Shrek's Guest Elders

"Hold it!"

Flender suddenly called out to Hu Liena, who was about to leave.

Hu Liena turned around and looked at Flender. "Don't tell me you're planning to go back on your word and jack up the price?"

Xie Yue frowned slightly. "No wonder this shop is so deserted. It turns out it's a scam shop."

Flender dropped all pretense. "Buy it or don't. This stone is worth two hundred Gold Soul Coins now."

As Hu Liena put away the Gold Soul Coin on the table, she said, "Fine, two hundred. No backing out."

Flender said blandly, "Five hundred. That's final."

Xie Yue slammed the table in fury. "This is outright extortion, you unscrupulous merchant!"

Holding the stone, Hu Liena turned and left, unwilling to spare that crooked merchant another glance.

"Brother, it doesn't matter. Give it to him. We have plenty of money anyway."

Xie Yue took out two money bags and set them on the table, then turned to leave with Hu Liena.

Just as Flender was about to stop them, a powerful spiritual pressure suddenly swept in from outside the door. He could not help but grunt, ultimately forced to swallow his words.

Xie Yue and Hu Liena left the scam shop unharmed, walking side by side toward the Rose Hotel.

Flender wiped away the trace of blood at the corner of his mouth and turned his gaze toward the two youths entering the shop.

The blue-haired youth wore a gentle smile throughout. "My apologies. It seems I hit a little too hard. Are you all right, Dean Flender?"

Hostility immediately rose in Flender's heart. "Who exactly are you two?"

The blue-haired youth picked up a folding fan displayed in the shop and said with an elegant air:

"My name is Huo Yuhao. The two who just bought the stone are my friends. Seeing you bully them so excessively, I gave you a small warning. I was a little heavy-handed, so please forgive me."

The black-haired youth beside Huo Yuhao clasped his fists. "My name is Tang Wulin. I came here with my brother this time because we wish to offer your academy a helping hand."

Flender raised an eyebrow. "Help? What do you mean?"

Tang Wulin replied, "Our friends heard that your academy only accepts monsters and found it quite interesting, so they wanted to come here and study. My brother and I were worried about the two of them, so we wanted to become guest elders of your academy..."

After understanding their intentions, Flender immediately smiled. "So you want to personally oversee their growth."

He rubbed his fingertips, the corners of his mouth curling upward. "That's easy enough. As long as the money is right."

Huo Yuhao smiled helplessly and took out six Profound Spirit Pills he had refined himself, showing them to Flender.

"These are Profound Spirit Pills. Each one can permanently increase a Soul Master's Soul Power by five levels. However, each person can only take one, because taking another will have no effect. Furthermore, this medicine is ineffective on Soul Masters at the Titled Douluo rank and above."

Flender's eyes widened in disbelief. "Where did something this precious come from?"

Huo Yuhao shrugged. "I refined them myself. But I've run out of materials, so there won't be any more of these pills. What do you think? Can we become guest elders of Shrek Academy now?"

Flender still wanted to extort more money, so he pretended to ponder for a moment before saying hesitantly:

"Though the pills are precious, they aren't very useful to me. I don't particularly care about gaining those five levels of Soul Power. If you two could add a little something extra, perhaps I could consider it further."

Tang Wulin's mouth twitched. This crooked merchant was truly black-hearted!

Huo Yuhao smiled calmly. "Just because you don't want them doesn't mean others won't crave them. If you sell them for money, wouldn't you make a fortune? These pills must be worth a fortune."

Tang Wulin nodded in agreement. "Exactly. If you don't want them, we can sell them ourselves and give you the money instead. It's all the same."

Flender glanced at Huo Yuhao and silently grumbled to himself:

This brat is pretty clever. As if I'd ever make a losing deal. This is the first time I've suffered a loss, and this kid has me completely under his thumb.

With that thought, Flender took the pills from Huo Yuhao and agreed to let Huo Yuhao and Tang Wulin become guest elders of Shrek Academy.

Holding the fan in his left hand, Huo Yuhao placed a small bag of money on the table with his right, then turned and left the shop with Tang Wulin.

"I know your things are expensive. Fifty Gold Soul Coins for a folding fan. Keep the change."

Watching Huo Yuhao's departing back, Flender's mouth twitched.

That kid was really slippery. He was even more cunning than me.

Flender frowned slightly. "Just where did these two come from? I can't see through them at all."

Suotuo City, Rose Hotel.

Hu Liena questioned the front desk attendant, "Such a large hotel, and you're already out of rooms?"

The attendant replied, "I'm terribly sorry, miss. The last vacant room has already been reserved."

At that moment, a blond youth surrounded by three young girls walked over. One hand rested on the front desk as he looked at Hu Liena.

"I reserved that room."

Xie Yue pulled his younger sister Hu Liena behind him, keeping her some distance away from the playboy before them.

"Since that is the case, there's nothing more for us to say. Still, I suggest your hotel put up a sign at the front desk saying that you're full. It would save everyone's time."

Hu Liena immediately asked in confusion, "Brother, where can we go to rest now?"

Seeing this, the blond youth, Dai Mubai, said to them, "You two seem fairly polite. How about this? If the two of you can defeat me, I'll give you the last room."

Xie Yue smiled. "Thank you for your generosity. We really haven't thought of anywhere else to go for the moment, so I won't refuse. I alone will be enough to face you."

Hu Liena covered her mouth and giggled. "You must be some rich young master, right? I didn't expect you to be so generous."

Dai Mubai raised an eyebrow. "Are you looking down on me?"

Xie Yue and Dai Mubai walked to an open area and stood facing each other, both fully prepared for battle.

"The match begins!"

At Hu Liena's command, the two moved at the same time.

"White Tiger Radiant Wave!"

The white light gleaming around Dai Mubai condensed into a beam and shot swiftly toward Xie Yue.

"Full Moon Shield!"

Xie Yue formed a closed-loop full moon with two Moon Blades. Spinning at high speed, it effortlessly deflected the White Tiger Radiant Wave.

The next instant, Xie Yue switched from defense to offense. The Full Moon split apart, turning back into two Moon Blades that flew toward Dai Mubai.

Seeing this, Dai Mubai immediately activated the White Tiger Body-Protecting Barrier to resist the Moon Blades.

Hu Liena chuckled. "With that little defense of yours, you think you can block my brother's Crescent Blades?"

Dai Mubai noticed that the Moon Blades were not slowing down but growing faster, their attacks becoming ever sharper and fiercer. The pressure on him mounted, and he stopped holding back.

"White Tiger Vajra Transformation!"

Dai Mubai's defense instantly increased, becoming far stronger than before. He easily blocked Xie Yue's Crescent Blades.

Xie Yue gave a wicked smile. "Just because you can increase your defense, does that mean I can't increase my attack power?"