Su Ling traveled with a party of seven. Had he been training alone, he probably could have returned to the academy in just twenty days or so.
But five more people had joined the training. After seeing Su Ling's Weighted Training Gear, Liu Erlong seemed to have raised her standards and increased the weight of everyone else's equipment.
It was especially hard on the two women. Feng Yu'er fared a little better, but Jiang Zhu struggled terribly. After all, she was only a healing-type support Soul Master.
They had started with intense training right off the bat, so a journey that should have taken twenty-odd days dragged out to a month and a half before they reached Suotuo City.
With three goddesses at his side during that month and a half, Su Ling naturally had plenty of opportunities to raise their affection.
Liu Erlong's affection had reached 59 points, just one point short of allowing him to bind her.
Jiang Zhu's affection stood at 53 points!
As for Feng Yu'er, her progress was fairly normal. They had spent over a month training, leaving him little time to teach her. Even so, her affection had reached 75 points.
With so much affection gained, Su Ling had also earned plenty of chest rewards.
They included thirty White Chests, six Yellow Chests, four Purple Chests, and one Black Chest.
Two of those Purple Chests and the Black Chest had come from Zhu Zhuqing.
Her affection had increased by four points at once, probably after she reached level thirty.
Only after they reached Suotuo City did Liu Erlong let everyone take off their weights and rest.
After resting at a hotel for the night, they all headed to Shrek Academy together.
Shrek Academy's curriculum was simple: physical training in the morning, combat practice in the afternoon, and Soul Fighting at the Great Soul Arena at night.
As Su Ling led Liu Erlong and the others toward Shrek, they happened to encounter Tang San and the others training with weighted baskets on their backs.
Their training consisted of running back and forth between Shrek Academy and Suotuo City.
"Huh? There's a beauty over there. Wow, three beauties!"
Ma Hongjun's eyes lit up. His gaze seemed to filter out everyone else automatically, leaving only the beautiful women in his sight.
The others noticed Su Ling then, too.
"Boss Su is back," Oscar said.
"See? How much better could Su Ling be? He even brought three pretty girls back with him," Dai Mubai said as he turned to look at Zhu Zhuqing behind him.
But Zhu Zhuqing was already gone. Only her basket full of stones remained on the ground; she had dashed straight toward Su Ling.
"Zhu Zhuqing, you..." Dai Mubai was instantly speechless, and a nameless fire of anger rushed to his head.
Zhu Zhuqing ran straight to Su Ling's side.
Her affection stood at eighty-seven points, the highest among Su Ling's Bound Goddesses.
As her affection increased, Zhu Zhuqing's feelings for Su Ling had grown deeper. After so long apart, she had missed him terribly.
This time, she truly could not hold back. She ran over and threw her arms around him.
Su Ling had never expected Zhu Zhuqing to be so forward. Perhaps seeing the beautiful women beside him had given her a sense of danger.
"Big Brother Su, you're finally back," Zhu Zhuqing said.
"Zhu Zhuqing, did you break through?" Su Ling asked.
"Yes, I did! My Soul Power has reached level thirty-one," Zhu Zhuqing replied.
At that very moment, a bang rang out, and the chubby Ma Hongjun went flying. He had actually tried to flirt with Liu Erlong and the two women beside her the moment he approached.
How could Liu Erlong tolerate that? A single punch sent him hurtling away.
The loud noise also made Zhu Zhuqing pull out of Su Ling's embrace.
"Sister Liu, these are the people I told you about. They're all students at Shrek. This is Zhu Zhuqing. She only recently turned twelve, and her Soul Power has already reached level thirty-one."
"What?"
"Twelve years old, with level thirty-one Soul Power?" Liu Erlong exclaimed in amazement.
Without comparison, there was no sting.
Tai Long was currently nineteen and level thirty-five, and even by the time of his appearance, his Soul Power would only be level thirty-seven. Looking at the others, Jiang Zhu was level thirty-three.
Huang Yuan and Jing Ling were both twenty, yet they were only level thirty-three as well.
Su Ling said, "Sister Liu, these two are Tang San and Xiao Wu. They both became Soul Elders before turning thirteen. This is Oscar, a fourteen-year-old Soul Elder and a food-type Soul Master."
"And that one just now was Ma Hongjun!"
"Fatty, what level are you now?" Su Ling asked.
Ma Hongjun climbed off the ground and immediately answered, "Boss Su, I-I just broke through to level twenty-eight!"
"And over there is Ning Rongrong, a twelve-year-old support Soul Master."
"Rongrong, what's your Soul Power level now?" Su Ling asked.
"Twenty-seven!" Ning Rongrong said proudly. She had been working very hard at her cultivation lately, and her Soul Power had increased as a result.
As for Dai Mubai, Su Ling had yet to introduce him.
Dai Mubai spoke up himself. "My name is Dai Mubai. I'm fifteen, a level thirty-seven Power Attack System Battle Soul Elder."
"And Su Ling, stay away from my fiancée."
That statement undoubtedly announced Zhu Zhuqing's identity while also accusing Su Ling of being wrong to embrace her. Put plainly, he still wanted to embarrass Su Ling.
Su Ling said, "What did I do just now? We were only saying hello. Dai Mubai, have you forgotten what you're supposed to call me?"
"You..." Although Dai Mubai believed he had grown stronger lately, with his Soul Power at the peak of level thirty-seven and on the verge of a breakthrough,
Su Ling had undergone Martial Soul Evolution and advanced to Soul Ancestor. Dai Mubai was no match for him at all.
If they really fought, he would definitely lose. In the end, he would have no way to salvage the situation and would only be asking for suffering.
"Boss Su!" Dai Mubai could only call out helplessly.
