Douluo Continent: A Thousand Miles of Cultivation

"Ouch..." "Ouch..." "It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"

Zhao Wuji, who was watching the four little boys lying on the ground groaning, felt his eyelids twitch.

He was originally resting on another floor, so naturally he was aware of the commotion downstairs and, fearing something might happen, he followed them out.

Upon arriving at a small grove, they found Ning Huahua had slapped four people to the ground.

Ma Hongjun seemed somewhat unconvinced and pointed at Ning Rongrong and the other two girls, saying, "Teacher Ning, why don't you hit them?"

"How about you come?"

They casually released Qian Shuishui's soul power restriction. The little girl seemed to want to move around a bit, and her soul power burst forth with terrifying force, leaving the four of them speechless.

Just kidding, Ning Huahua's beatings hurt, but beating Qian Shuishui would be deadly! She doesn't know her limits.

"You make bullying the weak and fearing the strong sound so elegant? Is this how you teach your students?!" Ning Huahua's eyes were filled with anger as she glanced sideways at Zhao Wuji. This time, her usual strange accent was gone, which made everyone realize that she was serious.

"Uh...you ask Flander!" He waved his hand, indicating that Old Zhao had lived an upright life and didn't want to take the blame, so he pushed it all onto his dean.

"The tallest tree in the forest is bound to be felled by the wind! What gives you the right to cause trouble? Or provoke trouble? It goes without saying that people come knocking on your door, but how many guts do you have, or are you even a Title Douluo, to dare to play like this?"

"If their team had a Contra Master in them, would you even want to live?!"

"How could there be a Contra..." Oscar muttered under his breath, after all, he wasn't the main troublemaker.

"Hmph! The 'Singer' acted like an ordinary person that day. If you didn't know, would you also want to provoke him?" Zhu Zhuqing, who was usually taciturn, looked at the four people, especially Dai Mubai, with a mocking expression.

Her silence doesn't mean she's stupid. How much of it is Dai Mubai venting his anger after their conflict?

To be honest, Qian Shui was shocked, and Ning Rongrong also seemed to feel that something was wrong. The two, who looked almost identical, were looking the incredibly well-developed, aloof girl up and down.

Seemingly realizing that Zhu Zhuqing was right, everyone except Dai Mubai, whose face was gloomy, was a little scared and stood up, dusting themselves off.

Tang San, who had been unjustly targeted, took the lead and said, "I'm sorry, Teacher Ning, we were wrong!"

Upon hearing Tang San's highly tactful apology, Ma Hongjun and Oscar exchanged a glance and readily agreed.

"I'm so sorry, Teacher Ning!" "I'm so sorry, Teacher Ning!"

Dai Mubai was left alone sitting on the ground, his face gloomy, seemingly lost in thought.

"Let's go, let's set off. Those who want to cause trouble can go back and continue. Old Zhao, if you like this kind of dirty and tiring work of cleaning up messes, then come along."

The group glanced at Dai Mubai one by one, then Ning Huahua turned and left. Zhu Zhuqing, like Qian Shuishui, didn't even look at him.

"Brother Dai, why bother?!" Oscar said, pulling on Dai Mubai's arm.

"Let's go, Mu Bai. If you can't figure it out, take your time to think about it."

Ning Huahua had put it all out there, and Lao Zhao felt it made sense, so he was even less willing to do the dirty work of cleaning up her mess.

It seemed that Zhao Wuji's words gave Dai Mubai a way out, so he stood up and said, "Yes, Teacher Zhao."

Chapter 187 Vision and Restraint

"Cultivation begins with cultivating one's character; remember that excess is as bad as deficiency."

Along the way, Qian Shui also had his share of critical thinking lessons.

"Don't like to fight and be aggressive. It's not good for anyone or anyone else. You know that you can act recklessly just because you have a powerful backer. But what if you don't?"

Habits become second nature. Think more about what you lack when you have nothing, and then go and fill that gap! No one will protect you forever. Don't wait until you're completely penniless to realize you truly have nothing.

At this point, Qian Shui couldn't help but glance at Ning Rongrong.

Before long, they arrived at the Star Dou Great Forest. The tall trees were at least twenty meters high, and this was only the outermost part. The dense forest had no paths, and the shadows of the trees made it impossible to see the true scenery inside.

Upon reaching the forest, the air became even more pleasant, as if the temperature had dropped several degrees. The refreshing scent, carrying the aroma of damp earth, continuously stimulated everyone's sense of smell.

"Stop, everyone," Zhao Wuji said.

The group stopped and ran for over a hundred kilometers. Finally, they found that Soto City, where Shrek Academy was located, was on the border of the Heaven Dou Empire, not far from the Star Dou Great Forest, and of course not far from Wuhun City.

