The group chatted for a while, but they were soon interrupted by Zhao Wuji.
"Little monsters, although Little Ao has returned and I'm just as happy as you all, our training cannot fall behind," Zhao Wuji said from the side.
After saying this, Zhao Wuji glanced at Oscar, then at Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai. His eyes rolled, and he spoke again:
"But since you all miss Little Ao so much, and he's back now, how about you two have a friendly spar with him? Let's see if your strength has improved recently!"
Hearing this, both Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai instantly had eager expressions on their faces.
Ma Hongjun was eager because his strength had improved so rapidly. He felt that his soul power level had caught up to Oscar's, so he had always wanted to fight Oscar again. This time, he would definitely be able to beat Brother Ao once.
So when he heard Zhao Wuji's words, Ma Hongjun couldn't help but feel eager to try.
As for Dai Mubai, his eagerness came from hearing about Oscar's exploits for the past year. Oscar had become almost a legend in his mind.
Even though he had mentally prepared himself that he might not be Oscar's opponent, he still wanted to try. After all, he had already called him Brother Ao—shouldn't he personally test this Brother Ao's strength?
"Teacher Zhao, that's a great idea!" Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai both replied simultaneously.
After saying this, the two couldn't help but glance at each other, with everything left unspoken between them.
Seeing the eager expressions of the two, Zhao Wuji looked at Oscar and Dugu Yan beside him, then slowly said: "Since you're both so confident, how about this—Hongjun and Mubai as a team, and Little Ao, you and Dugu Yan as a team. Let's have a friendly match. It'll let me see your progress during this time and also familiarize myself with the new student's martial soul and strength."
Hearing this, Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai simultaneously replied: "No problem."
Dugu Yan looked at the eager duo and smiled: "I'm fine with it too."
Then Zhao Wuji, Ma Hongjun, and Dai Mubai all turned to look at Oscar, waiting for his answer.
Oscar looked at Dugu Yan helplessly: "If you make a move, they probably won't stand a chance."
Hearing this, Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai were immediately displeased. Although they knew sister-in-law Dugu Yan's strength was definitely not bad, what did he mean by "won't stand a chance"?
But before either of them could speak, they heard Oscar calmly say: "Teacher Zhao, don't let Sister go up. I'll be enough on my own."
Hearing this, Zhao Wuji didn't refute, because he knew Oscar wasn't the type to make empty boasts. Instead, he chuckled: "Little Ao, it seems your improvement during this time has been quite good. You're this confident? Or did Brother Gai Yue not tell you about Hongjun's improvement?"
Oscar shook his head: "My teacher told me, but I have confidence."
Hearing this, although Ma Hongjun knew his boss wouldn't speak without reason, his current strength wasn't bad either. But Boss, you want to take on both of us? Aren't you underestimating me a bit too much?
And Dai Mubai had the same thought as Ma Hongjun. Ma Hongjun voiced his thoughts directly, but Oscar's smile remained: "Want to prove yourself? Use your strength!"
Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai looked at each other upon hearing this: "Alright then. Boss, if you can't handle it later, you can always surrender, you know."
Hearing this, the corner of Oscar's mouth curled up: "Heh, getting cocky again? Forgot about when you just got your first soul ring, got cocky and challenged me, and I beat you into what kind of shape?"
Hearing this, dead memories suddenly resurfaced in Ma Hongjun's mind. That time, he had indeed gotten ahead of himself and directly provoked his big brother. Then, his already slimmed-down face was beaten into a pig's head. Just mentioning it brought back vivid memories.
But the current Ma Hongjun wasn't the same as before. Although he wasn't sure if he and Dai Mubai together could defeat Oscar, surely he wouldn't get beaten into a pig's head again, right?
After all, no matter how powerful Oscar was, he couldn't possibly fly, right? And he could fly now.
Of course, Ma Hongjun knew that Oscar could fly on his sword. But with Oscar's current soul power, if he used sword flight, his close combat ability would definitely decrease. And for ranged attacks, Ma Hongjun could simply fly away. He wasn't worried about getting beaten into a pig's head at all.
