Soul Skill Stamina Under Suppression, Skillfully Responding to Disadvantage

The moment the pre-dawn whistle cut through the morning mist, Tang San was jolted awake by the soul power fluctuations from the training grounds. He walked to the window and saw Zhao Wuji adjusting a soul power suppressor that emitted a purple glow. Dai Mubai and the others were already standing by the device, with ten test soul guidance pillars placed before each of them. "Today's morning drill is 'Soul Skill Stamina Limit.' You'll continuously release soul skills under the soul power suppressor, and you pass if the soul guidance pillars all light up. Tang San, you're up first. Set the instrument to maximum intensity, and you have to last twice as long as everyone else!"

Tang San slowly put on his training uniform, deliberately fumbling with the buckles of his soul guidance waistband twice. Releasing soul skills under soul power suppression was taxing on the meridians. He used "adjusting the waistband to prevent soul power leakage" as an excuse to stall, buying himself a little more time. By the time he reached the instrument, Dai Mubai had already finished his test. His White Tiger Fierce Light Wave had only managed to light up the fifth soul guidance pillar before he stopped. "What's with the dawdling? The instrument's warm-up is almost over!" Zhao Wuji slipped a soul guidance bracelet onto Tang San's wrist. The bracelet immediately lit up red, its suppressing force penetrating deep into his meridians.

[Using "adjusting the waistband to prevent soul power leakage" as a reason to delay the test, avoiding early high-intensity suppression and consumption. Slacking Value +1, current total 73 points]

Tang San summoned his Blue Silver Grass, deliberately lowering the output intensity of his soul skill. Under the maximum suppression, the Blue Silver Grass only emitted a faint blue light. As soon as the "Entangle" soul skill wrapped around the soul guidance pillar, the instrument absorbed most of his soul power, and the first soul guidance pillar dimmed halfway through lighting up. "Tang San! Is that all the soul power you have? Are you useless when suppressed?" Zhao Wuji's whip cracked against the instrument's casing, sending sparks flying.

"Teacher, under maximum suppression, my meridians constrict too much. Soul power flows three times slower than usual. Releasing it too quickly could strain my meridians, so I can only release soul power slowly. Otherwise, I'd have to stop before even halfway," Tang San said. He released his soul skill again, this time outputting his soul power in a thin stream. It took three times as long for the first soul guidance pillar to fully light up. "See, I've just found a rhythm for the flow. If I speed up even a little, my meridians start to hurt, so I can only go at this pace."

[Using "avoiding meridian strain" as a reason to lower output intensity and slow down the stamina pace, avoiding excessive consumption. Slacking Value +1, current total 74 points]

Half an hour passed, and Tang San had only managed to light up the third soul guidance pillar, far short of the required "twice the time." "Train for another half hour. If you still can't reach the fifth pillar, you're not eating tonight!" Zhao Wuji stood by the instrument with his arms crossed, his gaze fixed on Tang San like nails. Tang San, however, felt a sense of relief. The extra training meant more Slacking Value, and the excuse of "meridian adaptation to suppression" could be used continuously.

The morning training was a "team cooperation mission." Zhao Wuji slapped a map onto the ground: "Split into two groups and go to the back mountain to collect soul grass. Tang San's group can only take the most dangerous western slope, and you have to collect the 'Shadow Grass' with the highest rarity. The others can collect ordinary ones!"

The western slope was full of steep inclines and poison vines. Dai Mubai's group took the easier eastern slope and quickly gathered half a basket of ordinary soul grass. Tang San, leading Xiao Wu and Oscar, headed towards the western slope, deliberately slowing his pace. With every step, he used his Blue Silver Grass to probe ahead. "Slowly probing to avoid poisoning," he thought, as the poison vines were hidden in the grass. This reduced the risk of injury and also bought him time.

"Tang San! Why are you so slow? Everyone else is almost done collecting!" Zhao Wuji's voice boomed from the mountainside. He was holding a stalk of Shadow Grass, waving it around.

"Teacher, there are too many poison vines on the western slope. If I probe too quickly with the Blue Silver Grass, it'll get entangled. Also, the Shadow Grass grows in rock crevices. If I'm too rough, I might pull out the entire root. I have to be slow to collect it properly," Tang San said. He deliberately let his Blue Silver Grass get entangled by a poison vine, and the grass blade instantly turned black. "See, I got hit just by probing quickly. I have to go slow to collect the complete grass."

[Using "preventing poisoning + preserving the herb's integrity" as a reason to slow down collection speed, avoiding consumption in dangerous areas. Slacking Value +1, current total 75 points]

During the lunch break, Oscar handed him a Recovery Sausage. "Teacher Zhao is too harsh. Those poison vines on the western slope almost ruined your Blue Silver Grass." Tang San took the sausage and only took a small bite before putting it away. He was saving it for the afternoon's exertion. Eating too much now would only add to the burden on his meridians.

The afternoon training was "Extreme Combat Review." Zhao Wuji projected the morning's combat footage onto the stone wall: "Everyone analyze your mistakes. Tang San, you need to analyze for three times the duration, and you must identify more than five instances of wasted soul power!"

The others finished their analyses quickly. Tang San, however, deliberately watched the footage slowly, his finger tracing across the stone wall. "During the first release of the soul skill, my soul power didn't avoid the interference from the poison vines, wasting one-tenth. During the second probe, the Blue Silver Grass's range was too large, and it was blocked by rocks, wasting another tenth..." He deliberately broke down each "waste point" into minute details, taking half an hour to analyze only three. "You see, each waste point is hidden in the details. If you're too fast, you'll miss them. You have to analyze slowly to find them all."

[Using "breaking down details to find waste points" as a reason to slow down the review speed, avoiding excessive consumption. Slacking Value +1, current total 76 points]

By the time evening training ended, Tang San's review was less than halfway complete. "Evening bonus training: soul power purification. Use the suppressor at its lowest intensity to assist. If your purification speed is slower than everyone else's, the intensity will be increased tomorrow!" Zhao Wuji's voice echoed across the training ground.

Everyone groaned in despair, but Tang San quietly opened his system panel – 76 points of Slacking Value. He was still 24 points away from the next soul power increase. He slowly walked back to his dormitory, calculating in his mind: the bonus training tonight would be a perfect opportunity to use the excuse of "the suppressor affecting the purification rhythm" to slow down. Teacher Zhao's challenges were all good chances to accumulate points.

Night fell, and Tang San sat by the suppressor, beginning to purify his soul power. He deliberately lowered the speed of his soul power flow to the minimum. "Slow purification allows the meridians to adapt to the suppression. Going too fast could leave hidden dangers," he reasoned. This fit his slacking pace and would also earn him points. He thought to himself: as long as he found the right excuse, even if Teacher Zhao was ruthless, his "peak slacking path" could continue.