Return to Shrek!

Shrek Academy!

Jiang Nannan was a senior student in the Shrek Inner Court. She usually spent her days cultivating there and rarely visited the outer court.

Xu Sanshi had already had someone investigate her schedule and worked out that Jiang Nannan would go out to clear her head today.

He had deliberately prepared everything early. Carrying a pile of fancy snacks in one hand and clutching a beautiful flower in the other, he waited for her on the path leading out of the inner court.

In his eyes, Jiang Nannan was not only the acknowledged number-one beauty of the Shrek Inner Court, with an impeccable face and figure that made her excellent material for awakening his Martial Soul's second form, but also a commoner with no family backing, making her easy to control in the future.

Moreover, she had already reached five rings at such a young age. With her outstanding talent and boundless prospects, she was the perfect woman to pursue in Xu Sanshi's eyes.

Before long, Jiang Nannan indeed stepped through the inner court gates, intending to take a walk around the outer court and clear her head.

Xu Sanshi's eyes lit up. He hurried forward to block her path and offered her the flower, plastering a look of delighted surprise across his face as he pretended they had met by chance:

"Nannan, what a coincidence! You've only just left the inner court, and here we are running into each other. Our hearts really do beat as one."

The moment he finished speaking, Jiang Nannan's face filled with disgust.

Her delicate brows knitted tightly, her expression brimming with impatience and loathing. Her gaze was cold and contemptuous, and every inch of her radiated rejection.

She spoke coldly, her voice steeped in revulsion. "Whose heart beats as one with yours? Don't call me Nannan. It makes me sick."

The smile on Xu Sanshi's face instantly froze. He hurriedly hid his embarrassment and shook the snacks in his hand.

"Senior Nannan, I bought these flowers and snacks especially for you. Please take them."

Jiang Nannan completely lost her patience and cut him off coldly:

"Xu Sanshi, stop pestering me. I already have a boyfriend."

Xu Sanshi froze for a moment, his hands holding the flower and snacks suspended in midair, while he sneered inwardly.

He had already had someone thoroughly investigate the matter. The boyfriend Jiang Nannan spoke of had been missing for two and a half months, and no one could say whether he was dead or alive.

He took half a step forward, his tone utterly earnest:

"Nannan, this is between us men. Who says you can't have other suitors just because you have a boyfriend?"

"I'm willing to compete fairly with him. My feelings for you are sincere, and I certainly won't lose to that boyfriend of yours. I have the powerful Black Water Sect behind me. I can keep you safe and will never let you suffer the slightest grievance. Compared to that boy with no background and no power to rely on, I'm far more dependable. I can give you a better future."

Jiang Nannan raised her eyes to meet his, intent only on crushing his hopes once and for all. Her voice was resolute as she enunciated every word:

"I'm pregnant. The child is his."

Xu Sanshi drew a deep breath, forcibly suppressed the shock within him, and spoke with feigned devotion:

"It's fine. I don't mind. I'll raise his child. I love you, and I can accept everything about you."

Jiang Nannan sneered. "Hah. You're not worthy of raising his child."

Xu Sanshi's face turned livid, his eyes filled with anger born of humiliation.

Just then, a tall figure suddenly appeared beside Jiang Nannan, slipped an arm around her waist, and drew her protectively into his embrace.

He glanced at Xu Sanshi, who stood rooted to the spot with an ugly expression, and casually teased while holding Jiang Nannan:

"Nannan, what happened? Is this guy one of your suitors? He looks quite a bit like a green turtle."

Nestling into that familiar, warm embrace, Jiang Nannan rested against Chen Jie's chest. Her voice was soft and filled with longing:

"Little brother, I missed you so much. This is the guy who keeps pestering me. No matter how I reject him, he refuses to give up."

Those words ignited all the anger Xu Sanshi had bottled up for so long.

He stared fixedly at the scene before him, fury blazing inside him, his heart seething with resentment.

The woman he had schemed and struggled so hard to win, all to no avail, was now nestled obediently in another man's arms, with eyes and heart for him alone.

Intense jealousy overwhelmed his reason, and the Soul Power within Xu Sanshi erupted.

Pure green light scattered in every direction as his green Xuanwu Spirit Turtle Martial Soul appeared behind him, the patterns on its thick shell clearly visible. Three Soul Rings-yellow, yellow, and purple-rose from beneath his feet, bobbing up and down.

Xu Sanshi's eyes reddened as he roared fiercely:

"You deserve to die!"

The instant the words left his mouth, his third, purple Soul Ring flashed. His Soul Skill, Xuanming Power (Green Turtle Power), gathered dense Soul Power into his fist. With a fierce gust of wind, he hurled it straight at Chen Jie's face at tremendous speed.

Just as the fist was about to strike Chen Jie, Jiang Nannan twisted free of his embrace.

A swath of cool, silvery-white moonlight radiated from her as her Taiyin Moon Rabbit Martial Soul slowly manifested. The rabbit was snowy white from head to toe, its long ears swaying gently. Moonlight wreathed her, making her look beautiful and aloof.

Five Soul Rings-yellow, purple, black, black, and black-slowly rose. Moonlight intertwined with their radiance, setting off Jiang Nannan's graceful figure and captivating beauty, yet her eyes were chillingly cold.

She swept her hand outward. Powerful moonlight surged from her Moon Rabbit Martial Soul, and a silvery-white blast of energy met the attack head-on.

Boom! A deep impact thundered out, and Xu Sanshi's all-out punch was utterly crushed.

A tremendous backlash surged toward him. Unable to dodge, Xu Sanshi stumbled five or six steps backward before regaining his footing, his soles gouging two tracks into the ground. The light of his Martial Soul flickered violently, and his aura fell into utter disarray.

Xu Sanshi steadied his staggering body, his chest heaving and his face alternating between livid and pale. Glaring at the young man, he snarled through gritted teeth:

"If you're a man, stop hiding behind a woman! Fight me fair and square, and let's see who deserves to stand beside Nannan!"

Far from showing any fear, Chen Jie tightened his arms around Jiang Nannan, holding her securely against him and giving her a firm grope. An unrestrained grin hung on his lips:

"Why should I fight you? You're just a bootlicking dog who couldn't lick his way into her heart, so now your mouth's sour and you're jealous. I was born to live off a woman. If you're envious, you can try doing it yourself."

The growing commotion from their argument and fight soon drew the attention of passing Shrek students. Quite a few gathered around, craning their necks to watch curiously.

As the crowd grew, their pointing and staring stripped Xu Sanshi of all dignity. Humiliation turned to fury, and he wheeled around with a vicious shout:

"What are you looking at? All of you, get the hell out of here!"

Rather than dispersing, some people began whispering among themselves.

A student who had just arrived and knew nothing of the situation frowned and quietly asked someone nearby, "What's going on? Why did they suddenly start arguing and fighting?"

A student beside him who knew the story suppressed a laugh and lowered his voice to mock him:

"You don't recognize him? That's our academy's famous green-haired turtle, Xu Sanshi! A first-class bootlicking dog. He kept hounding this senior from the inner court, trying to win her over. She told him she already had a boyfriend and was pregnant, but he still eagerly offered to raise another man's child. Today, she rejected him outright, and her actual boyfriend humiliated him too. He went red, cracked, and started throwing punches, making a complete fool of himself!"

As he finished, another student could not resist chiming in, his voice dripping with mockery:

"Bootlicking dogs really never come to a good end. And he imagined she liked him and brought the humiliation on himself, too. He's lost every last shred of dignity!"