Douro Continent

Chapter 166 Never Abandon, Never Give Up (Part 1)

The master glanced at him indifferently. "Does an enemy who wants to kill you only come when your soul power is at its strongest?"

Dai Mubai was stunned for a moment, but the master's simple words left him speechless.

The master continued, "Knowing that Oscar had mushroom sausages to offer, why did you give Ma Hongjun the opportunity to eat them? If you had stopped him from the beginning, or tried to conserve your soul power, you should have won this battle."

Ma Hongjun hooked his arm around Oscar's shoulder. "Awesome, so awesome! I never thought I'd beat Boss Dai one day. It's just too awesome. Oscar, this sausage of yours is really useful."

Oscar chuckled, "Of course, after all, I'm a Soul Master now."

The master coldly stared at the two of them. "Are you both smug? Ma Hongjun, let me ask you, when Oscar's flying mushroom sausage malfunctioned, why did you let him fall to the ground? What if Dai Mubai still had the strength to kill him at that moment?"

"I..." Ma Hongjun stared at the master in disbelief.

The master turned to Oscar, "And you. For a food-type Soul Master, the most important thing is to preserve your life as much as possible under any circumstances. If he hadn't offered to help you, wouldn't you have grabbed onto his body to keep floating in the air? If Dai Mubai had sufficient Soul Power, he would have taken care of you as you fell. If he were an enemy, you would be dead by now. Soul Master? Even a Title Douluo-level food-type Soul Master is incredibly vulnerable in front of a Battle Soul Master."

Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun looked at each other, speechless.

The master's voice was calm and collected, and he pointed out their previous mistakes incisively.

"The mistress," the master said, turning to Tang San.

Tang San quickly stepped forward. "Teacher, I'm here."

"Tell me about your experience fighting Xiao Wu."

Tang San blushed. "Teacher, I was wrong. I shouldn't have been careless and fell for Xiao Wu's second soul skill, Charm, which put me in a passive position. Without knowing what her third soul skill was, I rashly released the Spider Web, which made me even more passive."

The master nodded. "It's good that you know you were wrong. Your mistake was the most serious. Even a lion needs to go all out to hunt a rabbit, yet you committed an unforgivable sin right from the start. If the enemy's attack had been any more fierce, you would be dead too. Remember, a control-type Soul Master not only needs to control the enemy, but also needs to control themselves."

Finally, the master looked at Xiao Wu, "Your third soul skill should be teleportation, right? But it has a distance limit. If I'm not mistaken, this should be the Lightning Rabbit's ability. Your third soul ring is a thousand-year-old Lightning Rabbit. Teleportation is one of the rarest soul skills, and you've given me a great surprise. At the same time, teleportation combined with your gentle techniques will greatly increase your destructive power. However, why did you assume you had already won when you wrapped your arms around Tang San's neck? If you had been more careful then, and hadn't rushed to finish him off when you saw Tang San use the third Spider Web Binding technique, but instead teleported away from his attack range before continuing, then you would have won instead of being controlled again."

Xiao Wu quietly stuck out her tongue, but didn't dare to say a word in rebuttal.

The master's face was stiff and his expression was grim. "Is this what you call a monster genius? Your performance today has disappointed me greatly. Everyone has made an unforgivable mistake. Now, you will all be punished. Run forward, supervise each other, and do not use your soul power. Run from the academy to Soto City and back. I require you to complete ten laps before lunch. You will eat only after you finish. Tang San, your mistake is the most serious, so you will run twelve laps. Get moving, begin."

Tang San was the first to run out; to him, the master's words were no different from an order.

Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun followed closely behind. The master had even punished his own direct disciples, and punished them most severely; what could they possibly say? Moreover, the mistakes the master pointed out were enormous errors for them.

"There are prepared rocks at the academy gate. Each of you will carry one on your back and run with the weight. Remember, you are a team. If even one person fails to complete the punishment, then no one will eat," the master emphasized.

Although they cannot use soul power, they are all soul masters. Years of soul power have modified their bodies, making them much stronger than ordinary people. Simply running wouldn't achieve the master's goal.

The distance from the college to Soto City isn't too far, but it's still about three or four kilometers. Ten round trips would cover about sixty or seventy kilometers, and with the added weight, it's definitely not an easy task.

