Dai Huabin, from now on, lower your head whenever you see me!

The Academic Affairs Office.

Du Weilun sat behind his desk, his face grim as he listened to the whole story.

The matter was settled quickly.

Dai Huabin had struck first.

So many people in the cafeteria had seen it. With witnesses and evidence alike, he had no way to deny it.

He had started a fight in a public place like the cafeteria.

A disciplinary demerit landed squarely on Dai Huabin's record.

And Huo Yuhao refused to let go of the fact that Dai Huabin had "wasted food."

"Director Du, look! I was only halfway through breakfast when he sent my tray flying!"

"Those Soft Bone Rabbit meat buns cost several Gold Soul Coins, and I hadn't even eaten them!"

"I, Huo Yuhao, may have done a thousand things wrong, but what did the food do wrong?!"

Huo Yuhao looked genuinely pained and spoke with righteous conviction.

Faced with a god-king-level guilt trip, even Du Weilun dared not show any favoritism.

Shrek Academy, the holy land of soul masters, taking the lead in wasting food that ordinary people had worked so hard to grow?

If word of that got out, Du Weilun's days at Shrek would be numbered.

Dai Huabin trembled with rage, but there was nothing he could do.

In the end, he had to pay Huo Yuhao for the meal with a dark look on his face, and the food waste only added to his offense.

As for Tang Chuan, he had admittedly gone a little too far, driving Chidori right into Dai Huabin's chest.

But Dai Huabin had activated Martial Soul Possession first and used a soul skill first.

By any measure, Tang Chuan could only be called a little impulsive.

So Tang Chuan received nothing more than a verbal reprimand from Du Weilun. He did not even have to write a self-criticism.

Of course, none of that was the point.

The point was that, after all that commotion, Dai Huabin finally learned Huo Yuhao's name.

And he finally recognized him!

Huo Yuhao! Huo Yun'er's son!

The bastard who had vanished from the White Tiger Duke's Estate a year ago, disappearing without a trace along with his mother!

As they left the Academic Affairs Office, Dai Huabin angrily blocked Huo Yuhao's path, his sinister eyes brimming with spite.

"Huo Yuhao, you little bastard! You did this on purpose, didn't you?!"

"After hiding for a year, you actually dared to show your face in front of me again? At Shrek Academy, no less!"

"Have you forgotten how I beat you and that lowborn mother of yours like dogs at the duke's estate a year ago?!"

Dai Huabin kept his voice low, but the malice in it was so thick it seemed to drip from every word.

As far as he was concerned, the boy before him was still the same bastard he had bullied a year ago.

Whenever he wanted, he could crush him as easily as an ant.

Yet Huo Yuhao showed none of the fear, anger, or humiliation Dai Huabin had expected.

He simply stood there in silence.

He waited until Tang Chuan's figure had receded and disappeared around the far end of the corridor.

Only then did Huo Yuhao slowly turn his head.

And he smiled at Dai Huabin.

The naked, almost tangible killing intent in that smile sent a chill through Dai Huabin's entire body!

Dai Huabin's expression froze. He stumbled back several steps, his back slamming into the wall.

"Don't be nervous."

Huo Yuhao's voice sounded gentle.

But the killing intent glinting in his Spirit Eyes only grew stronger.

"You've got the wrong idea. I didn't come to Shrek Academy for you!"

"Neither you nor that old dog Dai Hao is worth the trouble of dealing with."

Dai Huabin's pupils contracted sharply.

How dare this bastard call his father by name?

How dare he speak like that?!

"But..."

Huo Yuhao leaned in close to Dai Huabin's ear and whispered so softly that only the two of them could hear.

"Dai Huabin, from now on, whenever you see me in Shrek City, you'd better lower your head and know your place!"

"Otherwise..."

"I'll kill you."

With that, Huo Yuhao turned and walked away.

Dai Huabin was left alone, gasping for breath, cold sweat soaking through his back.

It took a long while before he came back to his senses.

"Huo Yuhao... Huo Yuhao!!!"

"I'll make you die! I swear I'll make you die!!!"

The next day.

Ring! Ring! Ring!

The class bell rang through Shrek Academy.

The annual intake of new students had finally ended, and the academy had grown livelier.

Today marked the official start of classes at Shrek Academy. The doors of the white teaching building reserved for new students stood open.

Dressed in matching white uniforms, the freshmen who had passed the entrance examination filed in one after another.

Naturally, through Tang God-King's behind-the-scenes arrangements, Huo Yuhao had been assigned to Freshman Class One as well.

When he entered the classroom, plenty of students were already seated.

Huo Yuhao picked an empty seat at random, sat down, and quietly scanned the room.

He soon spotted a familiar figure.

Xiao Yan!

Xiao Yan sat by a window at the back, legs crossed and looking thoroughly pleased with himself.

Beside him sat a delicate-looking youth with fair skin.

The youth looked thoroughly unwilling to be there, lips pouting enough to hang an oil bottle from.

His large eyes were a distinctive pale pinkish blue, the same color as his neatly cropped hair.

There was no doubt about it. This was Wang Dong, the heroic fragment of Tang God-King's beloved daughter!

Huo Yuhao had heard that, on the first day of school, Wang Dong had thrown a little princess tantrum at Xiao Yan, just as expected.

Xiao Yan had put her in her place with ease.

And before doing so, he had even made a bet with her.

From then on, she had to sit with him in class and at meals, while putting up with his shameless teasing every day.

What a classic start for a pair of bickering love interests!

If this were a fanfiction, Xiao Yan's next move would be to launch his "raise a wife" plan.

But in Huo Yuhao's eyes, Wang Dong was no heroine waiting to be won over.

She was a walking powder keg that could explode at any moment!

After all, Wang Dong carried a fragment of Tang God-King's divine consciousness inside her!

For Xiao Yan to tease Wang Dong now was like pawing at Tang God-King's precious daughter right beneath his surveillance camera!

If Tang God-King saw the daughter he had sent down to the mortal realm to cosplay as a girl on a leash being pushed around by some stranger of unknown origins...

Would Tang God-King wail and weep in the Divine Realm, forced to play the helpless father for once?

Just imagining the scene lifted Huo Yuhao's spirits.

Just then, Tang Chuan entered the Freshman Class One classroom.

"Brother Tang Chuan!"

Huo Yuhao hurriedly stood and greeted him.

But Tang Chuan did not so much as glance at him.

His gaze was fixed squarely on Xiao Yan.

More precisely, it was fixed on Wang Dong beside Xiao Yan.

The instant Tang Chuan saw Wang Dong, a tangle of emotions flashed through his eyes.

Envy, jealousy, hatred!

Xiao Yan had clearly noticed Tang Chuan staring, too.

He raised his brows smugly and flashed Tang Chuan a V sign.

"Yeah!"

Tang Chuan's face instantly darkened.

At that moment, an elderly woman walked through the classroom door.

Her skin was wrinkled, and her graying hair was coiled atop her head.

She wore a white robe and was of average build. At first glance, she looked utterly ordinary.

But her eyes shone with a piercing light, like two blades drawn from their sheaths!

At the sight of a teacher, the noisy classroom fell silent at once.

Every student turned toward the front of the room.

The elderly woman swept her gaze from left to right, then back again.

An invisible pressure settled over every student.

"My name is Zhou Yi. I'm your homeroom teacher!"

Zhou Yi spoke in an even voice.

"I don't know how many of you will make it through the coming year with me!"

"But let me tell you this: in my class, no piece of trash will ever pass the assessment!"

"Because I'm here to cultivate monsters and elites, not a bunch of fools!"