Chapter 11: Making Trouble

The next day, just as the sky showed the first light of dawn, Tang San had already developed the habit of getting up early.

After getting dressed and washing up, Tang San stepped out of the dormitory building, only to be stunned by the sight before him.

"Four hundred ninety-eight times!" 

"Four hundred ninety-nine times!" 

"Five hundred times!" 

"Ha~ Finally did five hundred!"

Tang San looked in astonishment at Mu Chen, who was lying flat on the ground, flipping over with sweat pouring down his forehead as he gazed up at the sky.

"Good morning, Tang San!" Mu Chen greeted him.

"Boss, what were you doing just now?" Tang San asked in confusion.

"Doing push-ups!" Mu Chen replied.

"Push-ups?" Tang San was even more puzzled.

"Yes, it's a way to strengthen your body. Do you want to give it a try?" Mu Chen asked amicably.

"No thanks. I need to go to that mountain!" Tang San pointed towards the academy's back mountain. It was a perfect place to practice his Purple Extreme Magic Eye.

"Oh, then go ahead!" Mu Chen said lightly.

"Alright." Tang San nodded and left the small square outside the dormitory, heading to the back mountain of the academy. There, he began his practice of the Tang Sect's ultimate skill—Purple Extreme Magic Eye.

An hour later, the sun had risen high in the sky.

Stretching lazily, Tang San looked down at the academy. He dreamed of the day he would obtain his spirit ring. Remembering Mu Chen, he felt a surge of interest in his training methods. At that moment, he decided to try doing push-ups like Mu Chen.

"Ninety-eight times!" 

"Ninety-nine times!" 

"One… one… one…"

Thud!

Tang San's forehead was drenched in cold sweat, panting heavily as he collapsed onto the ground.

"Ha~"

Tang San was utterly shocked. He had thought that doing push-ups was nothing special; if Mu Chen could do five hundred, he surely could too.

But he never expected that, despite being the son of a blacksmith and having trained hard since childhood, he couldn't even manage a hundred push-ups. Yet Mu Chen had done five hundred!

"Is he even human?"

Tang San was filled with disbelief.

However, he had no idea that this was just the beginning.

When Tang San walked down from the back mountain, Mu Chen was still training in the small square in front of the dormitory.

"Xiao Wu, is he still practicing?" Tang San asked the already-awake Xiao Wu.

"Yeah." Xiao Wu nodded and called out to Mu Chen, "Brother Mu Chen, you've run fifteen kilometers already; I'm hungry!"

"Xiao Wu, did you say he has run fifteen kilometers?" Tang San looked at Mu Chen in shock.

"Mm." Xiao Wu nodded.

"Ha~"

Tang San looked at Mu Chen, who was running toward them, with the eyes of someone observing a monster.

Fifteen kilometers is long, right? 

Not really!

But for a six or seven-year-old child to run fifteen kilometers was an incredibly daunting task.

Tang San questioned himself; if it were him, he could only manage to run about seven to eight kilometers at most.

"Boss, is this how you always train?" Wang Sheng, a work-study student from Dormitory No. 7, looked at Mu Chen with the same astonished expression.

"Mm." Mu Chen nodded.

Now that he had the system, Mu Chen had developed a habit of morning exercises. Sweating early in the morning gave him a refreshing feeling he couldn't describe.

"Let's go, Xiao Wu. Aren't you hungry? Let's go to the cafeteria for breakfast." Mu Chen wiped the sweat from his forehead and affectionately tousled Xiao Wu's hair.

Despite Notting City being a third-tier city, the cafeteria at the Junior Soul Master Academy was quite spacious, capable of accommodating three hundred students and teachers at once.

The cafeteria was also elegantly arranged, with romantic candles lit on many of the dining tables.

"Where should we sit, Brother Mu Chen?" Xiao Wu asked.

"Yo, aren't those the poor kids from Wang Sheng's group?"

As the work-study students from Dormitory No. 7 entered the cafeteria, a sneering and provocative voice came from the second floor railing.

Mu Chen and the others looked up to see three students leaning over the railing, looking down at them.

"Poor kids will always be poor kids; they can never eat on the second floor!"

"Exactly! Just smell that sweat. If someone didn't know better, they'd think they just crawled out of a sewage pit!"

The other two students chimed in, flaunting their superiority while mocking Mu Chen, Xiao Wu, and the others.

Tang San, aware of his own smell from just working out with Mu Chen, realized that he had a strong sweat odor, but he didn't smell bad. As for Wang Sheng and the others, after cleaning their responsibility areas, they also had a hint of sweat odor.

"You... who do you think you are? What's so great about the second floor!" Xiao Wu couldn't hold back any longer, pouting angrily as she pointed at the three students above.

"Ding dong!"

"Congratulations! You have triggered a hidden task in the first trial of the Nine Trials of Chaos: Teach a lesson to the three students above who initiated the provocation and let them know how to behave. The system will reward you based on the task's completion status."

"What? System, I triggered the hidden task of the first trial of the Nine Trials of Chaos again?" Mu Chen felt delighted inside.

"Ding dong! That's correct, host."

"But wait, I already triggered this once before. How come I triggered this hidden task again?" Mu Chen asked, confused.

"Ding dong! Host, the Nine Trials of Chaos consists of nine trials, but the sub-tasks for each trial have no limit on the number of times they can be triggered. Whether hidden tasks can be triggered depends on the host's luck!"

"So that's how it is! I triggered it once yesterday and again today. It seems my luck is pretty good!" Mu Chen thought happily.

"Hehe, such a pretty little loli. Too bad she's just a work-study student; otherwise, she could be my pet. Wang Sheng, I'm off to eat. Don't worry, I'll save you some extra food today." The student on the second floor laughed contemptuously and left.

"Damn it!"

Xiao Wu put her hands on her hips, her cheeks puffed up in anger.

"Xiao Wu!" Mu Chen called softly.

"Damn it, Brother Mu Chen, don't try to persuade me. He called me a pet! If I can swallow this anger, then I'm not Xiao Wu!" Xiao Wu huffed angrily.

"I didn't say you should swallow your anger!" Mu Chen chuckled.

"Ah?"

"Ah?"

"Ah?"

Xiao Wu, Tang San, and Wang Sheng looked at Mu Chen in surprise.

"What are you surprised about? I said that for the next six years, I'll protect you! Since you can't swallow this anger, then don't!" Mu Chen said calmly.

"This… isn't that good?"

Wang Sheng said timidly, "We're just work-study students. If we provoke trouble, we could get expelled by the academy. That guy is Wang Youcai, a well-known rich second-generation in the city!"

Mu Chen chuckled, "So what if he's a rich second-generation? Rich second-generation are still people. What's there to be afraid of? As the boss of Dormitory No. 7, I have the responsibility to stand

up for you. If my little brothers are bullied, and I don't dare to stand up, then what kind of boss am I? Come on, let's go find some trouble!"