At daybreak, the bell of Suotuo City's Great Soul Arena rang through the streets. Tang San was awakened by the noise, while Xiao Wu was already knocking outside his door. "Tang San, get up! Dean Flender said we're registering for spirit combat first thing this morning. If we're late, we won't get a slot!"
Tang San slowly sat up and deliberately straightened his quilt twice more—his first spirit combat match would consume a great deal of energy, so he used "organizing his luggage and checking his equipment" as an excuse to stall and conserve his strength a little longer. By the time he left with his Spirit Combat bag on his back, Dai Mubai and the others had already gathered downstairs at the inn. Flender held seven spirit combat registration forms. "Register according to the teams we divided yesterday. Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing are one team, Ning Rongrong and Oscar are another. Ma Hongjun will compete solo. Tang San, you and Xiao Wu are a team. Start with Bronze Tier spirit combat!"
Delayed gathering under the pretext of "organizing spirit combat equipment to avoid omissions," avoiding the early expenditure of intensive registration preparations. Slacking Value +1, current total: 90 points
The group followed Flender toward the Great Soul Arena. Along the way, Dai Mubai explained the precautions for two-person spirit combat to Tang San and Xiao Wu. "Most Bronze Tier opponents have Soul Power around Level 20. One of you is control-type and the other is agility attack-type, so coordinate well. Don't let your opponents break up your formation." Tang San deliberately slowed his pace, allowing Blue Silver Grass to quietly probe along the ground—There are many people around the Soul đấu Arena, and Spirit Hall scouts might be among them. Walking slowly and observing more could help us understand the surroundings beforehand. As he spoke, he memorized the escape routes along the street, so they would have contingency plans if anything went wrong during the match.
At the registration counter, the staff member accepted Tang San and Xiao Wu's forms and frowned. "A two-person spirit combat team needs a code name. What do you want to call yourselves?" Xiao Wu immediately raised her hand. "The Three-Five Combination! Tang San is Little San, and I'm Xiao Wu!" Tang San did not object, but he deliberately hesitated for two extra seconds while filling in their Soul Power Levels—I just broke through to Level 17. Reporting Level 16 is safer and will keep us from being assigned overly strong opponents. Losing the first match would hurt morale. As he wrote, he confirmed with the staff member, "Bronze Tier opponents are all below Level 20, right? Our Soul Power isn't that high, so we'd like to get used to the pace first."
Underreported Soul Power Level for the reason of "playing it safe in the first match and avoiding strong opponents," avoiding the expenditure of a high-intensity first match. Slacking Value +1, current total: 91 points
After registration, Flender took everyone to the Soul đấu Arena lounge to wait. The large screen soon displayed the Three-Five Combination's first opponents—the Iron Stone Combination, two Level 20 assault-type Soul Masters whose martial souls were rock and Iron Hammer respectively. Xiao Wu immediately grew nervous. "They're both assault-types, and their Soul Power is higher than ours. What do we do?"
Tang San did not rush to formulate a strategy. Instead, he took out an emergency Soul Power Recovery Potion and handed Xiao Wu a bottle. "Drink half first. Don't panic. Assault-types may be strong, but they're slow. We can fight them with guerrilla tactics." He deliberately slowed the pace of planning, first having Oscar give them both Recovery Sausages before he began analyzing their opponents. "The rock martial soul has strong defense, while the Iron Hammer martial soul has high attack power. First, Xiao Wu will use Waist Bow to draw their attention. I'll use Blue Silver Grass to bind Iron Hammer's legs and disable one damage dealer, then we'll gradually wear down rock's defenses."
"Tang San, why not use a fast-attack strategy? Hit them before they're prepared?" Flender walked over, still holding the opponents' information sheet.
"Dean, we should play it safe in our first match. A fast attack can easily expose our weaknesses, and our Soul Power is lower than theirs. Fast attacks consume Soul Power too quickly. Guerrilla tactics will let us slowly wear them down until their Soul Power runs low." Tang San pointed to the words "Iron Hammer soul skill has a long cooldown" on the information sheet. "Look, Iron Hammer's soul skill has a ten-second cooldown. We can bind his legs during that window, which will save quite a bit of Soul Power."
