Taste the Might of Heaven-Slaying

Flender and Li Yusong followed behind, and both froze at the sight.

Flender adjusted his black-rimmed glasses and blinked.

The bedraggled fat man who had been pulled out of the mud headfirst—

really was Ma Hongjun.

"How could it be you?"

His gaze shifted downward.

He saw the large bloodstain across Ma Hongjun's crotch.

Blood seeped through the fingers clutching his groin.

Drip by drip, it dyed the dirt beneath his feet red.

Torn scraps of trousers lay scattered on the ground, smeared with mud and blood.

Even more unsettling was the sinister crimson Soul Power raging uncontrollably through his body.

The Evil Fire Phoenix's side effects had flared up more violently than ever before.

Flender hurriedly pressed a hand to his shoulder and sent in Soul Power to suppress it.

Yet the heat scorched him into pulling his hand back.

Even a level seventy-eight Soul Sage found it too hot to handle.

His expression abruptly darkened, his brows knotting tightly.

"Who did this?"

Zhao Wuji roared, straightening his cloth hat and rolling up his sleeves.

"Teacher will avenge you!"

Ma Hongjun might have looked wretched.

But his mutated Evil Fire Phoenix martial soul was no weak one.

In Suotuo City, he had always been the one bullying others.

Anyone daring to bully a Shrek student truly had a death wish.

Zhao Wuji's anger flared.

Half of it came from having nowhere to vent the humiliation Fang Fan had inflicted on him.

He had been looking for some fool to take it out on.

Didn't they know Shrek students were the tyrants of Suotuo City?

Though "tyrants" was not entirely accurate.

Flender had always said that a Soul Master who did not cause trouble was no good student.

Ma Hongjun had inherited that lesson perfectly; he had merely been blind enough to kick an iron plate.

"Exactly! Who did this to you? The dean will punish them severely!"

Flender adjusted his glasses.

"You are one of Shrek's little monsters. You should be able to swagger through Suotuo City!

Our Shrek may be broken and poor, but we have backbone!

Little monsters are our most precious treasures, and no one is allowed to bully them!

Even if you bullied someone else, that would still be their fault!"

Li Yusong stood behind them, the corner of his mouth twitching.

His expression was complicated, as if he had swallowed a fly.

In the end, he nodded helplessly.

From the dean to the students, not a single person in this academy behaved normally.

"Exactly!"

Zhao Wuji's fighting spirit was ignited.

"I want to see who dares bully my student!"

He had completely forgotten the glorious incident of being sent flying by Fang Fan's sword and fleeing while clutching his backside.

The two of them supported Ma Hongjun from either side and strode down the official road.

They looked like a pair of vicious street thugs there to smash up a place.

"There were three young people.

Two of them were beautiful girls!

That cold, busty one beat me up!"

Ma Hongjun bared his teeth, sucking in cold breaths as he complained miserably.

His shrill, thin voice paired with his muddy fat face made him utterly ridiculous.

He shrewdly omitted the part where he had insulted them first and tried to forcibly take the beautiful girls away.

"You could not even beat a busty beauty? You truly disappoint your teacher!"

Flender glared at him.

Then he stomped down and shot into the sky, turning into a gray blur as he sped ahead.

He could not wait any longer.

Beautiful girls or not, anyone who touched a Shrek student had to give an explanation.

Zhao Wuji and Li Yusong supported Ma Hongjun as they hurried after him step by step.

Every step sent a burst of agony through his crotch.

His fat trembled, while tears mixed with mud and streamed down his face.

Flender streaked across the night sky and quickly spotted three figures on the official road three hundred meters ahead.

Two girls and one boy.

One had a full chest, one was flat as a bun, and the boy wore white.

The young man was leaning crookedly against the busty girl's shoulder.

The girl held a white jade wine flask, which she had just lowered from her lips.

Her posture was lazy and natural.

The night breeze stirred the hem of the white robes and the girl's long hair.

The sight was pleasing to the eye.

But his heart was burning with rage. How could he possibly appreciate it?

He dove down, his robes flapping loudly, and landed with enough force to stamp two pits into the ground as he blocked their path.

"You beat up Fatty?"

His gaze swept over them.

It first settled on the aloof girl.

Her proud peaks and exquisite features made him sigh inwardly.

This busty beauty truly was stunning.

