The air abruptly fell silent.
The anger in the eyes of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy students gradually gave way to confusion. When they looked back at the Silver Moon Douluo, their gazes had turned teasing and derisive.
Was this for real?
The Silver Moon Douluo actually had a kink like that?
Tsk, she really knew how to spice things up.
Many of the students present were locals with influential families. Naturally, they knew a little about the Silver Moon Douluo, and could more or less guess who the unattainable love Xu Qingjia had mentioned was.
Cai Yue'er's expression froze. Fierce anger made her body tremble slightly, but one surge of Spirit Domain Realm spiritual power after another locked onto her at that moment. Some of them even made her feel pressured. Her face was vicious, yet she could only vent her fury with a cold snort. "Whose wet-behind-the-ears brat are you, daring to gossip about your elders' private affairs?"
"Elders?" Xu Qingjia's lips curved into a gentle yet cutting smile as he continued walking. "Humiliating people in the name of 'motivation,' trampling their dignity under the guise of 'pride'-an 'elder' like that doesn't deserve respect from the younger generation."
"Besides." Xu Qingjia smiled as he offered a kindly reminder. "People have all sorts of interests. Rest assured, Your Excellency, I won't discriminate against you just because you enjoy being cuckolded."
Xu Qingjia respected other people's interests, provided they were legal and moral.
"Pfft-"
Someone failed to hold back a laugh.
One spread to ten, and ten spread to a hundred.
Since everyone else was laughing, why struggle so hard to hold it in?
The underground arena, which held roughly ten thousand people, instantly became a sea of merriment.
"Shut up!" A furious roar laden with immense soul power suddenly exploded, drowning out all the laughter. Anger and humiliation intertwined, nearly overwhelming the Silver Moon Douluo's reason.
"Getting worked up?"
A teasing voice relentlessly prodded Cai Yue'er's nerves.
The truth had always been the sharpest blade.
Besides, the original story had already shown that Cai Yue'er had openly retaliated against Gu Yue simply because she refused her offer of apprenticeship. Her mindset was narrow and extreme to begin with.
Cai Yue'er stared fixedly at the instigator, Xu Qingjia. Throughout her decades in the Soul Master World, she had always been the one bullying others. When had she ever suffered such humiliation? The sharp-faced old woman's eyes were so venomous that she looked ready to swallow Xu Qingjia alive and flay him. Veins bulged on her clenched fists as she barked, "How dare you!"
"You're the tyrant!"
Xu Qingjia shot back without a shred of courtesy.
"Cai Yue'er!" Xu Qingjia addressed her directly by name, showing her no courtesy whatsoever.
"Where do you think you are? Do you think this is your Shrek Academy?!"
"This is Mingdu! The capital of the Sun Moon Federation!"
"For ten thousand years, the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy has nurtured one outstanding student after another, each laying another brick in the Federation's cause. What right do you have to humiliate this place!"
How could he let outsiders bully people on his turf?!
"Right?" Cai Yue'er sneered, her face full of disdain. "Every student of our Shrek Academy possesses extraordinary talent, far beyond you mediocre fools! Compared to us, you're nothing but inferior goods unfit to be seen in public!"
Xu Qingjia's gaze turned icy. "Then what about students from other academies? Ordinary people?"
"Trash! Useless!" Provoked, Cai Yue'er made no attempt to hide her contempt.
She knew that many stations were broadcasting them live right now.
But so what? When she, the Silver Moon Douluo, had roamed the Soul Master World all those years ago, she had always done exactly as she pleased. Shrek Academy had no need for students with poor talent, especially ordinary people. Even now, as the public became more enlightened and ordinary people's standing improved, knowledge pertaining to Soul Masters remained beyond their reach.
Even if an ordinary person's child was a Soul Master, when that parent took their child to have their spiritual power tested, obtain a soul spirit, or deal with any of the other related matters, they still had to wait obediently outside the door.
"Truly revolting." Xu Qingjia's eyes brimmed with disgust.
Shrek Academy needed to be "purified," and so did this world.
"Nothing but drivel." Cai Yue'er snorted.
"If you want to stand up for these inferior goods, then fight our academy's students! If you're an inferior specimen too, crawl aside like the useless wretch you are."
She could sense neither this fellow's soul power nor his spiritual fluctuations. He might have some treasure that concealed them. But how could he possibly compare to the students of their Shrek Academy?
Xu Qingjia glanced at the three Shrek students beside the arena, whose noses were practically pointed at the heavens, and gently shook his head.
"What? Too scared?" Cai Yue'er's expression turned mocking, her tone even more contemptuous.
"Not enough!" Xu Qingjia folded his arms. Merely teaching them a lesson would not cover his appearance fee.
"If I lose, I'll kneel outside Shrek Academy's main gates for three days. If your students lose, you'll kneel outside the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy's main gates for three days."
"Oh?" Contempt flashed through Cai Yue'er's eyes. "Who do you think you are? You aren't worthy-"
"Then what about me!" A clear yet commanding female voice suddenly rang out. Shen Xi appeared beside Xu Qingjia as though she had teleported, unleashing her full presence. "If Qingjia loses, I'll kneel in his place!"
"Shen Xi?!" Cai Yue'er abruptly rose to her feet.
Her gaze swept back and forth between Xu Qingjia and Shen Xi. Seeing the resemblance in their brows and features, realization suddenly dawned on her face. Through gritted teeth, she said, "So this brat is your son!"
No wonder the little bastard's face had seemed familiar.
One was the Moon Douluo, the other the Silver Moon Douluo. With similar martial souls and similar ages, they had never lacked for rivalry in their younger days.
Cai Yue'er's expression instantly became hesitant.
She could not shake the feeling that something was strange about this.
The brat before her looked about the same age as her students, perhaps even younger. But what if Shen Xi had fed him heavenly treasures and had him fuse with a Hundred Thousand Year Soul Bone?
As though she had seen through her concerns, Shen Xi raised a hand and patted Xu Qingjia's shoulder.
Xu Qingjia understood and removed the soul tool concealing his soul power. In an instant, the aura of his rank-thirty-five soul power spread like a tide, immediately detected by the many spiritual power experts present.
"My son and I can wait until your students recover to their peak condition." Shen Xi looked Cai Yue'er straight in the eye, her provocation undisguised. "My Qingjia will take on all three of your students alone. The wager stands. What's wrong, Cai Yue'er? If you don't dare, crawl back to Shrek and ask your darling Brother Yun Ming to comfort you.
"Oh, I almost forgot. You're nothing but a clown who can only hide in the shadows and peep on their married life!"
"You-" Those words made Cai Yue'er's blood surge and her face flush crimson. But on second thought, all three students she had brought were Soul Elders. They had both offense and support, and worked together seamlessly. They possessed the world's greatest beast martial soul, the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon; the world's greatest power attack system tool martial soul, the Clear Sky Hammer; and the universally acknowledged greatest support tool martial soul, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda.
Three against one-the advantage is mine!
"Who's afraid of whom! You're on!" Cai Yue'er steeled herself and agreed through gritted teeth.
Shen Xi and Xu Qingjia exchanged a glance, and the corners of both mother and son's mouths curved into matching, meaningful smiles of amusement.