The Grandmaster Again! Sword Douluo [5000]

"That's right."

"And actually, rather than running, it would be better to spend that time cultivating. At the same realm, every level of Soul Power gained also strengthened the body."

"All the time wasted running every day adds up to a huge amount over the course of a year..."

Beside them, Zhu Zhuqing spoke slowly as well. As she spoke, she couldn't help sinking into thought. Could Shrek Academy's other Support System Soul Master have spent years running at the academy?

If that were true, she couldn't bear to imagine how much cultivation time he had lost. Even the best talent would have gone to waste.

"That's... Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, you're right."

"Why bother making plans to run and improve your physique when you could just focus on cultivating? Could anything strengthen you more than increasing your cultivation?"

Hearing this, Ning Rongrong, who had already felt something was wrong, suddenly saw the light. Her face showed a hint of anger.

She had known something felt off before. So that old bastard Flender had simply been playing her for a fool!

The idea that Support System Soul Masters should run to improve their physiques was nothing but a fantasy born from his underdeveloped cerebellum!

"That hateful Dean Flender! If he can't even teach students properly, he shouldn't teach at all. Isn't he leading them astray?!"

Ning Rongrong looked thoroughly displeased as she spoke indignantly.

Some Shrek Academy, some special teaching! They were treating students like fools, yet they had the nerve to accept geniuses and reject ordinary people. Even geniuses would be ruined to death here!

"No wonder hardly any students come here to enroll. The food and accommodation are bad, the location's remote, and the Support System Soul Masters' course is running..."

"Who would come here?"

Ning Rongrong couldn't stop herself from going on. At that moment, she felt she had become the living embodiment of seeking hardship where none was needed.

"Yeah, but I really am curious what the combat Soul Masters' course is. They even insist on starting it so late at night..."

"Though I don't think it'll be much good either."

Xiao Wu's face was full of doubt. Judging by Rongrong's course, at least, she could hardly look forward to theirs.

"Let's meditate first. We'll find out tonight."

Beside them, Zhu Zhuqing didn't care as much. She had long since accepted that Shrek lacked ability and resources.

This really wasn't a place to stay for long.

"Okay!"

Ning Rongrong nodded in agreement. At this hour, Brother Tang was surely meditating and cultivating diligently too. They couldn't fall behind!

As for her ridiculous course, she would tell him about it later. Brother Tang would surely be shocked too!

"..."

Time flew, and evening arrived.

As the time Flender had given them drew near, Xiao Wu and the others finished cultivating and gathered with Tang Wulin once again. Together, they headed toward the training grounds.

On the way, Ning Rongrong told him about her course and what the three sisters had discussed.

"That's what happened, Brother Tang."

"..."

As she spoke, Ning Rongrong couldn't help looking a little awkward. After all, she had skipped class, and that wasn't a good thing however one looked at it.

To her surprise, Tang Wulin responded favorably after hearing her out.

"Rongrong, you did the right thing. With such an absurd course, you shouldn't have gone along with Flender."

Tang Wulin spoke frankly, a smile on his face.

He naturally knew what Rongrong's course was, but he hadn't expected her to have seen through how unreliable that fellow was while talking with her sisters.

Flender's teaching ability was on par with Yu Xiaogang's. To put it bluntly, he wasn't even as good as Gangzi.

Otherwise, he wouldn't have had the glorious achievement of producing only a few dozen graduates in over twenty years since founding the academy. He dreamed of making Shrek the number one academy under heaven, but had never achieved any actual results.

He simply couldn't teach. Forget making progress under him; the geniuses in his care would be burning incense in thanks if they didn't regress.

It was worth mentioning his disciple, Ma Hongjun, who had possessed innate level nine Soul Power, yet whose cultivation was still only level twenty-seven.

"Brother Tang, you think so too!"

Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up at his answer, and her earlier worries vanished in an instant. Sure enough, Brother Tang could see Flender's true colors too.

"Of course. Just as you said Zhu Zhuqing pointed out, the way to truly make great improvements to your physique is through Soul Power cultivation, not running."

"It's not that running has no effect, but you have to carry weights. With a hundred jin on your back, it can still have an effect before you reach two rings, but it isn't that useful."

Tang Wulin spoke slowly. Of all the running exercises across the generations, only Wu Changkong of the third generation had used weighted running to lay a physical foundation for the one-ring protagonists.

