Xue Beng's Fury, First Meeting with Meng Shenji

Lin Chen held Xiao Wu's hand in one hand and Zhu Zhuqing's in the other, walking steadily through the crowd toward the cafeteria. Sunlight filtered through the gaps in the plane tree leaves, falling over him and casting mottled shadows at his feet.

After being led along for a while, Xiao Wu looked back at the students still chattering behind them, then turned to look at Lin Chen's profile.

His expression was calm—so calm that it seemed as though nothing had happened.

"Lin Chen," Xiao Wu called.

"Hmm?"

"That slap you gave him was so cool."

Lin Chen smiled. "Was it?"

"Of course!" Xiao Wu's eyes sparkled. "You should've seen Xue Beng's face when he went flying. He looked like a squashed eggplant! Hahaha! That was hilarious!"

She laughed happily, but after she finished, her brows furrowed with concern. "But he is still a prince. You hit him, so he won't let this go."

"I know."

"So what are you going to do?"

"If soldiers come, generals will stop them; if water comes, earth will block it," Lin Chen said. "If he dares come looking for trouble again, I won't mind giving him another slap."

Seeing how unconcerned he looked, most of Xiao Wu's worries suddenly faded.

She had known Lin Chen for six years and knew that he never did anything without confidence. Since he had dared to hit Xue Beng, he must have a way to deal with the trouble that followed.

"Fine, I'll follow you anyway." Xiao Wu linked her arm through his and said with a grin, "Wherever you go, I'll go."

Lin Chen looked down at her, smiling as he ruffled her hair.

Zhu Zhuqing walked on Lin Chen's other side, silent the entire time.

Unlike Xiao Wu, she neither joked around nor voiced any worries. She simply walked quietly with her head lowered, watching the tips of her shoes move forward step by step.

Yet her heart was far from calm.

When Xue Beng had reached out to touch Xiao Wu's face, she had instinctively taken half a step back. It was not out of fear, but an instinctive revulsion.

She had thought she was already used to it.

But when Lin Chen stepped forward and sent Xue Beng flying with a slap, her heart still skipped a beat.

The feeling of being shielded behind someone, of being protected, was something she had not experienced in a very long time. The last time she had felt it was when she was very young, when her mother was still alive.

She secretly glanced up at Lin Chen.

Sunlight fell over the sharply defined contours of his profile. His expression was calm and composed, as though he had not just slapped a prince, but merely swatted away a buzzing fly.

Zhu Zhuqing withdrew her gaze and lowered her head, her lips pressing together unconsciously.

She said nothing, but somewhere deep in her heart, something seemed to have loosened a little more than it had yesterday.

The three entered the cafeteria and found seats by a window. Lin Chen went to the serving counter and returned with three breakfasts.

Halfway through their meal, a commotion suddenly arose at the cafeteria entrance.

A group of people crowded around a figure as they entered.

At the front was none other than Xue Beng, the one who had been beaten earlier.

Half his face was still swollen and covered in ointment, gleaming slickly in the sunlight. His expression was so gloomy it seemed ready to drip water, while vicious flames burned in his eyes, as though he wanted to devour someone alive.

Behind him followed seven or eight burly teachers and guards with no weak auras.

The moment Xue Beng entered the cafeteria, his eyes locked onto Lin Chen by the window.

He strode over, with the teachers and guards close behind him. They looked imposing and aggressive. Wherever they passed, students lowered their heads and made way, not even daring to breathe loudly.

The atmosphere in the entire cafeteria instantly dropped to freezing point.

Xiao Wu put down the bun in her hand and narrowed her eyes. Zhu Zhuqing also set down her chopsticks. Though she did not look up, her body had already tensed slightly, like a cat ready to pounce at any moment.

Lin Chen, however, acted as if he had not seen them and continued drinking his porridge at an unhurried pace.

Xue Beng stopped in front of Lin Chen's table.

He looked down at Lin Chen, the rage in his eyes nearly bursting forth.

He had lived for fourteen years. As the fourth prince of the Heaven Dou Empire, no one had ever dared lay a finger on him from childhood until now. Forget hitting him—no one had even dared curse at him.

