Through the jagged, smoking hole in the wall, Tang San's eyes narrowed. The faint purple glow of his Purple Demon Eye slowly faded back to its normal dark hue, but his mind—honed by two lifetimes of Tang Sect assassination training—was rapidly analyzing the impossible variables in front of him.
Variable one: The concussive explosion of the wall had sent jagged wood, brick, and glass shrapnel flying into the room at lethal speeds. Tang San himself had reflexively raised his jade-white hands to block the backlash. Yet, the boy sitting just a few feet away from the blast radius didn't have a single tear in his silk robes. He didn't even have a speck of plaster dust on his hair.
Variable two: Tang San's specialized vision had detected absolutely zero fluctuation of soul power. The boy hadn't summoned a Martial Soul, nor had he erected a visible spirit barrier. He had simply sat there and let the debris bounce off him.
Variable three: The absolute, mind-breaking terror of the hotel management. Tang San knew the Rose Hotel was a powerful establishment with deep ties to the Suotou nobility. For the regional supervisor to throw himself onto a floor covered in broken glass and beg for forgiveness while completely ignoring three active Spirit Masters... it defied logic.
In the Tang Sect, there was a core tenet: True power does not always roar; sometimes, it sits perfectly still. Tang San categorized the silver-robed aristocrat not as a wealthy bystander, but as a massive, highly dangerous unknown variable. He quietly shifted his stance, perfectly balancing his weight just in case he needed to deploy his hidden weapons.
Beside him, Xiao Wu had subconsciously taken a half-step behind Tang San's shoulder. Her long scorpion braid swished nervously, and her delicate rabbit ears twitched flat against her head.
What is that feeling? Xiao Wu thought, her crimson eyes locked onto the boy in the armchair.
Her reaction wasn't analytical like Tang San's; it was purely, terrifyingly instinctual. As a reincarnated 100,000-year Soft Bone Demon Rabbit, her soul possessed a primal sensitivity that human cultivators lacked. Beneath the expensive scent of rose oil and clean silk radiating from the boy, her beast senses caught something impossible.
It was the faintest, microscopic echo of the deep, untouched core of the Star Dou Forest. It felt heavy. It felt ancient. It carried the suffocating, absolute authority of a King Beast. It reminded her instantly of the terrifying pressure Da Ming and Er Ming exuded when they were angry.
But he's just a human boy! Xiao Wu's internal monologue raced, her heart hammering against her ribs. He looks like a spoiled noble who has never seen a forest in his life. So why does my soul feel like it wants to bow to him? Who is he?
The tense, heavy silence of the ruined lobby was suddenly shattered by a harsh, barking laugh.
Dai Mubai stepped forward, crunching shattered plaster beneath his heavy boots. The lingering humiliation of being completely ignored by this exact boy on the street yesterday fueled the fiery arrogance in his chest. He wasn't about to let some pampered aristocrat steal his thunder, especially not in front of the twins he had brought to the hotel and this surprisingly formidable new kid, Tang San.
"Get up off the floor, you pathetic cowards," Mubai sneered, pointing a clawed finger at the trembling manager and supervisor groveling at Mame's feet. "You're embarrassing yourselves and the reputation of this hotel."
The supervisor didn't even look back. He just kept his forehead pressed to the floor, shivering violently.
Mubai scoffed, crossing his arms and letting his Rank 37 Evil Eye White Tiger aura flare out aggressively. The harsh white light illuminated the dust still settling in the air. He turned his mismatched, dual-colored eyes onto Mame, his lip curling into a mocking smirk.
"Look at you, making the staff cry," Mubai mocked, his voice dripping with condescension. "Listen here, 'Silver Pants'. You might have the local merchants trained to lick your boots, but Spirit Masters don't bow to gold. You're just some spoiled little brat with too much allowance. What are you going to do about your wall? Hit us with your coin purse? Panic for no reason, manager. This silver pants is nothing to worry about."
Tang San frowned slightly at Mubai's aggressive provocation. Xiao Wu actively shivered, her instincts screaming that the blonde tiger had just poked something catastrophic.
In the plush armchair, Mame finally moved.
