Morning light had just tinted the dormitory windowsill pale gold when Tang San was awakened by the faint glow of the Soul Power crystal ball beside his pillow. He opened his eyes and saw that the crystal ball was still maintaining last night's "low-intensity meditation" state—emitting only a weak blue light, perfectly matching the slacking rhythm of "putting in effort without overexerting himself." Wang Hu and the other two were gathered around the table organizing the practical training logs they would need today. Seeing that he was awake, Li Qing handed him a piece of mung bean cake wrapped in oil paper. "Tang San, hurry and eat. This morning's training is 'dynamic adjustment of Soul Power allocation.' Teacher Zhang said we'll be changing Soul Power allocation ratios in moving scenarios, so we need to get there early and adapt to the changing conditions."
Tang San closed off the crystal ball's Soul Power input and accepted the mung bean cake, but instead of eating it right away, he stretched his ankles. "What's the rush? There's still an incense stick's worth of time before morning training. I'll wash up first. You go save spots close to the moving Slide Rail so you can see the scenario changes clearly." Only after the three of them left with their mung bean cakes did he slowly nibble at his own. While washing up, he deliberately spent another half an incense stick soaking his feet in warm water—"pretending to relieve yesterday's training fatigue" could both delay him and make his later "slow-paced dynamic adjustments" seem more reasonable. By the time he headed for the training field, quite a few people were already calibrating the moving Slide Rail and scenario props.
Proactively delay morning training departure, avoiding the expenditure from overly early high-intensity dynamic allocation training. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 33.
At the morning training field, several wooden stakes mimicking trees and some rocks had been added beside the moving Slide Rail. Teacher Zhang held a scenario control lever, with a dynamic allocation record sheet beside him. "Today, we'll practice dynamic adjustment of Soul Power allocation. You'll walk on the moving Slide Rail while avoiding wooden stakes and rocks, and adjust your Soul Power allocation according to scenario changes. In narrow paths, allocate twenty percent to evasion and ten percent to initiating moves. In wide paths, allocate ten percent to evasion and twenty percent to initiating moves. Complete three scenario transitions with qualified allocation, and you pass!" After speaking, he pushed the control lever, and the wooden stakes on the Slide Rail began moving slowly, simulating a "narrow forest path" scenario.
Tang San stood at the back of the line, watching the students ahead quickly switch scenarios and adjust their allocation ratios. He calculated inwardly—dynamic allocation training drained too much energy. He needed a new excuse to reduce the expenditure. When it was his turn, he summoned Blue Silver Grass and deliberately made his scenario adaptation half a beat slower. In the narrow path, he still allocated only ten percent to evasion, making his movements appear stiff as he nearly collided with a wooden stake. In the wide path, he failed to adjust his initiating Soul Power to twenty percent in time. The phantom of Blue Silver Grass swayed before stabilizing, and throughout the exercise, he never reached the "qualified allocation ratio."
"Tang San, why are you switching scenarios so slowly? In narrow paths, you need more Soul Power for evasion. In wide paths, you need more for initiating moves. Didn't we teach you about scenario variables yesterday?" Teacher Zhang walked over, still drawing allocation curves on the record sheet in his hand. "Get it wrong again, and you'll be punished with extra training!"
"Teacher, dynamic allocation isn't about rigidly changing ratios according to the scenario. It has to fit your own movement rhythm. I move slowly on the Slide Rail, so using twenty percent evasion Soul Power in a narrow path would make me stop for too long and block the people behind me. In a wide path, initiating too quickly would put me out of sync with the Slide Rail's movement rhythm and waste Soul Power instead. I need to slowly find the adaptation point between 'scenario, rhythm, and allocation.' If I go too fast, I'll lose sight of one thing while attending to another." Tang San pretended to seriously adjust his steps. When he went through the Slide Rail again, he still only adjusted his narrow-path evasion Soul Power to fifteen percent and his wide-path initiating Soul Power to fifteen percent. "See? I've only just started to find the right feeling. I need to practice a little longer before I can switch precisely."
Adjusted allocation ratios under the pretext of "triple adaptation of scenario, rhythm, and allocation," avoiding excessive expenditure. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 34.
