Working Together, Everyone Joined the Run! Ning Rongrong Was Nearly Run Ragged

Meanwhile, in a tree half a mile from Shrek Academy.

Hidden among its dense leaves, Tang Hao had seen everything that had happened in the clearing.

He took the wine gourd from his waist, tipped back his head, and drank a long swig of strong liquor.

Back in Notting City, Yu Xiaogang had made Shrek Academy sound extraordinary. He had claimed it admitted only monsters and knew better than anywhere else on the continent how to teach students according to their strengths.

But from what Tang Hao had seen today, the academy's surroundings aside, its older students were frivolous and ill-mannered. Could a place like this really be called an academy for monsters?

Tang Hao lowered his wine gourd and snorted.

"It doesn't live up to its name!"

At the Shrek Academy training ground.

Lin Xuan, Tang San, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing stood side by side in the clearing.

As for Oscar and Dai Mubai, they were still back at the dormitory looking after Ma Hongjun, whose body was covered in bandages.

Before long, Flender and Zhao Wuji appeared before the five of them.

Flender stopped on the training ground, adjusted his glasses, and looked over each of the five new students in turn.

"I'm Flender, the dean of Shrek Academy."

Flender cleared his throat.

"Welcome to Shrek. Once you've come through our doors, the academy treats everyone equally. But each of you has a different Martial Soul, so your training will differ too."

He raised a finger and pointed first at Tang San, Xiao Wu, and Zhu Zhuqing.

"You three are Battle Soul Masters. Your practical combat training will mainly take place at night. Use the day to get yourselves ready."

With that, Flender turned his hand toward Lin Xuan and Ning Rongrong.

"Lin Xuan, Ning Rongrong, you two are support types."

Ning Rongrong blinked and took half a step forward.

With his hands behind his back, Flender paced in front of them.

"Support Soul Masters are the first targets on a battlefield. When danger comes, you don't have the direct offensive power of an assault type or the burst of speed an agility type uses to escape. All you can rely on are your own two legs. Good stamina is the bare minimum you need to stay alive."

Lin Xuan listened calmly.

It was just as it had been in the original story. The only difference was that Oscar was looking after Ma Hongjun.

Flender pointed at the dirt road beyond the training ground, which ran around the entire village.

"Today's training is simple. You two will run twenty laps around the village. If you don't finish, you don't get lunch. Start now!"

Lin Xuan did not argue. Twenty laps would be easy for a Soul Elder. He turned and ran toward the dirt road by the village entrance.

"Hey! Lin Xuan, wait for me!"

Ning Rongrong lifted her skirt and hurried after him.

Xiao Wu stayed where she was, watching the pair run off one after the other, her lips pressed tightly together.

Throughout their six years at Notting Academy, she had always been the only one following Lin Xuan around.

Now a young lady from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had suddenly appeared and spent every day circling him. Xiao Wu could not help feeling uneasy.

When Flender saw that Lin Xuan and Ning Rongrong were already dozens of meters away, he turned to Tang San.

"Tang San, come with me for a moment."

Tang San stayed where he was and glanced toward Lin Xuan. Then he shook his head.

"Dean, whatever it is can wait until after the run."

Flender froze. "Your training is tonight."

Tang San shook his head again.

"Lin Xuan is my brother. If he has to train, I'm running too."

With that, Tang San hurried after Lin Xuan.

The moment Xiao Wu saw Tang San move, her expression brightened.

"Wait for me! I'm coming too!"

Xiao Wu bounded after him on her long legs without so much as another glance at Flender.

In the blink of an eye, Zhu Zhuqing was the only student left on the dirt training ground.

Standing in the middle of the clearing, Zhu Zhuqing glanced toward the dormitory.

The image of Dai Mubai reeking of alcohol and covered in lip prints lingered in her mind, along with Ma Hongjun's leering, repulsive face.

If she stayed here, she would inevitably run into those two again.

Without a moment's hesitation, Zhu Zhuqing darted off like a black breeze, heading straight after the other four.

The training ground was suddenly empty, save for Flender and Zhao Wuji.

Flender adjusted his glasses and let out a helpless sigh.

"These youngsters... Looks like that Lin Xuan kid is the one holding their group together."

He shook his head and walked toward his office with his hands behind his back.

"Let them go. A little extra sweat won't hurt them."

On the dirt road outside the village.

Lin Xuan kept his breathing even and his footing steady.

Hearing a jumble of footsteps behind him, he looked back in surprise at the three people catching up.

"Why did you follow us? Didn't Dean Flender say Battle Soul Masters could rest during the day?"

Tang San slowed to run beside Lin Xuan on his left.

"We're brothers. We've gone from Holy Soul Village to Notting Academy and now to Shrek together. When we step onto a fighting arena or a battlefield, we'll stand together there too. Twenty laps today are nothing."

Xiao Wu moved to Lin Xuan's right, tossing the scorpion braid behind her head.

"Exactly! Lin Xuan, we lived in the same dormitory. Even on a battlefield, Little San and I would stand in front of you. How could we just watch you run alone?"

Lin Xuan could not help laughing. He had not expected their reasons to be so simple. He smiled.

"All right. Let's run together."

Ning Rongrong, running behind them, slowed and looked curiously at Zhu Zhuqing at the back of the group.

"Zhuqing, those three grew up together, so it makes sense they'd run together. Why did you come?"

Zhu Zhuqing did not break stride.

"I don't want to stay with those people."

Ning Rongrong paused, then nodded in agreement.

"True. That fat guy is disgusting, and Dai Mubai doesn't seem like a good person either. I feel much better staying with you."

Listening to their conversation, Lin Xuan laughed to himself.

That reason's simple enough.

After five laps, the group's pace began to vary noticeably.

Lin Xuan had spent years drawing talismans with his Spiritual Power. He had also practiced martial arts with Tang San and Xiao Wu at Notting Academy, and repeated tempering by Soul Power had made his body exceptionally strong. After ten kilometers, he was not even breathing hard.

Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill protected his meridians, and his breathing remained slow and steady.

Xiao Wu was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast in human form. Her physique was far stronger than an ordinary person's, and she was still skipping along beside them.

As an agility type, Zhu Zhuqing had excellent endurance and coordination. Apart from a fine sheen of sweat on her forehead, her pace had not faltered.

Only Ning Rongrong's legs had begun to weaken.

Though she was a rank twenty-six Soul Grandmaster, she had always been pampered at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. She had never done such intense physical training.

By the end of the seventh lap, Ning Rongrong's face was flushed bright red. Her steps grew shorter and shorter, and she panted in broken breaths.