Douluo Dalu - Volume 06 - External Spirit Bone Read online

  Only now did Dai Mubai recall that when Oscar ate his own sausage, the effect was weakened. Unfortunately, his spirit power was already far from sufficient, otherwise he would right now have the opportunity to make a comeback.

  Withdrawing the spider web, Tang San helped Xiao Wu stand up, both their expressions somewhat embarrassed. Xiao Wu’s delicate little face blushed like a ripe apple, Tang San’s distinct smell dying her body without fading for a long time. Lowering her head, the braid on the back of her head hung over her chest, not daring to look up at her nominal big brother.

  Grandmaster did not seem to see Tang San and Xiao Wu’s embarrassment, letting Ma Hongjun drop out of the air, sweeping his eyes over the five combatants.

  “Tell me your thoughts.”

  Dai Mubai’s mood was right now extremely depressed. Even if he had lost to Tang San’s third spirit ability, Tang San was after all a control system Spirit Master. But this Fatty Ma Hongjun had never been his match. Unexpectedly being defeated this time, immediately he was unable to accept it:

  “If my spirit power had been in peak condition, they wouldn’t have had a chance.”

  Chapter 041: Not Abandoning, Not Giving Up

  Part 1

  Grandmaster glanced at him indifferently,

  “Will you only try to kill your enemy when your spirit power is at its most powerful?”

  Dai Mubai started, Grandmaster’s simple sentence left him speechless.

  Grandmaster continued:

  “You clearly know Oscar can supply mushroom sausages, so why would you give Ma Hongjun the opportunity to eat them? If you blocked him from the start, or as much as possible saved your spirit power, this win should have been yours.”

  Ma Hongjun reached for Oscar’s shoulder,

  “A pleasure, truly a pleasure, I didn’t expect one day we too would win against Dai Mubai. How exceptionally pleasant. Little Ao, this sausage of yours is truly useful.”

  Oscar smiled mischievously,

  “It’s only natural, how about we call ourselves Spirit Elders too.”

  Grandmaster looked coldly at the pair,

  “Are you proud of yourselves? Ma Hongjun, I ask you, when Oscar’s flying mushroom sausage failed, why did you let him fall to the ground? If at this time Dai Mubai still had the strength for one attack, killing him, what would you have done?”

  “I……”

  Ma Hongjun looked dumbstruck at Grandmaster.

  Grandmaster turned to Oscar,

  “And you. For a food system Spirit Master, most important in any situation is to as far as possible preserve their life. He didn’t take the initiative to help you, so why didn’t you grab him to continue floating in the air? If it was a situation where Dai Mubai had sufficient spirit power, the moment you fell you would have been dispatched. If it was the enemy, right now you would already be dead. Spirit Elder? Even if it was a Title Douluo level food system Spirit Master, before a Battle Spirit Master he’s still extremely frail.”

  Dai Mubai, Oscar and Ma Hongjun looked at each other, all of them speechless.

  Grandmaster’s voice was flat and cool, drawing blood with each prick as he pointed out their mistakes.

  “Little San.”

  Grandmaster turned to Tang San.

  Tang San hastily stepped forward,

  “Teacher, I’m here.”

  “Tell me your impressions of the fight with Xiao Wu.”

  Tang San’s face reddened,

  “Teacher, I messed up. I shouldn’t have been careless, getting caught in Xiao Wu’s second spirit ability Demon Confusion, to the extent that I sunk into a passive condition. Under conditions where I didn’t know her third spirit ability rashly releasing the spider web, making me sink even deeper into a passive condition.”

  Grandmaster nodded,

  “Knowing your mistakes is good. Your error was the most severe. A lion fighting a rabbit still needs all its strength, you unexpectedly violating this from the start is an unforgivable sin. If the enemy’s attack was a bit more severe, you would have died. Remember, a control system Spirit Master not only has to control the enemy, they also have to control themselves.”

