A Free Agent Needs No Training

The morning of the third day after the holiday ended, the assembly whistle rang out across Shrek Academy's training ground once more.

Flender stood at the edge of the field, holding a cup of tea that had steeped for who knew how long and taking small sips, wearing an expression that said, "I'm just here to watch the show." Yu Xiaogang stood with his hands behind his back at the front of the group, dressed in a faded blue cloth robe, his face carrying its trademark severity.

The Shrek Seven Monsters stood in a line on the training ground. Tang San stood at the front. The wound on his back had not fully healed, but his usual focus had returned. Xiao Wu stood beside him, lowering her head to play with the tip of her braid, looking absent-minded. Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun yawned nonstop, Oscar's eyes were puffy, Zhu Zhuqing stood off to the side with her arms folded, and Ning Rongrong kept frowning as she rubbed her legs.

Clearly, they had not yet fully recovered from the lingering fear of barely escaping death in the Star Dou Great Forest.

Chen Xuan stood at the very back of the group, half a meter away from the people ahead of him. His hands were in his pockets as he stared boredly at the sky.

Yu Xiaogang cleared his throat.

"The holiday is over. Starting today, special training will fully resume."

As he said this, his gaze deliberately lingered on Tang San for two seconds. His tone was slightly louder than usual, carrying an implied air of, "You should all see what an excellent student I taught."

"Although the trip to the Star Dou Great Forest had an unexpected incident, Tang San's performance was worthy of everyone's study. When faced with danger beyond expectations, he did not retreat or panic. With his powerful will and martial soul foundation, he forcibly completed a soul ring absorption beyond his limits."

Yu Xiaogang paused, seemingly giving his words enough time to sink in.

"This is a tremendous breakthrough for Blue Silver Grass and a reflection of Shrek's team spirit."

Tang San's expression did not change much. He looked straight ahead, as if he were listening seriously, yet also as if he were not listening at all. Xiao Wu was still playing with the end of her braid, while Dai Mubai simply yawned—he did not dare make a sound, but his mouth opened wide.

At the back of the group, Chen Xuan narrowed his eyes slightly.

Absorbing a soul ring beyond his limits—commendable spirit. He had nearly absorbed himself to death, then endured it by force.

Whether that counted as "unyielding perseverance" or "gambling with his life" depended on the result. The result was not out yet, so nobody's words meant anything.

Yu Xiaogang clearly had no intention of giving anyone a chance to argue. He directly opened the notebook in his hand and began reading out the special training arrangements.

"Physical training, from six in the morning to six in the evening, twelve sets of laps. Coordination training, Blue Silver Grass net formation—the blueprint was drawn yesterday. Tang San will command, Dai Mubai will lead the assault, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing will roam the flanks, while Oscar and Ning Rongrong will provide supplies and support from the center. Everyone must strictly follow Tang San's arrangements. There can be no deviations."

Yu Xiaogang spoke at length, clearly laying out each person's position, duties, and performance targets.

Then he lifted his head, his cold gaze sweeping over the edge of the group before landing on Chen Xuan.

"Chen Xuan, where is your position?"

Chen Xuan raised his head, his tone casual. "Yeah, I was wondering that too."

Yu Xiaogang looked at him expressionlessly. "A free agent does not need training. No fixed position, no fixed duties, so there is no corresponding training content."

He paused, as if weighing his words, or perhaps waiting for some reaction from Chen Xuan. Chen Xuan gave no reaction at all. If anything, he looked even more relaxed than before.

"You're a free agent. Then stay free."

As those words fell, the atmosphere on the training ground froze subtly for a moment. Dai Mubai frowned, wanting to say something, but after glancing at Yu Xiaogang's expression, he swallowed it back. Oscar lowered his head and rubbed his fingers together, pretending he had heard nothing. Tang San turned his head, his gaze falling on Chen Xuan—his lips moved, as if he wanted to speak, but after looking once more at Yu Xiaogang's unquestionable expression, he ultimately said nothing and withdrew his gaze.

