Rich Second-Gen, Day Twenty-Six

"Keep formation. Xiao San, stay alert," Dai Mubai ordered quickly in a low voice. Everyone nodded, activated their Martial Soul Possession, and pressed onward.

The rules stated that whoever obtained the token in the forest first would win. It was essentially a race, but the map only showed a single route from the camp to the token. They would have to enter the forest and figure things out as they went.

According to the tactics they had discussed yesterday, their priority was still finding the token. They would not seek out a fight unless necessary, but if the other side came looking for one, they would not hold back.

Blue Silver Grass remained in communication with the plants as they advanced rapidly and silently into the forest.

"Careful. There's a Purple Gold Hound. It's not very old. Prepare for battle," Tang San reminded them softly.

"Don't get drawn into a prolonged fight. Just drive it off," Dai Mubai instructed.

The Purple Gold Hound entered their sight. This one seemed to have a nasty temper, immediately firing a Spirit Power Bullet at Dai Mubai.

Ming Sui held the Staff of Life and had already released her First Spirit Skill before the bullet arrived. A green shield surrounded Dai Mubai. He emerged unscathed from the Spirit Power Bullet and even gained a small benefit from it. At the same time, Ma Hongjun, having eaten Oscar's Second Spirit Skill, Explosive Great Sausage, unleashed his Phoenix Fire Line. Wind and thunder accompanied the Phoenix Flame like an arrow loosed from a bow, striking the Purple Gold Hound head-on. The beast cried out in pain. Seeing that they did not continue attacking after that blow, it realized they did not truly want to fight. After sensing their strength, it tucked its tail between its legs and ran off with a snort.

"It's gone. It doesn't intend to come back," Tang San promptly reported.

As they continued onward, the results of the past two months of training became apparent. Even without using Soul Power, they could advance swiftly without breaking formation. Shrek's teachers had all come to watch the competition today, and they were fairly satisfied with the children's performance on the large screen.

A'tu had also come out for the rare occasion. Ever since entering Shrek, she had kept a low profile. Whenever she obtained a spirit ring, Tang Yunhua would help conceal it, and she rarely interacted with the others. After consulting her, Ming Zhen and his wife had told Flender about her and Xiao Wu. Within the academy, Flender could also help hide the mother and daughter.

Watching Xiao Wu's alert behavior within the team, A'tu's eyes were filled with pride. This was her daughter. She had a safe environment to grow up in, reliable teachers, and teammates she could trust with her back.

"They reacted quickly. Tang San's Martial Soul really is incredibly useful in a forest."

The city defense army personnel were watching as well.

At the moment, both teams were still on the move, having encountered only various spirit beasts blocking their paths. Everyone was paying closer attention to their performance during the advance.

The sun gradually climbed higher, and the forest lost its morning coolness as heat began to build. Many spirit beasts rested at this time. Dai Mubai seized the opportunity. "This is a good chance. Full speed ahead. Rongrong and Little Ao can use Soul Power. Xiao San, use Blue Silver Grass to clear the way."

Ning Rongrong and Oscar were indeed struggling somewhat, but neither wanted to use Soul Power so soon. It felt wasteful. They exchanged a glance. "Dai Laoda, Little Ao and I can hold on a little longer. Using Soul Power now would be too wasteful."

Dai Mubai shook his head. "This is a race. If we get there first, everything else is negotiable. As long as we have enough Soul Power, that's fine. If we aren't fast enough, nothing matters. The rest of you too—if you feel strained, use some Soul Power. Xiao San, pay attention to the other side while clearing the path."

Master nodded outside the field. "Mu Bai still knows how to identify the key point."

Flender leaned closer to Master. "Your positioning for them seems a little off. Xiao San and Sui Sui are clearly from the Control System, so why is Mu Bai handling all the tactics now? Isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"

Master found that somewhat amusing. "It's not quite the same. Control System Spirit Masters are indeed the brains of a team, but it depends on the actual situation. After spending so long in the forest, they have to give the Control System Spirit Masters a chance to rest their brains. Besides, you only see Mu Bai giving orders. Haven't you noticed that Xiao San has already eliminated all the other options? With things controlled this thoroughly, even Little Ma could command."

Flender gave Master a meaningful look. "Are you trying to set them down the path of becoming all-round Spirit Masters? Mu Bai might manage, but Little Ma will probably have a hard time. And I should remind you, when there are too many brains on a team, it is not necessarily clear whose orders everyone will follow."

Master recalled the arduous process of making Ma Hongjun use his brain. The corners of his mouth drooped. He was not amused.

"As for Sui Sui, whenever Xiao San is around, she never takes command. I'll have to push her more in the future." Master felt a small pang of worry as he remembered this.

Flender curled his lip. "Come on, Sui Sui is fine as she is." Didn't he know his own good friend? Xiao Gang looked worried, but in truth, he was perfectly satisfied with the current situation. "Registration for this year's Spirit Master Elite Competition has begun. I see quite a few Soul Master Academies have already started training their teams."

The Continental Advanced Soul Master Academy Elite Competition was held once every five years, jointly organized by the Two Great Empires and Spirit Hall. It was the premier event in the spirit master world, and competitors had to be between twelve and twenty years old.

"What are you in such a hurry for? Our children aren't old enough yet," Master said helplessly.

But Flender said, "I'm thinking of taking the children to watch. At the very least, they need to know what level they'll have to reach five years from now."

Master frowned, clearly reluctant. He pondered for a long time. "Fine. Going to watch would be beneficial too, but we'll have to discuss it with the city lord and the others."