  Finally, Grandmaster looked at Xiao Wu,

  “Your third spirit ability should be teleportation[ (瞬移) “Wink Move”]. Only with a distance restriction. If my guess is correct, this should be the capability of the Lightning Rabbit[ (闪电兔)]. Your third spirit ring is a thousand year Lightning Rabbit. This kind of teleportation spirit ability, among all spirit abilities, belongs to the very rarest, you’ve given be a very pleasant surprise. At the same time, teleportation suits your Soft Skill, your killing power has substantially increased. But, why did you conclude it was already your victory once you wrapped around Tang San’s neck? If at that time you were a bit careful, when you saw Tang San use Spider Web Restraint for the third time, not anxious for quick results, first teleported away from his attack range and launched again, then you would already have won, and not been restrained.”

  Xiao Wu quietly stuck out her tongue, but didn’t dare utter a word.

  The look on Grandmaster’s stiff face was very unsightly,

  “This is what is called monstrous genius? Your display today left me very disappointed. Each of your errors are unforgivable. Now, you must all suffer the punishment. Running. Supervise each other, you may not use spirit power. From the Academy run to Suotuo City and back, before lunch, I would like you to finish the round trip ten times. When you’re done is when you may eat. Tang San, your mistake was the most serious, therefore you run twelve times. Move at once, begin.”

  Tang San was first to run out. Grandmasters word to him was no different than law.

  Xiao Wu, Dai Mubai, Oscar and Ma Hongjun followed behind. Grandmaster even punished his direct disciple, and furthermore punished him the most seriously, what could they still say? Let alone that the errors Grandmaster pointed out to them were all grave mistakes.

  “At the Academy’s entrance rocks are prepared. You will each carry one on your back as you run. You must remember, you are one team, if there is one person who hasn’t completed the punishment, then, no one can eat.”

  Grandmaster emphasized his words.

  Although they couldn’t use spirit power, they were all Spirit Masters. Spirit power transformed the body over many years, making them much stronger than ordinary people. Simply running, that couldn’t reach Grandmaster’s purpose.

  The distance from the Academy to Suotuo City couldn’t be considered too far, but a roughly three to four kilometres distance, making the round trip ten times, that would be roughly sixty to seventy kilometres. Adding in the carried weight, this was in no way an easy task.

  Seeing the five figures run away, Ning Rongrong couldn’t help but cackle, however, her laughter didn’t last for long.

  “Why aren’t you running?”

  Grandmaster’s cold voice echoed.

  “Eh……, we have to run too?”

  Ning Rongrong shocked looked at Grandmaster.

  Grandmaster said:

  “Just now I said: you all have to suffer the punishment.”

  Ning Rongrong was immediately somewhat worried,

  “But, this isn’t fair, me and Zhuqing didn’t make any errors!”

  Grandmaster calmly said:

  “I ask you, who are they to you?”

  Ning Rongrong looked blank,

  “Fellow students, companions.”

  Grandmaster said:

  “There is a line called ‘shared delights and common pains’, haven’t you heard it? You are companions, wanting to become companions you can trust with your back, do you think you should look at them suffering punishment while you rest?”

  “I……”

  Ning Rongrong was unable to reply, but Zhu Zhuqing was already running out.

  As the seven one after another reached the Academy gate, they discovered that Grandmaster still discriminated in how he treated their punishment, or in other words, had earlier a
lready prepared well.

  Seven baskets woven from bamboo were filled with differently sized stones, on each bamboo basket were straps and a name written.

  Among them, the stones in Tang San, Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun’s baskets were the largest, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing and Oscar second, the stones in Ning Rongrong’s basket the smallest.

  As Ning Rongrong saw the stones in the basket, the resentment in her heart reduced somewhat, thinking to herself, ‘this Grandmaster still isn’t too unreasonable.’

  Grandmaster watching the seven running with bamboo baskets on their backs, couldn’t help but reveal a faint smile on his rigid face.

  “Forbidden to use spirit power while carrying weight and running long distance, isn’t this punishment a bit heavy? That could be several hundred kilometers. Let alone noon, they might not finish before the sky is dark. I didn’t expect you would be even fiercer than me.”

  Flender had at some unknown time already arrived next to Grandmaster, speaking somewhat concerned.