Teacher Zhang said nothing more and merely told him to "practice three more sets." Tang San trained at an unhurried pace, keeping every set's allocation ratios right at the "edge of the passing line," barely reaching a state of "adapting to the scenario but not yet meeting the standard," so he was not assigned any additional punishment training.
After morning training ended, Xiao Wu handed him a bottle of warm water. "Tang San, you clearly could have switched the ratios in time just now. Why did you deliberately keep them at the edge? Teacher Zhang was practically too embarrassed to mark you unqualified."
"Dynamic allocation is about triple adaptation, not rigidly changing things according to the scenario. Slow adjustment wastes less Soul Power." Tang San unscrewed the cap and drank slowly. "Come on, let's eat at the cafeteria. There'll definitely be meat porridge today. If we're late, there won't be any left."
As the two headed toward the cafeteria, they ran into Master Yu Xiaogang. He held a cloth bag containing sandbox models of complex scenarios. "Tang San, come to my office after this afternoon's training. I'll teach you 'Soul Power allocation priorities in complex scenarios.' There are more scenario variables in actual combat. You need to know whether to adapt to the scenario first or preserve your rhythm first, or you won't even know how you died."
Tang San was just about to make an excuse when Master Yu Xiaogang spoke first. "Don't tell me you're still adapting to your rhythm. I've prepared simplified sandbox scenarios. We'll start with two variables, so it won't consume too much energy."
With no other choice, Tang San nodded. "Understood, Master."
The morning extra lesson was "complex scenario simulation battles"—students formed groups of five individuals and engaged in low-intensity confrontations in simulated environments with wooden stakes and rocks. The focus was on training their combined ability in "scenario adaptation + Soul Power allocation + team coordination." Wang Hu and the other two naturally ended up on Tang San's team. When assigning roles, Wang Hu wanted Tang San to handle scenario adaptation, but Tang San shook his head. "I just finished dynamic allocation training, and my scenario adaptation rhythm hasn't stabilized yet. I'll handle support coordination. I'll fill in your allocation gaps while the three of you handle the core scenario judgments and allocations. That'll be more stable."
Support coordination did not require actively judging the scenario. It only required lightly filling in when a teammate's allocated Soul Power was insufficient. During the confrontation, Tang San deliberately slowed his support speed, using Blue Silver Grass to snag the enemy dummy only "just in time" as his teammates' allocation gaps were about to end. He neither disrupted their rhythm nor exerted much force, avoiding excessive Soul Power consumption.
"Tang San, can't you support us faster? My Soul Power allocation wasn't enough just now. The dummy was about to break free of control!" Wang Hu was somewhat anxious, his simulated weapon still blocking the dummy's attacks.
"In complex scenarios, support can't be rushed. You have to watch the scenario variables. You were in a narrow path just now. If I had supported you too quickly, I might have hit a wooden stake. Once you reached the wide path, supporting you wouldn't block the way. This adaptation point between 'scenario and support' needs to be found slowly. Going too fast would only cause trouble." Tang San said with a smile, gently pushing the dummy toward the wide path with Blue Silver Grass. "See? I just found the right support timing. I neither caused trouble nor wasted Soul Power."
Reduced support speed under the pretext of "scenario-support adaptation," avoiding excessive expenditure. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 35.
After the extra lesson ended, Tang San headed for the cafeteria. The moment he reached the entrance, he smelled the fragrance of meat porridge. Wang Hu and the other two had already gotten their porridge and were waiting for him. "Tang San, you were really good at finding the right timing for support just now. You filled in right when we reached the wide path and didn't cause any trouble at all in the narrow path."
"In complex scenarios, coordination depends on scenario adaptation, not speed." Tang San accepted the bowl of porridge and drank slowly. "Master will be instructing me this afternoon, so I need to conserve my energy. Hurry up and drink yours before it gets cold."
The afternoon extra lesson was "multi-scenario battle review"—Teacher Zhang had the students watch recordings of the morning's confrontation, with key scenes recorded on bamboo slips, and analyze "where scenario adaptation went wrong and where allocation priorities became confused." The focus was on training their ability to identify "comprehensive problems." The other students could quickly point out two or three such problems, but Tang San deliberately watched very slowly. Each time, he waited until someone else had finished identifying one issue before slowly pointing out a "scenario-allocation Chain Error," such as, "Too much Soul Power was allocated to initiating moves in a narrow path, causing a collision with a wooden stake during evasion and disrupting later allocation."
