Flender

Biodata

Power Progression

Background / History

In his youth, Flender belonged to the Golden Iron Triangle alongside Yu Xiaogang and a female Soul Master. He became known as its Flying Corner. Their Martial Soul Fusion Skill was reputed to rival a Titled Douluo, and Xue Qinghe credited the trio with easily defeating Soul Douluos 2 46.

Shrek Academy became Flender’s life’s work. He raised Lu Ning from childhood and also supported Ma Hongjun and other youngsters. Despite his profiteering reputation, the narration explicitly states that he never took academy funds for himself 1 27 44.

Flender also harbored longstanding feelings for Liu Erlong, the dean of Blue Tyrant Academy. Yu Xiaogang was both his closest friend and his romantic rival 7 49 50 67.

Appearance

• Small eyes and a beard: Both are emphasized during his exchanges with Lu Ning 17 20.
• Glasses: He adjusts them while discussing Yu Xiaogang’s tournament tactics 107.
• Gaunt hands: Noted when he congratulates Lu Ning after the fight with Tai Tan 73.
• Martial Soul Avatar: Transforms into a gigantic Cat Owl with broad wings and feathers 20.

Personality

Flender cultivates the image of a miserly, unscrupulous merchant. He readily bargains over prize money, negotiates aggressively, and continues serving exceptionally poor tea even after acquiring a lavish office. His pursuit of money nevertheless coexists with careful stewardship: Xue Qinghe finds his academy accounts faultless and some supply prices lower than imperial procurement rates 40 49 62.

As a teacher, he prefers trusting students’ decisions to imposing theoretical rules. He helps Lu Ning prepare whale rubber without demanding an explanation and guards him during his apparent soul-ring absorption. After testing Lu Ning’s sword strike, however, he gives blunt advice about its slow buildup and the danger of exhausting every reserve 19 20.

His loyalties can pull him in different directions. He protects Lu Ning from Yu Xiaogang’s accusations but refuses to permit Yu Xiaogang’s murder, citing their life-and-death friendship. Threats to his students can also provoke ruthlessness: after Ma Hongjun is badly injured, he authorizes Lu Ning to hurt Spirit Hall’s competitors as severely as the tournament rules allow 33 39 108.

Abilities & Skills

Four-Eyed Cat Owl Martial Soul

Flender’s avian Martial Soul provides flight and a large transformed combat form 20 21.

• Flight: Travels directly from the Star Dou Great Forest to Shrek Academy 21 22.
• Combat style: Described as defeating opponents through sustained methods rather than a single decisive blow 34.
• Soul-power manipulation: Dismembers the Profound Sword Demon Turtle and uses black flames to soften whale rubber 19.

Sixth Soul Skill

An unnamed defensive skill produces a murky yellow barrier around his body 20.

• Used together with Martial Soul Avatar against One Sword Freezes Fourteen Provinces.
• The barrier shatters under Lu Ning’s sword Qi; it cannot stop that strike by itself 20.

Seventh Soul Skill: Martial Soul Avatar

Transforms Flender into a gigantic Cat Owl, allowing him to shield his front with his wings 20.

• Prevents more serious injury during Lu Ning’s fourth-skill test.
• Does not completely negate the attack: feathers fall, wounds freeze, and cold penetrates his transformed body 20.

Golden Iron Triangle Martial Soul Fusion Skill

A cooperative technique associated with Flender, Yu Xiaogang, and their female teammate 2.

• Reputed to rival a Titled Douluo.
• The trio’s victories over Soul Douluos are cited by Xue Qinghe; the supplied passages do not show the technique being performed 46.

Teaching & Academy Management

• Soul hunting: Identifies an eighteen-thousand-year Profound Sword Demon Turtle as suitable for Lu Ning’s sword Martial Soul and explains that soul beasts do not guarantee a fixed skill type 19.
• Combat assessment: Recognizes the likely one-use nature of Lu Ning’s new attack before testing it, then identifies its practical weaknesses 19 20.
• Team tactics: Organizes Shrek’s arena lineup and briefs its members before facing the Imperial Fighting Team 40 41.
• Negotiation: Secures favorable relocation terms while preserving Shrek’s name and teaching methods 48 49.

Equipment / Items

• Eighty-thousand-year Death Blood Tree Trunk Bone — Offered by Lu Ning during the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect confrontation. Flender initially refuses it but later absorbs it, breaking his cultivation bottleneck and gaining an unnamed Soul Skill 34 38 39.
• Million-Gold-Soul-Coin Card — Lu Ning’s personal retirement gift to him. Flender initially refuses to spend it on academy expenses; later, he uses the card as leverage when negotiating with the Soto Great Soul Arena manager 28 40.