Yet today, he had been slapped in public.

That slap had not only destroyed his face, but also stripped away his dignity as a man.

He had gone to the infirmary for an examination just now. The school doctor had told him that an extremely strange power inside his body had damaged part of his meridians. Though it was not life-threatening, he might be unable to have children in the future.

Unable to have children.

What did that mean for a prince? It meant he had lost the right to compete for the throne. A prince unable to continue the bloodline was nothing but a cripple in the royal family's eyes.

Xue Beng wanted nothing more than to tear Lin Chen into ten thousand pieces.

"Kid." He spoke, his voice hoarse from suppressed rage. "Do you know what you've done?"

Lin Chen put down his spoon, raised his head, and looked at him.

"I do," he said. "I slapped a barking dog."

Xue Beng's face instantly flushed the color of liver.

A middle-aged man who looked like a teacher stepped forward from behind him and shouted sternly, "Insolent! Do you know who stands before you? His Highness, the fourth prince of the Heaven Dou Empire! You are a mere commoner, yet you dare attack a prince. What crime should you be charged with?!"

Lin Chen glanced at the teacher, his tone calm. "He harassed my friend first. I slapped him. What's the problem?"

"You!"

"Enough." Xue Beng raised a hand to stop the teacher, then stepped forward and leaned closer to Lin Chen, lowering his voice.

"Kid, I admit I underestimated you. But remember this: this is Heaven Dou City. This is my territory. You're just an outsider. What makes you think you can fight me?"

His voice carried unconcealed menace and malice. "Do you think slapping me means this is over? Let me tell you, it isn't over. I won't spare either of those two girls beside you. I'll make them kneel before me and beg for mercy. I'll make them regret following you today. And as for you, I'll make your life worse than death. I'll make you regret ever coming into this world."

After saying that, he straightened up with a savage smile on his face.

"Just wait."

He turned, preparing to leave.

Then someone grabbed the back of his collar.

Xue Beng was yanked back by a tremendous force, stumbling several steps and nearly falling. He turned around in shock to see Lin Chen already standing, one hand gripping his collar while the other still held half a bowl of porridge.

Lin Chen's expression remained mostly unchanged, but his eyes had changed.

A layer of frost seemed to have formed in those black eyes, so cold that it sent chills down one's spine.

"You just said," Lin Chen's voice was soft, as though he were discussing something utterly insignificant, "that you would make my friends kneel before you and beg for mercy?"

Xue Beng felt a chill in his heart beneath that gaze, but with so many people watching, he could not show weakness. He forced a cold laugh. "What? Scared? If you are, kneel and kowtow three times to this prince, then send those two girls to my bed. If I'm in a good mood, I might even spare you—ugh!!"

He did not get to finish.

Lin Chen dumped the half-bowl of porridge over his face.

The millet porridge was still warm, pasting his entire face in a sticky mess. It ran down his chin and dripped onto his luxurious brocade robe, leaving him in an utterly miserable state.

The entire cafeteria fell silent.

Everyone was stunned.

If that earlier slap had struck Xue Beng's face, then this bowl of porridge was like grinding that face into the ground.

Xue Beng stood frozen in place like a statue splashed with paint. Porridge dripped down his cheeks as his expression shifted constantly beneath it.

First came shock, then fury, and finally a near-mad hatred.

"AAAAARGH!!!"

He roared in rage, wiping the porridge off his face. Like an enraged bull, he lunged at Lin Chen. "I'll kill you!!!"

Then he flew again.

This time, Lin Chen did not slap him. He kicked him squarely in the chest.

Xue Beng was sent flying backward, smashing over a dining table behind him. With a loud clatter, dishes and food scattered across the floor. He himself landed sprawled on his back, looking as pathetic as a fish thrown onto shore.

The teachers and guards finally reacted, releasing their martial souls one after another. Soul rings of various colors lit up as they surrounded Lin Chen.

"Bold!"

"Take him down!"

"You dare attack a prince? You've gone too far!"

Lin Chen stood where he was, facing seven or eight hostile Soul Masters without any change in expression.

