As soon as Nangong Lingyun finished speaking,
Flender couldn't help but show an obvious look of shock.
But soon after, when he turned his head and saw the growing crowd forming a thick black line in the distance,
he quietly closed his eyes and stopped speaking, not even bothering to defend himself.
In this kind of situation, no matter who's involved, Shrek wouldn't end up any better than today.
He couldn't beat Nangong Lingyun, nor could he beat Yu Yuanzhen, Chen Xin, Gu Rong, Tang Xiao, Bibi Dong, or Qian Daoliu.
You're not afraid to die?
In front of me, no one can afford to be fearless.
Nangong Lingyun let out a cold laugh in his heart, activating the Chaos Holy Spirit, as faint, colorless rays of light flickered from his eyes.
His three Martial Souls—Primordial Saint Body, Beast Taming Space, and Chaos Holy Spirit—each held incredible power.
The Primordial Saint Body crushed all techniques through sheer strength.
The Beast Taming Space represented transformation and versatility, breaking the innate limitations of Martial Souls through contracted beasts and their attributes.
The Chaos Holy Spirit was the most sinister and insidious of the three—wielding powers of Spirit, Darkness, Time, Death, and Emotion. Each attribute was niche, and all were dangerous.
Nangong Lingyun squatted slightly so that his eyes were level with the other man's,
placing a hand on Flender's shoulder in a seemingly gentle, persuading tone:
"Flender, why bother holding on like this?
I'm not the emperor of the two great empires, nor a judge of the Spirit Hall—I just want to know who's been scheming against me."
"You want—"
The Four-Eyed Owl tried to muster up some backbone to say "Do whatever you want with me,"
but the moment he opened his eyes and met Nangong Lingyun's gaze,
he suddenly felt like his entire spirit was swallowed by endless darkness.
A terror beyond description surged from the deepest corners of his soul.
Then came overwhelming nostalgia for all the beautiful things in life—like shiny gold coins,
and intense regret and yearning for unfinished goals—like still being a virgin at over forty years old.
These emotions piled on, layer by layer,
while his original mental defenses began to crumble, making him question the point of his resistance.
In less than two seconds, Flender's body started trembling uncontrollably, growing more intense by the second.
Something inside him was struggling violently,
but against the Chaos Holy Spirit, powered by four special 50,000-year soul rings and elevated to Supreme God-King level,
a mere Soul Saint like him stood no chance.
With no resistance left, his psychological defenses shattered in under ten seconds.
With a thud, Flender fell to his knees and slammed his head on the ground, his voice trembling with desperation:
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I was wrong. I shouldn't have tried to manipulate you.
If I confess everything, will you spare my life?"
The moment those words came out, the crowd around them erupted in disbelief.
Not just Tang San, Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun nearby,
even the onlookers further away were buzzing with excitement.
Through word of mouth, even newcomers had already learned the reason for the conflict between Nangong Lingyun and Shrek.
The idea of a soul master academy intentionally plotting against and sacrificing its own students filled everyone with horror and outrage.
"Of course. You were just a knife—the real sin lies with the one holding it."
Nangong Lingyun smiled calmly.
He never really wanted to kill Flender,
and even Zhao Wuji and the others underground were only gravely injured and unconscious.
Though badly hurt, they could still be saved with the help of a food-type Soul Saint.
As always, draining the pond for the fish is worse than letting it flow steadily.
Besides, if the trio ended up joining a normal academy and received proper training,
that would be a major problem.
Gripped by intense fear of death and desperate desire to survive,
Flender was instantly overjoyed by the offer and kowtowed repeatedly.
While thanking him out loud, he frantically racked his brain:
What answer does this guy want to hear?
A moment later, he cautiously said:
"The Upper Three Sects are all involved?"
Nangong Lingyun smiled.
Whether that was true or not didn't matter—his goal had been achieved.
The Violet Thunder Prison Sword vanished from his hand as he leapt onto the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger's head,
motioning for the beast to drop down beside Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing so they could get on as well.
Before leaving, he sent a message directly to Flender's mind:
**"Since you know your place, I'll give you a secret:
Tang San is the only son of Haotian Douluo, with twin Martial Souls. Tang Hao has been hiding nearby all along.
If you can keep him fooled, then no one will dare touch Shrek."**
A small butterfly effect—this world's Zhao Wuji had yet to experience what it was like to use no Martial Soul to hit someone or be hit.
So, it was up to him to reveal a few things.
And with the trio's intelligence gap and Flender's swindler-level charisma, tricking them shouldn't be too hard.
Back at the original spot, Flender knelt dazed for a long time before slowly standing up,
then teamed up with the only uninjured student, Shao Xin, to dig out the unconscious Zhao Wuji and the others.
Even though the crowd had dispersed and no one was discussing it anymore,
even a fool could tell—after this, Shrek's reputation was about to explode.
It might even make headlines in the Kaiyuan Daily.
And that would be true infamy.
A few minutes later, after the injured had been treated and arranged properly,
Flender casually glanced at the Soul Tool on Tang San's waist and slowly walked over.
"Xiao San, come here for a moment. I have something to tell you."
Tang San wanted to run, but in front of a Soul Saint, there was no way to escape.
He had already tried slipping away earlier, but was caught right as he turned.
Hearing Flender's words made him instantly tense.
Who knew what this villain—who preyed on commoner geniuses—wanted to do to him?
The two of them entered a wooden hut that hadn't been affected. Tang San was ready to fake loyalty,
saying things like "I don't believe the Dean would do such things," "Nangong Lingyun is going too far," or "You must've done it to survive,"
hoping to buy himself some time.
But before he could speak, Flender suddenly dropped to his knees with a loud thud.
With great sincerity and excitement, he said:
**"Flender, outer disciple of the Haotian Sect, greets the Young Master.
Twelve years ago, when disaster struck the sect, I lost contact with my superiors,
but I remembered my duties and worked tirelessly to keep the academy going.
Even when my life was in danger, I never slacked off.
Today, I have finally awaited the return of the Young Master."**
Seeing Tang San's utterly baffled and shocked expression, Flender let out a long sigh of relief.
Since he had survived, he had to keep living, right?
Didn't you know the number one swindler in Douluo comes with top-tier survival skills?
....
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