Seeing Ning Rongrong crying as she apologized to Xiao Wu, everyone patiently waited until her emotions ran their course. Once she had vented her grievances, Grandmaster finally called Oscar to start producing his signature *Big Sausages* and distribute them to the team.
"I, your father, have a big sausage! I, your father, have a big sausage!"
On the empty training field, Oscar's shameless soul incantation rang out again and again. Once he had produced eight sausages, he began distributing them one by one. When he reached the girls, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself.
"Filthy Uncle Sausage, what are you laughing at?!" Xiao Wu snapped. Being the most familiar with him, she shot back without hesitation.
Oscar knew he was in the wrong and didn't bother to argue. He rolled his eyes dramatically and retreated to the boys' side.
Qian Jue, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun, after receiving their sausages, ate without hesitation. They were boys, and after years of living together, any lingering awkwardness had long since vanished. Qian Jue even took out a small pouch of chili spices he had prepared himself from his storage ring, sprinkling it over the sausage before eating with relish.
"Ah Jue, give me some too," Dai Mubai said, stretching out his sausage.
"Me too, me too!" Ma Hongjun licked his plump lips, eyes glistening.
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing looked down at the sausages in their hands. At first, Oscar's vulgar chant had made them deeply reluctant to even touch them. But watching Qian Jue and the others eat so happily—even adding seasoning—it didn't seem so bad after all.
Since she no longer felt as resistant, Zhu Zhuqing glanced at Dai Mubai, wanting to see his attitude. After all, their clans had already bound them together; some things she had to pay attention to.
But when she turned to look, Dai Mubai wasn't watching her at all. He was busy snatching chili powder from Qian Jue.
"Fine. Looks like there's no problem…" Zhu Zhuqing thought, finally preparing to take a bite—only to hear Xiao Wu still trying to persuade Ning Rongrong.
"Eat it, Rongrong. It's nothing. That incantation is just Uncle Sausage's nonsense, it doesn't mean anything. Besides, his sausages are really useful. Like your arm—if you eat one, the bleeding will stop and it'll scab over much faster."
"But…" Ning Rongrong stared hesitantly at the sausage in her hand.
"No buts! If you eat a few more later, even the scar will disappear. You know, us girls—if we get scars, it's so ugly."
"But, but…" Ning Rongrong still looked uneasily toward Oscar, unable to take the bite.
"Oh, stop it already! Just eat!" Xiao Wu huffed, grabbed her hand, and shoved the sausage straight into her mouth while taking a bite of her own.
"Mm—" Ning Rongrong chewed reluctantly, finally swallowing it down.
"But I wanted chili too…" she muttered tearfully after finishing.
"Humph…"
Zhu Zhuqing couldn't help but laugh at the two of them. But since she had to maintain her cold, aloof image, the sound turned into a muffled hum in her throat instead.
---
Thus, the morning's incident finally came to an end. After tidying themselves up, the group set out, leaving the academy behind and heading toward the Star Dou Forest.
The Star Dou Forest, one of the three great spirit beast habitats of the Douluo Continent, spanned both the Heaven Dou Empire and Star Luo Empire. A vast primeval forest, it contained nearly every terrain imaginable—wetlands, swamps, rivers, lakes, and mountain ranges. Innumerable spirit beasts dwelled within, from thousand-year to ten-thousand-year, and even more than one hundred-thousand-year beast lurked inside.
Shrek Academy, located within the borders of Soto City, lay more than 500 kilometers away from the forest.
"From this moment onward," Grandmaster said sternly, standing before them at the academy gates, "you are to run all the way to Star Dou Town, one hundred kilometers outside the forest. I don't care how you arrange yourselves, but you must arrive before nightfall. At the same time, today's exhaustion must not affect your actions tomorrow.
Also, along the way and during tomorrow's spirit ring hunt, unless you encounter dangers beyond your ability to handle, your teachers will not intervene. Once you leave the academy, everything depends on yourselves. Now, go!"
With that, Grandmaster, Flender, and Liu Erlong boarded a rented carriage and sped off, leaving behind only a cloud of dust—and eight envious students staring after them.
