Chapter 34: The Laughable Running Training—So What If She Has Princess Syndrome?
She had already been considering whether she should find some time to visit Nuoding City—deliberately create a "chance encounter" and get acquainted.
Using the excuse of going out to relax, she could ask her grandfather to take her along.
If she suddenly ran into the two of them then, maybe Lin Yuan wouldn't be able to help himself and would complain about her in his diary—perhaps he might even reveal how to detoxify them?
For now, this was just a tentative idea. She was still figuring out how to persuade her grandfather.
But thinking about it now, Nuoding City was no longer optional—
She had to go!
She had to abduct Lin Yuan and bring him to the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy!
"Sigh… I wonder when Grandpa will be back."
"These admission requirements of Shrek Academy are seriously hilarious. Surely no one is stupid enough to throw away their future just to enroll there, right?"
In Dugu Yan's view, it didn't really matter which junior or intermediate Soul Master academy one attended—the difference wasn't that significant.
But the choice of a high-level academy directly determined a Soul Master's future ceiling.
An academy without resources—no matter how strong the teachers were—what could they really provide to their students?
Could they feed them ten-thousand-year soul beast meat?
Could they provide top-tier Mimicry Training Grounds?
No!
Then why the hell go there?!
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[Aside from the harsh admission requirements, Shrek has an even more disgusting rule.]
[That's the registration fee!]
[Ten gold soul coins per person!]
[And the most shameless part is—you pay first, then take the test.]
[If your soul power doesn't meet the standard, or your bone age exceeds the limit by even one day—instant elimination!]
[As for those ten gold soul coins? Sorry, no refunds!]
[Isn't this just outright robbery?!]
[You have to know, even a two-ring Soul Grandmaster only gets ten gold soul coins a month as a subsidy from Spirit Hall!]
[That old bird Flender is clearly exploiting civilian Soul Masters who carry dreams in their hearts, just to fill his shriveled wallet!]
[To put it bluntly, he's running a scam under the banner of "only accepting monsters"!]
[What's even more absurd is—if you do get selected after paying, you'll realize this trash academy has absolutely nothing!]
[Mimicry Training Ground? None!]
[A proper cafeteria? None! The food is worse than pig feed! (Steamed buns and pickled vegetables!)]
[There isn't even a proper school building—you live in old wooden houses borrowed from villagers!]
[And this is what they call a "high-level Soul Master academy"?]
[All I can say is that Flender knows how to "get something for nothing."]
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Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect.
Ning Rongrong stared at the diary, her delicate little face filled with shock.
"Ten gold soul coins?"
"And non-refundable?"
"Isn't that just pathetically stingy?"
As the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she spent hundreds or even thousands of gold soul coins on clothes without batting an eye.
She truly couldn't imagine a dignified Soul Saint running an academy, yet stooping so low as to scam civilian students out of a mere ten gold soul coins.
"This is seriously embarrassing for a Soul Saint!"
Ning Rongrong wrinkled her nose in disdain.
[Flender also brags every day, saying that although their academy is poor, their teaching staff is exceptionally strong.]
[He goes on about how there are more teachers than students, each teacher being at least a Soul Emperor, and even himself—a high-level Soul Saint.]
[Back when I was young and ignorant, I thought that actually sounded impressive.]
[Now that I look at it, this is a classic case of being a frog in a well!]
[What's the standard configuration for a high-level Soul Master academy?]
[You must have a Soul Saint just to qualify to apply!]
[And any academy with even a bit of reputation—like the Heaven Dou Imperial Academy—their three education committee members are all Soul Douluo above Rank 80!]
[As for the Four Element Academies, which academy's dean isn't a Soul Douluo?]
[Yet here Flender is, a Rank 78 Soul Saint, boasting about an invincible teaching staff?]
[Now I finally understand why, in the original work, after Ning Rongrong suffered grievances upon enrollment, she pointed at Flender's nose and called him "a mere Soul Saint."]
Boom!
The moment she saw that line, Ning Rongrong's bright, lively eyes widened instantly.
"In the original work, I actually went to that trash academy? And I even scolded Flender?"
She was startled—but immediately afterward, an inexplicable sense of satisfaction surged within her.
"Well said!"
"That's exactly right—he's just a Soul Saint."
"In the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, that level doesn't even count as upper management!"
"Grandpa Sword and Grandpa Bone could crush him with a flick of their fingers!"
[Many people criticize that scene, saying Ning Rongrong had princess syndrome and didn't know her place.]
[But in my opinion, that's just hating for the sake of hating.]
[First of all, she is the little princess of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect—what's wrong with having a bit of a princess temper?]
[Isn't that perfectly natural?]
[Second, why did Ning Rongrong lose her temper in the first place?]
[Because of Flender's brain-dead training method!]
[He actually made an auxiliary system Soul Master run twenty laps around the village!]
[His reasoning was: auxiliary system Soul Masters lack self-defense ability, so only by running fast can they increase their chances of survival.]
[Hahaha!]
[When I heard that theory, I nearly laughed my teeth off.]
[What kind of bullshit logic is that?!]
[What is the role of an auxiliary system Soul Master? They are the core of the team! The one everyone else protects!]
[If a team has fallen so far that the auxiliary system Soul Master has to abandon everything and sprint for their lives, then the attack-type and defense-type teammates might as well go smash their heads with tofu!]
[That's just trash!]
[What is the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda? It's the number one auxiliary martial soul on the entire continent!]
[At just two rings, it already provides a thirty percent boost. Applied to a Soul Grandmaster, that's an instant leap to Soul Elder–level combat power!]
[With teammates boosted to that extent, if they still can't protect a single core support, then just replace them—there's no carrying that kind of deadweight.]
[What—during team battles, when enemy soul skills come flying, Ning Rongrong just abandons her teammates and runs off?]
[And besides, in the face of absolute power, what's the point of running anyway?!]
[Doesn't Flender know that high-level Soul Masters possess soul power pressure?]
[Take someone like Ghost Douluo—one glance from him and you can't even move a finger!]
[Run? Where are you going to run?]
[Under those circumstances, training physical endurance is a false premise altogether!]
[What should really be trained is positioning, awareness, and soul power control!]
[Not running laps like an idiot!]
[If it were just a few laps as warm-up, Ning Rongrong would've run—she's done that in the sect before.]
[After all, Auxiliary System Soul Masters also need good physical conditioning, so basic training is absolutely necessary. Ning Fengzhi, as her father and the continent's number one Auxiliary System Soul Master, certainly understands that principle.]
"Perfectly said!"
Ning Rongrong's face flushed red with excitement—it felt like every word struck straight into her heart.
"Exactly! I'm a support—a support!"
"Since when do support type soul masters need to train long-distance running?"
"If I ran into a Titled Douluo, even if I ran until my legs snapped, I still wouldn't escape!"
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End of Chapter