"What a touching plea. Where were you when I was being hunted down? How come I didn't see you step forward to plead on my behalf back then? Now that you see me as an opponent of Shrek, you start playing the emotional card. You completely disgust me. Furthermore, drop that pathetic act of being a big brother. You are not my brother. I only have one older brother, and that is Feng Piaoling. As for you, you are merely an older student from Shrek's Inner Court. Just you wait; within ten years, I will surpass you, surpass your Dai clan, and trample you all beneath my feet."
Zhu Lu showed absolutely no respect for Dai Yueheng.
"Zhu Lu, do not forget your own status," Dai Huabin barked, feeling both shocked and furious.
"Dai Huabin, don't lecture me about families. I will return to the Zhu clan sooner or later, but absolutely not as anyone's dependent. I will return as the future Head of the Zhu clan."
Long ago, Zhu Lu had already decided to lead the Zhu clan into joining the Soul Hall. She wasn't the only one; Huang Chutian, Cui Yajie, Xiao Xiao, and the others who belonged to prominent families shared the exact same sentiment.
It was just that it clearly wasn't realistic at the moment.
They were all still weak.
But once they grew strong—
In fact, they wouldn't even need to fully grow up. As long as they could prove themselves in this Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Duel Tournament, they would have enough leverage to convince their respective clans.
After all, they placed absolute trust in Feng Piaoling's talent, potential, and strength.
"What arrogant talk! You're nothing but trash expelled by our Shrek Academy, yet you dare to behave so insolently? Do you truly believe that entering the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy makes you special? They are nothing but defeated opponents of our Shrek Academy. How dare you speak of courage?"
Sensing that the soul power fluctuations from Zhu Lu's body were only around Rank 30, Ma Xiaotao instantly wore a look of utter disdain.
Her words undoubtedly caused the students of the Sun Moon Royal Soul Engineer Academy to furrow their brows.
Feng Piaoling took a step forward, his expression deadpan as he said, "Defeated opponents indeed, but that was in the past. Because I have arrived. From the moment I appeared, Shrek was destined for defeat."
"Just based on you?" Ma Xiaotao glanced at him, her expression growing increasingly contemptuous.
"At the very least, it is more than enough to defeat a foolish woman like you, who can't even suppress her own evil fire."
Feng Piaoling's expression remained perfectly calm.
"What did you say?" Ma Xiaotao flew into a rage, on the verge of making a move.
However, Huo Yuhao stepped forward at this critical juncture, blocking Ma Xiaotao. "So, you mean to say you all have betrayed your own homeland and followed Feng Piaoling to defect to the Sun Moon Empire?"
He had finally spoken up, and right from the start, he slapped a massive label on everyone from the Soul Hall.
In his view, no matter what Feng Piaoling and these people had gone through, they would never, and dare not, betray their own country.
One careless move could easily bring catastrophe upon their entire clans.
Yet, instead of showing any fear, the members of the Soul Hall looked at Huo Yuhao with expressions as though they were looking at an idiot.
"Joining a soul master academy to participate in the Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Soul Duel Tournament is considered betraying one's country? Then let me ask you, Huo Yuhao: ten thousand years ago, when the generation of the First Shrek Seven Monsters—the Evil-Eyed White Tiger Dai Mubai and the Ghost Cat Zhu Zhuqing—represented Shrek, which was merely an ordinary advanced soul master academy of the Heaven Dou Empire back then, and defeated the Star Luo Imperial Academy, what did that count as? By your logic, were they traitors to their country as well?"
Feng Piaoling countered.
Hearing this, Ma Xiaotao grew even more incensed. "How can a few mere traitors like you even hope to compare with the First Shrek Seven Monsters of our Shrek Academy?"
