Douluo Continent: The Phoenix God Returns

Chapter 18 First Meeting

In the dead of night, the entire Shrek Academy fell silent. This was the year with the most students Shrek Academy had enrolled in many years.

As the vice dean, Zhao Wuji naturally had his own residence. At this moment, he was alone in his room, feeling rather depressed. He had changed into clean clothes, and his wounds had all healed. Those minor injuries were nothing, but they had been a significant blow to his spirit. He never expected that his simple intention to stretch his muscles would lead to such a loss of face.

"Two against one, I lost to someone who wields a sword; three against one, I lost to someone who uses poison." Zhao Wuji clenched his right fist and slammed it into his left palm, sighing helplessly, "I guess I'm just unlucky."

At the same time, he greatly admired Li Ye and Tang San. In terms of talent, Li Ye was even stronger than Tang San and the others, and he might become an unparalleled expert in the future.

"Zhao Wuji".

As Zhao Wuji was still thinking, a sudden voice made the smile on his face freeze instantly.

"Who?" Zhao Wuji suddenly stood up. In his early years, he had done a lot of shady things in the Soul Master world, so his reputation was not good and many enemies would come to him to cause trouble. He didn't expect that someone would find him at this time.

"Come out here."

Zhao Wuji immediately revealed his spirit ring and burst out of the window, cautiously on guard while searching for any movement around him. However, he did not see anyone, but Zhao Wuji's gaze was fixed on the back of a tree trunk.

Tang Hao, dressed in black, slowly emerged from behind a large tree.

Tang Hao said to himself, "I didn't expect to meet the Immovable King in this place. I want to stretch my muscles and have a spar with you." Nine spirit rings on his body lit up, and the last one was a red 100,000-year spirit ring.

Upon seeing Tang Hao's nine spirit rings, Zhao Wuji instantly paled and managed to utter a few words with difficulty: "A... a Title Douluo, may I ask which senior has graced us with their presence? Please don't joke with a junior like me."

Tang Hao said calmly, "I saw you having a good time beating those kids during the day. I've discovered that bullying others isn't so bad. Let me bully you too. Of course, you can think I'm taking advantage of the weak."

Without any imposing aura, Tang Hao gripped the Clear Sky Hammer and walked step by step towards Zhao Wuji. After taking a few steps, he turned his head to look in another direction. "Since you're here, don't hide. What's the difference between one and two?"

In a flash, another figure appeared beside Zhao Wuji—it was Flander. The newcomer was none other than Flander, the four-eyed cat-owl, the dean of Shrek Academy.

"Greetings, Your Majesty Haotian." Flander showed no intention of making a move, but instead respectfully bowed to Tang Hao.

"Bang...bang...boom...boom"

The sound of collision echoed through the woods. Flander, who was standing to the side with his wings outstretched, couldn't help but cover his eyes and turn his head away, unable to bear to watch any longer. There was no need to light an incense stick at all; the entire battle was over in just ten breaths.

Far away in his dormitory, Ye Li, under the cover of the Phoenix God Core, unabashedly witnessed Tang Hao beating someone up through the materialization of his mental power.

Looking at Zhao Wuji, whose head had been beaten into a pig's head, Ye Li couldn't bear to look at him. "Tsk tsk tsk, the Haotian Hammer is not as good as the Yanhuang Sword. That thing can really beat you up. The number one Haotian Hammer in the world, hehe, it won't be long before it needs to be replaced."

The night was already deep. Apart from Ye Li, none of the students at Shrek Academy knew that so much had happened on this seemingly peaceful night. As for Zhao Wuji's face, which had been swollen like a pig's head, it wouldn't be able to recover so quickly this time.

the next day, early morning

Ye Li cultivates daily, and he is now a level 43 Soul Master. Although he has the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Well, he does not immediately consume the immortal herb. Instead, he continues to hone his physical fitness, planning to consume the immortal herb in one go to break through the bottleneck. In this way, the effect of the immortal herb will be maximized.

Around noon, Ye Li finally arrived at the academy's canteen. The so-called canteen was actually just an agreement between the academy and the village, where several villagers were hired to take care of everyone's meals. Although the breakfast was simple, the portions were plentiful, so there was no problem getting full.