No wonder Fatty's evil fire had become unbearable.

Ma Hongjun could not be blamed entirely for this.

That figure was simply too alluring.

Even an old hand in the world would find her pleasing to look at.

Let alone a little fat man whose mind was muddled by evil fire.

His gaze then fell on the young man.

The youth in white leaned crookedly against the girl's shoulder.

His eyes were half-open, and he reeked of alcohol.

He looked like a drunkard who had just been helped out of a tavern.

This combination felt strangely familiar, yet he could not remember where he had seen them before.

"Yes."

Zhu Zhuqing was cold and composed.

She had beaten him, so she admitted it.

As for why she had done it, she could not be bothered to explain.

Fang Fan lazily lifted his eyelids to look at Flender.

He was somewhat surprised.

Flender had not come to persuade him to stay.

He had come to stand up for Ma Hongjun.

The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

He remained slouched against Zhu Zhuqing's shoulder, with no intention of even standing straight.

"Very good. You have guts!"

Flender sneered, too lazy to ask about the cause or determine who was right or wrong.

Shrek's rule was to protect its own.

Soul Power surged beneath his feet.

Seven soul rings—two yellow, two purple, and three black—rose from beneath him.

The aura of a level seventy-eight Soul Sage exploded forth.

An invisible tidal wave swept across the official road.

Bushes bent low, and grass rustled loudly.

"Kneel, apologize, and admit your mistake now, and I can spare you."

His voice was cold and hard, leaving no room for doubt. Under the moonlight, his lenses reflected an icy white gleam.

"You hawk-nosed bastard, what nonsense are you spouting?"

Ning Rongrong's willow brows shot up.

"Your dead-fat student was the one who started it.

He stared at the girls with disgusting eyes.

He spewed filthy nonsense about how one hand could not hold them.

He even tried to take them away by force. He deserved to be crippled!

Instead of disciplining your student, you are blaming us?"

"Exactly. That lecherous fat man deserved a beating."

Zhu Zhuqing's words were brief and icy, like a statement of self-evident fact.

She turned to look at Fang Fan.

Fang Fan still looked lazy, yet his eyes were completely clear, without the slightest trace of drunkenness. He looked at Flender and spoke calmly.

"You money-grubber, looking to get beaten?"

Flender's pupils contracted slightly. This kid knew his nickname?

"Money-grubber."

Only the old companions of the Golden Triangle had ever called him that.

Before he could think further, embarrassment turned into anger as he shouted.

"You actually know I am a money-grubber!"

The Soul Sage's pressure swept forward like a tangible tidal wave.

Broken stones rolled across the ground, and every leaf flipped over to reveal its silvery underside.

Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing's expressions changed slightly at once.

The pressure of level seventy-eight was like an invisible mountain, making their breathing hitch and their legs feel filled with lead.

The next instant—

an incomparably sharp sword intent rose from Fang Fan's body.

It was invisible and colorless, yet so sharp it seemed capable of cutting through everything.

It cut through the pressure, cut through fear, and cut through every burden.

He straightened up.

He was no longer a drunkard slumped against a girl's shoulder, but a sharp sword drawn from its sheath.

Heaven-Slaying Sword Intent swirled around him, forming an invisible barrier.

Flender's pressure crashed against it like waves against a reef, shattering instantly and unable to advance another inch.

Fang Fan stepped forward, his white robes snapping in the lingering shockwaves of the pressure.

Since Flender had come looking to be beaten, he would grant him his wish.

It was also the perfect chance to test the might of the Heaven-Slaying Sword Intent.

This domineering sword intent had been nurtured for half a year.

He had only used it to defend against a Titled Douluo's pressure, never to attack actively.

Using ten percent might kill Flender on the spot.

After all, level seventy-eight was more than a single tier below Tang Hao.

Even Tang Hao would feel threatened by ten percent.

Forget it. Half a percent would do.

Fang Fan slowly raised his right hand.

He pressed his index and middle fingers together into a sword gesture so casual it was nearly perfunctory.

There was no charging up, no soul rings, no dazzling colors.

Even the Soul Power fluctuations were so faint they were almost imperceptible.

Only a tiny thread of sword intent gathered at his fingertips, as small and indistinct as a tender willow bud in early spring.

Yet that tiny thread of sword intent caused the air to freeze solid.