Duel with Li Yusong

The four of them traveled at a leisurely pace, stopping and starting along the way, until they finally reached the village where Shrek Academy was located at noon.

In the distance, they could vaguely make out a wooden sign with the five crooked characters "Shrek Academy" painted on it.

Behind the sign stood a row of low, shabby houses with earthen walls and gray tiles. Some roofs even had grass growing on them. The place was utterly rundown.

Xiao Wu stared at the sign from afar, her expression as though someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over her.

"Am I seeing things?"

"That's an academy?"

"Isn't this just a bunch of houses?"

"It's even worse than the village I used to live in!"

Zhu Zhuqing nodded as well. Her gaze lingered on the crooked wooden sign before shifting to the houses with earthen walls and gray tiles. Her tone was gentle, but her words struck right at the heart of the matter.

"This doesn't look like an academy at all. It looks more like a gathering place for scammers."

"What you're seeing is only the surface." Ning Rongrong explained from the side. "Don't underestimate this place. It's an academy that only accepts monsters."

"Anyone who gets in is a gifted prodigy, and there are at least two Soul Sages among its ranks."

"In terms of teaching strength, this academy is no worse than those glamorous schools."

"There are Soul Sages? Then I suppose it's not too bad."

Xiao Wu nodded, reluctantly accepting the explanation, though she still looked somewhat unwilling.

She continued, "But isn't the environment here far too terrible?"

"Will there even be a place for us to bathe at night?"

"What's there to worry about?"

Ning Rongrong patted her small chest and put on a bold, confident air as if she had everything under control.

"Later, I'll pay to build us a new house. We can just live there."

"Huh? Build a house?"

Xiao Wu looked at Ning Rongrong in astonishment, her eyes practically screaming, Do you have some kind of misunderstanding about money?

"Rongrong, you really are rich. You're coming here to study, and you even want to build a house."

"What's the big deal? If I'm unhappy, I can buy the whole village."

Ning Rongrong said it carelessly, the corners of her lips lifting slightly. That air of reckless extravagance seemed to seep from her very bones.

"Come on, let's register quickly. If we're any later, enrollment will probably be over."

"Then let's go."

Zhao Linchuan nodded, and the four of them slowly headed toward Shrek Academy.

A moment later, outside Shrek Academy.

A battered wooden table, a creaking bamboo chair, and a crooked sign.

Because of the late hour, the registration area was nearly deserted. Li Yusong was the only one left sitting behind the registration desk, dozing in boredom.

Hearing footsteps, he slowly opened his eyes. As he watched Zhao Linchuan and the other three draw closer, he gradually straightened up.

"Are you here to register?" he asked casually.

"I'm here to apply as a teacher," Zhao Linchuan replied indifferently.

After saying that, he pointed at Ning Rongrong and the other two. "They're all my students."

"I heard that your academy has a rather advanced teaching philosophy, so I brought my students here to learn."

"A teacher?"

Li Yusong sized Zhao Linchuan up. He looked only twelve or thirteen, his body not yet fully grown. His face was youthful, and his chin was smooth without even a trace of stubble.

You said you were here to be a teacher? His gaunt face took on an almost absurd expression. The corners of his mouth twitched, and his voice turned cold.

"Kid, do you think that's funny?"

"If you don't believe me, we can have a Soul Battle," Zhao Linchuan said calmly. "If I beat you, then it proves everything I said is true."

"If I lose, I'll offer ten thousand Gold Soul Coins as an apology."

Ten thousand Gold Soul Coins!

Li Yusong's eyes immediately lit up. A sharp gleam burst from his cloudy pupils, like a lamp suddenly being lit in the darkness.

He looked over the four of them again. Their clothes were bright and luxurious.

Once he confirmed that they were not children from poor families, his attitude visibly changed.

Li Yusong shifted awkwardly in his chair, then cleared his throat and said in a patronizing tone,

"Then I'll reluctantly teach you a lesson on behalf of your parents."

As soon as he spoke, Soul Power flashed in Li Yusong's hand, and the Dragon Pattern Staff appeared.

It was a long, crimson staff covered in intricate inscriptions. Under the sunlight, it gleamed with a cold, eerie sheen.

He first set the Dragon Pattern Staff on the table with a tap, then leaned back in his chair with his arms crossed, speaking arrogantly.

"Kid, as long as you can make me move even one step, I'll count it as your win. How about it?"

As his words fell, six Soul Rings—white, yellow, purple, purple, purple, and black—slowly rose from beneath his feet.

"Fine. It's a deal." Zhao Linchuan paid them no mind. He glanced at Ning Rongrong and the other two. "Move back. Don't let yourselves get hurt."

"Big brother, be careful. Don't kill him..." Xiao Wu nodded and pulled Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing back some distance.

As they walked away, Ning Rongrong asked curiously, "Can your brother really do it? He's a Soul Emperor."

"Don't worry. My brother is very strong," Xiao Wu said with absolute certainty.

"Mm... your brother really is quite strong." Ning Rongrong replied somewhat strangely, suppressing a mischievous smile at the corner of her lips.

After the three girls had moved farther away, Zhao Linchuan also took two steps back, opening up some distance from Li Yusong.

With a thought, five Soul Rings—yellow, purple, black, black, and black—slowly rose from beneath his feet.

"What kind of monster is that?!"

Li Yusong's pupils suddenly contracted. The arrogance on his face seemed to have been smashed apart by a hammer, replaced by an almost instinctive sense of vigilance.

Zhao Linchuan gave him no time to think. His first Soul Ring suddenly flashed, and Zhao Linchuan shouted, "First Soul Skill—Wood Azure Dragon Break!"

"Roar—!"

In an instant, a massive azure dragon over thirty meters long shot from Zhao Linchuan's palm and lunged straight at Li Yusong!

The dragon's roar shook the heavens and earth, sending visible ripples through the air.

"What kind of monster is this?!"

Goosebumps rose all over Li Yusong's body. He instinctively reached for the Dragon Pattern Staff on the table, intending to take up his Martial Soul and resist. But the moment his fingers touched the staff, he discovered in astonishment—

His Dragon Pattern Staff was trembling!

In the face of danger, he had no time to think further.

His sixth Soul Ring suddenly lit up. Li Yusong gritted his teeth and poured all of his Soul Power into the Dragon Pattern Staff.

Empowered by his Soul Power, the Dragon Pattern Staff instantly expanded to ten meters long. Its entire body radiated blinding light like a towering pillar, smashing fiercely toward the Wood Azure Dragon charging at him!