At the first crow of the rooster, Tang San was awakened by footsteps outside the dormitory—after the extra classes were added, morning training began half an hour earlier than usual, and the teacher in charge was going door to door, knocking and urging everyone to get up. Wang Hu and the other two rubbed their eyes as they climbed out of bed, moving much faster than usual, clearly afraid of being punished for being late.
Tang San turned over and stayed in bed. "You go wash up first. I'll rest a little longer. Morning training lasts two hours anyway, so I can just go halfway through." He spoke with his eyes closed, his tone heavy with sleepy laziness.
Deliberately delayed his arrival at morning training, avoiding early high-intensity exhaustion. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 30 points.
Wang Hu and the other two said nothing more. After hurriedly washing up, they ran toward the training grounds. Tang San waited until they had left, then lay there for another quarter of an hour before getting up at a leisurely pace. He deliberately slowed down while washing up, even spending an extra half incense stick of time brushing his teeth. By the time he headed toward the training grounds with a steamed bun in hand, morning training had already been underway for nearly an hour.
At the training grounds, the students were split into several groups practicing Martial Soul evasion. Teacher Li patrolled nearby with a wooden staff in hand. When he saw Tang San arrive, he frowned. "Tang San, why are you late again? Get into formation. Today we're practicing 'Soul Power Activation Evasion.' If you can't keep up, you'll be punished with laps."
Tang San quickly agreed and moved to the back of the group. He followed the other students' movements but deliberately lagged half a beat behind, activating only thirty percent of his Soul Power—Blue Silver Grass swayed gently beside his wrist, looking completely powerless. Each time he "evaded," he looked as though he had stumbled from losing his balance, barely managing to avoid the wooden chips Teacher Li threw at him.
"Tang San, put some strength into it! Activate more Soul Power!" Teacher Li walked over, impatience creeping into his voice.
"Teacher, my Soul Power is weak. If I activate too much, I get dizzy." Tang San pretended to stagger and steadied himself against the student beside him. "I'll keep practicing slowly. I'll catch up eventually."
Used "weak Soul Power" as an excuse to reduce training intensity, avoiding high-intensity exhaustion. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 31 points.
Teacher Li sighed helplessly and turned to guide the other students. After morning training ended, Xiao Wu ran over and handed him a bottle of water. "Tang San, why were you training so slowly just now? Teacher Li was practically getting angry."
"If I trained too quickly, my Soul Power would have been used up long ago. There's still training class this afternoon." Tang San unscrewed the bottle and slowly took a sip. "Saving energy is what matters. There's no need to compete with them."
The two headed toward the cafeteria and ran into Master Yu Xiaogang on the way. He held a notebook in his hand and had likely just finished recording the morning training results. "Tang San, your Soul Power activation during morning training was still too weak. After breakfast, come to my office. I'll help you strengthen your basics."
Tang San's heart skipped a beat—the Master's "basic guidance" would definitely involve high-intensity training. He had to find a way around it. "Master, I didn't eat much this morning, and I'm feeling a little dizzy now. Could I come this afternoon instead? After afternoon training, I'll have more energy and learn faster."
Used "insufficient stamina" as an excuse to postpone guidance, avoiding the exhaustion of extra training. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 32 points.
Master Yu Xiaogang looked at him, then nodded. "Fine. Come straight to my office after afternoon training. Don't be late again."
After breakfast, the morning extra class was Soul Power Control Practice—the students had to use Soul Power to lift pebbles and keep them from falling for a quarter of an hour. Wang Hu and the others lifted fist-sized stones, but Tang San deliberately chose a pebble no bigger than his thumb and used only twenty percent of his Soul Power. The pebble wobbled two inches above his hand, barely staying aloft.
"Tang San, why did you choose such a small stone? Switch to a bigger one!" The teacher in charge walked over and pointed at the pile of stones nearby.
"Teacher, my Soul Power control isn't good enough. I can't lift a big stone. If it falls and hits my foot, that'll be troublesome." Tang San hurriedly explained, weakening the Soul Power in his hand even further until the pebble wobbled even more violently.
