"Besides, Dugu Bo has become younger. Dean Liu should have told you, right? Take a guess: why did I help Dugu Yan's Martial Soul evolve? And why do you think he became younger?"
After hearing Su Ming's explanation, Flender knew he was confident.
"That's good! That's good!"
Seeing they'd talked enough, Su Ming spoke to Flender.
"Come on, Dean. Let's go find Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the others. I have gifts for you all, too. The Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect might show up any moment."
With that, Su Ming stood and flew toward the villa district behind the academy. Hearing him, Flender hurried after him.
As soon as Flender caught up with Su Ming in the air, he began asking questions.
"What are the gifts? And how do you know the Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is coming?"
"You'll find out what the gifts are when we meet the others. As for how I know? I guessed. After all, I can evolve Martial Souls."
"And the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's inherited Martial Soul. Wouldn't Ning Fengzhi, the current Sect Master of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, want it to evolve into the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda?"
As soon as Su Ming finished speaking, they arrived near the villa district. They saw a group of people throwing punches under Teacher Zhao's Gravity Control Domain, so the two of them flew straight over.
The moment they landed, the group stopped punching and stepped out of the Gravity Domain to gather around them.
Oscar was the first to speak.
"Brother Ming, you've been gone for a whole month. Where did you go?"
"Yeah, where did you go? We've only been in Heaven Dou City for a little over a month, and you disappeared on your third day here. You've been gone ever since."
"I went out to train and ran into Senior Dugu Bo. I helped him take care of a small problem, and along the way, I had a few lucky encounters and reached Level 40. Then he took me to hunt for a Soul Ring."
After explaining, Su Ming quickly changed the subject.
"I just heard from the Dean that two new students have arrived."
Su Ming glanced at the two new girls, then turned to Dai Mubai and asked,
"Boss Dai, didn't you say your fiancée was coming? Which of these two is she?"
Hearing Su Ming's question, Dai Mubai took the hand of a cool-looking young woman with a curvy figure.
"Su Ming, let me introduce you. This is my fiancée, Zhu Zhuqing."
"Hello, I'm Zhu Zhuqing."
"Hello, I'm Su Ming."
After the two had introduced themselves, Dai Mubai said,
"Su Ming, once we're done talking, help her plan her Martial Soul and Soul Rings, too."
"Sure, no problem."
Su Ming then looked at the other girl, who wore a blue skirt and had long silver hair draped over her shoulders. She had an oval face, fair skin so delicate it looked like it would break at a touch, and an adorable look. Su Ming found himself rather taken with her.
"Then this must be Ning Rongrong, the young mistress from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect."
"That's right. You're Su Ming?"
"You're the one who helped Dugu Yan's Martial Soul evolve?"
Ning Rongrong's direct questions left Su Ming momentarily stunned. But on second thought, it made sense. In the original story, Ning Rongrong should have just arrived at Shrek Academy to enroll and met Tang San.
Ning Rongrong hadn't yet been toughened by the world. She was still just an innocent little princess fresh out of her sect.
As the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she hadn't yet learned to rein in her temper, so of course she asked outright.
"That's right. I'm Su Ming, and I'm the one who helped Dugu Yan's Martial Soul evolve."
"Wow! Can you help my Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda evolve into the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda?"
"I can buy the method with Gold Soul Coins. My family is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—we're very rich. Or I can offer something else, like a Soul Bone. Whatever you ask for, our sect can definitely find it for you."
As she spoke, Ning Rongrong summoned her Martial Soul, the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda. A dazzling, seven-colored crystal tower appeared in her right hand.
Su Ming looked at the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Pagoda in Ning Rongrong's hand, then smiled and said,
"I do have a way, but this isn't something you can decide on your own. You should go back and tell your father, then have Ning Fengzhi come here."
"You can go back and tell him now, too. Heaven Dou City isn't far from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. At your speed, with your Martial Soul's support, you could make it back in under an hour if you ran all-out. But it'd be better if you came back tomorrow with your father."
"Really? All right, I'll go back now."
With that, Ning Rongrong asked Flender for leave and set off straight for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Watching Ning Rongrong run off, Su Ming turned to the others and said,
"Anyway, I brought gifts for everyone. After helping Senior Poison Douluo, I gathered rare medicinal herbs from his Medicine Garden and refined them into pills that can raise a Soul Master's level."
With that, Su Ming took out the pills he had made at the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well using the Creation Furnace. He had used a Ninth-Grade Purple Ganoderma and three Ten-Thousand-Year Ginseng roots, along with some Creation Qi, to refine pills that could increase cultivation. There were about fifteen or sixteen of them.
He then handed them out to everyone. Once they had all received a pill, he began explaining its effects.
Zhu Zhuqing was surprised to find that she had received one as well.
"These pills generally strengthen your foundation and increase your Soul Power Level. As for how much, a Soul Ancestor should gain about two or three levels, a Soul Elder around three or four, and a Soul Sage a little over one."
"Dean Flender, I recommend waiting until you reach Level 79 before taking yours. Once you're at Level 79, this pill should push you straight into the Soul Douluo rank."
As he spoke, Su Ming handed Flender another pill, followed by a small jade bottle.
"This jade bottle can preserve the medicinal effects. Dean Liu and you are at about the same cultivation level. Once you both become Soul Douluos, I can invite someone to help you hunt for Soul Rings."
"As for Dean Zhao, you're at Level 76 now. I recommend taking yours right away. If you cultivate normally, it'll take another three or four years to reach Level 79."
"The rest of you can take yours now. If you're ready to absorb the pill, go ahead. Dean Flender and I will keep watch."
After watching everyone find a place and begin absorbing their pills, Su Ming and Flender waited quietly.
Time trickled by, second by second. Before long, an hour had passed. As the pills' effects continued to take hold, powerful surges of Soul Power rose from Ma Hongjun, Oscar, Dai Mubai, Zhu Zhuqing, and Zhao Wuji.
Ma Hongjun was the first to wake. The Phoenix bloodline in his Evil Fire Phoenix Martial Soul had always been unstable, and the pill's foundation-strengthening effects were exactly what he needed, so he absorbed it faster than the others.
The moment Ma Hongjun opened his eyes, he prepared to use Martial Soul Possession and show it off in the air. But before he could summon his Martial Soul, Flender stopped him.
"Keep your voice down. The others haven't finished absorbing theirs. Wait until they're done before showing off your Martial Soul."
With Flender's hand over his mouth, Ma Hongjun blinked. Only then did he notice the others sitting nearby, so he hurriedly nodded to show that he understood.
Seeing this, Flender let go.
Freed, Ma Hongjun grinned, then excitedly ran over to Su Ming.
"Brother Ming, I gained four whole Soul Power levels—four! Hehe."
Before you continue