Oscar chanted a spell in a low voice, and soon he had a large handful of sausages and salami in his hand.

The sausages, once inside, transformed into a warm current, restoring everyone's strength.

Zhao Wuji looked sternly at the seven students in front of him. "Listen carefully, the Star Dou Great Forest is not the kind of place where the state raises soul beasts. The soul beasts here are extremely dangerous. You may face attacks from thousand-year-old or even ten-thousand-year-old soul beasts at any time. Therefore, after entering the forest, none of you should leave me and Teacher Ning by more than twenty meters."

Ning Rongrong and Oscar, you two need to stay close to me, or to Teacher Ning.

"No one is allowed to attack a soul beast without my order, understand?"

"clear."

"I want to emphasize one point: never indiscriminately kill soul beasts. Don't think that being afraid of trouble is a sign of mediocrity. You dare to provoke soul beasts and see what happens? If you're not careful, you could trigger a riot by the soul beast horde, with high-level soul beasts launching a beast tide, and all of humanity will suffer because of you!"

Dai Mubai remained silent, but Oscar, who was following him, asked with some doubt: "Teacher Ning, isn't this a bit of an exaggeration?"

It is indeed an exaggeration, but it is also true. It's just that the strongest group of ferocious beasts in the Star Dou Great Forest are asleep, and Qian Shui is only trying to scare them.

"I may be speaking harshly, and you may not understand how vast the world is. The academy's teachers have never told you this. You have never faced a true powerhouse, let alone dealt with a 100,000-year-old soul beast."

Such an existence is perhaps unimaginable to you right now. To put it simply, it's like you and an ant: you'd be stepped on without even noticing, and its destruction wouldn't concern you at all!

"What does your destruction have to do with you!" Even Zhao Wuji was stunned by these words, recalling the moment when Qian Shui's true form finally revealed her soul rings. Although she hadn't released her soul pressure in front of the children, as a Soul Saint, he felt it more clearly.

Zhao Wuji even felt a lingering fear. It was the first time he had directly faced a Title Douluo-level powerhouse. Although Qian Shui hadn't added his final spirit ring, he had definitely reached that level. "That... him... 'The Singer'... is he like what you said...?"

With a crooked smile, Qian Shui indicated that he was about to start showing off!

"Where do you think that 100,000-year spirit ring came from? Even the most ordinary 100,000-year spirit beast is equivalent to a level 95 Title Douluo among humans!"

"What do you mean?! How is that possible?!"

Ning Rongrong, who was the only one who had any concept of Title Douluo or even Super Douluo before, was so shocked that she almost went crazy. She hadn't thought much of seeing a 100,000-year spirit ring before, but Ning Huahua compared it to a level 95 Title Douluo.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

"Rongrong, what's wrong?" Zhu Zhuqing, who was closest to Ning Rongrong, held Ning Rongrong's hand and tried to comfort her.

"The Spirit Hall has not made any large-scale mobilizations of Title Douluos in recent years! There have been no records of major battles anywhere on the continent! Do you know what this means?"

Ning Rongrong was only halfway through her sentence when the quick-witted Tang San realized what she meant, and even he was astonished, "He hunted it himself! He even did it when he was level 70... Teacher Zhao, can a Soul Saint really absorb a 100,000-year Soul Ring?!"

Zhao Wuji, however, did not seem to be a Soul Saint-level expert. This question was beyond his ability to answer, and he shook his head blankly.

"There is a fundamental difference between defeating and killing. Even seemingly impossible spirit rings that can be absorbed across levels have their own reasons for being absorbing them. The only certainty in the world is that nothing is absolutely impossible!"

Qian Shui knew that Tang San had probably thought of Yu Xiaogang's theory, which could be considered a shock to his thinking.

"So this is what 'cannot be learned' means?" Tang San recalled the question he had asked before. He had already answered what he could learn, but what about what he couldn't learn?

"No, this is something you can still learn. It's something you can learn and potentially do, but you can't be too ambitious. We'll talk about it later when we have the chance."

After Ning Huahua finished speaking, everyone's gaze towards her changed. She had opened a window to the pinnacle for these ignorant children, and that door was no longer as unattainable as it once was.

"Stop looking. I said this when I first arrived: I think your academy is taking advantage of the children's lack of understanding of the world. Cultivation is simply about following the right path."

The key is to be correct.

I also said that with your talent, you are bound to achieve a title.

But your cultivation is too easy and carefree, a complete waste of your talent!

It's as if your academy isn't here to cultivate unparalleled powerhouses, but rather to train a few Soul Douluos, whose attainment of a title depends on individual comprehension and opportunity.

