"I—I'm going back to the dorm first," An Lengye said, trembling.
Before anyone else could react, she lowered her head and hurried toward the stairs.
In her eyes, Su Wen was already the kind of person who looked harmless on the surface but was actually a terrifyingly powerful beast, perhaps even one of the top ten legendary ones. After all, judging from the way the other beasts treated him that day, they clearly didn't see him as mere "food," but as a true peer.
To be considered a peer by a beast, one could only be a beast themselves.
No one present could stop such a terrifying existence if he ever went on a rampage...
A soul beast that had lived for hundreds of thousands of years, capable of wiping out an entire small country with ease—such power was hard for even a great nation to restrain. If he really went berserk, no one here would survive.
In her mind, she instantly filled in a grand conspiracy of the soul beast clan.
Crash—
"Watch where you're going! Did you forget to use your eyes?" First came the sound of a rice bowl shattering on the ground, followed by an angry female voice.
"S-sorry…"
An Lengye hung her head, with only two words echoing in her mind—doomed.
She was terrified that the humanoid beast would look her way.
But in the next moment, her heart skipped a beat. When she looked up, she realized she had fallen right by Su Wen's table, not far away. Even Princess Xu Jiujiu of Star Lou was glancing at her indifferently, with a hint of mockery, as if saying: Your pick-up technique is terrible.
"An Lengye?"
Su Wen raised an eyebrow.
She had seen him interacting with Snow Empress and the others before, but even if this got out, it didn't really matter. Whether anyone believed it was one thing; after all, Xuan Zi was right there—no one dared to play tricks.
So that's why she looked familiar—she's that minor female character from the original novel who appeared in the tournament.
An Lengye's eyes were full of terror.
She was looking at him as if he were some catastrophic force of nature, nearly scared out of her wits.
It took a member of the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Academy Team from afar to come and take An Lengye away. Team captain Shen Ce gave Su Wen a suspicious look as he left.
"I didn't expect you to be so intimidating," Xu Jiujiu said with a soft laugh.
"Maybe it's a misunderstanding. Anyway, I'm full now. Your Highness, I'll take my leave."
Su Wen smiled, pulling the still-eating Wang Dong'er away and heading upstairs. The sky was getting dark; it was time to return to the dorm to cultivate.
As soon as his figure disappeared, Xu Jiujiu narrowed her eyes. An unremarkable attendant appeared at her side. "Follow the Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Academy, especially that An Lengye. I want to know everything she says over the next few days."
"Yes!"
The attendant melted back into the crowd.
"Miss, maybe there's just some past misunderstanding? Why keep an eye on Thousand Spirits Advanced Soul Academy? Their supervising teacher is a Soul Emperor; surveillance isn't cheap, and if discovered, Star Lou's reputation—"
A well-dressed middle-aged man sat in Su Wen's seat, speaking in a low voice.
"I just saw a kind of fear in her eyes—not the trauma from abuse, nor awe at Su Wen's strength, but pure fear. Fear of his identity, and shock and confusion at his sitting here. That's not normal…"
Xu Jiujiu mused.
"Plus, An Lengye is from the north of Dou Ling Empire. With her talent, she shouldn't have interacted with someone like Su Wen. At first, I thought she was just using some clumsy trick to get close to him, but then I saw her eyes… That kind of terror is hard to fake. The way she looked at Su Wen was as if he were a fierce beast wearing human skin."
"But…" The middle-aged man hesitated.
"I'll explain to my brother. You just focus on hotel security. Don't meddle in what you shouldn't."
"Yes, Your Highness." The man sighed in relief and quietly left.
…
"Lengye, you scared me to death!" The red-haired girl looked worried as An Lengye curled up in her blanket upon entering the dorm.
"Yeah, Lengye, what happened?" a burly man asked, scratching his head.
Everyone started talking over each other, except for Shen Ce, whose eyes held a hint of surprise: "Lengye, are you afraid of Su Wen?"
Sure enough, as soon as she heard that name, An Lengye shuddered all over.
"Did that guy ever bully you?" the burly youth asked angrily. "Or pick on you? Just say the word—we'll stand up for you! This year Shrek Academy doesn't even have an official team. If we run into them, we'll definitely get revenge for you!"
"Yeah!" The others chimed in.
"He'd kill you all…" An Lengye shivered, repeating the same words.
"No matter how strong he is, we still—" The burly youth grew angrier, but was stopped by Shen Ce, who looked straight at An Lengye. "Just answer me: he didn't bully you, did he?"
"…No," An Lengye nodded.
"Then why does he scare you?" Shen Ce frowned even deeper. "In other words, how do you know him?"
"…"
"If I tell you, you'll die…" An Lengye said fearfully.
"This is Star Lou Imperial City. Just this Star Lou Royal Hotel alone has more than one Title Douluo guarding it. Is he really a humanoid beast who dares to cause trouble here?!" Shen Ce asked in surprise.
An Lengye looked at him strangely and stayed silent for a long time before recounting that night's experience.
Everyone's eyes widened as they quietly listened to An Lengye's fantastic tale—meeting the true rulers of the Extreme North: Snow Empress, Ice Empress, Titan Snow Demon King, and several suspected fierce beasts, all sitting as equals and discussing important matters.
Even the over 200,000-year-old Titan Snow Demon King, so renowned in the Extreme North, had to obediently stand aside and await orders. That meant the status of these few in the soul beast world was… frighteningly high.
They could even match the legendary top ten fierce beasts one for one.
"That night, I ate millennium Snow Spirit Pig meat, and the strange boy who handed me the meat… was Su Wen."
"…"
The room fell silent.
Everyone felt a chill run down their spines as Shen Ce swallowed hard. "Lengye, you're sure you're not mistaken?!"
