"Relax, relax, you can do this!" Su Yan murmured.
He wore only a pair of shorts, his belt cinched tight. Standing at the far right of the waterfall, he took a deep breath and reached his hand into the rushing water.
In an instant, a tremendous force slammed into his hand.
It felt as though a brawny man weighing several hundred pounds had smacked him hard.
It hurt so much his hand went numb.
Su Yan sucked in a sharp breath. He really had no idea what kind of mindset his master had been in when she came up with this training method. This wasn't training; it should be called torture—the kind of torture that belonged in hell.
"Ah—" Su Yan roared and leaped forward.
The rocks had been specially treated. They looked smooth, but they weren't slippery at all.
Strong Spider Silk, produced personally by Bibi Dong, was tied around him. She held the other end, ready to pull them out from beneath the waterfall's crushing weight and toss them into the river whenever they felt they couldn't go on.
Was this reasonable? It was river-asonable.
Su Yan took the first historic step.
Nearly everyone present held their breath.
The waterfall swallowed Su Yan, unleashing its tremendous force without mercy.
He felt as if a thousand-pound weight had landed on his back.
Heavy!
He clenched his teeth and slowly straightened up beneath the waterfall, "enjoying" the masseuse's shoulder-and-neck treatment as he took his second step forward.
In an instant, the pressure on his body multiplied several times over.
Roaring, Su Yan charged forward for five more steps. Seven in all. In the time it took to recite a poem, he had reached his limit.
On the opposite bank, Xue Ke wore oversized sunglasses and sat beneath an enormous parasol. A round wooden table stood beside her, topped with an elegant fruit platter and a cup of an unidentified, dark brown drink bubbling away. She wrote in her notebook: "Brother Su Yan, seven steps."
Then she picked up the mysterious drink and brought the straw to her tender lips. She hooked the tip of the straw with her tongue and sucked slowly. The dark brown liquid flowed up, and a never-before-felt happiness burst across her tongue.
Xue Ke let out a long sigh.
Her teacher had been right. Fighting wasn't a Soul Master's whole life. She was suited to being an assistant instructor, studying the relevant theory and judging whether these foods and drinks were suitable for Soul Masters to consume long-term.
Across the river, Su Yan wore a look of agony beneath the waterfall's pounding spray. Xue Ke couldn't bear to watch, so she took another sip of the mysterious drink. Training was bound to be painful, but this drink made her so happy!
On the other side of the river, Zhu Zhuqing tied on her silk and watched the waterfall with cool eyes. She leaped across without hesitation, taking five steps in a row—two fewer than Su Yan.
As a Beast Martial Soul Soul Master, Zhu Zhuqing belonged to the Agility Attack System. Her body was relatively less durable; her strengths lay in speed and attack.
Next came Tang Chi. He hesitated, and before he could even set foot on the rocks, the waterfall slapped him into the river. After a few splashes, Bibi Dong grabbed him by the collar and hauled him out.
"Saintess Instructor, I'm a tool-type Martial Soul Soul Master. Do I have to do this too?" Tang Chi squeezed his skinny arms and legs. Would they just snap apart?
"Physical toughness is the foundation of all foundations, whether you have a Beast Martial Soul or a tool-type Martial Soul." Bibi Dong set him at the starting point and said calmly, "You wouldn't want to smash down with your hammer someday and break your own hand, would you?"
Tang Chi pondered. He seemed to see a horrifying scene: his mighty hammer came crashing down, and his bloody, severed hand went flying. He shuddered, then plunged resolutely into the waterfall. He made it three steps.
Yin Fang had done all he could to prepare himself. But once he jumped in, he realized he hadn't prepared nearly enough. The first step left him almost unable to move. Su Yan, who had gone first, had actually managed seven steps. Just how powerful was his body? It was hard to imagine!
His name was Yin Fang, and now he really was flustered.
The last to take the stage was Pikachu.