If that's the only purpose, why recruit people like you whose innate soul power is mostly above level 7?

Ning Huahua was speaking to Zhao Wuji, who had initially been aggressive and demanding to expel people, but now he could only listen obediently. After all, what Ning Huahua said was useful and helpful to him, as it was outside his area of ​​knowledge and not just applicable to these children.

"I... I have innate full soul power, can I become a Title Douluo?" Oscar asked, his eyes filled with disbelief and even more hope. He was probably the most talented among the group of children.

"To put it simply, if we follow the common cultivation methods on the mainland, innate soul power basically means the upper limit of a soul master's level. Innate level one soul master, innate level two great soul master, and so on. Your Shrek Academy is neither good nor bad, probably above average. It seems good, but that's only because the quality of your students is good enough."

Zhao Wuji scratched his head. His innate soul power was not low either. Ignoring Ning Huahua's evaluation of Shrek Academy, he also wanted to achieve higher goals, so he asked, "What about the less common ones?"

Ning Huahua smiled sheepishly and pointed to herself, saying, "Like me."

-----------------

Upon arriving at the Star Dou Great Forest, Qian Shui felt as if he were home. Relying on his powerful mental strength, he appeared relaxed and carefree. However, he had no intention of giving these children any special advantages. Instead, he decided to let them experience some hardship and remained calm and composed on the sidelines.

The words spoken before entering the Star Dou Great Forest deeply moved the children here, except for the little girl Qian Shuishui, who seemed completely unconcerned.

At this moment, Dai Mubai was clearing the way ahead, dealing with thorns and bushes. This place was quite different from the habitat of the Netherworld Cat.

Soon, they encountered soul beasts, and a whole group of them.

With Zhao Wuji deliberately lowering his voice, the group stopped advancing. Tang San was the first to discover this group of spirit beasts. They were a group of rodent weasels. These spirit beasts were not large in size and their attack power was not very strong, but their teeth were very powerful and could bite through metal.

Tang San grabbed Dai Mubai, who had been cutting through the thorns, with one hand, and waved his other hand behind his back to the others, indicating that there was no danger. Based on the experience Yu Xiaogang had taught him, he could tell at a glance that this group of twenty or thirty weasels were only ten-year-old soul beasts.

The weasel has a very keen sense of smell, and at this distance it had obviously spotted them, but it didn't do anything, clearly showing no interest in them.

Tang San pointed to the side, and Dai Mubai understood immediately, continuing to cut through the thorns to help everyone move forward.

As they walked forward, Dai Mubai asked Tang San in a low voice, "Why are we going around them? Those rodent weasels weren't strong; we could have just killed them."

Tang San smiled and said, "They pose no threat to us, so why kill them?"

If all Soul Masters acted like this, would there still be Soul Beasts in this forest many years later?

Moreover, my teacher said that even if we encounter low-level soul beasts in the Wild Soul Beast Forest, we must not let our guard down. Because if we engage in battle, the smell of blood and the sounds we make could attract powerful soul beasts. We'd better be careful.”

Dai Mubai seemed genuinely convinced and said, "Your teacher must be a very powerful elder; this is all valuable experience."

Only Qian Shui lamented Tang Fozu's actions after becoming a god, how he had plundered the fortune of the soul beast race, almost wiping them out. He wondered if Tang Fozu would remember his words at that time; he was probably only thinking of avoiding unnecessary trouble caused by the smell of blood.

"On a grand scale, all things have spirits, and the martial spirit cultivation system requires hunting spirit beasts. Rather than saying you are killing those weak spirit beasts that are blocking your way, it is more accurate to say that you are killing the future of humanity as the most intelligent of all beings on earth."

Soul beasts face far greater difficulties in cultivation than we do; sparing them is for the sake of everyone on the Douluo Continent.

At the same time, simply killing does not bring any benefits; on the contrary, it gives you a sense of pleasure in easily controlling life and death.

To be born a human being boils down to nothing more than the concept of 'property and moderation.' Over time, if one can grasp this, all is well; but if one cannot, one falls into the animal realm—what difference is there between that and those degenerates?

Dai Mubai's assessment of Yu Xiaogang was undeniable to Qian Shui; he said these words...

Firstly, in order to elaborate on Tang San's words, the perspective was actually only to understand soul beasts as a resource, which is not wrong, but narrow.

Secondly, there are some things I need to tell Qian Shuishui, who truly disregards life, otherwise she may never understand them.

Walking beside her, Ning Rongrong sensed that Ning Huahua was implying something, and her gaze was fixed on Qian Shuishui, so she asked suspiciously, "Are you referring to the evil soul master?"

"Yes."