New Students Assemble, A Stumbling Block

Oh, a woman's body.

The double pleasure of strength and spirit.

"Too bad there wasn't any medicine among the rewards this time that could heal scars."

After receiving her rewards, Ning Rongrong let out a long sigh and turned back to Zhu Zhuqing. At some point, Zhu Zhuqing had woken up and was gazing at her with her big, sparkling eyes.

"Zhu Zhuqing..."

Ning Rongrong was at a loss for words. She didn't know how to face the girl who had once taken an attack for her. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. Don't worry." Zhu Zhuqing forced a smile.

Ning Rongrong slowly walked closer. Zhu Zhuqing's face was deathly pale. How could she possibly be fine after taking Ma Hongjun's First Soul Skill head-on?

She was probably just putting on a brave face.

Ning Rongrong nodded and said nothing more. She tried to look at Zhu Zhuqing's back, but Zhu Zhuqing stopped her. "We're Soul Masters. Having a few scars is perfectly normal."

"But..."

Ning Rongrong hesitated.

But Zhu Zhuqing had only been at Shrek Academy for two days. Even if events had followed the original story, she wouldn't have suffered this.

It was because Ning Rongrong had fucking changed the course of the story that...

"Don't worry about me." Zhu Zhuqing gave a couple of awkward chuckles. Her gaze softened as she looked at Ning Rongrong's right arm. "Aren't you in the same position? The scar on my back won't show once I put my clothes on, but the one on your arm..."

Ning Rongrong's arm had also been burned by Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Flame. Like the one on Zhu Zhuqing's back, if it couldn't be healed properly, it would leave a permanent scar.

"I don't wear short sleeves anyway. What is there to be afraid of?"

Ning Rongrong feigned indifference, making Zhu Zhuqing cover her mouth and giggle. "There you go, then. Once I put my clothes on, no one will see mine either."

Both girls were putting on brave faces and saying they were fine, yet there was much more pity in their eyes when they looked at each other.

Girls were generally afraid of being left with scars.

They weren't symbols of honor, but a desecration of perfection.

But what was done was done, and there was no other way to undo it. In the end, Ning Rongrong could only nod and sigh. "Just get some rest, Zhu Zhuqing. Don't worry, I have a way to restore you to how you were."

"Huh?" Zhu Zhuqing didn't understand.

She didn't know that Ning Rongrong had a system.

Ning Rongrong remembered that ten thousand Identity Points could be exchanged for an Immortal Herb.

Though she didn't know whether any Immortal Herb could heal this kind of injury, at least it gave her something to hope for.

On only the second day after the new students started at Shrek Academy, a fight like this had broken out.

The academy's teachers had no choice but to delay the start of classes.

The new students, other than Ma Hongjun, had no choice but to cultivate on their own.

Three whole days passed like that before the academy's teachers called the new students together for the first time.

To prevent another accident, the teacher in charge of the first assembly even went to the meeting point before dawn.

If something like what had happened between Ning Rongrong and Ma Hongjun happened again, no one could bear it.

Over those three days, Zhu Zhuqing had basically recovered, except for a round scar left on her back. Its size was enough to make one click their tongue.

Ning Rongrong, meanwhile, stepped up her practice of Healing Pagoda. No, ever since the Ten Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda mutated into the Ten Treasures Glazed Sword, she had been practicing Healing Sword.

With her Healing Sword count increasing threefold, she gained another 9,000-plus uses over those three full days.

The current count was 9,621.

She would soon reach the first stage of the Healing Sword reward.

If she had time to cultivate today, she could pass ten thousand uses today.

The appointed assembly time arrived.

Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing arrived on time. At the same time, four others came from the other direction.

They were Tang San, Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, and a newcomer.

He was rather good-looking, considerably more handsome than even Tang San. Presumably, he was Oscar, the last of the original Shrek Seven Devils.

Ma Hongjun, however, didn't show up.

After all, Ma Hongjun had been beaten so badly last time that even Hua Tuo would have had to cry for a long while. How could he possibly be healed so easily?

At the assembly point on the main training ground.

Seeing that all the new students had arrived, Flender, who stood on a raised spot, frowned and jumped down with ease.

