Mu En's Skyrocketing Blood Pressure

The next morning, sunlight streamed through the windows of Sea God's Pavilion, casting dappled shadows across the floor. Fine dust floated in the air, drifting slowly through the beams of light.

Mu En sat quietly inside Sea God's Pavilion, gazing calmly out the window as though admiring the scenery—or waiting for something.

His fingers lightly tapped against the table, producing a steady tap-tap sound that was especially clear in the quiet room. Every tap seemed like a countdown.

Bang!

The meeting room doors were shoved open roughly.

The force was so great that the door slammed into the wall with a loud crash, shaking dust from the ceiling. Even the teacups on the table jumped.

Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe stumbled inside.

The two had deliberately made themselves look exceptionally miserable, their clothes tattered as though something had torn them apart.

Their hair was a mess, and several streaks of grime marked their faces. They looked like refugees who had just fled a battlefield.

The moment they entered, they dropped to their knees with a thud, their knees striking the floor with a dull sound that hurt just to hear.

Then the two began to wail. Their cries were so miserable that one might have thought their fathers had died. Tears and snot streamed down their faces as they threw themselves wholeheartedly into the act.

Xuan Zi cried out through tears and snot.

"Elder Mu, we almost didn't make it back this time! That shadow was too terrifying! We were no match for it at all!"

Yan Shaozhe chimed in as well, his voice carrying a tremble of lingering fear. His acting was no worse than Xuan Zi's.

"Teacher, even Lord Sea God was injured! That shadow's strength was beyond anything we could imagine! We only managed to escape after giving it everything we had!"

The two took turns embellishing their experience in the Far North.

They portrayed themselves as tragic heroes who had fought bravely but ultimately been defeated. Whenever they reached an emotional part, they beat their chests and stamped their feet as though they had suffered some enormous injustice.

Mu En listened to their tearful complaints without the slightest change in expression. He remained as calm as still water and did not even raise his eyelids.

Only after they had finished did he slowly set down his teacup and take a disk from his storage ring.

The disk was entirely silver-white, its surface smooth as a mirror and gleaming faintly with metallic luster beneath the sunlight. It was precisely the one Xuan Xiao had left behind yesterday.

Smack!

Mu En slapped the disk directly onto the table. The sound was not loud, but it rang especially crisply through the quiet room.

It was like a slap across their faces, or a thunderclap exploding beside their ears.

The disk activated on its own, projecting a screen that displayed exactly what Xuan Zi had done in the Far North.

From the moment they arrived in the Far North, to Xuan Zi deliberately refusing to pay.

Then came the scene of the five Titled Douluo being chopped into bloody mist with a single strike. Every detail was crystal clear, without the slightest omission. Even the fortunate expression on Xuan Zi's face at the time had been captured perfectly.

The instant Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe saw the projected footage, their hearts went cold. The color drained from their faces, and they looked as though someone had dumped a basin of ice water over them, chilling them from head to toe.

They had never imagined that someone had been recording them at the time!

And that recording had even ended up in Mu En's hands!

Mu En looked at them with a smile. In their eyes, that smile was uglier than weeping. His voice carried a mocking, sarcastic edge, as though he were toying with two homeless dogs.

"Do you know? To keep this footage from getting out, Shrek had to pay an 180,000-year torso bone!"

At this point, his heart bled. The pain made him twitch, and even his smile became somewhat twisted.

Xuan Xiao had indeed said that he only wanted one hundred-thousand-year soul bone, but he had not wanted any from the legs or arms.

He had picked and chosen for ages, rejecting this one and disdaining that one as if he were buying vegetables.

In the end, Mu En had no choice but to take out a skull bone and a torso bone for Xuan Xiao to choose from. Xuan Xiao had ultimately taken the torso bone.

There was no other reason.

The skull bone was fire-attributed rather than spiritual-attributed, and it was only 110,000 years old.

Xuan Xiao's reason was that he was afraid of frying his brain. What if he really became an idiot someday?

