"A big shot? No, no, no. I'm just a little Soul Saint, utterly 'unremarkable.'
"I came all this way mainly to stroll around and clear my head, and give a few low-level Soul Grandmasters who don't know how high heaven is or how deep the earth runs a little lesson."
An Jing tilted his head, a hint of amusement in his eyes as he looked at Dugu Bo beside him.
"What do you say, Old Poison? Interested in coming along to watch the fun?"
"You're traveling all the way to Suotuo City just to bully a few Soul Grandmasters weaker than you?"
Dugu Bo's mouth twitched as he eyed him suspiciously.
"I've roamed this continent for years, but I've never had such a degrading taste for amusement.
"Now that I finally have the Immortal-Grade Medicinal Herbs you gave me, I need to enter seclusion and fully refine them. Turning years of accumulated poison into a heaven-reaching boon-that's what matters."
After a pause, Dugu Bo added:
"Suotuo City lies in the narrow border region between Heaven Dou and the Star Luo Empire, across distant mountains and roads.
"How about... letting Yanyan go with you? You young people could look out for each other along the way."
"No need." An Jing waved a hand. "I took on a personal maid a few days ago. She's quick on her feet, so having her accompany me will be enough."
"A maid?"
Dugu Bo froze for a moment, suddenly recalling the cool, striking girl who had silently followed at An Jing's side earlier.
Although she was still young, her figure was breathtakingly developed. Her bone age was only twelve or thirteen, yet her soul power had already reached level 27.
Judging solely by her figure and that aloof, resilient air, his precious granddaughter Yanyan probably had no advantage whatsoever over this Little Monster.
At that thought, Dugu Bo, always protective of his own, felt a powerful sense of crisis rise in his heart for no apparent reason.
The two went their separate ways.
After returning to Heaven Dou City, Dugu Bo immediately took Dugu Yan into seclusion deep within his residence to refine the herbs, devoting everything to breaking through the shackles of a higher realm.
An Jing, meanwhile, prepared an exceptionally luxurious, comfortable carriage and headed south with Zhu Zhuqing, straight toward the Balak Kingdom.
From Heaven Dou City to Suotuo City lay mountain passes upon mountain passes, a journey of nearly two thousand li.
Even with the luxurious carriage speeding along, it took more than ten days before the two finally set foot on the outskirts of this major southern city.
South of Suotuo City, they arrived before a remote little village that looked utterly unremarkable.
An Jing lifted the curtain and stepped out of the carriage, narrowing his eyes as he examined the dilapidated sign at the village entrance, cobbled together from a few scraps of wood, its lettering mottled and peeling.
Five large characters had been carved crookedly across it-
Shrek Academy.
"Finally found the right place."
Looking at the rows of low, crumbling mud-brick huts with their thatched roofs, An Jing's eyes flashed with a rare excitement.
Who could have imagined that the towering behemoth which would dominate the entire continent ten thousand years later, with foundations rivaling an empire's, had begun with this laughable spectacle, as shabby as a beggars' den?
"This is... Shrek?"
Following closely behind him, Zhu Zhuqing stared at the broken wooden sign, her cool eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
She simply could not understand why An Jing had gone to such trouble, crossing more than two thousand li just to visit a village this destitute.
It was enrollment season, and a long line had already formed along the dirt path ahead.
At the front stood nothing but a rickety old wooden table. Behind it slouched an elderly man in a tattered coarse-cloth shirt, cleaning his nails with a small carving knife.
Just as the two approached, a piercing argument erupted up ahead.
"What gives?! You didn't even finish the preliminary test before saying he failed, and now you won't refund my ten Gold Soul Coins?!"
A burly, rough-faced middle-aged man flushed red and slammed his hand on the wooden table.
"Give me my money back, or I'm not letting this go today!"
"Exactly! What kind of bullshit academy is this? You claim you only accept monsters, but I say you're blatantly swindling people!
