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Dugu Bo turned back to glance at Aether. Seeing that the man had no objections, his eyes turned cold as he looked at Yu Xiaogang, his tone turning chillingly sinister.
"Scream, why don't you? Where's all that shouting now?"
"Y-You…"
Yu Xiaogang pointed a trembling finger at Dugu Bo. He'd cursed so much earlier that now he couldn't even string a sentence together.
"Didn't you sound real proud just a moment ago?"
"Didn't your disciple mess with me however he wanted? Well, tell him to get up and try me now!"
"You damn mutt! 'Your divine artifact'? Piss off and take a look at yourself—you and your little thief of a disciple think you're worthy?"
Grabbing Yu Xiaogang by the collar, Dugu Bo once again channeled his inner internet troll.
"Where's that arrogance from earlier? Because right now, all I see in your eyes is fear!"
"A Titled Douluo? That's it? I'm standing right here—can you even pull a single hair off me? Pah!"
Having vented enough, Dugu Bo casually tossed Yu Xiaogang aside, though he didn't kill him.
Normally, the man wouldn't have even left a corpse behind.
But with Aether and Miss Paimon watching, he figured it wouldn't be wise to sour their mood.
Lying crumpled on the ground, Yu Xiaogang had lost all his earlier bravado.
He was gasping heavily, like someone who'd just walked out of the gates of hell.
With Yu Xiaogang dealt with, Dugu Bo looked down at the blank-eyed Tang San and let out a scornful chuckle.
"Kid~ You've really stepped in it now!"
With that, he dragged Tang San before Aether and dropped him at the man's feet. Bowing slightly, he reported:
"My lord, he still has one of your divine artifacts on him."
Hearing this, Aether silently studied Tang San—the future God-King of the Douluo Continent.
He'd thought the Serenitea Pot had been lost somewhere, never suspecting that Tang San had picked it up.
As expected of the Child of the Plane—always stumbling upon fateful encounters.
But while such a child might be terrifying later on, the current version of him hadn't matured yet—not even strong enough to resist Dugu Bo.
Aether shook his head and extended a hand toward Tang San.
"Those items don't belong to you. Hand them over."
"…"
Tang San instinctively reached for the belt at his waist and glanced over at the other Shrek students.
Flender, their strongest, was missing or dead, and the rest cowered silently.
Yu Xiaogang coughed and stood up, and when he saw Tang San looking over, he gave a reluctant shake of his head.
Tang San understood—his teacher was telling him to give up.
Live to fight another day…
After a brief moment of thought, Tang San gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand. From his belt, he retrieved the Dull Blade—which the Serenitea Pot had once spat out by accident.
Raising the sword with both hands, he bowed deeply to Aether.
"This… I found it by chance. Now that I've met its rightful owner, it is only proper that I return it…"
"I hope that… since I've helped recover your lost item, you'll let us go…"
Aether took the Dull Blade.
Immediately, its edge burst forth with dazzling brilliance.
Tang San stared in disbelief—when the sword had been in his hands, it had shown no reaction. But now, it radiated a terrifying, indomitable power.
His will to survive burned even stronger.
"How did you get it out?" Aether asked, idly waving the blade as it vanished into the void.
"I couldn't open it," Tang San replied honestly. "It… it spat it out on its own."
He pointed toward the Serenitea Pot in Paimon's arms behind Aether.
If I could open it, would I be in this damned mess now? He thought bitterly.
Aether raised his hand, and Paimon handed the pot over, tilting her head in confusion.
"Traveler, I think our teapot's leaking or something. Take a look."
Aether took it and let his consciousness enter.
The inner realm that Grandma Ping had created was still stable, though the elemental forces inside had become chaotic.
He quickly rebalanced the elements, drawing in energy from the outside world to restore the internal equilibrium.
"There—fixed."
He handed it back to Paimon, who giggled and flew off to explain it excitedly to Yu Keke and Xue Qinghe.
"Y-Your… Your Excellency, now that everything's been returned… may we leave?"
Tang San asked again, even more submissively now that Aether had ignored him once.
"The price for what happened before… has already been paid."
Aether said flatly, not even sparing Tang San a glance.
He turned to chat with Paimon and the others. Earlier, Xue Qinghe had suggested showing Paimon and Yu Keke around the academy, so he summoned the three teaching elders to lead them away.
To Aether, Tang San and the so-called Shrek Academy were nothing more than background characters.
He had traveled across countless worlds. He'd seen many so-called Children of the Plane like Tang San.
If it had been the Tang San of his memories—the God-King who had committed all kinds of atrocities—he wouldn't have minded adding another soul to his blade.
But in this lifetime, Tang San had already lost most of his fortunes through a twist of fate. Even his strongest support, Tang Hao, had been reduced to a cripple.
With the laws of this world in chaos, this Tang San would never become a God-King. His story ended here.
At the very least, Tang San had brought the Serenitea Pot back. That saved Aether the trouble of searching for it.
In his eyes, Tang San's strength was no more than a crippled insect—not even worth dirtying his sword. Better to leave him to rot on his own.
But…
"You brat, His Excellency stands far above the nine heavens. He doesn't stoop to deal with ants like you."
Dugu Bo stepped forward after Aether's group exited, sweeping his gaze over the crowd. His eyes darkened as they locked onto Tang San.
"But you lied to me—and you hurt my granddaughter. That… will cost you dearly."
He still had a score to settle with this little bastard.
"Yan Yan, come here."
Dugu Bo beckoned to Dugu Yan and pointed to Tang San.
"Tell me—how exactly did he hurt you?"
"He… he used his external spirit bone to pierce through me…"
Dugu Yan looked at Tang San without the slightest emotion. Since he'd tried to kill her, he should be ready to pay the price in full.
"External spirit bone? Tsk tsk—so the little punk has some fancy gear, huh? Well then, summon it out. Let this old man take a look!"
Humiliated by the demand, Tang San gritted his teeth.
He had thought Aether sparing him meant he'd escaped death.
But he hadn't even had time to breathe before the old bastard came after him again!
"What, staying silent? I'll take that as you choosing death!"
Dugu Bo's eyes turned murderous, and he raised his hand to strike.
Though Tang San wore a defiant expression, his survival instinct still won out. He summoned his Eight Spider Lances.
"Hahaha—so you're just a coward after all!"
Dugu Bo laughed, surged with soul power, and slammed his foot into Tang San's chest.
"Urgh—!"
With a bloodcurdling scream, Tang San's external spirit bone was violently torn from his back.
Scarlet blood soaked his entire spine. He collapsed like a dying dog, blood foaming at the corners of his mouth.
Prince Xue Xing, familiar with Dugu Bo's ruthlessness, merely watched without blinking.
Xue Beng looked on gleefully, his eyes dancing with satisfaction.
As for the Shrek students, though they all wore grim expressions, not one dared to speak.
Even Xiao Wu had retreated, doing everything she could to suppress her presence, terrified that Dugu Bo would turn his gaze toward her.
_
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