Tang San lowered his eyes. He had anticipated his teacher's arrangement. Although Chen Xuan's words that night when Xiao Wu had been taken away—I'm not the trump card that covers for you—had stayed lodged in his heart, he truly had no energy left to fight over this now.

"Fine." Chen Xuan nodded. "Then I'll go sit over there."

He turned around and walked unhurriedly to the old elm tree at the edge of the training ground. He unfolded the broken reclining chair he had dragged out of the dormitory the night before and lay down comfortably.

Then he took out a hard flatbread from his system storage and took a bite.

Yu Xiaogang's expression visibly darkened. But he said nothing, merely turning his gaze back to Tang San and continuing with the training arrangements.

Soon, the sounds of running and dull collisions of soul power filled the training ground. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass crisscrossed the field, Dai Mubai's heavy footsteps pounded against the ground, and Zhu Zhuqing's afterimages darted rapidly along the edge of the formation. The light of Ning Rongrong's Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda flashed continuously while Oscar sweated profusely as he made sausages. Everything was operating according to Yu Xiaogang's script.

Chen Xuan lay beneath the shade of the tree, took another bite of flatbread, and chewed slowly.

He summoned the system panel and looked at the special lottery pool glowing with a faint golden light.

When Chapter 37 had unlocked it, he had only had time to glance at the description before falling unconscious. Now, he finally had time to properly study what it was.

[Special Lottery Pool: Consumes the day's lottery attempt to specify an attribute tendency for the draw.]

[Description: Unlike the ordinary lottery pool, the special pool does not randomly drop items from all worlds. The host may select an attribute tendency, such as "fire," "wood," or "wind," and the system will prioritize items related to that attribute. The more specific the tendency, the lower the hit rate. If the draw misses, the dropped item will automatically be downgraded to an ordinary pool item.]

Chen Xuan read it twice and understood.

The ordinary pool was a blind box—completely random, anything could drop. The special pool was a blind box with a designated direction—you told the system, "I want something wind-attributed," and the system would prioritize wind-related items. But priority did not mean a guaranteed drop. If it missed, getting a pebble or iron spoon as a consolation prize was perfectly normal.

He looked at the three-day countdown.

At midnight on the first day after training resumed.

Chen Xuan lay awake on the reclining chair, making sure nobody was watching him—all of them were exhausted and sprawled across the training ground like dead dogs—then closed his eyes and muttered inwardly.

"Special Lottery Pool. Tendency: wind and wood."

The roulette wheel spun five times in the darkness, slowed down, and stopped.

A flash of white light appeared, and a pebble fell into his palm.

Chen Xuan squeezed it. It felt ordinary, without the slightest ripple of soul power.

Missed. The direction was right, but no item had dropped.

He put the pebble into his system storage, turned over, and went back to sleep.

At midnight on the second day, tendency: wind and wood.

A translucent notification box appeared on the panel:

[Missed. Ordinary pool compensation: Rusty Iron Spoon (Common) ×1]

Chen Xuan expressionlessly shoved the iron spoon into his system storage. It had been three days now. The special pool could only be selected once each day. If he chose "fire" or "water," then he could only draw in that direction that day and could not draw for anything else.

He considered his current condition—the Wood Shadow Stone had only just stabilized. Although the cracks had been suppressed by the Five Elements circulation, they could flare up again at any time. He needed something that could reinforce that "circulation," not another new offensive weapon. He already had enough offensive weapons.

At midnight on the third day.

Chen Xuan lay on the reclining chair, half asleep, and once again confirmed the tendency. "Wind and wood."

The roulette wheel spun.

This time, the light flickering on the panel was brighter than the previous two times, and it changed from white to cyan. After spinning eight times, the indicator stopped steadily. An extremely thin arc of cyan light fell from the center of the panel and landed on Chen Xuan's chest.

Chen Xuan caught it, and a warm, smooth sensation reached his fingertips.

He looked down. Resting in his palm was a delicate blue-gray ring clasp. It felt like jade, smooth and cool to the touch, with fine patterns curling around its edges like vines and wind markings. It was far lighter than a bracer, almost weightless.

