As morning light dyed the dormitory floor pale gold, Tang San was awakened by the sounds of Wang Hu sorting his protective gear. He opened his eyes and saw the copy of "Fundamentals of Soul Skill Connection" that Master Yu Xiaogang had lent him last night resting beside his pillow, its pages still bookmarked at yesterday's section on "Blue Silver Grass Binding and Predictive Connection." Seeing that he was awake, Li Qing handed him a rice cake wrapped in oiled paper. "Tang San, eat up. This morning's training is practical soul skill connection. Teacher Zhang said we'll combine yesterday's predictive counterattacks with soul skill opening forms, so we need to get there early and adapt to the connection rhythm."
Tang San closed the book and accepted the rice cake, but instead of eating it immediately, he rubbed his wrist first. "What's the rush? There's still the time it takes to burn an incense stick before morning training. I'll wash up first. You guys go save spots near the dummies so you can see the details of the movements clearly." After the three of them left with their rice cakes tucked away, he slowly started nibbling on his. While washing up, he deliberately spent another half-incense stick's worth of time exercising his fingers. After all, soul skill connection required fine finger control. "Pretending to warm up" could both delay him and make his later "slow pace" seem more reasonable. By the time he headed to the training grounds, quite a few students were already practicing movement connections against the dummies.
Proactively delay morning training departure, avoiding excessive early high-intensity connection training consumption. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 25.
Several wooden posts marked with soul skill trajectories had been added beside the wooden dummies in the morning training grounds. Teacher Zhang held a small flag, with bamboo slips for recording movements placed beside him. "Today, we're practicing practical soul skill connection. First, you dodge a dummy's attack, then connect into a soul skill opening form, and finally use your martial soul to simulate soul skill output. The entire process must be smooth. Complete three smooth sequences each, and you pass!" After speaking, he waved the little flag. The dummies immediately began moving along the Slide Rails, their softwood "weapons" swinging rhythmically.
Tang San stood at the back of the line, watching the students ahead of him quickly complete the smooth sequence of "dodge—opening form—simulated output." He quietly calculated: Smooth training consumed Soul Power. He needed a new excuse to reduce the drain. When it was his turn, he summoned Blue Silver Grass and deliberately made his movements half a beat slow. After dodging the dummy's attack, he paused for a second before beginning the soul skill opening form. During the simulated output, he used only twenty percent of his Soul Power. The Blue Silver Grass lightly rested against the wooden post without even touching the marked line.
"Tang San, why is your connection so slow? Didn't you practice the opening form yesterday?" Teacher Zhang walked over, his small flag still lightly waving. "You need to connect immediately after dodging. If you're this slow in real combat, you'd have already been hit!"
"Teacher, soul skill connection isn't just stacking movements together. You need to combine the rhythm of dodging with the force of the opening form. If you go too fast, it's easy to overexert yourself and disrupt the rhythm of the later simulated output instead." Tang San put on a serious expression as though adjusting his force. When the dummy moved toward him again, he barely managed to complete one smooth sequence, though his simulated output still failed to touch the marked line. "See? I've only just started getting a feel for controlling the force. I still need more practice before I can be both smooth and accurate."
Using "force control and rhythm adjustment" as an excuse to reduce connection speed, avoiding excessive consumption. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 26.
Teacher Zhang said nothing more and merely told him to "practice three more sets." Tang San trained at an unhurried pace, completing only one smooth sequence per set, with none of his simulated outputs touching the marked line. He stayed perfectly within the state of "adjusting to the rhythm but not yet proficient," avoiding any extra punishment drills.
After morning training ended, Xiao Wu handed him a bottle of warm water. "Tang San, you obviously could've connected faster just now. Why did you deliberately slow down? Teacher Zhang was practically too embarrassed to mention that your simulated output missed."
"Connection is about matching force and rhythm. It's not enough to be fast. Adjusting slowly uses less Soul Power." Tang San unscrewed the cap and drank leisurely. "Come on, let's eat at the cafeteria. There'll definitely be hot porridge and pickles today. If we get there late, the porridge will go cold."
As the two headed toward the cafeteria, they ran into Master Yu Xiaogang. He carried a cloth bag containing several small wooden plaques carved with soul skill trajectories. "Tang San, come to my office after afternoon training. I'll teach you multi-soul-skill connection priorities. In actual combat, you might need to deal with several attacks at once. You need to know which soul skill to connect first for the safest result."
Tang San had just wanted to make an excuse when Master Yu Xiaogang spoke first. "Don't tell me you're still adjusting to the rhythm. I've prepared a simplified connection process. We'll start with two soul skills, so it won't consume too much Soul Power."
With no other choice, Tang San nodded. "Understood, Master."
The morning extra class was "Team Soul Skill Cooperation Simulation"—the students formed groups of five individuals to simulate team coordination in real combat. One person was responsible for predicting the enemy's trajectory, one for connecting control-type soul skills, and two for connecting support or attack-type soul skills. The focus was on the coordination details of "who connects first and who connects afterward." Wang Hu and the other two naturally ended up on Tang San's team. When assigning roles, Wang Hu wanted Tang San to handle the control-type soul skill connection, but Tang San shook his head. "I just finished practicing soul skill connection, and my force control still isn't stable. I'll handle support connection instead and fill in the gaps in your control. The three of you can handle the core prediction and control. That'll make the cooperation steadier."
Support connection did not require actively initiating a soul skill. It only required lightly filling in with one's martial soul during gaps in a teammate's control. During training, Tang San deliberately slowed his fill-in speed. Every time, he only used Blue Silver Grass to tap the dummy just as his teammate's control gap was about to end. This neither disrupted his teammates' control rhythm nor required much force, avoiding excessive Soul Power consumption.
