Third Training

The Silver Dragon King Palace.

"The third training is to improve your mastery of Soul Skills. In this stage, you must activate your Soul Skill the instant you're hurt. Pay attention: the instant you're hurt, not the instant you're about to be hurt."

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

Watching someone else's voice come out of her own mouth, Ning Rongrong felt deeply uncomfortable. Especially after training for so long, she hated this puppet even more. So she challenged her:

"What's the difference?"

"Why not try it and see?"

The Silver Dragon King didn't answer her question. She yawned, then vanished. The next instant, the puppet swung a punch. Just as it was about to hit Ning Rongrong, purple light flared before her.

Then—

The fist stopped in front of the barrier, not moving an inch.

"Huh?"

Ning Rongrong didn't know what was wrong with her opponent. Why had it stopped attacking?

The barrier remained in front of her. After it held for a little while longer, Ning Rongrong's expression changed.

Something was wrong.

Her Soul Power was being drained at the wrong rate.

That was it. If her opponent could control how quickly her Soul Power recovered, then of course it could control how quickly it was consumed, too.

Clever as she was, Ning Rongrong immediately understood the point of this training: reduce her consumption.

If her opponent figured out her Trapped Beast move, it could use feints to make her waste a great deal of Soul Power, then wear her down until she was spent. The chance was small, but it wasn't impossible.

Unfortunately, Ning Rongrong hadn't thought it through.

The puppet lightly touched the barrier. In an instant, Ning Rongrong felt an exceedingly faint power surge into her body. The next second, the barrier shattered. The puppet gathered another punch, and this one looked quite powerful. Ning Rongrong no longer had enough Soul Power to use Trapped Beast again!

And in truth, the punch struck Ning Rongrong with considerable force, sending her flying several meters.

"Again!"

Ning Rongrong refused to give up. She got back to her feet, and the Soul Power inside her had replenished.

This time, she tried a feint, pretending to put up a barrier but actually not doing so.

Her opponent showed no mercy. It really hit her.

Ning Rongrong went flying again.

"Again!"

"Again!"

"Again."

"Again..."

"Ag..."

The fifth training set passed, and Ning Rongrong had made no progress at all.

Feints didn't work, and neither did using offense as a defense. She tried every way she could think of to break through, but one foolish move followed another.

It seemed she could only turn the tables by using her skill the way the Silver Dragon King had said: the instant she was hurt.

But Ning Rongrong didn't understand at all—not what it meant to be hurt in that instant, nor how doing so could still let her absorb power.

An hour passed quickly, but Ning Rongrong still hadn't found the answer.

She had already failed at this seventy-two times.

The Silver Dragon King didn't care in the slightest, sticking to her principle that she wouldn't let Ning Rongrong leave until the task was completed.

The others from Shrek had probably gone back by now.

Ning Rongrong climbed to her feet and thought gloomily.

The puppet's attack was already upon her. For some reason, Ning Rongrong suddenly thought of her experience during the Saintess Ritual. That move had been called... Perfect Dodge?

Perfect Dodge and the way she'd dodged just now—was there a difference?

The limit.

During Perfect Dodge, she could feel the sickle touch the tip of her nose, rather than feel that it was just about to touch it.

So that was what it meant to be hurt in that instant!

Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up. She picked the right moment, suppressing the urge to move when the fist was just about to hit her, then activated Trapped Beast the instant the fist touched her.

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

Just as she was brimming with confidence, thinking she could pass this training, the puppet activated Trapped Beast as well and gathered power to strike at her.

Ning Rongrong was already flustered, so there was no way she could unleash a second perfect Trapped Beast. She went flying again.

But she had gotten her foot in the door. Before long, she finally endured the third training.

Ning Rongrong felt that her mastery of Soul Skills had reached a frightening level. Even if a pebble flew at her right then, she could easily activate Trapped Beast the instant it struck her and knock it away with very little expenditure.

At that moment, she suddenly felt confident about passing the next training.

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

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

The puppet looked at Ning Rongrong, then raised its head and thought for a moment before speaking.

"Do you remember what you trained today?"

"Of course." Ning Rongrong puffed out her chest. "The first training improved 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 will be?" A hint of teasing entered the Silver Dragon King's voice, making Ning Rongrong feel a little uneasy.

She ventured a guess. "Soul Power?"

The puppet shook its head. "We don't need to concern ourselves with Soul Power. In the next training, the puppet will unlock its fourth Soul Ring. Your task is to learn its fourth Soul Skill, then awaken that same skill when your fourth Soul Ring awakens."

Ning Rongrong stared into the puppet's eyes. Only after a long while did she open her mouth. "Your Highness, are you joking? How could you know my fourth Soul Skill will be the same as the puppet's?"

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

"How can you be certain I'll come here when I reach level forty?"

"You don't need to worry about that. You'll come here when you reach level forty, just as I knew you'd appear in the Star Dou Great Forest at this time."

Ning Rongrong nodded in a daze. It seemed a little strange, but also made some sense.

But what exactly was strange about it?

As she thought, Ning Rongrong suddenly remembered something.

She had already spent at least four hours here. Something major must have happened outside. What if, when the Holy God controlled her again, the Holy God noticed something was wrong and used time reversal... What would those four hours mean then?

"Then let's begin..."

"Wait, Your Highness." Ning Rongrong quickly interrupted. Perhaps the Silver Dragon King was tired, or perhaps she had accepted Ning Rongrong and was finally taking her seriously. This time, she didn't just leave on her own.

"What is it?"

"I mean, what if the Holy God uses time reversal after I go out?"

Ning Rongrong waited, hoping the other would give her a definite answer like, "That won't happen."

But things didn't go as she hoped. The puppet blinked again, looking puzzled, its voice tinged with confusion as well.

"Time reversal? The Holy God already knows that skill?"

It was over. Ning Rongrong's heart sank. The other had no idea about it at all.

"Ha, don't panic. Even if time is reversed, your experience won't disappear. You can simply come back here and train again. Besides, I don't think the Holy God would use time reversal over something so trivial. There's no time to waste. Let's begin the training."