The six walked toward Shrek Academy.
Lu Ning and the others were completely baffled.
They simply could not figure out what Yu Xiaogang wanted to do.
Even Tang San and Xiao Wu only half understood.
All they knew was that Lu Ning must have committed some offense that outraged gods and men for Yu Xiaogang to be so determined to return to Shrek Academy and demand justice.
Shrek Academy's assembly bell rang.
The lights suddenly came on.
Flender and the others, who had just been about to go to bed, gathered at the village entrance.
Zhao Wuji looked thoroughly displeased.
"Grandmaster, how much money did you make this time?"
"Can't this wait until tomorrow? You woke everyone up in the middle of the night. Surely you don't have some particularly important announcement to make?"
Zhao Wuji did not think Yu Xiaogang could have anything important to say.
It would be no different from last night.
He would bring over a bag of Gold Soul Coins to show off how much money Tang San had made again.
They knew Tang San could make money.
But he could not go around showing off all day!
"..." Yu Xiaogang's face was full of displeasure. "I didn't make any money. You could say I can't even produce a single copper coin. If you really insist on money, Teacher Zhao..."
"Then kill me and take me to Spirit Hall to see how much I'm worth."
Zhao Wuji snorted with laughter.
"I, Lao Zhao, have at least been hunted by a Soul Emperor from Spirit Hall."
"If you took my head to Spirit Hall, you might get a hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins or more. But you, Grandmaster... what could you possibly be worth? You couldn't sell even at the price of chicken feathers."
"Since you haven't brought back any money, why did you wake us all up in the middle of the night?"
"Surely you don't expect us to discuss how to wipe your backside for you?"
"Whoever spent the money has to bear the responsibility."
"We settled that long ago."
Yu Xiaogang's face turned from green to purple. Zhao Wuji had long been dissatisfied with him, but were those words not a little too hurtful?
"Zhao Wuji."
"The reason I didn't bring back any money tonight..."
"Was that Zhu Zhuqing broke Xiao San's Soul Fighting winning streak tonight!"
"That's why our whole group came back empty-handed!"
Yu Xiaogang's words...
Were like a boulder suddenly hurled into a tranquil lake.
Zhu Zhuqing had defeated Tang San?
How could Zhu Zhuqing possibly have the strength to beat Tang San?
Would she not be evenly matched with Ma Hongjun at best?
Dai Mubai had the strongest reaction.
The instant he heard those words, he turned to look at Zhu Zhuqing.
The alluring girl in the tight black outfit felt utterly unfamiliar to him at that moment. He had seen Zhu Zhuqing's strength for himself. Defeating Tang San was practically impossible for her.
Even he did not dare claim he could beat Tang San.
The odds between Tang San and him were usually nine to one in Tang San's favor, and that was with Tang San using neither his Soul Bone nor those strange weapons at all.
Zhu Zhuqing...
Had won?
How had she won?
Flender was equally shocked.
He regarded every student as his own child.
He could not have been more familiar with Zhu Zhuqing's circumstances. Now, hearing Yu Xiaogang's words, he cast a long look at Lu Ning.
The issue had to lie with Lu Ning.
That was the only variable he could think of.
Flender forcibly suppressed his shock and said, "Zhu Zhuqing is an Agility Attack System Soul Master, and Xiao San is a Control System Soul Master. If a Control System Soul Master lets someone get close through a moment of carelessness, isn't losing perfectly normal?"
"Perhaps there was some luck involved."
"But surely that wasn't enough for you to summon us all in the middle of the night to discuss it, Xiaogang?"
Hearing that Flender was still making excuses for Lu Ning...
Yu Xiaogang immediately spoke, stressing every word. "Yes!"
"If an Agility Attack System Soul Master got close to a Control System Soul Master through a moment of carelessness..."
"Losing the match would be entirely understandable."
"But..."
"Aren't you curious why Tang San and Zhu Zhuqing could meet in the same Soul Fighting match?!"
With one remark, Yu Xiaogang exposed the crux of the matter.
Everyone's gaze returned to Zhu Zhuqing.
Yu Xiaogang continued, "How could a Soul Elder and a Soul Grandmaster meet in the same match?"
"Because Zhu Zhuqing challenged someone above her rank? No! It was because... Zhu Zhuqing has also reached the Soul Elder Realm! Three rings!"
"Zhu Zhuqing, can you tell me how you shot up from level twenty-seven to Level 30 in such a short time?"
"To be precise, how did you gain three levels in twenty days!"
Yu Xiaogang aimed his spearhead straight at Zhu Zhuqing.
He was also pointing indirectly at Lu Ning.
Zhu Zhuqing had never made such progress before.
Yet after she began learning from Lu Ning...
She had immediately begun advancing at such a tremendous pace. It truly defied understanding.
Flender's gaze turned solemn at that moment.
The students might not have understood.
But the teachers, who had roamed the continent in their younger days, understood perfectly. Yu Xiaogang suspected that Zhu Zhuqing had become a Fallen Soul Master!
To improve so much in such a short time...
It had to be either a Divine Examination or becoming a Fallen Soul Master.
For Yu Xiaogang to have stirred up such a commotion and come here, it certainly was not a Divine Examination. That left only...
"Zhu Zhuqing, Grandmaster is saying that you raised your level through fallen methods."
"Do you have anything to say?"
Flender looked at Zhu Zhuqing, his peripheral vision sweeping over Lu Ning.
He certainly trusted Lu Ning.
After all, he had watched Lu Ning grow up.
There was absolutely no way he would take the path of a Fallen Soul Master.
But gaining three levels in succession in less than a month was simply too astonishing.
In front of all these teachers, he dared not leave the question unasked.
If Lu Ning really had taken a fallen path...
He would protect Lu Ning and get him out of here.
Even if it meant being imprisoned in Slaughter City, he could not let the boy die at Spirit Hall's hands.
"I have nothing to say."
"But I didn't raise my Soul Power Level through fallen methods. I used orthodox cultivation methods, and I haven't harmed anyone."
"Grandmaster isn't my teacher."
"I have no obligation to explain anything to Grandmaster."
Zhu Zhuqing's voice was cold.
She did not respond to Yu Xiaogang's suspicions at all.
Just as she had said...
There was no need to explain!
"You aren't explaining yourself to me now. You're explaining yourself to the academy's teachers."
"If you can't give a reasonable explanation..."
"I can take you to Spirit City to meet the Papal Deacon, and you can take your time thinking!"
Yu Xiaogang held one hand behind his back.
He refused to yield an inch.
He had even invoked the Papal Deacon and Spirit City.
He wore an air of righteous dignity.
Flender looked at Lu Ning. Yawning, Lu Ning stepped forward, but cast a distant glance into the darkness. The Sword Bone in his left leg hummed. He paid it no mind and walked toward Yu Xiaogang.
He had wondered what had made Yu Xiaogang so furious. In the end, he was just jealous of Zhu Zhuqing's progress.
After all, his disciple Tang San had never gained three levels in succession since becoming his student.
"Yu Xiaogang."
Lu Ning addressed him directly by name.
"My student has no reason to report to you, does she?"
"If you've got nothing else to do, get your Soul Power above Level 30 before you say anything."
"Not everyone is like you."
"Stuck at Level 30 for life."
Before you continue