The Target

By evening, they had reached a small town nearly a hundred kilometers from their destination.

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

Even more absurd was that Jiang Jiu barely felt tired, thanks to eating a Recovery Big Sausage every hour.

Wasn't the Food System a little too overpowered? It was practically wrecking the fatigue management he'd always relied on.

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

Still, since this was his first time eating something like this, Jiang Jiu couldn't say whether it masked or depleted his fatigue, or whether it was simply a perfect way to repair the body.

If it really was the last one, that would be utterly ridiculous.

Jiang Jiu could only hope he wouldn't develop "drug resistance" later.

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

Ning Rongrong's drowsy voice came from behind him.

Oscar and Ning Rongrong had both made major contributions today. Dai Mubai and Tang San had taken turns looking after Oscar, while Zhu Zhuqing had barely been able to take care of herself, let alone Ning Rongrong. Jiang Jiu had been the one to carry her.

"You can sleep through even this?"

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

She glanced around. Aside from Oscar, who looked a little worn out, everyone else seemed to be in pretty good shape.

After all, Oscar had been supported by the arms so he could run with less effort. That was nothing like Ning Rongrong, who'd been riding comfortably.

The others could only marvel at the sausages' divine power. Aside from feeling a little queasy from eating so many, they were doing fine.

Once they entered the town, their first priority was finding somewhere to stay, and the next was finding a place to eat.

Flender was decent enough not to make them sleep out in the wilderness.

But he was only decent to a point: everyone had to pay for their own food and lodging. He went ahead and checked into a single room at a hotel.

Jiang Jiu took a look. The place Flender had chosen had rooms upstairs and a restaurant downstairs, so they could take care of both things at once.

Jiang Jiu got himself a room. With Xiao Wu not around, he couldn't be bothered to share a dorm room with several other people, and he wasn't short on money.

Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing followed his example. Zhu Zhuqing hesitated, but seeing that Jiang Jiu had already booked a single room, she could only get one for herself too.

Watching everyone pay so casually, Ma Hongjun sidled up to Dai Mubai with a fat grin.

"Boss Dai... heh..."

Dai Mubai gave him an exasperated look.

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

Before Ma Hongjun could thank him profusely, Oscar shamelessly squeezed in.

"Boss Dai!"

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

"Oh, right. Xiaosan, do you want to stay with us too?" Oscar thanked his benefactor, then remembered Tang San, who'd helped support him earlier.

"I'll pass."

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

Seeing Tang San's Storage Soul Tool, Oscar realized, "I forgot—you're loaded too."

They each went back to their rooms, then came downstairs again to order food.

This time, it felt more like a group outing. They gathered around one table.

"The dean isn't coming?" Ning Rongrong quickly marked her choices on the menu.

"The dean won't cover our expenses, but he won't take advantage of us either," Dai Mubai explained.

"Seriously? You'd never guess!" Ning Rongrong was genuinely surprised.

Maybe it was because Flender's first impression on her had already hit rock bottom. After all, his shameless price gouging couldn't be redeemed just because he inexplicably gave them something for free afterward.

"You're prejudiced against the dean. This is a rule he made himself."

"So he really is the kind of person who rips off outsiders but protects his own?"

Ning Rongrong didn't continue discussing the matter, though. Instead, she turned to Jiang Jiu and Zhu Zhuqing to talk over what else they should order.

The meal wasn't exactly harmonious, but at least no one caused a fuss.

Dai Mubai paid the bill. Ning Rongrong offered to treat them, but Dai Mubai considered himself the oldest person there and would've lost face if he let her pay.

The sight of them all fighting over the bill had Ma Hongjun and Oscar beaming with excitement.

They'd never seen anything like it before. They hoped things would be like this every time from now on.

Dai Mubai was already generous, but he couldn't treat them to a feast every single time. Now they had another benefactor!

Oh, and there was Jiang Jiu, who'd treated them to breakfast.

Beautiful and kind-hearted, beautiful and kind-hearted!

That feeling of contentment lasted until the next day, when they officially set out for Star Dou Forest.

"Tang San, Jiang Jiu, have you thought about what Soul Beasts you want to hunt?" Flender asked as they traveled.

Normally, a Soul Saint helping them hunt down a couple of thousand-year Soul Beasts for their third Soul Rings would already be a huge favor.

But Shrek Academy did have its principles.

Having them pick any thousand-year Soul Beast for their third ring was only the bare minimum. Unless the circumstances were extremely unusual, the teachers at Shrek Academy were generally willing to accommodate their students' wishes.

There had been exceptions, of course. The rule that they weren't allowed to stray more than twenty meters from their teacher once they entered Star Dou Forest had been made because of one such incident.

When Flender asked, Tang San listed several Plant-type Soul Beasts, followed by a few animal-type Soul Beasts. After hesitating for a moment, he added a Man Faced Demon Spider to his list.

"A Man Faced Demon Spider?"

Flender had already been a little stunned by Tang San's choices of animal-type Soul Beasts. Then he remembered the letter Yu Xiaogang had asked Tang San to give him, and he could understand the reasoning. But a Man Faced Demon Spider seemed a bit too much.

"Yes. It was one of the targets my teacher picked for my third Soul Ring. But he also said Man Faced Demon Spiders are hard to find, so I shouldn't force it," Tang San explained.

Flender nodded.

"If Xiaogang suggested it, I'll do my best to find one for you."

Then he turned to Jiang Jiu.

"What about you, Jiang Jiu?"

"A thousand-year Lightning Rabbit, and maybe a thousand-year Soft Bone Rabbit?" Jiang Jiu gave one definite choice, then another he wasn't so sure about.

He could only say Xiao Wu had taken her leave at the perfect time.

Flender's expression turned a little strange.

Tang San's picks were all among the stronger Soul Beasts of their respective ranks and types. Jiang Jiu's choices, on the other hand, felt like the opposite.

Still, when he thought of Jiang Jiu's Martial Soul, he couldn't say there was anything wrong with his choices.

But Jiang Jiu had something to say about that.

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

It lasted half an hour, and his left fist hit hard while his right fist hit even harder.

Xiao Wu couldn't even get stats like that by rebooting herself. Jiang Jiu could only accept it.

Teleportation was pretty good too.

Though it might seem like a bit of a flex to Zhu Zhuqing and the other agility-focused Soul Masters.