Undercurrents in Heavenly Dou City, and the Upgraded Endurance Training Method

Su Yan suddenly smiled and shook his head.

A commoner falling into the hands of a Soul Beast had virtually no chance of survival; he might as well assume he'd seen wrong.

Another day of thrilling excitement.

As night fell, Su Yan lay down early on his bed.

Tonight wasn't suited for cultivation—he had something more important to do.

Inside the office of the Martial Soul Hall's Hall Master.

"Holy Maiden, that man named Mo has confessed." The Square-Faced Enforcer reported hastily as soon as he got the news.

"Speak." Bibi Dong sat in the main seat, her eyes dark and unreadable, as if lost in thought.

The Square-Faced Enforcer opened the case file and spoke slowly.

"He said the soul materials—meaning the children—were all to be sent to Heavenly Dou City."

"He was responsible for capturing the children and delivering them to Heavenly Dou City; what happened after that wasn't his concern."

"That's the first point. Second, he was also in charge of testing the effects of the Strength Pill, while making some income for himself on the side."

Bibi Dong frowned, her jade fingers lightly tapping the desk: "Heavenly Dou City? Who's the contact up the chain, and how do they meet?"

"He said he only had to bring the children to Heavenly Dou City, and the Strength Pills were also picked up there. As for the rest, he claimed to know nothing. He would deliver them and return, and someone else would come to take the children away."

"The trail breaks at Heavenly Dou City." Bibi Dong leaned back in her chair, thinking for a moment before saying, "Send word to the Martial Soul Hall in Heavenly Dou City to investigate. At the same time, have the Main Martial Soul Hall dispatch people to infiltrate Heavenly Dou City. No one is to know—not even the Martial Soul Hall in Heavenly Dou City."

"Understood." The Square-Faced Enforcer bowed. "Holy Maiden, any further instructions?"

"That's all. You may go." Bibi Dong waved her hand.

After the Square-Faced Enforcer left, Ma Xiunuo stroked his beard and said, "Heavenly Dou City has a tangled web of factions. If we truly want to find the source of this organization, we might have to start with the Evil Soul Masters and track their movements."

"In recent years, the Evil Soul Masters have hidden deeper and deeper. That approach is unlikely to work." Bibi Dong took a deep breath. "Let them investigate Heavenly Dou City first."

"True enough." Ma Xiunuo agreed.

The two left the office as well.

Bibi Dong walked toward the dormitory. Passing the training ground, she saw a wooden wheelchair sitting in the middle, accompanied by the strained sounds of a little girl exerting herself.

"Xiao Ke, why are you still here so late?" Bibi Dong came up behind her and saw Xue Ke releasing her martial soul.

A pair of small gray wings sprouted from the butterfly bones on her back, and her body was covered in short gray feathers.

"Ah!" Xue Ke startled, turning her head to find Bibi Dong. A smile tugged at her lips. "Teacher, I wanted to try if I could stand up."

"And can you?"

"No. I tried the Nine-Heart Begonia too, but it didn't work." Xue Ke pressed her lips together, her brows heavy with dejection.

Bibi Dong crouched down, placing both hands on Xue Ke's thighs, and looked into her eyes. "Xiao Ke, don't worry. I've already sent people from the Main Martial Soul Hall to find a way. Until then, if you run into any problems, you can always tell me."

"Teacher, in the Soul Hunting Forest, they all charged ahead, and I couldn't do anything." Xue Ke's tears fell like broken pearls, drop by drop. "I thought if I could stand up, maybe I could help—at least they wouldn't have to worry about protecting me."

"Xiao Ke, I understand." Bibi Dong reached up to wipe away her tears and pulled her into an embrace. "Helping them doesn't mean you have to stand up and fight alongside them. You can study theoretical knowledge well. That way, you can still help them cultivate and grow stronger."

"Teacher, can I really?" Xue Ke clutched tightly at her clothes.

Bibi Dong ruffled her hair. "You definitely can!"

Inside his room, Su Yan saw that no one was around. He took the Shell Core he'd picked up from his belt and immediately tossed it into the Inner World of Martial Souls.

Then he jumped onto the bed, sat cross-legged, calmed his mind, and entered a meditative state.

Egglet joyfully pounced on Su Yan, rubbing against his pant legs, begging for pets, for hugs, for being lifted high!

