Cross-country run

Grandmaster's gaze swept over Ma Hongjun.

"Feeling pleased with yourself?"

Ma Hongjun hadn't had time to wipe the smile off his face; the corners of his mouth were still turned up.

"Of course-" He stopped halfway through, catching sight of Grandmaster's face, cold enough to freeze water. "Uh, not that pleased."

"Ma Hongjun, why didn't you protect Oscar? Don't you know how important a support Soul Master is? You can fly high and hit hard, but your teammate was still on the ground. You were so busy enjoying the fight yourself. Did you ever consider what you would have done to stop Dai Mubai if he'd gone straight past you and rushed Oscar from the start?"

Ma Hongjun opened his mouth to say something, then closed it again. Oscar was hunching his shoulders, trying hard to make himself less noticeable, but Grandmaster's gaze had already turned to him.

"Oscar, why didn't you take off immediately? What if Dai Mubai had attacked you first? If Fatty's line of fire hadn't stopped him, you wouldn't even have had a chance to take off. Did you think Dai Mubai wouldn't attack you, or that Ma Hongjun would definitely be able to protect you?"

"Dai Mubai." Grandmaster turned to him. "Facing Ma Hongjun and Oscar, you actually chose not to attack the Support System Soul Master first? You should have blasted Oscar with your White Tiger Fierce Light Wave right from the start. Do you know what it means on a battlefield to cut off the enemy's logistical supplies first? What were you thinking?"

All expression had vanished from Dai Mubai's face. His hands hung at his sides, his knuckles white from clenching his fists.

"Tang San, you were too careless. If Dai Mubai had held something back after that punch, you would already have lost. Your fighting instincts are stronger than those of anyone your age, but your ability to anticipate your opponent is seriously lacking."

Tang San remained silent and slowly nodded.

Grandmaster's gaze fell on Xiao Wu, and his tone softened for a moment. "Xiao Wu, that combination of Moonfall and Teleportation was indeed impressive. You showed a good sense for tactical deception. That was a great surprise to me."

Xiao Wu stuck out her tongue and edged half a step behind Wang Xingyu.

Grandmaster looked over everyone present. "But your performance today-you let down your guard, were blindly arrogant, and couldn't withstand a single blow. Are these the so-called monsters? The so-called geniuses?"

Wang Xingyu sensed something was wrong. That tone, that pause-he knew all too well what Grandmaster was going to say next. This was bad. He still had to run.

But his foot had barely moved half an inch backward when Grandmaster's gaze locked onto him.

A moment later, everyone was brought to the academy entrance. Several bamboo baskets stood there, each marked with a name and filled with stones. Grandmaster stood beside them, his tone even.

"Put on your baskets. Go from Shrek Academy to Suotuo City and back ten times. You are not allowed to use Soul Power at any point, and you must return before dark."

Ning Rongrong looked at the basket with her name on it, then at Grandmaster. "Why do Zhu Zhuqing and I have to carry baskets too? Neither of us took part in the fights."

"If you want to become a team whose members can entrust their backs to one another, can you stand by and watch them be punished while you rest?"

Ning Rongrong bit her lip and said nothing more. She silently put on her basket.

Wang Xingyu looked at the basket in front of him and sighed inwardly.

In the end, he hadn't escaped it. But this run was mainly meant to let them experience what a real team was. He glanced at the amount of stone in his basket: five kilograms, the same weight as Ning Rongrong and Oscar.

Grandmaster had miscalculated on that point. Wang Xingyu trained with Xiao Wu and Little San often enough, after all. Though his physique wasn't as good as theirs, it was still much better than that of an ordinary support Soul Master.

Ten round trips to Suotuo City. Time to run-it was only 840 kilometers.

Everyone put on their bamboo baskets and started running toward Suotuo City.

Tang San and Dai Mubai carried fifteen kilograms each.

Ma Hongjun, Zhu Zhuqing, and Xiao Wu carried ten kilograms each.

After running about five kilometers, Ma Hongjun plopped down on the ground, his basket hitting the dirt road with a dull thud. "Ow, I can't do this. I can't run anymore. What kind of task is this for a human being?!" He braced both hands on his knees, panting like a bellows, his round face covered in sweat. "Let's just take a shortcut. It's not like Grandmaster will know."

Ning Rongrong stopped too. She bent over and panted for quite a while before straightening up. "How is this a punishment? It's going to kill us." She held onto her basket straps, her voice feeble. "Even if we don't take a shortcut, couldn't we use a little Soul Power? Just a tiny bit. Grandmaster wouldn't notice."

Tang San slowed his pace and turned to look at Wang Xingyu. "Xingyu, you figured it out, didn't you?"

