Blue Tyrant Night Training

Blue Tyrant Academy's training ground was especially empty at night.

When Liu Erlong lent them the grounds, she wore the smile of someone settling in to watch a show. She probably wanted to know just how slight the "little practice" Bai Jin had mentioned would be.

Half an hour later, the Shrek Seven Devils knew.

Not slight at all.

Bai Jin placed a candy wrapper at each corner of the ground. Held aloft by Soul Power, they swayed lightly in midair. The rules were almost absurdly simple: before dawn, the seven of them only had to snatch one wrapper from behind him to pass.

No Hidden Weapons.

No charging in blindly.

No leaving the support unguarded.

No letting the food-type Soul Master stray beyond their protection.

"By the way." Bai Jin sat on a wooden post at the edge of the ground, grinning like he was begging for a punch. "Anyone whose name I call runs ten laps around the academy."

Ma Hongjun charged first.

The instant his Phoenix Fire Line shot out, Bai Jin did not even raise his head. Before the red light reached him, it seemed to plunge into slow-moving water, losing speed bit by bit until it stopped before his fingertips.

"Ma Hongjun. Ten laps."

"Why?" Ma Hongjun wailed.

"Because you nearly roasted Oscar."

Clutching his basket of sausages, Oscar nodded with utter sincerity. "Fatty, I could smell myself cooking just now."

Ma Hongjun flushed and slunk back into the team.

Dai Mubai took a deep breath. "Stick to formation. Tang San, control the field. Xiao Wu and I will press from the front. Zhu Zhuqing, take the flank. Rongrong, watch the timing. Oscar, stay behind me. Fatty, don't breathe fire right away."

"What do you mean, don't breathe fire right away? What am I supposed to do?"

"Use your brain," Bai Jin drawled from the side.

Ma Hongjun shut up.

As the second round began, Tang San did not rush to release his Blue Silver Grass. Instead, he spread its blades along the ground to gauge the flow of Soul Power around Bai Jin. Ning Rongrong stood beside Oscar, her Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda lighting up, but she did not grant a boost yet.

She was waiting.

That was hard for Ning Rongrong.

The power of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda had accustomed her to being protected since childhood, and to treating a boost as the most dazzling answer. But Bai Jin insisted that she act less often and with greater precision. A support Soul Master could not simply stand in the back and shine. When to give a boost, whom to give it to, and how much to give often marked the line between life and death in battle.

Ning Rongrong bit her lip and did not argue.

Zhu Zhuqing slipped along the shadows while Dai Mubai advanced head-on. Xiao Wu held back her charge, her body half-turned, ready to rescue anyone at a moment's notice.

A trace of a smile touched Bai Jin's eyes.

Now that's more like it.

The next instant, he tapped his toes, activated Shrinking Earth, and vanished from the wooden post.

"Behind us!"

Tang San called out almost at the same moment. Blue Silver Grass surged up from the ground and coiled toward the rear. Zhu Zhuqing changed course, her Hell Stab cutting out along the grass's shadow. Dai Mubai's White Tiger Fierce Light Wave bore down on the same spot.

The three attacks closed in from all sides, finally forcing Bai Jin to lift a hand.

Limitless blocked them.

"Good read, Tang San," Bai Jin said. "Too bad you forgot someone."

Ning Rongrong's expression changed.

Bai Jin had already appeared behind Oscar and plucked a Big Sausage from his basket.

"Oscar. Ten laps."

Oscar broke down. "Why me? I'm the one who got caught!"

"You got caught and didn't even run. Your stamina needs work."

"..."

Training continued well past midnight.

They failed again and again, adjusting each time. Dai Mubai learned that not every frontal clash had to be met with brute force. Zhu Zhuqing learned to wait for Tang San's Blue Silver Grass to open a true angle of attack. Ning Rongrong's boosts no longer landed at random; they struck like needles at the exact moments the team needed them most. Oscar stopped standing still to make sausages and began moving around Dai Mubai.

Tang San improved the fastest.

He already excelled at observation. His Mysterious Heaven Skill gave him deeper reserves than Soul Masters of the same level, while his Purple Demon Eye caught the smallest changes. After several failures, he could roughly predict where Bai Jin would land after using Shrinking Earth. They still could not stop him once Tang San figured it out, but at least the team no longer scattered from a single kick as they had at the start.

Xiao Wu changed too.

She disliked being pinned to a rigid plan, but Bai Jin's training made her realize for the first time that speed and hard kicks were not enough. She could rescue teammates, fill gaps, and become the team's second pivot whenever Tang San was tied down.

Ma Hongjun had it worst.

His flames were powerful, but whenever he panicked, his fire line scattered. Bai Jin did not scold him. After Ma Hongjun singed his own trouser leg for the seventh time, Bai Jin simply handed him a piece of candy.

Ma Hongjun stared. "For me?"

"Eat."

Ma Hongjun was so moved he nearly cried.

Bai Jin added, "Then keep running."

Ma Hongjun swallowed his tears.

As the horizon began to pale, the final round started.

This time, Ma Hongjun did not rush to breathe fire. Standing slightly behind the team and to one side, he drew his hands inward. He compressed his Phoenix Flame into a thin, bright line that curved in a half arc along the ground. Tang San's Blue Silver Grass grew along its outer edge. Dai Mubai drew Bai Jin's gaze from the front, while Zhu Zhuqing hid in the shadows.

Ning Rongrong's boost descended.

Not on Dai Mubai.

On Ma Hongjun.

The fire line snapped taut like a burning rope, barring Bai Jin's landing point for an instant. Zhu Zhuqing darted in from the other side, her fingertips brushing the candy wrapper.

Bai Jin looked down and saw that a corner had been torn away.

The training ground fell silent for a beat.

Then Ma Hongjun dropped onto his backside, and Soul Power surged through his body with a thunderous jolt.

Level 30.

"I broke through?" His eyes went wide.

Oscar threw himself at Ma Hongjun and hugged him. "Fatty, you're finally not the two-ring deadweight anymore!"

"Get off me!"

Liu Erlong stood beneath the corridor, a hint of a smile in her eyes. Xue Qinghe had arrived in the distance at some point as well. He still carried himself with the Crown Prince's composure, but his gaze on Bai Jin was complicated.

Bai Jin stood and brushed off his clothes.

"Congratulations. You've passed half the training."

Wiping away her sweat, Ning Rongrong could not help asking, "What's the other half?"

"Whether you can still work together like this when you meet someone who truly wants you dead."

The laughter on the training ground faded.

Dai Mubai clenched his fist and said nothing. On their journey from Suotuo City, the Shrek group had seen the savagery of the Soul Fighting Arena and the cruelty of Evil Soul Masters. But training was still training. Bai Jin would not truly take their lives. An enemy would show no such mercy.

Tang San looked at the dew-damp candy wrapper on the ground and took Bai Jin's words to heart.

Ma Hongjun asked warily, "Why only half?"

Just then, Lu Heng hurried in through the academy gate, a route map in his hand.

"Mr. Bai, I've confirmed the route to the Old Quarry. It overlaps with a Soul Hunting trail along the edge of the Sunset Forest."

Bai Jin unfolded the map, glanced at it, then looked at Ma Hongjun.

Ma Hongjun suddenly had a terrible feeling.

Bai Jin beamed. "Little Fatty, time to get a soul ring and go on a business trip."

Ma Hongjun said, "Can I go back to Level 29 now?"

For the first time, Tang San could not hold back a laugh.