He slowly leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. He didn't look at Tang San, and he didn't look at Xiao Wu. His pitch-black, abyssal eyes locked directly onto Dai Mubai's mismatched gaze.
Mame didn't raise his voice. He didn't need to. When he spoke, the sheer, icy aristocracy of "Young Master Bai" bled into the room, making the air feel instantly heavier.
"A tiger," Mame stated quietly, his voice perfectly smooth and utterly devoid of fear. "How incredibly mundane. Tell me, stray cat... do you genuinely believe your meager soul power makes you immune to consequence?"
"A stray," Mame stated quietly, his voice perfectly smooth and utterly devoid of fear. He didn't raise his tone, but the icy resonance carried through the ruined lobby, pinning Dai Mubai in place.
Dai Mubai's mocking smirk faltered. His mismatched eyes narrowed dangerously. "What did you just call me, Silver Pants?"
"A stray," Mame repeated, finally standing up from his armchair. He brushed a microscopic speck of dust from his pristine silk sleeve. "That is what you are, isn't it? You puff out your chest, flare your little spirit rings, and roar at terrified hotel managers to make yourself feel big. But anyone with true vision can see the absolute cowardice hiding behind those mismatched eyes."
Mubai's white tiger aura flared violently, the air around him crackling with aggressive, erratic energy. Tang San instinctively took a step back, sensing the blonde teenager was about to completely lose control.
But Mame wasn't finished. He stepped right up to the jagged edge of the blasted wall, looking down at Mubai with clinical disgust.
"You ran away," Mame said, his voice dropping into a lethal, mocking whisper that cut straight to Mubai's soul. "You fled your home and abandoned your responsibilities because the older, stronger tigers in your den were going to eat you alive. You were too weak to fight them, so you tucked your tail between your legs and came to this countryside city to play the 'boss' in a shallow pond. You drown your fear in cheap wine and twins because you know, deep down, you are nothing but a coward waiting to be slaughtered."
The absolute silence in the lobby was deafening. Tang San watched in shock as the blood completely drained from Dai Mubai's face.
The silver-robed boy hadn't explicitly named the Star Luo Empire, nor the brutal royal succession war Mubai was fleeing from, but the accuracy of the psychological knife strike was undeniable. He had completely eviscerated the prince's deepest, darkest shame in front of an audience.
"I'll kill you!" Mubai roared, his voice cracking with humiliated, blind rage.
He didn't care about collateral damage anymore. He didn't care about the hotel. Mubai's first three spirit rings flared brilliantly, and his muscles bulged as he launched himself directly at the gap in the wall, his tiger claws aimed straight for Mame's throat.
White Tiger Vajra Transformation! "Pathetic," Mame sighed.
For the first time since arriving in Suotou City, Mame didn't just rely on his raw Saiyan physiology. He let the Cosmic Origin Core in his Dantian expand.
The temperature in the lobby didn't just drop; the very air seemed to solidify. A crushing, abyssal gravity slammed into the room, buckling the remaining floorboards. From the ground beneath Mame's pristine silver boots, three spirit rings rose in a slow, rhythmic pulse.
Purple. Dark Purple. Pitch Black.
Time seemed to freeze.
In the lobby, Tang San's jade-white hands violently trembled. His Purple Demon Eye was locked onto the rings, his brilliant, analytical mind completely short-circuiting. A thousand-year first ring? A near ten-thousand-year second ring?! A ten-thousand-year third ring?! That's impossible! The human body would explode! The Grandmaster's absolute limit theory—
Behind him, Xiao Wu let out a terrified whimper, her legs completely giving out as she dropped to her knees. It wasn't just the color of the rings; it was the sheer, unadulterated King Beast aura radiating from them.
Mid-lunge, Dai Mubai saw the pitch-black ring. The primal terror of facing an apex predator violently overrode his rage. His tiger aura shrank, but his forward momentum carried him straight into the kill zone.
Mame's second ring—the Dark Purple halo of the Golden Sun Ape—flared brightly.
Mame's right arm was suddenly enveloped in a blinding, radiant golden light. It was a holy-fire Ki multiplier, concentrating the monstrous physical strength of a ten-thousand-year beast into a single point.
