Old friends reunited

"Hehe~ You've got a sharp eye, customers~ I'm Oscar. You two must be new here. One Silver Soul Coin will do-let's call it making friends."

Oscar's smile grew even wider, impossible to hide even beneath his bushy white beard.

What luck! I've run into two absolutely outstanding prospects. If I introduce them to the dean, that'll be a huge contribution.

Maybe I'll even get my training load cut down quite a bit.

"Fragrant, tender Stinky Tofu~"

"Big Sausages bursting with meat juices~"

The Stinky Tofu reeked, while the Big Sausages smelled delicious.

The two conflicting smells intertwined. An ordinary person would never have been able to stand it.

Tang San and Ma Hongjun, however, had plenty of endurance. This much was hardly enough to trouble them.

Before long, twenty skewers were ready.

Taking the grilled skewers, Tang San and Ma Hongjun used Sound Transmission to converse.

[Fatty, did you notice anything?]

[Hiss~ His Soul Power gathered in his hands when he activated his Soul Skill. Just what kind of Martial Soul is that?]

Ma Hongjun was stumped. If he couldn't figure it out, he probably wouldn't get any sleep that night.

[My guess is that it's probably a special body martial soul-Oscar's hands themselves. They can create food and give it effects. That soul chant is probably just for show and doesn't actually do anything. Taking his Food God nickname into account, we might have met someone extraordinary.]

A suspicion arose in Tang San's mind. Perhaps this flippant, sleazy-looking bearded young man possessed a legendary god-bestowed martial soul.

Gods did exist in this world, but they had all passed into history. Only those god-bestowed lands hinted at their existence.

Still, this was nothing more than an implausible guess on Tang San's part.

Perhaps it was simply a body martial soul capable of creating food.

The two stopped pondering and wasting time, and began tasting the delicacies.

Delicious.

That was the only word left in their minds, as though no number of adjectives could describe how wonderful the food tasted.

Before long, Tang San and Ma Hongjun had swept the skewers clean.

The exhaustion of their journey vanished. Their Soul Power grew lively, as though they had boundless energy, and they felt thoroughly full as well.

What a powerful restorative effect!

Tang San estimated that one serving each of Stinky Tofu and sausage could restore thirty percent of one's stamina and Soul Power. Eating more could even produce an enhancement effect.

It could also improve endurance in battle, much like the basic effect of Tang San's First Soul Skill.

More miraculous still, after eating this Stinky Tofu and sausage, they probably wouldn't need to eat anything for the rest of the day.

"Hehe~ How did it taste, you two?"

"Delicious!" Ma Hongjun shouted. He really wanted another ten skewers, but they had business to attend to, and he suspected this food couldn't be eaten in excessive quantities.

"Want a few more skewers?"

"No, thank you, Oscar. My brother and I have only just arrived in Suotuo City, and there's still plenty we don't understand."

"May I ask why you're called the [Food God], and why those passersby gave you such a wide berth?"

Oscar looked at Tang San and Ma Hongjun. These two were no ordinary fellows. They could actually resist the temptation of his food without feeling an urge to gorge themselves.

This only strengthened his determination to lure them back to Shrek.

"Hehe~ Me? Since I'm a good cook and often make the rounds of the city's restaurants, everyone gave me that flattering nickname."

"As for why they keep their distance, you two just tasted the reason yourselves."

"Personally, I like adding extra ingredients to bring out as much flavor as possible."

"These smells are terribly unpleasant at first, but if you take the time to smell them carefully, you'll discover their subtleties."

Ma Hongjun nodded in agreement. That was indeed true.

"And since the smell is so strong that you can't wash it off for days once it gets on you, I've had fewer and fewer customers."

At this point, Oscar let out a perfectly timed sigh, his voice turning sorrowful.

"Now I've still got several elderly, frail, sick, and disabled people to support at home, but my income gets worse by the day."

Oscar began pouring out his grievances, telling a tale that would break listeners' hearts and bring tears to their eyes.

He described each of his elders as more miserable than the last.

There was Old Zhao, born a dwarf with half his waist missing; Old Fu, so poor he looked like a skeleton; Fatty Xin, whose stomach ailment had left him potbellied; A Bin, with his failing old eyes; and Pine Cane, who could only get around with a walking stick.

