Chapter 182: Conflict

The women turned their heads and saw a line of young men and women in moon‑white robes standing there. It was a gaunt‑bodied woman among them who sneered, while the other men cast lecherous glances at the women.

Coincidentally, a few members of that squad were known to Ning Rongrong; they were the Canghui Academy students she had met when she and the Shilake Xueyuan group went to the Star Dou Great Forest.

"We enter the competition on the basis of our looks, unlike you, who must rely on disgusting opponents to win!" Ning Rongrong retorted bluntly.

The Canghui Academy female student's defenses instantly broke, a surge of soul power rippled through her body as if it would explode the next moment. She narrowed her eyes and shouted, "Little… brat… you… looking…"

"Bang~" a muffled thud rang out; before the female student could finish speaking, she was flung backward, crashing into several male students behind her.

Duguyan turned, calmly took out a tissue and wiped his hand, then said nonchalantly, "Ning Rongrong, why waste words on them? Just defeat them outright."

"Sister Duguyan is right; once they feel pain they won't be arrogant." Yang Ruolin also stepped forward; among the women she had the hottest temper, and she had just been about to act when Duguyan beat her to it.

Liu Erlong crossed her arms and sat, smiling as she watched the women, very pleased with their performance. If she weren't officially the dean, a generation senior to the women, she might not have been able to restrain herself.

"Captain, are you alright?..." several male students from Canghui Academy hurried over to support their female captain.

The Canghui Academy's female captain struggled to rise, covering her face, and slurred, "Bastard, you dared to hit me."

Then the Canghui Academy members closed in, each exuding a threatening aura, looking genuinely capable.

In the next instant, Duguyan, Yang Ruolin, Zhu Zhuyun, Zhu Zhuqing, and Bai Chenxiang, the five Soul Masters, all moved.

Bang~

Clack~

Ah~

…

For a moment, muffled thuds, bone‑cracking sounds, and cries rose and fell. After three breaths, the Canghui Academy members lay sprawled on the ground, moaning in pain. They had once been imposing, but now they were a mess, each a bruised, swollen pig‑headed mess.

The women stood proudly, their eyes full of contempt. Ning Rongrong crossed her arms, lifted her chin slightly and said, "Hmph, this is the consequence of provoking us."

Yang Ruolin flicked her hair and said authoritatively, "If you dare act rashly again next time, it won't be that simple."

Duguyan gave the fallen Canghui Academy students a cold glance, then turned, took a stack of tissues from the Storage Soul Conduit, and said, "Sisters, wipe your hands."

The commotion instantly drew the eyes of everyone in the lounge, and people began speculating about the strength of the Lanba Academy women. Without activating their martial souls, the five women had knocked down an entire academy's members; imagine how powerful they'd be with martial souls awakened. Instantly, the Lanba Academy women were regarded by everyone as a strong seed team for the competition.

"What are you doing? Why hurt my students! Don't you know fighting between Soul Master students is prohibited here?" a frantic voice shouted.

The women turned their heads and saw a man about sixty years old walking over from behind the Canghui Academy students.

The old man first glanced at the Canghui Academy students' plight, then stared at the women with a vulture‑like, snake‑like glare, and said, "Where is your teacher? Let him come out. Injuring my students without cause, you must give me an explanation!"

Obviously, he mistakenly took Liu Erlong for a student like the women; Liu Erlong had absorbed celestial herbs, her cultivation had broken through, making her look younger, appearing about the same age as the women.

"Explanation?" Liu Erlong raised an eyebrow, stood from her seat, looked down at the old man, and sneered, "I am their teacher. What explanation do you want? Your students provoked first, then tried to bully the few, they got taught a lesson, which is deserved. If this had happened outside, you'd only be able to collect their corpses." The old man was momentarily stunned, then his face darkened and he thought to himself, "She's so young, her cultivation must be low."

Immediately, his gaze grew even more vulture‑like, and in a cold voice he said, "Hmph, regardless, you fought and injured people in this lounge, violating the rules. If you don't give an explanation today, don't think you can leave."

"Heh heh!" Liu Erlong laughed angrily, stepped forward, and a powerful aura burst out, eight optimally matched Soul Rings—two yellow, two purple, four black—penetrating outward.

Liu Erlong pressed her fingers together, producing a series of bone‑cracking snaps, and a curved smile appeared at the corner of her mouth, "Want to fight? I'll stay with you till the end!"

The women, seeing this, also moved behind Liu Erlong, faces resolute. Ning Rongrong said, "Exactly, they were the ones who were wrong first, yet they want to be the ones filing complaints."

The Canghui Academy old man saw the eight Soul Rings on Liu Erlong, and his eyes twitched. He hadn't expected Liu Erlong, who looked so young, to be a Soul Fighter strongman, while he himself was only a Soul Saint.

At that moment he felt his scalp tingle, his complexion flickered, but the harsh words had already been spoken; retreating here under everyone's gaze would ruin his reputation.

"Endure! Being embarrassed is better than being beaten. I'll wait for a chance later to deal with those girls, humph! By then… later… even if you're a Soul Fighter, you can't keep watching over your students forever!" Shi Nian's mind filled with a vicious thought; he had decided to swallow his anger for now and plan revenge later.

He glanced at the students on the ground wailing incessantly, and his anger boiled over, "All these blind‑sighted dogs just bring trouble to me, it infuriates me."

Immediately, Shi Nian vented his fury on his own student, delivering a hard kick to the nearest one, and growled, "Not embarrassed enough yet! Get up quickly."

Hearing Shi Nian's words, the Canghui Academy students' faces turned panicked, they dared not wail any longer and scrambled to their feet.

Then Shi Nian merely gave a casual glance at Liu Erlong's glaring Soul Rings, said nothing more, and turned to his own students, commanding in a deep voice, "Leave."

Having said that, he was the first to stride quickly toward the other side of the lounge; the Canghui Academy students exchanged glances, none daring to stay, and hurried after him.

Shi Nian walked away without looking back amid the lounge's mocking laughter, his inner fire burning brighter; he recalled the female captain who had first provoked the incident and resolved to thoroughly discipline her later, lest his thoughts remain unsatisfied.

Liu Erlong had also been suppressing her anger; if they were outside, she would have acted already, without a word of hesitation. Watching the Canghui Academy members' backs now, she sneered, "Hmph, you spineless rats!"

Zhu Zhuyun said gravely, "Sister Liu Erlong, and everyone, that Canghui Academy teacher is far from a good person. From his glance just now I can tell he harbors resentment, and will likely seek revenge on us later."

The women, hearing this, tightened their expressions slightly.

Duguyan frowned slightly and said, "What's there to fear? If they dare cause trouble again, we'll beat them until they're crawling on the ground for teeth."

Liu Erlong snorted coldly, "They'd better not trouble us again, or I'll make sure they never return."

Then she shifted tone, "Alright, the opening ceremony is about to start, get ready to enter. Duguyan, Zhuyun, you two lead everyone in. I'll watch your dashing demeanor from the stands."

Zhu Zhuyun said nothing more, but having grown up in a treacherous environment, she was naturally hypersensitive to others' malice.

Sure enough, the competition staff soon arrived at the lounge, and the assembled students began to enter.

(End of Chapter)