After leaving Shrek Academy, the group traveled along the main road, only stopping at a small town toward evening.
They were already close to the Star Dou Great Forest. Shops selling weapons, medicine, and Soul Beast materials lined the streets, and quite a few Soul Masters walked among the passersby.
Oscar rubbed his sore calves, glanced at Lin Feng beside him, and couldn't help asking, "Aren't you tired?"
"Not really."
Lin Feng rolled his shoulders.
Throughout the journey, he had stayed with the group, neither falling behind nor deliberately speeding up. With his current physical strength, this much exertion wasn't enough to make him uncomfortable.
As for his right leg bone's flight ability, there was naturally no need to use it for traveling.
Zhao Wuji found an inn, told everyone to arrange their own dinner, and went upstairs first.
As soon as Lin Feng sat down, Dai Mubai called over a waiter to order.
Everyone was hungry after a full day on the road. Before all their dishes had arrived, another group entered, wearing matching badges on their chests.
"Canghui Academy?"
Lin Feng glanced at them, then looked away.
He still remembered that in the original story, the group had indeed clashed with people from this academy before entering the forest.
Sure enough, Ma Hongjun stared at one of the female students for a few moments, then began saying some rather unpleasant things.
Dai Mubai also sneered along with him, his words full of disdain.
The two groups weren't far apart, so those remarks naturally reached the others' ears.
A young man's expression darkened, and he rose and walked over.
"What did you just say?"
Dai Mubai leaned back in his chair and looked up at him, showing no intention of reining himself in.
As their exchange grew increasingly hostile, Oscar leaned toward Lin Feng and chuckled quietly. "Watch. There's going to be a fight."
"What's so funny about that?"
"The dean said that those who dare not stir up trouble are mediocre."
Lin Feng put down his chopsticks and glanced at him.
"What if the other person is stronger than you?"
Oscar froze.
"You provoke them anyway? Then have a teacher come save you?"
No sooner had he spoken than the young man threw a punch at Dai Mubai.
Dai Mubai caught his wrist, stood, and rammed into him, sending him staggering several steps backward. The young man crashed into a chair behind him, his face instantly flushing red.
"Martial Soul Possession!"
Two Soul Rings rose from beneath his feet. The other Canghui students also stood, releasing their Martial Souls as they surrounded them.
The waiter stood to one side holding a dish, unable to advance or retreat.
Lin Feng reached out and pulled him behind him.
"Stand to the side."
Before he finished speaking, a Canghui student had already circled around to the flank and swept his spear sideways, actually catching Lin Feng within its reach as well.
Lin Feng frowned and stepped back, avoiding the spearhead.
"I'm sitting here eating, and you want to attack me too?"
The other student didn't stop. Instead, he pressed another step forward.
"Aren't you all together?"
Hearing that, Lin Feng couldn't be bothered to say more. Emerald light abruptly flared in his palm.
Yellow, purple, purple!
Three Soul Rings rose in succession, and his Second Soul Ring immediately shone.
Several strands of emerald-green spider silk shot out instantly, wrapped around the spear shaft, and yanked it sideways. Before the student could steady himself, a spiderweb spread out in front of him and enveloped his entire body.
The two beside him were just about to help when something tightened around their feet as well.
Spider silk snaked along the floor, wound around their ankles, and dragged all three into an open space.
Thud!
The three fell one after another. Their Martial Souls struck the web but couldn't even tear a single opening. Instead, the more they struggled, the tighter they were bound.
"A Thousand-Year Soul Ring?"
The middle-aged man from Canghui Academy finally stood, his gaze fixed on the two purple Soul Rings beneath Lin Feng's feet.
Such a young Soul Elder, yet even his Second Soul Ring was a thousand-year one!
He reached out to stop the students who still wanted to charge forward and asked gravely, "Which academy are you from? Where is the teacher leading your group?"
"Shrek Academy," Dai Mubai said.
The middle-aged man frowned, clearly having never heard of it.
"I am Ye Zhiqiu, director of external affairs at Canghui Academy. Release them first. You owe us an explanation for what happened today."
Lin Feng lowered his head to look at the three caught in the web.
"They attacked me with their Martial Souls, and I tied them up. What explanation do I owe you?"
Ye Zhiqiu's expression darkened.
"You insulted our students first!"
"Then take it up with the people who said it."
Lin Feng pointed at Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun.
"The mouths are on their faces. I'm not the one who told them to say it."
Dai Mubai's expression immediately turned rather ugly, but he couldn't refute it.
Ye Zhiqiu didn't reply, but a chill spread from his body.
His Black Tortoise Martial Soul possessed him, and five Soul Rings slowly appeared. The nearby diners all rose and moved away, and even the innkeeper's expression changed.
Lin Feng's smile faded as he quietly circulated his Soul Power.
He naturally wouldn't stand there and take a Soul King's attack head-on.
But before either side could attack again, a cold snort came from the stairs.
"You can't even eat a meal without making this much trouble?"
Zhao Wuji came downstairs, glanced at the students bound in spiderwebs, then turned to Ye Zhiqiu.
"I'm their teacher. If you have a problem, speak to me."
Seven Soul Rings rose, and the imposing presence Ye Zhiqiu had just unleashed immediately faltered.
A Soul Saint!
Zhao Wuji told Lin Feng to release the webs, then called Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Ye Zhiqiu outside to ask what had happened.
Lin Feng didn't follow them out. He sat back down at the table, picked up a piece of meat that was still warm, and continued eating.
Before long, the people from Canghui Academy returned to the dining hall, gathered their things, and moved farther away.
Zhao Wuji came in afterward, sweeping his gaze across their faces.
"All of you, eat. Once you're done, get some rest early. After we enter the forest tomorrow, if anyone disrupts the group over this kind of crap again, don't blame me for being rough!"
Ma Hongjun shrank back and hurriedly lowered his head to shovel down his food.
Lin Feng glanced at Ye Zhiqiu in the distance. He was likewise giving instructions to his students and didn't look their way again.
They had come to hunt Soul Rings. No one wanted to make a mortal enemy of a Soul Saint before even entering the forest.
Dai Mubai glanced at Lin Feng as he sat down.
"You certainly washed your hands of it."
"What, you stirred up trouble, and I'm supposed to take a share of the blame?"
Lin Feng set down his chopsticks and looked at him with a smile.
Dai Mubai's lips moved, but in the end, he pulled out his chair and sat down without saying anything more.
Late that night.
Lin Feng closed his door, and a figure suddenly appeared by the window.
"Elder Ju."
Yue Guan glanced at him and said flatly, "We're entering the forest tomorrow. Be careful yourself. Don't think you can do anything you please just because we're following you."
"I understand."
"And that rabbit-Old Ghost has been watching her. If she senses something wrong and tries to run, we'll act directly."
Lin Feng nodded, then reminded him, "If any high-level Soul Beasts approach her on their own, the two of you might want to get a clear picture of the situation first."
Yue Guan's gaze shifted.
"The two you mentioned?"
"It's possible."
"If we really find them, His Holiness will naturally credit you for it." Yue Guan paused, then continued, "But you are not to go wandering into the depths on your own."
Lin Feng agreed.
He was looking for a Man Faced Demon Spider. He had no intention of provoking two Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts right now.
After Yue Guan left, Lin Feng extinguished the light and sat cross-legged.
Once they entered the forest tomorrow, it would be time to watch for traces of Snake Granny and Meng Yiran.
He wouldn't leave those Eight Spider Lances for Tang San!