Motherland Guga, Di Guga, and Yan Shuang Guga

Flender arrived at Tang San's dormitory.

The moment he opened the door, a foul stench hit him.

"Cough, cough, cough!!"

He pinched his nose and used Soul Power to blow the smell out of the room before stepping inside.

As soon as he entered, his gaze fell on the belt around Tang San's waist.

"Hmm?"

He hurried over, frowned, and ran his fingers over it twice.

That material, that style... it looked like Xiaogang's.

Tang San instinctively covered his belt with both hands.

"Teacher, what are you doing? Stop touching it! Don't!"

"Hold still! Let me see!"

After confirming the marks on the inside of the belt, Flender nodded.

Yes, it was Xiaogang's.

"Tang San, who gave you this belt?"

"My teacher."

"No wonder. Tang San, I'm Flender, the dean of Shrek.

Take these next few days to recover. You can skip the assessment. Since you're Xiaogang's disciple, your abilities must be up to the mark."

"You're Dean Flender? My teacher asked me to give you this letter."

Tang San tapped his belt twice and held out a letter.

Flender opened it, and his eyes lit up.

Xiaogang was coming?!

Wonderful! As it happened, one of the new students also had External Martial Souls—a thousand of them!

And he could even keep that little tyrant Ning Rongrong in line.

If Xiaogang taught him, he could surely bring out his full potential!

Then he'd come to admire Xiaogang's theories and feel grateful.

Not only would that make the team more harmonious, it might even make him cough up some coin!

At the thought, a grin spread across Flender's face.

Looking at Tang San's injuries, he reminded him once more:

"Get plenty of rest. When your teacher arrives, you master and disciple can have a proper reunion."

"Thank you, Dean."

Flender acknowledged him and turned to leave the dormitory.

Inside the villa.

Lin Xiao popped a Pills pill into his mouth and began cultivating.

Ning Rongrong and Xiao Wu weren't in much of a hurry. After taking their Pills pills, they played dress-up with Little Guga nearby.

Zhu Zhuqing was a little puzzled:

"Rongrong, Xiao Wu, aren't you going to cultivate?"

Without looking up, Ning Rongrong fiddled with Little Guga's accessories as she replied:

"No need. I'm a support Soul Master, so I don't have to work myself to the bone cultivating. Besides, with Brother Lin Xiao around, I might as well eat well, drink well, and have fun."

Xiao Wu nodded along beside her.

Ever since she'd started taking the Pills pills, her level had shot up even when she didn't cultivate that hard.

It rose faster than it had when she'd worked diligently, so she might as well play a little longer.

Still, why did it feel like she'd forgotten something? Something pretty important...

What was it?

Oh well. If she couldn't remember, she wouldn't worry about it.

Seeing how relaxed the two of them were, Zhu Zhuqing envied them from the bottom of her heart.

She hesitated a moment before speaking softly.

"Um, could I ask how you two cultivate? If it's inconvenient, just pretend I didn't ask."

"What's inconvenient about it? Here, it's yours. Take one when you cultivate."

Ning Rongrong casually tossed her a bottle of Pills.

The porcelain bottle traced an arc through the air, and Zhu Zhuqing scrambled to catch it.

She looked down at the bottle. A label bearing the character "soul" was stuck to it.

"This... is for me?"

"Of course."

Ning Rongrong lowered her head again and continued pinning a little flower onto one of the Gugas, speaking absentmindedly.

"This bottle of Pills is worth a fortune. You couldn't buy it even if you had the money.

But Brother Lin Xiao and I reached the point where we can eat Pills whenever we want ages ago. We could have them for meals, so giving you a bottle is no big deal."

Zhu Zhuqing gripped the porcelain bottle tightly.

Warmth welled up in her heart.

"Thank you, Rongrong."

"It's nothing. We're sisters."

Xiao Wu bobbed her head as she said:

"Zhuqing, don't put so much pressure on yourself. Come play with us when you have time."

