The early morning sun cast a pale golden light over the dirt plaza of Shrek Academy. Headmaster Flender and Vice Dean Zhao Wuji stood shoulder-to-shoulder, waiting as the students slowly gathered.
Tang San and Dai Mubai were the first to arrive, though neither of them looked particularly happy.
Physically, they were in perfect condition. The deep, purple bruising on Dai Mubai's chest was completely gone, his fractured ribs flawlessly fused back together by the Bone-Knitting Lotus. Tang San's complexion was a healthy, vigorous pink, his meridians utterly cleared of the Man Faced Demon Spider's lingering poison thanks to the Cleansing-Blood Ginseng.
Yet, their expressions were incredibly sour.
Tang San's hands were clenched tightly into fists at his sides. As a master of poisons and herbs, he had immediately recognized the terrifying quality of the medicine Flender had forced him to drink last night. When he asked where such priceless immortal herbs had come from, Flender had bluntly told him they were a "donation" from Bai Ming.
The realization had felt like a slap to the face. Tang San prided himself on his self-reliance and his Tang Sect knowledge. To be saved from his own miscalculation by the casual, discarded pocket change of the arrogant noble who had humiliated him... it grated on Tang San's immense pride. Dai Mubai felt exactly the same, his dual-pupiled eyes glaring at the ground in silent, humiliated fury.
However, beneath Tang San's bruised ego, a fierce spark of excitement was burning brightly.
The pure, overwhelming spiritual energy of the Cleansing-Blood Ginseng hadn't just healed his meridians; it had forcefully condensed his bottlenecked spirit power.
Bai Ming glided into the plaza a moment later, his silver silk robes immaculate, completely ignoring the intense glares from Tang San and Dai Mubai. Ning Rongrong, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing followed shortly after, looking incredibly refreshed after sleeping in their newly renovated, luxurious dorm room.
Flender adjusted his square glasses, looking over the assembled group. "Where are Oscar and Ma Hongjun?"
Before anyone could answer, Tang San took a step forward, his eyes shining with sudden, undeniable pride. He needed to prove that he wasn't just a charity case. He needed to prove his own genius.
"Headmaster Flender, Vice Dean," Tang San announced, his voice ringing clearly across the plaza. "I have some news. Thanks to the accumulation of my training... and the medicine provided last night... I finally broke through my bottleneck. I am officially Rank 30."
Flender's jaw dropped. Zhao Wuji's remaining good eye widened in sheer disbelief.
"Rank 30?!" Flender gasped. "Heavens! You are only twelve years old! A twelve-year-old Spirit Elder... you really are a little monster!"
Tang San offered a modest, though visibly pleased, smile. He glanced out of the corner of his eye toward Bai Ming, expecting the silver-robed aristocrat to look threatened or surprised by his genius progression.
Bai Ming didn't even blink. He was casually inspecting a fingernail.
"HAHAHA! Make way! Make way for the Phoenix!"
A loud, booming laugh echoed from the dormitories. Ma Hongjun swaggered into the plaza. The fat boy looked entirely different from the bruised, battered mess he had been the evening before. His red hair was practically glowing, and a visible, intense wave of heat rolled off his body.
"Headmaster! Teacher Zhao!" Ma Hongjun grinned, puffing out his chest. "You're looking at a brand new man! I broke through the barrier last night! I'm Rank 30, too!"
The plaza fell dead silent.
Flender and Zhao Wuji slowly turned their heads, their shocked gazes bypassing the incredibly proud Ma Hongjun and locking directly onto Bai Ming.
A cold sweat broke out on the Headmaster's neck. 'His internal spirit power is fluctuating violently... His Yang energy has reached a saturation point. He is on the verge of breaking through to Rank 30 at any moment.' Bai's words from the office echoed in Flender's mind with terrifying clarity.
He wasn't just guessing, Zhao Wuji realized, swallowing hard. He read Fatty's absolute limits perfectly just by sparring with him for a few minutes.
"Excellent, Fatty," Flender said, his voice a bit hoarse as he forced himself to look away from the smirking aristocrat. "Truly excellent. But... where is Oscar?"
"I was wondering the same thing," Ma Hongjun said, scratching his head. "I didn't see him in the dorms."
"You did not see him because he was not sleeping," Bai Ming answered smoothly, finally looking up from his hand. "I informed him last night that his stamina was pitiful, and that if he intended to be of any use on a battlefield, he needed to solidify his foundation. He was diligently cultivating in the eastern woods all night. He should be arriving... right about now."
Right on cue, a frantic, ecstatic scream tore through the morning air.
"LAOZI HAS A THIRTIETH RANK SAUSAGE!"
Oscar burst out of the tree line, sprinting toward the plaza like a madman. His clothes were covered in dew, his thick beard was full of twigs, and he had dark circles under his eyes from a complete lack of sleep, but he was grinning so hard his face looked like it might split in two.
