Master! Master! Master, Save Me!

Ning Rongrong's pupils contracted.

The guards had been driven away?

The news made her heart skip a beat. But only for a moment.

There wasn't the slightest hint of surrender on her face.

The corners of her lips even curled upward.

"So what?"

Li Yusong's white brows twitched.

Ning Rongrong tilted her head at him, her almond eyes brimming with provocation. It was a stubbornness and arrogance she had been born with, seeping out from her very bones.

Why should she admit fault? Dai Mubai had struck first. She had merely returned the favor with a water ball.

"I didn't do anything wrong." Her voice was crisp, every word sharp and decisive. "He struck first, not me. Why should I be punished?"

Li Yusong's face went completely dark.

He had been at Shrek for over a decade, and no student had ever dared speak to him that way. Dai Mubai was arrogant enough, wasn't he? Yet before him, Dai still had to obediently take the staff, not daring to utter a word.

Where had this girl found the nerve?

"You deserve a beating."

The two words squeezed through Li Yusong's clenched teeth. He stepped forward, swinging the Panlong Staff again.

This strike was a little faster than the first.

Li Yusong quickened his pace.

The Panlong Staff shot out like a serpent leaving its den, carrying even greater force than before as it swept straight toward Ning Rongrong.

The instant the gust from the staff reached her, Ning Rongrong planted her left foot. Wind Empress Qimen activated. Her figure vanished again and reappeared five meters away.

It missed.

Li Yusong's Panlong Staff swept through empty air for the second time.

The blast of air from the staff gouged a shallow trench into the ground, sending shattered stones flying.

Ning Rongrong stood five meters away and caught her breath. Fine beads of sweat had already appeared on her forehead, but the smile on her lips only widened.

As she watched Li Yusong's face turn iron-gray after missing twice in a row, pride and exhilaration rose from deep within her and filled her chest.

A dignified Soul Emperor.

Couldn't even hit her.

Nearby, Dai Mubai, whom Tang San had helped back to his feet, widened his evil eyes.

He had taken that strike head-on. Even with the full defensive stance of a thirty-seventh-level Soul Elder, he had been sent flying, and his entire left arm was still numb.

Yet Ning Rongrong, a twenty-sixth-level support-type Grand Soul Master, had escaped from beneath Li Yusong's staff twice in succession.

How was that possible?

Tang San's gaze darkened slightly. He did not release Dai Mubai's arm, his eyes constantly tracking the changes in distance between Ning Rongrong and Li Yusong.

Wind Empress Qimen's spatial displacement.

Every use consumed an enormous amount of soul power. With Ning Rongrong's current reserves, how many times could she sustain it?

Five times? Six?

Any more, and she would be exhausted.

Xiao Wu stood beside Tang San, clutching the hem of her skirt with both hands. Her anxious gaze darted repeatedly between Ning Rongrong and Li Yusong.

Zhu Zhuqing stood expressionlessly at the outermost edge. Moonlight reflected in her cat eyes as she stared unblinkingly at the scene.

Li Yusong withdrew his staff and turned to face Ning Rongrong.

His face had gone completely dark.

A sixty-third-level Soul Emperor. He had guarded Shrek Academy's gates for so many years—what genius had he not seen? Yet today, a twenty-sixth-level little girl had made him miss twice in a row. If word got out, would Li Yusong have any face left?

Besides, Dai Mubai had taken his staff squarely.

What kind of sense would it make to hit one but not the other?

"Young people are so unruly." Li Yusong's voice deepened. He spun the Panlong Staff halfway in his hand, and its shaft let out a deep hum. "This old man must teach you a lesson."

His gaze sharpened.

"Let's see how long you can keep dodging."

The moment his words fell, he moved.

This time, he was nearly twice as fast as before. All six soul rings glowed faintly at once as his first soul skill empowered him. The two-hundred-percent increase in attack power caused the might of this strike to surge dramatically.

Ning Rongrong's pupils shrank.

Fast!

Too fast!

She had no time to think. Wind Empress Qimen activated instinctively, and just before the staff shadow touched her, her body shifted to a spot four meters to the side.

The moment she landed, a powerful sense of weakness flooded through her body.

