The Third Training

Silver Dragon King Palace.

"The third training session is to train your proficiency with your soul skills. In this phase, you must activate your soul skill the very instant you take damage. Note, the instant you take damage, not the instant before you are about to take damage."

The voice of the Silver Dragon King emanated from the puppet's mouth.

Watching someone else's voice spill from her own mouth, Ning Rongrong felt a bitter taste in her heart. Especially after training for so long, she had grown to loathe this puppet even more. Thus, she questioned:

"Is there a difference?"

"Why don't you try it and find out?"

The Silver Dragon King did not answer her question; she let out a yawn and vanished. The next instant, the puppet threw a punch. Just as it was about to strike Ning Rongrong, a brilliant purple light flared before her.

And then—

The fist stopped right in front of the barrier, not moving a single fraction.

"Eh?"

Ning Rongrong did not know what was wrong with the opponent; why had it stopped its attack?

The barrier remained before her, holding for a while longer, until Ning Rongrong's expression shifted.

Something was wrong.

The rate of her soul power consumption was wrong.

That was it. Since the opponent could control the speed at which her soul power recovered, it could naturally control the speed at which her soul power was consumed.

Clever as she was, Ning Rongrong immediately understood the purpose of this training—to minimize consumption.

If the opponent figured out her Trapped Beast technique, it could use feints to force her to waste a significant amount of soul power, eventually wearing her down to death. The probability was low, but not impossible.

Unfortunately, Ning Rongrong's assessment was not comprehensive.

The puppet's hand lightly touched the barrier, and in that split second, Ning Rongrong felt an incredibly faint force surge into her body. The next second, the barrier shattered, and the puppet gathered strength for another punch. This blow looked quite powerful, and Ning Rongrong's soul power was no longer sufficient to use Trapped Beast again!

In fact, this punch landed with considerable force against Ning Rongrong's body, sending her flying backward several meters.

"Again!"

Ning Rongrong refused to accept defeat. She climbed back up, and the soul power within her body became full once more.

This time, she also performed a feint, pretending to release the barrier when she actually did not.

The opponent, however, gave her no face; it was a real strike.

Ning Rongrong went flying again.

"Again!"

"Again!"

"Again."

"Again..."

"A..."

The fifth set of training passed, and Ning Rongrong had not made the slightest bit of progress.

Feints did not work, and using offense as defense failed as well. She had tried every strategy she could think of to break the deadlock, yet she only produced one blunder after another.

It seemed as if the only way to turn defeat into victory was to follow the Silver Dragon King's instructions and use the skill the very instant she took damage.

Yet, Ning Rongrong could not understand what was meant by "the instant she took damage," nor how doing so could still absorb power.

An hour passed quickly, and Ning Rongrong still had not found the answer.

In this phase, she had already failed 72 times.

As for the Silver Dragon King, she did not care in the slightest, remaining steadfast in the principle of "no leaving until the task is complete."

Thinking about it, the others from Shrek must have returned by now.

Ning Rongrong climbed up from the ground, thinking pessimistically.

The puppet's attack arrived. For some reason, Ning Rongrong suddenly recalled her experience during the Saintess Ritual; that move was called... Perfect Dodge?

Perfect Dodge—was there any difference between that and the dodging she had been doing just now?

It was the limit.

During the process of a Perfect Dodge, she could feel the scythe touching the tip of her nose, not just about to touch the tip of her nose.

So, this was the "instant she took damage"!

Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up. She timed it perfectly, suppressing her impulse the moment the fist was about to strike her, and then activated Trapped Beast the very instant the fist made contact.

A massive force surged into her body, and her right fist swung into the puppet's face.

Just as she was full of confidence, feeling that she could pass this training—the puppet also instantly released Trapped Beast, then gathered power and struck at her.

Ning Rongrong had already lost her composure, so it was naturally impossible for her to release a second perfect Trapped Beast, and she went flying backward once more.

However, she had finally touched the threshold of passing. Not long after, she finally endured through the third training session.

Ning Rongrong felt that her mastery over her soul skills had reached a terrifying level. Even if a pebble were to fly toward her now, she could easily activate Trapped Beast the instant the pebble landed on her, deflecting it with minimal consumption.

At this moment, she was suddenly filled with confidence about passing the next training session.

"Your Highness Silver Dragon King, what is the next test?"

The puppet's eyes turned purple again, a sign that the Silver Dragon King was controlling it.

The puppet looked at Ning Rongrong, tilted its head to ponder for a moment, and then spoke.

"Do you remember what you trained on today?"

"Of course." Ning Rongrong puffed out her chest. "The first item trained my physical fitness, the second strengthened my mental power, and the third improved my mastery of Soul Skills."

"Then, what do you think the fourth item is?" The Silver Dragon King's voice carried a hint of teasing, making Ning Rongrong feel a bit uneasy.

She tentatively asked, "Soul Power?"

The puppet shook its head and said, "We don't need to worry about Soul Power. For the next training, the puppet will unlock its fourth Soul Ring. Your task is to learn the puppet's fourth Soul Skill, and afterward, awaken this skill within your own fourth Soul Ring."

Ning Rongrong stared into the puppet's eyes, and it was a long while before she opened her mouth: "Your Highness, are you not joking? How could you know that my fourth Soul Skill will be the same as the puppet's?"

The puppet blinked and said, "This is my palace. When you reach level 40 and come here, I can naturally help you condense your fourth Soul Ring, and the Soul Skill will naturally be the same as the puppet's."

"How can you be so sure that I will come here when I am level 40?"

"You don't need to concern yourself with that. Regardless, you will come here when you are level 40, just as I knew you would appear in the Star Dou Great Forest at this time."

Ning Rongrong nodded blankly; it seemed a bit strange, yet it also seemed to make some sense.

Where exactly was the strangeness?

As she pondered, Ning Rongrong suddenly remembered something.

She had already spent at least four hours here, and something must have changed drastically outside. If the Holy God were to control her again and discover something was amiss, using Time Reversal... then what would become of these four hours?

"Then let us begin..."

"Wait a moment, Your Highness." Ning Rongrong interrupted in time. Perhaps the Silver Dragon King was tired, or perhaps she had accepted Ning Rongrong and was now truly taking her seriously, for she did not simply leave on her own.

"What is it?"

"It's just, what if I go back out and the Holy God uses Time Reversal?"

Ning Rongrong waited in anticipation, hoping for a definitive answer like "That won't happen."

But things went against her wishes. The puppet blinked its eyes again, looking puzzled, its tone also carrying a hint of confusion:

"Time Reversal? The Holy God is already capable of such a skill?"

It was over. Ning Rongrong's heart sank; it turned out the other party didn't know about this at all.

"Ha, don't panic. Even if Time Reversal occurs, your experience won't change; it would merely mean coming here to train again. Besides, I personally don't believe the Holy God would use Time Reversal over such a trivial matter. Without further delay, let us begin the training."