"I did it!" Oscar yelled, skidding to a halt in the dirt and throwing his hands in the air. "Headmaster! Bai! I finally pushed past the edge! I'm Rank 30!"
Ning Rongrong gasped, her cyan eyes widening. Three students? Three students had all broken through to the Spirit Elder bottleneck on the exact same night?
Flender stood perfectly still, overwhelmed by the sheer, ridiculous concentration of talent standing in his dirt plaza. A twelve-year-old control system, a twelve-year-old assault phoenix, and a fourteen-year-old food system. Shrek Academy had never seen a harvest of monsters like this in its entire history.
And standing at the edge of the group, acting as the terrifying catalyst that had pushed all of them forward, was Bai Ming.
Zhao Wuji let out a booming laugh, slapping his own thigh. "Well, I'll be damned! Three of you need a ring!"
Flender pushed his glasses up his nose, a massive, greedy, and incredibly proud smile spreading across his sharp face. He puffed out his chest and looked at his students.
"Monsters. You are all absolute monsters," Flender declared, his voice ringing with absolute authority. "Tang San. Ma Hongjun. Oscar. Congratulations on reaching the thirtieth rank. This is a monumental occasion for Shrek Academy."
Flender swept his arm toward the academy gates.
"Go pack your bags, you little freaks. We are changing the curriculum," Flender ordered, his eyes gleaming with excitement. "Tomorrow morning, Vice Dean Zhao Wuji will personally lead all of you out of this village. Our destination: The Star Dou Great Forest. We aren't coming back until we hunt down three perfect third spirit rings!"
Chapter 29: A Harvest of Monsters (Continued)
"Tomorrow morning, Vice Dean Zhao Wuji will personally lead all of you out of this village. Our destination: The Star Dou Great Forest," Flender declared, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
Before the cheers could fully erupt, Bai Ming smoothly stepped forward, raising a single, immaculate hand.
"Pardon the interruption, Headmaster," Bai said, his metallic voice cutting through the morning excitement. "But before we depart into the wilderness, I must make a brief trip into Suotuo City today. I have some... necessary supplies to procure."
Bai looked directly at Flender. It wasn't a request; it was a polite notification. His pitch-black eyes held a subtle, calculating gleam that instantly reminded the Headmaster of the ruthless negotiation that had taken place in his office the night before. Absolute freedom.
Flender cleared his throat, adjusting his glasses. "Ah. I see. Very well, Bai. Do you... need someone to go with you to carry things?"
"I do, actually," Bai replied smoothly, turning his gaze toward the ecstatic, leaf-covered food system Spirit Master. "I made a promise last night. Since I thoroughly incinerated Oscar's entire wardrobe and personal belongings during my purification of our dorm room, I intend to purchase him a complete set of replacements."
Oscar gasped, his eyes going wide as saucers. "Wait, seriously?! You're going to buy me new clothes? High-end noble clothes?!"
"Consider it compensation for your lucky socks," Bai smirked.
Ma Hongjun, whose own clothes were still slightly singed at the edges from the holy fire, instantly crossed his arms and pouted. "Hey! What about me?! That's completely unfair, Ming! You burned my uniform during our spar yesterday! If he gets new clothes, I want in!"
Before Bai could answer, a delicate, highly aristocratic cough interrupted them.
Ning Rongrong had stepped forward, her cyan eyes sparkling with a dangerous, overwhelming intensity. As the pampered princess of a major clan, the word 'shopping' was practically a religious trigger for her.
"If we are going into the city to shop," Rongrong announced, her tone leaving absolutely zero room for argument, "then I am coming as well. Suotuo City has a few decent boutiques, and I absolutely refuse to wear this same dress into a dirty forest."
Without waiting for permission, Rongrong reached out and firmly grabbed Xiao Wu's and Zhu Zhuqing's hands. "And they are coming with me. Xiao Wu needs better traveling boots, and Zhuqing's leather is scuffed."
"Hey! I didn't say I wanted to go!" Xiao Wu protested weakly, though her rabbit ears twitched with obvious curiosity about the city markets. Zhu Zhuqing simply sighed, though she didn't pull her hand away.
Bai Ming let out a soft, cultured laugh, clearly highly entertained by the sudden formation of an entourage. He looked back at the Headmaster.
"Well, it seems my solo trip has become a class excursion," Bai smiled flawlessly. "I am more than happy to sponsor the trip and purchase whatever my peers require, assuming the Headmaster permits them the day off?"
Flender's eyes twitched. Having the wealthiest kid on the continent take half his student body on an all-expenses-paid shopping spree was entirely fine by him, especially since it wouldn't cost the academy a single copper coin.
"Fine, fine. You can all go," Flender waved a hand dismissively. "But be careful! Suotuo City is full of complex factions. Do not cause trouble, and make sure you are all back before nightfall so you can rest before tomorrow's journey."
