Team Building

Ning Rongrong chose a place that looked expensive at a glance; the quality of the waitresses providing guidance and service was quite high.

"Order whatever you want to eat, my treat."

Inside the private room, Ning Rongrong shook the red card in her hand.

This was the card she had brought when she snuck out from home. As long as it wasn't some incredibly remote and impoverished backwater, her card would work.

Although storage soul tools existed, allowing high-ranking soul masters to carry a fair amount of Gold Soul Coins on their persons, it was still too cumbersome for transactions. The banks on the Douluo Continent filled this gap quite well.

The currency remained copper, silver, and gold soul coins, but at higher levels, there were various bank cards representing different amounts—such as the black card representing ten thousand Gold Soul Coins. The red card in Ning Rongrong's hand even possessed the functionality for card-swipe payments.

Jiang Jiu didn't know how this real-time card-swiping system operated. It might have involved high-level soul tool designs, or perhaps it relied on very simple and unadorned human labor.

Jiang Jiu didn't care about that. All he knew now was that Ning Rongrong was very wealthy, and in a way that she could actually spend, not just look at.

Ning Rongrong was a friend worth making.

"Xiao Jiu, this is delicious, you should try some too."

Eating the food Xiao Wu had picked up with her chopsticks, Jiang Jiu nodded slightly.

There was indeed a reason for the high price. In terms of ingredient quality and preparation, it was incomparable to the meals they had previously eaten in the Nuoding Academy cafeteria or the Blacksmith Shop.

Thinking back to the Shrek Academy cafeteria, simplicity was one thing, but it mostly lacked nutrition.

The best thing in the Shrek Academy cafeteria was probably the eggs.

Perhaps he could find a restaurant in Suotuo City to set up a long-term takeout service?

Eating worse than at the Blacksmith Shop simply wouldn't do.

"You two are really close," Ning Rongrong said, looking on with a hint of envy.

Although she had two Title Douluo grandfathers who doted on her to the point that no one dared to provoke her, she truly didn't have any friends her own age.

"That's right, I'm Xiao Jiu's master!" Xiao Wu blurted out.

Afterward, she thought about it; it seemed their relationship really had improved ever since she proposed being Jiang Jiu's master, though that was mostly because she wanted to mooch off his bed at the time.

"There's such a thing?" Ning Rongrong became interested. As if remembering something, she rubbed her cheek with her index finger. "Oh right, your martial souls seem to be the same."

"So it's not a family relationship, but master and disciple?"

When two soul masters of similar age, identical martial souls, and an excellent relationship appeared, based on Ning Rongrong's experience, the most likely scenario was that they were relatives.

Such situations were more common in large sects; outside of sects, it was more often a case of twins or something similar.

As for Xiao Wu and Jiang Jiu's appearances, one could only say they were far from looking like relatives.

Xiao Wu had clearly transitioned from cute to a charming young girl, even if her height and figure couldn't quite mask her original temperament.

Jiang Jiu was beyond reproach; he looked so classically handsome that one could tell at a glance he was the type to be stunning from childhood to old age. Even Ning Rongrong felt a bit inferior.

"Yeah, yeah, I worked hard teaching Xiao Jiu for six years." After saying this, Xiao Wu subconsciously glanced at Jiang Jiu.

Oh no, I think I got a bit carried away!

The chopsticks are raised!

"Thank you for your hard work, Master Xiao Wu."

Seeing Xiao Wu's timid expression, Jiang Jiu found it quite amusing.

Jiang Jiu wondered what he had even done; how had Xiao Wu managed to adjust herself like this?

"It wasn't hard at all, not hard at all." Xiao Wu shook her head vigorously, then finished the food Jiang Jiu had picked for her in a few bites.

Watching the scene before her, Ning Rongrong immediately understood what true domestic hierarchy was. It seemed that from now on, she could only believe about thirty percent of what Xiao Wu said.

But there was still an honest person present.

"Can you teach me too?" Zhu Zhuqing, who had been silently burying her head in her food, spoke her first proactive sentence.

Conversation was a skill. Those who spoke little easily caused awkward silences, and Zhu Zhuqing currently had that tendency.

"I can pay you, or give you something else, as long as it's within my power," Zhu Zhuqing added, looking at Xiao Wu and Jiang Jiu.

Her expression was serious and her words sincere, but honestly, the timing was wrong, and it was a bit offensive.

However, as the saying went, this world was too focused on appearances.

Because of Zhu Zhuqing's cold and stubborn face, and the fact that they would be classmates for the next few years, Xiao Wu couldn't easily brush her off.

"Well, during the assessment earlier, I remember you performed quite well, whether it was your understanding of your own martial soul or the timing of your attacks."

Although Zhu Zhuqing hadn't broken through the defense the moment she moved, and was quickly pushed back by Zhao Wuji, that wasn't Zhu Zhuqing's fault—it was just that their opponent, Zhao Wuji, was too overpowered.

"Compared to you two, I'm far behind."

When Zhu Zhuqing said "you," she was actually only looking at Jiang Jiu.

It was normal not to be able to compare to Xiao Wu, as Xiao Wu was a Soul Grandmaster. Although Jiang Jiu's soul power was only three levels higher than hers, the gap shouldn't have been that large, but in reality, it was a completely different story.

"But what I taught Xiao Jiu was the Soft Technique, you know, for throwing people." Xiao Wu mimicked the movements with her hands. Now she vaguely understood what Zhu Zhuqing wanted to learn.

"Throwing people?" Zhu Zhuqing frowned. "Can learning to throw people grant such strength and speed?"

Although Zhu Zhuqing was muttering to herself, Xiao Wu heard her clearly.

"Soft Technique is my combat style, but the physical fitness is something Jiang Jiu trained for himself."

Xiao Wu grabbed Jiang Jiu's sleeve and rolled it all the way up to his shoulder.

"Look at these solid muscles and smooth lines. Hehe, I have them too."

Jiang Jiu was speechless and swatted Xiao Wu's hand away; his arm circumference was a sore spot for him.

Perhaps it was his innate genetics, or perhaps the influence of his martial soul, but Jiang Jiu's upper body had never been ideal for gaining mass, even though his Bench Press had reached a terrifying level.

Moreover, after entering a period of rapid height growth, his muscles were stretched out, making him look like someone who had never trained at all when he wore clothes.

His lower body, however, remained as excellent as ever—or perhaps a bit too excellent. Maybe this was the fate of a Soft Bone Rabbit?

But all in all, having astonishing leg strength was a good thing; it was better than having no areas of advantage at all.

"Wow, what beautiful arms!" Ning Rongrong was quite supportive, and the way her eyes lit up showed she clearly wasn't lying.

Ning Rongrong touched her own soft upper arm, then looked at Jiang Jiu's fair arm with its graceful muscle lines. She wanted to touch it!

She would one hundred percent refuse to train herself, but she was more than willing to enjoy the fruits of someone else's training.

Xiao Wu coughed. She finally understood the truth that saying too much leads to mistakes; she had better steer the topic back.

"Jiang Jiu has been running without sleep or rest, rain or shine, for six years. It's only natural he has his current speed."

Jiang Jiu: "?"