Shrek Academy, Yu Tianheng

"But... considering how breathtakingly beautiful you two ladies are, if this is a misunderstanding, I, Dai Mubai, can let it go and not hold it against you."

Dai Mubai tossed his hair, straightened up, and swept a greedy gaze over Xiao Wu and Tang Sanniang. He gave a slight bow.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Dai Mubai, a level-thirty-seven Battle Soul Elder and a student of Shrek Academy."

"May I ask the names of you two beautiful ladies? If you don't mind, I'd like to treat you to a few drinks at the best tavern in Suotuo City, as an apology on behalf of my good-for-nothing brother."

Seeing Dai Mubai strutting like a peacock, Ma Hongjun was dumbfounded.

Boss Dai... I nearly got beaten to death by them, and you're standing here picking up girls!

Ma Hongjun wailed inwardly, though his little eyes were no less busy than Dai Mubai's, sizing up Tang Sanmei and Xiao Wu.

Tang Sanmei's face darkened. Disgust flashed through her eyes, and with a slight movement of her wrist, a cold glint appeared between her fingers.

Any man other than Huo Yuhao looking at her made her sick.

She even found herself wondering whether she should wear a veil whenever she went out from now on.

Xiao Wu rolled her eyes and folded her arms.

"Pah! Another filthy creep! Those freaky eyes of yours can't tell a cat from a dog, and you're grinning like a Big-Tailed Wolf. Disgusting."

Dai Mubai's smile froze.

For years, he had gotten whatever he wanted in Suotuo City. With his handsome face and prodigious strength, he had fooled more girls than he could count.

Yet two girls who had only just arrived had called him a Big-Tailed Wolf in front of an entire street.

Before he could lash out, a cold voice came from the dark alley across the street.

"Disgusting."

The voice was quiet, but its chill cut to the bone.

Dai Mubai shuddered at the familiar voice. The hostility on his face gave way to panic.

He turned in disbelief and saw a slender figure slowly emerge from the shadows.

The girl wore a fitted black outfit. Her long hair fell over her shoulders, and her face was cool and aloof.

It was Zhu Zhuqing. She had escaped the Star Luo Empire by the skin of her teeth, surviving countless attempts on her life, all to find him.

And now, barely inside Suotuo City, she had found Dai Mubai strutting like a peacock.

"Zhu... why are you here?"

Dai Mubai started in shock, then panicked and stumbled through an explanation.

"It's not what you think... I was only... only trying to help Hongjun..."

Zhu Zhuqing's disgusted gaze passed over him. She did not want to look at him a moment longer.

To Dai Mubai, that look hurt worse than being killed.

More and more people gathered to watch, and Dai Mubai felt utterly humiliated.

Desperate to reclaim some dignity in front of Zhu Zhuqing, he turned to Huo Yuhao and the other two with a sneer.

"You three came for Shrek Academy outside Suotuo City too, didn't you?"

As far as he was concerned, anyone their age who had reached Soul Grandmaster and come to Suotuo City could only be hoping to join Shrek.

Thinking he had them cornered, Dai Mubai put on the airs of a senior student and snapped,

"So you're new applicants hoping to join Shrek, yet you dared beat up a senior student in the street—and even insult me!"

"If I don't teach you the rules today, you'll turn the academy upside down once you get in!"

Huo Yuhao glanced with amusement at the pretty figure hiding in a corner, watching the show, and murmured,

"So this is how the first Shrek Seven Devils ended up together."

No sooner had he spoken than a lazy scoff came from a nearby general store.

"Mubai's right. If you're new applicants for Shrek, we'd better show you what's what, or you'll think this place is a charity."

A young man sauntered out. Traces of a Great Sect upbringing showed in his features, but a short jacket hung carelessly from his shoulders, and half a grass stem stuck out of his mouth.

His roving gaze swept over Xiao Wu, Tang Sanmei, and Zhu Zhuqing, and he let out a reflexive whistle.

Three years earlier, Tang Hao had beaten Yu Xiaogang and sent him fleeing all the way to Suotuo City, where he had sought refuge with Flender.

Shrek had only three students at the time.

Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun.

As it happened, none of them respected Yu Xiaogang, a man over fifty who was still stuck at level twenty-nine.

Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun least of all.

One spent every day out drinking and chasing women, paying no heed to anything he said.

The other was forever declaring that he would rather go out and blow off steam than train with him.

Yu Xiaogang had been so furious that he had secretly talked Yu Tianheng into leaving Heaven Dou Royal Academy.

But who could have guessed that Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun would spout "Anyone afraid to cause trouble is a mediocrity" one moment and "Those are Shrek's rules" the next?

In just a few years, the promising Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Young Master had learned none of the skills he should have. Instead, he had picked up most of those two's rotten habits.

"Tian Heng! Shut your mouth!"

An angry shout rang out from inside the general store.

Yu Xiaogang strode out with his hands behind his back and his face dark.

Seeing his own nephew acting like a street punk made Yu Xiaogang's chest tighten. His face was full of bitter disappointment, as though he were staring at iron that refused to become steel.

He had considered himself above such behavior all his life and despised the way Dai Mubai acted.

He had never imagined his own nephew would turn out the same way.

At the thought of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan discovering what had become of Yu Tianheng, one of the family's two rising stars, Yu Xiaogang felt his life would be over.

"Did you throw every rule and ounce of courtesy I taught you into a dog's belly?"

Yu Xiaogang scolded,

"Harassing women in the street? Have you no shame?"

Yu Tianheng curled his lip. He had no respect for an uncle stuck at level twenty-nine.

Yu Xiaogang had lived half his life, yet only during these three years in Suotuo City had he felt truly alive.

"Second Uncle, Dean Flender said anyone afraid to cause trouble is a mediocrity. They're just a few new applicants who don't know how high the heavens are. What's wrong with teaching them a lesson?"

"Besides, I've trained hard for years. What's wrong with taking a break?"

"You..."

Yu Xiaogang trembled with anger at those twisted arguments.

He was about to pull rank as an elder and lecture Yu Tianheng, but from the corner of his eye, he happened to notice the three people across the street.

The next instant, his expression froze.

At the sight of Huo Yuhao and the other two, memories of Tang Hao beating him bloody in Nuoding City flashed through his mind.

Yu Xiaogang instinctively touched the bridge of his nose. He hurriedly scanned the area and only breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that Tang Hao had not followed them.

"Huo Yuhao? Tang Sanmei?"

"Second Uncle, you know them?"

Yu Tianheng frowned.

"Doesn't matter if you do! They made Shrek lose face in Suotuo City. Nobody's getting them out of trouble today!"