Flying Mushroom Sausage Turns to Stone

The stadium lights were still on.

The evening duel had ended, and the groundskeeper hadn't yet had a chance to turn off the power. The white soul-power floodlights illuminated the entire stadium, and fragments of the stone steps shattered by Tang San when he was kicked away earlier still littered the ground.

Oscar stepped over the pile of rubble and stood in the center of the field, looking back at the two people following him.

Ning Rongrong walked to the opposite side, putting about fifteen meters of distance between her and Oscar.

Her blue skirt looked vibrant under the lights, and a thin belt cinched at her waist, accentuating the slender curve of her figure.

Xiao Wu didn't step onto the field; she leaned against a stone pillar at the edge of the stadium, the hem of her long pink gauze skirt spreading out across the ground.

Her crystal high heels were crossed, her scorpion braid rested over her chest, and she held her chin in one hand, looking as if she were ready to enjoy a good show.

There were few people left in the stadium, only a handful of passing students who stopped to watch from afar.

Oscar loosened his wrists and neck, his joints popping with a crisp sound.

"Ning Rongrong, let's get this straight: don't go crying if you lose."

Ning Rongrong ignored him.

Oscar scanned the stance of the girl opposite him. Her feet were slightly apart, her center of gravity stable, and the heels of her boots were dug into the gaps between the stone slabs, looking ready to strike at any moment.

Looking closely, the corners of both girls' mouths were slightly upturned. What did that mean?

This made Oscar feel a bit uneasy.

Something wasn't right tonight. First, Xiao Wu suddenly turned into a monster and beat up Tang San, and now Ning Rongrong looked so confident. Had these two taken some kind of miracle drug together?

But the thought only circled his mind for a second before he shook it off; he was about to fight, he couldn't afford to be distracted.

Oscar took a deep breath and flipped his right hand forward.

"Third Soul Skill, Speedy Flight Mushroom Sausage!"

Soul power surged, and a grayish-brown mushroom sausage condensed in Oscar's palm. This was one of his signature soul skills; after eating it, a pair of transparent wings would grow from his back, allowing him to fly.

Against a support-type soul master like Ning Rongrong, Oscar's strategy was simple: eat the mushroom sausage to gain flight, then dive from the air and end the fight with a single physical strike. As a 59th-rank support-type, she couldn't possibly withstand the close-range attack of a 64th-rank soul emperor.

Across from him, Ning Rongrong moved as well.

She pressed her palms together, and a miniature Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda condensed above her head, emitting a soft, seven-colored light.

"Seven Treasures turn, glazed light, Seven Treasures have a name!"

"First: Power!"

"Second: Speed!"

Two beams of light shot from the pagoda and landed on Ning Rongrong. Her strength and speed were bolstered simultaneously.

Oscar glanced at her and scoffed.

"That's it? Buffing yourself with the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda? You're not an attack-type; what's the point of adding power and speed? Once I finish this Speedy Flight Mushroom Sausage, just watch how I take you down!"

With that, Oscar raised the grayish-brown mushroom sausage to his mouth, opening his jaws to take a bite.

His teeth had just touched the skin of the sausage.

A pair of eyes appeared within his line of sight.

Ning Rongrong's eyes—no, that wasn't right.

Those originally gentle eyes had changed in an instant. The pupils had elongated into vertical slits, and the whites of her eyes had taken on a cold, dark-gold hue. Snake eyes. They were devoid of warmth or emotion, carrying a pressure that made one feel a chill deep in their bones.

This process lasted less than half a second.

Medusa's Gaze!

Ning Rongrong only recited the words in her heart, without making a sound.

Oscar heard nothing; he only saw Ning Rongrong's eyes flicker, and then he bit down.

Crunch.

Oscar's face twisted instantly.

A sharp, intense pain shot from his front teeth through his entire skull. It felt exactly like biting down on a rock.

No, it was a rock!

Oscar looked down at the object in his hand.

