Inside Liu Erlong's wooden cottage, she looked curiously at Su Ling, who had returned so soon. "Su Ling, didn't you say it would take at least a month? You're finished already?"
Su Ling said, "It went a little faster than expected. If you think it's too soon, Sister Liu, you can wait a while and come to Suotuo City yourself. Shrek Academy is fairly easy to find."
Of course, he wanted to return as soon as possible. After all, the three beauties back home were still waiting for him to build up their affection.
It would be best if Liu Erlong returned to Shrek with him. At a normal traveling pace, he would have twenty-odd days to build up her affection.
Ideally, he would raise her affection to sixty and bind her by the time they reached Shrek!
After all, receiving 10% of a level-seventy-five Soul Saint's daily cultivation gains was a very promising prospect!
"Give me two hours. I need to make some arrangements at the academy." After a moment's consideration, Liu Erlong immediately made her decision.
"Sure! Go take care of things, Sister Liu. I'll wait here," Su Ling replied.
After Liu Erlong left, Su Ling opened the system screen.
Liu Erlong's affection had now reached 29 points.
Over the past few days, Su Ling had thought of an issue concerning the goddesses' affection.
If a goddess already had someone she liked, her affection would increase very slowly.
If her relationship with that person fell apart, the rate at which her affection increased would also rise.
Zhu Zhuqing was a typical example of a broken relationship. Xiao Wu, meanwhile, already had Tang San in her heart, so her affection was currently the lowest of the three beauties, at only 21 points.
As for Ning Rongrong, her affection had already reached 37 points. Born into one of the Upper Three Sects, she was knowledgeable and worldly, and had been showered with love since childhood.
She was no fool, either. She knew what kind of partner she should find.
At first, Su Ling had failed to absorb his Soul Ring, and his Water Moon Bow Martial Soul was fairly ordinary. Even if she liked him, her sect would never agree.
In the original story, if Oscar's sixth Soul Skill had not granted him formidable combat abilities, the two of them probably would have struggled to end up together even later on.
Even so, Ning Rongrong's affection had risen to thirty-seven points, and its growth had noticeably improved after Su Ling's Martial Soul Evolution.
The system wants me to pick up a hoe and dig away at someone else's wall!
As he pondered this, Su Ling looked at the chests he owned.
Unopened chests remaining: White ×82, Yellow ×19, Purple ×9
He had accumulated nine Purple Chests again.
"System, exchange ten Yellow Chests for one Purple Chest, then exchange the Purple Chests for a Black Chest."
[Ding... Consumed 10 Yellow Chests and 9 Purple Chests. Obtained Black Chest ×1.]
Great! He had put together another Black Chest!
"System, open the Black Chest!"
[Ding... Black Chest opened. Congratulations, host! Obtained Fifty Thousand Year Soul Bone ×1.]
It was actually a Soul Bone, fifty thousand years old!
What type is it?
With a thought, the Soul Bone's attributes appeared.
A fifty-thousand-year right arm bone of the gemstone type!
Who can use this?
Su Ling certainly could not. Liu Erlong and Huo Wu were both fire-attribute, so they could not use it either. What about Zhu Zhuqing, Xiao Wu, or Ning Rongrong?
Right, doesn't Ning Rongrong need a gemstone-type Soul Bone?
Since Su Ling could not use it, he would invest it in a goddess instead.
I wonder how much affection it'll earn me.
This Soul Bone was extremely valuable. If Ning Fengzhi of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect learned about it, he would certainly find a way to obtain it. Trading it for several million Gold Soul Coins would be no problem.
However, Gold Soul Coins were not important to Su Ling now. Raising the goddesses' affection was what mattered most.
With nothing else to do, Su Ling continued, "System, exchange eighty White Chests for Yellow Chests."
[Ding... Consumed 80 White Chests. Obtained Yellow Chest ×8.]
After the exchange, Su Ling had 17 Yellow Chests.
"Keep going. Exchange them for one Purple Chest, then open that Purple Chest and all seven remaining Yellow Chests."
[Ding... Purple Chest opened. Congratulations, host! Obtained Intermediate Soul Power Pill ×2 bottles.]
"Oh, nice. Good stuff."
[Intermediate Soul Power Pill: Most effective for Soul Elders, less effective for Soul Ancestors, and of little use to Soul Kings.]
"Looks like I can use these too."
[Ding... Opened Yellow Chest ×7. Congratulations, host! Obtained Gold Soul Coin ×5,000, Beginner Soul Power Pill ×3 bottles, Wound-Healing Pills ×1 bottle, Hundred-Forged Steel Sabers ×2, Top-Grade Perfume ×10 bottles.]
"That's it?"
"Five kinds of items. Some must have come up more than once."
After all, one Yellow Chest had previously given Su Ling only one bottle of Beginner Soul Power Pills. This time, there were three bottles.
Su Ling had decided to open these Yellow and Purple Chests now for one simple reason: he wanted to return and slowly build up the goddesses' affection.
As for the Immortal Herbs, Su Ling had changed his mind. He could not hand them over as soon as he returned. He needed to proceed step by step and bring them out when raising affection became difficult.
It was just like saving good things for a breakthrough.
The Beginner Soul Power Pills and Intermediate Soul Power Pills were exactly what the girls needed now. More importantly, there were ten bottles of perfume. He wondered whether giving those away would have any effect.
After Su Ling opened his chests, only two White Chests remained in the system.