"Tang San, can't you fill in faster? The dummy was about to break free of control!" Wang Hu was a little anxious, though his simulated soul skill movements had not stopped.
"Teamwork is about connecting through gaps. It's not about filling in quickly. If I fill in too early, it could overlap with a teammate's control and waste Soul Power. If I fill in too late, the dummy could break free. I need to find the timing to fill the gap precisely." Tang San smiled as the Blue Silver Grass in his hand gently pushed the dummy back into his teammate's control range. "See? I just found the right timing. No overlap and no escape. It saves so much Soul Power."
Using "precisely filling gaps to find the timing" as an excuse to reduce fill-in speed, avoiding excessive consumption. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 27.
After the extra class ended, Tang San headed for the cafeteria. The moment he reached the entrance, he smelled the fragrance of hot porridge. Wang Hu and the other two had already gotten their porridge and were waiting for him. "Tang San, your fill-in timing was incredible just now. You hit the gap perfectly. We didn't even react in time."
"Teamwork depends on finding the right timing, not speed." Tang San accepted a bowl of porridge and drank it slowly. "Master's guidance is still this afternoon, so I need to conserve Soul Power. Hurry up and eat before it gets cold."
The afternoon extra class was "Multi-Soul-Skill Connection Consolidation." Teacher Zhang placed three dummies in the training grounds to simulate "multiple enemies attacking at once," making the students practice "which dummy's control soul skill to connect first." The other students could quickly judge the priority, connecting to the nearest dummy first before dealing with the farther ones. Only Tang San deliberately slowed his judgment. Every time, he waited exactly two seconds in apparent hesitation before choosing a dummy to connect to, and he used only thirty percent of his Soul Power. When Blue Silver Grass wrapped around the dummy, it hung loose and slack.
"Tang San, why are you judging so slowly? The priority is obvious. Connect to the close one first, then deal with the far one!" Teacher Zhang walked over, his small flag still pointing at the dummies' positions.
"Teacher, when there are multiple enemies, priority isn't based only on distance. You also need to consider the dummy's attack strength. Look at that farther dummy—its weapon is swinging harder. If we only consider distance and ignore strength, it could ambush us from afar. I need to slowly judge the dual priority of distance plus strength. Going too fast could lead to a mistaken judgment." Tang San quickly explained, staring at the farther dummy. "See? I've just distinguished the difference in strength between the two dummies. Next time, I'll be able to judge more accurately."
Teacher Zhang thought about it and found that Tang San's reasoning made sense, so he could only nod. "Fine. Practice the dual judgment of distance plus strength first. Speed it up tomorrow."
Using "dual priority judgment" as an excuse to reduce judgment speed, avoiding excessive consumption. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 28.
After the extra class ended, Tang San headed straight to Master Yu Xiaogang's office. Inside, Master Yu Xiaogang had arranged the small wooden plaques into two rows, carved respectively with the trajectories of "control-type soul skills" and "support-type soul skills." "Today, we'll practice multi-soul-skill connection priorities. I'll move two plaques at the same time. You need to judge which soul skill to connect first to stop the plaques more effectively. Every correct judgment with a standard connection movement counts as passing."
Following the instructions, Tang San slowly raised his hand and deliberately let his judgment lag half a beat behind. Whenever the plaques moved, he paused for a second before choosing which soul skill to connect. He also deliberately slowed his connection movements, occasionally even "accidentally" choosing the wrong soul skill, pretending to be "just getting familiar with dual priorities."
"How are you still choosing wrong? Control-type soul skills can obviously stop the plaques better!" Master Yu Xiaogang frowned and slowed the plaques down. "You need to remember that in actual combat, control-type soul skills usually have higher priority than support-type ones. You need to control the enemy first before discussing support."
"Dual priorities also require distinguishing soul skill types. It's more complicated than simply looking at distance and strength, so I need to slowly memorize the type priorities." Tang San hurriedly adjusted his judgment. When the plaques moved again, he barely chose the correct soul skill. "See? I've just remembered the type priority. Next time, I'll be able to judge faster."
Master Yu Xiaogang said nothing more and simply told him to "practice five more sets." Tang San trained leisurely, choosing the correct soul skill only three times per set, with all of his connection movements deliberately slow. He stayed precisely in the state of "memorizing type priorities but not yet proficient," avoiding any additional training requirements.
When he walked out of the office, the horizon had already been stained light red by the sunset. Xiao Wu was waiting at the door. "Tang San, you got out pretty early today. Master didn't keep you for extra practice?"
"Master slowed down the wooden plaques and helped me sort out the type priorities, so it wasn't that tiring to practice." Tang San stretched lazily. "Come on, let's go eat. I'm starving."
As the two headed toward the cafeteria, Tang San calculated inwardly: He had gained four points of Slacking Value today and had also practiced the timing for filling gaps during team coordination. Although Master had kept an eye on him, he had not consumed much Soul Power. It was a sure profit. As long as he kept finding new excuses like "dual priorities" and "precisely filling gaps," he would definitely accumulate Slacking Value faster.
The cafeteria lights were on. Tang San looked at the food before him and ate slowly. He knew that as long as he kept using new reasons like "memorizing type priorities" and "timing for precisely filling gaps" to reduce consumption, then no matter how much team training the academy added or how finely Master refined his soul skill connection guidance, he could steadily continue down his path to the pinnacle of slacking while growing stronger step by step.
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