"Thank you, Headmaster!" Rongrong beamed, already dragging the girls toward the academy gates. Oscar and Fatty eagerly chased after them, loudly debating which restaurants in the city served the best roasted meat.
Bai Ming adjusted his silver cuffs and turned to follow them. But as he did, his dark eyes briefly flicked toward the two boys still standing near the center of the dirt plaza.
Tang San and Dai Mubai were rooted to the spot.
Tang San's fists were clenched so tightly his knuckles were white. His pride, heavily influenced by his past life in the Tang Sect, felt like it was being crushed in a vice. He desperately wanted new hidden weapon materials. He wanted to go to the city's blacksmiths. But he absolutely could not bring himself to ask Bai Ming to pay for it. He refused to be a dog begging for scraps from the noble who had humiliated him.
Dai Mubai looked even worse. As the prince of the Star Luo Empire, he was used to being the wealthy one, the one who bought drinks and led the group. Watching Zhu Zhuqing willingly walk away to let another boy buy her clothes made the Evil Eye White Tiger's blood boil with helpless, silent rage.
"Are you two not coming?" Bai asked smoothly, pausing just long enough to let the question hang in the air like a poisoned blade.
Tang San gritted his teeth, forcing his expression to remain completely neutral.
"No," Tang San said, his voice stiff. "I... I just broke through to Rank 30. My foundation is unstable. I need to stay here and train a bit to solidify my spirit power before we enter the forest."
Dai Mubai immediately nodded, crossing his arms and looking away. "Same here. I feel like my spirit power is fluctuating. I think a breakthrough is near. I need to meditate, not waste time looking at clothes."
"I see," Bai murmured softly. A dark, utterly victorious smirk ghosted across his lips before he completely smoothed his features into an expression of polite indifference. "How incredibly diligent of you both. I commend your work ethic. Do try not to strain yourselves."
With a final, mocking nod, Bai Ming turned and glided gracefully toward the gates, leaving Tang San and Dai Mubai standing alone in the dust, suffocating in their own pride while the rest of the Shrek Academy students went off to enjoy the King Beast's boundless wealth.
The bustling streets of Suotuo City were a chaotic mix of shouting merchants, rumbling carriages, and armored Spirit Masters. Yet, as the group from Shrek Academy walked through the city gates, the crowds naturally parted for them.
It was impossible not to stare.
Leading the group was Bai Ming. Even without releasing a single drop of spirit power, his innate, untouchable aristocratic aura commanded absolute respect. His silver silk robes, perfect posture, and unbothered, pitch-black eyes made him look like an imperial prince taking a casual stroll. Following closely behind him were three girls of devastating, contrasting beauty: the elegant, cyan-clad Ning Rongrong, the vibrant and playful Xiao Wu, and the cold, leather-bound Zhu Zhuqing.
Shopkeepers practically fell over themselves to invite the group inside.
What followed was a terrifying display of aristocratic purchasing power. They swept through the high-end boutique district like a hurricane. Ning Rongrong, completely in her element, pointed at dresses, jewelry, and travel cloaks with ruthless efficiency. Xiao Wu eagerly picked out new, high-quality combat boots, while Zhu Zhuqing quietly accepted several sets of premium, flexible leather armor.
Whenever a shopkeeper nervously tallied up the staggering gold coin total, Bai Ming simply flicked a glittering gold card onto the counter without breaking his stride.
However, the true victims of this shopping spree were not the merchants.
"I... I can't feel my arms," Ma Hongjun wheezed, his face red and sweating profusely.
"Don't drop the silk, Fatty! If you get dirt on it, she'll kill us!" Oscar panted heavily.
The two newly-minted Spirit Elders had been entirely reduced to pack mules. They were currently waddling down the street, barely visible beneath massive, towering mountains of shopping bags, hat boxes, and wrapped parcels.
"Oh, stop whining," Ning Rongrong admonished happily, walking backward to look at them. "We are going to the men's tailor next. It's your turn."
Under her strict, aristocratic eye, the boys were completely transformed. Oscar emerged looking remarkably handsome in a set of fitted, light-grey combat robes that complimented his silver hair and freshly shaven face. Ma Hongjun was stuffed into a high-quality, dark crimson tunic woven with fire-resistant spider silk, making him look less like a village troublemaker and more like a wealthy clan heir.
Bai Ming, meanwhile, purchased dozens of sets of pristine white and silver silk robes for himself. But he didn't stop at personal attire. He led the exhausted boys and curious girls into the city's premier Spirit Tool and Blacksmithing district.
"An academy without proper facilities is just a camping trip," Bai remarked.
He proceeded to buy out the district's best training gear. He purchased heavy-duty profound iron gravity bracers, reinforced striking dummies made from hundred-year ironwood, and spools of high-tension, razor-thin wire. For recovery, he bought massive bronze cauldrons and hundreds of bundles of soothing spirit grass to set up medicinal baths, alongside large quantities of raw, unrefined heavy metals and strange alchemical herbs for his own use.