Watching Tang San and his group run off, Ning Rongrong couldn't help but chuckle. However, her smile didn't last long.

"Why don't you run?" the master's cold voice rang out.

"Uh..., are we going to run too?" Ning Rongrong looked at the master in surprise.

The master said, "What I just said is that you will all be punished."

Ning Rongrong immediately became anxious, "But this isn't fair! Zhu Qing and I didn't do anything wrong!"

The master calmly replied, "I ask you, who are they to you?"

Ning Rongrong paused for a moment, "Classmate, partner."

The master said, "There's a saying, 'Sharing joys and sorrows,' have you heard it? You are partners, and you want to be partners to whom you can entrust your back. Do you think you should just watch them be punished while you rest?"

"I..." Ning Rongrong was speechless, while Zhu Zhuqing had already run out.

When the seven arrived at the academy gate one after another, they discovered that the master's punishment for them was still differentiated, or rather, it had already been prepared.

Seven bamboo baskets, woven from bamboo, contain stones of different sizes. Each basket has a carrying strap and a name written on it.

Among them, Tang San, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun had the largest stones in their bamboo baskets, followed by Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Oscar, while Ning Rongrong had the smallest stones in her bamboo basket.

When Ning Rongrong saw the stones in the bamboo basket, her dissatisfaction immediately lessened, and she thought to herself, "This master isn't so heartless after all."

As the master watched the seven people carrying bamboo baskets and running away, a faint smile involuntarily appeared on his stiff face.

"Running a long distance with a heavy load without using soul power, isn't that a bit too harsh a punishment? That's hundreds of kilometers. Let alone noon, they probably wouldn't be able to finish it even after dark. I didn't expect you to be even more ruthless than me."

Flander had somehow arrived beside the master and said with some concern.

The master calmly replied, "No pain, no gain. I've carefully considered their physical condition. They won't overwork themselves. Besides, do you think their well-fed breakfast was for nothing? How can they become true partners who can entrust their backs to each other without going through a period of shared hardship?"

Flander raised his hands in surrender. "Fine, whatever you say. You decide. I know you value these children even more than I do. However, I must remind you again that the academy's funding is limited."

The master snorted coldly, "A living person can't be killed by holding their pee, can they? Do you think I'm like you, a dignified Soul Saint who can't even get funding for an academy?"

Flanders said with slight anger, "That's because I don't want to grovel and depend on others. Otherwise, with my abilities, becoming extremely wealthy wouldn't be difficult. I want to see how you solve this problem. Your skin is much thinner than mine."

The master glanced at Flander and said, "Then you'll just have to wait and see."

With bamboo baskets on their backs, Tang San and Dai Mubai took the lead and ran off. Only when they started running did they realize that the punishment was indeed severe.

If they could use their soul power, traveling 60 or 70 kilometers in half a day wouldn't be a problem for them; they could even complete it easily. However, without using their soul power and carrying heavy loads, it wouldn't be so easy.

"Mu Bai, let's stop for a bit." Tang San suddenly stopped running. He had only run a short distance, but his forehead was already slightly sweaty.

Although both of them had used up their soul power before, they were running without using their soul power at this time. In terms of stamina, they were obviously the best among the Shrek Seven Devils. At this time, Xiao Wu, Ma Hongjun and Oscar were already hundreds of meters behind, Zhu Zhuqing had caught up with them, and Ning Rongrong was at the very back.

"Xiao San, what's wrong?" Dai Mubai stopped as well, looking at Tang San with some confusion. "Ten rounds isn't a short time, let's run!"

Tang San said, "Mu Bai, do you remember? Before we set off, Teacher said that we are a team, and he requires us to complete this punishment together. Look, Zhu Qing and Rong Rong are being punished with us too. Besides me having to run twelve laps, you all must complete it at the same time. From what I know of Teacher, this time he's not just punishing us, but also training our bodies. Yesterday, Teacher told me that the body is the foundation of a Soul Master. My ability to absorb the Human-Faced Demon Spider Soul Ring beyond my level is related to my physical fitness. More importantly, this punishment is probably also a test from Teacher. He wants to test our teamwork. We are a team. In terms of physical strength, perhaps you and I can keep up, but they may not. I think we must think of a way to get everyone to complete this test together."

(End of this chapter)