  Grandmaster calmly said:

  “One cannot achieve glory and wealth without suffering trials and tribulations. I carefully calculated their body condition. It won’t exhaust them. What’s more, you think with their breakfast that good, they could eat without paying? Without going through a stage of shared delights and common hardships, how could they become companions that trust each other with their backs?”

  Flender held up both hands, showing his surrender,

  “All right, I told you. You do as you see fit. I know you care about these children even more than me. However, I have no choice but to once again remind you, the Academy’s funds are limited.”

  Grandmaster snorted coldly,

  “Can a living person still hold back their urine until they die[ Idiom, not entirely sure of the translation, but the meaning is roughly “as long as you’re alive there is always another way”.]? Do you think I am you, the magnificent Spirit Sage, unable to even manage one Academy’s funds.”

  Flender slightly angrily said:

  “Indeed I don’t think to bow and scrape subserviently to others, otherwise, with my strength being wealthy also isn’t a difficult matter. I want to see how you’ll settle this issue. You whose cheeks are even thinner than mine.”

  Grandmaster gave Flender a sideways look,

  “Then you just wait and see.”

  Bamboo baskets on their backs, Tang San and Dai Mubai took the lead in the mad rush out. Once they started running, they realized this punishment as expected was very heavy.

  If they could use spirit power, a sixty or seventy kilometres distance in half a day’s time wasn’t any problem to speak of for them, and could even be completed easily. But, under circumstances without spirit power and still carrying weight, that was not something that could easily be accomplished.

  “Mubai, let’s first stop a moment.”

  In the middle of running Tang San suddenly stopped. Right now they hadn’t run far, but his forehead already showed traces of sweat.

  Although the two had previously both consumed spirit power, currently they didn’t use spirit power to run, in physical strength they clearly were the best among Shrek Seven Devils. Right now, Xiao Wu, Ma Hongjun and Oscar were already falling behind several hundred meters, after them Zhu Zhuqing was already catching up to their steps, Ning Rongrong was last.

  “Little San, why?”

  Dai Mubai also stopped, somewhat puzzled looking at Tang San,

  “Ten laps isn’t short, run at once.”

  Tang San said:

  “Mubai, do you still remember? Just now before we set off Teacher said we are a team, he asked us to complete this time’s punishment together. You see, Zhuqing and Rongrong are punished together with us. Apart from my running twelve laps, you also have to finish simultaneously. To my understanding of Teacher, he isn’t just punishing us, at the same time he’s having us exercise. Yesterday Teacher told me that the body is a Spirit Master’s foundation, me being able to surpass my rank to absorb the Man Faced Demon Spider’s spirit ring is related to the inner qualities of my body. Even more importantly, this time’s punishment is perhaps also Teacher’s first test for us, what he wants to test is our fellowship. We are a team, speaking of physical strength, perhaps you and I can manage, but they might not. I see, we have to think of some method, seeing how we can let everyone successfully complete the test this time.”

  As Grandmaster’s sole disciple, Tang San clearly understood Grandmaster the best. Hearing his words, Dai Mubai gave a slow nod,

  “Perhaps it truly is so, let’s wait for them to approach, we’ll talk it over first.”

  Very quickly the five people behind caught up, and Tang San explained his point of view of today’s punishment.

  Oscar’s brows wrinkled minutely, saying:

  “I think Tang San is right, Grandmaster should be looking to test us. The weights we carry differ to some extent, it should be Grandmaster having calculated the extreme boundary of what our physical strength is capable of. It appears Tang San and boss Dai’s circumstances should be within the limit of what they’re able to accomplish, and would even still have strength left over. Also Fatty should be just exactly reaching his limit. Naturally there are also those exceeding the endurance limit. Only with everyone’s cooperation is there a chance for success. Those surpassing the limit of what they can carry, perhaps I am one, and also Rongrong.”

  After speaking, he couldn’t help but reveal a wry smile. Having run two kilometers, he already felt the bamboo basket on his back growing heavier and heavier, sweat visible on his forehead. With such a long distance to go, he realized he certainly wouldn’t persevere.