Next, they hit the central food markets. Bai refused to eat the academy's bland porridge for another day. He marched into the highest-end grocers and butchers, buying entire stockpiles of hundred-year spirit beast meat, rare spices from the Star Luo Empire, sacks of premium pearl-grain rice, and barrels of imported fruit wine.
Finally, they arrived at the most extravagant furniture emporium in the city center.
"I am renovating a rather dilapidated academy," Bai told the bowing store owner. "I will take thirty memory-foam beds, thirty ironwood wardrobes, ten dining tables, and fifty padded chairs. Add a complete set of spirit-powered kitchen appliances—five self-heating obsidian stoves, two frost-gem refrigeration units, and premium steel cookware. Furthermore, I want porcelain bathtubs with continuous-flow hot water spirit tools for all the dormitories, twenty spirit-crystal chandeliers, a dozen meditation mats, and enough thick woolen carpets to cover every bare floorboard in the village."
The store owner nearly fainted. "Right away, My Lord! We will drag the inventory out to the street immediately!"
Ten minutes later, a literal mountain of heavy wooden furniture, bathtubs, stoves, training dummies, bronze cauldrons, and crates of premium food sat in the middle of the street outside the emporium, entirely blocking traffic.
Oscar and Ma Hongjun, still struggling to balance the fifty shopping bags of clothing in their arms, stared at the towering mountain of industrial supplies and furniture in absolute, soul-crushing despair.
"Ming..." Fatty whimpered, his legs shaking violently under the weight of the bags. "We... we can't carry this. It's forty miles back to the village. I'm a Phoenix, not a draft horse!"
"Yeah," Oscar cried, a tear actually rolling down his cheek. "We'll die. We will literally die on the road."
Bai Ming looked at the two terrified boys, then at the mountain of furniture. A soft, highly amused smirk touched his lips.
"I suppose I can offer you a sliver of mercy," Bai sighed elegantly.
He raised his right hand, the void-black spatial ring on his index finger gleaming in the sunlight. With a soft hum of spatial distortion, the mountain of thirty beds, wardrobes, stoves, bathtubs, bronze cauldrons, iron weights, and crates of premium food was instantly sucked into the ring, vanishing into thin air without leaving so much as a speck of sawdust behind.
The street went completely silent.
Oscar and Ma Hongjun let out a massive, synchronized sigh of relief. But as they looked down, they realized their arms were still burning. They were still holding the fifty massive shopping bags full of dresses, boots, and silk robes.
Fatty's eye twitched violently. He stared at the empty street, then slowly turned his head to stare at Bai's spatial ring.
"You..." Oscar's voice cracked. "You have a high-tier spatial ring?"
"Of course," Bai replied flawlessly. "It contains several thousand cubic meters of space. More than enough for a few bathtubs, a kitchen, and a grocery store."
"Then why..." Ma Hongjun screamed, his soul leaving his body, "WHY DIDN'T YOU TAKE THE CLOTHES BAGS TOO?!"
Bai let out a rich, cultured laugh, his pitch-black eyes dancing with aristocratic mischief. He glanced over at Ning Rongrong, who was suddenly trying very hard to hide a devious smile behind her hand.
"I could have stored your bags, yes," Bai admitted smoothly, brushing a speck of dust from his collar. "However, Rongrong began handing you those bags the moment we left the first store. She seemed to be thoroughly enjoying making you two carry them like proper servants. As a gentleman, it would have been incredibly rude of me to interrupt her fun. Consider yourselves lucky I took the iron bathtubs."
"HAHAHA!" Rongrong finally broke, bursting into bright, musical laughter at the boys' utterly betrayed expressions.
"I hate nobles," Ma Hongjun groaned, slumping in defeat as he realized he still had to carry a mountain of silk all the way back to Shrek Academy.
"Come along, pack mules," Bai smirked, turning to lead the laughing girls back toward the city gates. "We need to get back before sunset. Tomorrow, we hunt."
The journey back to Shrek Academy was significantly quieter once they left the bustling gates of Suotuo City. The sun was beginning to dip below the horizon, casting long, stretching shadows across the dirt road.
Oscar and Ma Hongjun were panting heavily, their arms trembling as they carried the remaining fifty bags of clothing. Ning Rongrong was cheerfully humming a tune, clearly highly satisfied with her haul, while Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing walked casually beside her.
Bai Ming walked at the rear of the group. His perfect posture hadn't wavered once, but as they reached a particularly desolate stretch of the road bordered by tall, thick grass and rocky outcroppings, he suddenly stopped.
He let out a long, distinctly annoyed sigh.
Bai raised his right hand. The void-black spatial ring flashed. In the blink of an eye, the towering mountains of shopping bags in Oscar and Ma Hongjun's arms completely vanished, sucked into the ring's storage space.
