Target

By evening, the group arrived at a small town nearly a hundred kilometers from their destination.

Running four hundred kilometers in a single day was, honestly, completely absurd.

What was even more absurd was that because he ate a Recovery Big Sausage every hour, Jiang Jiu didn't feel tired at all.

Was the Food-type spirit system a bit too overpowered? It was practically rendering the fatigue management Jiang Jiu had always practiced useless.

If he'd had Oscar's support when he was six, could he have really trained like a maniac every single day?

However, since this was his first time consuming such a thing, Jiang Jiu couldn't say whether this recovery of physical strength was a masking effect, an overdraft, or a perfect, targeted repair for the body.

If it were truly the latter, it would be absolutely ridiculous.

Jiang Jiu only hoped he wouldn't develop a "drug resistance" to it later on.

"Why have we slowed down? Are we there?"

From behind him came Ning Rongrong's groggy voice.

Today, both Oscar and Ning Rongrong had made significant contributions. Oscar had been taken care of by turns by Dai Mubai and Tang San, while on Ning Rongrong's side, it was all she could do for Zhu Zhuqing to look after herself, so it had to be Jiang Jiu.

"I can't believe you managed to fall asleep."

"But you're so steady, Brother Jiu." Ning Rongrong hopped off Jiang Jiu's back and stretched.

She glanced around; aside from Oscar, who looked a bit wilted, everyone else was still in decent shape.

After all, Oscar had been supported by the arms to make his run easier, which was nothing compared to the comfortable ride Ning Rongrong had enjoyed.

As for the others, one could only say the sausage's divine power was real; aside from feeling a bit nauseated from eating too many, they were otherwise fine.

Once inside the town, the priority was to find a place to stay, followed by a restaurant to eat.

Flender was still somewhat reasonable; he didn't make them sleep out in the wilderness.

But he was only reasonable to a point—they had to pay for their own food and lodging, and he had already found a hotel and checked into a single room for himself.

Jiang Jiu took a look; the hotel Flender chose had rooms on the second floor and a restaurant on the first, so both tasks could be handled at once.

Jiang Jiu opened a room for himself. With Xiao Wu not by his side, he couldn't be bothered to share a room with others, and he wasn't short on the money.

Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing followed suit. Zhu Zhuqing hesitated for a moment, but seeing that Jiang Jiu had already booked a single room, she could only find one for herself as well.

Watching them pay so nonchalantly, Ma Hongjun leaned toward Dai Mubai with a chubby, fawning face.

"Boss Dai... hehe..."

Dai Mubai shot him an annoyed look.

"Out of money? Fine, stay in a room with me."

Hearing this, before Ma Hongjun could even express his gratitude, Oscar shamelessly crowded in.

"Boss Dai!"

"Boss, give me a room for..." Dai Mubai was about to ask for a triple room when he suddenly remembered there was someone else.

"Oh right, San, do you want to stay with us too?" Oscar asked, while thanking his benefactor, he also remembered Tang San, who had helped carry him earlier.

"I'm fine."

Tang San shook his head and paid for his own single room.

Seeing Tang San's storage Soul Tool, Oscar realized, "I forgot you were a big spender too."

After returning to their rooms, they headed back downstairs to order.

This time, it felt more like a cohesive group as they sat around a table together.

"The Dean isn't coming?" Ning Rongrong scribbled quickly on the menu.

"The Dean doesn't cover our expenses, but he won't spend our benefits either," Dai Mubai explained.

"Really? I couldn't tell at all!" Ning Rongrong was genuinely surprised.

Perhaps it was because her first impression of Flender had already hit rock bottom; after all, the way he hiked up prices couldn't be undone by some inexplicable freebie later on.

"You're biased against the Dean. This is just a rule he set himself."

"Is he really the type to fleece outsiders while protecting his own?"

However, Ning Rongrong didn't continue the topic, instead turning to discuss what else to order with Jiang Jiu and Zhu Zhuqing.

By the end of the meal, while it wasn't exactly a harmonious feast, there were no conflicts either.

Dai Mubai paid the bill. Ning Rongrong had offered to treat, but Dai Mubai insisted that as the oldest, he would lose face if he didn't pay.

The sight of them fighting to pay the bill left Ma Hongjun and Oscar feeling overjoyed and thrilled.

They had never seen such a scene before, and they hoped it would be like this every time from now on.

Although Dai Mubai was generous, he couldn't possibly treat them to a big meal every time, and now there was another benefactor in the mix.

Right, there was also Jiang Jiu, who had treated them to breakfast.

Kind-hearted and generous, truly kind-hearted!

This sense of satisfaction lasted until the next day, when they officially set off for the Star Dou Forest.

"Tang San, Jiang Jiu, do you have any thoughts on the spirit beasts you wish to hunt?" Flender asked while they were on the road.

Generally speaking, for a Spirit Saint to help hunt two thousand-year spirit beasts for their third spirit rings would already be a massive favor.

However, Shrek Academy still had its own standards.

Helping to pick just any thousand-year spirit beast for a third ring was merely the baseline; unless there were extremely special circumstances, the teachers at Shrek Academy were generally willing to accommodate the wishes proposed by the students themselves.

Although, it was not as if unexpected situations had never occurred—the rule that students were not allowed to leave their team leader's side by more than twenty meters after entering the Star Dou Forest had come about precisely because of that.

On Tang San's side, upon hearing Flender's question, he suggested several plant-type spirit beasts, followed by a few animal-type ones, and after a moment of hesitation, he finally added the Man Faced Demon Spider as an option.

"A Man Faced Demon Spider?"

Flender had been somewhat stunned when he heard the animal-type spirit beasts, and after recalling the contents of the letter Yu Xiaogang had sent him, he could understand, but a Man Faced Demon Spider was pushing it a bit too far, wasn't it?

"Yes, this is also one of the targets my teacher selected for my third spirit ring, though he also said that Man Faced Demon Spiders are very difficult to find and one shouldn't force it," Tang San explained to Flender.

Hearing this, Flender nodded.

"Since it was Xiaogang who said so, I will try my best to help you look for one."

Then, he looked toward Jiang Jiu.

"Jiang Jiu, what about you?"

"A thousand-year Lightning Rabbit, or perhaps a thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit?" Jiang Jiu first stated a definite option, then followed up with one he was less certain about.

One could only say that Xiao Wu's excuse for her leave of absence was truly spot on.

Flender's expression turned somewhat strange.

The options Tang San had chosen were all considered relatively powerful among spirit beasts of the same rank and type, but Jiang Jiu's choices seemed to lean in the opposite direction.

Yet, once he thought about Jiang Jiu's martial soul, he couldn't exactly say there was anything wrong with the choice.

However, Jiang Jiu had his own thoughts on the matter.

If he could, who wouldn't want a White Tiger Vajra Transformation that doubled attack, defense, and strength simultaneously while providing resistance to abnormal status effects?

Activate it for half an hour, then your left fist deals high damage, and your right fist deals high damage.

Since Xiao Wu couldn't even grind out such a stat-stick spirit skill for herself, Jiang Jiu had no choice but to accept his lot.

Teleportation was also quite good.

Even if it might come across as a bit of a humble-brag to agility-attack spirit masters like Zhu Zhuqing.