"Before today's special training, there's something we need to do."
At Shrek Academy, Yu Xiaogang beckoned to Tang San:
"Tang San, show us your Man Faced Demon Spider External Soul Bone."
Tang San froze for a moment.
"Teacher, my External Soul Bone?"
"Yes." Yu Xiaogang adjusted his glasses. "An External Soul Bone acquired from absorbing a thousand-year Soul Beast is something you might not encounter in ten thousand years. I want to examine its exact form and functions."
Flender came over too. "An External Soul Bone? Little San got something that good?"
Tang San hesitated no longer. He closed his eyes and circulated his Soul Power.
Amid a series of cracks and pops, eight glossy black things emerged from his back one after another, each nearly a meter long.
Everyone stared.
"Th-this is..."
"Pfft."
Ma Hongjun couldn't hold it in. He clutched his stomach and laughed like the chubby cartoon dragon, Nailong.
"Hahahahaha!"
Oscar covered his mouth, while Dai Mubai's swollen, pig-faced features turned scarlet as he fought back his laughter.
Flender managed to hold it in, but at the cost of failing to catch his breath. His face went from its normal color to the dark red of pig liver. Bracing himself against the table, he bent over and let out a string of coughs, though it was hard to tell whether he was choking or laughing.
"What's wrong? What are you laughing at?" Tang San frowned.
He glanced back at the things behind him.
Then he froze too.
Eight thick, long, grayish-black, fuzzy...
Pig bristles?
This... isn't right, is it? Aren't they supposed to be the Eight Spider Lances?
Eight Spider Lances...
Tang San suddenly seemed to hit a mental snag, as though something in his mind had gently twisted.
Man Faced Demon Spider... Man Faced Demon Pig.
Right, wasn't it a pig?
Tang San blinked and found that the strange feeling had vanished.
It made sense for a Man Faced Demon Pig's External Soul Bone to be eight pig bristles.
Yu Xiaogang leaned closer to examine them, then nodded.
"Hmm, a Man Faced Demon Pig's External Soul Bone. Grayish-black throughout, with a barbed surface structure and a tough texture..."
"Little San, this External Soul Bone of yours is quite good quality."
Ma Hongjun covered his mouth, nearly laughing himself to tears. Yet for some reason, as he laughed, something flashed through his mind too.
Right, it's a Man Faced Demon Pig. Aren't pig bristles perfectly normal?
"Yeah, pig bristles. Pretty good."
Oscar said:
"Pig bristles really are pretty good. This is a Man Faced Demon Pig's Soul Bone."
"A Man Faced Demon Pig? That's a... a good, good Soul Beast!"
Everyone tacitly accepted the fact that "Tang San had acquired a Man Faced Demon Pig's External Soul Bone." Nobody thought there was anything wrong with those eight pig bristles.
Tang San himself found it reasonable too. After all, that was what his Soul Bone looked like, so it had to be a Man Faced Demon Pig's Soul Bone.
Eight pig bristles. A little soft, perhaps, but they still seemed usable.
Yu Xiaogang gave a dry cough, signaling for everyone to quiet down.
"These eight pig bristles can be put to great use!"
"Think about it. On the battlefield, what will an enemy think when he sees these eight pig bristles?"
Yu Xiaogang paused. When nobody answered, he immediately continued:
"He'll think you have a trick up your sleeve! He'll think there's something strange about these pig bristles! He won't dare attack rashly!"
Ma Hongjun scratched his head.
"So... scaring people?"
"What do you mean, scaring people? This is psychological warfare! This is bluffing with a grand show of force! This is all's fair in war!"
Yu Xiaogang grew more excited as he spoke:
"And think again. What can pig bristles do?"
Without waiting for anyone to answer, he supplied the answer himself:
"Pig bristles can be woven into clothes! They can be made into brushes! They can be used as hidden weapons!"
Oscar couldn't help himself. "Pig bristles as hidden weapons?"
"Why can't they be hidden weapons?" Yu Xiaogang glared at him. "Pig bristles are thin and stiff. Twist them into a strand, dip it in poison, and flick it into an enemy's eyes..."
An image appeared in Ma Hongjun's mind:
Tang San flailing around in the Soul Fighting Arena, plucking pig bristles from his back and flinging them at his opponent, who covered his eyes and shouted, "My eyes!"
He nearly burst out laughing again, only for a glare from Yu Xiaogang to force it back down.
Yu Xiaogang held up three fingers.
"So I've devised three sets of pig-bristle tactics!"
"First: Pig-bristle binding! Extend all eight pig bristles at once and wrap them around the enemy so he can't move!"
"Second: Pig-bristle whips! Use the eight pig bristles as eight flexible whips, attacking at both close and long range!"
"Third: Pig bristles from above! Jump up, point all eight pig bristles downward, and crash onto the enemy's head like a hedgehog!"
As Tang San listened, he frowned, vaguely sensing that something was wrong, but unable to put his finger on it.
"You're right, Teacher."
Yu Xiaogang clapped his hands in satisfaction.
"All right, let's put the Soul Bone aside for now. Next, we'll arrange your special training."
He took out a battered notebook and opened it to the first page.
"Shrek is moving to Heaven Dou City. Before we leave, I'll give each of you targeted special training. Before training comes assessment. Show me all your Martial Souls and Soul Skills."
He looked at Dai Mubai first.
"Mubai, release your Martial Soul."
Dai Mubai nodded. White Tiger Possession! Two yellow Soul Rings and one purple appeared.
Yu Xiaogang jotted a few notes in his notebook.
"Your special training: two hundred and fifty push-ups and two hundred and fifty squats every day. Maintain possession throughout."
The corner of Dai Mubai's mouth twitched.
"One more thing. Scratch a tree stump with your tiger claws, two hundred and fifty times with each hand. No Martial Soul, just your physical body."
Dai Mubai fell silent.
Are you sure about this training method?
Standing nearby and watching the scene, Tang San pressed a hand to his forehead too.
How did I never notice in my previous life that Yu Xiaogang's training methods were so... crude?
Two hundred and fifty push-ups and two hundred and fifty squats every day.
He remembered that in his previous life, Yu Xiaogang had called himself "the foremost authority on Martial Soul Theory." His lectures had sounded perfectly reasoned, with things like "lesser heavenly circulation of Soul Power" and "Soul Ring compatibility theory" sounding incredibly advanced.
And this was all he had for actual practice?
Yu Xiaogang turned to Ma Hongjun next.
"Your special training: use your Evil Fire to heat an iron plate every day until it's hot enough to cook on."
Ma Hongjun's face fell. "Heat an iron plate?"
"Yes. This will train your ability to control the heat."
Ma Hongjun thought it over, decided it seemed to make some sense, and nodded.
But Tang San was inwardly grumbling. Control the heat? Isn't that what a barbecue stall owner does? Is Teacher trying to train Ma Hongjun into a cook?
Yu Xiaogang looked at Oscar.
"Your special training: make one thousand sausages every day."
Oscar went pale. "One thousand?"
"What, is that too many?"
"No, not at all. Not at all."
Tang San silently did the calculations. One thousand sausages, each requiring precise control of Soul Power concentration-even in his previous life, that would have been a brutal workload. But the training method itself...
Just making sausages?
"Tang San."
Yu Xiaogang finally called on him.
Tang San stepped forward.
"Demonstrate all three of your Blue Silver Grass Soul Skills."
Tang San nodded and released his Blue Silver Grass Martial Soul. Three Soul Rings rose.
One white, one yellow, one purple.
Wait.
A white Soul Ring?
Before you continue