"Tang San, why are you so slow? You haven't even pointed out such obvious comprehensive problems?" Teacher Zhang came over with the recording bamboo slip in hand. "Everyone else has pointed out three, but you've only said one—and you're being so detailed about it?"
"Teacher, identifying errors isn't just about finding surface-level problems. Scenario-allocation Chain Errors are what affect a confrontation the most. Look at this scene: he allocated too much Soul Power to initiating moves in a narrow path. It looks like merely an allocation error, but really, he failed to adapt to the narrow path's principle of 'evasion first,' which caused him to hit a wooden stake. Then, in order to avoid the stake, he allocated even more Soul Power to evasion, and by the time he needed to attack, he didn't have enough Soul Power left. If you only look at the surface of this kind of Chain Error, you'll make the same mistake next time." Tang San hurriedly pointed at the scene on the bamboo slip. "See? I've only just sorted out this Chain Error. Once I do, I can identify the other errors more accurately."
Teacher Zhang thought about it and found that Tang San's words made sense, so he could only nod. "Fine. Then focus on identifying scenario-allocation Chain Errors first. Tomorrow, you can practice identifying comprehensive problems."
Reduced error-identification speed under the pretext of "identifying scenario-allocation Chain Errors," avoiding excessive expenditure. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 36.
After the extra lesson, Tang San went straight to Master Yu Xiaogang's office. Inside, Master Yu Xiaogang had already arranged the sandbox model, which contained three scenario variables: narrow paths, wide paths, and water terrain. "Today, we'll practice Soul Power allocation priorities in complex scenarios. I'll switch between two scenarios at once. You must determine whether to adapt to the scenario first or preserve your rhythm first. Every correct judgment and correct allocation adjustment counts as a pass."
Tang San leaned closer and deliberately examined it very slowly, moving his finger across the sandbox bit by bit. Each time, he analyzed the scenario variables first, then slowly stated the priority. Occasionally, he even "accidentally" gave the wrong priority, pretending that he had "only just sorted out the connection between scenario and rhythm."
"How are you still getting the priorities wrong? Narrow paths are obviously evasion first, while water terrain is initiating moves first. Didn't I tell you about scenario characteristics yesterday?" Master Yu Xiaogang frowned and used a pen to draw a priority line across the sandbox. "You must remember that scenario characteristics determine priority. You can't only look at your own rhythm, or you'll panic whenever the scenario changes."
"The connection between scenario and rhythm is more complicated than I thought. I need to slowly sort out each scenario's characteristics. If I go too fast, I'll easily mix up the priorities." Tang San hurriedly adjusted his thinking. When the scenario changed again, he finally stated the correct priority. "See? I've only just sorted out the scenario characteristics. Next time, I'll be able to judge correctly."
Master Yu Xiaogang said nothing more and merely told him to "practice five more sets." Tang San practiced at an unhurried pace, correctly judging only two scenario priorities in each set, just reaching a state of "sorting out scenario characteristics but not yet proficient," so he was not asked to train more.
When he walked out of the office, the horizon had already been dyed pale purple by the evening glow. Xiao Wu was waiting for him at the door. "Tang San, you got out pretty early today. Master didn't keep you for extra training?"
"Master helped me sort out the scenario characteristics and even drew priority lines, so practicing wasn't that strenuous." Tang San stretched lazily. "Come on, let's go eat. I'm starving."
As the two headed toward the cafeteria, Tang San calculated inwardly: today, he had accumulated four points of Slacking Value and practiced priority judgment in complex scenarios. Although Master had kept an eye on him, he had not consumed too much Soul Power or energy. It was a guaranteed profit. As long as he kept finding new excuses like "scenario-rhythm connection" and "scenario-allocation Chain Errors," he would definitely accumulate Slacking Value faster.
The cafeteria lights were lit. Tang San looked at the food before him and ate slowly—he knew that as long as he kept using new reasons like "sorting out scenario characteristics" and "adjusting triple adaptation" to reduce expenditure, then no matter how much complex scenario training the academy added or how detailed Master's priority guidance became, he could steadily continue down his "path to the pinnacle of slacking" and grow stronger step by step.
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