Huo Yuhao from The Peerless Tang Sect is incredibly talented.

Xiao Xiao was clearly flustered when she heard Huo Yuhao's words. "Don't laugh. Apart from not letting us awaken martial souls for the people for free, they haven't done anything too heinous. Their crimes don't warrant death."

Huo Yuhao chuckled awkwardly, "Hehe, I was just giving an example. I didn't really intend to kill them. Otherwise, those few blows would have sent them straight to their deaths, not just knocked out."

After saying that, Huo Yuhao kicked them a few times, turned them over, and pointed at their still-rising chests with his stick, indicating that they were still alive.

"Don't laugh. Didn't you say you had something to report to the organization? Why did you take action directly? What do we do now?"

Wang Dong asked Huo Yuhao with some confusion, clearly worried about how to deal with the three of them next.

"Yeah, we shouldn't laugh. What if they wake up and cause trouble at school? Will they expel us?"

Xiao Xiao also spoke up, her voice filled with panic, and her eyes were red, clearly on the verge of tears.

At the same time, Xiao Xiao also opened the virtual realm and sent a message to the mutual association group.

After all, Huo Yuhao had mentioned in class that if anything happened, one should report it directly to the Mutual Aid Association, and the Mutual Aid Association would cover for them.

Xiao Xiao: President, something bad has happened! Today we were in the city offering free martial soul awakening services to the public, but the Shrek City management officers suddenly came to our door tonight, saying we were breaking the law, demanding a fine, and also demanding that we stop offering free martial soul awakening services to the public in the future.

Tang Ya, who was reading a novel in the virtual world, also received the message immediately and quickly replied.

Tang Ya (President of the Shrek City Branch of the Mutual Aid Association): ? ? ? What? Are you kidding me? The city management of Shrek City, who are helping people awaken their martial souls for free, are going to fine them?

Tang Ya @ Bei Bei

Beibei is choosing a venue for the mutual aid society's activities in her large villa in Shrek City.

"Young Master, look, this place is adjacent to the academy and the Soul Masters' residence. The environment is beautiful and the spiritual energy of heaven and earth is abundant. It is the most suitable place for you to establish a mutual aid society."

An elegant and dignified elderly man is selecting a site for the base of the Beibei Mutual Aid Association.

As a descendant of the Limit Douluo, and with the Martial Soul being the Holy Light Dragon, which is the same as the Martial Soul of his ancestor Mu En, Bei Bei has been quite favored since childhood.

After returning from the training in Tiandou City, he realized the strength of his own family's power and began to use his family's influence to support the growth of the mutual aid association.

Because in the Douluo Continent, the strong are respected, individual power belongs to oneself, and strengthening oneself is the most important thing. And now, the most abundant resources are in the Void Realm Shop, which offers divinely bestowed soul rings, soul bones, martial soul evolution items, and even allows one to purchase soul power levels in the Void Realm.

However, the Void Realm only recognizes Surplus Value Coins, but currently there are only a few ways to obtain Surplus Value Coins: one is to hand over personal soul power to the Void Realm, another is to hunt monsters in the Void Realm Great World, and the third is to do the tasks issued by the Heavenly Dou City.

Due to the non-transferability of the Void Realm Holy Coins, it is clear that the last method is the most efficient.

Clearly, for Soul Master families, converting Gold Soul Coins into Holy Coins by completing Mutual Aid Association missions is a more cost-effective move.

Can Holy Coins buy Divine Soul Rings? Can Gold Soul Coins do the same? Can Holy Coins evolve Martial Souls? Can Gold Soul Coins do the same?

After undergoing training in Tiandou City, Bei Bei unceremoniously used her ancestor's influence in Shrek City to select a base for the Mutual Aid Association.

While listening to the housekeeper explain the advantages and disadvantages of different regions, Beibei received a message from Tang Ya.

Beibei, now fully aware of the situation, glanced at the messages in the group chat and frowned, then spoke to the housekeeper.

"Old Li, I remember that awakening a martial spirit in the city wasn't free?"

"Yes, young master."

During the time that Beibei was not in the group, Jiang Nannan also started to speak.

Jiang Nannan: ? ? ? How is that possible? Back in my hometown, people who awaken their martial souls are eager for someone to help them awaken their martial souls for free, so as to reduce their workload.

Besides her daily cultivation and Mutual Aid Mountain quests, Jiang Nannan also spent a lot of time exploring the Void Realm to learn medical knowledge, hoping to cure her mother's illness.

Jiang Nannan asked the Virtual Realm AI about her mother's condition, but the Virtual Realm AI only told Jiang Nannan which books she should read to learn the relevant medical theories needed to cure her mother, or that she should save up Holy Coins and go to Heaven Dou City to have the medical knowledge of Heaven Dou City treat her.

Jiang Nannan chose both.

After asking the questions and receiving training from Tiandou City, Beibei had a general understanding of the actions of the Tiandou City urban management officers.