Su Yan indulged him completely, rubbing and kneading—smooth and slippery, the texture was really nice.

After a short while, he placed the Shell Core on the ground and removed the cloth strip. The crystal-like crimson Shell Core kept pulsing, flickering like a heartbeat thumping.

Only when he truly looked at the Shell Core did he realize how beautiful it was.

Su Yan reached out a finger but hesitated before touching it. He feared the Shell Core would fuse into his body.

If that happened, he would no longer be "human," but a ghoul—all human food would become as repulsive as filth.

Su Yan did not want to become that.

No matter how strong the attraction of the Hoshi was, he held back and didn't touch it.

"Egglet, I'm leaving this thing here for you to guard. You have to protect it, got it?"

Egglet trembled.

Su Yan stood up, raised his head to look at the sky, his heart filled with anticipation for that martial soul to appear.

There were many more gray orbs in the sky. Su Yan searched through them one by one—even Xue Ke's Ugly Duckling was there—but there was no sign of the Zanpakutō in Yin Fang's hand, Ice Ring.

Instead, there was a dragon-shaped martial soul, likely Yin Fang's original one.

So that meant additional martial souls acquired later couldn't be obtained.

Su Yan felt a small pang of disappointment.

But only for a moment.

The gray light spheres multiplied like stars filling the night sky, and Su Yan wished he could unlock every single one.

He returned to his room and began circulating the Yi Jin Jing.

When he first heard that name from his master's mouth, he was utterly stunned.

A martial soul like the Dragon-Slaying Blade paired with an internal cultivation method like the Yi Jin Jing—it made perfect sense.

One night passed, and the next morning arrived.

The group assembled early on the training grounds.

Bibi Dong had never imagined that one day she would be teaching so many people at once.

She couldn't help but admire Su Yan's luck—borrowed by Su Yuntao to deal with that fraud organization, and on the way, he'd even managed to recruit a teammate.

Counting Pikachu, they already had a six-person team. They were still two members short of participating in the Martial Soul Hall Junior Soul Master Competition.

After all, Xue Ke, as a cheerleader and assistant instructor, wouldn't be competing.

Bibi Dong didn't repeat the Bi's Training Method they had already undergone. New members would directly join the next training project.

"Our next training project is the Endurance Training Method," Bibi Dong announced. "In the past, the Endurance Training Method involved throwing people directly into an Ant Nest, using the ants' traits to train endurance over half a month."

The four who had already experienced the training method all swallowed hard.

This was no joke—Bibi Dong was fully capable of doing something like that.

"However, we recently discovered that combat inside the Ant Nest better reflects overall ability, making it more suitable as an assessment. As for the Endurance Training Method..." Bibi Dong suddenly smiled. "I've changed it up. Now it's surfing."

Su Yan felt uneasy. Why did his master's smile during training always seem so chilling?

Before long, the group was sitting in a carriage, heading out of Notting City toward the place where they would surf.

Would it be the seaside?

Su Yan recalled one of the Sea God Island assessment trials: surfing training, letting the waves continuously crash against the body—it really could build endurance.

The carriage swayed along the road, its wheels carving two ruts into the dirt.

Forests stretched on both sides, vivid green under the sunlight.

Su Yan felt the carriage climbing uphill, and the sound of rushing water grew louder.

"We're here." Bibi Dong jumped down from the carriage and pointed at the source of the roaring water. "That's where we'll surf!"

Su Yan and the others followed her gaze—and their eyes went wide with shock.

That wasn't a surfable sea. That was a majestic waterfall!

The waterfall was roughly a hundred meters wide. On the left, the spray was heaviest, churning up thick mist. On the right, the spray was lightest, but still enough to pierce solid rock.

Su Yan looked up and could barely see the waterfall's source.

"Master... you're not saying we have to stand under that waterfall, are you?"

"Congratulations! You guessed right!"

Su Yan swallowed hard. As expected of his master—terrifying training, just as he'd anticipated.

Tang Chi's pupils went wide, his mouth hanging open. For a moment, he didn't know what to say.

Zhu Zhuqing's cold eyes fixed on the waterfall, the corners of her eyes twitching slightly.

Yin Fang was completely lost. A shiver ran through his whole body. No one had ever trained like this—they were just children!

Even Pikachu was trembling a little.