It gave everyone a fright.

In terms of agility, he was indeed more nimble than Zhao Wuji, whom they had met before.

Oscar enthusiastically introduced Flender to everyone. He was the dean of Shrek Academy, a level seventy-eight Soul Saint whose Martial Soul was a flying-type Beast Martial Soul.

Also...

That damn fatty Ma Hongjun was his personal disciple.

Flender looked to be in his fifties, with a sturdy build and distinctive facial features. His chin jutted forward, his cheekbones were broad, his face was flat, and he had a hooked nose. He looked much like a foreigner Ning Rongrong had seen in her previous life.

He wore black-framed glasses with stiff, square frames.

Only after Oscar finished introducing him did Flender walk up to the six new students. He looked expressionless, but Ning Rongrong noticed that when his gaze swept over her, there was something distinctly unusual in it. It seemed like surprise, but even more like anger.

After all, the person she had nearly beaten to death was Flender's personal disciple.

No one would act as though nothing had happened.

Fortunately, despite that look, Flender didn't make things difficult for her.

She didn't know whether he realized Ma Hongjun was at fault or feared the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect behind her.

On reflection, the latter seemed more likely.

After all, Ma Hongjun hadn't been behaving that way for just a day or two.

It was only that no one had stopped him before.

And the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect behind her was, after all, one of the Upper Three Sects on the Douluo Continent. It also had two Titled Douluo guarding it, making it a force no one at Shrek Academy could afford to provoke.

But before long, Ning Rongrong realized she had been too naive.

On the first day's assembly, Flender didn't have everyone train together. Instead, after a long-winded lesson on theory, he dismissed most of them, keeping only her and Oscar behind.

Oscar couldn't help muttering to Ning Rongrong, "We're done for. This is going to be bad."

Why?

From the original story, Ning Rongrong knew that Flender would say Support System Soul Masters had poor physical fitness and needed to focus even more on physical training.

So he would have her and Oscar run twenty laps around the village.

But it was only twenty laps, so Ning Rongrong didn't pay it much mind.

With her current fitness, she should be able to last twenty laps.

Ning Rongrong ignored Oscar.

But when Flender actually announced the task, she realized she had thought it would be too simple.

"Ning Rongrong, Oscar, starting now, you'll run around the village. Oscar, your fitness is poor, so twenty laps around the village will do. Ning Rongrong, since your strength is far greater than that of an ordinary Support System Soul Master, you'll run fifty laps around the village."

"If you haven't returned by noon, neither of you will get lunch."

"Of course, you can use any means to assist yourselves. Oscar will lead the way for the first twenty laps. After that, Ning Rongrong, you'll run another thirty laps on your own."

"You may not overtake Oscar during that time. That's a hard rule."

"I'm doing this for your own good. Otherwise, if you get lost on your own, there'll be no one to bring you back."

"..."

Fuck.

Ning Rongrong couldn't help feeling resentful. "What if I know my way around the village? Can I run on my own?"

"No!" Flender said coldly. "This isn't just to improve your physical fitness. It's also a chance for the two of you to get to know each other."

"..."

Listening to Flender's nonsense, Ning Rongrong felt anger well up inside her.

Fine, fine, fine. He didn't dare openly fall out with her, so he was going to resort to underhanded tricks to force her to leave the academy?

There seemed to be plenty of normal people on the Douluo Continent, but that was only because their interests hadn't been touched.

And once someone's interests were threatened, retaliation would follow close behind.

But Ning Rongrong wasn't someone who would let others carve her up at will. Today, she would prove she could do it.

Since you're putting a stumbling block in my path, I'll thank you for the chance to strengthen myself.

It's just fifty laps, isn't it?

Charge!

Without arguing further, Ning Rongrong motioned for Oscar to lead the way, and the two of them soon set off.

And the moment the two disappeared from Shrek Academy.

Sure enough, Flender revealed a meaningful smile that looked more sinister than anything. "Ning Fengzhi, oh, Ning Fengzhi, no matter how much you cherish your precious daughter, at Shrek Academy she has to listen to me. Otherwise, she can get the hell out."

Then he pointed at Tang San. "You, come with me alone."