Mame didn't dodge Mubai's claws. He simply stepped inside the prince's guard and threw a punch.
Sun-Ape Strike.
The golden fist connected squarely with the center of Dai Mubai's chest. The sound of the impact was like a cannon firing inside a closed vault.
Mubai's White Tiger Vajra armor shattered like cheap glass. All the breath left his lungs in a sickening rush. The kinetic shockwave lifted the Rank 37 Spirit Elder entirely off his feet and launched him backward with terrifying velocity. He flew across the entire length of the lobby, completely blowing through the heavy front doors of the Rose Hotel, and crashed violently into the cobblestone street outside, skipping twice before coming to a dead, unconscious halt in the dirt.
The golden light faded from Mame's arm. The three impossible rings sank back into his feet, and the crushing gravity lifted from the room.
Mame casually adjusted his cuffs, ignoring the groveling hotel managers who were practically catatonic with fear. He turned his pitch-black eyes toward Tang San and Xiao Wu, who were the only ones left standing in the ruined lobby.
"Now," Mame said politely, his aristocratic demeanor returning as if he hadn't just punched a teenager through a building. "Are you going to leave on your own, or do you need help as well?"
Tang San's hand instantly dropped to the Twenty-Four Moonlit Bridges wrapped around his waist.
Despite the blinding flash of the impossible spirit rings, Tang San's deeply ingrained, hypocritical arrogance flared to life. In his past life and this one, he believed his Tang Sect martial arts and hidden weapons were the ultimate equalizer. He looked at the silver-robed aristocrat and didn't see an apex predator; he saw a spoiled, tyrannical noble who dared to look down on him.
He relies on brute force and a bizarre ring configuration, Tang San analyzed coldly, his fingers brushing the poisoned silent darts. He attacked with lethal intent. He is arrogant, merciless, and lacks the intricate finesse of the Tang Sect. If I use the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track to blindside him, my poisoned needles will pierce his smug throat before he can summon that gravity again.
"You speak of cowardice, yet you attack a man from within your own fortress," Tang San said, his voice dripping with self-righteous judgment. He took a calculated step forward, perfectly balancing his weight to launch a lethal volley. "Relying on your bizarre rings to bully others is the act of a tyrant. You are no better than he is."
Mame's pitch-black eyes narrowed, a dark, mocking amusement dancing in them. He didn't even raise his hands. He just waited for the "righteous" hero to throw the first dart so he could shatter every bone in his jade-white hands.
But before Tang San's fingers could even twitch, a desperate pair of hands clamped around his arm.
"No, no, it's okay! We will go!" Xiao Wu blurted out, her voice pitching up in sheer, unfiltered panic.
Tang San blinked, looking down in confusion. Xiao Wu was physically dragging him backward, her delicate rabbit ears pinned completely flat against her skull. Her crimson eyes were wide, and she was sweating profusely. Her beast instincts were screaming at her that if Tang San threw a single needle, this boy wouldn't just kill him—he would erase them both from the continent.
"Xiao Wu, what are you doing?" Tang San frowned, trying to plant his feet. "We paid for a room, and this tyrant—"
"I said we're leaving!" Xiao Wu practically shouted, cutting him off. She shot a terrified glance at Mame, offering a frantic, apologetic bow, before glaring out the hole in the wall at the unconscious Dai Mubai. "We have nothing to do with that blonde blowhard anyway! He started the fight! Right, San? Let's just go find another inn! The food here probably stinks anyway!"
Using her impressive leg strength, Xiao Wu didn't give Tang San the option to be a hypocritical hero. She forcefully yanked him backward, dragging the protesting Tang Sect genius out of the ruined lobby and into the night street, leaving the unconscious Dai Mubai exactly where he had landed.
Mame watched them disappear into the darkness, a low, rumbling chuckle vibrating in his chest.
Smart bunny, Mame thought, his tail swishing lazily beneath his sash. Your instincts just saved your hypocrite's life.
He turned his gaze down to the hotel manager and the regional supervisor, who were still trembling on the glass-covered floor, waiting for the executioner's axe to fall.