Zhu Zhuqing looked at Lin Xiao, who sat cross-legged in stillness, then down at the medicine bottle in her hand. She nodded solemnly.

Pulling out the stopper, she counted carefully.

There were six inside, enough for six cultivation sessions.

She would remember this kindness.

She tucked the porcelain bottle away with care and slipped a Pills pill into her mouth.

Then she began to cultivate.

Feeling the Soul Power surge through her body, Zhu Zhuqing shivered with pleasure.

Hiss... Soul Power was flowing into her body so quickly.

Forty percent faster than when she'd cultivated before.

Was this the power of Pills?

No wonder they'd reached such high levels at their age.

She couldn't waste it. She had to cultivate as much as possible before the medicine wore off.

With that thought, she cast aside all distractions and threw herself into meditation.

Seeing Zhu Zhuqing bury herself in cultivation already, Ning Rongrong couldn't help clicking her tongue.

"Xiao Wu, don't you think we're being a little useless? I feel like we're wasting Brother Lin Xiao's Pills."

Xiao Wu tapped her chin, looking puzzled.

"Useless? Not really. I think it's great. Just tell me, are you happy?"

"Mm. I'm happy."

"Then there you go. Think about it—what if one day we suddenly dropped dead, but you still had Pills left and loads of fun things you hadn't tried? Wouldn't that be a shame?"

Now that she had a reason to indulge herself, Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up.

"You're right! Let's keep playing!"

By evening,

the two cultivators had finished for the day.

Zhu Zhuqing put her porcelain bottle of Pills beneath her pillow, afraid she might lose it if she took it out.

Only then did she go downstairs to join the others.

Lin Xiao was taking stock of his troops.

He couldn't bring all the Gugas. He would pick three for now, just enough for each of the three girls to form a two-person team.

"Gugas, we need three fighters. Volunteers?"

"Guga! Boss, pick me! I want a fight, guga!"

"Boss, I want to go too, guga."

"Oh, my friend, how could a heroic deed like this leave yours truly out?"

"Guga! Boss, I haven't even appeared yet! Let me have some screen time, guga!"

"Guga damn it, neither have we! How many tens of thousands of words have we spent warming the bench?! We want our moment, guga!!"

The Penguins chattered and argued without end.

They even banded together and started fighting. No one knew where dust could have come from on that smooth floor, but a cloud of white smoke somehow sprang up and swallowed them.

Crashes and thuds sounded from inside without pause.

Pots, bowls, ladles, and basins flew out from time to time.

Curious, Ning Rongrong poked the Daoist Gugas watching from the sidelines.

"Aren't you going to compete?"

A Daoist Guga swayed its head and recited:

"One palm sees through creation's mysteries; rise and ruin hang by threads within the sleeve.

All who chase gain in the mortal world pursue empty dreams; the great Dao seeks no first place.

No matter how fiercely they compete, they'll never earn as much credit as we do~"

Another Daoist Guga stroked the fake beard stuck to its face.

"Precisely, precisely. One glance lets us judge cause and effect; two hands let us rewrite fate. Charging into battle isn't for us."

Ning Rongrong gave them a thumbs-up.

Every time, they came out with this sort of mystical talk. And somehow, she always found it profound and couldn't argue back.

Lin Xiao sighed helplessly. Clearly, he was used to it.

"Stop! We'll take three new faces today."

The Gugas froze.

They were still mid-kick, with fingers up nostrils, tails in fists, and feet planted on toes.

Click!

At that single, perfectly synchronized sound, every Guga let go, straightened up in a flash, and lined up neatly, standing tall with chests puffed out.

Lin Xiao extended a finger and pointed along the line.

"Uh... it's you three, then. The ones at the front: Motherland Guga, Di Guga, and Yan Shuang Guga!"

"Yay!!"

Di Guga wiped away a nosebleed, looking smug.

Motherland Guga's lips curled upward, and its eyes glowed red with excitement—literally glowed red.

Yan Shuang Guga tugged its hat down.