Han Ning twisted open a bottle of water and gave Egg Pancake a sip. Then, he spoke to the little guy lying on its back with its paws in the air, "Technique training is done. Last up is physical ability training!"

"Squeak?"

Egg Pancake paused its drinking and blinked.

It seemed to be thinking...

’Da... Daddy... Are you serious?’

"Come on, you can do it! Finish all your training for today, and I’ll treat you to some delicious canned food later!" Han Ning pointed to the paved road that looped around the dorms.

"Don’t worry, I’ll run with you. The two of us will train together!"

"Squeak..."

Although Egg Pancake was exhausted, it still nodded in agreement.

Han Ning had two reasons for training alongside Egg Pancake.

First, to strengthen their bond.

Second, to set an example for Egg Pancake and show it that its trainer wasn’t slacking off either.

"Yin Yi, you’ll be nearby to ensure our safety."

Han Ning first smiled and stroked Yin Yi’s cheek, then turned to Egg Pancake. "Egg Pancake, you run in front. On my mark! Three, two, one, run!"

On the paved road near the dorms, two figures—one large, one small—shot forward at Han Ning’s command.

It was true that humans were physically far inferior to Soul Beasts.

Even though the little guy hadn’t grown up yet, after Han Ning had run three kilometers around the dorm area, Egg Pancake was still a good twenty or thirty meters ahead of him, huffing and puffing as it ran, occasionally glancing back at its master.

"Your Physical Strength is pretty good, you little rascal." Han Ning’s own body had been enhanced, so running three kilometers was a breeze for him.

Seeing that Egg Pancake still had strength to spare, he gave a slight smile and said, "Keep going!"

"Squeak squeak?"

Sensing the emotion in Han Ning’s voice, Egg Pancake felt a sudden chill for some reason!

But... with its master and Yin Yi accompanying it, it felt even more motivated.

After running nearly 10 kilometers straight, Egg Pancake was panting for breath, its mouth hanging open as it gulped for air like a little dog.

After all, it had only been born two days ago!

"Lingling!" 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

At a nod from Han Ning, Yin Yi became the perfect caring big sister, constantly using her leaves to fan Egg Pancake and help it cool down.

Time slowly passed...

Egg Pancake had just finished its Soul Technique training. Since using Soul Techniques consumed a certain amount of Physical Strength and Spiritual Energy, its pace gradually faltered, losing the effortlessness it had at the start.

After a full fifteen kilometers, having circled the dorms an untold number of times, Han Ning knew Egg Pancake couldn’t push itself any further without risking injury, so he called a stop.

"Egg Pancake, stop. That’s enough."

"Squeak~" As if a great weight had been lifted, Egg Pancake flopped straight onto the ground.

"Get up. Walk it off for a bit," Han Ning said with a smile, pulling it to its feet.

"Squeak squeak..."

The man and two Soul Beasts walked slowly for two minutes, their ragged breathing gradually calming.

Han Ning took out the last can of beef, a carton of milk, and a small, half-full box of Iron-toothed Snake meat from his bag and set them all down.

"Eat up. This is your late-night snack for today. After you’re done, we’ll walk home."

"Squeak squeak!"

Instead of eating right away, Egg Pancake hugged Han Ning’s pant leg and affectionately nuzzled his thigh.

Then, it expertly tore open the milk carton with one small paw, hooked a strip of snake meat with the other, and began to eat, sipping milk as it chewed.

Han Ning took a few sips of water and checked on Egg Pancake’s condition while it was replenishing its Energy.

[

Power: 0.13→0.14

Body: 0.16→0.18

Agility: 0.17→0.18

Spiritual Energy: 0.3→0.35

]

’After a round of high-intensity training, Egg Pancake’s physical stats have improved a little bit more,’ Han Ning thought, delighted.

’And this growth is purely from its own hard work.’

After resting for a moment, he called to Egg Pancake, who had finished its snack, and its Pie Guardian, Yin Yi, and they started on the path back to the dorms.

"Squeak squeak~"

Having eaten its simple snack, Egg Pancake had recovered some of its Physical Strength. As it walked, it had an air of relaxed, carefree ease.

...

「The next day.」

Han Ning, Lin Tianhe, and Chen Linyu walked along the road toward the biology department building.

After a period of recuperation, both of his roommates’ injuries had fully healed.

But because they had rested for several days, they had missed a few major operations on campus, causing the two of them to fall a bit behind in terms of strength.

Since Egg Pancake had just been born and needed training, Han Ning decided to invite them to come out and train with him.

With Yin Yi for protection, the few scattered Soul Beasts they encountered along the way posed no threat. Yin Yi killed them all and fed them to the other two Silver Lotus Wood plants.

The three of them quickly passed the biology department building, where they had previously encountered the swarm of Monster Rats, and continued heading northeast.

The area up to the building was considered explored territory. Students often came here in groups to hunt Soul Beasts, so the monster population in this region had gradually dwindled.

"If I remember correctly, further north should be the territory of the Brain-Eating Spiders. Individually, they aren’t strong, but they often move in swarms, so we still need to be careful."

Han Ning said, pulling out and glancing at a simple map of Soul Beast distribution on campus, which had been drawn based on everyone’s collective exploration.

The Brain-Eating Spiders were the same swarm they had encountered last time at Canteen No. 9. They were given that name because they liked to use their sharp chelicerae to pierce human skulls and suck out the brain matter within.

The Brain-Eating Spiders’ territory was actually north of Canteen No. 9, over by the computer science department building.

The computer science building was mostly filled with computers, servers, and other such equipment. For survivors whose main concerns had been finding food and shelter and getting stronger, it was pretty much useless.

That’s why few people ever ventured into this area.

The known Soul Beast territories on campus were as follows:

The north: Canteen No. 9 served as the boundary. A Brain-Eating Spider Swarm lived in the vicinity. The area toward the North Gate further on was still unexplored.

The west: An unknown number of Monster Rats and Demon Eye Frogs occupied the area up to the biology department building. The area toward the West Gate was unexplored.

The east: This was where large numbers of Iron-toothed Snakes gathered. The most powerful Soul Beast discovered there to date—the Silver-Scaled Python—had already been killed by a joint effort.

The south: The dormitory area. Further south, past the South Gate, lay a dangerous, uncharted swamp.

A straight line drawn from the computer science building, which was a bit north of Canteen No. 9, to the mechanical engineering department’s manufacturing center would form a diagonal line cutting through the approximate center of the campus.

Lin Tianhe surveyed the area, which they hadn’t set foot in for over half a month, and asked casually,

"We’ve pretty much explored the southern part of campus. Han Ning, do you think Dean Wu will have us clear out all the Soul Beasts on campus next?"

"Probably. After all, the Soul Beasts on campus are too close to the dorms," Han Ning replied. "But I heard Dean Wu say we’re still too short-handed. We’ll probably focus on securing the core area around the dorms and won’t venture too deep into the northern part of campus." Han Ning interacted with Dean Wu frequently, so he had some knowledge of the Dean’s future plans.

"Yeah..." Chen Linyu lamented. "There are only a little over 300 of us. It’s already a strain just to guard the dorms, let alone the rest of this huge campus..."