"That's right. This is Dean Liu, a friend of our dean. She's visiting Shrek this time, so you can all get acquainted."
"Greetings, Dean Liu!" everyone said in unison.
Liu Erlong then introduced Tai Long and the others to them.
Once everyone had been introduced, Ning Rongrong came up to Su Ling.
"Big Brother Su, didn't you say you'd bring us gifts when you came back? Where are they?"
At that, Su Ling took out two bottles of Beginner Soul Power Pills.
"These are what Zhu Zhuqing took. You and Ma Hongjun get one bottle each. They'll help you break through to Soul Elder as quickly as possible," Su Ling said.
"Could this be the secret behind Zhu Zhuqing's rapid breakthrough?" Ning Rongrong exclaimed.
Zhu Zhuqing silently nodded when she heard that!
Zhu Zhuqing had truly advanced incredibly fast over the past three months.
In just three months, she had gone from the peak of level twenty-seven to level thirty, then obtained a Soul Ring and advanced to Soul Elder. Ning Rongrong had been terribly envious.
Whenever she asked why, Zhu Zhuqing would not tell her.
Now she knew. It had been thanks to something good Su Ling had given her.
[Ding... Ning Rongrong's affection +3. Obtained White Chest ×2]
"What about mine?" Xiao Wu asked.
Su Ling took out an exquisite Space Soul Tool.
"Xiao Wu, you don't have a Soul Tool yet, so you have to leave a lot of your things with Xiao San. This is for you. There are also some things inside that you should need. The storage space is a little small, though-ten cubic meters."
"A Space Soul Tool! This is great! Thank you, Big Brother Su." Xiao Wu immediately took it and began trying it out.
[Ding... Xiao Wu's affection +2. Obtained White Chest ×1] [Ding... Xiao Wu's affection +2. Obtained White Chest ×2]
Su Ling naturally had his ways of raising affection in succession. A Space Soul Tool was a fine gift that Xiao Wu would certainly like, and once she saw what was inside, she would naturally like it even more.
He had placed a small box of Gold Soul Coins inside, containing a thousand coins. How could Xiao Wu not like that?
Seeing how much Xiao Wu liked it, Tang San could hardly interfere.
He had thought about buying Xiao Wu a Space Soul Tool before, but they were rare and far beyond what he could currently afford.
"Brother, you can give me my things now," Xiao Wu said, brimming with joy.
"Oscar, you get one too." Su Ling tossed another one over. It was not as exquisite as Xiao Wu's, but it also had ten cubic meters of storage space.
"Thank you, Boss Su!" Oscar caught the Space Soul Tool.
Su Ling did not give Oscar any Gold Soul Coins, however.
After all, once he became a Soul Elder, Oscar could collect a hundred Gold Soul Coins from Spirit Hall every month, an amount a Soul Grandmaster could not hope to compare with.
"Ma Hongjun, you get one too. But since you already got that other gift, you can use this smaller one. It only has three cubic meters, but that should be enough for your belongings."
"Haha, Boss Su, you're the best!" Ma Hongjun excitedly accepted the Soul Tool and began trying it out.
Finally, Su Ling looked at Tang San and took out a piece of metal.
"Xiao San, you love forging most of all. I got this from a stall. It's a little small, but it's unusually heavy. I don't recognize it, so I'll give it to you. I wonder if you know what it is," Su Ling said.
It was not large, only half the size of a fist.
"It's actually cold heart iron mother! This must be worth tens of thousands of Gold Soul Coins." Coming from a family that made its living through forging, Tai Long recognized the object in Su Ling's hand at a glance.
It had come from the Soul Tool Su Ling had picked up. There had been three pieces inside, and this was the smallest.
"This is too valuable. How could I possibly accept it? Big Brother Su, you should keep it," Tang San said. He wanted it badly, but remained extremely polite.
Su Ling said, "Don't put on an act with me. You helped fend off the Soul Beasts' attacks in the Star Dou Great Forest. This is my thanks to you, so there's no need to be so polite."
"That's right, Brother. Boss Su is giving it to you, so just accept it," Xiao Wu added.
"All right, then. Thank you, Big Brother Su." Just moments earlier, Tang San had felt somewhat resentful about Su Ling giving Xiao Wu gifts.
Yet once he received the cold heart iron mother, that feeling vanished instantly.
Tang San was truly poor at this stage, and he also knew how precious the item in Su Ling's hand was.
Had Tai Long not blurted out its name, he would certainly have put it away without hesitation. But once everyone knew its value, he began putting on an act instead.
The main reason Su Ling gave Tang San this was that Tang San had done a great deal to fend off the Bloodthirsty Demon Ant back then.
"Dai Mubai, you..."
"I don't have anything good here that suits you. If you ever need Gold Soul Coins, just let me know," Su Ling said.
Dai Mubai naturally would not lack Gold Soul Coins, but the polite words still had to be said.
The main point was that Su Ling did not want to give Dai Mubai anything-not even Gold Soul Coins.
He might as well make Dai Mubai come and ask him for them himself.
Given their relationship, Dai Mubai certainly would not do that.
Dai Mubai snorted coldly, then said, "No need!"
"Let's go. Skip training today and head back to the academy first," Su Ling said.
Su Ling's words carried weight among this group, and they were all willing to return.
Yet wherever one went, there would always be an odd one out. Dai Mubai did not listen to Su Ling and instead headed toward Suotuo City, saying he had something to do.
Along the way, everyone began chatting with one another. By the time they reached the academy, they had all grown familiar.
"Why are you back so soon? Have you been slacking off again?"
A stern voice suddenly rang out.
"Xiao Gang! Is that you?"
Before she knew it, tears welled in Liu Erlong's eyes. She knew that voice all too well.
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