Fatty stumbled forward, the sudden loss of weight throwing him off balance. "Whoa! Hey, what gives? I thought we were your pack mules?"
"Yeah," Oscar gasped, rubbing his aching biceps. "Not that I'm complaining, but why now?"
Bai Ming didn't answer them. Instead, he smoothly turned around to face the empty dirt road behind them. His pitch-black eyes were entirely devoid of their usual mocking amusement, replaced by a cold, absolute stillness.
"You can come out now," Bai's metallic voice rang out, carrying clearly in the quiet evening air. "Stop hiding like the cockroaches you are. The scent of cheap ale and unwashed bodies gave you away three miles ago."
The Shrek students instantly froze. Zhu Zhuqing's cold eyes narrowed, her hand dropping to her waist. Xiao Wu's rabbit ears stood straight up.
For a second, there was only the sound of the wind. Then, a harsh, ugly laugh echoed from the tall grass.
"You arrogant little brat. You've got sharp senses for a rich kid."
The tall grass rustled violently. Eleven figures stepped out onto the dirt road, fanning out to form a wide semicircle that completely blocked the path back to the city.
They were a ragged, hardened group of mercenaries—men who made their living in the grey areas between the major cities. The leader, a massive man with a scarred face and a jagged machete strapped to his back, stepped forward.
With a chorus of shouts, the bandits released their spirits.
The air distorted. The ten subordinates summoned a mix of low-tier beast and tool spirits, their bodies flashing with one white and one yellow ring, or two yellow rings. They were all Spirit Grandmasters, ranging between Level 20 and 25.
The scarred leader, however, roared as a massive gray wolf phantom materialized behind him. Three spirit rings—white, yellow, and a bright purple thousand-year ring—rose from his feet. He was a Level 35 Spirit Elder.
"I'll give you one chance," Bai Ming said, his voice terrifyingly calm. He casually adjusted his silver cuff, entirely unbothered by the glowing spirit rings surrounding him. "Turn around, walk away, and pray you never cross my path again. If you stay, none of you will be leaving."
The bandits burst into raucous laughter. The idea of a twelve-year-old boy threatening a Level 35 Spirit Elder and ten Spirit Grandmasters was hilarious to them.
The leader smirked, his eyes dropping from Bai to the void-black ring on his finger, and then shifting toward the three girls standing behind him. A vile, lecherous grin split his scarred face as he licked his lips.
"We'll be taking that spatial ring, brat," the leader sneered, his eyes roving over Ning Rongrong's cyan dress and Zhu Zhuqing's leather armor. "Leave the ring, and leave the girls. You three boys can run along back to your mommies."
The temperature on the dirt road plummeted.
Bai Ming's aristocratic facade completely shattered. The polite, mocking noble vanished, instantly replaced by the terrifying, untameable King Beast. The Cosmic Origin Core in his Dantian spun violently, recognizing the absolute disrespect leveled at his pack.
"All of you," Bai said, his voice dropping an octave, speaking directly to his classmates without looking back. "Leave. Go back to the academy. I won't be long."
"Are you crazy?!" Ma Hongjun shouted, his own phoenix flames beginning to spark around his fists. "There's eleven of them! We're not leaving you!"
"We fight together," Zhu Zhuqing added coldly, her fingernails extending into sharp feline claws.
Bai Ming slowly turned his head to look at them.
His pitch-black eyes were practically glowing with an ancient, suffocating pressure. It wasn't spirit power; it was the absolute, multiversal weight of a Saiyan about to wage war. It hit the Shrek students like a physical blow, freezing the breath in their lungs.
"GO," Bai commanded.
It wasn't a request. It was a terrifying, absolute order that triggered their deepest primal instincts. Xiao Wu trembled, a subconscious shiver running down her spine. Even Ning Rongrong took a step back in sheer terror.
"O-ok," Oscar stammered, grabbing Ning Rongrong's sleeve and pulling her back. "We'll go! We'll run ahead and tell the Dean and Teacher Zhao! Don't do anything stupid, Ming!"
Without another word, Oscar dragged Rongrong down the road. Ma Hongjun, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu hesitated for only a fraction of a second before the overwhelming pressure in Bai's eyes forced them to turn and sprint toward the academy.
"Hey! Where do you think you're going?!" the bandit leader roared, seeing his prizes running away. "Get them!"
Three of the Spirit Grandmasters lunged forward, trying to bypass Bai Ming to chase the girls.
Bai didn't even draw a breath. He simply raised his right hand and snapped his fingers.
FWOOSH!
A blinding, roaring wall of golden Sun-Ape Ki erupted from the dirt road, shooting twenty feet into the air. The holy fire formed an impenetrable, scorching barricade across the entire width of the path, perfectly cutting off the fleeing students from the mercenaries.
