Zhao Wuji's Embarrassing Defeat

Zhao Wuji's overbearing voice rang out again. "At such a young age, you managed to injure Li Yusong. Not bad talent. As long as you stay at Shrek Academy, I can let bygones be bygones over what you did."

"You've got quite the scheme going, but unfortunately, I have no interest in Shrek Academy whatsoever."

"Arrogant. You're not leaving today, kid. I, Zhao Wuji, said so. Martial Soul Possession."

Zhao Wuji summoned his Vajra Gigantic Bear martial soul and revealed seven Soul Rings: two yellow, two purple, and three black.

"Kid, it's not too late to kneel and admit defeat. Otherwise, don't blame me for being ruthless."

Oscar sidled up to Ning Rongrong and bragged, "Teacher Zhao's martial soul is the Vajra Gigantic Bear. He's a level seventy-six battle Soul Sage. That kid is in deep trouble now."

Ning Rongrong glanced at the scruffy Oscar, then directly walked over to Xiao Wu to avoid him, leaving Oscar standing there awkwardly.

Zhu Zhuqing watched Lan Yu worriedly. She did not know his true strength either.

Lan Yu did not waste words. Five red Soul Rings lit up beneath his feet.

The moment they saw those five red Soul Rings, everyone present was dumbfounded.

"Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings... and there are five of them? Th-this is impossible!"

"Five Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings... Could he have twin martial souls? Has his other martial soul already cultivated to the level of a Title Douluo? Could he look young while actually being some ancient monster?"

Ning Rongrong spoke softly, but Tang San heard her. Didn't Teacher say that Xiao Wu and I were the only twin martial souls in existence? Why did another one appear here? Could it be that his Soul Rings aren't Hundred Thousand Year Soul Rings at all, but merely turned red for some special reason?

Tang San found the latter explanation much easier to accept.

"Spirit Ability: Mycelial Carpet!"

Centered on Lan Yu, a pale green Mycelial Carpet rapidly spread outward. Watching the carpet seem to crawl toward them of its own accord, Tang San became extremely vigilant.

"Xiao Wu, get to higher ground."

Tang San leaped into a tree, but Xiao Wu did not move. The Mycelial Carpet spread beneath her feet without causing the slightest problem.

Ning Rongrong even crouched down curiously and touched it.

"It's so soft. What is this? I've never seen anything like it before."

Zhao Wuji also snapped out of his daze and glanced at the spreading Mycelial Carpet beneath his feet.

"Hmph, playing tricks. Second Spirit Ability: Great Vajra Palm."

"Come forth, citizens of the Sage Lord of Fungi!"

As Lan Yu's words fell, countless mushrooms sprouted from all across the Mycelial Carpet. There were especially many around Zhao Wuji, and the mushrooms that suddenly appeared beneath his feet nearly tripped him.

"Mushrooms? Hahaha, so your martial soul is actually mushrooms? This is killing me!"

Seeing Zhao Wuji laughing so wildly, Bifulong became somewhat annoyed. "How dare he look down on mushrooms? Show him what we can do. Let him know mushrooms aren't to be trifled with."

"Don't worry. From the moment he stepped onto the Mycelial Carpet, he was already doomed."

At that moment, a shocked expression appeared on Tang San's face.

"Lan Yu!"

"Bro, you know him?"

Tang San ignored Oscar, his expression dark.

He never could have imagined that Lan Yu, who had vanished five years ago and whom he had assumed long dead, would appear again—and had even become a Five-Ring Soul Wang.

Meanwhile, he, a genius born with full Spirit Power, had not even broken through level thirty.

Tang San even began to doubt himself. Was he really a genius?

After Zhao Wuji finished laughing, he stomped one of the mushrooms beside his foot flat. He had been about to say something threatening when, with a puff, a cloud of spores sprayed out.

Then the other mushrooms began spraying spores as well. In an instant, Zhao Wuji was completely engulfed by them.

Poison, weakness, hallucination, hypnosis, and excitement—multiple effects were all inflicted upon Zhao Wuji.

Though Zhao Wuji looked thick-skinned and sturdy, he had almost no resistance to Lan Yu's spores.

The Hallucinogenic Spore took effect. No one knew what illusion he saw, but he wore an infatuated expression before dropping to the ground and starting to do push-ups.

Weakness, excitement, and poison rapidly drained Zhao Wuji's stamina, and then he collapsed to the ground, completely unconscious.

"That's it?"

Zhao Wuji falling so quickly was something Lan Yu had never expected. He had thought Zhao Wuji would at least hold out a while longer.

"Teacher Zhao fell? That's insane!"

Tang San could only tell that the spores produced by the mushrooms were poisonous. He could not make heads or tails of anything else.

"Hey! Teacher Zhao is growing mushrooms!"

The Mycelial Carpet crawled onto Zhao Wuji's body, and mushrooms soon covered him as well. Zhao Wuji's Spirit Power and life force would become nutrients for the mushrooms.

"Consider this a lesson for Shrek Academy. You'd better not run into me again. Otherwise... he'll be your example."

With that, Lan Yu left with Zhu Zhuqing. After thinking for a moment, Ning Rongrong actually followed them.

Tang San's gaze remained on Xiao Wu. Seeing that she had not moved, he relaxed.

It looks like Xiao Wu has forgotten him over these five years. That's good.

Tang San thought so, but he did not notice the look in Xiao Wu's eyes. If he had, he would not have thought that way.

Only after watching Ning Rongrong walk away did Oscar come back to his senses and hurry over to save Zhao Wuji.

Oscar wanted to remove the mushrooms from Zhao Wuji's body, but Tang San stopped him.

"Don't touch them!"

"Huh? Why?"

"These mushrooms are growing from Teacher Zhao's body. Removing them could cause even greater harm."

"Oh! I'll listen to you."

Tang San and Oscar helped Zhao Wuji back. The original Mycelial Carpet had already vanished, transforming into a Mycelium Network hidden underground.

Dai Mubai was also astonished when he saw Zhao Wuji in that state.

"What happened? How did Teacher Zhao end up like this?"

Oscar recounted what had just happened, while Tang San deliberately added that Lan Yu and Zhu Zhuqing had arrived together.

"That bitch... No wonder she dared to attack me. So she found herself a powerful backer. Damn it! Hiss..."

In his agitation, Dai Mubai tugged at his wound again and sucked in a breath from the pain.

At that point, Zhao Wuji also groggily woke up.

"What happened to me? Huh? Who put mushrooms on me?"

Zhao Wuji tried to pull one off, only for a sharp pain to shoot through him. "Hiss..."

"Teacher Zhao, don't move around. We should wait for the dean to return."

"Damn it! I was actually ambushed. Where's that brat?"

"He already left. Before he did, he even left us a warning, saying that Shrek Academy had better not run into him again. Otherwise..."

"Otherwise what?"

"You'll be the example."

Oscar finished cautiously, and Zhao Wuji indeed flew into a rage.

"Argh..."

Zhao Wuji was so furious that he could no longer control his Spirit Power. As a result, the mushrooms on his body rapidly grew before finally falling off.

But this was no good thing. Zhao Wuji, who had originally been a burly man, turned into a skinny stick in the blink of an eye.

The fallen mushrooms instantly transformed into Fungus Beasts, burrowed underground, and merged into the Mycelium Network.