Chaos Everywhere

Mu En's furious roar shook the entire Sea God's Pavilion until it hummed.

Dust rained down from the ceiling, the window frames trembled, and the teacups on the table clinked violently.

Yan Shaozhe hurriedly supported him, afraid that he might pass out from sheer agitation. He patted Mu En's back to help him catch his breath while trying to soothe him.

"Please calm down, Teacher! Your health comes first—don't let anger harm your body! As for that bastard Xuan Zi, it won't be too late to deal with him when he comes back!"

Ma Xiaotao stood to one side, utterly bewildered by Mu En's furious state. She had no idea what had happened.

Hadn't she merely wanted to find a student who could help put out her fire? How had that made the old man this angry?

She cautiously asked, "Teacher, what exactly happened? Is there something wrong with that student? Did he make some mistake and get expelled?"

Mu En took a deep breath, then another, and then several more before barely managing to suppress the fury in his heart. Even so, his blood pressure continued surging in waves, his temples throbbing as though the blood vessels in his brain were about to burst.

He waved a hand, his voice carrying fatigue and helplessness.

"Xiaotao, go back first. We'll discuss this later. That student... he is no longer at Shrek. Don't mention him again in the future. Just pretend you never met him."

Ma Xiaotao froze for a moment upon hearing that, then her expression instantly changed.

"He's gone?!"

Her eyes widened until they were perfectly round, burning blood-red as she panted like an ox, and wisps of black flame began to emerge from her body.

The flames carried a scorching heat that twisted and warped the surrounding air, leaving charred marks burnt into the floor.

She had finally found someone who could help extinguish her fire, and now that person was gone?

Then who was she supposed to find to put it out in the future?!

At the thought that the comfortable feeling had been the last time, she felt the evil fire within her begin to stir again, as though it were about to break through its seal and rage wildly inside her.

Black flames erupted from her body with growing intensity, and she resembled a volcano on the verge of eruption, radiating an aura that made one's heart tremble as the temperature throughout the Sea God's Pavilion rose sharply.

Sensing the scorching heat, Yan Shaozhe hastily retreated several steps. Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his clothes were already soaked through.

He knew that Ma Xiaotao's evil fire was beginning to lose control again.

If they did not find a solution quickly, the consequences would be unimaginable. She might even burn down the entire Sea God's Pavilion.

Seeing Ma Xiaotao on the verge of going berserk, Mu En felt dizzy, his blood pressure shooting up another notch as spots began dancing before his eyes.

He clutched his forehead and slumped weakly against the chair. It felt as though this bunch of troublesome juniors would be the death of him. If he had known, he never would have taken on this mess in the first place.

While Shrek was in complete chaos, the Sun Moon Empire was no calmer. Zhi An was nearly exploding with anger!

He had handwritten a document on forging, recording in detail the properties of different metals, their smelting temperatures, forging techniques, and methods for creating soul tool cores.

It had been written with perfect clarity. He had practically chewed the food up and fed it straight into Xiao Hongchen's mouth.

Yet that idiot Xiao Hongchen had failed to make any use whatsoever of the Three-Legged Golden Toad's affinity for metal.

He only knew that he possessed an innate special sense for metal, allowing him to distinguish the quality and properties of various metals. Beyond that, he knew nothing.

He had never bothered to investigate it further or consider why he possessed such a sense.

Nor had he tried to figure out how to use that sense to improve his forging.

As a result, the ability had never been developed at all. It was merely an instinctive reaction, like someone knowing how to breathe without ever considering the principles behind breathing.

His mind contained nothing but soul tools. Aside from studying their structures and principles, he was indifferent to everything else. He was a complete soul tool fanatic and knew absolutely nothing about forging.

And that was what had led to the current situation.

Meng Hongchen clung tightly to Zhi An's waist, her arms locked around him like iron hoops. Her entire body hung from him as she desperately dragged him backward, her face flushed red, veins bulging across her forehead as she used every ounce of strength she had.

Zhi An, meanwhile, gripped his sword and angrily tried to rush forward and chop someone up. His eyes were so vicious that he looked ready to devour someone alive, killing intent pouring from him as though he wanted to hack Xiao Hongchen into countless pieces.

Xiao Hongchen desperately ran toward the headmaster's office, shouting as he ran. His cries were as shrill as a pig being slaughtered, and tears were nearly spraying from his eyes.

"Grandpa, save me! Grandpa, save me! Zhi An is trying to kill me! He wants to kill me! Come save me! If you don't come soon, you'll never see your beloved grandson again!"

Zhi An struggled as he roared.

"Little Meng, let go! If I don't slash him once today, my Dao heart will become unstable! Let me cut him just once, only once! I promise I won't kill him! I'll only beat him half to death! Enough to make him remember this!"

The students passing by were all dumbfounded at the sight, their mouths hanging open and eyes wide as though they had witnessed something unbelievable.

"Holy shit! Was that white-haired guy who just ran past Xiao Hongchen? Am I seeing things?"

"He actually has a day when someone chases him down with a blade? The sun must be rising in the west!"

"Extra, extra! The headmaster's grandson, the arrogant and untouchable Xiao Hongchen, has been chased with a sword from the east of the Sun Moon Empire to the west, then from the west all the way to the center! Live coverage, guaranteed genuine!"

"Who's that sword-wielding kid? He's insane! He even dares to chase Xiao Hongchen down and hack at him? Isn't he afraid the headmaster will retaliate? His guts are enormous!"

"What do you know? That's Zhi An. They say he came from some reclusive family. Even the headmaster treats him politely. Xiao Hongchen acts like a grandson in front of him and barely dares to breathe."

"Tsk, tsk, who would've thought? Xiao Hongchen finally has a day like this. What a satisfying sight! He deserves it for always acting so arrogant. Let's see whether he still dares to show off after this!"

Hearing the commotion outside, Jing Hongchen frowned and stepped out of his office. Then he saw Xiao Hongchen scrambling over in a panic, hiding behind him while trembling all over.

He sighed and looked at Xiao Hongchen's miserable appearance before asking helplessly.

"Xiao, how did you make him angry again? Didn't I tell you to learn from him properly? What did you do this time?"

He truly feared that the people behind Zhi An would come forward. He was only a mere ninth-rank soul engineer—he was afraid he would not be able to handle it.

Though Meng Hongchen was dragging him back, Zhi An still roared furiously.

"This bastard deserves a beating! Thousand forging—even just thousand forging—can increase a soul tool's power by thirty percent!"

"And this bastard told me he has never used his talent for sensing metal! Not once! Tell me, does he deserve a beating or not?!"

Jing Hongchen remained completely confused, having no idea what thousand forging meant. He looked at Xiao Hongchen and asked.

"What thousand forging? What trouble have you caused now?"

Zhi An shot Xiao Hongchen a glare and barked, "Show the headmaster! Let him see the good work you've done!"

Xiao Hongchen shuddered and hurriedly took out the document on forging from his storage soul tool, respectfully handing it to Jing Hongchen.

There was not much of it, only covering up to the thousand-forging level, but its contents were already shocking enough.

Jing Hongchen accepted the document and began reading. The more he read, the grimmer his expression became, and the wider his eyes grew. By the end, even his hands were trembling slightly.

After finishing it, he fell silent for a moment. Then he raised his head and looked at Xiao Hongchen as though he were staring at a prodigal son.

Without another word, he took out a rope from his storage soul tool and quickly tied Xiao Hongchen into a cocoon, binding him so tightly that he could not move.

He dusted off his hands and said to Zhi An, "Hit him. Just leave him breathing. Don't beat him to death—I still need this little bastard to support me in my old age and see me off."