An Acquaintance

After the New Student Assessment, Wang Nan's life settled into a routine. Every day consisted of getting up, eating, attending class, eating, training, eating, meditating, and sleeping. In the blink of an eye, several more months passed.

Thanks to the Shrek cafeteria he had been thinking about constantly, Wang Nan improved tremendously over those months, and his soul power smoothly reached Rank 30. A threshold that most Soul Masters found difficult to cross had been passed without a sound.

"Winter Break starts tomorrow." From the podium, Sun He announced the holiday, prompting cheers from the entire class.

"Quiet down first." Sun He tapped the desk. "This month-long break isn't for you to relax completely. When the next semester begins, there will be a Promotion Assessment. Based on the assessment content from previous years, students of the Assault Type and Control Type will each have to face a Hundred-Year Soul Beast alone. Only by defeating it or completely controlling it will you pass the assessment..."

Knock, knock, knock—

A series of knocks interrupted Sun He.

"Sorry to interrupt, Teacher Sun. I'm looking for student Wang Nan." The one standing at the classroom door was none other than Du Weilun.

"Wang Nan, come out for a moment." Sun He turned and glanced at Wang Nan.

The moment Wang Nan saw Du Weilun, he had already guessed what this was about. His soul power had broken through Rank 30 last month, but he had never had the time to obtain a soul ring. Winter Break began tomorrow, so Du Weilun was probably here because of that.

"Your Soul Power Level has reached Rank 30, correct?" Sure enough, Du Weilun asked after leading Wang Nan a few steps away.

"Yes, Director Du."

"You remember the soul ring the academy promised you, right? As it happens, a highly capable teacher will be heading into the Star Dou Great Forest tomorrow to obtain a soul ring for his disciple. If you have time, he can take you along."

For Du Weilun to describe him as highly capable, that teacher had to be at least a Titled Douluo.

Under normal circumstances, when the academy helped students obtain soul rings, it would first register those in need, then have one or several teachers lead them in a special team to hunt soul beasts. However, if something unexpected happened, it would be difficult to ensure everyone's safety.

In comparison, obtaining a soul ring under the protection of a Titled Douluo was much safer. Moreover, since only Wang Nan and that teacher's disciple needed soul rings, they would have more time to choose suitable ones.

Thus, after a brief moment of thought, Wang Nan agreed.

"Good. Be at the gates of Shrek Academy tomorrow morning. Don't be late."

Early the next morning, Wang Nan packed his luggage, told Wang Yan about obtaining a soul ring, and only then headed to the academy gates.

It was the holiday period, and quite a few students were coming and going through the gates. Most of them were heading out, taking advantage of the break to return home.

Wang Nan looked around and soon noticed an elderly man some distance away. He wore white robes and had a little girl about Wang Nan's height beside him. This was likely the teacher Du Weilun had mentioned.

"You're Wang Nan, right? Director Du should have told you already." The old man spoke as soon as they met. "You both need Thousand-Year Soul Rings this time, so we'll search the Outer Zone first. If we can't find anything suitable, I'll take you into the Mixed Zone."

The Mixed Zone of the Star Dou Great Forest referred to the roughly ring-shaped region between forty and eighty kilometers from its center. The soul beasts living there were mainly Thousand-Year and Ten Thousand Year soul beasts, though some Hundred-Year Soul Beasts could survive there through the strength of their groups. Compared to the Outer Zone, the Mixed Zone had far more soul beasts.

This was one of the advantages of having a powerful teacher protecting them. For ordinary Soul Masters, the extremely dangerous Mixed Zone was not somewhere they could enter whenever they pleased.

After making their travel arrangements, the three headed toward the Star Dou Great Forest.

Along the way, the old man walked at the front without saying a word, while the little girl kept sneaking glances at Wang Nan.

"I'm Wang Nan. What's your name?" Traveling was boring, so Wang Nan simply started a conversation.

"My name is Ma Xiaotao." The girl looked up at her teacher before answering.

"Uh..." Wang Nan had not expected her to be an "acquaintance." Then the old man ahead of them had to be Yan Shaozhe, the dean of the Martial Soul Department.

"Are you a first-year student? You're getting your third soul ring this early? What's your martial soul? Hey, how about we find time for the two of us to have a match?" Once the conversation started, Ma Xiaotao fired off one question after another.

She had always been lively by nature. After being adopted by Yan Shaozhe, she had lived on Sea God Island, where she had hardly any peers to talk to. Now that Wang Nan was finally there, she could not stop once she started talking.

Still, it was a good thing. As they chatted while walking, the journey was no longer quite so dull.

All three were Soul Masters, so they moved quickly. Moreover, the Star Dou Great Forest lay southeast of Shrek Academy and was not far away. By nightfall, they had already reached the Outer Zone.

Generally speaking, the forest was more dangerous at night. Most Soul Masters would leave at this time and choose to enter again after daybreak. But with Yan Shaozhe present, they did not need to worry about soul beast attacks. The three of them not only set up camp in the forest, but also lit a bonfire and sat around it.

Unfortunately, Wang Nan did not possess any exceptional fish-grilling skills, so they could only eat some simple food packed from the cafeteria.

"What kind of Soul Skill do you want?" Ma Xiaotao asked as she ate, looking at Wang Nan across the bonfire.

"An offensive one, preferably an area-of-effect attack."

Wang Nan's first two Soul Skills were both support-type, while Python Thrust and Tail Sweep, which he had learned from soul beasts, could only target a single enemy. Therefore, an area-of-effect Soul Skill naturally became his best choice.

In truth, with Wang Nan's "talent," adding support-type Soul Skills like he had with his first two soul rings, then learning additional skills from soul beasts, was also an option. But Wang Nan could not be sure what skill he would learn from a soul beast. Among so many skills, finding one he was satisfied with had even lower odds than pulling cards in the gacha games from his previous life.

"Area-of-effect, huh? Soul beasts like bears and elephants mostly provide area-of-effect Soul Skills, and they're quite powerful too." Ma Xiaotao seriously began planning things out for Wang Nan. "But those soul beasts are powerful, so they might not be easy to find in the Outer Zone."

"Let's leave it to luck. Maybe first thing tomorrow morning, a soul beast that suits me will come knocking on our door. What about you? Have you decided?"

"Mm, I actually set my target long ago." As Ma Xiaotao spoke, she took out a small red pouch and pulled several thumb-sized black balls from it.

"What are those?"

"Fire Chestnuts. My target is the Fire Cloud Sparrow. These Fire Chestnuts are their favorite food. We'll lure them over. If one is old enough, we'll use it as a soul ring. If not, we'll take it back and raise it at the academy."

Ma Xiaotao's martial soul was the same as Ma Hongjun's among the First Generation Shrek Seven Monsters: the Evil Fire Phoenix. No one knew how many people in the academy had researched it. Over ten thousand years, they had thoroughly determined which soul beasts were suitable for each soul ring, so she had long since made her preparations.

"Alright, go rest once you're done eating." Yan Shaozhe, who had remained silent the entire time, finally spoke. "You still need to obtain soul rings tomorrow. Conserve your strength."