Three times.

Ning Rongrong's breathing grew ragged. The soul power within her was draining at a palpable rate. Every spatial displacement from Wind Empress Qimen felt as though a huge chunk of flesh had been torn from her body.

But she remained standing.

Her legs trembled beneath her white dress, but she stubbornly refused to let her knees buckle.

Li Yusong turned around.

Ning Rongrong raised her chin, panting, with not the slightest trace of surrender in those almond eyes.

"So what if you drove this young lady's guards away?" Her voice drifted slightly from her labored breathing, but her tone remained infuriatingly arrogant. "A dignified Soul Emperor can't even do anything to a mere Grand Soul Master like me."

Her lips curled.

"Shrek is nothing special after all."

Li Yusong's temple throbbed.

This girl's tongue was truly vicious.

He did not hesitate with the next strike.

He stepped forward and swung his staff, his momentum overwhelming.

Ning Rongrong dodged.

Her fourth displacement.

When she landed, half the color had drained from her face, and her legs were shaking. But her mouth remained as unforgiving as ever.

"Is that all?"

Li Yusong's breathing grew heavier.

The fifth strike.

Ning Rongrong dodged again, appearing seven meters away. Sweat ran down her cheeks, and a patch on the back of her white dress was already soaked through. Yet the corners of her lips remained raised.

"I thought Shrek Academy was supposed to be amazing." Her voice grew softer and softer, her breathing unsteady. "What a disappointment."

The Panlong Staff hummed in Li Yusong's hand.

There was no reason left in his eyes. He had been repeatedly humiliated in public by a junior, and his temper had flared beyond control. He did not want to hurt her. He only wanted to hit her. As long as this staff landed on her, even if it merely brushed her, he could reclaim his dignity.

But she kept dodging.

It was always just a little short.

Every single time.

"Third Brother!" Xiao Wu finally could not hold back any longer. She grabbed Tang San's arm, her voice clearly anxious. "Look at Teacher Li! He's already losing control. Rongrong will get hurt if this continues! Go help her!"

Tang San frowned slightly.

His gaze swept over Ning Rongrong's pale face, then fell on Li Yusong's bloodshot, reddened eyes. He then glanced at Dai Mubai beside him, who was clutching his left arm and watching with a dark expression.

He weighed it all in his mind.

Li Yusong was an academy teacher, and Dai Mubai was an older student. Headmaster Flender, Teacher Zhao Wuji, and all the other teachers in the academy who were at least Soul Emperor level were people he would have to deal with over the coming years at Shrek.

Ning Rongrong?

Her talent was indeed astonishing, and the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect behind her was no ordinary force. But right now, she was opposing the entire academy.

A trace of difficulty appeared on Tang San's face.

"Xiao Wu, Teacher Li has already lost his temper." His voice was low, as though he were analyzing the battle. "With my strength, rushing in recklessly would not only fail to stop him, but might also get Rongrong and me hurt."

Xiao Wu's face was full of anxiety. "But..."

"Besides, look." Tang San's tone was unnaturally calm. "Teacher Li is still a teacher in the end. He only wants to teach Rongrong a lesson. He won't truly hurt her. It looks frightening, but he still knows his limits."

He paused.

"Also, if Rongrong wants to stay at Shrek, it may not be a bad thing for her to receive a lesson. Otherwise, even if she barely manages to remain now, she still won't be able to stay later."

Dai Mubai nodded from the side, cold gloating glinting in his evil eyes.

"Tang San is right. Ning Rongrong is too headstrong and must be taught a lesson." He snorted coldly. "This is the teacher's decision. It is not for students to question."

Xiao Wu bit her lip, searching Tang San's face for something. Tang San looked back at her with a sincere yet helpless expression, even gently patting the back of her hand.

Xiao Wu let go.

But her gaze turned toward Zhu Zhuqing.

Zhu Zhuqing stood where she was. The two figures in the field—one pursuing, one flashing away—were reflected in her cat eyes.

The sixth strike.

Ning Rongrong shifted again. This time, she appeared half-kneeling on the ground, barely keeping herself from collapsing flat by bracing herself with one hand. Her heavy breathing sounded like a bellows.