The three charging bandits screamed as the radiant heat blistered their skin from ten feet away, forcing them to scramble backward to avoid being instantly vaporized.
The golden wall of fire illuminated the darkening road, casting long, dancing shadows across Bai Ming's immaculate silver robes. He slowly cracked his knuckles, the sound like breaking stone, and turned his full, undivided attention to the eleven terrified bandits trapped on his side of the flames.
"Now," Bai smiled, an expression of pure, unadulterated Saiyan savagery. "Let's see how well cockroaches burn."
The blinding, radiant heat of the golden Sun-Ape Ki wall forced the eleven bandits to stagger backward, throwing their arms over their faces. The smug, lecherous grins had completely vanished from their faces, replaced by sudden, instinctual panic.
"What the hell is that?!" one of the Spirit Grandmasters screamed, feeling the hairs on his arms singe just from standing too close to the flames. "That's not normal spirit power!"
"Back up!" the scarred leader bellowed, his gray wolf spirit flaring as he took a heavy step in retreat. "Fall back to the trees!"
But before a single one of them could turn around, Bai Ming casually flicked his wrist.
FWOOSH!
The earth trembled as a second wall of golden fire erupted directly behind the mercenaries. The flames rapidly curved and connected, forming a massive, towering ring of holy fire that completely sealed them inside. The dirt road was transformed into a blazing, inescapable gladiatorial arena.
The bandits spun around in terror, trapped like rats in a burning cage.
"Alright, you little bastard!" the leader roared, pulling his jagged machete. "If you want to die so badly, we'll oblige you! Kill him!"
But the boy standing across from them didn't answer.
In fact, the boy they had been threatening was gone.
Bai Ming—the flawless, untouchable, silver-robed aristocrat with his perfect posture and polite, mocking smile—melted away like an illusion. He let out a slow, rattling breath, dropping his chin. His shoulders slumped forward slightly, his spine curving from the rigid stance of a noble into the loose, heavy, terrifyingly grounded posture of a brawler.
When he raised his head, his pitch-black eyes were completely hollow. There was no humanity left in them. No arrogance. No amusement.
There was only the apex predator. For the first time since leaving the core of the Star Dou Great Forest, Mame Ming had arrived.
The air pressure inside the ring of fire violently collapsed inward. The eleven bandits collectively gasped, their lungs seizing as if the gravity in the arena had just increased by a factor of ten.
This was not a noble boy. This was the sole Saiyan warrior of this universe, a monster forged in the brutal, unrelenting crucible of the Star Dou Core, personally trained by the heaven-piercing Azure Bull Python and the earth-shattering Titan Giant Ape.
A primal, suffocating terror ripped through the mercenaries. It hit the Beast Spirit Masters the hardest. The bandits who possessed wolf, leopard, and bear spirits suddenly fell to their knees, vomiting violently as their Martial Souls shrieked in absolute, biological submission. Their spirits were telling them what their human brains couldn't comprehend: You are standing in front of a King. Die quietly.
"W-what are you?!" a bandit stammered, tears of sheer panic streaming down his face as he stared at the twelve-year-old boy.
Mame didn't speak. He simply stepped forward.
Driven by cornered, desperate madness, three tool-system Spirit Masters screamed and lunged at him. Their spirit rings flared, enhancing their weapons—a heavy iron mace, a spear, and a broadsword—striking simultaneously at Mame's head, chest, and legs.
Mame didn't dodge. He didn't even raise his arms to block.
CLANG! SNAP!
It was like striking a mountain of solid titanium. The broadsword shattered into a dozen pieces against Mame's neck, the metal exploding outward. The iron mace struck Mame's chest and immediately caved in on itself, the kinetic backlash traveling up the bandit's arm and violently snapping his own wrist with a sickening crunch. The spear shaft splintered into dust against Mame's thigh.
The three bandits stared at their broken weapons, their minds blank with horror. Mame slowly turned his dead, pitch-black eyes toward them.
Then, the horror movie began.
Mame raised his right hand and casually slapped the bandit with the broken sword.
The impact sounded like a cannon firing. The man's neck snapped instantly, his head twisting a grotesque 180 degrees before his lifeless body was launched fifty feet through the air, crashing into the wall of golden fire and incinerating instantly.
A Beast Spirit Master in a partial bear-transformation roared, charging Mame from behind and delivering a full-power, spirit-enhanced punch squarely to the Saiyan's spine.
Mame didn't even flinch. But the bandit screamed in agony as the bones in his entire arm compressed and powdered upon impact. Before the man could pull his ruined arm away, Mame smoothly spun on his heel and delivered a devastating front kick to the man's sternum.
The bandit's chest cavity collapsed entirely. He folded in half around Mame's foot, blood erupting from his mouth as his internal organs were liquefied. Mame casually kicked the corpse off his shoe.
"Monster! He's a monster!" one of the mercenaries shrieked, dropping his weapon and scrambling backward in the dirt.
