Time to Take It Easy

As he spoke, his gaze casually swept over the students in the distance. Dai Mubai's pallor, Tang San's stiffness, Xiao Wu's trembling—all of it entered his eyes.

Ning Rongrong let out a breath of relief. Behind her, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing visibly relaxed as well.

The scene fell silent for several seconds.

Yang Xing yawned again.

He looked at Ning Rongrong. Under the moonlight, her delicate little face still carried the lingering excitement from before. Her eyes curved into crescents, and her whole being radiated the satisfaction of "I finally have someone to rely on."

"Good disciple." His tone was lazy. "Since you want to stay at this academy, I won't force you to leave with me."

Ning Rongrong's brows furrowed slightly.

"Study well. Attend classes when it's time for class, cultivate when it's time to cultivate. It's too late tonight, so I'll come by again tomorrow morning to meet your dean." Yang Xing raised a hand and rubbed his bird's-nest-like messy hair. "The Wind Empress Qimen has enough for you to ponder for a while. Come find me once you hit a bottleneck, and I'll teach you the next one."

"And if something comes up... don't contact me over every little thing. Only contact me for important matters."

As he spoke, he had already taken a step back. His posture clearly showed that he was about to leave.

Ning Rongrong reacted half a beat too slowly. By the time she realized what Yang Xing was doing, he had already retreated three steps.

"Hey!" Her voice suddenly rose as she reached out to grab Yang Xing's sleeve. "Wait! I still have...!"

Her hand caught nothing.

Yang Xing vanished an inch from her fingertips, soundlessly and without warning, disappearing into thin air just as he had arrived.

Seeing that Yang Xing had truly vanished, Dai Mubai, who had been cowering in the back, finally felt the heart in his throat settle back down. He let out a long breath, nearly collapsing as he leaned against the immobilized Tang San. Raising a hand, he wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and secretly rejoiced. He didn't deal with me... He actually didn't deal with me. That's great...

Ning Rongrong withdrew her hand.

"This scammer of a master!" She gritted her teeth and muttered, "He doesn't tell anyone before coming, and he leaves without even waiting for people to finish talking! What the hell is wrong with him?"

However, just as her words fell, ripples suddenly spread through the air without warning.

Yang Xing reappeared out of thin air, standing less than half a meter from Ning Rongrong, still patting off the traces of dirt on his hands.

Ning Rongrong jumped in fright and patted her chest. Then she folded her arms and looked at him sideways, asking with both confusion and a touch of pride, "Huh? Didn't you leave? Why did you come back? Don't tell me... you couldn't bear to part with this naturally beautiful and brilliant young lady?"

Yang Xing nodded repeatedly. "Yes, yes, yes. I couldn't bear to part with you, my naturally beautiful Rongrong, good disciple."

Then the smile on his face faded slightly. He turned to look into the distance, his tone still lazy. "But mainly, I suddenly remembered something. Since I'm already here, I should at least vent all of my good disciple's anger for her."

Upon hearing those words, Dai Mubai, who had just breathed a sigh of relief, had every muscle in his body instantly stiffen.

He watched Yang Xing turn around, those deep black eyes locking onto him. Dai Mubai's evil eyes gradually widened, his pupils shrinking to pinpoints as extreme terror spread through them. He wanted to retreat, but his legs had gone as limp as noodles, completely unable to muster any strength.

Yang Xing walked straight up to Dai Mubai at an unhurried pace.

Without another word, Yang Xing suddenly swung his right hand and viciously slapped him!

Slap!!

A crisp, piercing explosion rang across the silent training ground. The slap carried tremendous force, sending Dai Mubai spinning half a turn through the air. Along with specks of blood, two stark white teeth flew out, tracing a glaring arc beneath the moonlight.

With a bang, Dai Mubai fell backward and landed half-reclined on the ground. One hand braced desperately against the earth while the other covered his rapidly swelling, bloodied cheek. His mind had been beaten completely blank. He stared at Yang Xing with a vacant, disbelieving expression, having forgotten even to scream.

Yang Xing casually shook out his right hand, turned around, and waved at the three girls. "Alright, that settles it. Good disciple, Xiao Wu, pretty little Zhu Qing, I'm really leaving this time. Bye-bye. If anyone in or outside the academy bullies you, you can come find me... good disciple, hahaha..."

With that, his figure instantly faded and disappeared without a trace.

At the same time, Tang San's body suddenly loosened.

The force that had imprisoned all his muscles and soul power dissipated the instant Yang Xing vanished completely.

Tang San staggered a step and panted heavily, cold sweat running down his forehead. He moved his stiff, numb limbs, then turned back to look at Dai Mubai, who was half-sprawled on the ground, clutching his face with a blank expression. His own expression was complicated, and for a long while, he could not speak.

In the distance, Li Yusong finally managed to stand up. His white hair was covered in dirt as he stared up at the night sky, his aged eyes filled with bewilderment and the lingering relief of surviving a disaster.

Elsewhere.

The moment Yang Xing returned from Shrek Academy and stepped into the bedroom of the residence, his brows imperceptibly furrowed.

Everything in the room appeared normal.

Sixteen young maidens lay sprawled across that absurdly large bed. The gauze curtains were half drawn, while moonlight filtered through the window lattice and carved several slanting shadows across the floor. Their breathing was long and even, as though they were sleeping soundly.

But something was wrong.

Yang Xing stood at the doorway without moving, his gaze sweeping across the room.

The feeling in the space—or, as Yang Xing would put it—was that the magnetic field had changed.

This was his nearly instinctive, powerful perception of his surroundings after his martial soul fused with the Eight Extraordinary Skills.

The spatial fluctuations in this room, this residence, and even throughout the entire estate were now different from when he had left.

Someone had come.

And they were still here.

He did not alert the maids on the bed. Instead, he turned and left the bedroom, following the corridor toward the main hall.

His pace was neither fast nor slow. His sleeping robe hung loosely from his body. One hand patted at nonexistent dust on himself, while the other brushed at the stray locks sticking up from his hair.

The doors to the main hall were open.

An oil lamp was lit inside. Its dim yellow light illuminated a broad square table at the center, upon which sat a set of celadon tea ware. Faint steam still rose from the water in the teapot.

Someone sat in the grand chair to the left of the table.

More precisely, it was a skeleton.

Even while sitting, his height of two and a half meters made him a head taller than an ordinary person standing. His face was gaunt, his eye sockets sunken, his skeletal frame astonishingly broad-shouldered, and only a few sparse white hairs remained atop his head. He slouched crookedly against the chair back, his legs stretched far out. One hand rested on the side table beside him, while the other held a teacup.

He was drinking tea.

The moment Yang Xing saw him, he knew that the matter he had intended to handle at Shrek Academy tomorrow morning—the lingering trouble from tonight for Ning Rongrong—could be put off for now.

Compared to himself, the person before him was more suitable.