Just Normal, Below Level Fifty

Ning Rongrong pouted, tugging at the hem of Yang Jian's clothes as she kept wheedling.

Although this was no longer the first time everyone had seen Ning Rongrong act spoiled with Yang Jian in public, the striking contrast in this peerless beauty still made it hard to look away.

However.

Out of respect for the principle that a friend's wife was off-limits.

Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun immediately turned away on instinct, while Oscar, whose heart had turned to dead ashes, had his face forcibly turned aside by Ma Hongjun.

At that moment, apart from Ning Rongrong, who was still wheedling, Zhu Zhuqing was the only one actually looking toward Yang Jian.

Though her cheeks were flushed and she felt terribly shy inside, she still pretended nothing was wrong on the surface and said nothing.

"This Soul Ring should be a little over forty-seven thousand years old."

"You've already seen the Soul Skill. Besides swatting enemies away, it also stuns them for two and a half seconds. With a little luck, it can even stun them for two and a half minutes."

"Two and a half seconds? And possibly two and a half minutes?!" Dai Mubai's eyes went wide.

Unfortunately, it was something of a pity.

After Yang Jian had thoroughly farmed rewards from him, emotions of this intensity could no longer be registered by the system.

"Boss Dai, what's so surprising about that? It was a leader-class Soul Beast, the leader of an entire pack. It's only normal for its Soul Skill to be a little stronger."

"Shouldn't we be asking Yang Jian why he could absorb a Soul Ring that's over forty-seven thousand years old-almost fifty thousand years old-instead?"

Ning Rongrong's words once again shifted everyone's attention from the Soul Skill to the Soul Ring.

"Yes, exactly. A Soul Ring nearly fifty thousand years old is already close to the limit for a Seventh Soul Ring."

Zhu Zhuqing's slightly cool voice rang out at just the right moment.

"Holy shit!"

"Doesn't that mean the quality of Boss's fourth Soul Ring is already equivalent to the limit for a Soul Saint?"

"Boss already has Soul Saint-level fighting power?!"

Ma Hongjun cried out in shock.

Oscar's pupils first shook violently, then slowly began to lose focus.

If the shattering of one's heart of cultivation made a sound, then a thunderbolt from a clear sky would surely have been crashing through his heart at that moment.

Ever since Ning Rongrong had come to Shrek Academy because of Yang Jian, he had been trying to get closer to her.

Originally, he had thought the gap between himself and Yang Jian was only a little one.

At most, they were simply geniuses in different fields.

Even after witnessing Yang Jian become a Soul Elder so early, he had not given up.

However.

That little bit of self-deceiving confidence had finally been pierced through.

Being a so-called genius was merely the threshold for standing before Yang Jian.

Yang Jian simply happened to belong to the Power Attack System. Even if he had belonged to the support system instead, he would still have been a genuine, extraordinary genius.

One who stood above all other geniuses.

[Ding! Detected: Oscar's heart of cultivation has shattered. Reward: the Food God's favor.]

[The Food God's favor: from this moment onward, you possess a wisp of a Second-Level God's divine essence and have gained the Food God's affection and attention.]

Huh?

What happened to Oscar?

His heart of cultivation shattered? What did I do now? What did he do?

Was his heart of cultivation... really that easy to shatter?

And this wisp of a Second-Level God's divine essence.

What was that supposed to be?

Surely I wasn't going to inherit some Food God's divine position?

At the sound of the system notification.

Yang Jian suddenly froze for a moment too.

Everything had been perfectly fine. How had his heart of cultivation shattered?

Could this guy have been treating me as a potential rival all along?

That couldn't be right either.

With his talent, every step of cultivating Soul Power was such a struggle.

How could that compare to the solid gains from system rewards?

"Forget being surprised about that for now. Haven't any of you noticed that Xiaotian has changed?"

As she spoke.

Zhu Zhuqing crouched down and beckoned to Xiaotian.

By the time everyone turned their attention to her, she had already been petting Yang Jian's dog for quite a while.

"Oh? You're right!"

"Xiaotian-Xiaotian has more scales now, and they're shinier! So handsome, too!"

"Pspsps... little Xiaotian, come on, come let Mommy cuddle you!"

Ning Rongrong showed no restraint in her choice of words, waving both hands as she coaxed Xiaotian and took him from Zhu Zhuqing's arms.

At first, Zhu Zhuqing was somewhat reluctant to give Xiaotian up.

But when she heard Ning Rongrong call herself Xiaotian's mommy, wasn't that effectively calling herself Yang Jian's girlfriend?

Although her feelings for Yang Jian were also ardent and hazy, her own temperament would not allow her to do something like Ning Rongrong.

Reserved as she was, against Ning Rongrong, who was not only completely unreserved but even eager to throw herself at him, she naturally fell at an absolute disadvantage.

And so.

Xiaotian was taken from her arms into Ning Rongrong's as a matter of course.

"Hey, Ning Rongrong, watch what you say. Stop trying to take liberties with me!"

"Hmph! Who asked you?!"

Clearly.

Ning Rongrong simply ignored Yang Jian's protest.

"Yang Jian, give us guys the straight story. What level are you now, exactly?"

"Forty-two?"

Dai Mubai ventured.

"Right, right, tell us! I'd say at least level forty-three. What do you think?"

"Xiaotian, what do you think? Lulu lu..."

Ning Rongrong held Xiaotian under his forelegs with her delicate hands, lifting him into the air and rocking him up and down.

"Arwoo-arwoo-"

Xiaotian also gave a few low, smiling howls.

But clearly, apart from Yang Jian, no one present could understand what Xiaotian was saying.

Of course.

Ning Rongrong had never intended to get an answer from Xiaotian anyway.

"Level forty-three shouldn't be possible, right? Boss is strong, sure, but I've never heard of anyone gaining three levels in a row after absorbing a Soul Ring."

"I think level forty-one would be perfectly reasonable. Level forty-two would be normal too. Boss is talented, after all. It's only natural for him to be stronger than the vast majority of Soul Masters."

Ma Hongjun's words were very skillfully chosen.

If Yang Jian was like most Soul Masters and gained only one level of Soul Power after absorbing a Soul Ring, there would be no awkwardness.

If Yang Jian's strength defied the heavens, then he had praised him for that too.

He could not go wrong either way.

"Fatty, you really did learn from hanging around Yang Jian. That little speech was watertight-not a drop could leak through."

Dai Mubai gave Ma Hongjun a thumbs-up.

"As expected of my husband's number-one lackey. Fatty, I, your sister-in-law, acknowledge your ability."

Ning Rongrong also glanced at Ma Hongjun and praised him.

Only Yang Jian looked utterly exasperated.

"Ning Rongrong, if you keep ruining my reputation like that, I'm charging a tax. Ten thousand Gold Soul Coins per offense!"

"Fine, give me a hundred offenses to start with. You can collect the money from my dad afterward."

"A hundred? Wouldn't that be a million Gold Soul Coins?! Hiss-Rongrong, that's a bit..."

Before Ma Hongjun could finish.

Ning Rongrong casually took a handful of Gold Soul Coins from her Soul Tool and tossed them toward him. "What do you mean, Rongrong? What should you be calling me?"

"Sister-in-law!!"

Ma Hongjun caught the Gold Soul Coins and instantly shouted.

"Heh heh heh..."

Ning Rongrong laughed so hard she could not close her mouth.

"All right, quit fooling around. Yang Jian, what level are you now, exactly?"

Dai Mubai asked.

"Just normal. Below level fifty."

Yang Jian answered casually.

Just then, Flender, who had been swatted away by Xiaotian's tail, appeared in everyone's sight again and came up to them.