"Alright, stop gawking. Let's get moving. Ah Jue will take the lead. Oscar spent a lot of soul power earlier, so Tang San and I will take turns carrying him to let him recover enough to keep producing sausages. As long as we eat one every hour, it'll relieve the fatigue from running and help us endure until we reach Star Dou Town," Dai Mubai ordered.
As the eldest and highest level, as well as the earliest to join the academy, Dai Mubai was naturally recognized as the team's leader. Arrangements like this were left to him.
"No need to bother. Just ride my wolf spirit. It can carry you all the way," Qian Jue said, summoning his wolf spirit. The spectral wolf emerged in front of them, its form vast and ethereal.
For Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing, this was the first time seeing Qian Jue's spirit up close.
"This thing… it's the one that bit me earlier…" Ning Rongrong murmured, touching the bandaged wound on her arm. Fear and curiosity mingled in her gaze.
Zhu Zhuqing's eyes, however, were filled with wonder. 'So this is the martial spirit Grandmaster called one of the most powerful on the continent…'
"Really? I can ride it?!" Oscar exclaimed, excitedly approaching the wolf spirit, tentatively reaching out to stroke its mist-like body.
"Go on. It won't hurt you."
Qian Jue helped Oscar carefully climb onto the wolf's neck. Oscar clung nervously to its ears, terrified of falling.
"Hey, Ah Jue… if your wolf carries me the whole way, won't it tire you out? It's over 400 kilometers to Star Dou Town," Oscar asked, suddenly worried.
"Don't worry. With my current strength, having the wolf carry you costs me almost nothing." Qian Jue smiled reassuringly.
And indeed, with his soul power reserves and recovery speed, the energy spent keeping the wolf active was about the same as his natural recovery. With Oscar's sausages on top of that, he had no concerns at all.
After all, for the past four years, Qian Jue had been taken almost every week by Flender to the outskirts of the Star Dou Forest to hunt spirit beasts for his Kindred Mark. Combined with the refinement of his mark and the two spirit rings he had obtained—each over 4,000 years—his physique was already beyond most Spirit Kings.
Yes, both of Qian Jue's third rings were from spirit beasts over 4,000 years old—far surpassing Grandmaster's theoretical safe limit of 1,760 years. Each one had exceeded it by more than 2,000 years!
When he had reached rank 30 in his second year, Grandmaster had deliberately held him back for more than half a year to ensure he could absorb a higher-limit ring. Finally, with Flender and Liu Erlong escorting him, they ventured deep into Star Dou Forest, where he gained his third ring. After a smooth absorption, not only had he broken through to Spirit Elder, but his spirit power had surged straight to rank 34.
The two new abilities he gained did not disappoint.
From his Sheep Spirit, the third ring came from a 4,200-year-old Earth King Beast. Its gift transformed into a spirit skill allowing Qian Jue to fire an arrow imbued with seismic force. The shockwave intensified with distance, and upon detonation, it could stun all enemies within a three-meter radius for a full two seconds—a devastating crowd-control ability.
But this skill had a drawback: its shockwave did not distinguish friend from foe. If he fired it directly from his Kindred Bow and detonated at close range, he would be stunned along with his enemy. Thus, he always used it as a spirit arrow, which he could detonate mid-flight at will—even if it missed its mark.
One pity, however, was its appearance. Perhaps because the Earth King Beast was a fire-attribute creature, the arrow shone a blazing scarlet, much like his second skill, Emerald Resonance, had its distinctive green hue. Grandmaster often lamented: 'If only this arrow were transparent or faintly colored, its tactical value would rise another tier.'
As for his Wolf Spirit, its third ring came from a 4,400-year-old Shadow Panther. This beast's natural talent allowed it to explosively enhance its physical attributes in battle. When transformed into a spirit skill, the wolf spirit gained a temporary surge—doubling its stats for three minutes. Brutal and straightforward, yet incredibly powerful. It was Grandmaster's careful planning to bolster Qian Jue's burst potential.
With these, Qian Jue's current strength was already unmatched among Spirit Elders and Spirit Ancestors. In truth, even against a Spirit King, he was confident of holding his ground.
This was the truest testament to four years of relentless effort and blood-soaked training.
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