Arrogant and Overbearing
In the lobby, Ma Hongjun, his face flushed, was clearly drunk and was holding onto the hand of a female student from the Canghui Academy. The female student was both ashamed and angry, struggling desperately, while her companions stood by, glaring at her.
"Let her go!" the teacher from the Canghui Academy shouted sternly.
"Hehe, let's be friends..." Ma Hongjun grinned, not only not letting go, but also going further to touch the female student's face.
"You're asking for death!" A male student from the Canghui Academy couldn't hold back any longer and threw a punch at Ma Hongjun. He was about twenty years old and his Soul Power was around level twenty-five. His punch was quite powerful.
But Ma Hongjun was, after all, a level 27 Soul Grandmaster. Although he was drunk, he was still able to react. He released the female student and threw a punch in return. The two fists collided, and the student from the Canghui Academy groaned and staggered back several steps, her arm going numb.
"Is that all you've got? You dare to play the hero and save the damsel in distress?" Ma Hongjun laughed smugly.
At this moment, Dai Mubai and Tang San, hearing the commotion, also rushed downstairs. Seeing the scene, Dai Mubai not only didn't try to stop them, but instead laughed and said, "Fatty, not bad, you can still fight even when you're drunk."
"Boss Dai, these guys are trying to bully our Shrek people!" Ma Hongjun accused first.
The teacher from the Canghui Academy said with a livid face, "It was clearly your people who harassed my student, and you dare to turn around and blame me! No one is leaving until you give us an explanation!"
"An explanation?" Dai Mubai stepped forward, unleashing the undisguised pressure of a level 37 Soul Elder. "Might makes right! What, you want to fight?"
The students of the Canghui Academy's expressions changed. Their strongest teacher was Soul King, and most of the students were Soul Grandmaster of level 20 or above. Dai Mubai, on the other hand, was a student with Soul Power of level 37. His teacher's level was unknown, but it was estimated to be stronger than theirs.
But young people are all concerned about their image, especially in front of female classmates. The female student who was harassed by Ma Hongjun cried her eyes out, and the other students were also indignant.
"Teacher Ye, they've gone too far!"
"Fight them!"
Teacher Ye from the Canghui Academy hesitated for a moment, but seeing the students' angry eyes, he knew he couldn't back down. He said in a deep voice, "Since that's the case, let's see who's truly skilled! Stop when you've made your point, don't hurt anyone."
"Stop when you've hit the mark?" Dai Mubai scoffed. "We Shrek people have never known what 'stop when you've hit the mark' means!"
Before he finished speaking, he had already rushed out. The White Tiger Vajra Transformation was activated instantly, his whole body swelled up, his Second Soul Ring lit up, and the White Tiger Fierce Light Wave roared out, directly blasting towards the Canghui Academy crowd!
"Watch out!" Teacher Ye exclaimed in alarm, and hurriedly released his Martial Soul —a Black Tortoise with five Soul Ring appearing. He released his Martial Soul and held it in front of him, blocking Dai Mubai's attack.
But at that moment, Tang San also moved. He had somehow circled around to the side, his First Soul Ring lit up, and his Blue Silver Grass coiled around the students of the Canghui Academy like a venomous snake.
"First Soul Skill, Blue Silver Entanglement!"
Most of the students were only in their twenties, so they were no match for Tang San's control. Instantly, three of them were entangled by the Blue Silver Grass and unable to move.
"Second Soul Skill, Parasite!" Tang San's Second Soul Ring lit up immediately. The ordinary Blue Silver Grass suddenly grew sharp thorns, piercing the skin of the students being entangled and releasing paralyzing toxins.
"Ah!" The three trainees screamed and fell to the ground, their faces turning blue.
All of this happened too fast. From the moment Ma Hongjun started harassing the female student until now, only a few breaths had passed. Three members of the Canghui Academy team had already fallen, and judging from their injuries, they probably wouldn't recover for at least ten days to half a month.
"You... you hit me so hard!" Teacher Ye was trembling with anger.
At this moment, Yan Zu arrived downstairs, stepped forward, and stood between the two sides, saying in a deep voice, "Stop!"
Dai Mubai frowned. "Yan Zu, step aside. These guys asked for it."
Yan Zu ignored him and turned to Teacher Ye from the Canghui Academy, cupping his hands in a gesture of respect and saying, "Teacher, our people were at fault tonight. I apologize to your academy on their behalf and am willing to compensate for all losses. Please, teacher, consider that we are all fellow Soul Master and show leniency."
His sincere attitude and calm tone calmed down the initially angry crowd from the Canghui Academy.
Teacher Ye glanced at the fallen student, then at Yan Zu, and was about to speak when Dai Mubai spoke first.
"Yan Zu, what do you mean?" Dai Mubai's voice turned cold. "Shrek members have no right to apologize! So what if you cause trouble? Geniuses causing trouble is a skill! Your attitude is a disgrace to Shrek!"
Yan Zu turned around and looked directly at Dai Mubai: "Dai Mubai, you're wrong. Causing trouble recklessly isn't skill, it's foolishness. If you're just bullying the weak, how are you any different from a bandit? Today you severely injured your opponent because of your high Soul Power, but what if you encounter someone even stronger tomorrow? If the people sitting here today weren't teachers and students from the Canghui Academy, but Titled Douluo from the Spirit Hall, would you still dare to cause trouble like this?"
His voice wasn't loud, but every word was clear and resonated throughout the hall.
