The dawn whistle had barely faded when Tang San was awakened by the clanging of metal from the training ground. Rubbing his eyes, he walked to the window and saw Zhao Wuji carrying a pile of metal targets for Soul Skill testing. Dai Mubai and the others were already standing beside the target range, each holding a testing Soul Tool. "This morning's training is 'Soul Skill Connection Limit.' Everyone must complete ten Soul Skill Connections within the time it takes to burn an incense stick. Tang San, you go first, and you'll use Blue Silver Grass to connect 'Binding' and 'Parasitism' at the same time. Make one mistake, and you'll train ten extra times!"
Tang San dressed at a leisurely pace, deliberately looping his belt around twice more as he tied it—Soul Skill Connection consumed Soul Power, and delaying under the excuse of "organizing his equipment" would give him more time to rest. By the time he reached the target range, the others had already begun their tests. Dai Mubai's White Tiger Fierce Light Wave struck the bullseye again and again, with barely any pause between Soul Skill Connections. "What are you dawdling for? Start already!" Zhao Wuji shoved a metal target in front of Tang San, his tone impatient.
Delayed the test under the pretext of "organizing equipment to ensure fluid movements," avoiding premature high-intensity connection consumption. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 65 points.
Tang San summoned his Blue Silver Grass and deliberately slowed his Soul Skill Connection by half a beat. On his first attempt at "Binding + Parasitism," the Blue Silver Grass had just wrapped around the metal target when the Parasitism Soul Skill lagged by half a second, failing to activate in sync. "Tang San! Why are you so slow? You can't even train Soul Skill Connection properly, and you still dare come to Shrek?" Zhao Wuji's whip cracked against the metal target with a piercing shriek.
"Teacher, Blue Silver Grass is a plant martial soul. 'Binding' needs to maintain its toughness, while 'Parasitism' requires injecting Soul Power. Synchronizing the two Soul Skills makes the grass blades too likely to break, so I can only slowly find the connection point." As Tang San spoke, he tried again. This time, they activated simultaneously, but he only injected thirty percent of his Soul Power into Parasitism. The parasitic mark on the metal target was faint. "See? The grass blades nearly broke as soon as they synchronized. I can only inject less Soul Power, or I'll have to start over."
Reduced Soul Skill output on the grounds of "avoiding martial soul breakage," slowing the connection speed and avoiding excessive consumption. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 66 points.
When the incense stick burned out, Tang San had completed only five qualified connections, half the required ten. "Train for another incense stick's time. If you still can't reach eight, don't even think about eating today!" Zhao Wuji stood nearby with his arms folded, staring at him intently. Yet Tang San breathed a sigh of relief—extra training was perfect for earning more Slacking Value, and he could keep using the excuse of "martial soul toughness limits."
The morning training was "Team Battle Role Restrictions." Zhao Wuji divided the six of them into two groups and announced the rules. "Tang San's group can only use control-type and support-type Soul Skills. No assault-type skills. Dai Mubai's group can use their Soul Skills freely, and they have three more dummies than Tang San's group!"
"Teacher Zhao, that's unfair! How are we supposed to knock down the dummies without assault-type skills?" Xiao Wu could not help shouting.
"Unfair? If all your teammates were control-types in real combat, would you just refuse to fight?" Zhao Wuji glared at her and blew the starting whistle.
Dai Mubai's group launched their attack at once. Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Fireline sent the dummies staggering back again and again. Tang San's group could only rely on Tang San's Blue Silver Grass Binding and Oscar's sausages for support, while Xiao Wu was responsible for evading the dummies' attacks. Tang San deliberately slowed the Binding, wrapping only one leg of each dummy at a time. The dummies could only move slowly, but were not completely restrained—Binding them too tightly would make it easy for the other dummies to surround us. Leaving them some room to move will scatter their attention instead. That way, he neither used too much Soul Power nor let the fight end too quickly.
"Tang San! Why aren't you binding them tighter? The dummies are almost upon you!" Zhao Wuji shouted from the side.
"Teacher, there are too many dummies. If I bind one too tightly, the others will ambush us. Leaving some room lets Xiao Wu evade more easily, or we'll both be surrounded." As Tang San spoke, he deliberately released the Binding on one dummy, giving Xiao Wu room to dodge an attack. "See? The moment I loosened it, she avoided the ambush. Binding them too tightly would only cause trouble."
Reduced Binding strength and slowed the pace on the grounds of "avoiding a multi-target encirclement," avoiding excessive consumption. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 67 points.
During the noon break, Oscar handed him a sausage. "Teacher Zhao's attempts to make things difficult are getting more ridiculous by the day. He'll definitely have something even harsher planned for this afternoon." Tang San accepted the sausage, took only a small bite, and put it away—he would save it for the afternoon's exertion. Eating too much now would only make him sleepy.
The afternoon training was "Extreme Soul Power Endurance." Zhao Wuji led everyone before a Soul Power testing formation. "Each of you must continuously release Soul Skills inside the formation until your Soul Power is depleted. Tang San, you must last half an hour longer than everyone else, and you may only use Blue Silver Grass's basic Soul Skills!"
The Soul Power testing formation could accelerate Soul Power consumption. Not long after Dai Mubai entered, thirty percent of his Soul Power had already been drained. Tang San walked into the formation and deliberately released only ten percent Soul Power's worth of "Binding," wrapping only the wooden stakes at the edge of the formation without making any unnecessary movements—Basic Soul Skills consume little Soul Power. Releasing them slowly will make me last longer; doing it quickly will only exhaust me early. It was just enough to deal with the requirement that he last an extra half hour.
"Tang San! Why are you releasing so little Soul Power? Are you trying to slack off?" Zhao Wuji's voice came from outside the formation.
"Teacher, although basic Soul Skills consume little Soul Power, sustaining them for half an hour is still not easy. If I release too much Soul Power, I won't last the required time and will fail the task instead." As Tang San spoke, he deliberately lowered his Soul Power a little further. The wooden stake wrapped in vines only shook once. "See? Lowering my Soul Power a little made it steadier. This is the only way I can last long enough."
Reduced Soul Power output on the grounds of "ensuring endurance time," avoiding excessive consumption. Slacking Value +1. Current total: 68 points.
When the evening training ended, Tang San's Soul Power was depleted exactly half an hour later. He had lasted fifteen minutes longer than the others, but had failed to meet Zhao Wuji's requirement of lasting an additional half hour. "Extra meditation training tonight. You'll meditate in the Soul Power testing formation. If your Soul Power recovery is slower than everyone else's, you'll train extra again tomorrow!"
Everyone groaned miserably, but Tang San quietly opened the system panel—68 Slacking Value points, still 32 away from his next Soul Power Increase. He slowly headed back to the dormitory, calculating to himself: meditating inside the formation would let him use its "accelerated consumption" trait to deliberately slow his recovery. Teacher Zhao's attempts to make things difficult were all excellent opportunities to accumulate points.
Night fell as Tang San entered the Soul Power testing formation and began meditating. He deliberately allowed his Soul Power to recover at only half its normal speed—Meditating in the formation can easily throw Soul Power into disorder. Slow recovery is the only way to make it more stable. It fit his slacking rhythm while also earning him points. He thought to himself, As long as I find the right excuse, no matter how ruthless Teacher Zhao gets, I can keep walking the path to the pinnacle of slacking.
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