Two hours later, Liu Erlong returned and quickly packed a few things. Then the two of them left Heaven Dou City.
However, not long after leaving Heaven Dou City, Su Ling stopped.
"Wait a moment, Sister Liu. Let me change my clothes. It's a long journey back, so I can use it to cultivate," Su Ling said.
"All right. Go ahead." Liu Erlong's expression was calm.
Watching Su Ling disappear into the woods, Liu Erlong smiled faintly. This little fellow is so talented, yet he still remembers to cultivate while traveling. Very good.
[Ding... Liu Erlong's affection +1. Obtained White Chest +1.]
Who did not like an ambitious junior? Liu Erlong was no exception!
Before long, Su Ling emerged wearing his full set of Weighted Training Gear!
"What's this?"
"Weight training?" Liu Erlong asked curiously. She noticed the extra gear on Su Ling's body, and it did not look light!
Su Ling moved his body a little and said, "Yes, but this set seems a bit too light now. Unfortunately, Suotuo City doesn't have any better materials!"
Before his Ice and Fire Body Tempering, the weight of Su Ling's Weighted Training Gear had still been sufficient. At the very least, it would have helped him train on the return journey!
But after his Ice and Fire Body Tempering, Su Ling discovered that this weight no longer seemed sufficient!
Liu Erlong asked, "How much does that gear weigh?"
"A little over 190 kilograms, I think!"
"And that's still not enough?" Liu Erlong looked astonished. Was this really the physique a Soul Ancestor should have?
To be honest, even a physically fit ordinary person could carry 190 kilograms, let alone a Soul Ancestor. But what Soul Ancestor could remain this relaxed under that load?
The weights seemed to weigh nothing at all on Su Ling, leaving him completely unaffected. That was quite impressive!
"As expected of a body capable of absorbing a ten-thousand-year fourth Soul Ring. Very good!"
"If it feels too light now, how about this? Take your weights off, and I'll find someone to reforge them and add some weight!" Liu Erlong said.
"Thank you, Sister Liu. I'll cover the cost!" Su Ling said.
With that, Su Ling went off again to remove his Weighted Training Gear.
"You don't need to pay. I can still afford that much in Gold Soul Coins. You've put quite a bit of thought into where these weights go. The materials must have limited their weight! How heavy do you want the reforged set to be?" Liu Erlong asked.
Su Ling said, "They're for training, so naturally, the heavier the better. The clothing can go up to 200 kilograms, each arm weight to 50 kilograms, and each leg weight to 80 kilograms!"
"Are you sure? That would bring the total weight to 460 kilograms!" Liu Erlong said in surprise.
Su Ling said, "I'm sure. If possible, a total weight of five hundred kilograms would work too!"
"All right, then. In that case, let's return to Heaven Dou City first. I'm also taking a few people along to Shrek this time. I'll have them wear this kind of weighted gear too!"
Looking at Su Ling's equipment, Liu Erlong could no longer bear the sight of those few students at her academy! The gap was simply too great! They needed special training!
"Sure. We'll do as you say, Sister Liu!" Su Ling said.
Unless something unexpected happened, Liu Erlong would bring Jiang Zhu, Huang Xuan, Jing Ling, and Tai Long!
With another goddess along, he could build up more affection. Why not?
[Ding... Liu Erlong's affection +3. White Chest +2.]
The two of them had traveled only ten li out of Heaven Dou City before turning around again and returning to Blue Tyrant Academy!
Su Ling rested in Liu Erlong's wooden cottage, while she took his set of equipment away. She did not return until evening!
"Su Ling, has Boss Fu taken you to Soul Fighting matches? What's your record?" Liu Erlong suddenly asked.
"Twenty-six wins and forty-six losses!" Su Ling answered honestly.
"How is that possible? With your strength, you could win every match without a problem. You lost so many times-did Boss Fu make you throw the matches?" Liu Erlong asked angrily. Flender shouldn't go that far for Gold Soul Coins!
Liu Erlong had misunderstood Flender, so Su Ling hurriedly explained, "No. Before my Martial Soul evolved, problems with my Soul Rings left my second and third Soul Skills mostly useless. That's why I lost so many times. Since my Martial Soul Evolution, I haven't taken part in a single Soul Fighting match!"
"Then go fight now. I'll place a bet!" Liu Erlong said seriously.
"Sister Liu, are the materials for forging the gear very expensive? I still have some Gold Soul Coins!"
"I am a little short, but you don't need to pay. As long as you win a few Soul Fighting matches, it'll be fine," Liu Erlong said.
She had promised to have the equipment made for Su Ling, but the materials had turned out to be far too expensive!
Adding around a hundred kilograms to the previous weight would have been manageable, but raising it to over five hundred kilograms required better materials!
She only had around ten thousand Gold Soul Coins on her altogether. She had handed a portion of what she had previously received from Su Ling to the academy's finance office!
After all, she and Su Ling might be away from the academy for several months. Nothing could be allowed to go wrong at the academy!
"All right, then. I'll go fight now!" Su Ling said.
[Ding... Liu Erlong's affection +1. Obtained White Chest ×1.]
Even this earns affection?
That made Su Ling look forward to the upcoming Soul Fighting matches even more.
If he won his matches, Liu Erlong would surely be delighted by the Gold Soul Coins she won!
And when someone was happy, would that not provide another chance to raise her affection?
Before you continue