According to the price set by Fels, the deputy City Lord of Suotuo City—no, the City Lord now—hunting two Soul Beasts of around twenty thousand years would cost roughly three hundred thousand Gold Soul Coins.
Zhao Wuji was fine. Shen Rui and Ling Na had helped him hunt his Seventh Soul Ring, so they had already repaid that favor.
But Flender's favor was still very much outstanding.
If they accepted the Gold Soul Coins now, who knew how long that favor would remain unpaid? Would they have to wait until they helped him hunt his Eighth Soul Ring?
Oscar had the same reasoning.
Since they had already decided to follow Shen Feng, they had to separate public and private matters as soon as possible and repay their old debts of gratitude.
He didn't want someone coming to him in the future, using a favor as leverage to make him do something that harmed Shen Feng's interests.
Flender looked at Shen Feng, then at Oscar. He tightened his grip on the Cold Jade, which was icy to the touch, and suddenly felt that the jade was uncomfortably hot to hold.
He had understood Shen Feng's intentions long ago. The day Shen Feng's family left, he had realized that they drew a very clear line between public and private matters.
In their eyes, Shrek Academy was just an ordinary academy. They paid to study, then left when they were done. They felt no sense of belonging to the name Shrek at all.
Throughout Shen Feng's time at the academy, everything had followed the principle of equal exchange. Even if you refused payment, he would find some other way to make it up to you.
For example, he had traded the secret techniques Tree Climbing and Water Treading for the academy's knowledge, and helped improve the academy's finances in exchange for the teachers' instruction.
And it was also at Shen Feng's suggestion that the City Lord's Mansion of Suotuo City and Suotuo City's Spirit Hall had agreed to endorse Shrek Academy.
He had even left Blast Fist and Explosive Step—two Self-Created Soul Skills that gave Auxiliary-Type Soul Masters some combat ability—with Shrek Academy, intending them as payment for helping Shen Rui and Ling Na hunt their Soul Rings.
Thinking about it now, they had even brought their own food.
His family really didn't owe Shrek Academy a thing.
Now, was he going to have Oscar repay five years of being raised by Flender by solving Hongjun's Martial Soul problem?
"Dean? Dean Flender?"
Shen Feng's voice suddenly brought Flender back from his many thoughts.
"What is it, Xiao Feng?"
"I was talking about Hongjun's Soul Ring. Our guild has a way to find Blazing Falcons."
Flender's heart skipped a beat. The Blazing Falcon was a fire-type Soul Beast that lived in active volcanic regions and possessed a trace of Phoenix blood.
Its rank was every bit as high as that of Sub-Dragon Soul Beasts with dragon blood.
In terms of rarity, Blazing Falcons with Phoenix blood were even rarer than the many varieties of Sub-Dragon Soul Beasts.
Ah, repaying a favor this way really was agonizing. Still, if every student showed such gratitude, perhaps that wouldn't be so bad.
"All right. I'll leave this matter to you, then."
Seeing Flender accept the offer, Shen Feng and Oscar exchanged a smile, and an inexplicable sense of relief rose in their hearts.
Sure enough, it felt better to be free of debt. A debt of gratitude was still a debt.
Early the next morning, while the sky was only just growing light, Shen Feng and Oscar arrived at the Soul Hunting Tavern to wait.
Today, they planned to take Flender and the others into the Soul Hunting Forest. First, they would find a Blazing Falcon for Ma Hongjun. Second, Oscar would be reaching level 30 in just a few days.
With two Soul Saints guarding them, they might as well venture farther into Star Dou Great Forest and find Oscar a better Soul Ring.
Shen Feng didn't want to comment on whether Oscar's Soul Rings in the original story were good or not. He could only say they were far too useless.
Third Soul Skill: High-Speed Flight Mushroom Sausage.
It let him fly as fast as a Phoenix-tail Crested Serpent for one minute, covering roughly two thousand meters. That averaged about thirty-three meters per second, or 120 km/h.
You could say that speed was fast, and it certainly wasn't slow. But one minute and a distance of two thousand meters were frankly embarrassing.
Against a powerful opponent, that distance meant nothing. Against a weak opponent, well, why run at all?
It couldn't be used to travel, and it lasted far too little time to be useful for escape or pursuit.
It was practically tasteless, yet too good to throw away.