When Ye Li arrived at the cafeteria, Ning Rongrong and the aloof girl Zhu Zhuqing had already arrived. Apart from being a little pale, Zhu Zhuqing seemed to be fine.

Perhaps because of their collaboration yesterday, Ning Rongrong saw Ye Li nod to her. Ye Li's expression towards Ning Rongrong clearly showed affection, and her smile revealed two dimples, making her look exceptionally charming.

Ye Li sat not far away, eating bite by bite. She didn't say anything on the surface, but she kept complaining in her heart: "This is so disgusting. Sister Brigitte, I miss you."

Just then, Dai Mubai arrived at the cafeteria with Tang San and the others. Ma Hongjun stared at the two women with wide eyes and swallowed hard without any attempt to hide it.

Dai Mubai nudged him with his elbow and whispered, "You better behave yourself and suppress your lustful desires."

Dai Mubai glanced at Zhu Zhuqing, who was slowly eating her breakfast, her face still cold. Xiao Wu sat down next to Ning Rongrong, chuckling as she spoke to her.

Ma Hongjun knew they were talking about him, and he sat down dejectedly, taking out his frustration on the breakfast on the table.

Dai Mubai coughed and said, "Xiao Ao is sleeping in again. He's always so lazy. Besides Xiao Ao, I see everyone is here. We'll be living and studying together for a while, so let's get to know each other. Let me introduce you. This fat guy is another student in our academy, named Ma Hongjun. His martial soul is grass—oh, no, it's a phoenix."

Upon hearing the word "phoenix," Zhu Zhuqing raised her head, but only glanced at Ma Hongjun. When her gaze swept over Dai Mubai, it seemed to add a touch of chill.

When Ye Li heard Dai Mubai introduce Ma Hongjun, she almost couldn't help but laugh. "I don't usually laugh unless I can't help it."

Ma Hongjun said, "By the way, Boss Dai, I heard that someone new here gave Teacher Zhao quite a hard time yesterday. Who was it?"

Dai Mubai said, "One is Tang San, who fought with you, and the other is Li Ye, the one over there." As he spoke, he pointed to Ye Li, who was eating.

Ma Hongjun looked at Ye Li in disbelief. "How could he let Teacher Zhao suffer a loss? He's a level 76 Soul Saint. I don't believe it."

"The facts are right in front of you, you can try it," Ye Li said calmly.

Dai Mubai frowned and told Ma Hongjun the names and martial souls of the five newcomers, including Li Ye. As for Li Ye's true strength, he didn't explain much, but only hinted to Ma Hongjun that it was best not to provoke him. A twelve-year-old boy was already a level thirty-eight Soul Master, and he himself was no match for him at this age.

If Ye Li knew what Dai Mubai was thinking, she would probably say, "I haven't even made a move yet, and this is already your limit. If you knew my true cultivation level, I wouldn't even dare to imagine what would happen."

After the introductions, Dai Mubai continued, "We'll all be living and cultivating together from now on. There's no need to be too formal with how you address each other. Including the five newcomers, there are only eight people in the academy. Xiao Ao and Fatty call me Boss Dai because I'm a bit older than them. You can just call me Mubai. Ma Hongjun, just call him Fatty. And Oscar, you can call him Xiao Ao…"

Ye Li didn't try to compete with Tang San for the ranking, but instead said directly, "Xiao Ye is fine."

Before Dai Mubai could even mention herself, Ning Rongrong readily replied, "You can just call me Rongrong. That's what my family and friends call me."

Xiao Wu's form of address remained unchanged. When Dai Mubai's gaze fell on Zhu Zhuqing, Zhu Zhuqing stood up and said, "I'm full." After saying that, she turned and walked out.

Ma Hongjun leaned closer and said, "Boss Dai, aren't you known as a heartthrob? How come this new girl doesn't even glance at you?"

Dai Mubai smiled wryly, shook his head, and did not explain. He guessed that apart from Zhu Zhuqing, Ye Li was probably the only one present who knew the inside story.

(End of this chapter)