A Dark Night in Shrek Academy
In the secluded training chamber of Shrek Academy, Dai Mubai retrieved the corpse of the Man-Faced Demon Spider from his spatial soul tool. The small chamber was instantly filled with the aura of the spider's remains.
"The spoils of this trip have brought three major rewards," Dai Mubai muttered, his eyes gleaming with excitement.
"First, Tang San, the 'child of destiny,' has enhanced his second martial spirit with four spirit rings."
"Second, he gained two rather useless spirit bones."
"And third… this Man-Faced Demon Spider."
Despite its death, faint spirit power fluctuations still emanated from the spider's eight legs. There was no doubt in Dai Mubai's mind that this was the External Spirit Bone—Eight Spider Lances.
He recalled its future, where it would evolve into a divine-level four-wing form. For now, it remained in its initial spider-leg state—unsightly, but undeniably powerful.
"I've already reached Soul Sage rank," Dai Mubai continued to muse. "Absorbing this external spirit bone now ensures its growth potential remains intact."
He paused, his expression contemplative.
"External spirit bones grow based on the energy they absorb, not solely on the rank of the spirit master."
"And regarding divine sets…"
"If the spirit bones aren't of the same attribute, forming a complete divine set becomes harder than ascending to godhood itself. But with this external spirit bone, it's a different story."
In the original story, Tang San's mismatched spirit bones were only unified because of the Eight Spider Lances' mediating properties. Without it, his haphazardly assembled spirit bones could never have formed the Sea God Set.
Dai Mubai's resolve solidified. Wasting no more time, he extracted the spider's essence and began the absorption process.
The Next Morning
By dawn, Dai Mubai was back among the Shrek Seven Devils.
"Boss Dai, where did you and Tang San run off to these past few days?"
The group stared at Dai Mubai and the somewhat swollen-faced Tang San, puzzled by their sudden disappearance during the middle of the Continental Advanced Spirit Master Academy Elite Tournament preliminaries.
Even more surprising was their return after just three days.
Dai Mubai glanced at Ma Hongjun before shifting his gaze to Tang San.
"You'll see for yourself during today's match," he replied cryptically.
He then turned away, hiding his smirk as he thought, Looks like Tang San got a beating from Tang Hao last night. That handprint on his face is still visible.
"Seems like Tang Hao didn't come looking for me, the true culprit. Good. That means this matter has been swept under the rug," Dai Mubai mused.
"Two mere thousand-year spirit bones blinded those two Tangs to the bigger picture."
Suppressing a snort of disdain, Dai Mubai turned back to Tang San and feigned curiosity.
"Tang San, what happened to your face?" he asked, his tone tinged with mock concern.
Tang San froze, his embarrassment palpable.
How could he admit that the marks were from his father's hand?
"I tripped in the dark," Tang San muttered, his voice muffled and slightly slurred from his swollen cheeks.
The group exchanged glances, clearly unconvinced, but wisely chose not to press the issue.
The Missing Combatants
"So, what happened while we were away?" Dai Mubai asked, steering the conversation to more neutral territory.
He recalled how, in the original timeline, Shi Nian from the Canghui Academy had targeted Tang San with sinister plans during the tournament, only to meet his end via Tang San's Yama's Invitation.
In this iteration, however, Shrek Academy and Canghui Academy had no direct conflict.
Shi Nian wasn't stupid. Shrek had ties to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, Poison Douluo's granddaughter Dugu Yan, and other powerful figures. Hunting Shrek's prodigies would be suicidal when there were easier targets elsewhere.
"The past few days have been strange," Zhu Zhuqing, acting as the temporary leader, began.
"Some of the stronger teams we were supposed to face surrendered without even stepping onto the stage. They claimed they weren't prepared to fight us."
Her tone carried confusion, but also an undercurrent of suspicion.
Before Dai Mubai could respond, Ma Hongjun sidled up to him, lowering his voice conspiratorially.
"Boss Dai, something weird has been happening. Several key members of powerful teams have disappeared recently."
He listed the missing:
Shenfeng Team's vice-captainBlazing Academy's Huo LieThunderclap Team's Lei Dong
"I suspect…" Ma Hongjun trailed off dramatically.
"Fatty, stop beating around the bush," Dai Mubai said impatiently.
"It's not just my suspicion—Dean Flender thinks so too," Ma Hongjun admitted.
The atmosphere grew tense. The rest of the group, already aware of the situation, exchanged grim looks.
"Flender suspects it's the work of certain academy leaders targeting their competition," Ma Hongjun explained. "If they can't win fairly, they're resorting to eliminating the strongest contenders outright."
"After some analysis, Dean Flender narrowed it down to three potential culprits: Canghui Academy, Elephant Armored Academy, and Radiant Arcane Academy."
Canghui's Suspicion
"Elephant Armored Academy can be ruled out immediately," Ma Hongjun continued.
"They're the strongest of the three and don't need to stoop to such tactics. Plus, the Huyan family may be notorious bullies, but they'd consider this beneath them."
"That leaves Canghui Academy and Radiant Arcane Academy."
Flender's theory?
Radiant Arcane Academy's leader is only a level-63 Soul Emperor—unlikely to pull off these disappearances.Canghui Academy's leader, Shi Nian, however, is a level-70 Spirit Saint with specialized stealth and assassination capabilities. He's the prime suspect.
"Shi Nian has both the strength and skill to kill those prodigies without leaving any trace," Ma Hongjun concluded grimly.
The air grew heavier as the Shrek Seven Devils processed the implications.
A Brewing Storm
Dai Mubai's thoughts churned.
Shi Nian… If he's involved, he's digging his own grave. Picking a fight with Shrek is the worst mistake he could make.
His golden pupils gleamed with a predatory light.
Let's see what happens when the hunter becomes the hunted.
(End of Chapter)