However, now that he had provoked Oscar, he was a bit worried about Dai Mubai. After all, if the boss couldn't catch him later, Dai Mubai would be in trouble.
No one knew his boss better than him. When he said he would beat someone, he really meant it—no face-saving whatsoever.
Zhao Wuji glanced at Dugu Yan upon hearing this: "What do you think? What do you say?"
Dugu Yan nonchalantly waved her hand: "I'll listen to him."
Seeing the sister-in-law being so obedient, Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai couldn't help but feel a bit envious inside. After all, who wouldn't want a girlfriend with good looks, great figure, elegant temperament, and who was also obedient?
So, both of them secretly vowed to win this time. After all, they had the advantage of two against one!
"Alright then, it's decided. You three, get on the fighting platform!" Zhao Wuji made a sweeping gesture with his large hand.
Ma Hongjun and Dai Mubai immediately let out a phoenix cry and a tiger roar respectively, both jumping onto the fighting platform.
Oscar looked at these two high-spirited young men, curled his lips, and slowly walked onto the fighting platform.
Zhao Wuji continued: "Since this is a soul battle, let's follow the rules. You three have one minute to release your martial souls and prepare."
As soon as Zhao Wuji finished speaking, Dai Mubai impatiently released his martial soul.
He let out a tiger roar. Two yellow soul rings slowly rose from his body. White fur instantly covered him. On his forehead, three horizontal lines and one vertical formed a domineering "王" (King) character. His hands transformed into tiger paws, with ten sharp claws gleaming with cold light!
"Dai Mubai, Martial Soul: White Tiger, Level 29 Strong Attack System Battle Grandmaster. Please advise!"
Along with Dai Mubai's tiger roar came Ma Hongjun's phoenix cry. Soul power surged around his body as crimson flames suddenly erupted from within, shooting straight into the sky. The surrounding temperature instantly rose several degrees.
Ma Hongjun, wreathed in flames, looked like a fire phoenix. His originally red hair seemed to have transformed into a phoenix crown. Two yellow and one purple—three soul rings slowly rose from his body.
"Ma Hongjun, Martial Soul: Evil Fire Phoenix, Level 35 Strong Attack System Battle Soul Master. Please advise!"
With the release of both their martial souls, amidst the tiger roars and phoenix cries, their combined aura pressed toward Oscar.
Hearing their levels, Oscar nodded slightly. He was actually aware of Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun's efforts over the past year, so he wasn't surprised.
Moreover, Dai Mubai was already at peak Level 25 when he enrolled. Now at Level 29, his improvement was reasonable. Furthermore, he hadn't taken whale glue, hadn't absorbed soul rings beyond his level, and hadn't taken immortal-grade herbs. Otherwise, his improvement would certainly have been even greater.
As for Ma Hongjun, there was no need to say anything. After taking the immortal-grade herb, his soul power went straight from Level 25 to Level 30.
And this wasn't even counting the full consumption of the Phoenix Nirvana Pill's medicinal power. After stabilizing his strength, combined with absorbing a soul ring beyond his level—although his third soul ring was only four thousand years, which couldn't compare to Oscar's, together with the remaining medicinal power of the Phoenix Nirvana Pill, Ma Hongjun's soul power directly reached Level 33.
In the following seven-plus months, Ma Hongjun's soul power increased by over two levels, reaching Level 35, approaching the verge of breaking through to Level 36.
Although he wasn't even eleven years old yet, having completely broken Oscar's record, everyone at Shrek Academy knew that Ma Hongjun had achieved this success because of that Phoenix Nirvana Pill.
And the Phoenix Nirvana Pill came from Oscar. So even though Ma Hongjun had broken Oscar's record, Oscar remained the legend of their Shrek Academy.
And precisely because of this, Ma Hongjun understood even more clearly what having Oscar as his boss meant.
Oscar had not only solved his evil fire problem but had also elevated his strength and talent to a new qualitative level. Not following a boss like this for a lifetime—Ma Hongjun would feel like less than human!