and handed them to Ma Hongjun.

"Thank you, Third Brother..." Ma Hongjun was moved to the point of tears. Speaking of which, he was filled with grievances; his storage soul tool had been destroyed by the opponent, and all his previous belongings were gone.

As the group walked toward the entrance, Ning Rongrong looked back at Grandmaster and asked cautiously, "Grandmaster, are we still running back to the academy tonight?"

"Yes." Grandmaster nodded indifferently. Today's events made him realize that his training for the little monsters was still insufficient.

The Shrek Team had yet to taste defeat, yet today they had suffered such humiliation; he had to intensify their training.

He sat on the sofa, flipping through the book he had poured his life's talent into, his voice cold. "From now on, after each day's special training, you will all run back to the academy while carrying weights."

"Ah?" The group groaned in despair, walking onto the soul fighting arena with their heads hanging low.

"A twenty-eighth-level Great Spirit Master actually dared to bully the little monsters like this. I'm going to go give her a piece of my mind!" After the others had left, Flender finally spoke up indignantly.

"Flender, that person is the one I mentioned to you before." Grandmaster closed his book, a peculiar light flickering in his eyes.

"If she can join our Shrek Academy, then I believe we will surely take first place in the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament. Don't you want Shrek Academy to become famous across the continent?"

Grandmaster had absolute faith in his own judgment, just as he had with Bibi Dong back in the day, and with Tang San now...

Because of Qingxi's victory over Ma Hongjun, he was troubled, but he also developed the idea of taking on a second disciple.

One Tang San, one Qiankun Mingxin—Grandmaster understood the principle of not putting all his eggs in one basket.

Even now, Grandmaster still harbored the thought of having that person join Shrek, but to deal with someone like her, one had to trample her into the mud first!

"Leave this matter to the little monsters; consider it a test."

"It's her?!" Flender was somewhat surprised.

"The Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament requires a ten-person team: seven main combatants and three substitutes. We only have seven people right now, and besides, she is qualified to join our Shrek. Why not let the little monsters deflate her arrogance? In the meantime, how about I take you to watch her soul fights over the next few days?" Grandmaster proposed.

Flender nodded. Indeed, a twenty-eighth-level Spirit Master was not worth them, the guardians, stepping in personally.

However, Grandmaster was sometimes just too stubborn; once he set his sights on something, he would never change his mind.

Otherwise, how would the Golden Iron Triangle have disbanded all those years ago?

Thinking of this, Flender could not help but feel a sense of sorrow.

He remembered that woman who shone as bright as fire once more. When would the Golden Iron Triangle ever be able to reunite?