Text appeared on the system panel:

[Congratulations, Host, on obtaining: Wind Eagle Ring (Epic) ×1]

[Description: A wrist guard that gathers the power of wind and wood. It can store wood-attributed energy, accelerate energy circulation, and repair cracks in Light-Shadow Stones. When worn, it resonates with the Wind Eagle Crossbow and Wood Shadow Stone, increasing wood-attribute output efficiency by 20%.]

Chen Xuan stared at the description on the panel and read it twice.

Repair effect.

He raised his right hand and slipped the Wind Eagle Ring around his wrist. It automatically adjusted to fit perfectly, as though it had grown onto his skin. Closing his eyes, he looked inward at his dantian and found that the layer of cyan light on the Wood Shadow Stone's surface was much steadier than before. The light at the edges of its cracks no longer flickered either.

Through some method Chen Xuan did not yet fully understand, the Wind Eagle Ring was reinforcing the Wood Shadow Stone's stability on the foundation of "circulation."

Chen Xuan opened his eyes, and the corner of his mouth lifted slightly.

Three days. Worth it.

He turned his head toward the training ground.

Yu Xiaogang stood in the middle of the field, watching the seven people running laps. Tang San ran at the front with steady steps, but the cloth on his back bulged faintly—the dark blue scales occasionally surfaced for an instant whenever he exerted himself, then vanished again. Yu Xiaogang's gaze remained fixed on Tang San, never once turning toward Chen Xuan.

Dai Mubai ran past, panting as he muttered quietly to Oscar, "Say, is Chen Xuan really going to sleep for three days? Isn't he afraid the Master will make things difficult for him?"

Oscar was so out of breath that he could barely speak. "He... he was never going to fit into the Master's shoes anyway... He doesn't have to follow the Master's rules..."

Ma Hongjun followed behind them and weakly added, "If I could lie around like him... I'd lie around too..."

Their voices drifted past the edge of the training ground, and Chen Xuan heard them clearly. He did not open his eyes, but the corner of his mouth curved upward.

Xiao Wu poked her head out from the group and looked from half a training ground away in Chen Xuan's direction. Her gaze was somewhat complicated. Then she turned back without saying anything.

Chen Xuan tucked the Wind Eagle Ring farther into his sleeve, leaned back on the reclining chair, and closed his eyes again.

By evening, training had ended.

The Shrek Seven Monsters stood in a row on the training ground, drenched in sweat, their legs trembling. Yu Xiaogang set down his notebook, his gaze passing over everyone before falling on the figure lying beneath the distant shade of the tree.

Chen Xuan's breathing was steady and long, as though he had already fallen asleep. Half a bitten flatbread still lay beside the reclining chair.

Yu Xiaogang's expression darkened. He turned to Tang San, his voice low, but every word carried deliberately suppressed anger. "Spirit fighting tonight, at the Soto Great Spirit Arena. I've arranged a team of all-control-system Soul Elders."

"Let them see what a real team is."

Tang San fell silent for a moment, his gaze unconsciously shifting toward the figure lying beneath the shade. But Yu Xiaogang gave him no opportunity to speak. "You don't need to worry about him. He isn't part of your control chain, so your control chain must be tight enough not to need him."

Tang San withdrew his gaze. "Understood, Teacher."

Yu Xiaogang turned and walked toward the edge of the training ground.

Tang San stood in place and looked back once more in Chen Xuan's direction.

Chen Xuan turned over, buried his face in the reclining chair's shadow, and mumbled something indistinctly—it sounded like, "Pretty cool tonight."

Tang San clenched his fists and turned around as well.

The wind swept through the training ground, rustling the leaves of the old elm tree. Beneath its shade, the reclining figure remained motionless.

[Detected completion of the Special Lottery Pool's three-day accumulation. The Wind Eagle Ring has been integrated into the Five Elements circulation circuit. Current circulation completion: Wind-Wood linkage achieved.]