Upon seeing the newcomer, the Shrek group all smiled wryly. Could it really be such a coincidence?
The suddenly appearing female voice was Meng Yiran, whom they had parted ways with not long ago yesterday afternoon.
Meng Yiran had changed into a dark green outfit, looking incredibly dashing.
She looked at the dead Human-Faced Demon Spider on the ground, almost in tears. She felt this group was targeting her, twice in a row.
The last one could be considered an accident, but this one... well, it was already dead, and she didn't even have a chance to compete.
The Human-Faced Demon Spider was an extremely rare and powerful soul beast; obtaining its soul ring was an incredibly precious opportunity.
Her Serpent Staff martial soul was naturally poisonous, and the Human-Faced Demon Spider was a soul beast with extremely potent venom.
The Shrek group was also sizing up the three people opposite them, or more precisely, the old man. Chao Tianxiang and Meng Yiran had already met him. The third person beside them was a tall, thin old man, who looked at least seventy years old. Like Chao Tianxiang, his full head of silver hair and wrinkled face showed his age.
In his hand was a dragon-headed cane, longer than the Heavenly Fragrance Serpent Staff, its surface a bright silver. The dragon head at the top was lifelike and extremely dazzling.
Most striking were the eight spirit rings pulsating on his body:
two yellow, three purple, and three black.
Although his spirit rings were of slightly lower quality than Flander's and Zhao Wuji's, having one more thousand-year-old ring, he still possessed eight spirit rings.
This meant he was a Soul Douluo of level eighty or higher. Without a doubt, everyone knew who this person was—the husband of the Snake Granny, Heavenly Fragrance, and Meng Yiran's grandfather.
Dragon Lord, Meng Shu!
"Grandpa, you must avenge me!" Meng Yiran was only a sixteen-year-old girl. Seeing the powerful spirit ring she was about to obtain slip away again, and by the same group of people, how could she suppress her anger?
"Did you kill this Human-Faced Demon Spider?"
Dragon Lord's voice was cold, and a powerful aura pressed down on the Shrek Academy members.
Flander stepped forward, his wings unfurling from his back, and released his own spirit rings.
Yellow, purple, black!
He blocked the pressure released by the Dragon Lord, saying, "Greetings, Senior Dragon Lord. We apologize, but we did not do this intentionally; it was all a coincidence."
"A coincidence!"
"Is a mere coincidence enough?" The
Dragon Lord increased the pressure again, forcing Shrek to summon all their spirits to defend. The Spirit Douluo were indeed powerful; even Ma Hongjun felt as if a mountain was pressing down on him.
However, when Shrek's spirit rings lit up, the Dragon and Snake couple's eyes widened.
Three Spirit Saints, two Spirit Emperors, four Spirit Venerables, and three Spirit Masters.
What surprised them was not the five old men, but the seven children. Despite their young age, none of them were weaker than their granddaughter. Not to mention the best spirit ring configuration, one of them had an abnormal configuration.
If they really fought like this, even with their spirit fusion skills, they wouldn't gain much of an advantage; it would definitely be a draw.
The Dragon and Snake couple's spirit fusion skill is a single-target attack; even if activated, it can only deal with one enemy. At that point, even if the remaining enemies can't defeat Dragon Duke, he'll still have a hard time protecting Snake Granny and Meng Yiran.
"Senior, what's done is done. Regardless, the Human-Faced Demon Spider has been killed, and Tang San needs this spirit ring to advance, so it's not a waste. As for your granddaughter, we can only apologize.
We didn't intend to cause trouble for you, Senior; it was truly a coincidence."
Flander also felt pressured facing Dragon Duke; if a fight broke out, they would definitely lose several people.
Seeing that Dragon Duke's expression was still unfriendly, Flander continued, "Just now, one of our students was captured by the Forest King, the Titan Giant Ape. We chased after them and happened to encounter the Human-Faced Demon Spider blocking our way, so we killed it.
I want to tell you, senior, now is not the time to start conflicts. As for the Titan Giant Ape, I believe you are aware of it. If we fight here now, it will only result in mutual destruction. Although this is the outer edge of the Star Dou Great Forest, the Titan Giant Ape has appeared here tonight. Do you think the outer edge is still safe?
Moreover, there are still many spirit beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest. We are willing to help your granddaughter find them as compensation for these two accidents.
Now our target no longer needs spirit beasts under three thousand years old, so it does not conflict with yours."
Dragon Duke frowned slightly, then widened his eyes and looked at Shrek Academy.
"What do you mean, Flander? You mean there are still people on your side who are about to advance?"
"Yes, Senior Dragon Duke!"
Dragon Duke sized up the group of youths, seemingly not believing that any of them could advance, and then looked at the five old men.