"Grandmaster Su Yuntao of Nuoding City tested my son personally back then. My boy is a genius with the potential to become a Soul Ancestor!"
The old man behind the table lifted his eyelids slightly, sweeping his cloudy eyes contemptuously over the protesting commoners. His voice was utterly devoid of warmth.
"Once paid, enrollment fees are nonrefundable.
"You should have asked about Shrek Academy's rules before coming."
"Rules? I don't give a damn about your bullshit rules. Refund the money now!"
"That's right! Give it back!"
"This old swindler cheated me just now, too!"
Several other commoner parents whose application fees had also been pocketed immediately erupted in indignation and crowded forward to protest.
Faced with the chaos, the old man did not even shift in his seat. Clearly, he was accustomed to such scenes.
He casually turned his head and glanced at the crooked tree behind him.
"Mubai, someone's causing trouble here. Come clear them out."
Before his words had faded, a whoosh sliced through the air. A tall, powerfully built figure flipped out of the dense canopy and landed heavily on the muddy ground.
He was a handsome youth with a wild mane of blond hair.
Dai Mubai could not be bothered to waste a single word. He merely gazed coldly down at the ragged commoners and instantly activated Martial Soul Possession!
A fierce, savage tiger's roar suddenly tore through the air as the phantom of a snow-white Evil-Eyed White Tiger with dark stripes burst into being behind him!
Then three brilliant Soul Rings-two yellow and one purple-rose slowly from beneath his feet. Violent waves of soul power swept outward like a gale, instantly forcing the surrounding commoners to retreat again and again.
"A... a Soul Elder?!"
At the sight of that perfect soul ring configuration, one purple and two yellow, the parents who had been seething with indignation fell silent as cicadas in winter, their faces deathly pale.
To lowly commoners like them, a powerful Soul Elder was already an unreachable big shot who held the power of life and death.
They were merely ordinary, unarmed people. What could they possibly use to resist a bloodthirsty, ferocious Battle Soul Elder?
Dai Mubai's differently colored eyes brimmed with undisguised brutality and contempt as he sneered.
"Want your Gold Soul Coins back? Easy. Last three moves against me, and I'll not only refund everything, I'll pay you ten times the amount!"
"This... this is nothing but using your power to bully honest folk..."
The middle-aged man leading the protest trembled at the lips. Furious but afraid to speak out, he could only grit his teeth, grip his child tightly, and withdraw from the line in bitter humiliation.
At the end of the line, Zhu Zhuqing stood frozen in place.
Her already cold little face turned pale bit by bit, her eyes filled with an almost absurd degree of shock and bewilderment.
Dai Mubai.
The fiancé who bore the halo of the Star Luo Empire's third prince, who shared a sacred Martial Soul Fusion Skill pact with her, whom she had regarded as her sole hope of turning the tables...
Had he fled the brutal royal struggle and traveled all the way to this impoverished backwater of the Heaven Dou Empire just to lord his soul power over ordinary commoners in this filthy mud pit like some street thug?!
At that moment, Zhu Zhuqing felt that the obsession which had once sustained her through a brush with death as she escaped the Star Luo Empire was somehow rather laughable.
"You like bullying honest folk? Count me in on something that fun. I'm quite good at bullying honest folk myself."
Just as the entire gathering fell deathly silent, a lightly teasing chuckle abruptly rang out.
With his hands clasped behind his back, An Jing strolled leisurely forward, his gaze settling directly on Dai Mubai's face.
"I've never had any particularly refined hobbies. What I enjoy most happens to be crossing realm boundaries to bully self-important Soul Masters."
The sudden provocation instantly chilled Dai Mubai's gaze.
He whipped his head around toward the voice.
A young man with short, tousled snow-white hair was studying him, his appearance and bearing exuding nobility.
Dai Mubai recognized at a glance that someone with such an air had to be a scion of some elite noble house or secluded clan.
But what truly made his eyes flood red and his reason snap was not An Jing's mockery.
It was the graceful figure following close behind the white-haired young man!
Before you continue