Teach You Some Real Skills

Bibi Dong might have meant what she said, but Qian Yun knew that his strength was nothing in the eyes of true experts.

Time passed, minute by minute. Bibi Dong and Qian Yun sat in the cool breeze, basking in the last rays of the sunset as they talked.

Bibi Dong looked up at a flock of geese flying south in formation. She watched them disappear over the horizon, then finally stood up.

"Xiao Yun, every person's Martial Soul has its own unique qualities. Even Martial Souls passed down through a family aren't necessarily exactly alike. So all I can teach you is what I've learned about cultivation. Developing your Martial Soul further will be up to you."

Qian Yun stood too. From Bibi Dong's manner, it seemed she was ready to teach him the real skills she'd mentioned.

"Mm, I understand."

Bibi Dong nodded, then led him toward the fountain, which had been burbling away the whole time.

The fountain wasn't very large. It was carved with flowers, plants, and beasts, each rendered with lifelike detail.

Bibi Dong said to Qian Yun, "Try lifting the water."

Lifting something without touching it?

Qian Yun considered the challenge. Raising water with mental power wasn't easy. With his Soul Power only in the twenties, even his powerful mental strength wouldn't be enough. And the pool was constantly being disturbed by outside forces, making it even harder.

Still, there was always a way. Qian Yun stopped hesitating, summoned his Martial Soul, and focused.

It was true that reaching Bibi Dong's standard with his current strength would be difficult. But Qian Yun's Crown had more than exceptional mental strength—it also had an absurd ability to control the elements.

With careful control, Qian Yun manipulated the water element and forcibly lifted the flowing water from the fountain into the air.

The water ball was only about the size of a human head, but managing this with two rings was impressive enough.

"Mm." Even Bibi Dong, strict as she was, couldn't find fault with it.

Under Qian Yun's focused control, the water ball drifted slowly through the air. When he felt he'd done enough, he was about to lower it.

"Wait. Don't put it down yet," Bibi Dong suddenly said.

Qian Yun hastily raised the water ball a little higher again, after having already lowered it some.

"Lift up another ball of water." Bibi Dong's gentle voice made the request sound rather difficult to Qian Yun.

"...All right."

It took effort, but it wasn't beyond him. Gritting his teeth, Qian Yun peeled another ball of water away from the surface and lifted it into the air.

Seeing the two water balls hovering above the pool, Bibi Dong was genuinely surprised. She'd planned to let Qian Yun struggle first so she could teach him a lesson, but he'd actually done it...

"Put them down." Now that she'd seen enough, Bibi Dong didn't make him keep going.

Qian Yun breathed a sigh of relief and withdrew his mental power. The two water balls instantly broke apart in midair and fell back into the pool.

After giving Qian Yun a moment to rest, Bibi Dong spoke again and held out her fair hands.

"Give me your hand."

Qian Yun stared at Bibi Dong's hand and froze for a moment. It was fair, with a rosy sheen. Her long, clean fingers looked as if they'd been carved from jade, and her nails seemed to be coated with pearlescent polish. That was unexpected.

"Hey, kid. What are you staring at?" Seeing Qian Yun standing there without moving, his eyes fixed on her hand, Bibi Dong couldn't help reminding him.

"Oh." Qian Yun quickly placed his hand in hers. Her touch was cool, yet still unmistakably soft.

Holding Qian Yun's hand, Bibi Dong said, "What I'm going to teach you now is the Distraction Control Method."

Qian Yun looked up. "The Distraction Control Method... Isn't that the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's secret technique?"

Bibi Dong's rosy lips curled into a proud smile. "The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's secret technique is indeed impressive, but the foundation of Spirit Hall is beyond comparison with a single sect."

Like Qian Yun had done earlier, Bibi Dong calmly raised one hand toward the pool. As she did, she explained, "The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect's Distraction Control Method is meant to control every bit of your own strength, so that you can use each enhancement from your Spirit Skills to its fullest. Its focus is controlling yourself."

Qian Yun listened intently. Pure Soul Power flowed from the warm, smooth hand in his, gradually enveloping him. Before long, he could even sense Bibi Dong's breathing and the fluctuations of her Soul Power.

"But what I'm going to teach you is Spirit Hall's unique Heaven-Returning Soul Control Method. It lets you control things outside yourself as well as your own body. It's about absolute control over everything, including yourself. Watch closely."

As she spoke, a trace of Soul Power emerged from Bibi Dong's raised hand. It spread outward, gentle as a breeze, and drifted lightly onto the water's surface like a wisp of mist.

Then her Soul Power suddenly tightened. The change happened in an instant, and two water balls like the ones Qian Yun had lifted earlier slowly rose from the pool.

Qian Yun's eyes widened. He wouldn't have been surprised if Bibi Dong had done this with her full strength, but from the changes in her Soul Power, he could tell that the power she'd just applied to the water was only around level twenty.

She'd used less Soul Power than Qian Yun, yet achieved a better result. How had she done it?

"Heh, do you understand now?" Bibi Dong casually withdrew her Soul Power and looked down at Qian Yun's astonished face.

"Uh..." Qian Yun furrowed his brow in thought, then said uncertainly, "Not really. But I sensed your mental power extending outward just now. Does that have something to do with it?"