It's nothing more than the Shrek City management intercepting the relevant funds and appropriating the resources for awakening martial souls, turning it into a monopolistic business through the monopoly of power.

Beibei: I've asked around. Shrek City offers free martial soul awakening to its residents, but the relevant resources have been appropriated by others. Xiaoxiao, don't panic. Calm them down first. I'll have the steward go find the city lord right away and get you out of jail.

One of the biggest controversies surrounding the Douluo Continent II: The Legend of Tang Dynasty is whether Shrek City Lord actually existed. Initially, it was said that he didn't, but later, during the Beast Tide, it was said that he did—a classic case of retconning.

Xiao Xiao: Uh, Brother Bei Bei, you don't need to send the housekeeper to the jail to find us anymore. The city management officer has already been knocked unconscious by Bu Xiao. What should we do now?

Beibei: ...

Jiang Nannan: ...

Tang Ya: Brother Bu Xiao is truly worthy of being a member of our mutual aid society. No matter what kind of monsters or demons they are, we'll just beat them all up.

Beibei: Xiaoya is right! Our mutual aid society has no point in arguing with these bastards; we should take decisive action. Xiaoxiao, keep an eye on Wang Dong and make sure he doesn't stay put. Don't move around, and knock them out. He must have his reasons for doing this; he comes from the far north and has extensive grassroots experience. Listen to him; I'll be there right away.

At the same time, the virtual realm also issued a new mission to the Shrek City Mutual Aid Association.

The campaign to crack down on organized crime has begun.

Ten thousand years ago, everyone possessed a martial spirit; now, even commoners struggle to acquire one. Is this a deprivation of everyone's right to awaken a martial spirit?

[Mission Location: Shrek City]

[Mission Objective: Uncover the forces within Shrek City that are preventing civilians from awakening their Martial Souls.]

[Task Reward: One million Holy Coins, the exact amount to be distributed based on each member's contribution in the mutual aid guild]

Upon seeing this task, everyone in the mutual aid society felt their hearts tremble. One million! One million!

That's equivalent to the price of a 100,000-year-old soul bone in the Virtual Realm Shop.

As for whether anyone in the mutual aid group will suspect that the virtual realm is monitoring them and that their personal privacy rights are being violated?

What a joke! The Void Realm Mutual Aid Association was proposed by the City Lord of Tiandou City and approved by the Lord of the Void Realm. It's practically a miracle.

Isn't it normal that God can do this?

"Mr. Li, prepare the car."

Beibei pulled her coat off the back of the chair with a swift and decisive movement. "To the City Lord's Mansion. Not tomorrow morning, but now."

Old Master Li didn't ask a single question. Having served two generations of the Mu family, he knew perfectly well when to speak and when to keep quiet. He simply bowed slightly, then quickly retreated to arrange the carriage.

The carriage entered the city. Beibei leaned back in his chair, watching the streetlights outside the window flash by, their light flickering on his face.

Beibei was furious. Commoners were already penniless, and now someone was even trying to take away their one remaining right: the right to possess a martial spirit.

As the owner of a top-tier martial soul of the Light element, Bei Bei's innate sense of justice burned within her like a flame.

I must speak up for those people.

Even if the virtual realm doesn't issue any missions.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the street in Shrek City.

Huo Yuhao looked down at the three people on the ground, then looked up at the two girls in front of him with red eyes.

Xiao Xiao was terrified by him just now, and she was squatting against the wall with her hands on her knees. Her nose was still twitching, but her tears had stopped.

Wang Dong didn't cry, but his lips were pursed white, he hugged his arms and leaned against the wall, his brows furrowed into a tight knot.

"Don't laugh, didn't you say you had something to report to the association? Why did you take action directly? What are we going to do now?" Wang Dong's voice was filled with suppressed anger, but even more so with anxiety about how to end the situation.

"Yeah, we shouldn't laugh. What if they wake up and cause trouble at school? Will the school expel us?" Xiao Xiao's voice was filled with panic, her eyes were red, and tears were already welling up in her eyes for the second time.

Huo Yuhao curled his lip and said nonchalantly, "What's the panic? Don't be fooled by their names as city management officers. They're not really city management officers. I'm beating up a fraudster."

Wang Dong took a deep breath, forcing himself to slow down his speech: "Explain yourself clearly. They are urban management officers, but you didn't hit any of them—how can these two things both stand simultaneously?"

Huo Yuhao said, "First, they are real city management officers. Their uniforms are real, their ID cards are real, and even the badges on their cuffs are standard. I saw the group message: Shrek City is offering free martial soul awakening, but their appearance shows that there are indeed people in Shrek City's city management system who treat the right to awaken as their own private property, using the name of law enforcement to extort money."

"Secondly, I did not hit the urban management officers."