Slowed the tactical pace for the reason of "playing it safe in the first match with an attrition strategy," avoiding the expenditure of a fast attack. Slacking Value +1, current total: 92 points
Soon, the Soul đấu Arena broadcast announced, "Three-Five Combination versus Iron Stone Combination." Tang San and Xiao Wu entered the Spirit Combat Stage, where the audience's cheers were deafening. The referee had barely declared the match started when the Iron Hammer Soul Master charged forward with his hammer raised, his Soul Power Fluctuation carrying an obvious aggressive aura. Following the plan, Xiao Wu rushed up and deliberately slowed the activation of Waist Bow. Only after Iron Hammer released his soul skill, Stone Shatter Hammer, did she leap up and kick at his shoulder—Attacking after he uses his soul skill will keep him from counterattacking. If I rush in too early, I might get smashed by his hammer. While fighting, she coordinated with Tang San, allowing Blue Silver Grass to bind Iron Hammer's legs precisely during his soul skill's cooldown.
Seeing this, the rock Soul Master immediately charged over with Rock Armor, intending to rescue Iron Hammer. Yet Tang San deliberately did not bind rock's legs. Instead, he directed Blue Silver Grass toward his arms—Rock's defense is too strong. Binding his legs would be useless, but binding his arms can restrict his defensive range and give Xiao Wu an opening to attack. As he adjusted the angle of the Blue Silver Grass bindings, he had Xiao Wu circle behind rock and use Waist Bow to kick him in the back.
By the time the spirit combat match had gone on for a quarter of an hour, the Iron Hammer Soul Master had expended thirty percent of his Soul Power, while the rock Soul Master's defenses had begun to show flaws. Tang San deliberately weakened the force of Blue Silver Grass's bindings, loosening them after only two seconds each time to avoid injuring the blades when his opponent broke free with Soul Power. "Binding him too tightly could make his Soul Power snap the Blue Silver Grass. A loose bind can still restrict his movements without consuming much Soul Power."
Reduced binding strength under the pretext of "avoiding martial soul strain," avoiding excessive expenditure. Slacking Value +1, current total: 93 points
Finally, during Iron Hammer's soul skill cooldown, Tang San suddenly tightened the Blue Silver Grass around his opponent's waist. Xiao Wu seized the chance and struck his chest with Waist Bow, kicking the Iron Hammer Soul Master straight off the Spirit Combat Stage. Seeing his teammate lose, the rock Soul Master also surrendered voluntarily. The audience erupted in cheers as the referee raised Tang San and Xiao Wu's hands. "The Three-Five Combination wins!"
After stepping down from the Spirit Combat Stage, Flender smiled and patted Tang San's shoulder. "Well fought. You were much steadier than I expected." Tang San did not relax. He immediately took out a recovery potion and drank a sip. "We only got lucky in our first match. Our opponents burned through their Soul Power quickly. If we face faster opponents next time, we'll have to adjust our tactics." He calculated silently, I gained four points of Slacking Value today. I'm still eight points away from the next Soul Power Increase. Training at the Soul đấu Arena really is a good chance to accumulate points.
By evening, the seven people returned to the inn. Dai Mubai and Zhu Zhuqing's team had also won their spirit combat match, but Ma Hongjun lost his solo match. Flender announced, "We'll continue spirit combat tomorrow. Tang San and Xiao Wu will fight two more matches and try to reach Silver Tier as quickly as possible!" Tang San nodded, but thought to himself, Tomorrow, I can keep slowing the pace of spirit combat under the excuse of adapting to different opponents' rhythms, and steadily save up enough Slacking Value.
As night fell, Tang San sat by the window meditating. He deliberately reduced the circulation speed of his Soul Power to seventy percent of normal—Consecutive spirit combat matches drain Soul Power. Slow Meditation will restore it more thoroughly, while going too fast could leave hidden problems behind. Gazing at the moonlight outside, he thought to himself, My spirit combat training in Suotuo City has only just begun. As long as I find the right excuses, like "tactics suited to the opponent" and "playing it safe in the first match," the road to the pinnacle of slacking can continue.
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