Relationships

• Lu Ning — Disciple raised by Flender from childhood. Their relationship combines constant teasing with mutual loyalty: Flender protects him, while Lu Ning provides retirement money and the Soul Bone enabling his breakthrough 1 28 34 38.
• Ma Hongjun — Disciple and another youngster Flender helped raise. Ma Hongjun becomes deeply invested in resolving his teacher’s unrequited love, eventually helping arrange the disastrous reunion with Liu Erlong 27 38 50 67.
• Yu Xiaogang — Closest friend, former teammate, and romantic rival. Flender supports teaching him a lesson but draws the line at killing him 7 39.
• Liu Erlong — Longstanding love interest and dean of Blue Tyrant Academy. Their reunion is manipulated by Ma Hongjun and Dugu Bo 50 67 68.
• Zhao Wuji — Fellow Shrek teacher and trusted colleague. They handle academy problems together, although Flender rejects his suggestion to silence Yu Xiaogang permanently 22 39.
• Dugu Bo — Lu Ning’s guardian, whom Flender attacks and bans from Shrek after discovering his interference with Liu Erlong 56 68.
• Xue Qinghe — Negotiating partner in Shrek’s relocation and subsequent funding discussions 48 62.
• Meng Shenji — Respects Flender as a fellow Soul Douluo and considers grooming him as Heaven Dou Royal Academy’s next head faculty member 50 68.
• Ning Rongrong — Student whose family holds Flender accountable for her care. He later reserves a tournament-team place for her, citing the importance of her support Martial Soul 34 84.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Conflict over Lu Ning’s Education

• Defends Lu Ning when Yu Xiaogang demands his expulsion for drinking, arguing that it does not interfere with cultivation or classes 1.
• Encourages Lu Ning to accept a teaching contest against Yu Xiaogang; Zhao Wuji ultimately selects Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing as Lu Ning’s students 7 8.
• Stops Yu Xiaogang from taking accusations of fallen cultivation to Spirit Hall. Privately questions Lu Ning and Zhu Zhuqing because he recognizes that their Soul Bone explanation conceals important details 32 33.

Soul Hunt and Sect Confrontation

• Escorts Lu Ning, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing into the Star Dou Great Forest, helps kill the Profound Sword Demon Turtle, and guards Lu Ning during his apparent absorption 17 19.
• Tests Lu Ning’s fourth Soul Skill and is wounded despite using two defensive measures 20.
• Promises that he and Zhao Wuji will protect Lu Ning when powerful visitors arrive over Ning Rongrong. As dean, he accepts responsibility for investigating the incident and hosts the ensuing discussion 34 36.

Financial Crisis and Relocation

• Admits that Shrek may be unable to feed everyone after heavy spending, much of it directed toward Tang San and Xiao Wu. Lu Ning responds with a million-coin retirement gift 27 28.
• Initially rejects Qin Ming’s invitation to move to Heaven Dou Royal Academy 44.
• Accepts Xue Qinghe’s later offer: viscount titles for all serving teachers, retention of Shrek’s name and teaching methods, and nominal affiliation without direct subordination. He also obtains six million Gold Soul Coins in relocation expenses 48 49.
• Quietly recruits outside students despite admissions being restricted to Heaven Dou Royal Academy’s pool. After half a year, Shrek has grown from five students to more than two hundred, with commoners making up less than ten percent 60.
• Seeks another two hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins in funding. Zhu Zhuqing later reports that he has drawn seventy percent of Heaven Dou Royal Academy’s funds into Shrek 62 80.

Reunion with Liu Erlong

• Learns that Liu Erlong has been abducted and brought to Shrek, then goes to meet her after Ma Hongjun attributes the act to Dugu Bo 67.
• Discovers that Dugu Bo secretly exposed them to a substance affecting their bodies. Furious, he pursues the Poison Douluo with attacking Soul Skills and publicly bans him from the academy 68.

Continental Tournament

• Helps arrange a friendly match intended to demonstrate the difference between Shrek and Heaven Dou Royal Academy’s former teaching system 87.
• Joins the instructors confronting Huyan Zhen and Shi Nian after their failed assassination attempt on Lu Ning; he and Bai Baoshan propose destroying the attackers’ institutions 96.
• Explains the finals format and believes Lu Ning can defeat fourteen opponents consecutively to secure a winners’ bracket position 106.
• Is assigned, alongside Bai Baoshan, to escort Dugu Yan, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong out of Spirit City before the final team match 110.

Notable Quotes

“He is my closest friend, after all! Teaching him a lesson is enough!” 7

“Whoever spent the academy’s funds will earn them back themselves. If it affects the students’ studies or the academy’s operations, they can get the hell out!” 28

“However, since this happened at my Shrek Academy, as its dean, I will take responsibility to the very end.” 34