Fourth Soul Skill: Excitement Pink Sausage. It increased all attributes by ten percent and could also negate negative status effects.
A ten-percent increase to all attributes was too weak compared to what other support Soul Masters could provide, while its added effect overlapped with the Second Soul Skill's ability to remove abnormal status effects.
It might have counted as a decent Soul Skill for an ordinary Food-Type Soul Master or Auxiliary-Type Soul Master. But on a Food-Type Soul Master with Innate Full Soul Power, it was hard to give it a good rating.
To keep Oscar from repeating history, Shen Feng felt they should put in some effort and carefully select his Soul Ring.
Before long, Flender entered the tavern with Ma Hongjun, while Zhao Wuji came in with Dai Mubai. The four of them walked in at an unhurried pace.
"Xiao Feng, Xiao Ao, why are you two here so early?"
At the sight of them, Zhao Wuji was clearly taken aback. Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun were still yawning, but Shen Feng and Oscar had been waiting there for quite some time.
Shen Feng smiled. "They say the early bird catches the worm. The easy, lucrative jobs are always snapped up quickly."
"We left the academy early. We have to rely on ourselves for everything."
Flender glanced at Ma Hongjun, who was still yawning, and his expression immediately darkened. He reached out and grabbed him by the ear.
"Still tired? Did you sneak off to 'reward yourself' again last night?"
"Look at Xiao Feng and Xiao Ao, then look at yourself. Aren't you ashamed?"
"You're ten and only level 20. I have no idea how you sleep at night."
"Xiao Feng broke through to level 20 when he was eight, and Xiao Ao reached level 20 at nine. What about you?"
"All you ever do is eat and sleep, sleep and eat. Why don't you just laze yourself to death?"
The pain in his ear instantly woke Ma Hongjun up. He grabbed Flender's hand and started wailing.
"Teacher, Teacher, I was wrong! I'll cultivate diligently from now on. I'll never be lazy again!"
Watching this scene, Shen Feng shook his head helplessly.
"Dean, don't provoke Junior Hongjun. Xiao Ao and I both have Innate Full Soul Power. Just working hard isn't enough for him to catch up to our cultivation speed."
Oscar covered his mouth with a chuckle and nodded. "Xiao Feng is right. The two of us work even harder than he does."
"I've been level 29 for a while now. Maybe I'll break through to level 30 while we're in Star Dou Great Forest."
"What about you, Xiao Feng? You must be close too, right?"
Shen Feng sensed that the Soul Power inside him was nearly at its limit and gave a slight nod. "Yeah, I'm close too."
As Shen Feng and Oscar chatted as if no one else were there, Dai Mubai stood nearby, his face grave and all traces of sleepiness gone.
Only today did he truly learn how terrifying Shen Feng and Oscar's cultivation talents were.
One had reached level 20 at eight and was almost level 30 at ten.
The other had reached level 20 at nine, and was level 29 at twelve, on the verge of breaking through.
With talents this terrifying, if Dai Mubai wanted to avenge his past defeat and overcome the inner demon that was Shen Feng, this Soul Hunt was his only chance to turn things around.
He had to get his Third Ring as soon as possible and surpass Shen Feng in level. I won't lose.
Zhao Wuji glanced at Dai Mubai's conflicted expression and gently patted his shoulder.
"Xiao Bai, what's wrong? Did Xiao Feng and Xiao Ao's cultivation speed scare you?"
"It's nothing unusual. They both have Innate Full Soul Power and work extremely hard. It's perfectly normal that you and Hongjun can't keep up."
"When you first enrolled, Xiao Feng and Xiao Ao had already left. The dean was worried that telling you about their cultivation speed would discourage you, so he didn't mention it."
"I didn't expect it to actually scare you."
Dai Mubai clenched his fists and looked up at Shen Feng. "No, I'm not scared. This time, I'll definitely beat Shen Feng."
Zhao Wuji froze for a moment, looked at Shen Feng, then at Dai Mubai, and couldn't help shaking his head.
"Xiao Bai, Xiao Feng has never been your enemy. He could be a companion you win over."
"Listen to me. Let go of the hatred in your heart."
"Everyone was young once. Don't ruin your future over a moment of impulse."
Dai Mubai looked up at Zhao Wuji's serious face. "Teacher Zhao, do you think I'll lose?"
Zhao Wuji shook his head helplessly. You foolish boy, you don't stand a chance in the first place.
