"You're not going to keep them all for yourself, are you? I worked so hard to dig these herbs for you, you should at least share half with me, right?"
Inside an inn, Tang San and Hao Yun got into an argument, naturally over some rare medicinal herbs.
"Half! Why should I? I'm the one who discovered the herb garden. You're just an employee I hired. I can only give you three at most, no more."
Hao Yun, like a fierce beast guarding its food, started arguing loudly with Tang San about dividing the herbs.
"Three! I dug up more than three hundred herbs for you, and you only give me three? How can you be so shameless?"
Tang San, who was eyeing the divine herbs, forgot about the intimidating power of Hao Yun, the great demon king, and argued that he should get a larger share.
"How many do you want? These are all top-grade medicinal herbs, you can hardly find even one normally, and you still think three isn't enough!"
After hearing Hao Yun's words, Tang San sneered.
"Do you know which ones are poisonous? Eating them randomly can kill you. If you give me ten, I'll pick out the poisonous herbs for you."
Hao Yun fell silent. He really didn't know which one was poisonous, and he didn't dare to try it. Although he had a strong body, what if the poison was too potent and he couldn't withstand it and died from it?
"Ten is too many. Unless you teach me how to identify herbs, I will give you five at most."
"Add three more, and I'll teach you how to distinguish herbs."
The two continued arguing, but after some negotiation, they finally settled on a price: eleven herbs in exchange for knowledge of how to identify herbs.
At this moment, Hao Yun couldn't help but sigh, "Knowledge is power!"
The next morning, Tang San brought a handwritten guide to identifying medicinal herbs to exchange for celestial-grade herbs.
Tang San prepared one herb for each of the other six members of the seven-person group, one for Grandmaster, two for himself, and for the remaining two herbs, he chose highly poisonous herbs.
Tang San also helped Hao Yun categorize the large pile of herbs in his hands, picking out the poisonous ones, totaling more than twenty.
He stored the poisonous ones separately, and planned to slowly consume the rest to temper his body.
The two spent nearly ten days on their round trip. During those ten days, the remaining six members of the seven-person group were almost driven to the brink of collapse by the master.
"You mistress! Your two mentors are both incredibly ruthless!"
Ma Hongjun shamelessly clung to Tang San's leg, almost bursting into tears.
Oscar and Dai Mubai were lying on the bed with empty eyes. If they weren't still breathing, they would be no different from dead people.
"Alright, this time I've brought you a big gift."
Upon hearing about the great gift, Dai Mubai and Oscar, who had been lying on the bed like corpses, both sat up.
"A grand gift? What grand gift? Where is it?"
Oscar struggled to get out of bed and walked shakily to Tang San's side, staring at him from head to toe.
Tang San came back empty-handed, which didn't look like he had brought back any gifts.
Tang San took out a jade box from his belt, opened it, and revealed the herbs inside.
"We're not girls, what's the point of you bringing flowers back? You should just take them to Xiaowu."
Dai Mubai sat on the bed. Because of the distance, he glanced at the flowers and then collapsed onto the bed.
"Hey mistress, where did you buy these flowers? They're so pretty! They're perfect for picking up girls. I'll take this gift."
Ma Hongjun's small eyes darted around, and he reached out to snatch the jade box.
After swatting away Ma Hongjun's black hand, Tang San helplessly explained the celestial herbs to everyone. Immediately, the three people in the room stared at Tang San with burning eyes.
Oscar frowned at this moment. "There's only one herb. How are the seven of them going to divide it?"
"Xiao San, it's just one herb. You can keep it for yourself. We'll just leave it."
Oscar's words dissuaded Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun from their plans. Since the mistress had found the item, they felt they had no reason to snatch it.
Seeing the three disperse, Tang San felt a bit conflicted. In fact, he took out a herb with the intention of testing the waters. After all, such precious immortal herbs would inevitably attract some people with ulterior motives.
"Ahem, actually it's not just one, everyone has one. We'll meet at the cafeteria later, I'll go and inform Xiaowu and the others."
Feeling somewhat ashamed, Tang San hurriedly left to find Xiao Wu in the girls' dormitory.
A few minutes later, the group of seven met in the cafeteria, along with Master and Hao Yun.
After Tang San distributed the herbs and explained how to take them, the eight people sat on the ground and swallowed the herbs, while Hao Yun stood guard on the side.
Chapter 64 All Members Achieve Breakthrough in Cultivation
The medicinal herbs were very potent, and none of the eight people woke up by nightfall, so Hao Yun had to ask the chef to go outside and prepare dinner.
When the other teachers learned that the students were digesting the herbal medicine, they also consciously stood around to protect them.
They waited for a day and two nights. On the morning of the third day, the master was the first to wake up, and then the others woke up one after another.
After a brief silence, the group of seven cheered loudly, and the master standing to the side was also full of excitement.
Everyone broke through; Dai Mubai, Tang San, and Xiao Wu all reached level 40, and they could sense that their level increases were not limited to that.
Oscar and Ma Hongjun, who had just obtained their spirit rings not long ago, also reached level 40 with the help of herbs.
Even Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, who are at the lowest level, have reached level 30 and can now acquire soul rings.
As for the master, after being stuck at level 29 for so many years, he finally broke through to level 30 and could attach his third soul ring.
