"Rebellion, rebellion! Qin Ming, you actually dare be ungrateful to your teachers!"
Flender was nearly spitting blood from rage.
In this Douluo Continent, respecting one's teachers was a fundamental principle every soul master had to abide by.
This principle wasn't only about respecting knowledge and experience—it carried deep historical weight.
Otherwise, this world wouldn't hold the rule that one can only formally take a master once.
At this moment, Qin Ming's words left Flender so furious he could hardly breathe.
If this weren't the Heaven Dou Royal Academy, Flender would have possessed his martial spirit on the spot and slapped Qin Ming across the face.
But Qin Ming only looked coldly at Flender: "You're not my teacher."
Clearly, Qin Ming never regarded Flender as his teacher.
His teachers were Zhao Wuji and the others.
"You… you…"
"Get out!"
Qin Ming snorted coldly, roaring in fury.
"Fine, fine, fine! We'll leave! I don't care about this Emperor Team anyway!"
"Just wait, one day my Shrek will crush your Emperor Team!"
Throwing down his harsh words, Flender stormed off with Ma Hongjun.
Yu Xiaogang sneered coldly a few times and followed right after.
Dai Mubai hesitated for a while, but in the end, he too followed Flender and the others.
He still needed Ma Hongjun's help—he couldn't separate from them.
But before leaving, Dai Mubai shouted toward Oscar and Zhu Zhuqing:
"Oscar! Zhu Zhuqing! What are you waiting for?"
Hearing this, Oscar hesitated for a long time, but eventually followed Dai Mubai.
The three brothers couldn't split apart.
Just then, Zhu Zhuqing finally spoke.
"I've decided to join the Emperor Team."
Her cold, detached words stunned Dai Mubai.
He stared at her in disbelief, his face full of shock, as though betrayed.
Moments later, Dai Mubai cursed loudly: "Zhu Zhuqing, are you out of your mind?!"
But just as he prepared to invoke royal family rules to pressure her, Zhu Zhuqing's icy, merciless voice cut him off.
"When you chose your third spirit skill, when your martial spirit changed, you should have known this day would come."
"If you hadn't abandoned me, chosen to leave alone, chosen other skills, maybe we could still use Martial Spirit Fusion."
"But now, with no such possibility, I have no reason to follow you."
"Besides, I'm no longer a threat to my sister's side."
Her words made Dai Mubai look like a clown.
But his mind was filled with blood-red haze. He only wanted to force Zhu Zhuqing to leave with him.
As he stepped forward to grab her arm—
Yu Feng and Oslo appeared instantly on either side of Zhu Zhuqing, each seizing one of Dai Mubai's arms, their voices cold.
"What do you think you're doing to our teammate?"
"Trying to bully our beautiful junior sister?"
Qin Ming also fixed Dai Mubai with an icy stare: "Zhu Zhuqing is already a member of the Emperor Team. You will not act so presumptuously."
Then, Qin Ming released his Soul Emperor pressure at Dai Mubai.
Still injured, Dai Mubai groaned in pain, recoiling in fear.
Realizing he couldn't take Zhu Zhuqing away from Qin Ming, Dai Mubai roared hoarsely:
"Zhu Zhuqing, you'll regret this!"
Then he stormed off without looking back.
Left behind in the Emperor Team's training grounds, Zhao Wuji and the other teachers could only sigh helplessly.
"Qin Ming, next time let me buy you a drink!"
Zhao Wuji patted Qin Ming's shoulder before turning to leave.
The other teachers also shook their heads in resignation and prepared to go.
"Teacher Zhao Wuji, do you really still plan to follow Shrek?"
Suddenly, Qin Ming's voice came from behind them.
The group turned, puzzled.
"Qin Ming, what do you mean?"
"I mean, wouldn't you rather teach here at Heaven Dou Royal Academy?"
Qin Ming waved, smiling at them.
"Ah, this… forget it, I can't."
"I can't rest easy leaving Oscar and the others."
Zhao Wuji, fiercely protective of his students, truly cared for them. He declined Qin Ming's offer and left.
Shao Xin and the others felt the same—they valued Oscar deeply—so they too bid farewell.
Only long after they left did Qin Ming finally shake off his reluctance.
He remembered how, back in his Soul Duel days, it was thanks to Zhao Wuji, Shao Xin, and the others that he hadn't ended up like so many classmates—crippled with lasting injuries.
"Zhu Zhuqing, welcome to the Emperor Team. I'll have someone arrange your accommodations right away."
Qin Ming turned to her with a warm smile.
He knew how hard she had trained, with only innate level 7 soul power, to reach her current level. His impression of her was excellent.
Yu Feng eagerly volunteered: "Teacher, let me take our junior sister to the girls' dormitory!"
"Get lost!"
Qin Ming laughed, slapping Yu Feng on the back.
"You all better train properly! If you're not Soul Kings in two years… hmph!"
Seeing Qin Ming treat the Emperor Team so differently from Shrek, Zhu Zhuqing felt her mood lighten.
A faint smile appeared on her lips.
Meanwhile—
The Shrek group had just left the Emperor Team's grounds.
When Flender and Yu Xiaogang saw Zhu Zhuqing hadn't come out, their faces immediately darkened.
"This Zhu Zhuqing learned my Seven-in-One Fusion Skill, and now she dares join the Emperor Team."
Yu Xiaogang's face was especially ugly. He felt his wisdom had been stolen.
Dai Mubai's expression was no better.
Zhu Zhuqing's betrayal made him furious. Without her, how could he possibly defeat Davis?
Just thinking about losing to Davis—and dying as a result—filled Dai Mubai with terror.
Since Ma Hongjun might soon become a cripple, Dai Mubai now had only one thought: to tie Oscar firmly to his side.
With Oscar's innate full soul power as a food-type soul master, they could form a force no weaker than the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.
Ma Hongjun, however, remained silent.
Ever since hearing he might become a cripple, a strange destructive urge had been gnawing inside him.
Like someone who once held power and strength but, upon losing everything, sinks into despair.
If he really became useless, then no one else should live happily—no one should continue as a soul master.
No genius should have a bright future.
With such thoughts, evil intent surged uncontrollably within him.
His small eyes, squeezed by his fat cheeks, gleamed with malice.
Still, as long as a shred of hope remained, Ma Hongjun held back from going completely to the extreme.
Elsewhere—
In the Sunset Forest, near the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well—
Xiao Lin was studying Tang San's external head soul bone.
He found that the "evil" power within it—though indeed sinister—wasn't unlike a curse.
It all depended on the curse's strength, the evil force's intensity.
As Xiao Lin's spiritual power continued to grow, he discovered the possibility of extracting that evil force.
But this was only a temporary fix, not a cure.
Ultimately, it would require sacred power to purify completely.
(End of chapter)