Oscar's Longing!

Ma Hongjun did not panic. Before his punch had fully spent its force, his other hand had already thrown out a ball of dark red flames straight at Li Yusong's face.

The flames burst in the air with a sharp sizzling sound.

Li Yusong finally moved.

With a lift of his right hand, he lightly flicked the Dragon Pattern Staff. The fireball seemed to strike something and scattered in every direction, turning into tiny sparks that vanished into the air.

Effortlessly.

Ma Hongjun did not stop. Using the flames as cover, he threw punch after punch, followed by kicks and elbow strikes. Every move carried the power of fire, his attacks flowing without pause.

But Li Yusong was like a mountain. No matter how Ma Hongjun attacked, he remained utterly unmoved.

The Dragon Pattern Staff blocked and deflected in Li Yusong's hand. Every strike was perfectly measured, neither too forceful nor too weak.

Every one of Ma Hongjun's attacks was stopped.

"Your speed is decent, and your strength is passable, but your attacks are too straightforward."

Li Yusong commented as he blocked, "You are merely throwing out your strength without considering your opponent's reactions. That might work against opponents of the same level, but against an expert, you are just handing them an opening."

Ma Hongjun said nothing and continued attacking.

He knew Li Yusong was right.

He had seen countless combat theories in his previous life, but theory and actual combat were two different things.

When a real fight began, his body's reactions could not keep up with the ideas in his mind.

But he was learning quickly as well.

Every time he was blocked, he observed Li Yusong's movements, analyzed his rhythm, and searched for flaws.

Finally, after his seventeenth attack was blocked, Ma Hongjun found an opportunity.

The instant Li Yusong blocked his right fist, the Dragon Pattern Staff's trajectory paused for an extremely brief moment.

Rather than retreating, Ma Hongjun stepped forward. A darker, fiercer ball of flame gathered in his left hand, and he blasted it toward Li Yusong's abdomen.

He put his full strength into this punch.

A trace of approval flashed through Li Yusong's eyes.

The Dragon Pattern Staff drew back, its shaft crossing before him to block the punch.

Boom—

Flames burst across the staff. The heat wave made Li Yusong's clothes flap wildly, yet his feet did not shift in the slightest.

"Not bad. You know how to seize an opportunity now." Li Yusong withdrew his staff and stepped back. "That is enough for today."

Ma Hongjun stopped attacking and panted lightly.

Though the fight had lasted only a few minutes, it had already drained a fair amount of his stamina.

Sparring with an opponent at Li Yusong's level required total concentration every second. The mental exhaustion was even greater than the physical strain.

"Your fundamentals are not bad," Li Yusong assessed. "Your reaction speed and combat awareness surpass those of your peers. But you have too little combat experience, and your attack patterns are too simple, making you easy to predict. You need to focus on training those areas next."

"Thank you, Teacher Li," Ma Hongjun said respectfully.

At the edge of the field, Oscar watched the entire one-sided battle.

His eyes sparkled as his gaze followed Ma Hongjun's every movement.

So cool.

Oscar murmured to himself.

It was not that Ma Hongjun was especially handsome.

Though he was indeed rather good-looking.

It was the feeling he gave off while fighting.

Flames danced over his body. Every punch and kick carried scorching power, and he seemed like a burning fire, full of strength and beauty.

That was what he had always dreamed of becoming.

Oscar lowered his head and looked at his hands.

His Martial Soul was Sausage.

A Food System Martial Soul, without any combat power whatsoever.

From the day it awakened, he had been destined to stand behind his teammates, provide them with supplies, and cheer them on.

He could never be like Ma Hongjun, charging at the very front and confronting enemies head-on with fists and flames.

The light in Oscar's eyes gradually dimmed.

It was not as though he had never tried.

When he had first arrived at Shrek, he had pestered Zhao Wuji to teach him hand-to-hand combat and pestered Li Yusong to teach him how to use weapons.

He trained bitterly, harder than anyone else, but what had been the result?

His physical condition was indeed somewhat better than that of ordinary Food-Type Soul Masters, but compared with Battle Soul Masters, the gap was fundamental.

A Battle Soul Master's Martial Soul actively strengthened its host's body, but his Sausage did not.

He could run, jump, and fight, but he would never reach the level of a Battle Soul Master.

That was the fate of a Food-Type Soul Master.

Oscar took a deep breath and forced down the sourness in his chest.

He envied Ma Hongjun.

He envied him for being able to stand in the center of the field and write his own battle with flames.

But he was not jealous.

Because he knew that everyone had their own path.

Ma Hongjun's path was to charge ahead into battle, while his was to support his teammates from behind.

The two paths were different, but equally important.

"Oscar." Flender's voice suddenly sounded beside him.

Oscar jumped and hurriedly got to his feet.

"Headmaster?"

"Finished watching?" Flender asked.

"Y-yes, I finished."

"How did it feel?"

Oscar fell silent for several seconds before honestly saying, "Envious."

Flender glanced at him without speaking.

"I want to become a Battle Soul Master too."

Oscar's voice was low, as though he were talking to himself. "I dream about it. But I know it is impossible, so all I can do is envy them."

Flender was silent for a moment, then reached out and patted Oscar's head.

"A Food-Type Soul Master is not incapable of fighting."

Oscar raised his head, a glimmer of hope flashing in his eyes.

"Once you reach a high enough level, your Sausages will not only grant recovery effects. They can also boost strength, speed, and defense."

Flender said calmly, "A Food-Type Soul Master who can stack himself full of buffs will have no problem taking on several Battle Soul Masters of the same level."

Oscar's eyes gradually lit up.

"Of course," Flender abruptly changed tone, "that is assuming you live long enough to get there. So get your ass to training now."

"Yes!"

Oscar grinned and ran toward the training field.

He looked back at Ma Hongjun and silently made a resolution.

Even if he could not become a Battle Soul Master, he would become the strongest Food-Type Soul Master.

Strong enough to stand beside Ma Hongjun and fight alongside him.

At last, the day's training came to an end.

Ma Hongjun had never felt his body so exhausted.

Li Yusong's practical guidance had merely been an appetizer. The truly deadly part was the physical training afterward.

Zhao Wuji seemed determined to train him to death.

Weighted shuttle runs, rope climbing, frog jumps, sit-ups—after the whole brutal set, Ma Hongjun felt as if his limbs no longer belonged to him.

Even Flender could not bear to watch any longer. Rarely, he spoke up and said, "It is his first day. That is enough." Only then did Zhao Wuji stop.

Dinner had been personally prepared by Teacher Shao Xin.

The cooking skills of a six-ring Soul Emperor truly were no joke.

Simple ingredients became delicacies fit for mountains and seas in his hands.

Ma Hongjun ate three huge bowls in one go, making Shao Xin's eyes narrow into happy slits.

"Having a good appetite is a good thing. Soul Master cultivation consumes a great deal of energy. You need to eat more to grow."

As he spoke, Shao Xin filled another bowl for him.

Oscar watched from the side, the corners of his mouth twitching.

When he had first arrived at Shrek, he had also been able to eat that much on his first day.

But later, he discovered that eating more meant training more, and training more meant eating more.

It was a vicious cycle, and the final result was being trained half to death by Zhao Wuji.