Mame vanished. He didn't use a spirit ability or the Void Instinct to teleport; he simply moved faster than their human eyes could track.
He reappeared directly in the center of the remaining group. He grabbed a bandit by the face, his fingers sinking into the man's skull, and violently slammed him face-first into the dirt, burying his head deep into the earth. Without pausing, Mame threw a casual backhand punch that connected with another bandit's ribs, completely blowing out his ribcage and sending him flying.
It was an utter, completely one-sided massacre. He used no spirit rings. He used no techniques. He simply walked through them, breaking bodies with the casual, indifferent efficiency of a man swatting flies.
"Die! DIE!" the scarred leader screamed hysterically.
The Level 35 Spirit Elder finally overcame his primal terror. His thousand-year purple ring flared brightly. The massive gray wolf phantom behind him roared as the leader leapt into the air, his jagged machete coated in dense, tearing wind blades, aiming directly to split Mame in half from head to toe.
Mame slowly looked up.
As the Spirit Elder brought the glowing machete down with all his might, Mame simply raised his left hand and caught the blade between his thumb and index finger.
The roaring wind blades instantly died. The machete stopped dead in mid-air, mere inches from Mame's forehead. The leader grunted, straining with all his Level 35 spirit power, trying to force the blade down or pull it back. It wouldn't budge a millimeter.
"Is this the limit of your human malice?" Mame whispered, his voice dark, heavy, and utterly devoid of mercy.
With a slight flex of his fingers, Mame snapped the thick steel machete in half.
Before the leader could even register the loss of his weapon, Mame's right fist buried itself deep into the man's stomach. The sheer kinetic force of the blow ripped completely through the Spirit Elder's torso, stopping his heart instantly.
The leader's eyes rolled back, and he dropped to the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.
Meanwhile, at the gates of Shrek Academy, five figures burst into the dirt plaza, gasping for air and dripping with sweat.
"Headmaster! Teacher Zhao!" Oscar screamed, his voice cracking with panic as he sprinted toward the administration building.
Flender and Zhao Wuji, who had been discussing the next day's route to the Star Dou Forest, rushed out immediately. Seeing Ning Rongrong pale and shaking, and Ma Hongjun's fists still sparking with agitated fire, Flender's expression darkened.
"What happened?!" Flender barked. "Where is Bai Ming?!"
"Bandits!" Ma Hongjun yelled, pointing frantically back down the dark road leading toward Suotuo City. "A whole mercenary crew ambushed us! Eleven of them, led by a Spirit Elder! Bai sent us away! He stayed behind to fight them all alone!"
Flender's heart skipped a beat. A twelve-year-old boy, no matter how talented, left alone against eleven hardened killers? Without wasting a single breath, a massive pair of owl wings erupted from Flender's back. "Wuji, watch them!" the Headmaster roared, launching himself into the night sky with an explosive sonic boom.
Flender pushed his Spirit Sage cultivation to its absolute limit, tearing through the evening air like a dark meteor. He scanned the road below, his sharp owl eyes desperately searching for the silver-robed boy.
Suddenly, about ten miles out, Flender slammed the brakes on his flight, his wings flaring violently as a suffocating, terrifying pressure washed over him.
The air itself felt heavy. It wasn't the sharp, focused pressure of a human Spirit Master; it was a vast, ancient, and endlessly brutal aura that made Flender's own Martial Soul shudder in the sky. What in the heavens is that?! Flender thought, his eyes widening in sheer terror. Is there a hundred-thousand-year spirit beast on the road?!
Up ahead, illuminating the darkening landscape, a massive, towering dome of golden fire roared into the sky.
Flender dove toward the light, terrified of what he might find. But as he rapidly approached the battlefield, the giant ring of golden fire suddenly shifted.
Instead of burning out, the blazing walls violently collapsed inward, rushing toward the center of the arena like a reverse explosion. The holy fire swept over the dirt road, instantly flash-incinerating the broken bodies, the spilled blood, and the shattered weapons into absolute, untraceable nothingness.
Flender landed heavily on the road just as the final sparks of golden light vanished into the night.
He froze.
The dirt road had been scorched into a smooth, glass-like crater from the sheer multiversal heat. There were no bandits. There were no corpses. There was no sign that a battle had even taken place, save for the reshaped earth.
Standing perfectly still in the absolute center of the scorched crater was Bai Ming.
The heavy, terrifying aura of the King Beast was entirely gone, buried back deep within his Cosmic Origin Core. The boy pulled a pristine silk handkerchief from his void-black ring, delicately wiped an invisible speck of dust from his knuckle, and flawlessly adjusted his silver collar.
The immaculate aristocrat had returned.
Flender stared at him, his chest heaving, his mind completely unable to process the total erasure of eleven men. "Bai... Bai Ming? Where... where are the mercenaries?"
