The late morning sun peeked through the scattered clouds above Shrek Academy, casting long shadows across the training field. The air was thick—not just with heat, but with a tension that had silently taken root since yesterday's confrontation between Li Wei and Yu Xiaogang.
Though the academy grounds bustled with activity, laughter and idle chatter were notably subdued. It was as if the wind itself dared not stir too loudly, afraid to disturb the balance of something delicate, something on the edge of shattering.
Zhu Zhuqing sat beneath a tree near the field, arms around her knees, eyes fixed on a distant figure. Her gaze lingered on Li Wei as he trained alone, his movements sharp and precise, each strike with his Diendriver cutting through the air like a blade. His expression was calm, unreadable—yet to Zhu Zhuqing, it carried the weight of defiance, conviction, and something deeper. Something wounded.
She could still hear Yu Xiaogang's indignant voice echoing in her memory. "The ignorant always presume to speak the loudest." And then Li Wei's reply, cold and unwavering: "The ones who preach the loudest often hide the most."
Zhu Zhuqing clenched her fists. She didn't know what truth Li Wei was hinting at, but she didn't doubt him. Not for a second.
Near the dormitory steps, Dai Mubai leaned against the wall, arms crossed. His golden pupils followed Li Wei's every move, narrowing with each flawless dodge and strike. The ash grey-haired teen's calm refusal to yield had irked him more than he cared to admit. Even more annoying was how the others had reacted.
Ning Rongrong had seemed disturbed afterward, and Xiao Wu had tried questioning Tang San all evening. Dai Mubai clicked his tongue. "So what if he's strong," he muttered under his breath. "Strength without loyalty is dangerous."
Inside the classroom building, Tang San stood before the window, hands behind his back. His teacher had said nothing after yesterday, retreating quietly to his quarters. But Tang San's thoughts were a whirlwind.
Li Wei's words unsettled him. Not just because they struck at Yu Xiaogang—but because they made Tang San question something he had never doubted before. Could someone see the Grandmaster as anything less than perfect?
The thought was almost blasphemous to him.
"Brother San." Xiao Wu's voice brought him back. She stepped up beside him, pink eyes glancing between him and the window. "Do you think… Li Wei might have a reason?"
Tang San hesitated, the gears in his mind spinning. "He usually doesn't speak without thought," he admitted. "But… even so, I trust Teacher. I have to."
Xiao Wu didn't press further. She only looked toward the distant figure in the training field. "I think he's lonely. He says things like he doesn't care, but… he does."
---
That afternoon, deep within the principal's office, Flender sat with his fingers steepled, brow furrowed in thought. Zhao Wuji stood near the window, arms folded, gaze sharp.
"He didn't deny the man's strength," Zhao Wuji said plainly. "He just… refused to be taught by him."
Flender let out a long breath. "Yes. But did you hear his tone? It wasn't rebellion—it was disappointment. Like someone who found something he once respected and then saw its flaws."
Zhao Wuji turned slightly, face grim. "You think there's truth in what he said?"
"I don't know." Flender glanced at an old scroll on the table—one that mentioned Yu Xiaogang's expulsion from the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon clan. "Even if that is, I cannot do anything as he is my old teammates and also cannot dismiss Li Wei as he is also half owner of our Shrek academy."
"So Li Wei really is the reason that our academy condition improve." Hearing the confirmation from Flender make Zhao Wuji confirm with his thought before. Most of the teacher here already thought that it because of Li Wei but they never had that confirmation. Now that Flender himself said it, now it confirm.
"I do not know what Xiaogang do, I just hope it not having negative impact to our academy." Flender said before thought, 'Er Long, I do not know what Xiaogang do just hope that it do not impact us.'
---
The sky darkened ever so slightly as clouds began to gather. By late afternoon, Flender stood on the training field with Zhao Wuji at his side. The students gathered before them, uncertain tension in the air.
Flender's voice rang out, firm and clear. "Today, you'll undergo a new type of test—one that challenges not only your individual strength, but your cooperation and battlefield awareness."
A few murmurs spread through the group.
"Here is the objective," Flender continued. "In two teams, you will attempt to infiltrate a simulated fortress. Within it is a small box, marked with the Shrek symbol. The team that retrieves it and escapes wins."
Zhao Wuji cracked his knuckles with a grin. "I'll be the fortress guardian. Don't worry—I won't kill you. Probably."
"Team one," Flender called out, "will consist of Tang San, Ma Hongjun, Oscar and Dai Mubai."
"Team two—Li Wei, Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong."
Li Wei glanced sideways. Zhu Zhuqing gave him a nod. Ning Rongrong looked slightly apprehensive, but determined.
Tang San frowned slightly. Not at the arrangement—but at the division. A split not just in names, but in loyalties.
"You may use any abilities at your disposal," Flender added. "But no lethal force. You have until sundown."
The teams separated, each going to different starting points in the outer forest surrounding the mock fortress—a collection of stone and wood built atop a low hill, with Zhao Wuji already inside.
---
As the sun dipped lower, casting golden light across the treetops, Team Two crouched behind a ridge overlooking the fortress. Li Wei peered through a bronze spyglass, analyzing guard placements—or rather, traps and defensive auras Zhao Wuji had set.
"He's using spirit pressure as a wide-area deterrent," Li Wei murmured. "Standard brute-force perimeter. But he's not expecting stealth."
Ning Rongrong tried to get confirmation. "Are you sure we can get past him?"
Li Wei inserted a card into the Diendriver.
[BuffRide: Kabuto.]
A faint shimmer surrounded him. "I'll go first. Zhuqing and Xiao Wu flank the left side, both of you tried to get his attention to draw his gaze do not engage just attract his attention if we fail then we will engage. Help each other. Rongrong, stay here and prepare the agility buff when I signal."
Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu nodded once and disappeared into the underbrush without a sound.
Li Wei moved next, his body flickering as Clock Up activated. Time warped around him, turning the world into a blur of slowed motion. In that moment, he was nothing but a phantom—slipping through gaps in spiritual pressure, past traps and faint tremors of force.
At the heart of the fortress, Zhao Wuji sat cross-legged. His senses tingled. "Impressive," he muttered, rising to his feet. "You'll have to do more than sneak to get past me."
Just as Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu emerged on the left, Zhao Wuji turned—and Li Wei struck from the right, flipping mid-air, a flash of blue energy gathering on his Diendriver.
[AttackRide: Diend—Blast!]
The shot exploded near Zhao Wuji's feet—not to harm, but to obscure. Smoke burst out, and Li Wei landed with a roll inside the inner ring of the fortress.
"Rongrong, now!" he called.
From the ridge, Ning Rongrong activate her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda and activate her second spirit abilities agility amplification.
Seeing that Ning Rongrong use the agility amplification on him, he also activate his abilities already in transformation state.
[BuffRide: Drive!]
A red glow burst from it, and Li Wei felt his senses sharpen further—agility and precision spiking.
Zhao Wuji stepped through the smoke with a laugh. "Clever. But let's see how long that lasts!"
A massive palm struck down like a mountain.
Li Wei boots skidded on stone as he dodged with barely a breath to spare. "Almost...!"
He darted into the inner chamber and snatched the small box marked with the green Shrek insignia.
"Got it!"
But just as he turned to run, a blue net flew at him—Tang San's Blue Silver Grass.
"Not so fast," Tang San said, stepping through the shadows, Ma Hongjun, Oscar and Dai Mubai at his sides.
A three-way clash had begun.