Conflict

"Hey, you look awfully familiar, buddy. Where are you from?"

A Blue Sunshine Academy student approached with ill intent, draping an arm over Dai Mubai's shoulder as he spoke with a grin.

Bang!

Dai Mubai stretched lazily, but his fist slammed solidly into the Blue Sunshine Academy student's abdomen. The latter's face changed as he was sent flying backward, crashing heavily into the hotel wall.

"Oh dear, sorry. I didn't see you there!"

Dai Mubai curled his lips in an extremely provocative smile.

That completely enraged the Blue Sunshine Academy students. They rushed forward as one, but Xiao Wu darted out from the side. With Martial Soul Possession, two yellow Soul Rings appeared around her, standing in stark contrast to the white and yellow rings on the Blue Sunshine Academy students. How could a group of ordinary students with only Soul Master-level cultivation possibly stand against Xiao Wu, a level-29 Rogue Rabbit?

After a round of miserable screams, all of those students lay sprawled across the floor.

"Kid, which sect are you from? Are you trying to make enemies of Blue Sunshine Academy?"

Ye Zhiqiu could no longer sit still. He had not expected the students under his charge to be so utterly vulnerable. With so many people watching, if he, their supervising teacher, did not act, how would Blue Sunshine Academy maintain its standing in the Soul Master world?

"Don't make such a fuss, Uncle! We're just sparring!"

"You want to spar?"

Ye Zhiqiu snorted coldly. A powerful surge of Soul Power erupted from his body, and five Soul Rings—one white, two yellow, and two purple—pulsed around him. Though that Soul Ring configuration was not exceptional, he was still a genuine Soul King!

Faced with the pressure of a Soul King, everyone from Shrek Academy rose to their feet. Su Sanjia, however, showed no intention of getting up. In his eyes, Dai Mubai had simply gone looking for trouble. Only an idiot would provoke a high-level Soul Master so unreasonably.

Meanwhile, Dai Mubai and the others had already clashed with Ye Zhiqiu. They used every trick they had and did manage to make the Soul King suffer a little, but a Soul King was still a Soul King. Even Dai Mubai was only a level-37 Soul Elder, two whole major ranks below him. Sure enough, when Ye Zhiqiu used his fifth soul skill, the Shrek Academy group was instantly defeated. Ma Hongjun, who had faced Mysterious Water Surge head-on, possessed a Martial Soul that countered Ye Zhiqiu's, yet the enormous gap in Soul Power still brought him down in an instant. Had Ning Rongrong not promptly boosted his speed, Ma Hongjun would have suffered badly.

"Brother Sanjia, stop watching the show! That old turtle's way too strong! We can't hold on!"

The bedraggled Ma Hongjun could not help shouting at Su Sanjia. Only then did everyone notice Su Sanjia, who had remained as immovable as a mountain. His leisurely manner completely enraged Dai Mubai and Xiao Wu.

"Su Sanjia, what are you doing? Why aren't you helping?"

"Why aren't I helping?"

Su Sanjia wiped his mouth.

"Wasn't this trouble caused by you? You provoked them for no reason, so if you're suffering now, you brought it on yourselves! The dean did say that those who dared not cause trouble were mediocre, but the premise was that you had to be able to bear the consequences of the trouble you caused!"

Su Sanjia did not entirely agree with Flender's teaching philosophy, but he had no interest in changing anyone else's mind. What others chose to do was their business. Su Sanjia did not like causing trouble; he hated the feeling of being tangled up in endless hassles.

"Kid, you're with them too, aren't you?"

However, Ye Zhiqiu had already been angered senseless by being called an old turtle. From the words exchanged between Su Sanjia and Dai Mubai's group, he had only gathered that Su Sanjia was also a student of Shrek Academy. Cold air churned in his mouth as Mysterious Water Surge blasted mercilessly toward Su Sanjia!

"Tch!"

Su Sanjia frowned impatiently. He had clearly done nothing, yet this disaster had landed right on his head!

