Tang San Becomes Bald!

His handsome profile looked especially striking in the sunlight, the arm carrying the bucket smooth and powerful...

Xiao Wu's heart inexplicably beat faster. Her big eyes shimmered with the relief of surviving disaster and a faint, barely noticeable fondness.

"He... he's not only good-looking, but kind-hearted too. He can be relied on when it matters... He really is a good person!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the battlefield.

"You little bastard! You dared burn even me?! I think you're asking for it!"

Zhao Wuji took a single stride forward, his huge hand precisely grabbing Ma Hongjun by the back of his collar like an eagle snatching a chick just as he tried to slip away!

"Argh! Teacher Zhao, spare me! It's a misunderstanding! It's all a misunderstanding!" Ma Hongjun was scared out of his wits, flailing his limbs wildly.

"A misunderstanding?! I'll let you experience the tender loving care of the 'Immovable Bright King'!"

Zhao Wuji sneered, his casserole-sized fist showing Ma Hongjun's round backside and back no mercy!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

"Ah! It hurts, it hurts!"

"Teacher Zhao, I was wrong!"

"Argh! Don't hit my face! Oww!"

On the other side, the vast white mist gradually dispersed.

Xiao Wu and Lin Jiang looked down at Tang San on the ground.

He was soaked from head to toe. His clothes had been burned black and torn to rags, barely hanging off his body and exposing the equally soot-blackened skin beneath. A thick scorched stench wafted from him.

Most eye-catching of all was the top of his head—

His once thick black hair had been burned completely away in the center, exposing his scalp!

Only a few sparse, curled, equally charred strands of hair stubbornly remained at the sides and back of his head...

A standard, freshly made balding hairstyle had appeared right atop Tang San's bruised and swollen face!

Xiao Wu: "..." It was over. Third Brother's image... was completely ruined...

Lin Jiang fought back a laugh. Even Ma Hongjun, battered and bruised himself, forgot his pain when he saw Tang San's appearance and blurted out:

"Whoa! What a shiny bald spot!"

Tang San felt the cool breeze blowing over his head, heard Ma Hongjun's "compliment," and saw the complex, indescribable look in Xiao Wu's eyes... His vision went black, and this time, he truly fainted from rage.

His final thought before passing out was: My system, you set me up...

The sun slanted westward, and the lazy afternoon sunlight spilled across the dirt roads of Rice Fragrance Village, stirring up a hint of summer heat.

Lin Jiang yawned as he slowly strolled out of his crude little wooden cabin.

A hearty meal followed by a wonderful two-hour nap left his entire body steeped in contented laziness. Even the gaps between his bones felt comfortable.

"Ah... Eating my fill, drinking enough, and sleeping until I wake naturally—this is the blessed life a transmigrator ought to have!"

He stretched lazily, his joints cracking softly in satisfaction, then narrowed his eyes and looked at the sky.

"Hmm, Shrek Academy should be pretty lively around now, right? Let's see if there's any fun to watch."

With both hands tucked into his pockets, he sauntered toward the academy with the leisurely gait of someone who recognized no kin.

He had only just reached the worn, shiny path at the edge of the village when he heard hurried footsteps and panting approaching from afar.

Looking up, he saw two figures running laps beneath the shade of the roadside trees.

Running ahead was a girl in an exquisite light-blue dress—the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Ning Rongrong.

Her smooth forehead was covered in fine beads of sweat, several strands of hair clinging to her cheeks. Her little face was flushed from exercise, and though she was somewhat tired, her steps remained fairly light.

A few paces behind her was Oscar, panting like an ox.

As the two drew closer, their conversation clearly drifted into Lin Jiang's ears.

"O-Oscar..."

Ning Rongrong's voice carried a trace of suppressed irritation and helplessness. She turned her head slightly, her lovely willow-leaf brows furrowing.

"Just how far is one lap? I feel like we've been running for nearly two hours. Why haven't we finished even one lap?"

Oscar panted heavily, his face miserable, sweat soaking several strands of his thick beard.

"Didn't... didn't I say it when we set out, Rongrong? This... this is simply an impossible task! Twenty laps? Dean Flander is definitely doing this on purpose to mess with us!"

He wiped away his sweat, trying to make his tone sound lighter.

"But don't worry too much. We're both rare support-system Soul Masters, a golden partnership! As long as we're together, why would we have to fear going hungry? How about we first..."

He did not finish, but his peach blossom eyes had already lit up out of habit as he looked at Ning Rongrong with a hint of ingratiation.

Ning Rongrong did not stop running. She merely turned her face and glanced at him.

Though she was still young, and her exquisite porcelain-doll face retained a trace of childishness, her soft, alluring gaze naturally carried a charm completely unfitting for her age, blending sweetness and willfulness.

That one glance inexplicably made Oscar's bones feel weak. He gave an awkward chuckle and lowered his voice as if presenting a treasure, while his Soul Ring flickered faintly.

"Hehe, when the critical moment comes, you still have to rely on your brother! I've got a Big Sausage!"

With a flash of light, a steaming, glistening sausage that gave off an enticing meaty aroma appeared out of thin air in his hand.

He eagerly held it out before Ning Rongrong.

"Rongrong, want a taste? My sausage is a premium product of my first Soul Ring skill!"

"Not only does it speed up wound healing, its stamina recovery effect is immediate!"

"With my endless sausage supply, forget twenty laps—even two hundred laps won't leave us hungry! I guarantee you'll still be full of energy if you run until dark!"

He patted his chest and spoke with utmost confidence, as though the sausage in his hand was not a sausage, but some immortal elixir that could let someone ascend on the spot.

However, as Ning Rongrong looked at the sausage held before her—a sausage whose shape and Soul Incantation both invited far too much imagination—her beautiful eyes showed not the slightest gratitude or appetite. Instead, an extremely strange expression flashed through them.

The corner of her pink lips seemed to twitch. Then, words that stood in the starkest possible contrast to her refined appearance, so fierce they were almost outrageous, fell crisply like icy beans:

"Eat your head! I still have two slices of thick bread!"

Before her words had faded, seven-colored light flashed from her body. The delicate Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda instantly appeared in her palm, and her first Soul Ring lit up!

Seven Treasures Have Names, the second: Speed!

A light, colorful glow instantly enveloped her, and Ning Rongrong's speed abruptly surged!

Like a startled green bird, she accelerated forward without looking back.

All she left Oscar was a rapidly receding blue figure swaying gracefully, along with a faint lingering trace of a young girl's fragrance in the air.

Oscar stood frozen in place, still holding up the sausage, the smile on his face completely stiffened.

He watched Ning Rongrong's departing figure vanish into the distance, then looked down at the lonely sausage in his hand. He felt as though a bleak autumn wind had blown through his heart.

On the verge of tears, he muttered, "Thick bread? How can thick bread compare to my Big Sausage? She doesn't know quality..."