Lu Qian decided to teach that old fox Flender a lesson. He refused to budge even at the price of one Gold Soul Coin per lap and simply headed to the entrance to run laps with the others.
As luck would have it, just as Lu Qian was about to start running, Dai Mubai happened to pass by the main gate.
Seeing that Lu Qian had also been punished with laps, Dai Mubai paid him back for his earlier mockery on the spot.
Lu Qian glared at Dai Mubai and picked up his pace. Before long, he caught up with Ning Rongrong and Oscar in turn.
Oscar looked utterly shocked when he saw Lu Qian join them.
He had originally thought that after Ning Rongrong left, he would be the only one finishing all twenty laps.
Yet not only had Ning Rongrong returned, even Boss Dai had started running laps with him for some unknown reason.
And now Lu Qian had joined them too.
Once Lu Qian joined in, Dai Mubai clearly grew competitive. Relying on his Beast Martial Soul to boost his physical attributes, he overtook Lu Qian almost instantly and even shot him a provocative look.
How could Lu Qian put up with that? He immediately sped up and chased after him!
Although Lu Qian's physical attributes might not have matched Dai Mubai's, his advantage lay in his powerful Soul Power. Over these twenty laps, Dai Mubai might exhaust his Soul Power halfway through, but Lu Qian was different. He would use up half his Soul Power at most.
Lu Qian could therefore pretty much guarantee that he could use Soul Power to boost his speed the entire way, so he had no fear of Dai Mubai's provocation.
Sure enough, by the twelfth lap, Dai Mubai could no longer hold out. Lu Qian caught up with him with ease and soon lapped him.
He even quietly activated his Soul Bone Skill for Ning Rongrong whenever he came across her.
Recovery, the second skill of the Forest Emerald Dragon Left Arm Bone, could draw on the power of the forest to heal his injuries and restore his Soul Power.
Although Lu Qian was the primary beneficiary when he used this skill, nearby Soul Masters could also share in its nourishing rain and dew.
Yet just as Lu Qian was about to lap Dai Mubai a second time, Dai Mubai actually came racing up from behind him!
What was going on?!
Lu Qian was stunned. Hadn't Dai Mubai already run out of Soul Power?
Given his current state, Lu Qian could more or less guess what had happened, though he was not certain yet.
After another two laps, however, Lu Qian overtook Dai Mubai again and immediately spotted Oscar at the academy's main gate, so pale that he had to lean against the wall to stand!
So it was him!
Lu Qian could not help shaking his head. This fellow really was rather pitiful.
Oscar should have finished his twenty laps long ago, but he could never have expected Dai Mubai to press him into hard labor.
And judging by the situation now, how was this hard labor? He was clearly being used as a blood slave!
In other words, Dai Mubai really was sucking Oscar dry!
When there were Big Sausages to eat, he really ate them!
To beat Lu Qian, Dai Mubai had now abandoned every last limit.
Lu Qian remembered that in the original story, these fellows had all struggled quite a bit to accept Oscar's Soul Power Big Sausages.
Lu Qian simply hid himself and quietly waited for Dai Mubai to arrive.
In less than a minute, Dai Mubai walked up to Oscar, breathing hard.
Panting heavily, he said to Oscar:
"Quick, give-give me a few."
"Boss Dai, I really don't have any left."
Oscar spoke with a face on the verge of tears.
Oscar himself had needed to eat Soul Power Big Sausages to make it through those twenty laps, so he had not had much Soul Power left to begin with.
Yet every time Dai Mubai passed by over the last few laps, he had nearly drained Oscar's Soul Power dry.
Now Oscar truly felt as though his body had been hollowed out, and he did not have even a trace of Soul Power left.
"No, hurry up and give them to me!"
"Boss Dai, I really can't anymore."
Their conversation at that moment sounded like one between a man who had taken an aphrodisiac and a woman who could not endure any more.
Just then, Lu Qian suddenly stepped out.
"Well, well! If it isn't Young Master Dai. What's this? Your tastes have gotten rather unusual. You won't even spare little Oscar?"
"Lu Qian!"
Caught in the act by Lu Qian, Dai Mubai flew into a rage out of humiliation almost instantly.
"Bullshit! I was just having a few words with him!"
After tossing out a random excuse, Dai Mubai gritted his teeth and started running again.
Lu Qian, meanwhile, walked over and patted Oscar's utterly weakened body, saying:
"It's all right. I won't tell anyone."
"Lu Qian, you..."
Oscar's eyes widened, and he wanted to explain, but Lu Qian had already turned around and gone back to running laps.
Oscar then sighed, leaned against the wall, and slowly shuffled back toward the dormitory.
When Lu Qian finished his twenty laps, Dai Mubai still had two left. Lu Qian waited for him at the academy entrance.
Every time Dai Mubai passed the entrance, Lu Qian simply stared at him impassively.
Dai Mubai had already pushed his physical stamina almost to its limit, but every time he passed Lu Qian, he still had to speed up to keep Lu Qian from looking down on him.
And so, by the time Dai Mubai finished, he practically crawled back to the dormitory.
It was almost time for the evening assembly when Ning Rongrong finally completed her twenty laps as well.
Of course, Lu Qian deserved well over half the credit for that.
After dinner, everyone gathered on the field, though two people were missing.
Dai Mubai and Oscar had both asked for leave!
Naturally, Dai Mubai had overtaxed his body. Even as a Soul Master, he would probably have to spend a few days in bed.
Oscar had suffered rather unfairly. He had been forced to overdraw his Soul Power, and not only had Dean Flender scolded him, but he would also need several more days of rest than Dai Mubai.
After all, he was only a food-type Soul Master, and his physique really was poor.
Just as Lu Qian had expected, although Ning Rongrong had completed her twenty-lap running assignment, Dean Flender still reprimanded her.
Naturally, the sole reason was that she had left the academy without permission. So although Flender said a few words to her, none were particularly harsh, and Ning Rongrong did not reveal her little witch's nature.
Although Flender had not used Ning Rongrong to establish his authority, the two absentees, Dai Mubai and Oscar, suffered instead.
Dai Mubai in particular received such a torrent of abuse that he might as well have been drenched in dog's blood. Flender even insisted that Dai Mubai had been reduced to tears by his reprimand and was reflecting on his mistakes in the dormitory.
Lu Qian nearly laughed aloud, but the moment he looked up and met Flender's eyes, he immediately held it in!
Then Flender clasped his hands behind his back and said to everyone:
"All right, get ready to set out. You've seen what happened to Dai Mubai and Oscar. If you want to stay here and cultivate, you must follow the academy's rules and take every lesson seriously. Here, my words are orders."
"Next, you'll begin your first lesson since coming to Shrek. Each of you will complete your own coursework independently. Don't blame me for not warning you beforehand: if you don't do well enough, even if you don't die, you'll lose a layer of skin."
Before you continue