The others were somewhat surprised by Ning Rongrong's sharp words directed at Oscar. Zhu Zhuqing, in particular, was shocked. She hadn't been present when Ning Rongrong had verbally confronted Dai Mubai the other night, so she had never witnessed Rongrong's assertive side up close before. Now, seeing her take down Oscar with her words, she was impressed.
Su Ming was also slightly taken aback. It had been a while since Ning Rongrong had said something so blunt, completely at odds with her usual well-mannered demeanor. It was amusing to see her speak so forcefully.
Ning Rongrong realized that what she had said wasn't exactly ladylike and decided to remain quiet after that.
As for Zhao Wuji, he didn't want to criticize her. Although he used to believe in the saying that a soul master who doesn't stir up trouble isn't a good soul master, that wasn't his own quote. So, he just pretended that Ning Rongrong hadn't indirectly criticized him. After all, Bone Douluo's recent visit to Shrek had left everyone cautious. Bone Douluo had made it clear that anyone who dared to mistreat Ning Rongrong, the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan, would face severe consequences—Flender's beating was already a prime example. Zhao Wuji didn't want to risk her reporting back to her clan either.
Oscar, on the other hand, was left embarrassed by Ning Rongrong's words. No one stepped in to defend him, so he had to silently endure the blow.
Dai Mubai, having already faced Ning Rongrong's sharp tongue, didn't want to get involved. Ma Hongjun also remained silent, not wanting to provoke Su Ming. As for Tang San, he was the least likely to say anything.
Suddenly, the sound of a rumbling stomach broke the tension. All eyes turned toward Su Ming, who awkwardly smiled and said, "Uh... I just broke through, which took a lot out of me. And it's getting late…"
Xiao Wu quickly pulled Su Ming to a seat and started piling food onto his plate. "Brother, eat up! You must be starving."
Dai Mubai seized the opportunity to chime in, "Yeah, yeah, Su Ming, don't hold back. This meal is on me to welcome everyone."
After dinner, everyone went back to their rooms to rest.
Su Ming, however, resumed writing in his diary.
[Finally, some rest. We left the academy early this morning and ran toward the Star Dou Forest for most of the day. I've been using my fourth spirit ring skill to assist the others the whole time. While the energy expenditure and recovery balanced out, it was still mentally exhausting.]
[As expected, Ma Hongjun caused trouble tonight. He provoked Canghui Academy, and thankfully, I was busy breaking through and stayed upstairs. Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong stayed with me, which made me a bit happy.]
[After all, they chose to be with me instead of going downstairs to join the fight.]
The three girls, reading this, thought to themselves: You're so full of yourself. We just didn't feel like going downstairs. Hmph!
[This time, Canghui Academy's teacher was just a Soul King leading a student to get their third spirit ring. But if the teacher had been Shi Nian, with his temperament, Dai Mubai and the others would have been in serious trouble. Even Zhao Wuji would have been mentally scarred if he had faced Shi Nian!]
[Shi Nian wouldn't have cared that they were fellow academy students. In the original story, after the soul master tournament, he took advantage of Tang San being alone and trapped him in an illusion. Tang San didn't even notice at first. If Shi Nian hadn't been overconfident, Tang San would've been dead.]
[Shi Nian's overconfidence in his Nightmare martial spirit was what led to his downfall. Tang San eventually saw through it with his Purple Demon Eye and killed Shi Nian using the powerful hidden weapon, Yama's Invitation. But Shi Nian's death was well deserved!]
[But as things stand now, Tang San doesn't have Yama's Invitation. If Shi Nian had been the one leading Canghui Academy's team tonight, Tang San and the others would've been dead already. Not even Flender would've been able to save them from serious injury.]
The girls reading this finally realized how terrifying Shi Nian was. A mere Soul Emperor, yet he could severely injure even high-level Soul Saints—such a frightening individual!
Liu Erlong, the headmaster of Blue Tyrant Academy, had heard of Shi Nian and knew of his ruthlessness. Even spirit masters stronger than him avoided provoking him, as they feared his deadly illusions.
Bibi Dong, while acknowledging Shi Nian's powerful Nightmare martial spirit, felt that at her current level, Shi Nian wouldn't pose much of a threat. His illusions were formidable against those with weaker spiritual power, but against someone like her, the outcome would be far less certain.
[Although I didn't see the fight since I was busy breaking through, judging by the injuries on Ma Hongjun and the others, it's clear they got a good beating. And they deserved it!]
[There were only three of them, and they went up against a Soul King, whose martial spirit is the defense-oriented Black Tortoise. There's no way they could've broken through his defenses. The Soul King's attacks were way beyond their capacity to handle. In the end, Zhao Wuji had to step in and clean things up.]
[Later, when we went downstairs, I questioned them briefly. Oscar, though pretending to scold Ma Hongjun, was really trying to excuse his actions!]
[Honestly, Ning Rongrong immediately switched into "sassy mode," or rather, "little witch mode." She totally blasted Oscar, just like when she went off on Dai Mubai. He was left speechless again, haha.]
Back in their room, Xiao Wu teased Ning Rongrong, "Rongrong, Su Ming is praising you in his diary!"
Zhu Zhuqing giggled, covering her mouth.
Ning Rongrong blushed and replied, "You two stop teasing me! Oscar deserved it. How could he defend that perverted fatty!"