Xiao Qiang stared with his blood-red eyes at the barbecue shop owner he had knocked to the ground. Since the House of Ice-Felling did not raise cattle and sheep, Xiao Qiang had no intention of fighting over a meager amount of money with someone who was not even a Spirit Master.
However, that did not mean an ordinary person could blatantly ride roughshod over Xiao Qiang. Having a good temper and letting people bully you at will were two entirely different concepts.
"Spit!" The barbecue shop owner flew back from Xiao Qiang's blow, spitting out a mouthful of fresh blood along with a knocked-out tooth.
Yet at that moment, there was no look of terror on his face; instead, he wore the expression of someone whose scheme had succeeded.
The fact that Xiao Qiang had not killed him with a single punch meant he had won his gamble. Taking a punch from a Three-Ring Spirit Elder could be fatal, but if it allowed him to befriend a Six-Ring Soul Emperor from Shrek Academy, taking this punch was worth it—hugely worth it, extraordinarily worth it! Once this Shrek Soul Emperor dealt with this Three-Ring Spirit Elder, any casual reward later on, or even getting permission to open his shop in Shrek City, would make the rest of his life unimaginable in its comfort.
Thinking this, he continued to carry out the task assigned to him by the Shrek Soul Emperor and began to yell, "Help! Murder! A Spirit Master is bullying an ordinary person!"
Xiao Qiang: "..." That blow just now must have been a bit too light.
Just as Xiao Qiang prepared to step forward and deliver a few more hits, Yang Peng—who had not yet finished his Shrek Inner Court task—stepped out. "As a Spirit Elder, you dare oppress ordinary people? Do you not know that three feet above your head sits Shrek?"
Yang Peng took a step forward, and six spirit rings—two yellow, two purple, and two black—surfaced, displaying his cultivation at the Soul Emperor level.
"Lord Shrek Soul Emperor! This Spirit Elder actually relied on his Three-Ring cultivation to oppress ordinary people like us who have no Soul Power. You must seek justice for me!"
The barbecue shop owner crawled to Yang Peng's feet and said, matching his blood-covered face to look genuinely pitiful.
However, Yang Peng did not care whether he was pitiful or not. All he wanted was testimony—a reason to define Xiao Qiang as an Evil Spirit Master. Therefore, having obtained his justification, he casually kicked the barbecue shop owner away as the man crawled to his feet, leaving the owner completely bewildered.
He had been counting on this incident to get in Shrek's good graces, so why, right after pointing the finger at Xiao Qiang, did he suddenly feel like he was being abandoned the moment he crossed the bridge?
Impossible, absolutely impossible! That was Shrek! How could they do something like abandoning an ally after crossing the bridge? For students of the continent's number one academy to pull such a stunt was about as believable as Shrek relying on cheating to win the Spirit Master tournament.
Thinking this, the barbecue shop owner felt somewhat reassured. Next, all he had to do was wait for this Shrek Soul Emperor to deal with the Spirit Elder before him, and he would have completed Shrek's mission, gotten into Shrek's good graces, and reaped Shrek's benefits.
Yes, it had to be this way.
Xiao Qiang silently looked at the barbecue shop owner who had immediately gone to file a complaint after being sent flying by him, and now things that were unclear earlier finally made sense.
He had wondered why an ordinary barbecue shop owner would dare be so aggressive; it turned out he had run into a Shrek Inner Court student who needed to complete a task.
A genuine Evil Spirit Master of the Spirit King rank could wipe out the entire Shrek Seven Monsters, a Four-Ring Tang Ya had almost perished together with the Iron Blood Sect Master—who was a Six-Ring Soul Emperor—and an Evil Spirit Master at the Titled Douluo level required the Sea God Pavilion Master to personally step in and suppress them.
Under such circumstances, Shrek, which had quotas to fulfill for exterminating Evil Spirit Masters, sometimes had no choice but to play dumb while knowing the truth.
Mu En knew that Zhang Peng was not actually an Evil Spirit Master, but when it came time to beat him, he still had to be beaten—after all, Shrek's quota was there, and who told you to be weak and not a member of Shrek?
When he first watched, he felt that Scorpion Tiger Douluo Zhang Peng was terribly wronged, but he never expected that one day the wronged person would turn out to be himself. Xiao Qiang massaged his temples while watching Yang Peng, simultaneously sinking a portion of his consciousness into his Spiritual Sea to converse with Tianmeng Ice Worm.
"Brother Tianmeng, trouble is walking through the door. Is there a way to deal with a Six-Ring Soul Emperor?" Xiao Qiang asked knowingly within his Spiritual Sea.
"There is a way, of course. Big Brother is, after all, a million-year-level Spirit Beast. A mere Soul Emperor isn't enough to stump Big Brother, but..."
"But what?"
"But while Big Brother's power is not weak, there is a limit to your physical body. If Big Brother uses his power to deal with him this time, I'm afraid I won't be able to give you much major assistance for the next half year or so."
"Brother Tianmeng, will you fall into a deep sleep?"
"That won't happen."
"Which means if you use your hidden power to solve this, the price is just being unable to wield powerful force for the next half year?"
"Yes. Therefore, I suggest you still try explaining things to him. If I mobilize this power, you won't have any other means of self-preservation for half a year."
Xiao Qiang: "..." Are million-year-level Spirit Beasts still this naive? "Brother Tianmeng, I know he belongs to the senior mirror category, and normally I should explain things nicely, but it's not that I don't want to explain; it's that the two of them are in cahoots."
"No, rather than saying they're in cahoots, it's more accurate to say that Soul Emperor is the mastermind behind this. Otherwise, why would you think an ordinary person would dare boss people around in front of a Spirit Elder, and even take your money while refusing to let you eat?"
Mentioning that someone had interrupted his meal instantly infuriated Tianmeng. "What! The bastard who wouldn't let Big Brother eat properly is this scumbag?! Xiao Qiang, hand the body over to Big Brother. Big Brother will teach him how to behave!"
"Wait a moment, Brother Tianmeng. Hand that technique over to me and let me familiarize myself with the operation method of your attribute Soul Power."
"Very well. Remember to thoroughly teach those two bastards a lesson for daring to interrupt Big Brother's meal."
Having obtained the power granted by Tianmeng, Xiao Qiang fixed his gaze on Yang Peng. Compared to before, Xiao Qiang's confidence was now vastly bolstered, though Yang Peng did not care much.
Putting aside whether Xiao Qiang was truly an Evil Spirit Master, even if he were, with a gap spanning over 35 ranks of Soul Power and the difference of two ten-thousand-year spirit rings and a thousand-year spirit ring—not to mention Shrek's arrogance—what normal Soul Emperor would ever deign to look at a Spirit Elder?
"What, do you still want to question Shrek? Not to mention I'm not giving you a chance, as long as you kneel and kowtow three heavy times to him, and cripple your own Martial Soul, I can take charge and let this matter rest."
"That's right. I am willing to accept the decision of the Shrek Soul Emperor."
The two of them sang in harmony. To this, Xiao Qiang merely offered a silent, cold laugh. "A Six-Ring Soul Emperor wants me to cripple my own Martial Soul? Do you think I'll swallow this grievance? I just obtained my Third Soul Ring!"
"Great Desolation Imprisoning Finger! A single finger imprisons the heavens and earth!"