Mame sighed, casually brushing a microscopic speck of dust from his sleeve.
"The ambiance of this establishment has been thoroughly ruined," Mame stated, his voice ringing with untouchable, aristocratic boredom. "And the walls are distressingly fragile. I have lost my interest in staying here."
The manager looked up, his bruised face pale with shock. "Young Master Bai... you are leaving?"
"I am," Mame said smoothly. He didn't ask for a refund. He simply stepped over the rubble, walked through the gaping hole Dai Mubai's body had made, and disappeared into the Suotou City night, leaving the Rose Hotel management to weep over their shattered lobby.
The Final Deliveries
Before leaving the city completely, Mame made one final stop in the outer ring.
Under the cover of darkness, he arrived at the newly fortified Sanctuary of Silver. The heavy ironwood gates were locked tight, but Mame didn't need to knock. With a silent Dimensional Blink, he bypassed the walls and appeared in the central courtyard.
The grizzled captain of the Iron Shield mercenaries, who was keeping the night watch, nearly jumped out of his skin before recognizing the boy's pristine silver robes.
"Young Master Bai," the captain breathed, quickly lowering his halberd. "You move like a ghost."
"I came to drop off a few final provisions," Mame said quietly, not wanting to wake the sleeping children.
He tapped his spatial ring. Several heavy wooden crates materialized on the courtyard dirt.
"Inside, you will find enough gold coins to double your company's salary for the next decade," Mame instructed, pointing to the boxes. "In the others, there are master-crafted steel weapons, heavy crossbows, and reinforced leather armor for your guards. Spare no expense in fortifying this place."
He pointed to a smaller, separate crate. "And in that one, there are weighted wooden practice swords, dull daggers, and beginner cultivation manuals. When the children are healthy enough, you will teach them how to fight. A sanctuary is only as safe as the fangs of the people living inside it."
The captain looked at the sheer volume of high-grade military equipment and swallowed hard. He placed a scarred fist over his heart and bowed deeply. "We will forge them into iron, Young Master. They will never be victims again."
Mame nodded. He glanced up at the window of the second floor, where he knew Xiao Ya and the others were sleeping warmly for the first time in their lives. A soft, genuine smile crossed his face.
His business in Suotou City was completely finished.
Echoes of the Star Dou
Mame left the city limits behind, shedding the "Young Master Bai" persona as he melted into the rural countryside.
He didn't walk. He channeled his Asura Ki into his legs, his body blurring into a streak of silver and black as he ran toward the small, dilapidated farming village that housed the infamous Shrek Academy. The miles vanished beneath his boots in minutes.
By the time the moon hit its peak, Mame had arrived.
He didn't enter the village. Instead, he found a massive, ancient oak tree standing on a hill just outside the village boundaries, overlooking the dirt plaza where the entrance exams would be held the next morning.
Mame easily scaled the massive trunk, finding a thick, comfortable branch high up in the canopy. He sat down, leaning his back against the rough bark.
He untied his black silk ribbon, letting his wild black-and-purple hair blow freely in the cool night breeze. He unwrapped his brown monkey tail from his waist, letting it drop down and swing lazily in the air like a pendulum.
For the first time in weeks, the masks were entirely gone. He wasn't the Phantom, the Demon, the Wanderer, or the Aristocrat. He was just Mame.
He looked up through the leaves at the bright, silver moon. The quiet rustle of the wind in the branches sent a sharp, aching pang of nostalgia through his chest. It sounded exactly like the canopy of the Star Dou Forest.
I wonder what Da Ming and Er Ming are doing right now, Mame thought, a fond smile touching his lips. Probably terrifying some poor Spirit Douluo who wandered too close to the core lake.
He closed his eyes, the Cosmic Origin Core in his Dantian humming a slow, peaceful rhythm. He felt the cold, night air on his face, surrounded by the scent of pine and earth. He was right where he belonged: waiting in the trees, a King Beast watching the humans gather below.
"Sleep well, little monsters," Mame whispered to the wind, his tail giving one final, relaxed swish. "Tomorrow, the real exams begin."