His right hand lifted slightly. A gray mark emerged in his palm, and five nine-colored soul rings slowly rose, circling around his body.

When the teachers and guards saw those five soul rings, all of them froze.

Five rings.

A Soul King.

A twelve-year-old Soul King.

The expressions of those teachers became extremely varied—shock, disbelief, hesitation, all tangled together.

They were all Soul Ancestors, with the strongest only in his fifties. If they truly fought, they might not be able to subdue this youth with certainty.

And besides, could the force behind a twelve-year-old Soul King possibly be simple?

What if he was a direct disciple of some great sect or influential clan? If they acted rashly and angered someone they should not, the consequences would not be something they could bear.

For a moment, both sides remained locked in a standoff.

The students in the cafeteria did not dare breathe. They watched from far away, not even daring to continue eating.

Just then, an authoritative voice rang out from the cafeteria entrance.

"What are you all doing?!"

Everyone looked toward the voice and saw an elderly man in a dark green robe striding in. He appeared to be in his sixties, with a head full of white hair, yet his steps were steady and his gaze sharp. He exuded an imposing authority even without anger.

"Councilor!" The teachers saw him, immediately withdrawing their martial souls and bowing in salute.

The newcomer was Meng Shenji, a councilor of the Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

One of the powerful experts supported by the Heaven Dou Empire's royal family, an eighty-third-rank Soul Douluo.

Meng Shenji swept his eyes over the mess, then looked at Xue Beng groaning on the floor. At last, his gaze settled on Lin Chen.

His eyes lingered for a few seconds on the five nine-colored soul rings around Lin Chen. A flicker of surprise crossed his gaze, but it quickly returned to calm.

"What happened?" he asked in a deep voice.

A teacher hurried forward and explained what had happened in a low voice.

He was fairly objective, neither deliberately favoring Xue Beng nor belittling Lin Chen, simply recounting the events as they had occurred.

Meng Shenji fell silent for a moment after listening.

Then he walked over to Lin Chen, examined him from head to toe, and asked, "You are Lin Chen, the new student who enrolled yesterday?"

"That's me."

"Twelve years old, fifty-sixth-rank Soul King?"

"Yes."

Meng Shenji was silent for a moment before saying something that left everyone dumbfounded.

"Well done."

The entire cafeteria was stunned.

Xue Beng even sprang up from the ground, staring at Meng Shenji in disbelief. "Councilor?! What did you say?!"

Meng Shenji turned toward him. His gaze was calm, but his tone carried unquestionable authority. "Prince Xue Beng, this is not the first day you have behaved recklessly in my Heaven Dou Royal Academy. In the past, out of consideration for the royal family, I turned a blind eye and did not pursue the matter. But today, you harassed a female student first, and student Lin Chen disciplined you afterward. By both reason and sentiment, you are at fault."

He paused before continuing, "If you are dissatisfied, you may return and complain to your father, the emperor. But let me make this clear: Heaven Dou Royal Academy is a place for cultivating Soul Masters, not a place for you to indulge your desires. If you still wish to study here, restrain your behavior. If you do not, the gate is over there. You may leave whenever you wish."

Xue Beng's face alternated between green and white, his teeth grinding audibly.

He shot Lin Chen a vicious glare, then glared at Meng Shenji. In the end, he flicked his sleeve and strode away.

The teachers and guards looked at each other, then hurried after him.

The cafeteria fell quiet again.

Meng Shenji watched Xue Beng's departing back and sighed softly. Then he turned to Lin Chen, his tone much gentler. "Student Lin Chen, come with me to my office. I have something to discuss with you."

Lin Chen nodded and turned to Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing. "Keep eating. I'll be back soon."

Xiao Wu nodded, and Zhu Zhuqing gave a slight nod as well.

Lin Chen followed Meng Shenji out of the cafeteria.

Sunlight spilled across his back, warm and comforting.

He knew this matter would not end so easily. Xue Beng would not let it go, and neither would the royal family.

But he was not afraid.

If soldiers came, generals would stop them; if water came, earth would block it.

Lin Chen had never been someone afraid of trouble.