"Not necessarily."
Arthur thought for a moment. "It depends on the situation. I mainly have something I need to take care of. If I'm lucky, I should be able to make it."
Shen Yi curled her lips, clearly unsatisfied with the answer, but knowing she couldn't change Arthur's mind, she just waved her hand. "Fine, fine."
She paused, then looked at the students who were ready to depart and raised her voice. "You little brats, behave yourselves once you get to Sun Moon Academy! This is for an exchange match, do you hear me!"
The air went silent; no one answered.
*Cough, cough.* Arthur spoke up. "She's talking to you! Do you hear her!"
"Loud and clear!"
A uniform roar instantly erupted, the Battle Intent in their eyes almost overflowing.
This made Shen Yi feel a bit defeated. Just who was the teacher here?
...Soon, they arrived at the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy.
Arthur was conversing with a middle-aged man.
"You call this an exchange match?" The middle-aged man looked at the aggressive crowd.
"Just say if you're fighting or not!"
"Fight? Why would we fight?" The middle-aged man shook his head; he knew Arthur all too well.
A few years ago, Arthur had broken Shrek's myth of invincibility and even defeated a One-Word Battle Armor Master; their whole school had even celebrated it back then.
He knew exactly how strong Arthur was.
They couldn't win.
Frowning slightly, Arthur looked back at Gu Yue and said, "How about I don't take the field?"
The middle-aged man followed Arthur's gaze to Gu Yue in the crowd, then scanned the Shrek students filled with Battle Intent, a hint of hesitation flashing in his eyes.
He had also looked into Gu Yue; although she had won against Arthur back then, it was clearly staged. It looked like a young couple flirting.
And this group of First Year students... though they looked sharp, they were ultimately just kids who hadn't seen much experience.
"Are you sure?" The middle-aged man stroked his chin, his tone softening a bit.
He was just talking earlier; he couldn't actually refuse. After all, their academy had a grudge against Shrek, and since the other party had come to challenge them, they naturally couldn't back down.
Even if Arthur took the field, they would have to bite the bullet and go up anyway.
"Of course," Arthur affirmed. "And regardless of age, you can field students with Soul Power five ranks higher than theirs."
"One-on-one or a group brawl, it's up to you."
Such crude language—one-on-one, group brawl... The middle-aged man shook his head. "No need. You're First Years, right? We won't send any students over fifteen years old either."
"One-on-one... no, we'll have both individual and team battles."
Arthur nodded.
"You can talk to our teacher about the rest; I have things to do, so I'm leaving first."
After handing the follow-up matters to Shen Yi, Arthur turned and left... The streets and alleys of Bright Capital had already begun promoting this match.
This was inevitable.
Even if the Sun Moon Royal Soul Master Academy didn't want to promote it, they couldn't stop it.
After all, even if Arthur didn't play, the other side had seven people from the Young Genius List. Their chances of winning were slim, so naturally, they wouldn't promote it.
But news of a battle between these two academies couldn't be suppressed.
The higher-ups of Sun Moon Academy had grim faces. Looking at the street discussions relayed by spirit tools, they could only bite the bullet and send more people to set up the arena.
They had wanted to handle it low-key, but now they were riding a tiger and couldn't get off. They could only hope their students would show some spine and at least not lose too embarrassingly... "Good luck to you all."
Looking at the large screen on the street showing Gu Yue and Na'er leading the team at the front.
Arthur lowered his head slightly.
"And good luck to me."
Then he turned and walked into an alleyway.
In a corner of the city.
"Don't you think these kids are too cruel? They're trying to wipe us all out."
In a dimly lit bar, a man wrapped in a black robe spoke with a trembling voice.
The Bartender at the bar slowly raised his eyes, his voice raspy and cold. "Cruel? A bunch of wet-behind-the-ears brats, and they're fit to talk about cruelty?"
"But sir," the black-robed man said urgently, "Heaven Dou, Tianling... all those strongholds were wiped out! Those brats coordinated too perfectly."
"Especially the leader named Arthur, he's simply a Prodigy!"
"Everyone outside is saying he's an evil soul master slayer!"
"They were just small strongholds, nothing more than kids playing house." The Bartender slowly and methodically wiped the wine glass in his hand. His crimson gaze fell on the man through the glass walls, his tone full of disdain. "Don't report such trivial matters in the future. Get out."
The black-robed man felt a chill run through his body from that crimson gaze.
He didn't dare stay any longer. He hunched his back and hurriedly exited the door, vanishing into the street in an instant.
The Bartender watched him leave, his hand wiping the glass slowly coming to a stop.
A raspy voice sounded from behind. "This matter is very strange. Has Shrek Academy discovered something?"
"Using these students to test us?"
The Bartender didn't look back, his tone unreadable. "Testing? If those old dogs from Shrek really found something, they would have gone crazy long ago. They wouldn't bother testing."
He tapped his finger lightly on the rim of the glass, a trace of malice flashing in his eyes. "Arthur... Heh, no matter how much of a Genius he is, he needs time to grow. The organization can't be bothered with him, but I have the leisure."
"If he still doesn't restrain himself, it'll be the perfect time to settle new and old scores together."
"Old scores? Have we met before?"
An abrupt voice came.
The Bartender's movements suddenly froze, and the raspy voice behind him also stopped abruptly.
The air in the bar instantly solidified, and even the lights seemed to dim a bit.
The Bartender slowly turned around, his crimson gaze staring intently at the blond youth who had sat down there at some unknown time.
Arthur seemed completely oblivious to the tense atmosphere and called out, "I'm still a minor and can't drink. Give me a cup of milk tea."
"We don't sell milk tea here." The Bartender narrowed his eyes slightly.
"Oh, forget it then."
Arthur leaned back in the chair.
"You haven't answered me yet. What old scores do we have? I've never seen you before."
The Bartender didn't speak. In the shadows behind him, the raspy voice sounded again.
"So alike, so very alike..."
"You look so much like that couple from back then."
"Arthur..."
Standing up, Arthur walked to the front of the Bartender.
At this moment, the distance between the two was very close, separated only by the bar counter.
"I see. So it's that kind of old score."
Arthur's voice was very soft.
The Bartender's Adam's apple bobbed, a hint of wariness flashing in his crimson pupils. There were many strong people backing Arthur; he felt like he might already be surrounded.
Yet he still forced a cold laugh, testing, "It's good that you know. I was there when your parents died. Today, falling into my hands can be considered..."
"That's great." Arthur asked, "Then can you tell me who else was there at the time?"
"Of course..." The Bartender grinned, but his eyes were filled with poison as he dragged out his words.
"Of course... NOT!"
The moment the last word fell, he suddenly struck, black Soul Power lunging straight for Arthur's face!
The raspy voice in the shadows also roared, "Kill him!"
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