It pointed its golden paw at the waterfall, then at itself, and asked uncertainly, "Pika~"
"Pikachu, you have to train with everyone else," Bibi Dong said, leaning down with a smile.
"Pika!" Pikachu jumped in surprise and took half a step back. It was as if it could see a demon lurking behind Bibi Dong's smiling face in the shadows.
It stood on the rocks, leaped, and plunged into the waterfall. It made several steps before finally stopping in front of Tang Chi. Converted to a total, it had taken four steps!
All five combat team members were in position. Bibi Dong landed on the opposite bank, took out five small bells, and fastened one to each of the five strands of Strong Spider Silk. Then she tied all the strands to the big tree behind her and shouted across the river, "Thirty-minute countdown starts now!"
Then she lit a fire, propped up two forks with pieces of wood, and laid another piece of wood across them above the flames.
Once everything was ready, she set up a beach chair beneath the parasol and reclined in it with a contented smile. She took out a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice and began to sip.
"Teacher, don't we need to time them?" Xue Ke asked.
"No." Bibi Dong set down her orange juice and glanced at the bubbling, unidentified drink across from her. "If I simply told them to hold on until they reached their limits, what would you do?"
"Me?" Xue Ke bit the end of her pen and thought for a moment. "I'd probably stop when I felt I couldn't hold on anymore."
"When you think you can't go on, your body often still has strength left. It's a common protective mechanism." Bibi Dong kept her eyes on the others. "But once they have a clear time goal—"
"I get it!" Xue Ke exclaimed. "The goal is thirty minutes. They'll grit their teeth and hold on until the time runs out or they reach their physical limits!"
"Exactly." Bibi Dong pointed at the drink. "Is that any good?"
Xue Ke jotted down the key point, then looked up in confusion. "Teacher, what?"
"That fizzy drink. I saw Xiaoyan enjoying it, so I asked the chefs from New Divine Land to get me some."
"Teacher, why don't you try it?" Xue Ke handed her the cup.
Bibi Dong took it and drank. A never-before-felt burst of stimulation exploded in her mouth.
Her eyes widened as she stared in delight at the bubbling drink. "Smack. Too bad it isn't orange-flavored!"
Time ticked by. Nearly thirty minutes passed, but the four people and one mouse showed no sign of letting up. Bibi Dong called out, "Ten minutes left!"
Su Yan was already sitting cross-legged, in a state of selfless focus. As he received the waterfall's pressure, he circulated the Yi Jin Jing through his body.
Under such crushing pressure, every cycle was difficult, but each one brought several times the improvement it normally would.
Zhu Zhuqing caught sight of him out of the corner of her eye and tried to sit cross-legged too. It took her ages, but she finally managed to circulate her Soul Power.
Golden lightning continually seeped from Pikachu's electric sacs. The Yellow Soul Ring on its back flickered with light.
Tensing his body beneath the waterfall, Tang Chi gritted his teeth and said, "This is taking forever!"
Yin Fang's body trembled as he slowly sank lower. "I... can't go on."
Ding!
A bell rang. Bibi Dong grabbed the Strong Spider Silk and pulled Yin Fang to the bank. She wrapped him from head to toe in a bath towel, then looped the silk over the wood above the fire and hung him over the flames.
In short, she dried him off.
Thirty minutes later, Tang Chi let out his last breath and fell into the water, becoming the second person to be dried off.
Another thirty minutes passed before Zhu Zhuqing and Pikachu ran out of strength at the same time and fell into the river.
Only Su Yan remained beneath the waterfall.
Su Yan felt himself entering a very unusual state of meditation, as if he had become the mountain, the water, and the river.
His meridians were like the waterfall, pouring Soul Power out without end.
And the place in his dantian where his Soul Power gathered was like the river, receiving that power before sending it onward through all his limbs and bones.
He suddenly opened his eyes and slowly stood up. As everyone watched in bewilderment, he took another step forward.
The eighth step!
Before you continue