"Because the moment they ask for money, they are no longer performing their duties. When law enforcement officers demand money from those they are enforcing the law on the condition that they will no longer provide free awakening services to civilians—that's not law enforcement, that's extortion. When they're extorting money, they're not urban management officers, they're criminals. I didn't hit an urban management officer, I hit a criminal."

Huo Yuhao pointed to the three people on the ground: "So strictly speaking, I wasn't beating up the urban management officers. I was cracking down on criminals."

Xiao Xiao's tears had stopped. She stared blankly at Huo Yuhao, her lips moving a few times, before finally uttering words that even she found unbelievable: "So when you said 'What are you afraid of?' you meant literally 'Don't be afraid'?"

"Otherwise what?" Huo Yuhao picked up the dead branch, casually stuck it into the soil under the old locust tree, and patted the dust off his hands. "Now they should be afraid. When Beibei arrives, you can make them confess how many times they've changed hands over the resources that should have been allocated to the awakening of the common people, how much dirty money they've distributed, and who's protecting them. At that time, it won't be a question of whether the Mutual Aid Association is afraid or not, but whether the Shrek City urban management system is afraid of Beibei, the vice president of our Mutual Aid Association."

Wang Dong suddenly looked down at his gloves, then at the middle-aged man still unconscious on the ground. His voice was no longer agitated, but filled with a cold, quiet disgust: "So every threatening thing they said just now—about canceling his enrollment, about transferring him to the law enforcement team—was all a unilateral decision by them?"

"More or less." Huo Yuhao nodded. "This isn't the first time they've done this. You saw that he didn't even blink when he quoted two hundred Saint Coins. That number wasn't something he came up with on the spot; it's the market price. The management fee of two hundred Gold Soul Saint Coins corresponds to the portion they squeezed from the common people after monopolizing the Awakening Rights. They didn't suddenly decide to extort money; they felt that the Mutual Aid Association was taking away their livelihood."

Xiao Xiao had stopped crying. She wiped her face hard, looked up at Huo Yuhao, and said in a slightly nasal voice, but her tone had changed: "So they have always been taking from the poor."

"So if we continue doing this, the urban management officers will still come?"

"Not necessarily." Huo Yuhao answered even slower this time, as if carefully choosing his words. "It depends on how far the mutual aid association has developed. The deeper the foundation of the mutual aid association in a place, and the closer its ties with the local area, the less likely the city management will dare to touch it. So we not only need to do missions, but also need to establish roots locally. Networks, reputation, word of mouth—these things are invisible and intangible in normal times, but when something really happens, they are more useful than anything else. Remember one principle: no matter what happens, whether you fight or not is secondary, report it first. Sister Tang Ya has Senior Bei Bei supporting her, and Bei Bei has people behind him. Don't try to handle things on your own."

"Let me tell you, I discovered in the Shrek Library that several hundred years ago, one of the Shrek Seven Devils had the Martial Soul of the Holy Dragon of Light, and Senior Bei Bei's Martial Soul is also like that."

At this point, neither Wang Dong nor Bei Bei were stupid; they suspected that Bei Bei's family members were from the Sea God Pavilion.

So our mutual aid association has this background besides Tiandou City!

"Is this what you mean by contacting the mutual aid association immediately when you encounter something you can't solve? So you're just using your power to bully people." Wang Dong's tone was three parts accusation and seven parts helplessness. "We reported it immediately, and then what? Your people have already been beaten up."

Huo Yuhao looked down at the three bodies still heaving on the ground, and a rare, sincere, embarrassed smile appeared on his face: "An accident. Next time I'll try to restrain myself, report it first, and then take action."

Xiao Xiao finally couldn't help but burst out laughing. Her eyes were still red, but the corners of her mouth had already turned up involuntarily.

She wiped her face haphazardly with the back of her hand, stood up, walked to the weed by the wall that Wang Dong had touched, bent down and looked at it for a long time, then suddenly said, "So what do we do now? He's still lying on the ground."

"Wait for Beibei to come back," Huo Yuhao said. "Before he returns, there's something we can do first. Compile a list of all the children who came to awaken today, and write down what that fake city management officer said—how much money he took, how many years he's been there, how he operated, and how many people he threatened. We'll need all of this later."

Just then, the sound of rapid hoofbeats came from the end of the street.

The sound of wheels rolling over the bluestone pavement grew closer, and the driver let out a long "whoosh" and pulled on the reins. Before the carriage had even come to a complete stop, Beibei jumped out of the carriage. He glanced at the three fake city management officers lying haphazardly on the ground, and then at the three people surrounding them—Xiao Xiao's eyes were red, Wang Dong's face looked unwell, and Huo Yuhao was using his feet to gather the ropes scattered on the ground together.

Bei Bei glanced at him but didn't ask anything. He walked up to Huo Yuhao, patted his shoulder lightly, but his tone carried a seriousness rarely seen in him.

"Thank you for your hard work. Leave the rest to me."