Chapter 163: Su Ming: Did You Forget My Wood Dragon Can Absorb Soul Power?

Su Ming summoned the Wood Dragon again, and everyone climbed aboard.

There was no denying it—riding the Wood Dragon felt much different from flying on their own. The Wood Dragon flew fast and continuously, whereas the Flying Mushroom Sausage from Oscar only lasted for a minute. If they had to keep eating a sausage every minute, even if Oscar had enough soul power, they'd either be stuffed or sick by the end of it.

After they had been comfortably flying for a while, Su Ming, his face pale, said, "I can't keep it up anymore. My soul power is almost drained. I need your help."

At this moment, Ma Hongjun, feeling smug in his injured state, asked, "What do you need us to help with, Su Ming?"

He thought to himself that he was still injured, so they couldn't possibly ask him to help, could they?

Su Ming looked at everyone and said, "It seems you've forgotten something. My Wood Dragon can absorb soul power to maintain its form or even replenish my own soul power."

Upon hearing this, Zao Wuji suddenly remembered that Su Ming had used this ability on him once before.

Instantly, the group felt a growing sense of unease.

Ma Hongjun, nervously, asked, "Su Ming, you're not planning to..."

Su Ming smiled and nodded. "Since you all pressured me into this, naturally, there has to be a price to pay."

Then, with a grin, Su Ming turned to Ma Hongjun and said, "Let's start with you, Fatty. Don't worry, I won't drain all your soul power at once. I'll leave you with some."

Seeing Su Ming's smile, Ma Hongjun was suddenly filled with fear.

"Fatty, you should be thanking me. Look at you—you're still a Spirit Master while everyone else is ahead. If I drain your soul power, you can cultivate on the Wood Dragon to restore it. Repeating this process will help you increase your soul power!"

Before Ma Hongjun could react, eight-tenths of his soul power was drained, leaving him with just two-tenths. The experience was not pleasant.

Feeling the sudden loss of most of his soul power, Ma Hongjun's face turned pale. The rapid depletion caused him physical discomfort, and he began to fear Su Ming even more. If Su Ming wanted to, he could easily drain him dry and leave him a lifeless husk.

Meanwhile, the Wood Dragon, having absorbed Ma Hongjun's soul power, regained some of its luster.

The truth was, the Wood Dragon's absorption speed wasn't particularly fast; it was just that the gap in power between Su Ming and Ma Hongjun was vast. When Su Ming absorbed Zao Wuji's soul power, Zao Wuji had felt the rapid depletion. So naturally, absorbing Ma Hongjun's soul power, being only a Spirit Master, was even quicker.

Helpless, Ma Hongjun sat cross-legged, enduring the dizziness and pain in his limbs as he started cultivating to recover his soul power.

Dai Mubai, Tang San, Oscar, and the others, seeing how Su Ming was making them "help," felt an overwhelming sense of dread. Su Ming's method was terrifying.

Dai Mubai regretted his earlier words, wishing he could slap himself. Why had he suggested that? Now he was paying for it!

Next, Su Ming turned his gaze toward Dai Mubai and Tang San, making his intentions clear. Ma Hongjun's soul power, as a Spirit Master, wasn't enough to sustain the Wood Dragon for long. So, the solution? Drain more soul power from the others!

Before Dai Mubai or Tang San could say anything, in an instant, eight-tenths of their soul power was drained as well.

Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing, watching from the side, couldn't help but laugh internally. So this was how Su Ming wanted them to help! They hadn't realized before how cunning he could be.

Xiao Wu felt reassured—there was no way her brother would willingly help these "four bastards." Turns out, this was all part of his plan!

Meanwhile, Oscar trembled with fear. As a food-type soul master, he figured that providing sausages to help Su Ming recover would be the most efficient method. Surely Su Ming wouldn't drain his soul power, right?

But the next moment, he too felt his soul power being drained. It seemed Su Ming wasn't sparing anyone!

Soon, all four of the Shrek "four bastards" were sitting cross-legged, pale-faced, as they focused on recovering their soul power.

Su Ming checked the Wood Dragon's current soul power reserve and found it to be quite satisfactory. Although the quality of the soul power was lower than his own, the sheer quantity from draining four soul masters made up for it. The amount would last for quite some time.

By the time the Wood Dragon's soul power was depleted, the four of them would have likely recovered most of their soul power, and Su Ming could simply repeat the process. This was much more convenient than relying on Oscar's sausages or taking time to recover himself. He saw this as a "fare" for riding the Wood Dragon.

Zao Wuji, on the other hand, sat comfortably, not concerned at all. As a teacher and the strongest among them, even with his strength halved, he needed to stay in top condition to handle any unforeseen dangers. Su Ming clearly wouldn't absorb his soul power.

So, on their way back to Shrek Academy, Su Ming repeatedly drained the soul power of the Shrek "four bastards" once they had recovered enough, using it to fuel the Wood Dragon.

Meanwhile, the three girls didn't just sit idly by. Although Su Ming didn't drain their soul power, they used the time to cultivate. Ning Rongrong worked especially hard, as she had the lowest soul power among the three. Despite having the Nine Treasure Glazed Tile Pagoda to accelerate her cultivation, she still lagged behind Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing.

Xiao Wu's cultivation speed was naturally fast, and she had also received the Soul Power Body Refining Technique from Su Ming, which enhanced her body and allowed her to absorb higher-level soul rings, speeding up her progress.

(Zhuqing's quick progress was due to her sheer determination and effort.)

Xiao Wu was pleasantly surprised to find that absorbing a higher-level soul ring could even raise her overall soul power level. This hadn't happened to her mother, which made Xiao Wu particularly happy.

However, what Xiao Wu didn't know was that absorbing such soul rings was consuming her foundation as a hundred-thousand-year soul beast.

If she had absorbed rings normally, she could have maintained her rapid progress all the way to Title Douluo. But now, having consumed part of her foundation, she might only maintain this speed until reaching Soul Douluo. After that, her progress would slow to match that of a typical soul master with innate full soul power.