Hearing these words, the private room fell silent for a moment. Tang San reacted first and immediately spoke up,
"Dean, I'll go with you."
Oscar, standing nearby, stood up as well upon seeing this and said,
"Dean, then I should go too."
However, before Oscar could finish speaking, Flender waved a hand to interrupt him directly. He raised a hand to push up the crystal glasses on the bridge of his nose, glanced at Tang San and Oscar, and said flatly,
"No need. Neither of you needs to follow."
"I'm going alone."
Hearing this, Oscar was slightly taken aback.
Tang San frowned as well, saying,
"But Dean—"
"There are no buts." Flender waved a hand and said in a low voice, "No matter what, Gu Ling is only twelve years old, and a Three-Ring Soul Elder to boot."
"For a Soul Saint like me to go cause trouble for him is already bullying the weak to begin with. If I were to bring a whole bunch of you trainees along to surround the kid, would I still want this old face of mine?"
At that, Oscar instantly shut his mouth. Thinking about it carefully, that seemed to be the exact case.
Flender was a Seven-Ring Soul Saint after all, and going to deal with a twelve-year-old Soul Elder was already somewhat dishonorable. If a mighty, swaggering group of Shrek Academy trainees followed him behind, what kind of settling scores would that even be? Anyone who didn't know better would think Shrek Academy was planning to gang up on a twelve-year-old child.
Tang San hesitated for a moment, but ultimately nodded.
"Then please be careful, Dean."
Hearing this, Flender was almost laughed to the point of anger, and said speechlessly,
"Careful?"
"Does your kid overestimate him that much? I admit that reaching the Soul Elder realm at age twelve, with both your second and third soul rings being thousand-year ones, is indeed quite an astonishing talent."
"But talent is talent, and strength is strength."
At this point, a sharp glint flashed in his eyes.
"Between three rings and seven rings, the word talent alone can never bridge the gap."
With that,
Flender wasted no more time. After getting a clear description from Tang San about the general area where Gu Ling currently was and his clothing characteristics, he left the private room all by himself.
Soto Great Soul Arena.
With Flender's cultivation, wanting to find a black-robed youth inside the Great Soul Arena was naturally not a particularly difficult task.
Furthermore, Gu Ling had just finished a rather talked-about bout of soul fighting tonight.
Soft-Boned Enchanting Rabbit versus Spicy Rabbit Head Lover.
In the end, he had indeed kicked the rabbit from the opposite side right off the stage. After asking a few staff members around, Flender quickly pinpointed Gu Ling's location.
Not long after, he was standing in an inconspicuous corner on the second floor, looking through the railing at the black-robed figure down in the hall below.
Around twelve years old, dressed in black, with a slender build—it matched Tang San's description precisely.
So that's him...
Flender narrowed his eyes. He didn't go down immediately; after all, this was still the Great Soul Arena.
What he had told Oscar just now was no joke. The Soto Great Soul Arena had been able to stand firm in Suotuo City for so many years, so naturally it had its own backing and power. A dignified Soul Saint like him wasn't going to ruin the rules here just to teach a junior a lesson, so he simply watched Gu Ling from afar.
Time passed bit by bit. During this period, Gu Ling completed another individual soul duel, and then went to participate in a two-on-two soul duel with Ye Lingling.
The result naturally held no suspense.
With the tacit coordination the two had polished over the past half-year, coupled with Gu Ling's own bizarre spatial-type soul skills, ordinary Soul Elder combinations found it very difficult to pose any threat to them.
After the soul duels ended, Gu Ling and Ye Lingling did not return to the Imperial Dou Team's rest suite, but instead left the Soto Great Soul Arena directly through the competitor passageway.
As for Flender, who had been watching Gu Ling in secret, his eyes narrowed slightly upon seeing this scene. He thought, The young lady by this kid's side isn't bad either. No wonder Hongjun...
Thinking of this, Flender did not show himself right away. Instead, he followed far behind the two until Gu Ling and Ye Lingling completely left the Soto Great Soul Arena and walked into a relatively secluded street. Only then did he tap his toes lightly on a rooftop, and his figure descended from the sky.
Bang!
Accompanied by a muffled sound,
Flender landed solidly in the middle of the street, blocking Gu Ling and Ye Lingling's path right away.
The sudden movement made Ye Lingling stop in her tracks instantly. She instinctively looked at the middle-aged man in front of her, a few extra traces of vigilance in her gaze.
Gu Ling stopped as well. However, when he clearly saw the other party's crystal glasses and somewhat iconic aquiline nose, he had already guessed the man's identity in his heart, thinking to himself:
It seems... Tang San really snitched fast enough after heading back.
Flender looked Gu Ling up and down a few times. Although he had come to stand up for Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, he didn't resort to direct violence right off the bat.
After all, he had actually heard the general sequence of events from Oscar.
Ma Hongjun was in the wrong first—that was something that couldn't be washed away. Thus, what he truly wanted to do today was simply find Gu Ling to get a clear account, and incidentally take the opportunity to discipline this young man.
With that, Flender put his hands behind his back and asked in a deep voice,
"Are you Gu Ling?"
Gu Ling glanced at him and said,
"It's me."
Flender nodded and said,
"Last night at the Lantern Festival, you were the one who injured the people from our Shrek Academy?"
"That's right."
Gu Ling still did not deny it.
Hearing this, Flender frowned slightly. He clearly hadn't expected the other party to admit to it so straightforwardly, so he said,
"Since that's the case, then things are simple."
"Hongjun indeed didn't act right last night, and I've already taught him a lesson for that. But your attacks were far too heavy—he still can't get out of bed even now. Conflicts happen between young people, so teaching someone a lesson is enough. Why beat them into that kind of state?"
Hearing these words, Gu Ling suddenly laughed, saying coldly,
"So what you mean is... your student harassed someone on the street, my friend was bullied, and after I stepped in to stop him, he even dared to unleash his martial soul to attack me, yet I was supposed to hold back my strength?"
Flender's brows furrowed deeply once more, and he said,
"I've already said that Hongjun was in the wrong in this matter."
"But everything should have its limits."
Gu Ling nodded.
"Makes sense."
Flender's expression eased up slightly, thinking that Gu Ling was finally willing to speak reasonably.
However, in the very next second, Gu Ling continued,
"Then I'd also like to ask, what if I hadn't been as strong as them yesterday? Then he gets angry from embarrassment and beats me up, and Dai Mubai comes up to help, beating me into a serious injury."
"Would you also run out at that time and tell them—everything should have its limits?"
Flender froze on the spot.
Yet Gu Ling didn't stop at all, continuing,
"Or could it be... because the one lying in bed right now is a student of your Shrek Academy, you suddenly remembered what having limits means?"
Ye Lingling stood nearby, her expression shifting slightly. She was already somewhat familiar with Gu Ling's mouth; once he started reasoning... that basically meant the opposite side was about to be in bad luck.
Sure enough, upon hearing this, Flender's expression gradually darkened, and he said with some displeasure, "I am speaking nicely with you right now. You'd better watch your attitude."
Gu Ling raised an eyebrow and said coldly,
"What's wrong with my attitude?"
"A Seven-Ring Soul Saint like you ran over in the middle of the night specifically to block a twelve-year-old Soul Elder like me, and then stand here talking to me about how my blows were too heavy? Does your Shrek Academy especially love this routine? When your students can't win, the teachers run out to cause trouble."
"You constantly clamor that daring not make trouble means you're mediocre, but I see it as just bullying the weak!"
Before you continue