Willpower

Oscar's face immediately fell. Reluctant and unwilling, he walked up to Flender and bowed. Only when he saw Ning Rongrong come to stand beside him did his expression improve slightly.

Flender waved a hand. "The rest of you may go rest. Remember, get yourselves into peak condition before nightfall. Don't blame me for not warning you—this academy's teaching differs from everywhere else. You may even face danger."

Zhu Zhuqing left without even looking back, and Dai Mubai did not chase after her this time.

Ma Hongjun slipped away quickly too, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Bai Ge followed directly after him.

Entrusted by another, one must be loyal to the task. Since he had promised Sword Douluo to take good care of Rongrong, Bai Ge naturally could not simply leave her alone.

Flender did not mind. He said to Oscar and Ning Rongrong, "Everyone has their own cultivation method. Different martial souls require vastly different methods of cultivation. On Douluo Continent, there are almost no completely identical martial souls. Therefore, what the academy teaches you is not how to cultivate your martial souls, but how to use them. How to better preserve yourselves and support your comrades in future battles."

Oscar seemed to have heard similar words before. He lowered his head noncommittally, while Ning Rongrong nodded deeply in agreement.

Flender continued, "As an auxiliary-type Soul Master, fleeing is a necessary quality. An auxiliary-type Soul Master who cannot run away is not a good Soul Master. And what does running away require? Stamina. Although, as Soul Masters, your bodies are stronger than those of ordinary people with the support of your own Soul Power, the enemies you face will be the other side's battle-type Soul Masters. Therefore, as auxiliary-type Soul Masters, you likewise need physical training. At a critical moment, perhaps running just one more step will allow you to survive."

Bai Ge sighed. Wasn't that obvious?

Martial soul cultivation on Douluo Continent was simply meditation and absorbing Heaven and Earth Spiritual Energy.

Then, the quality of the martial soul itself determined how quickly one absorbed spiritual energy.

Not until later—thirty thousand years later, in the fourth part, Ultimate Douluo—was the "Mysterious Heaven Skill" made public as a foundational textbook for everyone.

Let alone in this era.

People on Douluo Continent basically had no concept of cultivation techniques.

Qian Renxue was somewhat better off, possessing an exclusive meditation method passed down by the Angel God.

The entire power system of Douluo Continent was built entirely upon Soul Rings.

Not to mention combat techniques.

As a senior once said well, if you cannot win, at least you need to be able to run away.

Otherwise, you would lose your life.

Therefore, Bai Ge had no objections to Flender making Rongrong run.

This girl's willpower really needed some proper training.

The Innate Formless Sword Qi Bai Ge had asked Sword Douluo to teach her still had not made much progress.

To be honest, Bai Ge was already considering whether he should just buy her an AK47 with unlimited bullets from the system.

But no matter what, Rongrong's willpower had to be tempered properly through this opportunity.

After his lengthy speech, Flender nodded at Oscar and Ning Rongrong. "Your lesson today is physical training. Starting now, sprint around the entire village twenty times. If you have not returned before lunch, then you need not eat lunch. You may use your own martial souls to assist yourselves. Now, set off. Oscar will lead the way."

After the two set out, Bai Ge followed them.

Although the village where Shrek Academy was located was not large, the "entire village" Flender meant included the farmland within it.

One lap was at least three kilometers.

Twenty laps was quite a terrifying number.

In Bai Ge's view, it was unnecessary. Ten laps would have been enough.

Marathons in his previous life were only forty-two kilometers.

Ten laps already came to more than thirty kilometers.

That was nearly three-quarters of a full marathon, more than enough for Ning Rongrong, this Little Princess.

Do not forget that aside from Tang San and Bai Ge, those two cheaters, Ning Rongrong was only twelve years old.

Teach according to one's aptitude and adapt to local conditions. If Shrek did not even understand such a simple principle, it might as well close its doors early.

As night fell, the dean of Shrek Academy, Four-Eyed Cat Owl Flender, stood on the main training ground, looking at all seven students before him.

Dai Mubai, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Ma Hongjun, and Zhu Zhuqing, whose face was cold but whose attire was neat and sharp, had all prepared for the evening lesson. Every one of them was full of energy.

However, Flender's attention was not on them, but on the other two students.

"Oscar, have you finished running twenty laps?" Flender's gaze was razor-sharp, making people afraid to meet his eyes.

For some reason, Tang San had not seen any of the academy's other teachers all day, including Zhao Wuji. It seemed that the entire academy contained only the seven students and this dean.

Oscar coughed and nodded. "Dean, I finished."

Flender snorted coldly. "I asked about you two, not you."

Oscar turned to Ning Rongrong. Ning Rongrong was looking at him too, her beautiful large eyes filled with innocence.

"Enough. I was the one who told Rongrong to run only ten laps. Stop making such a fuss!"

Accompanied by a crisp metallic clatter, Bai Ge appeared before everyone in a set of Golden Saint Armor.

"Kid, what do you mean by this?" Flender's expression darkened.

"Everything has its process. Food must be eaten one bite at a time, and roads must be walked one step at a time. Don't you understand such a simple principle? By the common understanding in the Soul Master world, making an auxiliary-type Soul Master run sixty kilometers at full speed from morning until noon is unrealistic to begin with. And you actually know Rongrong cannot do it. In truth, you merely wanted to give Rongrong a show of force. The only thing you are relying on is that letter Uncle Ning gave you."

With his hidden motives exposed by Bai Ge, Flender grew angry. "Kid, what do you mean?"

"Nothing. Just reminding you that Sword Douluo is upright and may not do anything to you. But Bone Douluo is both righteous and wicked. So long as Rongrong secretly complains to him when Uncle Ning is not around after she returns, it would probably be considered lenient if he only breaks both your legs."

Upon hearing this, cold sweat broke out on Flender's back.

Bone Douluo Gu Rong possessed the Bone Dragon martial soul, which naturally leaned toward the undead and darkness.

What kind of temperament would such a Titled Douluo have? It went without saying.

Before Rongrong, he was Bone Grandfather, kind, amiable, and amusing.

But before others, he was a fearsome Rank 95 Titled Douluo whose might shook the world!

Flender was shrewd, but he refused to admit defeat. "But breaking academy rules is still a fact!"

"The strong are revered. Since I am the one backing Rongrong, then come at me!"

"Good kid! You've got guts!" Flender laughed in anger. "Name your terms!"

"If I win, we follow my standards. If I lose, I'll compensate you with one million Gold Soul Coins!"

The moment he heard the words "one million Gold Soul Coins," Flender's eyes turned green. "It's a deal!"

But overall, Douluo's combat strength really was lacking.

That was caused by the background of the era.

Back in that primitive era of web novels, it was an unspoken rule that Huaxia ancient martial arts crushed the native powers of other worlds.

As for Poseidon's Trident weighing one hundred and eight thousand jin, that was only fifty-four tons, roughly the weight of a heavy truck. Don't tell me you do not know that the Somersault Cloud traveled one hundred and eight thousand li, while the Golden Cudgel weighed only thirteen thousand five hundred jin.

A considerable portion of ancient web novels drew inspiration from works such as Journey to the West.

Later on, this even gave rise to genres such as the Primordial Chaos genre. Tang San and Xiao Wu, Xu Xian and Bai Suzhen—was there any essential difference between these two pairs?)