"Meng Hongchen, you are going to make our benefactor uncomfortable." Jiang Nannan pulled her away.
Meng Hongchen looked Jiang Nannan up and down, then said with a half-smile, "Don't you also like to secretly lean on the Captain's shoulder? And what about you, Xiao Xiao, Xiaoya, Yun'er, Zhu Lu? Don't think I don't know that every time we finish cultivating, it's the Captain who carries you back to the dorms. Now that the Captain is my boss too, I have the right to lean on him."
These words caused the girls' faces to flush with embarrassment. Ma Rulong seized the opportunity to step forward, joking half-heartedly, "Feng Piaoling, I never thought a kid like you would be such a playboy, actually managing to hook so many cute girls."
He heavily emphasized the word "playboy."
Feng Piaoling naturally knew that Ma Rulong liked Meng Hongchen, so he suddenly smiled and asked, "Are you envious?"
Ma Rulong was stunned. Before he could answer, Feng Piaoling added, "You'll be even more envious later on."
Crucially, Meng Hongchen actually agreed, "Exactly. Stop being a busybody. If you had half the capability of our boss, you could start a harem too."
This statement nearly caused Ma Rulong to spit out a mouthful of blood.
Compared to the lively atmosphere around Feng Piaoling, the mood over at Shrek Academy was much heavier.
"How is this possible? I fought Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo during the freshman assessment. How could their strength be so overwhelming now?"
Dai Huabin's mouth was wide open, almost large enough to stuff an egg into.
Huo Yuhao's expression was equally unsightly. Just moments ago, he had been observing their entire battle using his Spiritual Detection.
The principle behind their combined soul skill was simple, but he realized that putting it into practice was incredibly difficult.
Bei Bei's expression was grave. "It seems that ever since they followed Feng Piaoling, their strength has improved by leaps and bounds. It's no wonder they dared to openly challenge Shrek."
Wu Feng sighed. "Sigh, if I had known, I should have gone with them back then."
Wang Dong'er felt the same. "We were born into great sects. You come from the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Sect, and I come from the Haotian Sect. Some things are not for us to decide."
Ling Luochen glanced toward Feng Piaoling's direction, her cold gaze filled with curiosity and complexity. "Feng Piaoling, just how strong have you become?"
Xİ Xİ added, "Perhaps he really has become strong enough to defeat Shrek."
Seeing them speaking so defeatistly, Ma Xiaotao became displeased immediately. "What's so special about them? I admit they have some skill, but Shrek Academy is not someone to be trifled with. Even if five students were injured and we sustained wounds, we remain invincible in the Soul Duel Tournament."
Dai Yaoheng echoed, "Xiaotao is right. Shrek is invincible."
However, Elder Xuan unexpectedly stood on Feng Piaoling's side. "Even if you aren't a match for that kid, it doesn't matter. I have already sent word to the academy; Zhang Lexuan will be here soon. When that time comes, you and he will be teammates."
Zhou Yi frowned. "Elder Xuan, is that really appropriate?"
"What's wrong with it? As the number one academy on the continent, Shrek has always had the privilege of supplementing its team members at any time. Or are you saying that you don't want Feng Piaoling to return to Shrek?"
Elder Xuan's gaze toward Zhou Yi gradually grew dangerous.
Zhou Yi opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn't dare to speak again.
The match ultimately ended with Lan Susu and Lan Luoluo winning by defeating seven opponents in a row.
As for the issue of soul power consumption, there was no need to worry; Feng Piaoling had Xuan Ziwen prepare several soul tool baby bottles for everyone.
"Soul Hall wins."
Seemingly to distinguish between the "Soul Hall," Shrek Academy, and the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy, the Star Luo Empire—the organizers of the event—played a little word game.
They only announced that the Soul Hall had won, not the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy.
As the referee announced the final result, the emotions of the hundreds of thousands of spectators in the arena were thoroughly ignited.
Many people began looking forward to the ultimate showdown between the Soul Hall and Shrek Academy.
On the other hand, the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy seemed to have been selectively forgotten, and no one mentioned them again.
This directly caused dissatisfaction among Ma Rulong and his team.
"Elder Ma, this Feng Piaoling is truly too arrogant. Does he have any respect for our Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy in his eyes at all?"
Surrounded by the other six starting team members, Ma Rulong lodged a complaint with Elder Ma.
Elder Ma said coldly, "What do you know? This is all part of the Principal's plan. You only need to know that all of this will ultimately benefit the Sun-Moon Empire."
Hearing this, Ma Rulong and the others had no choice but to close their mouths in frustration.
The round-robin tournament consisted of matches every other day. In the Soul Hall's group, each team had to undergo eight matches. To qualify, winning seven opponents was the only safe bet.
Following that, Xiao Xiao, Nanmen Yun'er, Cui Yajie, Zhu Lu, Jiang Nannan, Huang Chutian, and Wang Gang took the stage one after another.
They all displayed immense power. Xiao Xiao even defeated a level 51 Soul King while being two ranks lower.
This pushed the reputation of the Soul Hall to its peak.
More and more people hoped to see a clash between the Soul Hall and Shrek Academy.
Conversely, the people of Shrek were having a hard time, especially Zhou Yi. Because among these students, apart from Wang Gang who hadn't passed the freshman assessment, all the others had been expelled by her.
The more talented these people were, the more it highlighted her short-sightedness.
Gradually, many people began calling her "that blind old hag."
Consequently, Elder Xuan also found Zhou Yi increasingly unpleasant to look at. If Zhou Yi hadn't expelled those people, this honor would have belonged to Shrek.
Two days passed, and the first round of the round-robin tournament concluded.
In the evening, Feng Piaoling finally waited for the long-awaited auction.
The Ominous Soul-Devouring Knife would appear at this auction.
As long as he obtained this knife, he, Feng Piaoling, would never have to be at the mercy of others again from this day forward.
Feng Piaoling called Xuan Ziwen and was just about to head out to the auction when Zhu Lu suddenly sought him out. Accompanying her was a middle-aged man who possessed the same heterochromatic eyes as Zhu Lu, and whose appearance bore a striking resemblance to her.
Zhu Lu smiled and introduced him to Feng Piaoling: "Boss, Teacher Xuan, let me introduce you. This is my father, who is also the Chancellor of the Star Luo Empire, the Duke of Nether, Zhu Tianhao."
Then, Zhu Lu added proudly to Zhu Tianhao: "Father, this is our Soul Hall Master, Feng Piaoling, level 40, a level 5 soul tool master, with the Martial Spirits 'Talisman' and 'Green Lotus Sword.'"
"And this is our Soul Hall's only current Elder, Xuan Ziwen, a level 8 soul tool master. It was he who introduced us to join the Sun-Moon Imperial Soul Engineering Academy. However, he personally detests war, so he only serves as an instructor at the academy and does not hold an official post in the Sun-Moon Empire."
The Duke of Nether seems to have arrived earlier than I expected... Feng Piaoling was stunned for a moment, then cupped his hands in a salute toward Zhu Tianhao. "Greetings, Duke of Nether."
Xuan Ziwen followed suit and offered a salute as well.
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