A New Quest

Ma Hongjun grew even more flustered after hearing Dai Mubai's words.

"Boss, what's going on? Can you guys explain it properly?"

Dai Mubai said nothing. Oscar sighed. "I'll tell you."

"It all started with yesterday's entrance test..."

Oscar soon recounted everything that had happened the day before.

The shock on Ma Hongjun's face deepened until it finally turned into fear.

Good grief!

That mysterious young man hadn't been a tiger pretending to be a pig. He really was a ferocious tiger.

A Titled Douluo at eighteen-he was practically ready to soar into the heavens!

Elsewhere.

Qin Xiao followed Flender to the academy's dining hall.

Simply put, "bare and shabby" summed it up perfectly.

"Your Holiness, this is Shrek's dining hall. It is a little shabby."

Flender spoke with some embarrassment.

The dining hall before them looked little different from a farmhouse.

No.

To be precise, it was a converted farmhouse, and the cooks were villagers.

He thought Qin Xiao would find it distasteful.

But Qin Xiao's answer surprised him. "Having shelter from the wind and rain is already quite good. When I cultivated, I plunged deep into remote mountains and ancient forests. The conditions were far harsher than this, never mind having someone prepare breakfast for me..."

As he spoke, he walked into the dining hall.

Flender, meanwhile, was deeply moved.

Those words alone told him that Qin Xiao becoming a Titled Douluo at such a young age was no mere accident.

Upon entering the dining hall.

Qin Xiao discovered that some people had already arrived.

Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong sat opposite each other, silently eating their plain congee and steamed buns.

Tang San and Xiao Wu sat at another table, eating similarly plain food and talking in low voices.

However.

When Qin Xiao entered, they all looked his way.

Ning Rongrong made no effort to hide the curiosity in her eyes.

Zhu Zhuqing merely glanced at Qin Xiao before looking away.

Even so, Qin Xiao caught the complicated emotions that flashed through her eyes.

Tang San likewise glanced at Qin Xiao before lowering his gaze.

Xiao Wu had the strongest reaction. Panic filled her face, and the unpeeled egg in her hand fell to the floor with a clack.

Truthfully, Xiao Wu had wanted to leave ever since she first laid eyes on Qin Xiao.

But she didn't dare.

She kept feeling that Qin Xiao already had his sights on her, and she feared that acting rashly might provoke a violent response from him.

"Your Holiness, I've prepared your breakfast."

Flender approached a long table and called out to Qin Xiao.

Qin Xiao paused and looked toward his voice.

Steamed buns, flatbreads, stuffed buns, shumai, wontons...

There were seven or eight different kinds of breakfast food. Clearly, Flender had gone to considerable trouble.

"Dean, there's no need to go to all this trouble. Just treat me like a student."

Qin Xiao smiled faintly.

Shrek Academy had limited resources. Managing this much already showed how much care they had put into it.

At the same time, Qin Xiao understood that Flender was still very nervous around him.

Hearing Qin Xiao's words, Flender gave a wry smile.

They say every Titled Douluo has a temperament all their own. Who knows whether you're a smiling tiger who likes stabbing people in the back?

Honestly.

Even after hearing that, he still wouldn't dare neglect Qin Xiao.

In fact, as long as Qin Xiao remained here, he would have to tread carefully around him.

There was no helping it. Circumstances were stronger than any man.

"All right, then."

Qin Xiao stopped paying attention to Flender and began eating.

The breakfast was nothing special, but he ate with relish.

Before long, he had cleaned his plate.

Clang, clang, clang...

Just then, a bell rang through Shrek Academy.

Flender's expression turned serious. "Attention, all students. That's the academy's assembly bell. Everyone, head to the playground immediately."

Hearing this, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing immediately rose and headed out of the dining hall.

"Your Holiness, you..."

Flender suddenly noticed that Qin Xiao had risen as well.

"I have nothing else to do. I'll go have a look."

With that, Qin Xiao also headed outside.

"Boss Dai, Fatty, listen to the bell."

