The noisy tavern doors swung open with a heavy thud, momentarily silencing the rowdy mercenaries near the entrance.
A group of nine individuals walked in, immediately bringing an air of unearned superiority to the gritty establishment. Eight of them were youths, dressed in pristine, flashy silver uniforms with elaborate embroidery. Leading them was a middle-aged man with a sturdy build and a stern, deeply lined face.
They marched into the dining area as if they owned it. The students sneered at the muddy floors and the rough-looking patrons, immediately demanding the innkeeper clear out the best tables in the center of the room for them.
At the Shrek table, Dai Mubai paused midway through chewing his meat skewer. His dual-pupiled eyes narrowed as he recognized the embroidery on their silver collars.
"Canghui Advanced Spirit Academy," Dai muttered under his breath, a dark, competitive edge creeping into his voice.
Bai Ming slowly turned his head, his pitch-black eyes sweeping over the new arrivals. He took in their flashy clothes, their arrogant postures, and the average spirit power fluctuations radiating from them. Finding them completely uninteresting, Bai smoothly looked away and went right back to delicately sipping his premium tea.
However, as the middle-aged teacher—Ye Zhiqiu—scanned the tavern to ensure the area was safe for his students, his eyes suddenly locked onto Bai Ming.
The Spirit King frowned. Even amidst the chaotic, dense spiritual energy of the crowded room, the silver-robed boy stood out like a flawless diamond in a pile of coal. There was an incredibly unusual, untouchable aura radiating from him—a stillness that felt ancient and heavy. But as Ye Zhiqiu looked closer, seeing the boy's pristine silk clothes, the delicate teacup, and the absolute lack of any outward spirit power fluctuation, the teacher's wariness faded into dismissal.
Just some spoiled, wealthy young master slumming it in the borderlands with his bodyguards, Ye Zhiqiu thought, shaking his head. Ignoring the Shrek table, he led his arrogant students to a freshly cleared booth nearby.
As the Canghui students sat down, the Shrek boys got a better look at them. Among the silver-clad youths was a rather pretty female Spirit Master, her hair tied back in a neat braid.
Ma Hongjun, currently stuffing a piece of bread into his mouth, stopped chewing. Although Bai Ming's medical advice and the Inferno Basilisk ring had stabilized his Evil Fire, Fatty's core personality was still inherently crass. He immediately began staring at the Canghui girl with blatant, unapologetic lechery, his eyes practically glued to her silhouette.
Sitting next to him, Oscar noticed where Fatty was looking. A mischievous, crude grin spread across the food-system Spirit Master's face. Oscar opened his mouth, fully prepared to join in and make a loud, inappropriate comment to impress his fellow dorm-mate.
Before a single word could leave Oscar's lips, Bai Ming slowly lowered his teacup.
The silver-robed aristocrat didn't say anything. He simply shot Oscar a single, sideways glance. His upper lip curled into a sneer of absolute, cultured disgust, and for a fraction of a microsecond, the suffocating, heavy pressure of the King Beast pressed directly against Oscar's vocal cords.
Oscar choked on his own breath, his mouth snapping shut so fast his teeth clicked. He immediately looked down at his lap, sweating profusely. Bai Ming had absolutely no interest in policing the morality of the world, but he absolutely refused to let people who he has already considered his friends act like uncultured, drooling swine while he was trying to enjoy his tea.
Unfortunately, Bai Ming's subtle intervention came a second too late to stop the brewing conflict.
At the Canghui table, two of the older male students noticed the fat kid in the red tunic practically undressing their female classmate with his eyes. Bristling with indignation and eager to show off, the two Canghui students slammed their hands on the table, stood up, and angrily marched directly toward the Shrek group.
Dai Mubai watched them approach.
The Evil Eye White Tiger had spent the entire day jogging in the dirt. His legs ached, his lungs burned, and his royal pride had been thoroughly crushed by watching Bai Ming ride in a luxury, spirit-powered carriage. He was a prince of the Star Luo Empire, and he was currently suffocating under a mountain of pent-up frustration and aggression. He desperately needed an outlet.
Seeing the two angry Canghui students marching toward them, Dai Mubai realized his perfect punching bags had just delivered themselves.
Just as the lead Canghui student reached their table, opening his mouth to demand respect, Dai Mubai abruptly stood up.