Su Sanjia raised one hand, golden light flickering at his fingertips. A heart-palpitating aura of destruction spread out, followed by a Laser Beam that collided with Ye Zhiqiu's attack. The two forces fought evenly against each other. With the cultivation of a level-40 Soul Ancestor, Su Sanjia directly confronted Ye Zhiqiu, a level-50 Soul King. For a time, neither could gain the upper hand.

Ye Zhiqiu's expression changed drastically.

His Mysterious Water Surge was his fifth soul skill, the most powerful of all his soul skills. Yet with his five-ring cultivation, he could not handle that kid? What kind of joke was this? That brat was barely older than the other little punks!

And judging by the boy's expression, he seemed quite relaxed.

This could not continue!

The instant Su Sanjia made his move, Ye Zhiqiu's anger vanished completely. Ye Zhiqiu was no fool. He had brought his students here to hunt Soul Rings, not to make enemies. That boy could clash head-on with a Soul King at such a young age—how could someone with that level of talent and strength possibly be without elders at his side?

Thinking of this, he hurriedly reduced his Soul Power output. Su Sanjia noticed as well. With a shared unspoken understanding, the collision came to an abrupt stop.

"Perfect chance, brothers! Get him!"

Seeing Ye Zhiqiu stop attacking, Dai Mubai assumed the man had exhausted too much Soul Power. Activating the White Tiger Vajra Transformation, he was just about to charge forward when Su Sanjia grabbed him and held him back.

"Su Sanjia! What are you doing?"

Dai Mubai had never been a particularly agreeable person. Beneath his arrogant exterior lay a dark heart forged amid the struggle for the throne among the princes of the Star Luo Empire. Su Sanjia's decision to stand by and watch had already made him dissatisfied. Now, when Su Sanjia tried to stop him at such an opportunity, hatred began to grow alongside his anger.

"Shut up!"

Su Sanjia rebuked him without mercy.

"Did you only listen to half of what the dean said? Those who don't dare cause trouble are mediocre... but you, a Soul Elder, want to provoke a Soul King?"

Su Sanjia cupped his hands toward Ye Zhiqiu, at least showing him some respect. Ye Zhiqiu naturally took the offered way out, snorting coldly as he looked at Dai Mubai with particular displeasure.

"Your academy's students are quite talented, but their temperaments still need tempering!"

With that, Ye Zhiqiu, fearing that other experts might be nearby, left in disgrace with his students.

Once Ye Zhiqiu had left, Dai Mubai finally could not hold it in any longer.

"Su Sanjia, what the hell were you doing? We're a team. Why didn't you help when we were facing that Soul King?"

Yet Su Sanjia did not even spare him a glance.

"You caused this trouble yourself, so you expect everyone else to shoulder it with you? You say those Soul Masters were arrogant? How many Soul Masters on Douluo Continent aren't arrogant? Aren't you the same?"

"Did they provoke you? Did they offend you? You provoked a Soul King. Let me ask you: if Teacher Zhao and the others hadn't been here today, were you going to lead your junior brothers and sisters to their deaths?"

Su Sanjia showed no mercy. Dai Mubai's face shifted between green and pale. He instinctively wanted to argue, yet he did not know what he could argue against. In the end, he could only snort stubbornly.

Naturally, none of this escaped the notice of Zhao Wuji and the other three teachers. Li Yusong, the most impulsive of them, had long wanted to rush in, but Zhao Wuji stopped him.

"Enough. Letting the little monsters suffer a bit isn't a bad thing! Especially that brat Mubai! Still, we can't just let this go!"

Zhao Wuji agreed with Su Sanjia's viewpoint, but as a teacher of the academy, seeing his students bullied meant that, right or wrong, he had to stand up for them.

"I'm heading out. You two keep an eye on the little monsters!"

Though reality had changed somewhat due to Su Sanjia's appearance, Ye Zhiqiu still could not escape a beating.

And because of this incident, the relationship between Dai Mubai and Su Sanjia, which had only been that of ordinary friends to begin with, grew even worse.