Teacher Xiao Wu Returns

Early morning, today's task was a long-distance jog with a goal of twelve kilometers.

According to the training log Jiang Jiu had planned for himself, he ran four days a week and rested for three.

Yesterday was a rest day, tomorrow would also be a rest day, so today was a day to ramp up the pressure.

He could slack off a little at the blacksmith shop today and focus on refining his forging technique.

On the track, Jiang Jiu incorporated the movements Xiao Wu had taught him into his warm-up. After the full routine, most of his joints felt well-cared for; the effect was much better than the incomplete warm-up routine he remembered from his college physical education classes.

By the time he finished his long run, panting and drenched in sweat, and prepared to leave the track, he saw Xiao Wu standing prettily by the bag where he had left his change of clothes, holding his bag in her arms.

"So fast?"

"Does it take that long? Aha, let me help you stretch." Xiao Wu felt secretly annoyed and quickly changed the subject.

"No need, I'll do it myself when I get to the bathhouse." Jiang Jiu reached out to take his bag.

"Honestly, I'm not going to be grossed out by you."

Xiao Wu grabbed Jiang Jiu's hand and, with a clever flick of force, sent him tumbling softly to the ground.

"Heh heh, I'm a professional, you know. You should be thanking Teacher Xiao Wu properly." Xiao Wu squatted down directly.

"Hiss—"

"Ah! Was I too rough? I shouldn't have been."

"It's fine, just a bit sore." He could only describe the feeling as agonizingly refreshing, especially when Xiao Wu's strength penetrated deep into his muscles.

"Oh, oh, soreness is normal." Xiao Wu felt like she was acting a bit silly.

After a period of assisted stretching.

"Next time, I'll just do it myself." Jiang Jiu walked toward the bathhouse, with Xiao Wu following closely behind him, clutching his bag.

The various poses Xiao Wu had put him in while stretching were just too embarrassing. Even though her stretching and massage techniques were top-tier and left him feeling much better overall, he couldn't help but feel flustered.

"How could the effect be as good as when I do it?" Xiao Wu didn't brag; she continued, "Oh, the movements from just now were all standard. Xiao Jiu, there's really nothing to be shy about."

As she spoke, she started laughing to herself; the stretching session just now had indeed been quite fun.

Jiang Jiu couldn't be bothered to respond to her.

Xiao Wu continued to chatter like a lark, "But Xiao Jiu, you really didn't slack off while I was gone. Your flexibility has improved again."

"Is it that obvious?" He had indeed been completing the homework Xiao Wu assigned every day.

No matter what kind of exercise one did, loosening up the joints beforehand was always a comfortable thing.

But it had only been a few days, and improvements in athletic performance were usually long-term affairs. Jiang Jiu suspected Xiao Wu was pulling his leg.

"Are you questioning Teacher Xiao Wu?" Xiao Wu hopped in front of Jiang Jiu and faced him.

"Don't underestimate the influence of a Martial Soul. Our Soft Bone Rabbit Martial Soul, well, it's no worse than other powerful Beast Martial Souls." Xiao Wu paused, not wanting to sound too boastful.

It felt somewhat absurd for a Soul Beast to talk to a human about the power of Martial Souls.

Well, Xiao Wu was the official Soul Master here, while Jiang Jiu could only be considered a bottom-tier Soul Scholar.

"The subtle influence of a Martial Soul?" Jiang Jiu mused.

"Physical talent is also playing a role; they complement each other."

"Not bad, your cultural knowledge is growing."

"I'll kick you!" Xiao Wu wrinkled her nose.

"We're here. Here's your bag, bleh~" She tossed the bag to Jiang Jiu and made a face.

When Jiang Jiu came out of the bathhouse, Xiao Wu was still waiting outside, possessing an unexpectedly quiet temperament.

However, as soon as she saw Jiang Jiu emerge, her energetic and bouncy self returned.

The two went to the cafeteria together for breakfast.

"What? You're going to the blacksmith shop to forge this morning?" Xiao Wu felt as if the sky had collapsed; she had been planning to go to class with Jiang Jiu.

If that was the case, why should she even go to class? She'd skip it!

"I have to earn money."

"Oh." Xiao Wu wilted slightly.

"By the way, you're a Soul Master now, right?" He might as well collect the one gold soul coin monthly stipend.

Mentioning her cultivation made Xiao Wu feel spirited again. She scanned the cafeteria; since Jiang Jiu had run for quite a while, followed by stretching and showering, there were already scattered students appearing in the cafeteria.

Xiao Wu leaned close to Jiang Jiu's ear, speaking in a tone of sharing a secret, "I'm at level twelve now, Xiao Jiu. You need to catch up quickly."

The sensation of her breath against his ear was very distinct, causing him to tilt his head away, which made Xiao Wu giggle.

"I will, but there's something else I need to tell you."

Jiang Jiu told Xiao Wu about the Soul Master subsidy.

"One gold soul coin? That much?"

"Xiao Jiu, stop forging! I'll support you!" Xiao Wu said excitedly.

"Better save it to buy yourself some clothes."

Oh no, my excuse for making money just hit a major snag.

"Clothes money is clothes money, and what's left is enough for both of us to spend!" Xiao Wu hesitated for a moment, but quickly realized there wasn't really anything to agonize over; she wasn't the type to blow her entire living allowance on clothes.

"Blacksmithing is a hobby, too—a man's hobby, you know?"

I don't know which nerve was struck, but Xiao Wu was suddenly amused by Jiang Jiu's words and couldn't help but laugh out loud.

After calming down, Xiao Wu stopped trying to persuade him.

"Really? You're not lying to me?"

"Really."

"Alright then. But Xiao Jiu, you have to go to the smithy to forge in the morning, do your work-study tasks in the afternoon, and cultivate at night, so when are we supposed to attend class?"

"In the afternoon. Cleaning the garden doesn't take long."

Strictly speaking, the morning was also meant for cultivation, but since he was consuming spirit power to forge, he had to use his lunch break to meditate and replenish it, which worked out perfectly.

"Oh, right. Hehe, we're supposed to be cleaning the garden together, aren't we?" Xiao Wu blushed slightly; she felt a bit guilty for slacking off these past few days and leaving it all to Xiao Jiu.

But then, she remembered something else.

"That Tang San, running off to hunt for a spirit ring and leaving you all alone to clean up, Xiao Jiu! When he gets back, as the Dorm Seven head, I'm going to punish him by making him clean the garden all by himself!" Xiao Wu exercised her authority as dorm head with righteous indignation.

Jiang Jiu was speechless. Did Xiao Wu have absolutely no concept of "pointing at the mulberry tree to curse the locust tree"?

Still, it was kind of cute.

After breakfast and a quick trip back to the dorm to grab his things, Jiang Jiu set off for the smithy.

Nuoding Academy was indeed quite free.

As a work-study student, as long as Jiang Jiu finished his garden-cleaning duties, the faculty and staff basically left him alone.

"Why did you follow me?"

"I'm going to Spirit Hall to register as a spirit master, isn't this on the way?" If walking out of the academy gate was on the way, then it was on the way.

Xiao Wu continued to walk alongside Jiang Jiu; she wanted to see where he did his forging.

"It's still early, I'll go to Spirit Hall with you."

"Xiao Jiu, you're so nice, hehe."

"..."

"Aiya, why are you shy again?"

"Ah, ah, slow down! Fine, fine, I'll stop talking."

Jiang Jiu felt like he was being handled by Xiao Wu; having a persona that wasn't good at handling compliments was a real disadvantage.