Then he would not even be able to find a girlfriend. Wouldn't that be a terrible loss?

But that torso bone was a full 180,000 years old!

Mu En had not wanted to take it out either, but Shrek's treasury had only that one torso soul bone above one hundred thousand years. He had no other choice, and he had been utterly desperate.

Although it was earth-attributed and did not match Xuan Xiao's wind attribute very well.

It was still 180,000 years old in the end. Its value was not something that 110,000-year skull bone could compare to. The age alone crushed it.

Xuan Xiao had said at the time that although the attributes did not match, he still understood that the higher the age, the better.

He just needed to find a few more girlfriends in the future. He might not be able to use it, but perhaps one of his future girlfriends could.

When Mu En heard that, he had nearly spat out a mouthful of blood.

An 180,000-year torso bone was being treated like a tool for picking up girls?

What kind of freak was this brat?

After hearing Mu En's words, Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe were completely dumbfounded. They slumped onto the floor, pale as ashes, as though their souls had been pulled from their bodies. Even their breathing became faint.

They knew they had truly fallen this time.

Not only had they fallen, they had fallen completely. They had lost even their underwear, and Shrek's entire fortune had been squandered because of them.

Mu En's gaze fell on Yan Shaozhe, his voice carrying a hint of disappointment and frustration.

"Shaozhe, why did you have to be the first one to stick your neck out?"

"The first to rush up, the first to get beheaded. Did you think your life was too long?"

Yan Shaozhe lowered his head and did not dare speak. Cold sweat poured down his forehead, trickling along his cheeks and dripping onto the floor, making faint sounds in the quiet room.

Mu En sighed, then shifted his gaze to the trembling Xuan Zi. His eyes were cold as blades, as though they could flay someone alive, and his voice was questioning.

"And you. You knew you couldn't defeat him, so why did you go up there and become the second fool to stick his neck out? Huh? Did you think being Rank 98 made you so impressive?"

Xuan Zi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but swallowed the words when they reached his lips. In the end, he could only lower his head and remain silent, shrinking his neck like a child who had done something wrong.

He knew that he had truly been wrong this time.

Not only had he been wrong, he had been outrageously wrong. He had implicated all of Shrek, causing the academy to lose five Titled Douluo and an 180,000-year torso bone.

He could not bear the responsibility for such a sin.

Seeing their cowardly appearance, the anger in Mu En's heart surged higher and higher. His temples throbbed, but he ultimately forced it down.

He took a deep breath and spoke slowly.

"Treat this matter as a lesson. From now on, use your brains more when you do things."

"There are plenty of people in this world smarter than you. While you think you're plotting against others, perhaps they're plotting against you too."

Xuan Zi and Yan Shaozhe nodded repeatedly like pecking chicks. They did not dare raise the slightest objection, afraid that one more word would earn them a slap from Mu En.

Mu En lifted his teacup and took a sip, wetting his throat before speaking again.

"I'll give you a chance to make up for your mistakes. Go move all the ancient books from the bottom level of Sea God's Pavilion up here. Not a single one may be missing."

Xuan Zi froze for a moment, then raised his severed left hand. Bandages were still wrapped around the stump of his wrist as he asked cautiously.

"E-Elder Mu, should I... should I treat my wound first? My hand is still severed, so moving books won't be very convenient, right?"

Mu En truly wanted to slap him to death now. He slammed his hand onto the table and roared.

"You're a Rank 98 Super Douluo! If you had treated it earlier, it could have been reattached! The wound has already scabbed over, so what are you going to treat now?"

His voice was so loud that all of Sea God's Pavilion buzzed. Even the birds outside the window were startled into flapping away.

Xuan Zi shrank his neck after being yelled at and did not dare say another word. He hurriedly scrambled up, grabbed Yan Shaozhe, and ran downstairs, afraid Mu En would swallow them alive if they moved too slowly.

Watching their pathetic fleeing backs, Mu En let out a long sigh, leaned against his chair, and rubbed his temples.

He felt his blood pressure rising again.