A Disgraced Return, Debate Over a Genius

The night deepened, and Soto City's clamor gradually subsided.

Dai Mubai walked along the road back to Shrek Academy. His white suit was covered in dust and mud, his collar hung crooked, two buttons had popped off, and a trace of blood still lingered at the corner of his mouth.

His usual dashing, womanizing air, with beauties on both arms, had completely vanished. He looked like a plucked peacock, utterly bedraggled.

He had already sent the pair of sisters away halfway there.

He had no mood to deal with anyone. Over and over, all he could think about was that scene at the Rose Hotel—Zhu Zhuqing linking her arm through that brown-haired boy's and coldly declaring, "This is my man," with such resolute eyes.

He clenched his fists, his nails digging into his palms, only to release them helplessly.

He couldn't beat him.

He simply couldn't beat him.

The instant those four purple soul rings lit up, the last shred of hope in his heart had been crushed to pieces.

Even if he went all out and pushed his White Tiger Vajra Transformation to its limit, unleashing his three soul skills in a full barrage, the other party had not retreated even half a step.

That brown armor was absurdly tough. No, it was practically a moving mountain.

Dai Mubai drew a deep breath of the cool night air, suppressed the stifling pain in his chest, and quickened his pace.

Shrek Academy was not located in the center of Soto City, but in a relatively remote area south of the city.

Calling it an academy was generous. It did not even have a proper gate, only a crooked fence enclosing several shabby single-story houses and a dirt training ground.

If not for the ragged piece of cloth hanging from a flagpole beside the field, bearing the three words "Shrek Academy," passersby would probably have taken the place for an abandoned farmstead.

When Dai Mubai pushed open the fence gate and entered, several people were sitting on the stone benches beside the training ground.

A broad, plump middle-aged man sat cross-legged on one of the benches, yawning. He had a square face, a full beard, and wore a loose gray robe. He was Zhao Wuji, the vice principal of Shrek Academy.

Beside him stood a tall, thin middle-aged man with round glasses perched on his nose. His hands were clasped behind his back, and a crafty smile hung on his lips. He was Flander, the principal of Shrek Academy.

At the other end of the stone bench sat a chubby boy with a head of messy red hair, gnawing on a roast chicken with grease all over his mouth. Beside him squatted a young man with heavy stubble across his face, happily chewing on a sausage in his hand.

Ma Hongjun and Oscar, two of the Shrek Seven Monsters.

"Yo, Boss Dai's back?" Ma Hongjun was the first to spot Dai Mubai. With his mouth full of chicken, he greeted him indistinctly.

Then he got a clear look at Dai Mubai's disheveled state, and the roast chicken nearly fell from his hand. "Holy shit, how did you end up like this? Did you get robbed?"

Oscar also raised his head and looked Dai Mubai over from top to bottom, forgetting to continue eating his sausage. "Boss Dai, there's blood at the corner of your mouth. Did you get into a fight?"

Zhao Wuji frowned and rose to his feet, walking over.

He was not tall, but his build was exceptionally burly. As he approached, he was like a moving wall.

He lowered his head to inspect the dust and torn fabric on Dai Mubai's body, then sniffed the lingering fluctuations of soul power in the air. His expression darkened slightly.

"Who did you fight? What was his cultivation?"

Dai Mubai fell silent for two seconds.

He had wanted to make up some excuse and brush it off, but faced with the looks in Zhao Wuji's and Flander's eyes that said, You can't hide it from us, the lie rolled around in his throat before he swallowed it back down.

"At the Rose Hotel, I fought a kid about my age." Dai Mubai's voice was somewhat hoarse. "I lost completely. I used all three soul skills, and I couldn't even break through his defenses."

Flander raised an eyebrow.

He knew Dai Mubai's talent. With the White Tiger martial soul and the cultivation of a thirty-seventh-rank Soul Elder, he was unquestionably among the best of his peers.

For him to lose so thoroughly, his opponent could not have been ordinary.

"What was his setup?" Flander asked.

Dai Mubai gritted his teeth. "A four-ring Soul Ancestor. Four soul rings... all purple."

"All purple?!"

"Purple soul rings?! Four of them?!"

Ma Hongjun and Oscar cried out almost at the same time.

Ma Hongjun even forgot to chew the chicken in his mouth, while the sausage in Oscar's hand dropped to the ground with a smack.

Even Zhao Wuji, who had been dozing on the side, abruptly opened his eyes wide, a flicker of disbelief flashing through them.

"Four purple soul rings? Are you sure you didn't see wrong?" Zhao Wuji's voice sank.

"Could I mistake the glow of thousand-year soul rings?" Dai Mubai gave a bitter laugh. "I have two yellow and one purple myself. I know better than anyone what purple looks like. All four of his were purple, and the last one was so deep in color it was nearly black. Its age definitely wasn't low. And his martial soul possession form was strange too. It wasn't an ordinary possession—it was a complete set of full-body armor, brown with a tiger-head design. Its defense was ridiculously strong."

Flander adjusted the glasses on his nose, a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.

A four-ring Soul Ancestor at the age of twelve or thirteen was already a genius among geniuses. Four purple soul rings elevated the word "genius" to a terrifying level.

With a configuration like that, not only in Notting City or Soto City—even at the Heaven Dou Empire Royal Academy, he would be someone capable of causing a sensation throughout the entire school.

"How old was he?" Flander pressed.

"He looked about the same age as me, twelve or thirteen." Dai Mubai frowned as he recalled it. "A little shorter than me, and he spoke pretty maturely. There were three other people with him, two boys and two girls. They should have been together."

Zhao Wuji and Flander exchanged a glance. The information conveyed through their eyes was understood only by the two of them.

Four purple soul rings, thirteen years old, a four-ring Soul Ancestor.

And the three companions by his side.

Appearing near Soto City at this time, his purpose was practically obvious.

"He's here for Shrek," Flander declared, a meaningful smile appearing at the corner of his mouth. "At this time, what else could he be here for besides enrollment?"

Zhao Wuji snorted. "He dared to beat up a Shrek student and leave him looking like this. Tomorrow, I want to see just what this kid is made of."

"Don't go looking for trouble with him," Flander immediately stopped him. "For a genius of that caliber to be willing to come to this rundown place of ours is an honor for Shrek. I'll personally take a look when he registers tomorrow. As long as he meets the requirements, he'll be our student. As for his grudge with Dai Mubai, it's perfectly normal for young people to fight and squabble. It won't affect the bigger picture."

Hearing that, Dai Mubai opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end, he shut it again gloomily.

He could hardly say that the kid had stolen his fiancée too, could he?

If he said that, Dai Mubai would lose all face completely.

Ma Hongjun came over and slung an arm around his shoulder. "Boss Dai, don't take it too hard. Can a monster with four purple soul rings even be called human? Losing to a monster isn't embarrassing!"

Oscar picked up the sausage from the ground, blew off the dust, and consoled him, "If he really comes tomorrow, we'll observe him properly. If he's really capable, it wouldn't be bad to cultivate together in the future."

Dai Mubai did not respond. He merely gave a grunt and headed toward his dormitory.

As he passed the training ground, he looked up at the half-moon in the night sky. Moonlight spilled across his still-youthful face, which had already taken on a weary look.