A One-Month Challenge: The Loser Eats Dust!

The next day, on the training ground.

Yu Xiaogang stood with his hands behind his back, his face taut. There was no sign of the embarrassment he had shown when Ning Rongrong had talked him into storming out of the Battle Arena's lounge the night before.

Lin Xuan arrived with Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing. Tang San, Dai Mubai, Oscar, and Ma Hongjun took their places soon after.

Yu Xiaogang cleared his throat and picked up the scroll in his hand.

"We won yesterday's team battle, but it exposed a great many problems."

"Especially with discipline."

Yu Xiaogang's gaze passed straight over Tang San and settled on Lin Xuan.

"Being strong as an individual does not put you above the team's rules."

"Starting today, everyone will undergo closed-door physical and impact-resistance training."

"Lin Xuan, your support abilities are too scattered. That keeps you from focusing on coordinating the back line."

"Today, you'll wear a sixty-pound weighted vest and run fifty laps around the village. You may not use Soul Power or any talismans along the way."

"As for Ning Rongrong, she abandoned her post yesterday and talked back to an elder. She'll carry forty pounds and run the same fifty laps."

Silence fell over the training ground.

Oscar hunched his shoulders and didn't dare make a sound.

Ma Hongjun rubbed his bald head, looking ready to enjoy the show.

Ning Rongrong laughed outright and planted her hands on her hips.

"Fifty laps?"

"Yu Xiaogang, I exposed you yesterday, so today you're using your position to settle a personal grudge?"

"Disciples of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect don't go around doing grunt work for clowns."

Yu Xiaogang's face turned livid. He whipped his sleeve through the air.

"This is a training assignment at Shrek Academy!"

"Refusing to follow instructions undermines team discipline!"

Lin Xuan looked at him without even bothering to change his expression.

He brushed the morning dew from his clothes, turned, and walked off the training ground.

"Lin Xuan, stop right there!"

Yu Xiaogang barked the order.

Lin Xuan stopped and glanced back, his voice level.

"Yu Xiaogang, save your lectures for people who want to hear them."

"I'm done putting up with you."

Xiao Wu hurried after him, linked both hands around his arm, and stuck her tongue out at Yu Xiaogang.

"I'm not training either! Running every day—do you know how to teach anything else?"

Ning Rongrong lifted her chin, gave a cold snort, and walked away.

Zhu Zhuqing stood still for a moment. She glanced at Dai Mubai, then at Yu Xiaogang. Without hesitation, she strode off after Ning Rongrong.

Half of the once-neat eight-person lineup was gone.

Yu Xiaogang stood rooted to the spot, his chest heaving. He pointed at Lin Xuan's retreating back, too furious to speak.

Flender raised a hand to his forehead and let out a heavy sigh.

"Xiao Gang, I told you these children aren't ordinary students. You can't keep them in line with the old methods..."

"Flender!"

Yu Xiaogang cut him off, raising his voice.

"Without rules, there can be no order!"

"No matter how talented they are, with attitudes that arrogant, they'll never amount to much!"

Tang San stood at the front of the remaining group, his expression strained.

He looked at Lin Xuan walking away, then at his furious teacher. Caught between them, he felt miserable beyond words.

By the stream behind the village.

Water burbled past, and the willows along the bank swayed in the breeze.

Lin Xuan sat on a blue-gray rock, holding a broad leaf and unhurriedly folding it into the shape of a Talisman Paper model.

Xiao Wu sat on the grass beside him, nibbling a carrot and still speaking up for him.

"That old man is awful!"

"He's not even strong himself, but he insists on acting like some great expert. It makes me sick!"

Ning Rongrong crouched by the stream to wash her hands. She shook off the water, came over, and sat beside Lin Xuan.

"Good for you, Lin Xuan, walking away!"

"I've been sick of him for ages. Who does he think he's impressing with that gloomy face every day?"

"I say we leave Shrek, rent a big place in Suotuo City, and compete at the Great Soul Arena every day. We'd earn enough to live like royalty!"

Zhu Zhuqing leaned against a willow with her arms crossed. She said nothing, but she clearly agreed with Ning Rongrong.

Just then, faint footsteps came from the woods behind them.

The four of them turned.

Tang San pushed through the bushes and walked briskly toward them.

At the sight of him, Xiao Wu huffed and turned her head away.

Ning Rongrong curled her lip and gave him a frosty look.

Zhu Zhuqing watched the water, her expression calm.

Tang San stopped in front of the rock, his hands hanging awkwardly at his sides.

"Lin Xuan."

His voice was low.

Lin Xuan stopped what he was doing and looked up at him, his expression easy.

"Little San, what brings you here? Don't you have to run with Grandmaster?"

Guilt showed on Tang San's face. He bowed with his hands clasped.

"Lin Xuan, I'm sorry."

"My teacher can be stubborn, and he's too eager to see results."

"What he said on the training ground went too far. I'm apologizing to you on his behalf."

Xiao Wu couldn't help chiming in.

"Tang San, Yu Xiaogang was the one who did something wrong, not you. Don't you get tired of apologizing for him?"

"If he's really capable, he should prove it and earn everyone's respect. What's the point of picking on Lin Xuan all day?"

Tang San flushed at her words and lowered his head, not knowing how to answer.

His teacher was an elder he had chosen to follow; he could never turn his back on him. But Lin Xuan was his closest friend, someone he had grown up with in Holy Soul Village and spent six years supporting at Notting Academy.

On one side stood the teacher who had taught him; on the other, his dearest friend.

Being trapped between them made him feel as if he were being torn in two.

Lin Xuan rose from the rock, stepped up to Tang San, and patted his shoulder.

"Little San, look up."

Tang San raised his head and met Lin Xuan's eyes.

Lin Xuan looked composed. His voice was quiet, but every word was clear.

"I told you back in Notting City: each of us follows our own path in cultivation."

"Yu Xiaogang is Yu Xiaogang. You're you."

"He's your teacher, and respecting him is your duty. But he isn't mine, and I have no obligation to indulge him."

"You don't need to apologize for him. Nothing Yu Xiaogang does will change our friendship."

Tang San opened his mouth. His eyes grew warm, and much of the weight pressing on his chest lifted.

"Thank you, Lin Xuan."

Lin Xuan smiled, took a freshly folded Clear Mind Talisman from his Storage Ring, and handed it over.

"Take it. Go back and train hard. Don't let this mess slow down your cultivation."

Tang San accepted the talisman and nodded firmly.

"I'll head back to the training ground, then."

"Go on."

Watching Tang San hurry away, Ning Rongrong propped her chin on her hand and sighed.

"Tang San has so much going for him. He's strong, and he keeps his head. How did he end up with a teacher like that?"

Xiao Wu took another bite of her carrot and mumbled, "That's what you call rotten luck."