The Monkey Head Is Best Saved for Drinks

After Chen Ping had disappeared from Mu En's sight, Mu En finally flipped his wrist and took the still-steaming jar of Buddha Jumps Over the Wall into his palm.

"What an impressive family medicinal cuisine. It nourishes the blood and nurtures the vital essence. Even these old bones of mine have benefited from eating it. Remarkable."

Mu En gazed in the direction Chen Ping had left and muttered to himself.

At his age, there was no way he would take Chen Ping seriously just because the boy had grumbled at him a couple of times and joked around with him.

The reason he had acted that way was simply that he had taken an interest in this boy, who had only One Ring yet could handle two Soul Grandmasters with ease. He wanted to see how far Chen Ping could go.

Putting some pressure on Chen Ping would naturally give him motivation.

If Chen Ping could really take first place in the New Student Competition, Mu En would not mind giving him a small reward.

Many Ingredients from Soul Beasts could not be prepared using ordinary methods.

That was why many of the chefs at Shrek's Eighth Window were themselves powerful Soul Masters.

Mu En had eaten Chen Ping's Treasured Buddha Jumps Over the Wall several times, so he could naturally taste its effects on a Lesser Soul Master: strengthening the blood and nurturing the physical strength.

The reason Chen Ping had previously been no weaker than Wu Feng, a Soul Grandmaster above level twenty, in speed and strength was that, apart from the effects of Using Potions, dietary nourishment had definitely played an important role as well.

If Chen Ping grew up and could prepare several higher-level medicinal dishes, Mu En asked for nothing else.

As long as eating them could make his current, badly ruined body feel a little better, they would be worth it.

He had been tormented by the baleful aura of the Dragon Core for far too long.

Even though Chen Ping's medicinal cuisine only nourished his body weakly, it did so continuously, giving Mu En a rare sense of comfort.

"Your talent isn't anything special, but you act just like a slippery little rascal who crawled out of a marketplace. How far can you grow?"

After muttering that, Mu En suddenly turned his head and spoke to the air beside him. "Investigate this child's background. It doesn't have to be fast, but it must be thorough."

At that moment, Chen Ping, who had just left Mu En's side, wore a troubled expression.

Although the Core Disciple slots were difficult to obtain, more than fifteen students had ultimately obtained or were temporarily enjoying Core Disciple treatment. That was enough for five three-person teams.

The ten new-student classes averaged out to one team with Core Disciple status for every two classes.

Snatching one of those five team slots would be difficult, but Chen Ping still had considerable confidence.

As long as his two teammates were not completely useless, getting Core Disciple status would not be hard.

That would also count as fulfilling the bold claims he had made before Xuan Zi.

But first place, as Mu En had mentioned, was truly not so easy to obtain.

As far as Chen Ping remembered, more than three Martial Soul Fusion Skills had appeared in this New Student Competition.

Among them, the Martial Soul Fusion Skill of the Lan Sisters posed the lowest threat.

The sisters' Martial Soul Fusion Skill had an extremely powerful control effect, but controlling one person was actually a huge loss, while controlling two only barely broke even.

Only by controlling three people at once and coordinating with their teammates' full-force attack would they have a chance of ending the battle in one move.

After all, although the sisters possessed Body Martial Souls, they fought with their hair.

Once they activated their Martial Soul Fusion Skill, two people on their own side would have to be controlled first. It was basically a Seven Injury Fist, hurting the enemy only after hurting themselves.

There was a reason the two girls in the Original Work had only managed to obtain Temporary Core Disciple treatment.

Apart from that, there was also the Golden Road, which had most likely been forcibly concocted by Tang God King using the All Rivers Run into the Sea Power and was activated by Huo Yuhao and Wang Dong'er.

It would have been understandable if the combination of the Spirit Eye Martial Soul and Goddess of Light Butterfly Martial Soul had produced a Martial Soul Fusion Skill. But a one-hundred-percent compatibility rate?

Chen Ping wanted to laugh when he heard that. Do you want to listen to what you're saying?

Apart from the All Rivers Run into the Sea Power, a divine force capable of blending everything together, Chen Ping truly could not find a second reasonable explanation.

This Martial Soul Fusion Skill was not fast to activate, but it could coordinate with Xiao Xiao's Three Lives Soul Suppressing Cauldron Martial Soul.

With the three of them working together, they could first slow down the enemy, then fire a golden torrent thirty meters long and roughly half a meter wide, composed of Soul Power and Spiritual Power.

Its Destructive Power could probably reach the level of a Five Ring Soul King.

After all, only Destructive Power at that level could give Wang Dong and Huo Yuhao an advantage against the Hell White Tiger and make Du Weilun judge them to be the winning side.

As for the most troublesome Martial Soul Fusion Skill, Chen Ping personally still felt it had to be the Hell White Tiger.

There was no other reason. This Martial Soul Fusion Skill had the highest margin for error.

Whether it was the Heavenly Net or the Golden Road, these two Martial Soul Fusion Skills could only put on a brief display of strength, to put it bluntly. As long as he used a few tricks, Chen Ping was confident he could trick them into revealing themselves.

But the Hell White Tiger was genuinely difficult to deal with. Even if he tricked it into making the first palm strike, there would most likely be a second and third waiting for him.

By then, he would truly be left with nothing but the monkey head for drinks, while the rest was left to the king.

Now, after Chen Ping's rigorous, meticulous, and logical deductions, the plan most likely to secure first place had taken shape.

As long as he was lucky enough to be assigned to New Student Class Five, shove aside Cui Yajie, who possessed the Nine-tailed Fox Martial Soul, and team up with Dai Huabin and Zhu Lu.

Following the principle of joining them if he could not defeat them, Chen Ping believed this plan gave him the greatest chance of taking first place.

With the Hell White Tiger changing from an opponent into a teammate, Chen Ping could not imagine how he could possibly lose.

Besides that, if he could be assigned to the class containing Huo Yuhao or the Lan Sisters, his chances of taking first place would not be small either.

But if he was assigned to another class, there would be neither explosive power nor strong control. Winning first place would be difficult!

As for which class he would actually be assigned to, Chen Ping did not know. It was impossible for him to seek out Wang Yan over such a matter.

As long as his mindset did not slip, there were always more solutions than difficulties. No matter which class he was assigned to, his chance of taking first place would certainly not be zero.

At that thought, the bitter look on Chen Ping's face gradually faded, replaced by anticipation for his upcoming academy life.

In any case, the New Student Competition was still three months away.

Perhaps by then he would have accumulated enough Scholar Points to unlock the formula for one of Kangfulong, Qunbolong, Yangxionglong, Xisilong, Qutuolong, Meitinuolong, or Sitengbolong?

These were all tonic formulas marked as gold quality in the system shop. Their effects were identical to those on Blue Star, but they had no side effects.

Compared with the Invigorating Tonic and Brain Refreshing Pill Chen Ping had used at the beginning, they were simply on an entirely different level.

Of course, getting the system to fully deduce the formulas for these supplements required a heaven-high number of Scholar Points.

Besides that, since this was the Nine Dragons Pulling Coffin supplement set, one thing was obvious: making these supplements required dragon blood—and various kinds of dragon blood at that!

The author's ability to construct the plot is indeed a little weak. I've seen everyone's criticism, but this really isn't something that can be mastered overnight. I hope everyone can continue to support me. I'll pay more attention to the rationality of conflict-driven plotlines in the future.

Thank you all!