Absolute Calmness Dai Mubai

"God of Calmness, Second Trial: Like-Minded Companions, completed."

"Reward: 120 days of cultivation; all Soul Ring ages increased by 15 years."

"Calmness Domain strength increased by 10%."

After receiving the trial rewards, Ma Hongjun excitedly pumped his fist.

"At long last, it's done. That guy was about to drive me crazy."

Afraid that his cooling period would become permanent, Dai Mubai had kept coming to ask Ma Hongjun every so often over the past month whether the restriction could really be lifted.

It had left Ma Hongjun unable to focus on his cultivation.

But now that the reward had been issued, his days of suffering were over.

The month was up, and Dai Mubai, who had risen early, immediately appeared in his room.

"Hongjun, has the month passed?"

Ma Hongjun smiled and nodded, then spread out his Calmness Domain and withdrew the power of calmness from Dai Mubai.

Feeling Er Bai awaken, Dai Mubai instantly perked up.

"Excellent! Rose Hotel, your Third Prince is coming!"

Watching Dai Mubai leave the dormitory with a smile, Ma Hongjun thought to himself that the other man really had it rough.

But before long, his smile froze.

"God of Calmness, Twenty-First Trial: Absolute Calmness."

"Help Dai Mubai continue cultivating properly for another month."

"Time limit: one month."

Dai Mubai, who hadn't gone far, stopped with one foot in midair. His face turned first green, then white.

Because just moments ago, he had felt Er Bai enter a cooling period again.

He looked down. Wasn't that all-too-familiar pale blue ring of light wrapped around him?

"Ma... Hong...jun!"

"You miserable bastard, what the hell are you trying to do?"

"The Bodhi tree has never been a tree, nor is the bright mirror a stand. Since nothing exists at the source, where could dust alight?"

"Brother Dai, how about we buckle down and cultivate for another month?"

Ma Hongjun's worldly-wise, fortune-teller act made a vein throb on Dai Mubai's forehead.

"Go to hell! Don't think you can do whatever you want just because I can't beat you."

"Push me too far, and I'll flatten this whole academy!"

"Oh? Go on, flatten it. Let's see."

Dai Mubai had still been making threats, but his expression changed in an instant. He forcibly suppressed his anger and turned to look at Flender, who was walking over slowly.

"Dean, I'm not the one picking a fight."

"Tell me, who could put up with him making me go into cooldown for two whole months for no reason?"

"Hmph. Hongjun was already a level-27 Soul Grandmaster before he was even ten."

"What about you? What level are you?"

"Uh..."

Dai Mubai's face darkened. It seemed he hadn't expected Flender to take the other man's side, either.

Flender immediately changed tack and looked toward his own disciple.

"Ahem, Hongjun."

"Your intentions are good, but your methods are a little too cruel. We should..."

Seeing that Flender meant to persuade him to lift Dai Mubai's cooldown, Ma Hongjun immediately played dumb.

"Huh? There's no way to fix it, teacher."

"Once I use that move, it can't be undone until a month has passed."

Dai Mubai: "..."

"God of Calmness, Twenty-First Trial: Absolute Calmness, completed."

"Reward: 60 days of cultivation; all Soul Ring ages increased by 10 years."

A month later, the moment his cooldown was lifted, Dai Mubai sprinted for the village gates as if his life depended on it, terrified that this filthy bastard would reach for him with his demonic claws again.

But how could two feet outrun someone who could fly?

Just as Dai Mubai reached the gate, blue light flashed before his eyes, and Er Bai entered another cooldown period.

"Ma Hongjun! I'll fight you to the death!"

To get some peace and quiet, Ma Hongjun released his Calmness Domain and then hid in a desolate mountain on the outskirts.

"Brother Dai, see you in a month."

Naturally, Ma Hongjun had put Dai Mubai into cooldown again because he had received a new trial.

"God of Calmness, Twenty-Second Trial: Absolute Calmness II."

With no other choice, he once again lent a helping hand to the lost tiger.

Even Oscar, whose presence was usually negligible, couldn't stand watching anymore. He came over to Dai Mubai, whose eyes were bloodshot, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Boss Dai, that guy really has gone too far. Let's just ignore him."

"Here, have a Big Sausage to cheer you up."

Looking at the steaming sausage before him, Dai Mubai smacked it away.

"Are you fucking making fun of me?"

"N-no! I just saw you were almost too exhausted to keep venting your anger."

"Hmph. I don't need you to worry about me."

Seeing Dai Mubai head toward the dormitory with a dark expression, Oscar could only curse himself for meddling.

Then he went to run laps on the athletic field, as Flender had ordered.

At Notting Academy, Tang San slowly knocked on the door of Gangzi's room in the academy's Back Mountain.

Since the conduct of the teacher and his disciple had been thoroughly despicable, the principal of Notting Academy had been forced by public opinion to take back the dormitory he had lent Gangzi.

He'd driven him out to a rundown shack in the uninhabited Back Mountain.

The excuse was that he could release energy there to his heart's content.

Gangzi hadn't made a fuss. He'd moved straight into the shack in the Back Mountain.

"Teacher, I broke through to level 30 last night."

"Oh? Just as I'd expect of my disciple. Don't worry, I'll write to Flender tomorrow. Then I'll take you Soul Hunting."

"No, no, that's not what I meant."

Yu Xiaogang glanced at Tang San in confusion.

"What's wrong? Don't you want to obtain a Soul Ring?"

"It's not that. I just received a new trial, so I have to leave for a while."

"Where are you going?"

Since Tang San wasn't asking him for help obtaining a Soul Ring, Gangzi couldn't think of what else he might want.

Tang San pressed his lips together and said:

"Teacher, I was hoping to finish this school year early. My next trial may require me to go to other towns."

"Oh? Is that so?"

"Coincidentally, my Twentieth Trial also requires me to go to other towns. Let's go together."

Tang San's eyes lit up at that. He hadn't expected another linked trial.

But soon, Tang San's expression turned troubled.

"Teacher, does your trial also have something to do with... with bathhouses?"

"Uh... You too?"

The teacher and disciple stared at each other, then sighed at the same time.

"Alas, it seems we really are fellow sufferers."

The headmaster approved their leave requests soon enough, even signing their files right away as if afraid they might change their minds and come back.

"See you next semester, classmate Tang San."

"Jinx, Thirtieth Trial: The Man in the Bathhouse."

"During business hours, successfully clean fifty women's bathhouses."

"Time limit: 50 days."

"Friendly reminder: every ten trials make up one major trial."

"Plague God, Twentieth Trial: Blasting Fish."

"Visit fifty bathhouses and use your energy to blast those mortals unconscious, letting them witness the might of the Plague God."

"Time limit: 50 days."

"Friendly reminder: every ten trials make up one major trial."

Inside the rented carriage, Gangzi and Tang San were both silent. They kept reviewing the trial information in their minds, trying to convince themselves they'd read it wrong.

But unfortunately, even after checking hundreds of times, the trials remained exactly as they'd seen them.

The two exchanged a glance and sighed deeply again.

They knew that once they set out, their infamous reputations would spread to other towns.

After all, there weren't enough bathhouses in Nuoding City for them to complete their trials.

They might not even find enough across the entire Fasinuo Province.

For the tempting trial rewards, the teacher and disciple had no choice but to keep casting aside their dignity.