"Our family restaurant is almost out of business now, too. I wonder if you two would honor us with a visit and bring us a little business."

"If you two could come back with me, the old bas... elders at home would be happy, too."

[Third Brother, this guy sounds like he's running a scam.]

[No hurry. Let's play along. There's a good chance he's a Shrek student.]

With their astonishing wisdom, Ma Hongjun and Tang San had already seen the resentment beneath Oscar's exquisite acting.

They decided to take this trip into the dragon's pool and tiger's den.

They were going to Shrek Academy anyway, and Grandmaster would use Luo Sanpao to track them down.

"I see. How pitiful, Oscar. How about this? My brother and I will come over and bring your family a little business."

Tang San looked deeply moved, while Ma Hongjun did his best to pull his face into a sympathetic expression beside him.

Inwardly, he wondered where Tang San had learned to act like this. Even he had almost believed him.

"Oh my! Thank you both so much!"

Oscar was delighted. Now he could get his training load reduced a little~

"Hold on. Don't fall for it."

Just then, a firm, powerful voice rang out.

Oscar covered his face, looking as though everything had gone wrong.

Tang San and Ma Hongjun turned toward the voice.

They saw a handsome blond young man with very unusual eyes. Not only were his eyes different colors, but both had Double Pupils, giving him an overbearing presence that made hearts tremble.

His complexion, however, looked rather drained, and he seemed desolate, like a tiger stranded on the plains-a sickly cat.

Yet Tang San sensed that this outward appearance sprang from his state of mind. His true strength was by no means inferior to Tang San's at full power.

"Boss Dai, why are you ruining things for our Shrek?"

Oscar spoke helplessly.

"If we recruit a few new students, we'll have more good companions to share our suffering."

"Besides, the academy's almost out of money. We need fresh blood!"

"So they can be trained until they cough up blood, try to run away, get beaten up, and then pay an enormous penalty for dropping out?"

The man called Boss Dai spoke simply, yet his words revealed Shrek's horrors.

Even now, Dai Mubai couldn't forget the sight of a senior student forcibly absorbing a Soul Ring beyond the age limit he could withstand in order to become the monster the dean spoke of, only to explode and die.

He had originally come here just to slack off. Never had he imagined that he would be forcibly pushed all the way to level thirty-nine.

Oscar, being a food-type Soul Master and clever besides, had escaped the sort of torment Dai Mubai suffered.

He merely had to work at three restaurants in the same day.

He had now reached level thirty as well, and was waiting for Dai Mubai to reach level forty so they could hunt for Soul Rings together.

Meanwhile, Grandmaster entered a general store.

Looking at the dazzling assortment of familiar goods, he knew he had found the right place.

"Flender?"

"Who's there!?" The man behind the counter glared, like a vulture poised to devour someone.

But the instant he saw Grandmaster, delight filled his eyes. He quickly concealed it, however, and said with a stern face, "It's certainly been a long time, you selfish bastard."

"Mm..." Seeing the change in his old friend, Yu Xiaogang sighed deeply, then took a book from inside his robes. "I've thought it through. Perhaps I shouldn't have been so indecisive back then and let a rift grow between us."

"Training with an incomplete copy of the Dharma Sutra has been hard, hasn't it? After ruining so many promising youngsters, it's time to stop and change your approach."

"Hmph!" Flender glanced at the astonishing, extraordinary book resting on the counter, looking no different from an ordinary ledger. His eyes burned with eagerness.

But then he snorted coldly. "You couldn't have come sooner or later. That's just how you are, hurting the people around you with your weakness and dithering, then only coming now. What a hypocrite."

"Say whatever you like. I'll accept it... I've taken on a personal disciple and a student. They need to obtain their third Soul Rings..."

"Got it... Let's go. We'll find them first. We can settle those old scores slowly afterward." Flender suppressed his good mood, keeping it off his face.

Yu Xiaogang, whose temper could sometimes be as hard and foul as a stone in a latrine, had actually come to ask him for a favor.

The two pushed open the shop door and went outside, where they saw four youths.

They were Tang San, twelve years old, Blue Silver Grass, level thirty;

Ma Hongjun, twelve years old, Evil Fire Phoenix, level thirty;

Dai Mubai, fifteen years old, White Tiger, level thirty-nine;

Oscar, fourteen years old, Gourmet Twin Hands, level thirty.

These four.