Dai Mubai Apologizes? Lin Yan Plays Along with the Ruse

White Tiger Martial Soul avatar.

In a flash! The pressure of a level-37 minor Soul Zun bore down straight onto Ning Rongrong's face, instantly blasting the young girl back several steps until Lin Yan was quick-eyed and fast-handed enough to steady her, allowing her to barely come to a halt.

"Dai Mubai! What do you think you're doing!"

Before Ning Rongrong could flare up, Lin Yan violently took the lead!

"Have you completely lost your mind or what? You throw a tantrum and want to throw punches over a few words!"

"Lin Yan?" Dai Mubai shifted his gaze away from Ning Rongrong, turning instead to glare crimson-eyed at Lin Yan.

"It's you again, fucking hell. You really think this daddy doesn't dare—"

"Dai Mubai!"

Zhao Wuji strode out, making good on the bold declaration he had just uttered. Seeing Dai Mubai begin to target Lin Yan, he directly cast a Gravity Control!

Plop!

Before Dai Mubai could finish his sentence, his body was instantly pressed flat against the ground, unable to move an inch, his mouth even choking on a mouthful of dirt.

"Are you lot ever going to quit?"

"Do you seriously think support soul masters can just be bullied around at will?"

"Look at all of you! When you ran into soul beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest, why weren't you this capable? You only ever dare throw tantrums against your own people, is that it?"

Zhao Wuji was genuinely angry!

One after another—from Tang San to Yu Xiaogang, and now to Dai Mubai—they were all targeting Lin Yan.

Did Lin Yan do anything wrong?

At least on the surface, absolutely not! Not to mention that, he treated everyone quite well.

Pinned to the ground, the extreme rage and humiliation in Dai Mubai's heart made his entire body tremble.

Zhu Zhuqing had betrayed him, Ning Rongrong had belittled him, and Lin Yan had unconditionally shielded Ning Rongrong.

Everything before his eyes drove him completely mad...

Only... the limbs that could no longer move forced his mind to gradually clear up.

"A bunch of scum! A bunch of lowly commoners! This daddy is the noble Third Prince of Xingluo, yet I have to suffer your bullying in this God-forsaken place."

"All of you deserve to die!"

Intense fury gathered his blood into his brain, and in a remarkably short time, Dai Mubai had already calculated the current situation.

No! I must endure! With Zhao Wuji and Flender around, I can't force a direct clash with them.

Whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad.

This bunch of scum are already dead men; let them act wild for a little while longer.

Tomorrow! As long as I wait until tomorrow...

Under everyone's watchful eyes.

Dai Mubai slowly raised his head. After forcibly suppressing his rage, his pair of eyes became incomparably sinister, staring dead at Lin Yan as if laced with poison.

"I'm sorry, I was just too excited!"

As soon as these words fell, Zhao Wuji abruptly froze.

Because he had assumed Dai Mubai possessed a fiery temper and that he would need to expend a tremendous amount of effort to resolve this commotion. Never had he expected this fellow to back down so suddenly.

Though his gaze didn't look like backing down in the least.

Lin Yan lowered his gaze and said nothing.

The air fell into a dead silence, and Zhao Wuji also tried releasing the gravity control skill.

"Sorry everyone, I was too worked up just now."

"I'm heading back to the dorm to rest first."

Dai Mubai got to his feet, his fists clenched so tightly they creaked, and gritted out these words through silver teeth before turning straight around and walking back to the dormitory without a single backward glance.

Everyone stared at him in unison. Until he vanished into the dorm, the expressions of confusion on everyone's faces remained undiminished.

An ending like this made it seem as though he wasn't even the one involved. No one knew what Dai Mubai had thought of to make him act so out of character.

Only Lin Yan...

Hehe~

Can't wait anymore?

Perfect, I can't wait either!

A cool breeze swept past, and the charcoal suddenly flared with a bright red glow, as if burning itself out to unleash one final flash of brilliance.

This gathering had started quickly, and it ended just as fast.

He had originally thought everyone could gather happily and draw closer to one another, but who could have expected that in less than two hours, a farce would completely freeze everyone's enthusiasm.

Late at night.

All was dead silent, dark clouds shrouding the bright moon and casting a layer of black drapery over the crude Shrek Academy.

Inside the boys' dormitory at this moment, Ma Hongjun was already sawing logs. Although the gathering had ended rather absurdly, he had still managed to stuff his face until his mouth was oily.

In the opposing bed, Dai Mubai snapped his eyes open from his previously peaceful sleeping expression.

