"Upgrading… what's the point of relying on hard work alone?"
Bai Mu sat on a rock, scoffing at Zygarde's expectations.
Even with Dugu Bo's pill—something akin to a nascent soul core—that greatly accelerated his cultivation speed, it would still take at least one or two years to grind his way from level 56 to level 70 through pure effort.
He stood up, brushed the dust from his clothes, and a resolute glint flashed in his eyes.
"Effort alone isn't enough!"
"If you want to level up fast, you have to take shortcuts!"
The higher one's soul power, the harder it was to advance—this was an ironclad rule of the Douluo world.
But Bai Mu knew himself well. He was an honest and straightforward person who disliked walking the main road and preferred shortcuts and back doors.
Judging by the situation, the stockpile of immortal herbs wouldn't be enough to sustain absorption over the next few years. That meant he could only place his hopes on other methods.
For example—
"Sigh… I wonder how far that old poisoner has gotten."
Bai Mu sighed, his thoughts drifting elsewhere.
Dugu Bo had already been at Shrek Academy for over a month.
He really didn't understand—was kidnapping a rabbit spirit beast really that hard?
So much time had passed, yet there was still no news. At the very least, something should have come of it by now.
"Could something have gone wrong?"
He shook his head, dismissing the thought.
Dugu Bo was a Titled Douluo, after all. As long as he didn't run into Tang Hao, he should be able to move freely in a place like Shrek Academy.
Not bothering to think further, Bai Mu turned toward the corpse of the Explosive Sound Demon Dragon. His eyes instantly became dazzling, like brilliant diamonds.
"Let's begin the harvest."
A grayish-white light shone from his eyes, enveloping the dragon's corpse.
The remaining time essence within the Explosive Sound Demon Dragon was gradually stripped away and absorbed, merging into the [Eye of Time].
He could clearly sense that the Eye of Time's control over time flow had improved slightly.
The increase was small—but accumulated over time, it would make a difference.
——
Meanwhile, at Shrek Academy.
"Damn it!"
"These old bastards are fucking insane!"
Hidden in the shadows, Dugu Bo watched the Shrek Seven Devils undergoing "devil training" on the distant training grounds, cursing inwardly.
A month.
A full month—and more.
Did they have any idea how he had survived this past month?
These little brats had been running nonstop for over a month.
And this wasn't ordinary running—this was weighted running, extreme running, running with sealed soul power!
Every day, they started before dawn and ran until late at night, calling it "tempering their will."
At first, Dugu Bo had found it novel. He even thought it made sense—tempering the will to grow stronger.
He figured that after running for a while, they'd switch to another training regimen.
Or at least take a break.
But instead, these people grew more energetic by the day, pushing themselves harder and harder.
Especially that kid Tang San.
He ran like a madman. Every time he was on the verge of collapse, he'd grit his teeth and keep going.
"It's bad enough to ignore proper work–rest balance in cultivation, but running around the academy every single day? What the hell are you running for?!"
"What's the point of this hellish training? Can't you give the kids a break?!"
Dugu Bo wanted to cry, but no tears came.
His original plan was simple: wait for Xiao Wu to go out alone, seize the opportunity, and kidnap her.
With a Titled Douluo taking action, capturing a mere level-30 Soul Master would have been effortless.
The problem was—
Xiao Wu never went out alone.
For the entire past month, her activities were limited to the academy and its immediate surroundings, and she was always with others—never giving him a single chance.
More importantly, Dugu Bo could clearly sense a powerful presence hidden nearby, constantly watching him.
It wasn't the Soul Master assigned to protect Ning Rongrong.
It was someone even stronger than him.
"Damn Tang Hao! You won't kill a hundred-thousand-year soul beast, yet you guard it every single day?!"
Dugu Bo cursed under his breath.
Actually—
All of this was Bai Mu's fault.
Bai Mu had casually given Dugu Bo a three-month deadline, ordering him to abduct Xiao Wu within that time.
But what Bai Mu didn't know was that after the Soul Hunting operation, Shrek Academy had entered a three-month period of intensive training.
In other words—
For three whole months, Tang San and the others had basically no free time, nor the energy to go out and relax.
The moment they opened their eyes, it was either running or sparring.
Dugu Bo didn't know whether this was coincidence or fate.
All he knew was that he was in despair.
If things continued like this, he wasn't sure he'd even find a chance to kidnap Xiao Wu in the next three months.
"No… I'll wait a little longer."
He forced himself to calm down.
"If it really comes down to it, I'll take one last gamble."
He had considered using force.
With his strength as a Titled Douluo, even with someone lurking in the shadows, it wasn't impossible to force an opening.
He could be discovered—but his identity absolutely could not be exposed.
Otherwise, whether he could even escape intact was questionable.
"Well…"
Dugu Bo sighed inwardly, watching the group of teenagers train like rats trapped in a gutter.
Bai Mu, of course, knew nothing about this.
And even if he did, he wouldn't change the mission.
After all, as the master, his job was simply to assign tasks.
As for how they were completed—that was for the lackeys to figure out.
Dugu Bo was a Titled Douluo, yet he couldn't even handle such a trivial matter. He might as well reincarnate sooner rather than later!
——
Back in the Star Dou Great Forest, Bai Mu was planning his next steps.
"It's rare to come here. After this, I'll try to find the thirty-thousand-year Human-Faced Demon Spider from the original story, and the Human-Faced Demon Spider King that's over fifty thousand years old."
"Let's evolve the Eight Spider Lances one more time!"
Previously, Bai Mu had spent time in Sunset Forest locating and killing the six-thousand-year Human-Faced Demon Spider from the original plot.
That had already allowed the Eight Spider Lances to evolve once.
If he could find more Human-Faced Demon Spiders, he could push the Eight Spider Lances to their complete form as soon as possible!
"But before that…"
After some thought, Bai Mu took out two immortal herbs from his soul tool.
One had roots and leaves like an interwoven vine canopy, finely combed, with petals shaped like a tulip.
The other was a round melon, its vines resembling dragons, its entire body gleaming gold.
They were none other than the Qiluo Tulip and the Earth Dragon Golden Melon.
The Qiluo Tulip could absorb the essence of heaven and earth, along with the radiance of the sun and moon, promoting the sublimation and evolution of martial soul quality.
The Earth Dragon Golden Melon could strengthen earth attributes and dragon bloodlines, greatly increasing power. For a being like Zygarde—who possessed both dragon and ground attributes—it was a treasure tailor-made for it.
"Let's eat something first and recharge."
Bai Mu tossed the Qiluo Tulip to Z2 and the Earth Dragon Golden Melon to Xiao Ruan.
"Dig in."
Bai Mu's eyes were filled with anticipation.
He was eager to see just how much Zygarde would improve after consuming these two immortal herbs.
'Finally… I get to eat.'
Xiao Ruan's eyes sparkled with excitement.
From the moment it first arrived at the Ice and Fire Yin-Yang Eye, it had noticed that unremarkable round melon among the countless plants.
Back then, it already knew—
This thing was destined to be its prey.
Now, it was time to grow stronger.
Z2 looked on with envy, but still swallowed the Qiluo Tulip without hesitation.
Xiao Ruan followed closely after, swallowing the Earth Dragon Golden Melon in one go.