"Has he left?"
The figure of Yan Shaozhe appeared, followed by Xuan Zi gnawing on a chicken leg, grease still shining at the corners of his mouth, and an indignant look plastered across his face.
The Chicken-Leg War God.
The thought surfaced in Neuvillette's mind as he glanced at the elder. It was oddly… fitting.
"He was forced to retreat," Neuvillette replied calmly, tapping the tip of his deep-blue staff against the ground. The colossal water dragon hovering in the air dissolved into a gentle drizzle that fell over the battlefield. "But I doubt he's given up. He'll be looking for another chance."
"Damn those evil soul masters—rats skulking in the gutters! It's a shame this old man didn't catch him, or I'd have skinned him alive."
Xuan Zi growled, then turned to Neuvillette and Zhang Lexuan, who stood at his side with their usual calm.
"Which ones came this time?" he demanded.
Neuvillette cast him a sidelong glance, his tone quiet yet edged.
"The leader himself—Zhongli Wu. Along with Scorpion Tiger Douluo, Zhang Peng, and Crow Douluo. Three in total."
Even for a so-called Grand Elder of the Holy Spirit Sect, showing up personally was no small matter. And whether one could even withstand him was another question entirely.
After all, though both sides might boast the rank of a Super Douluo at level ninety-eight, evil soul masters… had their terrifying advantages.
"Zhongli Wu came in person?!"
Yan Shaozhe's pupils contracted sharply. He stared at Neuvillette in disbelief.
With that kind of force arrayed against them—even he would hesitate. Let alone Neuvillette, who until recently had only been a peak Soul Sage.
Even with Inner Court Senior Sister Zhang Lexuan assisting, the two of them together shouldn't have been able to hold such monsters at bay.
He remembered hosting Neuvillette's Inner Court trial himself: the task had been to endure ten minutes against him. Yet the match had escalated far beyond that. From "enduring" to exchanging blow for blow, to the point where both had exhausted their soul power without a victor emerging.
"Oh, I nearly forgot to mention," Neuvillette said lightly, raising a brow.
"I've advanced to Soul Douluo."
Yan Shaozhe: "..."
Xuan Zi: "..."
The corner of Yan Shaozhe's mouth twitched. "If I recall correctly… You only just turned seventeen this year, didn't you?"
"A seventeen-year-old Soul Douluo?"
"Mm."
With a quiet hum, Neuvillette let his soul rings rise at his feet.
Purple, purple, black, black, black, black, red, red.
"You've got to be kidding me—ten-thousand-year rings?!"
Yan Shaozhe's jaw nearly hit the ground as his eyes locked onto the final ring—an ominous crimson glowing with a sinister luster. Four golden patterns ran across its surface.
A 400,000-year soul beast… slain, without a word?!
"…Perhaps I was simply fortunate," Neuvillette answered, voice serene.
"After all—luck, too, is a kind of strength."
Xuan Zi: "..."
Yan Shaozhe: "..."
What a show-off.
Only Zhang Lexuan's eyes shone with admiration, her delicate features lit with unguarded awe—the look of someone utterly enchanted.
Nearby, Wang Dong, Huo Yutong, and Xiao Xiao all wore similar expressions. To them, this was only natural—Teacher Neuvillette had always been nothing short of monstrous.
As law enforcement teams restored order, tending to the wounded and stabilizing the scene, Yan Shaozhe exhaled heavily.
"There must have been many casualties this time."
"Against a ten-thousand-year soul beast, this is already far fewer than it could have been," Xuan Zi said grimly.
Yan Shaozhe shook his head. "In any case, we'll tighten Inner Court security. This incident can only serve as a hard-learned lesson. Who could have imagined the Holy Spirit Sect's leader himself would dare to come—especially here, in Shrek City?"
"As for the new student trials—they'll proceed as planned. As for this child's situation, we'll revisit it after the assessment."
The next day.
Under the bright sun, the assessment grounds bustled with noise.
"Did you hear? Something huge happened in Shrek City yesterday—an evil soul master infiltrated and unleashed a ten-thousand-year soul beast. So many people died!"
"Yeah, but if not for Teacher Neuvillette and Senior Sister Lexuan arriving in time, it would've been far worse."
"I heard Neuvillette-senior scared off an evil soul master with a single strike!"
"Senior Sister Lexuan's amazing, too! Word is, she's only twenty-seven, already a Soul Douluo, and her eighth soul ring is a rare ten-thousand-year beast!"
"This is what it means to be from the Inner Court… so powerful. I want to join too!"
"Forget it—you'd better survive the freshman assessments first. Half of us will be eliminated! If you don't work hard, you'll be shipped back home to join some second-rate academy."
"Yeah, the world of monsters like them isn't something we can even imagine. Let's just focus on getting through today."
In the rest area, the three young girls listened to the whispers around them, secretly thrilled.
After all, they had witnessed the events with their own eyes. Wang Dong, in particular, looked proud beyond words. While others only gossiped about the legendary Teacher Neuvillette, she knew him personally—and even lived in his villa.
"Alright, let's focus on today's match," Xiao Xiao said with a smile. "I heard from Teacher Wang Yan that our next opponents aren't simple."
"Heh. No matter who they are, they won't be our match," Wang Dong declared with a proud toss of her head.
At that moment, the examiner's voice rang out:
"Eighth Arena—Huo Yutong, Wang Dong, Xiao Xiao. Versus—"
(To be continued…)