Heading to Star Dou Great Forest

Xiao Wu stepped forward then and said, "My name is Xiao Wu, with Wu meaning dance. I'm twelve, my Martial Soul is a rabbit, and I'm a rank twenty-nine Agile Attack Battle Soul Master. As far as age goes, everyone here is older than you. You can call me Sister Xiao Wu. If anything happens in the future, Sister Xiao Wu will have your back."

Zhao Zilong grinned and teased, "Call me Brother Zilong, and if anyone bullies you in the future, I'll have your back."

Xiao Wu puckered her little lips and gave a petulant snort. "Hmph, no need. If anyone dares bully me, I'll beat them to death."

Ning Rongrong also stepped forward to introduce herself. "My name is Ning Rongrong. I'm twelve, my Martial Soul is the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda, and I'm a rank twenty-six Support Soul Master. Please look after me, Zhao Zilong."

"The Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda." A hint of surprise appeared on Zhao Zilong's face. Then he looked at Ning Rongrong and teased, "I never expected to find a Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda Soul Master here! Shrek Academy really is a place of crouching tigers and hidden dragons! You're making me want to cling tightly to your thigh."

" Hooligan..." Ning Rongrong said, her face flushing slightly at his words. Who talked about clinging to a girl's thigh the very first time they met?

Zhao Zilong coughed somewhat awkwardly and explained, "Well, Rongrong! You've misunderstood. By clinging to your thigh, I meant attaching myself to someone powerful. After all, your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is the second-greatest sect under heaven! If an ordinary person latched onto such a sturdy thigh, wouldn't they soar to success?"

Hearing Zhao Zilong's praise, Ning Rongrong immediately grew somewhat proud. "Of course! Zhao Zilong, you're so capable. If you want to come to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, you'll always be welcome."

Zhao Zilong smiled at that. "All right, it's settled, then. If the day ever comes when I can no longer get by on the Douluo Continent, I'll definitely come looking for you at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. When that happens, please don't turn me away, Miss Rongrong."

"Mm." Ning Rongrong was delighted by Zhao Zilong's flattery. After all, since she had arrived at Shrek Academy, everyone here was a genius, and every one of them was extremely proud. Especially last night, when Dai Mubai had nearly bullied her, not a single person had helped her, and they had even isolated her. That had made Ning Rongrong very sad. She had never expected a new classmate to arrive today who was also a genius, yet showed such respect for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. This was precisely what Ning Rongrong most enjoyed seeing.

Zhu Zhuqing stepped forward, her expression as cold as ice, as though she were introducing herself merely for the sake of doing so. In a cool voice, she said, "Zhu Zhuqing, twelve. Martial Soul: Hell Spirit Cat. Rank twenty-seven Agile Attack Battle Soul Master."

Everyone felt a little awkward at Zhu Zhuqing's aloof introduction. Zhao Zilong teased, "Hell Spirit Cat? You're really as aloof as a cat! I look forward to learning from you."

"Mm." Zhu Zhuqing gave an equally icy reply.

Seeing that they had all become acquainted, Flender spoke up. "All right, since everyone knows each other now, I'll announce your next special training."

"Oscar, step forward," Flender ordered sternly.

Oscar answered and stepped forward. Flender continued, "Today's lesson is for each of you to eat one sausage and one Little Sausage made by Oscar."

At Flender's words, everyone except Zhao Zilong wore a look of disgust. Flender immediately grew displeased and said with a stern face, "What, is eating Oscar's sausages so difficult for you? You should know that on a battlefield, when food is scarce, you can eat anything-rats, earthworms, anything at all. Who's first?"

Ning Rongrong immediately stepped forward at that. "I'll go first."

Seeing Ning Rongrong step forward first, Flender nodded in satisfaction. Oscar then chanted his incantation again and made the sausages, which Ning Rongrong quickly ate.

Soon, Oscar made more sausages, and everyone ate two each. Zhao Zilong thought they tasted fairly decent, and they were filling, too.

Once everyone had finished their sausages, Flender said, "All right, Little Monsters. Oscar and Zhao Zilong have both reached rank thirty in Soul Power. Next, Teacher Zhao will take you to Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Soul Beasts and find the two of you your Third Soul Rings. Little Monsters, you're a team. Your next trial will be Star Dou Great Forest. Old Zhao, I'll leave them to you."

With that, Flender stepped down from the podium and yielded his place to Zhao Wuji. At the moment, however, Zhao Wuji's nose was bruised and his face swollen. Who had beaten him was unknown.

Zhao Wuji looked at everyone and said, "Little Monsters, the dean has already made things very clear. Next, we're heading to Star Dou Great Forest to hunt Soul Beasts. It might take several days. Let me make this clear first: this is also a trial for you. Until we encounter a thousand-year Soul Beast, I won't intervene. Mubai, lead the team."

"All right." Dai Mubai nodded and said, "Star Dou Great Forest has many Soul Beasts, and they're exceptionally ferocious, so we need to maintain a formation. Xiao San, Zi Long, you two take the front. Oscar and Ning Rongrong, you two Support Soul Masters follow them. Xiao Wu and Fatty will cover the left and right. Zhuqing and I will cover the rear. Understood?"

"Mm."

"Then let's move out."

Soon, everyone set off toward Star Dou Great Forest. Before coming to Shrek Academy, Zhao Zilong had already familiarized himself with his Soul Skills. Moreover, thanks to his rank-thirty Soul Power, his physical fitness far surpassed that of his previous life. However, since arriving on the Douluo Continent, he had no practical combat experience against Soul Masters or Soul Beasts. This trial was just what he needed.

After several hours, they finally reached the outskirts of Star Dou Great Forest. They had not encountered any Soul Beasts along the way and smoothly arrived at an inn on the forest's outskirts.

At that moment, the eight members of Shrek Academy were seated around a large round table. Dai Mubai patted Zhao Zilong's shoulder and laughed. "Zi Long, you've got some stamina! We spent the whole day running, yet you only ate a single Big Sausage. You must work out quite a bit!"

"It's all right! Maybe it's because I'm younger than you." Zhao Zilong smiled at his words, also somewhat surprised by his own physical fitness. While traveling today, everyone had mostly run or jogged. Aside from Ning Rongrong, who had stopped to rest a few times when she could no longer keep going, everyone had been running the entire time. Even Tang San, who had the best stamina, had eaten two of Oscar's Recovery Sausages.

It truly was a case of comparison dealing the blow. After crossing over to the Douluo Continent, his physique seemed to be a notch above even Tang San's.

Of course, it might also have been because his first two Soul Rings were both 999 years old, giving Zhao Zilong an advantage in Soul Rings!

Hearing Zhao Zilong's words, Dai Mubai immediately protested, "Don't make it sound like I'm so old."

Tang San was also deeply impressed by Zhao Zilong's words. Because he practiced Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track, Tang San frequently did all sorts of training as well. He had not expected Zhao Zilong to have an even better physique. He said, "Brother Zilong really is impressive. Not only is your Soul Power high, but your stamina is exceptional, too."

At the same time, Tang San was secretly pleased. Back at Nuoding Academy, the gap between those students' Soul Power and his own had been far too large. Among his peers, Tang San had left them several streets behind. But now that he had come to Shrek Academy, he had met several geniuses who were no less talented than he was. There was even Zhao Zilong, a genius who possessed Twin Martial Souls just like him.

Hearing that, Zhao Zilong teased, "Tang San, you'll make me blush, praising me like that."