Wang Xingyu had been running with his head down. Tang San's words caught him off guard, and he quickly ran through the plot in his head before it clicked. "Oh, I figured it out."

Dai Mubai looked back. "Figured what out? Why are you two talking in riddles?"

"Even Zhu Zhuqing and Rongrong have baskets." Wang Xingyu turned his head and glanced at Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong. "That means this isn't just a punishment. It's more like a test-a test of whether we can help one another and finish together as a team."

Tang San nodded, his voice still calm. "If this punishment had been a spur-of-the-moment decision, there wouldn't be a name on every basket, much less a precisely calculated weight in each one. Grandmaster planned this from the start."

Xiao Wu stared for a moment, then wrinkled her nose. "How can Grandmaster be so crafty? He was so fierce with us just now, but it was all an act?"

"I wouldn't call it an act. He really was scolding us, and this really is a test."

Wang Xingyu tugged his slipping basket straps back up. "Grandmaster wants us to figure it out for ourselves-there's no use in one person running fast. We have to run together. That's the real lesson today. Some of us have good stamina, and some don't. If we each run on our own, those with poor stamina will collapse sooner or later. But this isn't an individual race; it's a team race."

"The total weight we're carrying is fixed. As long as we get it all to the finish line on time, we'll have completed the task. As for how much each person carries, we can adjust that whenever we need to." Tang San looked at Wang Xingyu. "Xingyu, give me what you're carrying."

Wang Xingyu waved a hand. "It's fine. This weight isn't hard for me." He turned to Oscar, who was panting so hard beside him that his peach-blossom eyes had narrowed to slits. "Oscar, do you need help?"

Oscar was bent over with his hands on his knees. At that, he raised his head and stared for a moment before grinning. "You're a good brother, but I'm fine." He paused, straightened up, and raised his voice. "Everyone, from now on, let's all follow the slowest person. That way we can stay together, adjust the load when needed, and save our strength too."

Ning Rongrong turned her head. "That's a good idea. I wouldn't have guessed you were so clever."

Oscar scratched the back of his head, his peach-blossom eyes narrowing to slits. "Hehe, of course."

The group continued on. By the time they had run more than a hundred kilometers, Ning Rongrong was the first to run out of strength, her steps growing heavier and heavier. Without a word, Dai Mubai took some stones from her basket, and Tang San and Wang Xingyu followed suit.

The weight on Ning Rongrong's shoulders suddenly lessened, and her feet felt so light that she nearly lost her balance. Her lips moved, and she softly thanked them.

At two hundred kilometers, Ma Hongjun's stamina began to give out too. Zhu Zhuqing and Xiao Wu each took five kilograms from him. The basket on Fatty's shoulders was lighter, but his legs were still weak.

He found that reducing the load didn't make things easier right away; he had already overtaxed himself and used up too much strength. But Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing said nothing, so he was too embarrassed to complain of being tired again. He gritted his teeth and followed at the back of the group.

After that, they kept rotating the load and supporting one another. Those with more stamina carried for those with less, and the slower runners were pulled along by the faster ones. Tang San and Dai Mubai took turns shouldering the heaviest portion.

The distance was too long. It was a test not only of stamina, but of willpower.

By the final fifty kilometers or so, everyone's strength had run dry. Even their breaths tasted of iron, and they could only press on by instinct.

Their feet no longer felt like their own. Every step was like treading on cotton. The basket straps had rubbed bloody marks into their shoulders, and sweat ran down their foreheads, blurring their vision. No one spoke, and no one stopped.

Zhu Zhuqing held Ning Rongrong by the arm, Wang Xingyu supported Ma Hongjun, and Dai Mubai walked at the front of the group.

At half past six in the evening, the setting sun had sunk to the horizon. Shrek Academy's crooked wooden gate finally came into view. Grandmaster stood at the entrance, Luo Sanpao lying at his feet. Sanpao's tail wagged, as if welcoming them.

Wang Xingyu spotted Grandmaster in the distance, and a thought suddenly sprang to mind. Good thing Canghui Academy didn't come to cause trouble, or I really would have had to use Hidden Weapons.

Everyone dragged their nearly numb legs over to Grandmaster. He looked at the group of students.

"Congratulations. You've completed it."

No sooner had he spoken than all eight of them collapsed onto the ground one after another, as if their bones had been pulled out at once. Wang Xingyu lay flat on his back, without even the strength to turn over. His eyes closed, his lips moved. "Grandmaster, is there a medicinal bath?"

Grandmaster looked down at him, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. "There is. How did you know?"

"As long as there is one, that's fine. Then I won't need to use my second Soul Skill."