Ning Rongrong Challenges Flender

About a quarter of an hour later.

On Shrek's dilapidated training ground.

Zhao Linchuan stood in the shadows, leaning against a wooden post with his arms folded, calmly watching the people on the field.

Xiao Wu and the other two stood on the left, lined up side by side.

Tang San stood on the right with Ma Hongjun, whose face was still somewhat pale. Ma Hongjun kept his head lowered, fists clenched, muttering something under his breath.

At a nearby corner, Oscar was desperately pleading with Flender.

He tugged on Flender's sleeve and lowered his voice.

"Dean! Please, you have to help me."

"I, Oscar, will marry no one but Ning Rongrong for the rest of my life."

"No one but her?" Flender said irritably, forcefully shaking his sleeve, but failing to pull free.

"Xiao Ao, do you know who she is? And you still insist on marrying her?"

"I don't care who she is."

Oscar clutched Flender's sleeve, his voice carrying an almost obsessive determination.

"Dean Flender, you have to help me."

"Please, just this once. Help me create an opportunity, and I'll handle the rest myself."

"Enough, enough." Flender slapped Oscar's hand away. "I'll create an opportunity for you later. Whether you can seize it will be up to you."

With that, he headed straight for the training ground.

On the training ground.

Flender stood before everyone, cleared his throat, and began his long-winded speech.

The content was more or less the same as in the original story: "Shrek Academy only accepts monsters, not ordinary people"... He repeated the same few lines over and over, talking for ages without saying anything new.

Leaning against the wooden post, Zhao Linchuan grew drowsy from listening.

Xiao Wu yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand as a hint of tears formed at the corners of her eyes.

Zhu Zhuqing remained expressionless as always, but the gradually vacant look in her eyes made it clear that her soul had already drifted far beyond the clouds.

Tang San, on the other hand, listened attentively, staring at Flender without blinking and nodding now and then, as though seriously absorbing the value in every word.

Ma Hongjun leaned against Tang San for support. His face was still pale, but he seemed more alert than before. At least he could stand upright now.

At last, Flender finished his meaningless rambling.

Just like in the original plot, he singled out Ning Rongrong and Oscar.

"You two stay. Everyone else may leave."

After saying that, Flender cleared his throat and looked solemnly at Ning Rongrong and Oscar, assigning them that task that was practically like "training dogs."

"Ning Rongrong, Oscar, you two..."

Ning Rongrong raised an eyebrow, the corners of her lips curling slightly, but she did not immediately move.

"Running? Dean Flender, did I hear that correctly?" She tilted her head, her tone tinged with amusement. "For the first lesson of the term, you want us to practice running?"

She glanced at Zhu Zhuqing, who had not left, and asked,

"Zhuqing, do you think it's meaningful for an auxiliary Soul Master like me to practice running?"

"Completely meaningless." Zhu Zhuqing answered without hesitation. "With the physique of an auxiliary Soul Master like you, even if you were three or five times faster, you would still be no different from a lamb waiting to be slaughtered to an agility-attack Soul Master like me."

Ning Rongrong looked at Xiao Wu again and asked, "Xiao Wu, if I were ten times faster, could I escape from you?"

"Impossible." Xiao Wu shook her head directly, without the slightest hesitation in her tone. "I have a teleportation soul skill. In my eyes, killing you would be no different from crushing an ant."

Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu did not speak loudly, but every word landed like a stone smashing into the ground, making Flender's face alternately turn green and pale.

Their words were somewhat harsh, but they were indeed true.

No matter how fast an auxiliary Soul Master was, could she outrun an agility-attack Soul Master?

Could she outrun Xiao Wu, who possessed teleportation?

For Ning Rongrong, practicing running had no practical meaning beyond wasting time and stamina.

After hearing that, Ning Rongrong spread her hands, her expression seeming half-smile, half-mockery. Looking directly at Flender, she said provocatively,

"Dean Flender, can you tell me now what use practicing running is for me?"

Flender's expression became somewhat awkward. The corner of his mouth twitched, and his brows knotted tightly together.

He forced himself to argue, "The circumstances on the battlefield are unpredictable. If..."

"Enough." Zhao Linchuan interrupted Flender. "Rongrong has means of self-defense. A training method like running truly isn't very suitable for her. Let's forget about this matter."

"What means could an auxiliary Soul Master possibly have?"

Flender asked with a frown, his gaze shifting back and forth between Zhao Linchuan and Ning Rongrong, his tone tinged with embarrassment and irritation.

"Take it out and let me see."

"Fine then. Rongrong, show Dean Flender what you can do."

The moment Zhao Linchuan finished speaking, Ning Rongrong took the Soul-Extinguishing Gun from her Soul Tool.

The black gun body gleamed with a cold metallic sheen beneath the sunlight. Its barrel was slender and smooth, while the grip's patterns fit perfectly against the curve of her palm.

Ning Rongrong held the Soul-Extinguishing Gun in her hand and turned her gaze toward Flender, revealing an innocent smile.

"Dean Flender, could you cooperate with me for a moment...?"

"Cooperate? How do you want me to cooperate?" Flender asked, raising an eyebrow.

He was somewhat dismissive. A little girl of twelve or thirteen, holding a strange-looking lump of metal, was actually asking him to cooperate with her?

No matter how he heard it, it sounded like children playing house.

"Simple." Ning Rongrong smiled. "I only need Dean Flender to use strength at the Soul Emperor level and attack me."

"Use Soul Emperor-level strength to attack a Soul Grandmaster like you?" Flender found it rather amusing. He snorted and said, "Is this how you master and disciple look down on everyone else?"

It had to be said that on the Douluo Continent, the stronger a Soul Master was, the more arrogant and self-important they tended to be.

This was especially true of Soul Masters who had obtained their Martial Soul Avatar. Their pride was so immense that they practically wished they could point their nostrils at the sky.

In their eyes, those weaker than them did not deserve respect, while those stronger than them were potential enemies.

In short, they looked down on those weaker than themselves, yet refused to submit to those stronger than themselves.

Flender was not the extremely arrogant type, but as a level seventy-eight Soul Sage, his pride was carved into his bones.

An auxiliary Soul Grandmaster had taken out a lump of metal before him, saying she wanted him to use Soul Emperor-level strength and attack her.

To him, that was no different from an ant provoking an elephant.

"Without strength, that's called looking down on others." Ning Rongrong met Flender's gaze without backing down. "With strength, that's simply natural."