The Shrek Seven Devils had no idea about the argument outside the arena. They were currently exchanging blows with a Great Strength Vajra Bear. That was right—the same Great Strength Vajra Bear as Teacher Zhao's Martial Soul.

They had truly run into trouble this time. This young bear was clearly stubborn; even though it could not win, it insisted on fighting.

"Keeping this up will waste too much time. Little Ma, attach your flames to the Blue Silver Grass. I'll make a barrier. This bear won't dare touch fire. By the time it breaks through the barrier, it won't be able to catch us," Tang San said calmly.

"Rongrong, prepare a speed boost. Once we block the bear, immediately boost yourself and Little Ao. Everyone, use Soul Power and move," Dai Mubai added.

Blue Silver Grass imbued with Phoenix Flame grew wildly. The fire-fearing bear did not immediately go forward to destroy it, giving Tang San time. Oscar's First Spirit Skill, Entrance, replenished their Soul Power, and the Blue Silver Grass gathered even faster. By the time the wall of fire was complete, the Great Strength Vajra Bear realized what the humans were doing. But it truly did not dare touch the flames and could only rage helplessly behind them. Even more heartbreaking, their increasingly faint scents meant that the humans had already left. Bear was unhappy. Bear wanted to cry!

Having already run two li away, the Shrek group wiped away their sweat as they listened to the distant roar of the Great Strength Vajra Bear.

Ming Sui's eyes sparkled. "Good thing Third Brother is smart." After spending so much time with everyone, she had begun calling Tang San Third Brother, just like Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing did.

Everyone deeply agreed. No one noticed Tang San's ears quietly turning red.

The map showed that they were already very close to the token. Tang San suddenly made a gesture for them to stop, and everyone immediately concealed themselves.

"There are people nearby fighting spirit beasts. We're very close to the token now, so it's highly likely to be Team 01. Everyone, prepare for battle in advance," Tang San warned.

Ming Sui found it somewhat unusual. "Could they be trying to ambush us?"

"It can't be ruled out," Tang San said cautiously.

"Get ready, everyone. We're very close to victory." Dai Mubai looked seriously at the others.

The city defense reserve squad really wanted to curse. Compared with the opposing squad that had only trained for two months, they held every possible advantage. They had trained longer and appeared older, so their original plan had been to reach the area near the finish first, set an ambush, eliminate all their opponents, and then take the token.

It had been a good plan, and at first, it had gone very smoothly.

After leaving the starting camp, they had barely encountered any spirit beasts. They only fought once and reached the area near the token without trouble. After checking their bearings, they prepared to set up an ambush.

01 was also the team commander. He led everyone to find a good location for an ambush. It was indeed a good spot—at least, the Ghost Monkey troop thought so too.

The monkeys were enraged by the intrusion into their territory and began attacking the city defense reserve squad. These monkeys were not particularly powerful, but they were nimble and incredibly fast. In short, their attacks were not very strong, but they were immensely humiliating. The squad could not quickly deal with them for a time.

While they were tangled up with the monkeys, Shrek caught up.

Outside the field, Shrek's teachers breathed a sigh of relief, while the superiors of the city defense reserve squad darkened their faces. Shao Xin popped a Candy Bean into his mouth and thought that their faces were practically as black as the bottom of a pot.

Dai Mubai, Tang San, and Ma Hongjun took the lead. Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing stayed on the flanks, Oscar and Ning Rongrong remained in the center, and Ming Sui guarded the rear. In this formation, they cautiously advanced toward the finish. Soon, they saw the token beneath a red flag. After confirming that there was nothing around, Tang San gave Zhu Zhuqing a look. The Hell Spirit Cat stretched out her body and swiftly, lightly claimed the token.

The attack came at that very moment. After leading his team away from the monkeys, 01 decided to take the token first, only to see the Shrek group had already obtained it.

02, whose Wind Wolf Martial Soul had activated Martial Soul Possession, flapped his wings and sent Wind Bullets toward Zhu Zhuqing.

But the Hell Spirit Cat, enhanced by the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, was faster than the Wind Bullets. The attack missed.

If they could not win the race, could they not even win a team battle? Humiliated and enraged, 01 used his Ghost Vine Martial Soul to keep them there. Battle was about to erupt.

Blue Silver Grass and Ghost Vine intertwined. Ma Hongjun used the same tactic again, attaching Phoenix Flame to the Blue Silver Grass. Sensing the scorching heat, the Ghost Vine swiftly retreated. 01's face darkened. Then 03 charged out from behind, and Dai Mubai met him head-on. Their tiger fists collided, but Dai Mubai's Hell White Tiger proved superior in the end. Xiao Wu confronted 04, the antelope spirit master. Charm combined with Waist Bow, firmly tying down her opponent. Zhu Zhuqing, meanwhile, took the initiative and infiltrated behind enemy lines to ambush the two Support Spirit Masters.

"Clang!" Ming Sui's staff struck 05's broadsword as it swung toward Ning Rongrong. Tang San, distracted for a moment as he saw Ming Sui block 05, breathed a sigh of relief and helped Zhu Zhuqing deal with 08, the Golden Armored Ox defensive spirit master.

Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda continued providing steady boosts. Behind them, Ming Sui and 05 fought fiercely. 05 gritted his teeth inwardly. He had not expected someone who looked like a mage to be so troublesome. He wanted badly to find an opening to attack Ning Rongrong or Oscar, but Ming Sui's defense was flawless, leaving him unable to break the deadlock.

Seeing his side's attack at a stalemate, 01 called 05 back to defend against Zhu Zhuqing. The Ghost Vine dragged 05 back, but Ming Sui sharply noticed it. The Staff of Life wrapped around the Ghost Vine and yanked it back. "Get back here!"