But what use was running alone? Aside from wasting time, it accomplished almost nothing.

"And for disciples from influential families, eating some high-grade ingredients can easily surpass the effects of that so-called training."

Unfortunately, Flender's limited knowledge and stingy nature meant he couldn't even conceive of that.

"Hehe, okay."

Ning Rongrong answered with a smile. She had known Brother Tang wouldn't think much of Flender either!

"..."

Before long, Tang Wulin and the three girls met up with Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Tang San. Besides Flender, Oscar was also absent.

Soon, Flender walked straight over from the distance and stood before them, his face expressionless and his gaze cold enough to kill.

The Dean is very angry.

Seeing him like that, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Tang San were all taken aback. They couldn't help muttering to themselves, wondering who had offended this powerful man.

Offending the Dean at Shrek wouldn't end well.

He's already ugly, and now he's scowling too...

Xiao Wu glanced at Flender and couldn't help silently delivering that sharp appraisal in her heart.

"Dean, I've finished the twenty laps..."

Not long after everyone else had gathered, a panting figure arrived late, sweat clearly visible on his forehead. It was Oscar, who had just finished his course.

Neither his Martial Soul nor his Soul Skills did much to help his speed, so those twenty laps had truly been far too difficult for him.

"..."

Good thing I didn't finish running.

Ning Rongrong frowned slightly. Look, even he had taken until nearly evening to finish. If she had actually completed the course, a whole day's cultivation time would have been wasted.

Trading a day's cultivation for a day of running? That was a little too straightforward.

"Mm, very good. Rejoin the group."

But Flender saw nothing wrong with it. Instead, he smiled at Oscar, seemingly quite pleased with his performance.

After that brief comment, his icy gaze fell on the others again.

"Tonight, I was going to take the new students to the place where you'll begin your course, but before that..."

"Ning Rongrong, step forward."

Flender changed the subject, looking toward Ning Rongrong with an imposing expression and a cold smile.

That girl is in for it.

Seeing Flender's smile with a knife hidden behind it, Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and Oscar, who knew him well, all froze. She had angered the Dean on her very first day at the academy. She was done for!

"Mm."

Ning Rongrong was startled, but stepped forward nonetheless. She wanted to see what else Flender intended to do.

"Did you finish the course I assigned you?"

"Did you finish the twenty laps I told you to run?"

Seeing the girl's normal expression, Flender grew even angrier. She hadn't finished running, yet she still acted so self-righteous. Did she hold him in such contempt?

The last thing he, Flender, needed was students who disrupted his course arrangements, disobeyed him, and had no desire to improve!

"No."

Ning Rongrong shook her head and answered frankly.

"Very good. I admire your honesty, but since you know you didn't finish, why didn't you complete your course?!"

Flender was taken aback and couldn't help frowning.

"I'll give you a chance. Apologize to me, then start running again and finish the rest. I'll let this matter go."

He then made that magnanimous offer.

"Dean, it wasn't just today. I won't do it tomorrow or the day after either, because your course isn't reasonable. I don't think it will help me at all."

At Ning Rongrong's next words, Dai Mubai and the others were completely stunned. Clearly, they had never imagined she would say such a thing.

Their Dean hated nothing more than students who disrupted order at the academy and in its courses, especially those who questioned him!

And her attitude would completely enrage the Dean.

"Hehehe, very good. Are you questioning me, Ning Rongrong? Do you think you know more than I do?"

Sure enough, after a brief silence, Flender let out a cold laugh, his eyes sharp.

In more than twenty years of running the academy, this was the first time a student had dared speak to him like that!

As the Grandmaster's close friend, he was just as knowledgeable, yet a little girl was questioning him. Pathetic, truly pathetic.

"Dean, don't get worked up. I don't think I know more than you do. I just think your course of making me run twenty laps is useless, that's all."

Ning Rongrong was clearly not about to be scared off. She spoke frankly, refusing to accept the label he was pinning on her.

His course was useless. Wasn't she allowed to say so? She had paid tuition to attend school.

"Fine, Ning Rongrong. I admit your status is indeed noble. As Sect Master Ning's only daughter and a top genius with innate level nine Soul Power, you truly are one of the very best."

"But the one thing you shouldn't do is question me. Shrek doesn't accept mediocrities, and I, Flender, am confident I can teach every student well."