With explosive, calculated force, Dai Mubai stepped forward and violently rammed his massive shoulder directly into the Canghui student's chest. The impact was entirely one-sided. The silver-clad student gasped, his feet leaving the floor as he stumbled backward, crashing heavily into a nearby empty chair.
"Hey!" the second Canghui student yelled, his face turning red with fury. "Watch where you're going, you blind—!"
Dai Mubai crossed his thick, muscular arms over his chest. He looked down at the rival students, his dual-mismatching eyes flashing with the terrifying, arrogant light of a true apex predator seeking a fight. He didn't offer a shred of an apology.
"Watch where I'm going?" Dai Mubai's voice boomed across the sudden silence of the tavern, dripping with absolute contempt. "Why don't you keep your own eyes open? Though, I suppose I shouldn't expect much from a trash academy like Canghui."
At the head of the table, Bai Ming took another slow, elegant sip of his tea. The corners of his mouth twitched upward into a dark, highly amused smirk. The play had officially begun.
Chapter 32: The Spectacle of Pride
The tavern erupted into chaos the moment the words "trash academy" left Dai Mubai's lips.
The two Canghui students' faces contorted with rage. Behind them, the rest of the silver-clad youths pushed back their chairs, spirit power already beginning to aggressively ripple around their bodies. Dai Mubai's own spirit power flared in response, a heavy, oppressive white light gathering around his fists.
"Please! Young Masters, please!"
A terrified, balding man in an apron—the inn manager—rushed forward, practically throwing himself between the two brewing factions. He was sweating profusely, his hands clasped together in desperate begging.
"I beg of you, do not fight in here! This tavern is my livelihood! If you destroy the tables and the support beams, my family will starve!"
Dai Mubai scoffed, entirely unsympathetic to the manager's plight. His blood was boiling, and he was completely laser-focused on the Canghui students. "Move aside, old man, before you get caught in the crossfire."
Before Dai Mubai could throw the first punch, a teacup clinked softly against a wooden saucer. The sound was incredibly quiet, yet it somehow cut through the thick tension in the room perfectly.
"The manager is entirely correct, Mubai," Bai Ming's smooth, metallic voice rang out.
Dai Mubai stiffened, throwing an annoyed glare over his shoulder. Bai Ming was still sitting at the table, casually swirling the premium tea in his cup. He didn't look angry; he simply looked profoundly disappointed in Dai Mubai's lack of class.
"You are a prince, are you not?" Bai Ming continued, his pitch-black eyes entirely unbothered. "Act like one. There is absolutely no honor in destroying the livelihood of ordinary people who are simply trying to survive in this world. If you insist on acting like a rabid dog, take it outside to the dirt where you belong."
Dai Mubai's jaw clenched so hard a vein popped in his neck. He wanted nothing more than to snap back at the silver-robed aristocrat, but Bai's logic—and the subtle, suffocating weight behind his tone—left no room for argument.
"Fine," Dai Mubai growled. He pointed a thick finger at the Canghui students. "Outside. Now."
The Canghui youths sneered, eagerly accepting the challenge. They marched out the tavern doors, followed immediately by Dai Mubai, Tang San, and Ma Hongjun, all three of them cracking their knuckles and rolling their shoulders, desperate to vent their day-long frustrations.
Inside the tavern, Xiao Wu cracked her own knuckles, a feral grin spreading across her face. "Oh, this is going to be good. Come on, Rongrong, Zhuqing!"
Oscar eagerly stood up, fully prepared to rush outside and join the fray.
"Sit," Bai Ming commanded softly.
Oscar froze halfway out of his chair. The girls stopped dead in their tracks, turning back to look at Bai.
The silver-robed aristocrat stood up, smoothing a nonexistent wrinkle from his silk tunic. He looked at the four of them, his expression calm but absolute.
"You four are spectators tonight," Bai instructed, gesturing toward the tavern doors. "Tang San, Dai Mubai, and Hongjun intentionally provoked this altercation to soothe their own bruised egos. Therefore, they will handle it themselves."
"But Bai, we're a team!" Oscar protested weakly. "Shouldn't we back them up?"
"A team covers each other's weaknesses. A team does not blindly enable reckless stupidity," Bai replied, his tone chillingly pragmatic. "Those three need to learn a harsh lesson. You cannot recklessly pick fights you aren't certain you can finish, and you cannot expect others to step in and fight your battles for you just because you share a dormitory."
