With Grandmaster Here, Shrek Had What It Needed

"Mubai, how do you feel?"

"Great! I've never felt this wonderful!" Dai Mubai said, his spirits soaring.

A vicious gleam flashed through his eyes. He would absolutely avenge this grudge!

As for the throne, though, he had no particular feelings about it yet.

"Tang San, thank you so much." Dai Mubai extended a hand to Tang San in friendship.

"You can call me Xiao San. Although you've broken free of the mind-control technique planted in you back then, the depletion caused by years of excessive training still needs to be replenished little by little."

With that, the two looked in unison at the two sulking adults.

They didn't know whether to laugh or cry.

Then Tang San shot Ma Hongjun a meaningful glance. Ma Hongjun understood immediately and stepped forward.

"Everyone, eyes on me!"

"Ha! Phoenix Possession!"

Ma Hongjun's Evil Fire Phoenix possession drew everyone's attention, burning away the awkwardness in the air.

"Uh..." Looking at Ma Hongjun's comical yet imposing Martial Soul Possession, Dai Mubai didn't know how to describe it.

"Hahaha, what a unique phoenix!"

Oscar was much more direct, clutching his stomach and roaring with laughter.

Ma Hongjun snorted. Then flames gathered on his chicken-phoenix claws, and he flicked them toward Oscar.

Flender and Dai Mubai tried to stop him, but the flames were fast, and Grandmaster and Tang San beside them also held them back a little.

That was because Ma Hongjun hadn't conjured these flames to hurt anyone.

"Squawk! Hot, hot, hot, hot!!"

Oscar's thick beard instantly burst into flames, the intense heat sending him jumping up and down.

But a closer look showed that his face hadn't been burned at all.

"Return!"

Holding the Phoenix Emperor in one hand, Ma Hongjun curled his empty hand into a loose fist, and the flames on Oscar's face instantly returned to him.

Then Ma Hongjun swung the Phoenix Emperor in a series of slashes, the huge axe sweeping across Oscar's face.

That made Oscar too afraid to move a muscle.

Soon, Ma Hongjun had shaved off all the beard burned into black cinders, revealing his pretty-boy face.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Such a handsome face, and you actually had the heart to hide it under that enormous beard. What a criminal waste of heaven's gifts."

Ma Hongjun shook his head and sighed.

"What do you know? That's called masculine charm!" Oscar rubbed his smooth face and the skin around his mouth, secretly chuckling that the fatty had saved him some trouble, though he still refused to concede.

With those two jokers making a scene, the atmosphere in the shop relaxed considerably.

"Teacher, Headmaster Flender, we've more or less shown you everything. Shouldn't we return to the academy and work out our next steps?"

Taking advantage of the cheerful atmosphere, Tang San addressed the two sulking adults.

Both cleared their throats, pretending the earlier incident had never happened.

This was an essential skill for adults: having a thick skin.

"All right, let's head back to the academy."

Flender nodded.

"By the way, Headmaster, there's something I'd like to buy from you."

Tang San suddenly spoke, then used Blue Silver Grass to hook the dark blue-green amber he had spotted when they first entered and draw it over.

"Mm, just take it. No need to pay."

Flender couldn't make out its secrets either, and since Tang San was Grandmaster's personal disciple, he made the exceedingly rare decision to give it to him for free.

Dai Mubai and Oscar looked as though they had seen a ghost. How could they not know what their own headmaster was like?

The sun had truly risen in the west.

"No, money in one hand, goods in the other. Give and take is the best prescription for keeping a relationship healthy."

Tang San took two bags of soul coins from the Twenty-Four Bridges Bright Moon Night, matching the deliberately obscured price marked on the shelf.

This was one of Flender's little tricks as a crooked merchant. If a customer asked the price, he would gauge their reaction and jack it up on the spot.

But if someone had sharp enough eyes to read the marked price, chances were they knew their stuff, and he would have to sit down and negotiate.

"You've got quite a bit of money, kid." Flender weighed the two bags in his hands. Miser that he was, he immediately knew how many soul coins they contained.

"You bet! Brother San and I had our business known all over the city before. It was doing incredibly well!"

"Ahem, Hongjun, don't flaunt your wealth," Grandmaster reminded him.

But it was already too late. Flender had begun calculating how to swindle-no, earn-that money out of their hands.

"Flender, I already have plans for this money. As long as you agree, every bit of it can go toward your dream."

Grandmaster's words delighted Flender. His good brother was finally willing to join his undertaking.

Everyone returned to Shrek Academy.

The academy was in a village outside Suotuo City.

Flender had simply rented half the village to serve as the academy's base.

Its shabby state left Tang San and Ma Hongjun utterly speechless.

No wonder the academy's casualty rate was so high.

There wasn't a single useful facility. Everything depended on the teachers' and students' effort, sweat, and blood.

As it happened, all the academy's teachers were present, right in the thick of a lively gambling session.

But at a single command from Flender, all four were summoned outside immediately, a clear sign of his authority.

"Listen up, all of you. This is my brother, Yu Xiaogang. From now on, he'll be in charge of every matter at the academy, large or small."

"If any of you object, you can tell me. But if you don't, then do exactly as he says!"

"Yes!!!!" ×4

Faced with this bandit-like academy culture, Tang San and Ma Hongjun could only exchange speechless looks.

How was this anything like an academy? It was a bandits' den through and through.

"Good! Now introduce yourselves and get acquainted."

Zhao Wuji, Soul Saint, Martial Soul: great strength vajra bear.

Shao Xin, Soul Saint, Martial Soul: sugar bean.

Lu Qibin, Soul Emperor, Martial Soul: Star Luo Chess.

Li Yusong, Soul Emperor, Martial Soul: Dragon Pattern Staff.

Shrek Academy's teachers certainly had powerful cultivation, but judging by their demeanor, they hardly seemed capable of teaching students well.

If he ever had children, he definitely wouldn't send them here to study.

Of course, that was only Shrek as it stood now. With Grandmaster, Tang San, and the others here, change was inevitable.

"Let's first shore up the foundations of our two veteran students. Xiao San, I'll leave it to you."

Tang San's skill at preparing medicinal baths had now far surpassed Grandmaster's.

"All right."

Tang San's gaze swept over Dai Mubai and Oscar as he estimated the medicinal potency best suited to them.

Under his scrutiny, both felt an inexplicable chill creep over their skin.

Ma Hongjun shook his head and murmured, "You two are really in luck."

"Fatty, since you feel that way, come enjoy this good fortune too," Tang San said with a beaming smile.

"Squawk! Nooo!"

Ma Hongjun's reaction made Dai Mubai and Oscar's skin crawl.

Toward evening, the bathing pool was filled with blue-green medicinal liquid.

Tang San had specially prepared it, and he had also modified this large pool on the spot.

"Be good and get in!"

"Aaaah!!!" ×3

Three screams rang out across the entire village.

Then Tang San stripped naked and jumped in too.