Forget Xiao Feng—even that freak of a Food-Type Soul Master, Xiao Ao, could give you a hard time.
If he said that outright, Dai Mubai would only become even more defiant.
You couldn't reason with someone determined to get himself killed. Perhaps after getting beaten enough, he'd get used to it.
"Forget it. Think it over yourself. You choose your own path, along with all the pain and hardship."
With that, Zhao Wuji stopped paying attention to Dai Mubai and instead walked over to Shen Feng and Oscar.
Geniuses were all extremely proud. Repeated lectures would only annoy them, especially if they came from someone less talented than they were.
Rather than strain their relationship with their students, it was better to let them follow their nature and learn for themselves by trying things and figuring out right from wrong.
The teachers only needed to watch over them from behind and offer a little guidance when necessary.
Of course, these principles of education, developed over twenty years at Shrek Academy, didn't apply to Shen Feng and Oscar at all.
Shen Feng was a transmigrator, and his worldview had already matured in his previous life. He knew right from wrong, and what he could or couldn't do.
Even after living another life and having his worldview influenced by the feudal society of Douluo Continent, Shen Feng's principles and moral standards were still far higher than those of its natives.
Oscar had been overshadowed by Shen Feng in every way since childhood, and had learned many things from him, benefiting greatly.
Their relationship as both teacher and friend had made Oscar deeply convinced by Shen Feng, a genius younger than him who surpassed him in talent and ability.
Influenced by Shen Feng, Oscar's worldview had gradually begun to align with his.
That was exactly why Oscar had always followed Shen Feng. It was genuinely comfortable for two people with the same worldview to spend time together.
"Xiao Feng, Xiao Bai needs a millennium Soul Ring from a beast-type Soul Beast, while Hongjun needs a Blazing Falcon of around eight hundred years. What do you think?"
At Zhao Wuji's words, Shen Feng glanced at Dai Mubai, who was standing off to the side without joining them.
"Millennium beast-type Soul Beasts are easy to find, but Blazing Falcons around eight hundred years old aren't."
"Blazing Falcons are fire-type raptors with a trace of Phoenix blood. They usually build their nests near the craters of the most dangerous active volcanoes. They're fast, aggressive, extremely heat-resistant, and have a habit of eating molten rock."
"The nearest volcanic cluster where Blazing Falcons are active is at least three hundred li into Star Dou Great Forest."
"Though it's not yet truly within the core of Star Dou Great Forest, Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beasts are already common there, and Millennium Soul Beasts are everywhere."
"We can head straight for the volcanic cluster and, while searching for Blazing Falcons, find a suitable Soul Beast for Xiao Bai to use as a Soul Ring."
Zhao Wuji nodded and turned to Dai Mubai. "Xiao Bai, what do you think?"
Dai Mubai furrowed his brow, then nodded. "Fine. I'll go along with your arrangements."
Damn Shen Feng. He actually thought he could use this to delay my advancement to Soul Elder.
Just you wait. I won't let you get your way. I'll break through to Soul Elder before you, then grind you under my heel.
I'll repay you tenfold for the humiliation you gave me that day.
Shen Feng glanced at Dai Mubai, puzzled. Why was this guy being so obedient?
Could it be that Zhao Wuji, the Great Chaos Demon King, had really tamed this street punk?
With a faint smile, Shen Feng didn't dwell on it. He turned to the others and waved. "All right, we've made our decision. Let's set out. Our destination: the volcanic cluster in Star Dou Great Forest."
Soul Hunting Town was very close to Star Dou Great Forest, less than twenty li away. It was practically a small town built inside the forest.
Less than half an hour after leaving Soul Hunting Town, Shen Feng and the others reached the entrance to Star Dou Great Forest.
The forest stretched as far as the eye could see. Apart from trees, there was nothing else.
The ground was covered with a few fallen leaves, but not a single piece of deadwood could be seen. It hardly looked like a primeval forest; it looked more like an ordinary forest park that anyone could wander into.
Ma Hongjun tugged at Flender's sleeve. "Teacher?"
"Is this the Star Dou Great Forest you described—the place with dense undergrowth, impassable paths, Soul Beasts roaming everywhere, and danger at every turn?"
"It doesn't look like much. The Soul Hunting Forests where Soul Beasts are raised are more complicated than this."
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