After the assessment ended, Zhu Lanling returned to stay at the Rose Gold Hotel.
As a parent, it wasn't appropriate for her to remain on campus.
As for Nangong Lingyun and his two lovely companions, although they hadn't officially joined the academy yet, Zhao Wuji earnestly arranged lodging for them.
There wasn't much else around here, but there was certainly no shortage of wooden cabins.
The night passed peacefully. Early the next morning, Nangong Lingyun invited the two beauties to take a tour around the academy.
They hadn't walked for long when, under someone's uncanny guidance,
the trio spotted a boy and a girl quarreling up ahead.
Both were young.
The girl looked around fourteen or fifteen—not exactly a beauty, but she radiated youthful vitality. To be more specific… she was very well-developed.
Her clothes were extremely simple, clearly the attire of a rural farming girl.
The boy she was arguing with seemed younger, around twelve or thirteen.
Short and chubby, he had a round belly and a head like a sphere, with tiny beady eyes that looked downright comical.
At this moment, the argument had clearly escalated.
The girl looked at the chubby boy in fear.
"Ma Hongjun, stop coming to see me. I won't be with you anymore."
The chubby boy was holding back his anger.
"Cuihua, what did I ever do wrong? Why do we have to break up?"
Their voices grew increasingly urgent.
After receiving a classic "good guy" rejection, Ma Hongjun became enraged and shockingly tried to force her to "do it again" on the spot.
Familiar with the original plot, Nangong Lingyun didn't interfere—
he simply stood by and silently watched the heroic Wu Hao leap out to uphold justice and beat Ma Hongjun into the ground.
Nearby, Dai Mubai, unaware that his fiancée was staring daggers into his soul, added fuel to the fire by introducing Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Martial Soul as a "chicken soul," and mocked him for relying on certain activities to vent his fire.
As a result, he was brutally exposed on the spot:
"If I had a face like yours and Oscar's—one that looks like a male escort—I could juggle multiple girlfriends too.
You think I don't know? You go on three dates a day with different girls and even drag Oscar along for some multiplayer fun."
"Oh? Isn't it you, Dai Young Master, who always brags about that?
Saying you're unbeatable with women and calling yourself the 'pretty girl slayer'?
What's wrong today? New man? Wrong meds?"
Upon hearing this, the previously indifferent little kitten (aka Zhu Zhuqing) underwent an instant expression change. She glared at Dai Mubai, her eyes radiating fury, hatred, and murderous intent.
In that moment, Nangong Lingyun felt unparalleled satisfaction.
The reason he came to "tour" Shrek Academy was not just to troll the Three Bros and Big Shi,
but also to max out Zhu Zhuqing's affection and bring this alluring little kitten home.
Dai Mubai's recent behavior had been absolutely perfect for his plan.
And if he could also rope in that innate full soul power sausage guy—well, that'd be a delicious bonus.
Eventually, the group arrived at the cafeteria, where Tang San was already eating with Oscar.
Nangong Lingyun's brows furrowed the moment he saw the plain steamed buns, thin porridge, and salty pickles on the table.
The novel had described Shrek Academy's food as meager, but never in detail—he had assumed there'd be at least some eggs.
After all, this was a village. Eggs and such should be readily available.
But shockingly, there was not a trace of meat or oil to be seen.
"Poor in culture, rich in martial arts"—sure, but making cultivators live on plain porridge? Only Flender could pull off such a move.
He asked, clearly in disbelief:
"Is this really what you usually eat?"
Dai Mubai smiled awkwardly.
"It's a bit simple, yes, but it fills you up just fine."
"I mean—is this just today's meal, or is it always like this?"
"The academy's budget isn't great. It's just something we've all come to accept."
"Impressive."
Hearing that, Nangong Lingyun burst out laughing.
Maybe the novel wanted to paint Flender as stingy for comedic effect.
But when such a scene actually played out in reality—being fed only porridge and pickles daily—there was nothing remotely funny about it.
He frowned and said:
"Surely you can afford some eggs? You're all at the age where soul power grows the fastest. Deliberately stalling your development over a few coins is ridiculous."
At that, Oscar, who had been wolfing down his bun, froze mid-bite.
Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun's expressions changed dramatically as they asked:
"What do you mean by 'stalling development'?"
"You didn't know?"
Nangong Lingyun looked stunned for a moment, then began explaining:
**"The essence of cultivation is converting external substances into internal energy for storage.
Physical development works the same way—muscles don't form out of thin air.
A regular person living solely on porridge and no protein would start showing symptoms within two weeks.
That's because rice and meat provide completely different nutrients—both are essential to the body.
Soul masters can absorb the energy of heaven and earth, so they might not feel the deficiency,
but doing that is a major loss overall.
Understand, the body's demand for nutrition and energy during growth doesn't shrink just because you eat less.
If anything, intense training increases those demands exponentially.
My food intake alone is five to six times that of an average soul master.
When the body can't meet these demands from external sources, it starts pulling from elsewhere—
and that means slowing your soul power development.
For a soul master, growth before age twenty-five is critical.
It sets the ceiling for your future potential.
After that, your vitality locks in permanently—and by forty, it starts to decline.
Many bottlenecks, if not broken before then, might remain unbreakable for life.
That's why any half-decent soul master family, academy, or sect—not to mention proper meals—
also supplies things like medicinal baths and soul beast meat."**
As Nangong Lingyun spoke, Ma Hongjun and Oscar's faces turned darker and darker.
Only Dai Mubai looked relieved.
Among the three, Fatty and Oscar ate most of their meals at the cafeteria.
Only Dai Mubai, who often went into Soto City to date girls (and freeload dinner), had a better diet.
The air grew silent for a moment before Nangong Lingyun said:
"Here's the deal—let's head into Soto City today. It's close enough. My treat."
"But we've got class soon..."
Ma Hongjun started to protest, but Nangong Lingyun was already walking out.
"Blame it on me. I'll explain it to Flender."
(End of Chapter)