As everyone prepared to start their running warm-up, Ning Rongrong suddenly raised her hand tremblingly. "Um... I'd like to apply for a rest day today."
All seven of them turned their eyes toward Ning Rongrong.
"Is there a special reason?"
Le Bai asked, "If not, I won't approve it."
Ning Rongrong fell silent for a moment before speaking. "Yesterday, I tried the Spirit Power Overclocking you mentioned. I lost control while compressing my Soul Power, and it exploded inside my body. My Meridians were slightly damaged, and now my whole body hurts."
"Understood. Rest today."
Le Bai agreed readily, then added after some thought, "Oscar and Hongjun were about the same when they first started practicing. For the next three days, you'd better not try compressing your Soul Power again. If it explodes another time, what you experience won't just be a simple full-body ache."
"I know."
Ning Rongrong pulled a long face. "By the way, why didn't you mention yourself and Dai Mubai? Didn't you two ever fail?"
"How could we not?"
Dai Mubai smiled bitterly. "My Soul Power Control was worse than all three of theirs. Back then, I failed thousands of times while practicing!"
Ning Rongrong asked, "Then why didn't Le Bai mention you?"
"Because Boss Dai's physical strength is strong enough."
Le Bai took over. "As long as the body is strong enough to fully withstand the impact of compressed Soul Power, it won't be injured no matter how many times it fails. There's something else I originally planned to explain after all of you had mastered it, but I might as well explain it now."
"The maximum Soul Power Intensity that Spirit Power Overclocking can raise you to is indeed determined by each person's Soul Power Control during the beginner stage. But from the intermediate and advanced stages onward, physical strength becomes the greatest factor affecting the upper limit of Spirit Power Overclocking."
Tang San had studied under the Grandmaster, so he understood theory faster than the others. "You mean that even if our control over Soul Power reaches the pinnacle, we still can't keep increasing it through Spirit Power Overclocking if our physical strength doesn't keep up?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I mean."
Le Bai affirmed Tang San's understanding. "Take Oscar, for example. His Soul Power Control is already enough to support raising his Soul Power to around level forty-five through Spirit Power Overclocking. But his body can only withstand just under level forty Soul Power, so in practice, he can only raise it to around level forty."
"What about you?"
Xiao Wu stared seriously at Le Bai. "How many levels can your control and physical strength raise your Soul Power to?"
The moment Le Bai saw that expression, he knew what Xiao Wu wanted to say. "Are you suspecting that I held back yesterday?"
Xiao Wu countered, "Didn't you?"
"Thank you for thinking so highly of me."
Le Bai smiled bitterly. "Maintaining Spirit Power Overclocking isn't easy, let alone keeping it up throughout an intense battle. My Soul Power is only level twenty-two. During battle, maintaining it at around level thirty-five and bursting up to level forty in an instant is already my limit."
Xiao Wu still did not believe him. "My instincts tell me your limit definitely isn't level forty!"
"Of course it isn't. Your limit in battle and your pure limit are two different things."
Le Bai raised two fingers. "In combat, I can maintain level thirty-five Soul Power at most. But if I'm not fighting and focus entirely on controlling my Soul Power, I can go higher. My current record is over level fifty, and in my ultimate state, I should be able to approach level sixty."
"So you mean..."
Zhu Zhuqing, who had listened for a long time, suddenly spoke. "Your physical strength can already rival that of a level-sixty Battle Soul Master?"
"How could that be!?"
Le Bai corrected her again. "You really think too highly of me, and too little of other Soul Masters! Even without the enhancement from Martial Soul Possession, my physical strength is at most comparable to a Battle Soul Master around level fifty-two. With the enhancement after Martial Soul Possession, it would already be impressive if I could face a Battle Soul Master around level forty-seven head-on!"
"That's already incredibly impressive!"
Tang San looked at Le Bai with admiration. "You're a Support System Soul Master! I simply can't imagine what kind of brutal training you went through to reach this level!"
"Ha, you just can't imagine it yet."
Le Bai smiled. "Soon, you'll experience training of that intensity firsthand. Aren't you getting a little excited just thinking about it?"
They certainly were—they were so excited they wanted to run away!
"Alright, stop scaring them."
Dai Mubai said with a smile, "Don't listen to Le Bai. He only talks like that. When it comes to actual training, he's still very measured."
"How much longer are you going to talk?"
Ma Hongjun had already begun marching in place. "If we don't start soon, I'm leaving you behind and going first!"
"Coming!"
"Wow, do you have to be this diligent?"
"Hahaha, Hongjun, you're the most enthusiastic about training now!"
They quickly finished ten laps. With the Augmentation of Soul Power, Tang San still ran easily, with only a slight increase in his breathing rate.
However, the four older students, including Le Bai, had already started sweating, and their breathing had accelerated considerably. Something was clearly wrong!
Realizing this, Tang San immediately used Purple Demon Eye to carefully observe the four of them, searching for something.
He soon found it. "What are those Wrist Guards they're wearing? All four of them have them, but Le Bai definitely wasn't wearing one when he fought yesterday."
Tang San ran over to Dai Mubai. "Boss Dai, can I ask something?"
"Speak!"
Dai Mubai was slightly out of breath, so his reply was short.
Tang San asked, "Is there something special about your Wrist Guards?"
"Your eyes are sharp!"
Dai Mubai gave Tang San a surprised look. "In a couple of days, you'll know!"
After saying that, he immediately adjusted his breathing and did not dare speak again.
Even after the morning training ended, Tang San still did not understand what Dai Mubai meant.
But after fully witnessing the training intensity of the four older students, all four new students, including the resting Ning Rongrong, felt a certain amount of pressure.
Ning Rongrong especially had already begun to waver inwardly. This training intensity is outrageous! Are those four really human? Could they be humanoid Soul Beasts? If I'd known, I would've enrolled in another academy...
However, while eating lunch, Ning Rongrong's thoughts changed again. This is so good! Everything about this academy is terrible except the cafeteria food—it's genuinely delicious! It's even better than the food made by the master chefs hired by the sect! If I go back, I probably won't get to eat this anymore. Should I try bringing the chef back to the sect? I'll ask later.
The new students rested for the afternoon, while the older students continued training.
Because Le Bai had warned them that they needed to adjust their condition that afternoon for the evening's lesson, all four obediently returned to the dormitory to cultivate and recover.
Ning Rongrong did not want such a dull academy life. What she longed for was a more interesting, more exciting campus life!
But her entire body hurt, leaving her willing but unable. I'll wait until my body stops hurting before... Hiss!
Thanks to Sword of the Enchantress and Only Remembering Bamboo for the rewards.
Before you continue