As he spoke those words, Bai Ming turned his head slightly. His pitch-black eyes locked directly onto the corner table where Vice Dean Zhao Wuji was sitting with his barrel of ale.
Zhao Wuji felt the heavy, multiversal gaze of the King Beast land on him. He understood the silent, absolute command immediately: Do not interfere. Let them face the consequences of their own arrogance. Only step in if they are about to be killed.
The Vice Dean swallowed hard, gave Bai Ming a slow, subtle nod of acknowledgment, and leaned back in his chair, taking a long drink of his ale. He wasn't going anywhere.
Satisfied, Bai Ming gestured gracefully toward the door. "Shall we?"
By the time Bai, Oscar, and the girls stepped out onto the cool evening street, the battle had already begun.
The eight Canghui students had surrounded the three Shrek boys, summoning their Martial Souls. A flash of white and yellow spirit rings illuminated the dirt road as the rival academy brought out a mix of swords, spears, and low-level beast spirits.
However, they had made a fatal miscalculation.
"White Tiger, Body Enhancement!" Dai Mubai roared. His muscles bulged, white fur sprouting along his arms as two yellow rings and one vibrant purple ring rose from his feet.
"Phoenix, Possess!" Ma Hongjun shouted, his newly purified, highly concentrated crimson flames erupting into the night sky, his own two yellow and one purple ring shining brightly.
Tang San remained silent, but deep blue, thick vines of Blue Silver Grass erupted from the earth around his feet, accompanied by the same terrifying configuration of rings: yellow, yellow, purple.
The Canghui students' eyes widened in absolute horror. Three Spirit Elders?! And they all have thousand-year third rings?!
It wasn't a fight. It was a one-sided, utterly barbaric beatdown.
Dai Mubai moved like a blur. He didn't even use his spirit abilities. He simply waded into the frontline, grabbing the lead Canghui student by the uniform and violently hurling him twenty feet down the road. Another student tried to stab him with a spirit-spear, but Dai Mubai casually swatted the weapon aside and delivered a brutal knee to the boy's stomach, folding him in half.
Ma Hongjun was laughing hysterically. He didn't use his devastating Phoenix Fire Wire, knowing it would be too lethal. Instead, he coated his fists in his scorching Yang fire, stepping inside the guard of two Canghui students and delivering blistering, rapid-fire punches that singed their clothes and sent them crashing into the dirt, screaming from the heat.
Tang San stood at the back, his eyes cold and analytical. Whenever a Canghui student tried to flank Dai or Fatty, Tang San flicked his wrists. Thick vines of Blue Silver Grass lashed out like whips, wrapping around their ankles and violently yanking them off their feet, dragging them face-first across the gravel.
From the sidelines, Bai Ming watched the massacre with his hands clasped neatly behind his back.
"Sloppy," Bai murmured aloud, a tone of aristocratic critique coloring his voice. "Mubai is overextending his right hook. He is leaving his ribs completely exposed. If those students had any actual combat experience, they would have punctured his lung by now."
Zhu Zhuqing, standing beside him, nodded silently in agreement, her cold eyes analyzing Dai Mubai's rage-fueled brawling.
"And Tang San," Bai continued, his pitch-black eyes tracking the blue vines. "He is relying entirely on brute force and surprise. He claims to be a control system master, yet he is wasting excess spirit power on wide, sweeping throws instead of precise joint-locks. He is fighting with his temper, not his mind."
"They're completely destroying them, though," Oscar pointed out, wincing as Fatty delivered a flaming dropkick to a downed student.
"A tiger can destroy a pack of dogs, Oscar," Bai replied smoothly, his eyes drifting toward the tavern doors, waiting for the inevitable escalation. "But what happens when the tiger realizes he has accidentally picked a fight with a dragon? That is the lesson they are about to learn."
Right on cue, a booming, furious voice shattered the sounds of the brawl.
"ENOUGH!"
The tavern doors flew open. The middle-aged Canghui teacher, Ye Zhiqiu, stormed out into the street. His face was purple with sheer, unadulterated rage as he looked at his elite students groaning and writhing in the dirt.
He locked his furious eyes on Tang San, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun. The air pressure in the street instantly plummeted as a heavy, freezing aura washed over the three panting Shrek students.
"You little brats," Ye Zhiqiu snarled, taking a heavy, earth-shaking step forward. "You dare use excess force on my students! I will personally break your legs!"