  Fatty Ma Hongjun casually said:

  “It would be better for us to cheat. If we secretly eat a bit of little Ao’s recovery sausage, is there a need to be afraid?”

  “Cheat?”

  Oscar unhappily glared at Fatty. He was an astute person, he wouldn’t do anything foolish,

  “Fatty, I only ask you one thing, can you be sure Grandmaster didn’t have other teachers supervise us? If by any chance cheating was discovered, I’m afraid the punishment wouldn’t be as light as this. Moreover, Grandmaster giving us this kind of punishment, certainly is with his deep intent, it will only benefit us. Right now we have to think of a way to as far as possible save strength.”

  Part 2

  Tang San suddenly spoke up:

  “Although Teacher had us run with weights and we can’t use spirit power, the total weights we seven carry is so much, only having to bring these rocks to the end of the punishment is naturally possible. Oscar, give my your rocks.”

  Oscar looked blank, smiling mischievously,

  “Good brother. However, right now it’s still not necessary. I’ll be seen as inferior like this. Us seven will start from now, running at the speed of the slowest, like this everyone can gather together, and uniformly save the most strength. Once someone is unable to persevere, we will mutually help readjust the weight. Thus, we will as far as possible be able to conserve strength. Right?”

  Ning Rongrong smiled to the side:

  “Little Ao, I didn’t notice, but you are extraordinarily astute.”

  On Oscar’s face hung an expression like it was only a matter of course,

  “Don’t you know as a child I was called the bright little prince? This is nothing.”

  Dai Mubai was the oldest of everyone, his strength was also the greatest, and as boss he properly took the lead to set an example,

  “Don’t speak nonsense. Gossiping is still wasting strength. We’ll run and handle it according to what little Ao said.”

  Immediately, the seven resumed their long distance running.

  Without doubt, among the seven, it was naturally as auxiliary system Spirit Masters Oscar and Ning Rongrong’s strength was the weakest, so everyone ran according to their speed. Advancing at the same speed, in the direction of Suotuo City.

  The first lap was finished at this kind of spe
ed.

  Actually running, everyone gradually felt the pressure of the carried weight. If it was only ordinary running, even if it was without using spirit power, this roughly six kilometer round trip could not be said to be any burden to them. Spirit power transforming the body gave them stamina far exceeding that of a normal person, even auxiliary system Spirit Masters like Oscar and Ning Rongrong were no exception.

  With the weight, the body clearly became unbalanced. After one round trip, Ning Rongrong and Oscar were already drenched in sweat, the others also showed some weariness.

  Ning Rongrong doubtless had the most lacking physical strength of everyone, although Oscar also was an auxility system Spirit Master, he after all had broken through thirtieth rank, his body had been improved in every kind of attribute by having the third spirit ring, his condition was a lot better than Ning Rongrong.

  The weights carried by Tang San and Dai Mubai were fifteen kilogram rocks. The weights Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing and Ma Hongjun were ten kilograms. Although Ning Rongrong and Oscar only carried five kilograms, right now it felt to them as if they carried mountains. Body growing heavier and heavier, they could only clench their teeth to maintain their velocity.

  At the Academy gate, what made everyone somewhat astonished, was Grandmaster standing in the gate looking at them running back from their first lap.

  “Everyone drink a bit of water, then keep going.”

  Grandmaster’s words as always were precise and comprehensive.

  In a bucket was warm water, with a slightly salty taste, apparently mixed with salt. Under Grandmaster’s supervision, everyone was only allowed to drink one cup of warm water, then immediately urged them to once again keep on with their punishment run.

  As time passed, the great sphere of fire overhead gradually drew closer to its zenith, also gradually increasing the temperature. After drinking salt water, everyone’s strength recovered a bit, to Tang San and Dai Mubai it was nothing, but Oscar and Ning Rongrong clearly felt themselves regain some strength.

  Watching the students gradually recede into the distance, Grandmaster stood expressionlessly in place, but watching the seven return together, in the depths of his expression was clearly displayed a hint of satisfaction.