A second ago, it had been a soft, bouncy, mushroom-flavored Speedy Flight Mushroom Sausage, but now it had turned into a piece of grayish-white stone. It still had the shape of a sausage, but the surface was rough, heavy, and solid—a genuine rock.

A piercing, sour ache radiated from his front teeth, and when he probed with his tongue, he realized his left front tooth had already loosened.

"What... what is going on?"

Oscar stood there, completely bewildered, turning the stone over in his hands, unable to comprehend what had happened.

At the edge of the stadium, Xiao Wu was doubled over in laughter.

"Hahaha! Tell me, Oscar, where did you pick up a rock to shove in your mouth!"

Xiao Wu's scorpion braid shook with her laughter, her rabbit-ear hair accessory tilted to one side, and she stomped her crystal high heels against the stone floor several times, nearly unable to stand.

Oscar's face flushed red, then turned pale.

Just as he was about to speak, his peripheral vision caught a moving figure.

Ning Rongrong had moved.

Under the strength and speed buffs of the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, Ning Rongrong's movement speed was significantly faster than usual. Her blue skirt whipped up a gust of wind, her legs, encased in white stockings, moved in rapid alternation, and the sound of her boots striking the stone slabs was fast and dense.

The fifteen-meter distance was covered in the blink of an eye.

Oscar was still immersed in the question from a moment ago: Where is my sausage? Damn it, who swapped my sausage for a rock?

His Flying Mushroom Sausage had turned into a rock; he had no flight ability, no aerial advantage, and since he was a Food-type Soul Master, close-quarters combat was his greatest weakness.

Ning Rongrong's right fist, empowered by the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda, smashed straight toward Oscar's face.

Bang! The fist landed solidly on Oscar's face.

A crisp crack echoed from his nasal bridge, and Oscar's entire body flew backward. That front tooth, which had already been loose, completely detached from the gum, flying through the air along with a thin trail of blood, tracing an arc before landing on the ground three meters away.

Oscar's body rolled twice on the ground, his back slamming into the low fence at the edge of the sports field with a dull thud.

The few students watching on the sports field were all stunned.

Oscar lay at the base of the fence, his head buzzing, his mouth filled with the taste of blood.

He ran his tongue over his gums; the spot where his left front tooth had been was now empty, and the air blowing in felt cold and painful.

Before Oscar could even scramble to his feet, a pair of boots stopped right in front of him.

Ning Rongrong looked down at him, her blue skirt swaying before his eyes. Those snake-like eyes from a moment ago had returned to normal, but her expression was icy, her brows slightly furrowed, without a hint of a smile.

"Ah! A ghost! There's a ghost!" Oscar shouted while crawling backward, his hands clawing frantically at the ground, his boots slipping on the stone slabs in a pathetic display.

For every step Ning Rongrong took forward, Oscar shrank back a step.

"Don't ever ask me if I want to eat a sausage again, understand?"

Ning Rongrong's voice wasn't loud, but every word was crystal clear.

"Otherwise, every time I hear it, I'll hit you. Did you hear me? Answer me."

Oscar leaned against the fence, one hand covering his mouth, blood seeping through his fingers.

"I heard, I heard!"

Oscar nodded his head like a chicken pecking at rice, terrified that if he were a beat too slow, he would take another punch.

Ning Rongrong straightened up, brushed off her skirt, and turned around: "Xiao Wu, let's go."

This sentence made Oscar shrink back again. He thought Ning Rongrong was going to turn around and land another punch, but she didn't even look back, walking straight toward Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu was already laughing so hard she was crouched on the ground, hands on her knees, her shoulders heaving. She didn't even notice her rabbit-ear hair accessory had fallen to the ground.

"Let's go, Rongrong, let's head back."

"Mm."

The two walked side by side toward the girls' dormitory, leaving Oscar alone leaning against the fence, his mouth full of the taste of blood, a front tooth missing, and his Flying Mushroom Sausage turned into a rock.

He felt as if he had been struck by lightning, his mind a complete blank.

What kind of day was today, anyway?