At Yu Xiaogang's furious roar, the old man's gaze gradually turned icy, and a pitch-black staff slowly formed in his right palm.
"In all my years roaming the continent, I, Li Yusong, have never met anyone so arrogant."
"You're a mere rank-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster who's never even seen a third Soul Ring, yet you dare boast that you're a theoretical grandmaster?"
Those words dealt another crushing blow to Yu Xiaogang's already fragile pride.
"Fine! Very fine!"
Yu Xiaogang's eyes turned bloodshot again, and he panted like an ox. "Since you're courting death, don't blame this Grandmaster for being ruthless!"
"Come out, Luo Sanpao!"
"Pfft!"
With a muffled sound, Luo Sanpao's round, purple body appeared beside Yu Xiaogang's feet.
Its four stubby legs trembled slightly, and its nose twitched. Seemingly sensing its master's towering fury, it began huffing and puffing as well.
A trace of disdain crossed Li Yusong's face at the sight. "A mere mutated piece of trash dares throw its weight around in front of me?"
As soon as he finished speaking, he shifted his feet.
Six Soul Rings lit up in succession, slowly circling beneath his feet!
The ink-black Ten Thousand Year Soul Ring in particular, radiating a savage aura, made Yu Xiaogang's pupils abruptly contract and every hair on his body stand on end.
A Soul Emperor!!!
How was that possible?!
An old gatekeeper was actually a mighty Soul Emperor?!
Yu Xiaogang felt his legs go weak and instinctively begged for mercy. "W-wait! I..."
"Too late."
Li Yusong snorted coldly, flipped his right palm, and spun the pitch-black staff in his hand.
The next second, the staff's shadow swept like a dragon, whistling through the air as it smashed straight toward Yu Xiaogang's legs.
When beating someone, strike the legs first to keep them from running around afterward.
"Bam!"
"Aaaaah!"
With a scream like a pig being slaughtered, Yu Xiaogang dropped straight to his knees, his features twisting together in pain.
"S-Senior, this is a misunder-"
Before he could finish, Li Yusong swung the Dragon Pattern Staff again.
Each strike swept like a dragon, whipping up fierce gusts as the blows rained down on Yu Xiaogang like a violent storm.
Moments later, Yu Xiaogang let out one increasingly agonized scream after another, his cries echoing throughout the academy.
A few minutes later, Li Yusong put away his staff. Looking at Gangzi, who lay like a heap of sludge on the ground, he sneered. "With that little ability, you dared run wild at Shrek's gates?"
Yu Xiaogang lay facedown on the ground, trembling all over.
His tattered robes were covered in dirt and grass clippings, and his face was black and blue. He could not have looked more wretched.
"Trash. Be more careful in your next life. Don't come running wild at Shrek again."
Just as Li Yusong was about to send Gangzi to his death, an urgent voice suddenly rang out behind him.
"Stop!"
A figure came striding over.
It was Flender.
He had just been handling official business in his office when he suddenly heard screams coming from the entrance.
At first, he thought some fool of a good-for-nothing had come to make trouble, but as the screams grew louder and louder, he suddenly felt that the voice sounded somewhat familiar.
Unable to put his mind at ease, he decided to go out and take a look.
Who would have thought that the moment he arrived, he would see a purple-skinned pig lying at the entrance?
Flender recognized it at a glance: Xiaogang's signature external Martial Soul, Luo Sanpao.
Without time to think further, he rushed over in a single bound. Looking at the unidentified creature on the ground, its face battered and swollen and its clothes in tatters, he was momentarily dazed.
Was the person before him really the theoretical grandmaster who had once been so spirited, holding forth on the affairs of the world?
"Xiaogang? You... how did you end up like this?"
Flender crouched down, suppressed his disgust, and reached out to brush aside a few sticky strands of hair on Yu Xiaogang's face, revealing the bruised face underneath.
Hearing the familiar voice, Yu Xiaogang abruptly opened his eyes, which had swollen into slits.
When he saw that the newcomer was Flender, his eyes reddened, and he nearly burst into tears on the spot.
"F-Flender! You're finally here!"
Yu Xiaogang raised his arm with difficulty and shakily pointed at Li Yusong.
"Look! Just look! Is this how your academy's people treat guests?!"
"I'm the theoretical grandmaster you invited! Yet before I could even enter the gates, your gatekeeper beat me up! Is this Shrek's hospitality?!"
As he spoke, he grew increasingly agitated, tugging at the wounds on his face and making him grimace in pain again.
Flender's expression darkened, and he turned to Li Yusong. "Elder Li, what happened here?"
Li Yusong withdrew his Dragon Pattern Staff and snorted coldly. "Dean, this beggar kept calling me a watchdog. I, Li Yusong, have lived more than half my life, and this is the first time anyone has pointed at my nose and cursed me like that."
Flender sighed. "Elder Li, this is a misunderstanding. This really is the theoretical grandmaster I invited, Yu Xiaogang."
Li Yusong frowned slightly. "This beggar really is a theoretical grandmaster?"
Yu Xiaogang shuddered all over, nearly fainting with rage on the spot.
Flender hurriedly gave Li Yusong a meaningful look. "Elder Li, for my sake, let's let this matter go. Xiaogang has come a long way. He must have suffered quite a bit on the road to end up looking like this."
Hearing that, Li Yusong snorted coldly and put away the Dragon Pattern Staff. "Since the dean has spoken, I can't be bothered to argue with a rank-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster."
With that, he turned and returned to the gatehouse, slamming the door shut.
Yu Xiaogang: ???
So what if I'm rank twenty-nine? Have I been eating your rice?!
"Xiaogang, are you all right?"
Flender crouched down and reached out to help Yu Xiaogang up, using his Soul Power to stabilize his injuries at the same time.
With his help, Yu Xiaogang stood up. His legs were still shaking, his face was black and blue, and he could not have looked more bedraggled.
He took a deep breath, forcibly suppressing his surging fury. "Flender, is this how you treat someone you invited? It was bad enough being humiliated outside, but even on your turf, I still get beaten by a gatekeeper!"
Flender gave a helpless smile. "A misunderstanding, a misunderstanding! Elder Li is blunt by nature and didn't know who you were. I'll have him apologize to you later."
"Apologize?"
Yu Xiaogang sneered. "I wouldn't dare accept an apology from His Excellency the Soul Emperor!"
He, Yu Xiaogang, had traveled the continent for years. Though his strength was lacking, his wealth of theoretical knowledge had still earned him respect.
Yet look at how things had turned out: first, those two scourges, Tang Tianlin and Tang San, had humiliated him, and now an old gatekeeper had brutally beaten him in the street.
The world was truly going downhill, and people's hearts were no longer what they once were!
Seeing the resentment in Yu Xiaogang's heart, Flender lowered his voice to console him. "Xiaogang, you've seen Shrek's current situation."
"Elder Li is a mighty Soul Emperor I went to great lengths to recruit to guard the academy. If you fall out with him, it won't be easy for you to stay at the academy afterward, will it?"
Yu Xiaogang's expression shifted when he heard that.
Though conceited, he knew what a Soul Emperor meant.
The fact that Shrek had a Soul Emperor guarding it showed that Flender really had built up considerable resources over the years.
"Forget it. For your sake, this Grandmaster won't hold it against him."
Before you continue