"And now we've become traitors? You mad dog, who only knows how to bite people all day long, really just make things up as you go. But if we are talking about traitors, I believe the prime candidate should be the person standing right beside you, Huo Yuhao. He originally came from the Duke of White Tiger's Domain, being the illegitimate son of the current Duke of White Tiger, Dai Hao. After Dai Huabin and his mother, the current Duchess of White Tiger, caused the death of his own mother, he ran away from home. Along the way, he threw his lot in with me. After aligning with me, he ran into Tang Ya, the sect master of the Tang Sect, and Bei Bei, subsequently joining the Tang Sect. After that, he threw his lot in with Shrek. And now, looking at his current state, he has thrown himself right back into the embrace of the very people who murdered his mother."
As Feng Piaoling finished his speech—
Before Ma Xiaotao could erupt into fury again, the words completely broke Huo Yuhao's mental defenses. "Feng Piaoling, you bastard! Make yourself clear! When did I ever throw my lot in with you? It is true that I joined the Tang Sect, but joining the Tang Sect does not conflict with joining Shrek Academy! Furthermore, Second Brother and I are completely pure and innocent! Stop spouting such slanderous nonsense!"
Yet, the more he tried to explain it this way—
The more it made everyone present feel that there was something highly suspicious between him and Dai Huabin.
Ma Xiaotao actually forgot to be angry. Within her mind, the rumors regarding the ghostly wailing and howling coming from the Outer Court dormitory that night became impossible to dispel.
As for Dai Yueheng, it felt as though his brain had instantly exploded; his whole head was buzzing.
What on earth did he just hear? Huo Yuhao was actually his father's illegitimate son, and Huo Yuhao's mother had been hounded to death by his own mother and his younger brother, Dai Huabin.
Then what did it mean when he previously followed his mother's orders to have his brother, Dai Huabin, win Huo Yuhao over?
Did that mean he was sending the two brothers to cross swords in a whole different way?
No, they had already crossed swords.
The moment he recalled that particular scenario, Dai Yueheng instantly experienced a strong urge to witness the destruction of the world.
Watching this unfold from the sidelines, Wu Feng and Wang Dong'er, who had been enjoying the drama the entire time, were practically on the verge of dying from laughter.
Bei Bei, Ling Luochen, and Xi Xi had not participated in this confrontation from the very beginning.
Bei Bei remained silent because he had been turned into a eunuch; feeling too ashamed to face Tang Ya, he had long since fallen into a state of total self-isolation.
Ling Luochen and Xi Xi, on the other hand, had already learned from Wang Dong'er and Wu Feng that the person who had saved them back in the Ming Dou Mountain Range was none other than Feng Piaoling.
For a moment, the gazes the two women directed toward him could not help but turn somewhat complex.
Feeling that the atmosphere was ripe enough, Feng Piaoling subtly shot a glance toward Wang Dong'er. Catching his drift, Wang Dong'er spoke up and asked, "Feng Piaoling, your desire to defeat Shrek Academy shouldn't just be because that old hag Zhou Yi expelled you all, right?"
The moment these words left her mouth, the expressions of everyone from the Soul Hall grew appropriately serious in tandem.
"Indeed. I do not care about a mere academy. What truly enraged us was the fact that Shrek Academy actually deployed assassins to take our lives," Feng Piaoling declared.
"Impossible! The academy would never do such a thing," Ling Luochen countered immediately.
Xi Xi, who rarely smiled and usually possessed a very low sense of presence, chimed in, "I also firmly believe that the academy could never commit such an act. The academy would be trying to retain an exceptional genius soul master like you at all costs; how could they possibly dispatch people to intercept and assassinate you? Only an ignorant, selfish, and cowardly fool like Zhou Yi would ever commit the blunder of expelling you."
"But actions speak louder than words, don't they? When I slew the final assassin back then, the man personally confessed that he was a teacher from Shrek's Outer Court. Otherwise, how do you explain why we were targeted by assassins the very moment we stepped out of Shrek Academy?" Feng Piaoling asked in return.
"This..." The members of Shrek subconsciously turned their eyes toward Dai Huabin. Among everyone present, he was the only one who possessed both the motive and the background to pull off such a stunt.
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