But she still stood back up.

Zhu Zhuqing's gaze locked tightly onto Ning Rongrong.

She was shocked.

A support-type soul master, a twenty-sixth-level Grand Soul Master, had consecutively evaded a Soul Emperor's full-power attacks six times.

Six times.

Zhu Zhuqing knew very well that if she had been standing there instead, with her twenty-seventh-level cultivation and the Netherworld Spirit Cat's extreme speed, she could have dodged at most three times against Li Yusong at full strength.

And Ning Rongrong had not used speed.

She had used space.

Wind Empress Qimen.

How powerful was this soul skill, exactly?

And what sort of existence was the master who had taught Ning Rongrong this soul skill?

Ning Rongrong's words from earlier that day flashed through Zhu Zhuqing's mind. Her master had other soul skills that could be taught as well.

If she could learn one too.

Even just one.

Would she have a little better chance when facing her sister, Zhu Zhuyun? Could the shadow that had pressed over her since childhood fade, even slightly?

The thought flashed through the depths of her eyes for only an instant.

The next moment, Xiao Wu's voice interrupted her.

"Zhuqing!" Xiao Wu was already becoming frantic. She grabbed Zhu Zhuqing's arm. "What do we do? Third Brother refuses to help. Do you have any idea?"

Zhu Zhuqing withdrew her gaze from the field, glanced at Xiao Wu, then looked toward Tang San and Dai Mubai.

"I can't stop him." Her voice was cold, but beneath that coldness was a trace of helplessness that others would not easily notice. "In Teacher Li's current state, none of us can stop him."

Xiao Wu's face turned even paler.

"But there is one way," Zhu Zhuqing said.

Xiao Wu lifted her head.

"Find the other teachers." Zhu Zhuqing spoke quickly, her judgment decisive. "Teacher Zhao or someone else. Only someone of the same rank or higher can restrain Teacher Li. Hurry. Rongrong can't hold on much longer."

Xiao Wu's eyes brightened.

The two exchanged a glance, then turned at the same time and hurried toward the academy teachers' residences.

At that moment.

A cry rang out from the field.

"Ah!"

Ning Rongrong's voice.

The two suddenly turned back.

The instant Ning Rongrong landed from her seventh displacement, her foot caught on a protruding stone. Her soul power was nearly depleted, and her body's coordination had fallen to its lowest point. That stumble made her lose her balance completely, and she pitched forward.

Her knees struck the ground, and as she braced herself with her palms, gravel sliced open her fingertips.

Before she could gather her wits again, a cataclysmic impact crashed down from ahead.

Bang!!

Li Yusong's Panlong Staff did not strike her directly. The old man smashed the ground one meter in front of her.

The earth trembled. The shockwave rattled the already prone and defenseless Ning Rongrong senseless once more. Her head buzzed, and her vision blurred in an instant.

Her arms could no longer support her, and she collapsed flat onto the ground. Her ears were filled with ringing, and the world before her swayed.

Footsteps.

Heavy footsteps, drawing closer with every step.

Ning Rongrong desperately lifted her head.

Li Yusong was already standing two steps away from her.

The old man looked down at her from above. His white hair resembled a clump of frost under the moonlight, the anger in his eyes not yet faded. The Panlong Staff in his hand had already been raised high.

The staff's shadow blocked out the moonlight.

The force of this strike was completely unlike the previous ones. At this moment, Ning Rongrong's senses became incomparably clear. Although Wind Empress Qimen no longer had enough soul power to support another spatial displacement, the perception it granted her still faithfully conveyed every bit of information.

This strike.

If it landed on her.

It would not be a lesson.

Something would really happen.

That damned old man was actually going to strike this hard!

Ning Rongrong's pupils abruptly widened.

"Don't!" Xiao Wu's scream came from the distance.

"Teacher, calm down!!" Zhu Zhuqing's voice rang out at the same time.

The staff came crashing down.

Ning Rongrong lay sprawled on the ground, raising her face, so pale it was utterly bloodless. Her lips moved twice. Feeling a sudden warmth in her palm, she cried out in panic.

"Master!"

"Master!"

"Master, save me!!"