"We don't need anyone under three thousand years old. Who's advancing?"
Flander turned to look at Ma Hongjun and Xiang Chengxian.
The two immediately stepped forward, bowed, and said,
"Greetings, Senior!"
"Greetings, Senior!"
This surprised the three members of the Dragon-Snake Clan even more. They had originally thought that Xiang Chengxian, who looked about the same age as Meng Yiran, had only just broken through to the Soul Venerable realm. They hadn't expected that he was here to hunt for his fourth Soul Ring, a full ten levels higher than their granddaughter.
Ma Hongjun, younger than his granddaughter, was even more monstrous. So young, yet already on the verge of becoming a Soul Master, and his first three Soul Rings were a yellow-purple-purple configuration. Could his next Soul Ring be a ten-thousand-year Soul Ring?
This…
Dragon Lord and Snake Granny dared not think any further.
There were also several other even younger ones, all with two Soul Rings, but with optimal configurations, and all much younger than Meng Yiran. In other
words, this group of teenagers were all stronger and more promising than their granddaughter!
This truly astonished them; when did geniuses become so worthless?
This Shrek Academy was practically a monster academy!
Looking at this group of promising juniors, Dragon Lord felt a sense of powerlessness.
"Fine, fine, since the Human-Faced Demon Spider has been killed by you, you can absorb its Soul Ring!"
This forced Dragon Lord to compromise. Now that the Human-Faced Demon Spider was dead, his granddaughter couldn't absorb it, and it was an accident. Forcing a fight for the sake of face would be unwise. Even the Titan Giant Ape had appeared, and the opponent was not weak; attacking now would be disadvantageous.
"No, Grandpa, they stole my spirit rings twice! Are we just going to let it go like this?!"
Meng Yiran persisted, her spoiled temper even allowing her to contradict her grandfather, a clear sign of her being pampered.
"Silly granddaughter, what else do you want? The Man-Faced Demon Spider has already been killed. If it weren't, Grandpa could help you get it back.
Besides, they didn't do it on purpose; it was all a coincidence."
Meng Yiran stubbornly looked at her grandfather and said,
"No, we can't let it go like this. What I can't have, I absolutely can't let them have either. Since you're unwilling to stand up for me, I'll do it myself. Tang San, if you're a man, fight me again."
Meng Yiran herself was unconvinced. Her pride had been utterly crushed by the Shrek Academy students.
Tang San, who was a level below her, could beat her; she refused to accept it.
She wanted another fight, not just in terms of spirit power, but in other aspects. In short, she wanted to win; she wanted to prove that she was better than Tang San in some way.
Tang San frowned; he was in a bad mood.
"You still want to compete with me? Have you forgotten that you were just defeated by me?"
Meng Yiran said, "We won't compete in soul power, we'll compete in something else!"
She glared at Tang San resentfully and continued, "If you lose, you're not allowed to absorb the soul ring of this Human-Faced Demon Spider. If you win, it's naturally yours."
Tang San was mild-mannered and perhaps didn't want to argue with her, so he said, "Okay, you tell me what we'll compete in first?"
Ma Hongjun wanted to say a few words for his brother.
"Hey, wait a minute, that's not fair!"
As soon as Ma Hongjun spoke, Meng Yiran couldn't hold back and almost roared,
"You, don't, interrupt!"
Now that her grandfather was there, she felt confident.
Ma Hongjun: "..."
The air suddenly became quiet, and everyone stared at Meng Yiran in disbelief. Even the Dragon God and Snake Goddess looked at their granddaughter in confusion.
Ma Hongjun was completely speechless. This woman had developed obsessive-compulsive disorder specifically targeting him.
"Fine, fine, I won't interfere. Come on, Mu Bai, you interfere!"
Ma Hongjun spread his hands, stepped back to Dai Mu Bai's side, and pulled Dai Mu Bai out.
Then he whispered in his ear, "Make her kiss you if she loses!"
Dai Mu Bai rolled his eyes and helplessly stepped forward, saying, "Since it's a bet, of course both sides have to place bets. The Human-Faced Demon Spider is already Xiao San's, so if he wins, you naturally can't stop him from absorbing this spirit ring. But if you lose, shouldn't you also give something?
If you lose, then..."
Dai Mu Bai paused to think. Meng Yiran had been targeting Tang San, but the one arguing was Ma Hongjun.
He was a little troubled; who should he kiss?
Meng Yiran said impatiently, "Then what? Tell me quickly!"
Dai Mu Bai glanced at Ma Hongjun, who was gloating and overjoyed beside him, and said fiercely, "I'll kiss Ma Hongjun on the lips!"
Ma Hongjun: "..."
(End of this chapter)