Bibi Dong nodded approvingly. "Exactly."

Then, holding Qian Yun's hand, Bibi Dong guided him through the Heaven-Returning Soul Control Method, teaching him step by step until he'd learned it.

Time passed without either of them noticing. By the time Qian Yun had truly mastered the Heaven-Returning Soul Control Method, the sky had already grown dark.

"Whew—"

Under the bright moonlight, Qian Yun lowered the four water balls floating before him. By now, he'd learned all the technique's fundamentals. All that remained was to master it through practical experience.

"Looks like you learn quickly," Bibi Dong said beside him.

"Thank you, teacher, for sharing everything you know."

"Mm. I'm glad I spent all that time teaching you." Bibi Dong crouched down, still holding Qian Yun's hand. Looking at his fair skin and bright golden eyes, she reached out and brushed the stray hair from his forehead. "You don't have to thank me. This is what a teacher should teach her student."

Then she suddenly smiled. "Come to think of it, I'll have to teach Xiao Na too. Otherwise, she might say I haven't treated my students equally."

Qian Yun smiled. "Xiao Na wouldn't do that."

Bibi Dong stood and led Qian Yun by the hand back into the hall.

"It's getting late. You've been busy all day, so let's have dinner together."

Qian Yun naturally didn't refuse. "Sure."

When Qian Yun returned to his quarters, a servant handed him an unopened letter. The sender's name read, "One-Meter-Four-Tall, One-Meter-Five-Legged"...

The recipient was listed as, "Some Ugly Person," c/o.

Looking at the oddly addressed letter, Qian Yun tilted his head in confusion and asked the servant beside him, "Are you sure this is for me?"

The servant hunched his shoulders and nodded.

"Heh, that girl... All right." Qian Yun smiled and accepted the letter. He'd already guessed who the person calling herself "One-Meter-Four-Tall, One-Meter-Five-Legged" was.

Back in his room, he opened the envelope. Sure enough, it was from Hu Liena, who was now at the Martial Soul Academy.

The first line mocked him for accepting the nickname "Some Ugly Person." Then Hu Liena described what she'd seen at the Martial Soul Academy, and finished by telling Qian Yun not to write back under any circumstances because she was busy.

Qian Yun read the letter carefully. The slightly messy handwriting seemed to bring Hu Liena's expressions and tone of voice to life right before his eyes.

A long, long time later, Qian Yun finally put the letter back into its envelope and carefully returned it to the drawer.

At his desk, Qian Yun propped his chin on both hands. "Looks like that girl is having a pretty good time at the academy... Hmph. What should I call her?"

Qian Yun furrowed his brow, struggling to come up with something. After a moment, he finally picked up the quill on his desk and began writing on a sheet of paper:

"Dear Madam, ..."

The letter was naturally full of several pages about his fight against the Imperial Fighting Team that day, including his astonishing achievement of defeating all seven opponents in succession. It also contained no shortage of praise for himself. Even Qian Yun felt embarrassed as he wrote it.

The stars shifted in the sky. It was well past midnight by the time Qian Yun had sealed the letter with wax and given it to a servant, telling him to ride at full speed to the Martial Soul Academy.

The next day.

Qian Yun set out early. Today was the day he joined the Enforcement Team of Pope Hall.

A few days later, at the Martial Soul Academy.

At last, after a long stretch of hard work, Hu Liena had time to rest. She collapsed into a chair and wearily rubbed her temples.

Things at the Martial Soul Academy were complicated. It wasn't as easy as she'd made it sound in her letter. Her heavy coursework and almost non-stop training schedule had drained every ounce of her energy, though she'd gradually begun to adjust.

"Whew—those people." Hu Liena let out a long breath. Her flat chest rose and fell, and the hand holding her teacup trembled slightly.

Though she was a new student, she hadn't been welcomed. Instead, she'd faced one setback after another. The reason was, of course, that she was the Pope's student.

It went without saying how much jealousy and scrutiny that identity would attract. Those looks made her feel as though she'd returned to Beast King Village. But she wasn't the weak little girl she'd been back then!

Hu Liena opened her eyes again, a vicious glint flashing in them. "Those useless fools. I'll rip out every last one of their tongues sooner or later!"

After her brief rest, Hu Liena set down her teacup and started working on her assignments.

Out of the corner of her eye, she caught sight of the letter that had been sitting on the desk for a long time.

She put down her pen and picked up the envelope. As she looked at the neat handwriting on it, a smile appeared on her lips before she even noticed.

She opened it, and the first things she saw were Qian Yun's rather smug words. Hu Liena couldn't stop smiling as she read, and some of the gloom weighing on her heart lifted.

"Hmph, what a narcissist..." Hu Liena crossed her legs, her big eyes darting around as she pondered. After a moment, she made up her mind and grinned. "I'm going to complain to Teacher and have her teach that shameless guy a lesson for me."

After sending the letter addressed to Bibi Dong, Hu Liena bent over her desk and began writing again. At the same time, Qian Yun boarded a carriage and set off for his mission's destination.

As the sun sank in the west, two young people on the continent were fighting with all their might for their futures!