At Qi Ling's words, Dai Mubai's legs went weak, and he nearly fell to his knees! One more punch, and he could forget about walking out of here upright.
"No, no! Please spare me!" Dai Mubai begged. "I admit defeat. From now on, you're the boss of Shrek Academy!"
Afterward, supported by the two twins, Dai Mubai staggered out. With his constitution, he should be back to normal in less than a day.
Before leaving, Dai Mubai handed Qi Ling a card. "Qi Ling, take this card and use it. I'll cover all your expenses for the next few days! Consider it my thanks for going easy on me."
"Oh? I didn't expect you to be so generous, Four-Eyes!" Qi Ling said, taking the card.
Hearing Qi Ling's words, Dai Mubai nearly tripped. He said sheepishly, "Qi Ling, could you call me something else? Calling me that really makes me lose face."
"Hmm, something else..." Qi Ling turned to glance at Tang San. "Then I'll call you Xiao Bai!"
Dai Mubai wanted to cry but had no tears. Xiao Bai it was, then. At least it sounded better than Four-Eyes, and with such a cute nickname, he might even attract some girls' attention.
Once Dai Mubai had left, Xiao Wu immediately threw her arms around Qi Ling and bounced with delight. "Brother Qi, you're amazing! You knocked that whatever-tiger flat with one punch!"
"I think that guy's just a silver-plated spearhead made of wax-all looks and no substance! No, he has neither looks nor substance. He isn't even as handsome as you, Brother Qi!"
Qi Ling set her down and said, "Dai Mubai is still quite strong. If you or Xiao San fought him properly, neither of you would likely be his match. Of course, I mean fighting him 'properly.'"
Tang San nodded slightly. "That's true. Without using hidden weapons, I'd have less than a thirty percent chance of beating him."
"So what? He still lost!" Xiao Wu said. "Come on, Brother Qi, Brother San. Let's go have a look at that room."
As expected, the room at the Rose Hotel was filled with suggestive touches that made anyone entering it blush and their heart race involuntarily!
She finally understood why Qi Ling had worn such an odd expression when she said she wanted to come here. This place was still too much for her.
"Xiao San, the ventilation here doesn't seem very good, hahaha," Qi Ling suddenly said. "Why don't we go out and find another hotel?"
"Ah, ah, oh..." Tang San also looked as though he had just awakened from a dream. Devoted as he was to hidden weapons, when had he ever seen anything like this? "Big Brother, I think you're right!"
Once the three finally found somewhere to stay, they went their separate ways that afternoon. The following morning, they officially set off for Shrek Academy to take part in its registration ceremony.
After leaving the city, the three headed south, but the farther they walked, the more desolate it became. It was as though they had arrived at a farmstead, with vast stretches of farmland on either side of the road.
"What's going on? Why do I feel like we're getting farther and farther into the middle of nowhere?" Xiao Wu asked in puzzlement. "Grandmaster hasn't sold us off into the mountains, has he?"
"Haha, who would dare buy you, Xiao Wu? Wouldn't you turn the place upside down, sending chickens flying and dogs jumping?" Qi Ling laughed.
"Oh, so you're picking on me again, Brother Qi!" As she spoke, Xiao Wu leaped onto Qi Ling's back. "As punishment, you have to carry me!"
Holding Xiao Wu securely with both hands, Qi Ling said helplessly, "You little rascal. If you want me to carry you, just say so. Why take the long way around?"
Before long, the sharp-eyed Tang San spotted a small village in the distance. It looked to have roughly a hundred households and was not particularly large. Quite a few people seemed to have gathered at its entrance, though he did not know what they were doing.
"Big Brother, Xiao Wu, there's a village over there. Let's go ask for directions!" Tang San said.
When the three drew closer, they realized something was amiss. The people at the village entrance were actually youngsters around their own age, lining up with their parents accompanying them.
The three exchanged looks. Qi Ling said cautiously, "Could it be... right here?"
The facts were just as the three suspected. When they reached the village entrance, they found a table set up there, with an old man in his sixties or seventies seated behind it.
Behind the old man, a battered sign bore the five large, faded Chinese characters for "Shrek Academy," with a strange-looking monster drawn beside them.
At that moment, the old man seemed to have gotten into a dispute with these people. A middle-aged man said heatedly, "Frauds! You're nothing but a fraudulent academy! Give me back my registration fee!"
"My son is a top student at his school, a rank-twelve Tool Soul Master, and he even has a hundred-year soul ring! Yet you're saying he doesn't meet your registration requirements? You're clearly swindling people!"
The old man stood up impatiently and told them, "I'll say this one more time. All of you, listen carefully to Shrek Academy's admission requirements. Don't come flocking to register just because you can earn a viscount's title!"
"A Shrek is one of the most peculiar beings even among Soul Beasts, so our Shrek Academy only accepts monsters!"
"If you're over thirteen, or your Soul Power hasn't reached rank twenty-one, don't come wasting everyone's time! Once the registration fee is paid, there are no refunds. Govern yourselves accordingly!"
As he spoke, surging Soul Power poured from the old man's body. Six soul rings appeared around him, while a long staff appeared in his hand.
This unremarkable-looking old man was actually a Soul Emperor powerhouse whose Soul Power exceeded rank sixty!
Faced with such a powerhouse, the students immediately lost the nerve to make trouble and slunk away one after another. Roughly a third of the people remained, evidently believing they met the requirements.
The old man glanced at those remaining, then said to a young man seated behind him, "Mubai, you handle the rest. Anyone who meets the qualifications will do."
"Yes, Teacher!" The speaker was none other than Dai Mubai, whom Qi Ling and the others had met yesterday. After just one night, his injuries had almost completely healed.
Seeing Dai Mubai, Qi Ling immediately laughed. While everyone else was still hesitating, he was the first to walk up. "Hey! Xiao Bai, we've come to find you! Take good care of us!"
At the sight of Qi Ling, the muscles in Dai Mubai's face twitched. He said helplessly, "Brother Qi, stop teasing me. You taking care of me would be more like it. The three of you don't need testing. Just head straight in."
Hearing Dai Mubai's words, the old man beside him could not help giving Qi Ling a few more looks. After all, for Dai Mubai to say such a thing, this boy was not to be underestimated.
"Anyone else? If not, I'll take them inside!" Looking at the people, Dai Mubai felt somewhat anxious. Why had the person he had been waiting for still not appeared?
Just then, a particularly eye-catching girl walked over. She looked a little shorter than Xiao Wu, but her figure was far more developed than those of others her age.
She had black hair, black eyes, fair skin, and a stunning figure, but her exquisitely beautiful face bore not a trace of expression. Her bearing kept others a thousand miles away-a classic ice-cold beauty.
At the sight of her, Dai Mubai's gaze immediately grew heated, for she was precisely the person he had been waiting for.