"As for the running course, I already explained the reasoning to you this morning. What's there to question...?"

Flender spoke slowly, his expression cold.

He was in a terrible mood. If the girl before him hadn't been from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, and Shrek's development hadn't needed the backing of a powerful force, he would have expelled her on the spot.

He, Flender, hated being questioned most of all.

"Dean Flender, you mean..."

"That Support System Soul Masters should improve their speed, and even surpass combat Soul Masters as much as possible?"

Ning Rongrong looked at him and spoke frankly.

"Is there a problem?"

Flender frowned. Ning Rongrong had understood it clearly enough, so why couldn't she get her head around it?

Once her speed improved, wouldn't she be able to dodge? Did she really not understand such a simple principle? As expected, disciples from great families were nothing special.

"Then, Dean, have you considered this?"

"If a Support System Soul Master could really run faster than Soul Masters of the same level, they wouldn't be Support System anymore. They'd be Agility Attack System."

Ning Rongrong's expression froze. For a moment, she couldn't even tell whether Flender was truly stupid or merely pretending. She calmly stated this, wondering whether he was really not an impostor.

"Running is a conclusion a good friend and I reached together. It can greatly improve a Support System Soul Master's physique and provide an additional safeguard. It's an important course."

"As for who my friend is, perhaps you've heard of him. He's the Grandmaster who proposed the Core Competencies of Martial Souls. No one in the Soul Master World can match his understanding of Soul Masters."

Flender snorted and spoke frankly. Xiaogang had once shared this method with him, so there could be no problem with it.

Ning Rongrong simply couldn't appreciate fine fare.

Xiaogang's excellent theories had been questioned and scorned by countless people, but that hadn't stopped his wisdom from resounding throughout the Soul Master World.

So this had something to do with the Grandmaster too.

Tang Wulin's expression froze. He didn't know whether to laugh or cry. What outrageous thing could Gangzi not come up with?

"Dean, my teacher was the one who proposed this!"

When Tang San heard his teacher's title, a smile instantly spread across his face, and his eyes lit up. Look, this was his teacher's dominance in the Soul Master World!

For a moment, even his sorrow over Xiao Wu being on good terms with Tang Wulin lessened considerably.

"That's right, Xiao San. It was your teacher's research."

Flender smiled and nodded. Now that he had brought up Grandmaster Xiaogang's name, surely Ning Rongrong would have nothing to say!

"No wonder it's so outrageous."

To his surprise, Ning Rongrong immediately sighed in amazement. Xiao Wu had already shown her disdain, and Zhu Zhuqing's eyes were cold.

They had all heard from Xiao Wu about how outrageous Grandmaster Yu Xiaogang was, such as his attempt to take Brother Tang as a disciple and even throwing him into the Soul Beast Forest.

They hadn't expected that making Food System Soul Masters run was his suggestion too. So it was all Yu Xiaogang's fault. In that case, it wasn't strange anymore.

After all, if that good-for-nothing with only level twenty-nine cultivation could go so far as to call himself Grandmaster, what wouldn't he dare do?

"What did you say?!"

Hearing that, Flender's face instantly filled with anger. He could accept any kind of questioning, except when it concerned Xiaogang!

His good brother was a Grandmaster of the Soul Master World!

"Little ones."

"Even a clay figure has some fire in it. If you keep speaking ill of the Grandmaster and questioning him in front of me, don't blame me for losing my temper!"

Flender's expression turned hostile as he spoke.

"Dean Flender, you keep talking about questioning you, pinning that label on people..."

"Would you dare pin it on me?"

A cold light flashed, and a figure appeared behind Flender at some unknown point, speaking coldly.

"Your Excellency must be Ning Rongrong's guard. We're merely having a normal conversation here. Besides, Sect Master Ning said I needn't give Ning..."

Sensing the person behind him, Flender snorted and shook his head dismissively. With the letter Ning Fengzhi had left, he didn't believe anyone from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect would punish him.

But when he turned around and saw the white-haired old man before him, he froze completely.

"Sword..."

"Sword Douluo?"

Looking at the old man, Flender's throat trembled several times, and his face showed surprise.

It seemed...

He had taken this joke a little too far!

P.S. I've been in terrible shape these past two days. It took me more than five hours to write today's 6,000 characters. My head really hurts. Sigh, it's pretty hard on me too (◞‸◟)