Outside the academy, Oscar spoke hurriedly.

"Come on. Let's head back to the academy first," Dai Mubai said gravely.

However.

Ma Hongjun remained rooted to the spot, his face full of hesitation.

"Fatty, why aren't you moving?"

Oscar frowned.

Ma Hongjun gave a bitter smile. "It's not that I won't move. My legs won't obey me. They keep shaking. I can't take a single step."

Oscar: "..."

He knew Ma Hongjun was afraid of Qin Xiao.

Dai Mubai snorted. "Fatty, if you spent even half the effort you waste on women thinking things through, you wouldn't have so many worries."

"What sort of person is His Eminence the Thunder Emperor? He doesn't even consider you worth noticing, all right? Stop acting like you're somebody important."

He spoke irritably.

"Really?"

After hearing Oscar's words, Ma Hongjun's eyes lit up with joy, but he soon looked dejected again.

"What is it now?"

Dai Mubai asked impatiently.

"Nothing."

Ma Hongjun sighed. "It's just that what you said was too true. It makes me feel like I'm completely useless. Before a powerhouse like a Titled Douluo, I'm no more than an ant..."

"Fatty, I can sum you up in one word right now."

Oscar patted Ma Hongjun's shoulder as he spoke.

"Handsome?" Ma Hongjun ventured.

"Pathetic!" Oscar tossed out that word, then hurried after Dai Mubai.

A little while later.

When Dai Mubai and the other two arrived at the square, they discovered that everyone else was already there.

Comically, upon seeing Qin Xiao among those present, Ma Hongjun did everything he could to shrink behind Oscar.

But how could he possibly hide a body that wide?

He could only hide his head behind Oscar's back-a textbook case of covering his ears to steal a bell, shielding his head while leaving his backside exposed.

"All right, since everyone is here, I'll briefly go over a few things."

"First, all new students must find a teacher at the Teaching Affairs Office and pay one hundred gold soul coins each in tuition."

"Second, your first lesson won't begin until tonight, so spend the time until then resting and gathering your strength. This will be a lesson unlike any other."

"Third, Ning Rongrong and Oscar, you two are exceptions. You have an additional assignment: run twenty laps around the village each. Return to the academy whenever you finish. Oh, and Tang San, stay behind. Everyone else can go."

Flender went through the points one by one.

To everyone listening, wasn't the first point simply money-grubbing?

They could put up with that.

As for the second, what kind of class began at night?

They were curious.

The others had no comment on the third assignment, but it provoked Ning Rongrong's displeasure.

"But..."

"How am I supposed to finish that?"

Ning Rongrong couldn't help speaking up.

"You may use support abilities," Flender added.

Support? Ning Rongrong paused and instinctively looked at Oscar. Rely on him?

"Ning Rongrong, don't worry. Once you've eaten my sausage, twenty laps will be nothing. Even two hundred won't be a problem."

"Heh, heh, heh..."

As Oscar spoke, he couldn't help laughing smugly. Then he recited his obscene incantation: "I Have a Big Sausage..."

A pink sausage appeared in his hand.

Blech...

Ning Rongrong felt a wave of nausea, and resolve filled her eyes. "Even if I, Ning Rongrong, die of exhaustion or starve to death, I will never eat that sausage."

But nobody paid her any attention.

They all left.

Qin Xiao wanted to leave as well.

In truth, he wasn't very interested in how the Douluo Continent would develop in the future.

Because as long as you remained in this world, you were merely a pawn of the Asura God, the Sea God, the Rakshasa God, and the other gods of the Divine Realm.

Even factions such as Shrek, Spirit Hall, and the Clear Sky Sect were no exceptions.

What he wanted was to leap beyond Douluo and attain absolute freedom that even the gods couldn't constrain!

Increasing his strength was the only thing he needed to do now.

After all, this was a world where the weak were prey to the strong. As long as you were powerful enough, what couldn't you have-power, women, anything?

However.

Just as he was about to leave, the system's mechanical voice rang out:

[Ding, side quest issued...]