Used "poor control" as an excuse to choose low-difficulty training, avoiding high-intensity exhaustion. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 33 points.
The teacher said nothing more and turned to instruct the others. Tang San held up the tiny pebble, but his eyes secretly drifted toward Xiao Wu—she was lifting a stone as large as Wang Hu's, and her Soul Power control was extremely steady. She clearly had not used her full strength. It seemed Xiao Wu was hiding her strength too, just not slacking off as openly as he was.
During the noon break, Tang San did not return to the dormitory. Instead, he found a stone bench beneath the shade of a tree, sat down, and opened the system panel—33 Slacking Value points, still 17 points short of his next Soul Power Increase exchange. Leaning against the tree, he closed his eyes to "meditate," though he was really just slacking off and resting—after all, the system never said that "pretending to meditate" did not count as slacking.
Rested under the guise of "meditation," avoiding the exhaustion of extra activities. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 34 points.
The afternoon extra class was Martial Soul Basic Attack Practice. Teacher Li had the students pair up to spar with basic attacks while he guided them from the side. Wang Hu asked Tang San to team up, but Tang San shook his head. "My Soul Power is weak. Sparring with you would only hold you back. Go find Li Qing. I'll just practice the basic movements by myself."
He walked to an empty patch of ground nearby and summoned Blue Silver Grass, swinging it lazily—each swing stopped halfway, and he used only ten percent of his Soul Power. It looked like he was merely making gestures, with no offensive power whatsoever. Teacher Li came over, watched for a moment, and said nothing, probably already used to Tang San's "weak strength."
Deliberately avoided sparring and chose low-intensity solo training. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 35 points.
After training ended, Tang San could no longer put it off and had no choice but to go to Master Yu Xiaogang's office. Inside, Master Yu Xiaogang had already set up two wooden posts, with a blue crystal ball beside them. "First, let's test your Soul Power and see whether you improved after this morning's training."
Tang San placed his hand on the crystal ball and once again released only thirty percent of his Soul Power—the crystal ball glowed with a faint blue light, no different from that morning. "Still no improvement?" Master Yu Xiaogang frowned. "Come with me. I'll teach you a simple Soul Power activation method. It takes less effort than what you usually practice and can also improve your progress."
He led Tang San before the wooden posts. "Use Blue Silver Grass to wrap around the post. Don't release too much Soul Power. Follow my rhythm." As he spoke, Master Yu Xiaogang demonstrated—his Soul Power was weak, but his control was extremely precise. An invisible thread of Soul Power gently wrapped around the wooden post three times.
Tang San followed along, but deliberately slowed his movements and released only twenty percent of his Soul Power. Blue Silver Grass draped limply over the wooden post, barely making it around once before falling. "Master, I still can't learn it. My Soul Power control is too poor."
Used "can't learn it" as an excuse to reduce learning intensity, avoiding the exhaustion of extra training. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 36 points.
Master Yu Xiaogang did not get angry. He merely demonstrated once more with patience. "Don't rush. Take it slowly. Practice for a quarter of an hour every day, and you'll learn it within a week. That's enough for today. We'll continue tomorrow."
Tang San breathed a sigh of relief and quickly thanked him. By the time he left the office, it was nearly dark. Xiao Wu was waiting at the door. "The Master didn't make things difficult for you, did he? I thought you'd be kept until nightfall."
"No, the Master only taught me a simple movement." Tang San smiled. "Come on, let's go eat at the cafeteria. If we're late, there won't be any hot dishes left."
As they headed toward the cafeteria, Tang San calculated inwardly: If I save another 14 Slacking Value points tomorrow, I can exchange them for a Soul Power Increase. The extra classes were troublesome, but as long as he found the right ways to slack off, he could still accumulate points easily.
The sky outside gradually darkened, and the lights in the cafeteria came on. Tang San looked at the food before him and ate slowly—he knew that as long as he kept this pace, his road to the "Peak of Slacking" would not be interrupted by the extra classes. Instead, he could use them as an opportunity to accumulate even more Slacking Value.
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