"I'm sure! It's exactly him—the one who gave me the roast meat that day! And just now, the way he looked at me, he definitely recognized me!" An Lengye's voice trembled.
"…"
The only sound in the room was swallowing.
Shen Ce felt his heart turn cold.
No wonder An Lengye said they would die!
A fierce beast-level being, a top beast strong enough to be recorded in ancient history—never mind one or two Title Douluo in this hotel, even five might not be enough to suppress it.
Either An Lengye was crazy—or… Su Wen really was a fierce beast in human skin!
…
"Equal to Snow Empress and Ice Empress?"
"Titan Snow Demon King standing guard?"
"And he even seemed to be leading the discussion… and sent An Lengye out of the Extreme North just by saying the word?!"
Xu Jiawei was dumbfounded.
The black-and-white text made sense individually, but somehow, when put together, he just couldn't understand it!
"It's just her word for now," Dai Hao mused.
"Marshal Dai is right. But today, when I ate with Su Wen, I sensed her reaction wasn't fake. Unless Su Wen is an expert liar, I'm more inclined to believe it's true," Xu Jiujiu said respectfully.
"…"
Everyone fell into silence.
"Could it be I misjudged? Is he really a peerless fierce beast?" Xu Jiawei narrowed his eyes. "Di Tian? Bear Lord? Or…"
"But Your Majesty, he really does have a Darkgolden Terrorclaw Bear," Sky Kunpeng Douluo said solemnly.
Xu Jiawei's hand trembled.
"No."
Just as the Title Douluos were doubting themselves, a black-robed figure slowly entered the palace.
"Hall Master Ye~!" ×9
Seeing the black-robed man, Xu Jiawei let out a long breath. "You're done with your retreat? Did you..."
"Ninety-eighth rank is too difficult; I fear I'll never reach it in this life, though my strength has improved a bit." The black-robed man shook his head and sat down. "That boy is not a soul beast. You didn't misjudge."
"What do you mean? He sits as an equal with a group of top soul beasts, yet he's just a human?" Big Dipper Douluo frowned.
"…"
The Hall Master shook his head.
"I don't know either, but with Xuan Zi by his side, it's hard to ask anything. Besides, if he really were a soul beast in human form, with so many hidden dragons in Shrek, how could no one notice?"
"Best to just drop the matter. If he really is a fierce beast, it'll be Shrek's headache—he's not joining Star Lou Empire anyway."
"... True, time for bed." Big Dipper Douluo smacked his lips and left.
The other elders left one by one.
"Jiujiu, just treat him with an ordinary heart." Xu Jiawei sighed, patting her shoulder.
A single "secret" from An Lengye had mobilized the entire Star Lou upper echelon in the middle of the night—even the Hall Master had come out of retreat for this.
Luckily, it turned out fine.
He's not a fierce beast…
"Mm."
Xu Jiujiu bit her lip lightly, deep in thought.
The mystery around Su Wen only grew heavier.
…
…
After the elimination rounds.
Next came the group stage. After the brutal elimination rounds, sixty-seven teams advanced, split into eight groups—three groups of nine, five groups of eight.
Shrek Academy's group had eight teams, meaning they would play seven matches—one against each team. A win earned two points, a loss zero. The top two teams based on points would advance to the final sixteen elimination rounds.
After that, there would be no more elimination—the format would be round robin: 2v2v3, team battle, or individual elimination, decided by drawing lots for each match.
"One match per day, at least seven rounds. The nine-team groups need eight rounds over eight days, plus playoffs; the entire group stage should take about fourteen or fifteen days. Luochen's already recovered, but Xiaotao probably won't be able to play until the fourth round. Before then, Xiao Wen will have to carry the team," Wang Yan calculated on his fingers.
"I could play now," Ma Xiaotao said unhappily.
"The evil fire in my body has already been suppressed by Xiao Wen's ultimate ice. Even if I get hurt, it can't really backfire—beating a few soul kings is no problem."
"Sister Xiaotao, Teacher Yan is right. If you don't have the ability to coordinate the whole team, you should give up command. Did you think about the question I asked you?" Su Wen said quietly.
"It's not that serious." Ma Xiaotao pouted, unconvinced.
"It is that serious."
Su Wen looked solemn and pinched Ma Xiaotao's chin. "If you lack ability but still insist on commanding, that just harms everyone."
Xuan Zi's face twitched as he gnawed on a chicken leg in silence.
"…"
Ma Xiaotao looked a bit aggrieved, but under Su Wen's pressure at close range, her cheeks reddened and she turned away with a slight nod.
Su Wen nodded to Wang Yan.
The latter looked dumbfounded.
So real management is… turning the whole team into… Uh, well, to achieve this in Shrek's team, he really is something.
All the way here, he'd been forced to eat so much dog food, he'd lost count.
And the worst part was, this guy seemed nowhere near finished—even Star Lou's Princess Xu Jiujiu was unconsciously approaching him.
Wang Yan shook his head helplessly.
Just then, the referee's voice came from the stage.
["First match: Shrek Academy vs Cloud Luo Advanced Soul Engineering Academy!"]
…
Star Lou Square.
Amid the dense crowd of spectators.
Two strange figures appeared, silently watching the scene.
"Shrek Academy—this year's weakest batch, heh… Too bad the sect leader says we're a hidden sect and can't reveal ourselves. Otherwise I'd love to test their strength and make this so-called top academy a laughingstock," the tall, sturdy black-robed man sneered.
"Enough talk. Let's get what we came for and leave," the other, a thin man with an oddly large head, replied coolly.
"Boring, bro." The first sighed.
"There's nothing for us in this tournament. Let's go have some fun in the city instead."
"Heh, you never know. Let's watch a bit longer…" Big-head man smiled.