Flender's entire body was covered in feathers. His eyes narrowed, and seven Spirit Rings in the same colors as Barrett Knox's appeared around him, pulsing up and down.
He had not used his Martial Soul True Form, but his aura was still deep and formidable. As Shrek Academy's dean, his strength stood above Barrett's.
"Flender, are you planning to fight me too?"
As Wu Ling spoke, he swept a hand out and forced Barrett back. The furious, battered Barrett staggered to Flender's side and was just about to speak when Flender gave his wings a sharp twitch and stopped him.
"Your Highness is joking," Flender said with a forced smile. "Shrek Academy has no intention of offending you. Old Zhao is a rough man. He did not recognize the Saint and thought someone had come here to cause trouble, so he acted rashly. If anything was improper, then I apologize to you here."
On the way over, he had already learned part of what had happened, and the whole mess left him speechless. Alban Regis and Cecilia Jewel were both problem students. One was a fallen prince who relied on his strength to bully people, then happened to insult someone in front of the person himself. The result was a beating, and even Tang San and the academy had been dragged into it.
If Flender had been present, he would have stopped Alban on the spot. But there was no point saying that now. What mattered was how to smooth things over.
"No, no. There is no need to apologize. I came here to make trouble in the first place. Even without that trash, I was planning to come talk to you."
Wu Ling walked slowly up to Flender and stared at him coldly.
"After all, this so-called Shrek Academy of yours was never authorized by Spirit Hall or the two great empires. You have no qualification to operate a school."
"Well, Your Highness, you should understand," Flender said, still smiling obsequiously. "To register an academy, you need funding, grounds, and scale. We have no problem with the teaching staff, but the other conditions are hard to solve. Our standards are also high, so we cannot build up the required scale. That is why we do not have formal authorization.
"Although Shrek calls itself an academy, in reality we are more like masters and disciples. They are all my students. Several Spirit Daoists and Spirit Kings teaching a few Spirit Adept and Spirit Elite level disciples should not be a problem, should it?"
"If that is all, then no, there really is no problem."
Flender had just started to relax when Wu Ling's tone suddenly changed.
"Using the reputation of Spirit King teachers, you have indeed accepted quite a few disciples. But according to the investigation, over the years, sixty-two talented students have been taken under your roof. Until now, only fourteen have graduated. Tell me, where did the other forty-eight go?"
When Wu Ling brought up the students who had never graduated, Flender's face went pale.
He forced out another smile. "They... could not keep up with the coursework, so they left."
Wu Ling narrowed his eyes. His voice turned cold and cutting.
"Left? I think they died. Even the few who survived were so badly injured that their futures were ruined.
"With such a high student mortality rate, and with teachers who failed to protect their students, tell me, what exactly is the point of keeping teachers like you around?"
The smile froze on Flender's face. Wu Ling's words struck Shrek Academy's most vulnerable point. Its student mortality rate was far too high.
Shrek's admission standards were already extreme. Anyone who could join was basically a twelve-year-old genius in the twenties. Talents like that would be accepted by any advanced Spirit Master academy. The only reason they came to Shrek was the gimmick of having Spirit King teachers.
But ordinary geniuses with ordinary backgrounds, students Flender and the others did not value, received very little training after admission.
Students often died while hunting Soul Beasts. Worse, those hunts were led by teachers who were at least Spirit Daoist rank. Said out loud, it was absurd.
"You are a Spirit King, and there is no concrete proof that you personally committed a crime. Those students also enrolled by choice, so it would be somewhat troublesome for me to kill you. Because of that, I will not pursue the old matters with you." Wu Ling walked past Flender, whose expression had gone stiff, but his voice kept echoing in Flender's ears.
"But do not think this matter is over. I have already dealt with every Spirit Hall branch in Balak Kingdom. Soto City's bishop has also stepped down. From now on, no one will dare recommend graduates to Shrek Academy again. Conduct yourself carefully."
By the time Wu Ling finished speaking, he had arrived in front of Tang San. Without warning, he struck out and planted his palm on Tang San's forehead.
"Ah!"
Tang San never imagined that Spirit Hall's Saint would ambush him so shamelessly. Violent pain made him shove Lyra away on instinct. A black Magecraft array surfaced on his forehead.
"Third Brother!"
Lyra cried out, then glared at Wu Ling with fury. Her lovestruck mind ignored the gap in strength and the situation around them. She leaped at Wu Ling directly.
"You dared hurt Third Brother? I will beat you to death!"
Smack!
With a crisp slap, Lyra came quickly and left just as quickly. While still in midair, the same side of her face as Tang San's swelled red at visible speed.
"Lyra!"
Tang San endured the pain and caught her. Hatred erupted from his remaining right eye.
"He dared hurt Lyra. He already has a way to death. No, death is not enough. I will use every torture method of the Tang Sect on him!"
Seeing Tang San still look at her like that, Wu Ling stepped forward and kicked him flying.
Behind Wu Ling, Barrett Knox gnashed his teeth and wanted to move, but Flender stopped him in the end.
"You should be able to guess who fought in that battle a few days ago," Wu Ling said. "For now, I have no interest in dealing with Tang San, so I will leave a mark on him first. Spirit Hall will also assign specialists to keep monitoring him until that person is caught. You understand, don't you?"
"...I understand."
Flender looked at the suffering Tang San. When he thought of Tang San as the disciple of his sworn brother Ethan Drake, he wanted nothing more than to turn against Wu Ling. But reason told him he could not. He could not bury the entire Shrek Academy for one person. In the end, he could only bend and lower his head.
Of course, all of that was only an excuse for Flender.
Wu Ling's true target was not Tang Hao. Tang Hao and Tang San's influence on him had already become negligible. His current target was the Asura God.
The Asura God had interfered with him again and again. In Wu Ling's mind, that was enough to put him on the kill list. Wu Ling had the Divine Realm's coordinates, but he did not know the Asura God's exact location. If he rushed in blindly, he might alert the enemy. Tang San, as the god's future inheritor and someone under his influence, would inevitably have contact with him. Because of that, Tang San would serve as a marker to help Wu Ling determine the Asura God's position.
Once he obtained the Asura God's coordinates, he would throw over a few god-killing spears first, just to liven things up.