Bai Ming turned to look at the Headmaster. A polite, impeccably well-mannered, and highly mocking smile spread across his face.
"Mercenaries, Headmaster?" Bai asked smoothly, his pitch-black eyes entirely innocent. "I haven't the faintest idea what you are talking about. I was simply enjoying a leisurely stroll back to the academy. It is a lovely evening, wouldn't you agree?"
Chapter 29: A Harvest of Monsters (Conclusion)
Flender stood frozen on the edge of the smooth, glass-like crater, his sharp owl eyes darting frantically from the pristine, unbothered twelve-year-old boy to the completely empty, scorched landscape.
He couldn't have done this, Flender's mind screamed, desperately trying to rationalize the impossible scene before him. He is a Spirit Grandmaster. Even with a ten-thousand-year ring, entirely erasing eleven Spirit Masters in the blink of an eye without getting a single drop of blood on his clothes? Impossible.
Then, a terrifying realization struck the Headmaster like a bolt of lightning.
The suffocating, primordial aura he had felt from the sky—the pressure that had made his own Spirit Sage soul tremble—it hadn't come from Bai Ming. It had come from his protector.
Flender swallowed hard, cold sweat pouring down his back. It all made sense now. The boy was the heir to a hidden, multiversal superpower. Naturally, his family would not let him wander the continent unprotected. They had assigned a guardian to watch from the shadows—a guardian so unfathomably powerful that they could incinerate eleven men in a localized blast of holy fire and hide their presence flawlessly.
Heavens... Flender thought, his heart pounding. Tang Hao was lurking around the academy just last night. The Clear Sky Douluo is a Rank 95 powerhouse, yet even he didn't detect this guardian! Just what kind of terrifying, ancient power is standing behind this young man?!
Flender suddenly felt profoundly grateful that he had agreed to Bai Ming's demands for absolute freedom. If he had tried to force the boy to bow to Tang San, that hidden guardian might have erased Shrek Academy from the map just as easily as these mercenaries.
"Ah... yes," Flender stammered, forcing a stiff, awkward smile. He pushed his square glasses up his nose, deliberately choosing not to ask any more questions. "A... a lovely evening indeed. Well, the others ran back to the academy in quite a panic. We should return before they assume the worst."
"Indeed," Bai Ming nodded politely. "However, give me just a moment, Headmaster. It would be remarkably poor manners to leave a mess."
Flender blinked. A mess? The bodies are literally gone. Bai Ming stepped to the edge of the massive crater. The intense heat of his Sun-Ape Ki had flash-melted the dirt road into a smooth, razor-sharp bowl of solid glass.
"The merchant caravans use this road," Bai noted, his tone completely clinical. "If a horse steps into this crater, the glass shards will sever its tendons, and the carriage will flip. I have no quarrel with the common working people of this continent."
Flender watched in absolute bewilderment as Bai Ming slowly raised his right hand.
Without summoning a Martial Soul phantom, a dense, terrifyingly heavy spirit ring rose from beneath the boy's feet. It wasn't yellow, nor was it purple. It was a deep, abyssal black—a ten-thousand-year ring, glowing with a dense, crushing weight.
His third ring?! Flender's breath hitched. A ten-thousand-year third ring?!
Bai Ming didn't shout an incantation. His pitch-black eyes simply flashed. He thrust his palm downward.
A pulse of hyper-condensed kinetic energy erupted from the black ring, slamming directly into the center of the crater.
CRACK-BOOM!
The shockwave pulverized the solid glass instantly. It didn't just break it; the sheer, vibrating pressure ground the razor-sharp shards down into a fine, harmless crystalline powder.
With a smooth, elegant sweep of his hand, Bai Ming manipulated his spirit power like a gentle breeze, churning the surrounding earth and mixing the powdered glass back into the dirt. Within seconds, the crater was filled in and leveled flat. The road looked completely normal again, as if the fiery massacre had never happened.
The Headmaster's jaw hung open. The level of micromanagement and raw spirit control required to unleash a ten-thousand-year attack and instantly convert it into delicate earth manipulation was something most Spirit Douluos couldn't even achieve.
"There," Bai Ming said, brushing his hands together and turning back to the dumbstruck Headmaster. The black ring sank back into the earth, vanishing from sight. "The road is safe for travel once more. Shall we go, Headmaster?"
Flender stared at the perfectly leveled dirt road, then looked back at the smiling, immaculate aristocrat. The Headmaster silently resolved never, ever to ask Bai Ming for tuition money.
"Yes," Flender squeaked, his voice cracking slightly. He cleared his throat and stood up straight. "Yes, let's go. Tomorrow... tomorrow we hunt in the Star Dou Forest."
With a polite nod, Bai Ming began his leisurely stroll back toward the village, leaving the terrified Spirit Sage to follow closely behind, entirely convinced he was walking in the shadow of a hidden god.