First Soul Skill: Overlord's Belly-Filling Leg!

"Teacher, did my uncle say something?"

Gao Ren was being carried aloft by Xuan Zi's Soul Power. He could have sworn he'd heard something just before they took off again.

"No, you misheard." Xuan Zi's expression did not change. "That was the wind. You imagined it."

When food was plentiful, Xuan Zi was not particularly possessive about it. He knew how to share.

This time, though, sharing had not crossed his mind.

After all, this vat of wine—the first Gao Ren had ever summoned—held great sentimental value.

As he put it: "This vat of wine is A-Ren's Apprenticeship Gift to his master. This old man alone gets to drink it!"

"A-Ren, why are you shaking? Am I flying too fast?" Xuan Zi had already carried Gao Ren out of Shrek Academy when he noticed him trembling.

"Me?" Gao Ren pointed at himself.

"If not you, then who? Me?" Xuan Zi rolled his eyes.

"Probably... maybe... perhaps I am shaking."

Gao Ren's subconscious was afraid—afraid of going anywhere with Xuan Zi.

After all, who was better at wrecking Shrek's geniuses than the Holy Spirit Cult's grand elder?

"Then I'll slow down some more." Xuan Zi could not help grumbling. "You're hopeless, kid. All that good food your uncle fed you went to waste."

Gao Ren could only smile helplessly. He certainly could not tell Xuan Zi the truth. That would be asking for a beating.

Before they reached the Star Dou Great Forest, the two of them moved on to discussing which Martial Soul he should cultivate first.

"A-Ren, let me test you. Which of your two Martial Souls should you cultivate first?"

After thinking for a moment, Gao Ren answered:

"The Overlord Chicken Leg."

He chose it because developing that Martial Soul first would help keep Xuan Zi from acting too bizarrely.

Generally, the fuller Xuan Zi was, the more dependable he became.

"You're fairly clever after all. Chicken legs suit young and old alike, though yours is a little big...

"But wine is different. Some people can't drink it at all, and for others, drinking actually hurts their fighting ability.

"For a Food-type Soul Master to be useful, people have to get the food they make into their stomachs. Otherwise, however good its effects are, it's all for nothing."

Xuan Zi paused. Recalling the past, he could not help smiling. "Back when your mother was in the freshman class, there was someone who couldn't handle her wine. One cup, and he lay down on the floor and fell asleep.

"If they hadn't taken him to the Infirmary for treatment, he might have slept straight from day into night!"

"In that case, when he went to banquets later, did he have to sit at the children's table?"

"Not necessarily. He could still drink if he wanted to. It just took a bit of work for a healing-type Soul Master."

Xuan Zi was a warrior through and through, and his way of doing things was nothing if not decisive.

He did not even bother glancing at the outer region of the Star Dou Great Forest. Instead, he flew Gao Ren straight into the Mixed Zone, which held the greatest variety of Soul Beasts in the forest.

There were plenty of Hundred-Year Soul Beasts in the outer region.

In the Mixed Zone, they might run into the Three-Eyed Golden Lion.

If a conflict broke out, pulling up one radish could bring a whole clump of mud with it: the three-headed Red Demon Mastiff, the Scarlet King, might appear, or even Beast God Di Tian.

The odds were almost zero, but with Xuan Zi around, Gao Ren felt they would rise sharply.

He was therefore not keen on entering the Mixed Zone.

But Xuan Zi had said he wanted to find Gao Ren a better Soul Ring...

That made Gao Ren wonder if he was being too timid.

Once they reached the Mixed Zone, Xuan Zi soon used his Super Douluo-level mental power to locate a Soul Beast suitable for Gao Ren's First Soul Ring.

A chicken leg was part of a chicken, and chickens were birds.

By that logic, any avian Soul Beast would suit the Overlord Chicken Leg.

"A-Ren, I've found a Soul Beast for you."

"What kind?"

"A Tireless Ostrich. They live in flocks," Xuan Zi began explaining. "They have incredible endurance. One meal lets them run for miles, and their Soul Power recovers much faster than that of most Soul Beasts."

"They run all day, so their leg meat is firm and tastes quite good.

"If you use one for your Soul Ring, your Overlord Chicken Leg might taste even better. You might also get a recovery-type Soul Skill."

At that last sentence, Gao Ren grumbled inwardly: All you ever care about is whether it tastes good, isn't it?

Xuan Zi: If a Food-type Martial Soul doesn't produce anything good to eat or drink, what the hell kind of Food-type Martial Soul is it?

The Soul Hunting Operation that followed was over almost in the blink of an eye.

A Tireless Ostrich around five hundred years old had the dubious honor of becoming Xuan Zi's target.

Gao Ren's uncle, Gao Wei, was the head chef of Shrek Academy's Outer Court cafeteria. His aunt, Lu Xiaoxiao, was the head chef of the Inner Court cafeteria and Shrek Academy's top nutritionist.

Thanks to them, he had grown up on nourishing food. Even though he had awakened a Food-type Martial Soul, his body was still strong enough to absorb a five-hundred-year Soul Ring.

The unlucky target was pinned on the spot by the Super Douluo's pressure, unable to move.

The Ostrich King, a Tireless Ostrich unaffected by the pressure, charged at Xuan Zi instead of fleeing... and the Ten-Thousand-Year Soul Beast promptly announced to every living creature in the world that ostriches could fly!

Xuan Zi handed Gao Ren a small knife made for hunting Soul Beasts and pointed out the Tireless Ostrich's vital spot.

"Stab it here. In a little while, its Soul Ring will be yours."

Gao Ren took the knife and walked up to the Tireless Ostrich.

Before crossing into this world, he had lived for years without ever killing so much as a chicken. Now he had to take a life with his own hands.

But every Soul Master went through this. He needed to get used to it.

Gao Ren struck the Tireless Ostrich's vital spot and watched its life drain away bit by bit.

Seeing a living creature go from lively to lifeless right in front of him felt awful.

When the Tireless Ostrich's Soul Ring appeared, Gao Ren began absorbing it.

Once he finished, Xuan Zi, who had been waiting for some time, could not help asking, "What Soul Skill did you get?"

Gao Ren sensed it for a moment, then answered, "My First Soul Skill is called Overlord’s Belly-Filling Leg..."

Put simply, eating it granted a feeling of fullness that lasted ten days.

That fullness acted as a second pool of Soul Power. As the first pool was consumed, the second replenished it.

Once the second pool was completely exhausted, the eater's feeling of fullness ended early.

The most outrageous part was that the second pool held as much Soul Power as the first. Its capacity depended on the person who ate it.

Xuan Zi was startled by Gao Ren's answer. Then his eyes grew brighter and brighter.

Because of his Godly Taotie Bull Martial Soul, the stronger he became, the harder it was for him to feel full.

It had been over two hundred years since he had last experienced what it meant to be "full."

"Quick, quick! Make me an Overlord’s Belly-Filling Leg to try!"

"Yes, Teacher." Gao Ren nodded.

A Food-type Soul Master had to call out a Soul Chant to release a Soul Skill.

For high-quality Food-type Martial Souls, those Soul Chants generally followed the pattern "I've got a *****!"

Gao Ren's, however, was rather different.