Legion Training Method

As he took his first step, the discomfort from the weight caused his muscles to tense instinctively. But he quickly adjusted his breathing, letting the rhythmic breathing of the Fist of the North Star Body Tempering Secret Technique circulate through his body.

The volcanic rock granules on the track shimmered under the sunlight.

As Situ Xuan began to stride, the gravel beneath his feet emitted a faint, crunching sound.

The first lap was relatively easy, but starting from the third, sweat began to drip down his brow, leaving dark spots on the track.

Students conducting practical training on the sidelines cast surprised glances his way from time to time. They watched as the tall freshman moved at a steady pace like a tireless machine, the weight he carried causing him to leave clear footprints with every step.

By the eighth lap, Situ Xuan's breathing began to grow heavy.

Sweat soaked through his black tank top, the fabric clinging to his sturdy back muscles. Yet, a trace of a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth—this feeling of approaching his limit was the rhythm of cultivation he was familiar with.

When he reached the fifteenth lap, the edges of his vision began to darken.

His heart hammered violently in his chest, and his ears were filled with the roar of rushing blood. But just as his body was about to sound the alarm, a warm current suddenly rose from his dantian, flowing along his meridians to his limbs and bones.

This was the effect of the Fist of the North Star Body Tempering Secret Technique—the closer one pushed to their limit, the more potential could be unleashed.

Situ Xuan's gaze cleared once more. He adjusted his pace and continued to complete the remaining laps at a steady speed. When the final lap ended, the setting sun had already stretched his shadow long.

On the way back to the equipment room, steam rose from Situ Xuan's body, making him look like a beast that had just emerged from a cage. He pushed open the ajar door and found Long Xiuyuan maintaining a peculiarly shaped short blade. The blade was serrated, casting a ghostly blue luster under the light.

"Finished running?" Long Xiuyuan asked without looking up, his oilcloth continuing to wipe the edge of the blade.

"Yes."

Situ Xuan unbuckled the weight belt from his waist, the metal hitting the floor with a dull thud. His legs were still trembling slightly, but his eyes remained as sharp as a blade.

Long Xiuyuan finally looked up, his gray-blue eyes exceptionally bright in the dim room: "Eight o'clock tonight, C7 Training Room."

With a flick of his wrist, the short blade vanished, "Don't be late."

After saying this, the young man—who was more of a drill instructor than a homeroom teacher—turned and walked toward the inner office, his military boots striking the ground with crisp, decisive sounds. But before pushing the door open, his footsteps paused slightly: "Remember to bring a change of clothes."

"Running alone won't be enough to realize your potential!"

The moment the door closed, Situ Xuan's pupils contracted slightly. He understood the subtext of that sentence—tonight's training would likely be more than just a simple sparring session.

Ever since the Sun Moon Empire completely conquered the Douluo Continent ten thousand years ago, driving the Star Luo Empire and the Heaven Spirit Empire out of the Douluo Continent, the establishment of the Sun Moon Federation had also brought about the restructuring of the military.

A reorganization of the military structure based on cardinal directions.

Throughout these ten thousand years of history, the integration of Soul Masters and Soul Tools had become increasingly tight, and the military no longer required soldiers to engage in hand-to-hand combat as casually as before.

The reduction in casualties relied on the mastery of Soul Tools and the adaptive training between Martial Souls and Soul Tools.

This had also led to a gradual decline in the combat skills of the soldiers themselves.

Only those Soul Masters whose awakened Martial Souls were suited for high-intensity combat were subjected to integrated training by the military, with the requirement that there must be a contingent within the army capable of playing a significant role even without Soul Tools.

"In the evolution over the past ten thousand years, training methods have long since shifted from blind effort to science."

Long Xiuyuan stood on one side of the C7 Training Room. He had only one student, Situ Xuan, in front of him, but no matter how one looked at it, they didn't resemble a teacher and student; they looked more like a recruit and a veteran.

"Weight training, reaction training, and impact resistance training are the three mainstream training methods currently used in the East Sea Legion."

"They also correspond to the specific training for Power Attack System Soul Masters, Agility Attack System Soul Masters, and the newly added Defense System Soul Masters in the legion."

"Usually, one type of training is chosen as the primary focus, with the other two as supplements."

Long Xiuyuan's fingers tapped lightly on the metal tabletop, the rhythm sounding like some ancient war drum.

The lights in the C7 Training Room cast a cold, blue-white glow from above, stretching the shadows of the two figures into long, sharp shapes as they faced off.

"But your situation is special."

He unbuckled a dark red belt from his waist, the metal buckle clinking crisply. "Since your Martial Soul is your own body, that means you must be an all-rounder."

"You've abandoned the use of various elements, abandoned the variations of soul power, and even abandoned traditional soul skills..."

"In this situation, all you need is a physique that crushes your opponents, combat techniques that exceed what your opponents can contend with, and the ability to defeat them in an instant, before they have any gap to strike back."

Long Xiuyuan's voice echoed in the empty C7 Training Room. He stood with his back to Situ Xuan, arms crossed, his gaze sweeping over the various training equipment hanging on the walls—iron chains, blunt blades, and custom wooden dummies, all of which were instruments for the ultimate tempering of the flesh.

"Your Martial Soul is your body."

Long Xiuyuan turned around, his knuckles rapping against the tabletop. "To put it simply, your body is your Martial Soul, and soul rings are merely catalysts for you to strengthen your physical functions."

Situ Xuan nodded silently, his gaze sweeping over a row of metal dummies on the left side of the training room. The joints of those dummies were polished to a shine, clearly the result of countless strikes.

"However—"

Long Xiuyuan suddenly raised his voice, his tone booming like a thunderclap, "Do you think you can reach the summit relying solely on physical combat?"

Situ Xuan lowered his eyelids, but quickly raised them again, a spark of fighting spirit igniting in his pitch-black pupils.

"I can."

The simple, two-word answer sounded like a blade being drawn from its scabbard.

Long Xiuyuan sneered, no longer hiding his true nature. He took three steps forward, and with each step, the floor of the training room trembled slightly. The moment his third step landed, his fingers curled into a claw, striking directly at Situ Xuan's throat!

Situ Xuan retreated half a step, his right arm blocking horizontally, his arm muscles tensed like iron blocks, forcibly resisting the grab.

However, how could Long Xiuyuan's moves be so simple?

He flicked his knuckles, and Situ Xuan's arm was instantly struck by a pain like an electric shock, forcing him to stumble back two steps.

"Look at your reaction."

Long Xiuyuan withdrew his hand, his gaze cold. "Your speed and strength are indeed far beyond your peers, but in a real battle, raw muscle power is far inferior to combat intelligence."

Situ Xuan shook his violently numb arm, yet a cold smirk curled at the corner of his mouth.

"Again."

"Hmph."

Long Xiuyuan stopped pursuing and walked toward the center of the Training Room, reaching out to press a mechanism on the wall.

With a soft "click," the floor suddenly split open, and a peculiar metal device slowly rose up.

It was an Unarmed Combat Training Armor, shaped like a humanoid mecha but entirely pitch-black, with dark red light faintly glowing at the joints and a Soul Guidance Core embedded in the chest, emitting an oppressive fluctuation of soul power.