If It Weren't for You, Would We Have Come Here in the Middle of the Night to Feed Mosquitoes?

Bei Bei climbed up from the ground and brushed the grass clippings and dirt from his clothes, looking rather bedraggled.

But he had no attention to spare for that. His eyes were filled with shock and disbelief as he stared fixedly at Li Changqing, his tone carrying a hint of probing suspicion. "Changqing, isn't your martial soul a little too absurd...? It didn't really mutate from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda or the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda, did it?"

The more he thought about it, the more plausible it seemed.

No one on the continent had ever heard of a martial soul called the "Heavenly Profound and Earthly Yellow Exquisite Pagoda."

The only famous martial soul associated with pagodas was the inherited martial soul of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

But the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda only had seven levels, while Li Changqing's pagoda had nine. So it was understandable that Bei Bei would think of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.

Li Changqing could not help rolling his eyes, his voice full of helpless exasperation. "Isn't that nonsense? If I really came from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, would I need to hide it from you? They'd have treasured me like the apple of their eye long ago. So I'll say it again: I have nothing whatsoever to do with them."

Bei Bei opened his mouth, wanting to say something else, but ultimately shut it again.

He also felt that his question had been rather stupid.

After all, Ning Rongrong, the ancestor of the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, had come from Shrek Academy.

So if Li Changqing really belonged to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, there truly would have been no need for him to conceal his identity. After all, disciples of great clans generally carried themselves with that lofty air, looking down on commoner soul masters.

Li Changqing withdrew his martial soul, and the vast golden radiance around him receded like the tide, returning everything to calm.

He clapped his hands, then suddenly turned his gaze toward the bushes some distance away. In a flat tone, he said, "You two have watched long enough. Isn't it time to come out?"

Bei Bei froze and followed his gaze, his face full of confusion.

Come out?

Who was supposed to come out?

The bushes remained quiet for two seconds before a rustling sound came from within.

Under Bei Bei's watchful eyes, two figures awkwardly rose from behind the shrubbery.

With their heads lowered, they shuffled over to the two of them one step at a time.

They were none other than Ye Guyi and Jiang Nannan.

Seeing them, Bei Bei was even more puzzled. "Why are you here? And in the middle of the night?"

Ye Guyi and Jiang Nannan kept their heads down, as though they wished they could bury them in their chests.

Both their faces were red as ripe apples. They stammered for a long while without managing to say a single word.

How were they supposed to explain this?

Were they supposed to say, "We were afraid you might do something to Li Changqing, so we came specifically to keep watch and protect him"?

If they actually said that, Bei Bei would probably fight them to the death on the spot.

Seeing them like this, Li Changqing frowned and pressed, "Speak. Have you two gone mute? Why did you come here instead of sleeping in the middle of the night?"

His question left Ye Guyi both embarrassed and annoyed.

She abruptly raised her head, glared at him with a flushed face, and snapped, "To look at the moon! We came to look at the moon, all right? If it weren't for you, would we have come all the way here in the middle of the night to feed mosquitoes? Damn it! I'm mad! I'm never coming again!"

With that, she grabbed Jiang Nannan's hand and turned to leave without looking back.

Her steps were fast and urgent, as if some terrifying beast were chasing them from behind.

Dragged along at a jog, Jiang Nannan looked back at Li Changqing once, apology and embarrassment written across her face, before she quickly vanished into the night.

Bei Bei stood where he was, completely dumbfounded.

What did she mean, they had come because of Li Changqing?

What had Li Changqing done?

Why could he not understand any of this?

Li Changqing was equally baffled, unable to figure out what was going through Ye Guyi and Jiang Nannan's heads.

But he had never been one to dwell on things, so when he could not figure something out, he simply stopped thinking about it.

He yawned, stretched, and turned toward the dormitories.

"Let's go. Time to sleep."

Once all three figures had disappeared into the night, silence returned to the grassland.

Moonlight spilled down as a gentle breeze rustled the leaves.

At that moment, a hunched figure slowly emerged from the shadow of a large tree.

It was none other than the Dragon God Douluo, Mu En.

Leaning on his cane, he shuffled to the spot where Bei Bei had just been sent flying and lowered his head to examine the remaining traces on the ground.

Then he raised his head and looked toward the direction Li Changqing had left, a contemplative gleam flickering in his clouded old eyes.

"Great-Grandfather?" Bei Bei's voice sounded from behind him.

Mu En turned around and saw that Bei Bei had somehow returned.

He stood beneath the moonlight, looking at him with a complicated expression.

"Great-Grandfather, you saw everything?" Bei Bei asked.

Mu En nodded without denying it.

Bei Bei fell silent for a moment, then spoke bitterly. "Great-Grandfather, he's very strong. I'm no match for him."

A rare sense of defeat colored his voice as he said those words.

As Mu En's descendant and the inheritor of the Radiant Sacred Dragon, he had always been quite confident in his talent and strength.

Among his peers, he rarely encountered an opponent.

But in today's battle against Li Changqing, he had felt that all-encompassing suppression for the first time.

Whether it was soul power, martial soul, or combat awareness, he had been inferior in every respect.

Yet Mu En merely smiled calmly and said in an even tone, "That's normal. That child's soul power rank is higher than yours, and the quality of his martial soul is exceptionally powerful as well. There's no shame in losing to him."

Bei Bei raised his head, his eyes holding both reluctance and confusion. "Great-Grandfather, just what is the origin of Li Changqing's martial soul? Is he really only an unaffiliated soul master?"

Mu En was silent for a while before slowly replying, "Yes. I had someone investigate him. He is indeed an unaffiliated soul master and has no connection to the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. You can rest assured of that."

He paused, then continued, "As for the origin of his martial soul... to be honest, I couldn't tell either. The Heavenly Profound and Earthly Yellow Exquisite Pagoda is a name I've heard for the first time as well. No similar record has ever appeared on the continent."

Bei Bei could not help feeling disappointed at those words.

Even Great-Grandfather could not identify it. The origins of that martial soul were far too mysterious.

Mu En seemed to see through his thoughts. He smiled, stretched out a withered hand, and gently patted Bei Bei's shoulder. "But it's not a major problem. Take it slowly. Since he has come to Shrek Academy, there will be plenty of time to understand him in the future. There's no need to rush."

Bei Bei nodded thoughtfully.

Mu En withdrew his hand and, leaning on his cane, slowly turned beneath Bei Bei's gaze and walked into the depths of the night, leaving behind only a meaningful sentence that drifted away on the wind:

"It seems Shrek Academy's position as the dominant power can stand firm for another ten thousand years..."