"Your mindset of ignoring right and wrong and only focusing on power will only make countless enemies for the academy and lead Shrek to its destruction!"
These words were too harsh, Dai Mubai's face instantly flushed red. "You..."
"Yan Zu is right." Xiao Wu stood beside Yan Zu, her eyes resolute. "Our people were clearly in the wrong first, so why can't they apologize?"
Ning Rongrong also came over. As Auxiliary System Soul Master, although she was a little nervous, she still mustered up her courage and said, "I... I also think I should apologize. The first rule of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect School is 'Distinguish right from wrong, and correct one's mistakes.'"
Zhu Zhuqing didn't speak, but silently stood next to Ning Rongrong. Her attitude was already very clear.
Oscar hesitated for a moment, glancing at Dai Mubai, then at Yan Zu, before finally walking over to Yan Zu. Ma Hongjun was his roommate, but he knew Ma Hongjun was in the wrong tonight.
For a moment, Shrek Academy was divided into two factions. Dai Mubai, Tang San, and Ma Hongjun stood on one side, Yan Zu, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, and Oscar stood on the other side.
The people from the Canghui Academy were stunned. They never expected that this seemingly youngest boy would dare to directly refute Dai Mubai, who appeared to be the strongest in the group, and that every word he said made sense.
Just then, heavy footsteps came from the stairs. Zhao Wuji came down. He had been drinking alone upstairs and only came down to check after hearing the sounds of fighting and fluctuations in Soul Power. He still had a bit of alcohol on his face.
"What happened?" Zhao Wuji glanced at the messy hall, the injured Canghui Academy students, and the two groups of people who were clearly in a standoff, and asked in a gruff voice. His gaze first fell on Teacher Ye of the Canghui Academy, whose Soul Power fluctuations were the strongest.
He didn't recognize the other person, but he could tell from their academy and approximate strength by their moon-white Soul Master robe and five Soul Ring.
Dai Mubai spoke first, pointing at the people from the Canghui Academy and saying, "Teacher Zhao, their people were rude first, we were just acting in self-defense!" He deliberately ignored the detail that Ma Hongjun had harassed them first.
When Teacher Ye saw that another teacher had arrived, and that this teacher possessed a powerful aura and was likely stronger than himself, he felt even more anxious. However, since his student had been injured, he could not back down.
He suppressed his anger, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to Zhao Wuji, and said indignantly but with restraint, "Are you their teacher? Your students harassed my female students first, and when my students tried to reason with you, they were beaten and seriously injured. Shouldn't you give an explanation?" He deliberately pointed out "harassment" and "seriously injured" to make it clear that he was the victim.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Wuji glanced, his eyes still blurry with drunkenness, at Ma Hongjun, whose face was flushed, and Dai Mubai, who looked arrogant. He already understood about seven or eight parts of the situation.
Having been a seasoned veteran in the Soul Master World for many years, he was no stranger to such competitive conflicts, and even believed deep down that the Soul Master World was inherently a dog-eat-dog world.
He laughed heartily, not blaming Dai Mubai and the others at all, but instead saying with a hint of approval, "I thought it was nothing serious. Young people are hot-blooded, it's normal to get injured in a spar! It shows my students are skilled and didn't embarrass Shrek Academy!"
His words, though seemingly crude, were actually tyrannical and completely biased towards his own people.
Teacher Ye from the Canghui Academy turned pale with anger. The other party's attitude clearly showed they didn't respect her or the principles at all. "You... is this how Shrek Academy teaches its students? Bullying others with power, utterly devoid of any sense of right and wrong?"
Zhao Wuji's face darkened, and a powerful sense of oppression emanated from him. "What? Did I say something wrong? In the Soul Master World, strength speaks for itself! Your student's skills are lacking, who can you blame? Why don't you, the teacher, personally step in and 'reason' with me, Old Zhao?" His words were a blatant threat, a Soul Saint threatening Soul King.
Upon hearing this, Teacher Ye's chest heaved violently, but sensing the unfathomable fluctuations of Zhao Wuji's Soul Power, she knew that taking action would only bring her humiliation and might even endanger all the students.
He clenched his fists tightly and squeezed out a few words through gritted teeth. "Fine! Fine, Shrek! Let's go!" He swallowed his anger and directed the able-bodied students to help the injured up, preparing to leave this place of trouble.
"Wait." Yan Zu's voice rang out again. He walked up to Teacher Ye, ignoring Zhao Wuji's displeased gaze and Dai Mubai's cold snort, and handed over a bag of Gold Soul Coin and several bottles of pills, bowing deeply once more. "Teacher, tonight's events were our fault. This is compensation and healing medicine to express our apologies. Please accept it."
Looking into Yan Zu's clear and determined eyes, then at the considerable compensation in his hand, and comparing it to the faces of Zhao Wuji and Dai Mubai, Teacher Ye felt a mix of emotions. He sighed, took the items, and said in a low voice, "Kid, you'd better watch yourself." After saying that, he hurriedly led his students upstairs.
"Sycophant!" Ma Hongjun muttered drunkenly.
Dai Mubai sneered and said to Zhao Wuji, "Teacher Zhao, do you see that? This is boosting the morale of others while diminishing our own. To deal with a second-rate academy like this, we should use our strength to make them face reality!"
Yan Zu whirled around, his gaze sharp as he stared directly at Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, his voice icy cold. "Recognize reality? Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, have you truly recognized reality?"