The night was as dark as ink. After returning to his quarters, Su Ge took out the several pieces of Whale Rubber Deng Jilin had brought him.
Besides those, he had also secured three pieces of ten-thousand-year Whale Rubber through advance orders, though unfortunately none of them were over fifty thousand years old.
"But better than nothing."
According to the original work, Whale Rubber was a special substance produced in the brains of whale-type Soul Beasts, and it had excellent restorative effects for Soul Masters.
It strengthened the body and enhanced the endurance of muscles, bones, and meridians, enough to bring about a transformative change in a Soul Master's physique.
Although it could not directly raise Soul Power, if the Whale Rubber was old enough, both its medicinal feedback and the refinement process could produce considerable gains in Soul Power.
And that was what gave Su Ge the confidence to attempt a push toward Level 50!
Back when theoretical knowledge in Soul Land had not developed sufficiently, Whale Rubber was mostly used by nobles as an aphrodisiac. High-grade Whale Rubber had little market because of its potency, which was why he had been able to get such a bargain.
Although its effects would be weakened depending on the user's physical condition and drug tolerance, there was plenty of it!
Looking at the pieces of Whale Rubber, he picked up one with a slightly lower age and held it in his palm. Extremely pure Soul Power began gathering in his hand.
According to the method described in the original work, refining Whale Rubber required intense flames to soften it. Its texture was too hard to be refined through direct consumption.
But Su Ge had no high-level fire-attribute Soul Master around him, so he could only compress high-purity Soul Power to simulate a high-temperature environment, making the Whale Rubber easier to refine.
As for asking Ma Hongjun for help? Better not. The medicinal effects of Whale Rubber were already potent enough. If that evil fire melted it as well, Su Ge probably truly would not be able to suppress himself.
So even if this method was slow, he would rather take it slowly!
As the darkness of night gradually faded, Su Ge emerged from his cultivation.
"Not bad luck. It's only the first piece, and I've already broken through to Level 45."
Feeling the breakthrough in his Soul Power Level, Su Ge's eyes flashed with delight. He had not remained at Level 44 for long, yet this refinement had let him break through to Level 45 in one go.
It had to be said that this Whale Rubber had benefited him greatly!
"It's time to go out and take a look. Hopefully Flender has some useful lessons for me."
Su Ge stretched. Absorbing the Whale Rubber all night had not made him tired; instead, he felt as though he had fully rested.
He pushed open the door and walked out. It was not that he truly intended to make things difficult for Flender over the lessons. But if they called themselves Monster Academy, then for monstrous geniuses, even if they could not tailor their teaching to each student, it at least had to be genuinely useful, right?
Yet their teaching methods clearly lacked experience and consisted entirely of personal experience. They might be useful, but they still could not escape that rigid pattern. That was no different from wasting time!
When Su Ge arrived at the main training grounds again, everyone except Oscar had already arrived.
When they saw him, joy clearly flashed through Ning Rongrong's eyes. Tang San and Xiao Wu also happily greeted him.
Only Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun wore rather unpleasant expressions as they looked at him.
Dai Mubai in particular looked as if he had eaten shit.
Su Ge greeted everyone one by one, then finally turned his gaze to Zhu Zhuqing. There was a hint of awkwardness and determination in her eyes as she looked at him.
Judging by this, did she use me to shut Dai Mubai up during their argument?
Su Ge was not stupid. Based on the two of them and the circumstances from the original work, he reconstructed most of what had happened.
As for Ma Hongjun, he had probably just gotten caught in the crossfire.
He walked into the group and looked at Tang San beside him. "How did yesterday's lesson go? How helpful was it for you?"
"It was very helpful. Fighting Soul Masters really does let you encounter all kinds of opponents. It increases combat experience and response methods, so it's a very good form of training."
Tang San nodded, affirming the usefulness of the lesson. He had never experienced this kind of class before, and it truly was effective for practical combat training.
"That's good."
He nodded and said nothing more. In truth, other advanced academies also had this kind of training; Flender had merely brought it out ahead of schedule.
"But Su Ge, when did you get your Purple Gold Soul Fighting Badge? How come I didn't know?"
Xiao Wu's curious voice sounded from beside him. She moved close to Su Ge and stared at him with a hint of scrutiny in her eyes.
"There are plenty of things you don't know. Stop asking."
Su Ge smiled and shook his head. As they spoke, a set of footsteps approached from afar. They ended their conversation and looked toward Flender as he came over.
Because of yesterday's practical combat lesson, they had gained a bit more recognition for this dean. When Flender's gaze swept over them, they finally looked somewhat like students.
But Su Ge remained the exception. When Flender's gaze fell on him, his eyes paused. For some reason, he recalled the chill on his neck last night.
"Ahem. Today is the second lesson. Where's Oscar? Is he sleeping in again?"
Flender coughed twice, then frowned as he looked at Tang San and asked about Oscar.
Hearing this, Su Ge immediately lost interest. After all that, were the lessons still going to be this meaningless?
He watched everything calmly. Then Oscar hurried over, and Su Ge listened to Flender arrange the lesson. He could not even be bothered to argue.
When Oscar summoned two sausages, Su Ge snatched them up and finished them in two bites. They tasted good and did provide both an effect and a sense of fullness, so he treated them as breakfast.
After eating, he turned and walked toward the back without waiting for Flender to speak.
"Since today's lesson is only this, I'll head back first."
"Today's lesson is quite mediocre as well. If future lessons are still like this, then Shrek Academy probably isn't suitable for me."
The others, who had originally been somewhat hesitant, were once again shocked by Su Ge's assessment. But with precedent already set, they no longer found his actions all that surprising.
What followed was that they no longer hesitated over Oscar's sausages.
Including Ning Rongrong, everyone took one after another and ate them. In the end, they found that it was indeed no big deal.
Although this saved Flender a round of lecturing, something still felt off.
"Since today's lesson is over, tomorrow morning's new lesson will be a trip to the Star Dou Great Forest. Teacher Zhao, Zhao Wuji, will lead the team to hunt Oscar's third Soul Ring!"
"At that time..."
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