After the initial excitement subsided, the master called the seven people to his side.
"Everyone, please be quiet. I've decided to postpone the spirit ring attachment process. Leveling up too quickly can easily affect your foundation. So, the next part will be a month of intensive training. After the training, the academy will take you to hunt for spirit rings."
The group of seven fell silent instantly; it was clear they were very dissatisfied with the outcome.
In fact, none of the people present could match the master's impatience; he had been stuck at this level for decades.
Seeing that the group of seven remained silent, Hao Yun snorted.
"What? Someone's not satisfied? If you're not satisfied, then get lost and go hunt for your own spirit rings!"
The group of seven was indeed somewhat dissatisfied, but after calming down, they understood the master's intention and nodded in agreement to the training camp.
The collective breakthrough of the students brought Flander back. At first, he was worried that taking the herbs might affect their foundation. However, after a thorough examination, he found that the herbs not only did not affect their foundation, but actually made their foundation even more solid.
In order to hunt for spirit rings for the students a month later, the teachers in the academy began to discuss the matter. Finally, Flander made the decision that everyone should go together to avoid any mistakes due to inadequate protection.
On the other hand, the seven-person group was almost driven to the brink of collapse by the past month. In order to better obtain spirit rings a month later, afternoon cultural classes were canceled and replaced with training subjects.
The training was none of Hao Yun's business; he was currently hiding in his room refining herbs, cultivating the Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon, and strengthening his physical body.
Hao Yun ate the more than two hundred edible herbs, just like a cow chewing on a peony, handful by handful.
Hao Yun has already cultivated the Great Mighty Heavenly Dragon to the sixth chapter, and the power of the two dragons is about to be fully refined.
A month passed in the blink of an eye. The night before departure, Hao Yun was woken up by Flander.
"We're setting off to hunt spirit beasts tomorrow, can you come along?"
"Can."
Receiving Hao Yun's response reassured Flander considerably. He knew Hao Yun's strength very well, and with Hao Yun protecting him, this hunt for spirit beasts was sure to be a success.
Before dawn the next day, the group of seven was already waiting at the restaurant.
Hao Yun, who had come for breakfast, couldn't help but tease the seven-person group when he saw their expectant faces.
"Can't wait?"
"Boss, level 40! I'm only fourteen years old, and this has already broken the record for the fastest advancement on the continent. Don't you think we should be worried?"
Oscar was the one speaking; his nostrils were practically pointing to the sky.
"Look at how smug you are. Once you've finished attaching your spirit rings, have a match with me. If you lose, I'll give you a proper training session."
Hao Yun's words were like a bucket of cold water, instantly extinguishing the passion of the seven-person group.
"Boss, it can't be that bad, right?"
Hao Yun's expression turned serious. He glanced at Oscar and then slowly spoke.
"Do you think you're so great? You're only level 40. I could kill you all with ease."
"Boss, can we compare to you? Teacher Zhao is over level 70, but he still can't beat you."
Oscar was met with a cold snort, and Hao Yun slammed his hand on the table.
"Do you think your future opponents will spare you from killing you just because you're low-level? The more talented a person is, the sooner they often die. Your arrogance will only hasten your demise; it's utterly useless!"
The group of seven fell silent; none of them spoke.
"Eat, reflect on yourselves on the way, and after you have obtained the soul ring, each of you should write a 3,000-word reflection and hand it in to me."
The seven people who had been silent just moments before suddenly looked as if they had eaten shit.
The master and the others had arrived long ago, but they didn't say anything. When they heard Hao Yun ask the seven-person group to write three thousand words of reflection, the master shook his head helplessly.
Sometimes even the master wondered what was going on in Hao Yun's head, and why he always came up with such terrible ideas to mess with the group of seven.
After breakfast, all the teachers and students in the academy gathered together, a total of fourteen people, and set off for the Star Dou Great Forest.
To save time, everyone ran, and after two days, they finally arrived at the outer edge of the Star Dou Great Forest.
The stingy Flander, if not for the master stopping him, would have even prepared to take his students into the Star Dou Forest immediately, because that would have saved a lot of money on accommodation.
The prices in the towns on the outskirts of the Starry Sky Forest are three or four times higher than in other places, so Flander reluctantly paid to book four rooms.
Hao Yun, who didn't want to squeeze in with them, booked a room by himself. The college split into two groups for dinner, with teachers and students eating separately.
After a night's rest, the fourteen of them set off in a grand procession early the next morning.
Teams of more than ten people rarely venture into the Star Dou Great Forest to hunt soul beasts. It was precisely because of this that the Shrek Academy group attracted everyone's attention as they traveled.
"Once you enter the forest, split into two teams and spread out to search. Remember not to go too deep. If you encounter a spirit beast that you can't defeat, remember to call for help immediately."
The master gave a brief explanation, and the fourteen people were divided into two teams.
Flander, Zhao Wuji, Li Yusong, Master, Tang San, Oscar, and Dai Mubai walked on the left.
Hao Yun led another team to the right, with eight people who needed to obtain soul rings, four on each side.
The Grandmaster had already planned this trip to obtain spirit rings; it was just a matter of luck whether they would encounter the right opportunity.
After searching all morning, no one found a suitable one. Although there are many thousand-year-old soul beasts, it is not easy to find one that matches oneself.