He glanced at the thunderously snoring Ma Hongjun, narrowed his eyes, then rolled out of bed and stepped out of the dormitory.

Shrek Academy lacked any night-lighting fixtures and was pitch black, almost impossible to see one's hand before one's face, but Dai Mubai groped his way toward the back mountain of the academy relying entirely on memory.

The jungle occasionally echoed with pattering insect chirps, adding a trace of eeriness to the night.

Before long, Dai Mubai arrived at an empty clearing.

He intentionally gave two light coughs, and immediately afterward... a lean, black human figure suddenly leaped out from the bushes.

In the pitch-black night, the black figure almost melded into the world; if anyone were to walk past him right now, they might not even notice him.

Dai Mubai reached out and grabbed the other person by the neck, pressing his own forehead against theirs.

"I can't wait anymore!"

He lowered his voice, but the violence and murderous intent in his tone were so dense they practically materialized.

"Tomorrow! Tomorrow I'll lure all of them out to a deserted spot. Tell the secret guards that this prince wants to eat fish!"

"Did you hear me!"

"Understood, they will be delivered tomorrow."

The black figure's deferential respect helped Dai Mubai recover a sliver of confidence. He released the other's neck, instead raising his head to look at the gray, hazy sky.

"Hoo~"

"Leave that bitch Zhu Zhuqing to me!"

"I want to make her wish she were dead right in front of that wild man of hers!"

"Understood."

The figure still answered respectfully, while Dai Mubai gradually reined in his emotions.

After taking a few more deep breaths...

"Lin Yan! Ning Rongrong!"

"You two support soul masters actually dare to run wild in front of me."

"Do you seriously think you can sit on equal footing with me just because you're people from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School?"

"This daddy is the prince of a sovereign nation!"

"Spit!"

In the dark of night, Dai Mubai gnashed his teeth as he vented the fury in his heart, finishing off by spitting a glob of phlegm onto the ground beside him.

Except it all landed on his own shoulder...

On the other side, inside Lin Yan's dormitory.

Lin Yan was currently following his usual routine of soaking in the body tempering medicinal bath and meditating through his cultivation, as if the events of the daytime had made no impression on him whatsoever.

A cool breeze swept by, and Lin Yan slowly opened his eyes inside the wooden tub.

"Dai Mubai..."

"I wonder what kind of surprise you'll bring me."

Lin Yan had known for a long time that Dai Mubai harbored murderous intentions toward him—or rather, harbored murderous intentions toward Ning Rongrong.

After all, Ning Rongrong had made him lose face in front of everyone time and time again; no matter what, he wouldn't let himself swallow this loss in silence.

Still, whatever!

Although the Star Luo Empire as a whole was stronger than the major sects, that strength was piled up by the sheer numbers of its army, and its high-tier combat power might not even measure up to the lower four sects.

The reinforcements Dai Mubai was going to fetch wouldn't exceed the level of a Title Douluo; he wouldn't even be able to summon a Spirit Douluo.

Lin Yan had known this clearly all along!

Putting aside whether Ning Fengzhi would send people to secretly protect Ning Rongrong, just the fact that he still clutched a level-95 Titled Douluo Puppet meant Dai Mubai posed zero threat to him no matter what.

It was just that if they truly tore off all pretenses, the number of times he could use his puppet would decrease by one.

"Forcing me to waste a use of my puppet."

"Dai Mubai, you have already brought upon yourself a path to death!"

Thinking of that final line, Lin Yan couldn't help but smile faintly.

Glancing at the hazy, gloomy night sky outside the window, he got up, dried his body, and returned to his bed.

When soldiers come, block them with arms; when water comes, earth will cover it!

Everything was still under his control.

The next day.

Unlike the clear weather of previous days, today's sky was shrouded in a layer of gloom. Gray, heavy clouds hung right above people's heads, and the air held an extra hint of oppression.

In the morning, just as Lin Yan finished washing up and prepared to raise his proficiency with the "Soul Tool Crafting Bench" provided by the system to Level 3, thereby unlocking more novel and interesting items—

A knock at the door interrupted his thoughts.

"Lin Yan! Are you awake?"

Lin Yan raised his gaze, listening to the familiar male voice, and a corner of his mouth inevitably curled into a mocking arc.

"Dai Mubai? I thought this fellow would wait at least a few days, but I didn't expect him to be so impatient."

Letting out a sneer, Lin Yan walked over to the door.

The door pushed open, and predictably facing him was Dai Mubai's gloomy, anger-suppressed, dead-fish face.

"Something the matter?"