Old Lady Zhou Appears

Before his eyes lay a small Soul Fighting Arena about ten zhang in diameter, its floor paved with extremely hard iron essence, laid out in neat, uniform blocks.

In the center of the arena stood a metal training stake, its surface scarred with numerous sword marks, saber gashes, staff dents, and traces left by some kind of beast.

It was clearly the work of both Tool Soul Masters and Beast Soul Masters.

"I won't be using this stake, lest someone deduce my strength and trump cards from it."

Pulling out the original stake, Feng Piaoling retrieved a specialized iron stake he had brought from the Crown Prince's Mansion from his storage Soul Tool and placed it into the groove meant for the training stake.

This stake was so sturdy that even a Soul Saint would struggle to snap it in one blow, making it the perfect target.

Releasing the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Right Palm Bone, Feng Piaoling took a slow breath and slashed out with a claw.

Ssh!

The Dark Gold Terrorclaw transformed into a blade of light, tearing through the air and carving five deep grooves into the training stake.

Since he did not yet know the power of his other External Soul Bone, he released the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear Left Palm Bone and slashed out, leaving five significantly shallower marks on the iron.

It was worth noting that the blade of light emitted by the left-hand Dark Gold Terrorclaw struck the stake sooner than the one from the right.

"Hmm, the right palm bone is about thirty percent more powerful than the left, and in terms of raw force, it even exceeds the final move of the Nine Gale Swords, Wind Flower Snow Moon, by several times. However, in terms of attack speed, the left palm bone is thirty percent faster. As expected of an External Soul Bone from a Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear; even at five thousand years, it is not something ordinary ten-thousand-year soul skills can compare to."

Feng Piaoling was quite satisfied with the power of both the left and right Dark Gold Terrorclaw palm bones.

However, compared to such rigid and purely destructive moves, Feng Piaoling still preferred flexible and versatile sword techniques.

"I have already gained a rough understanding of the soul power circulation paths when activating the Dark Gold Terrorclaws on both hands. After observing for a while longer, I should be able to create even more formidable sword techniques based on this."

"But before that, it would be best to fully fuse these two External Soul Bones with my body. It just so happens that during this fusion process, I can fully observe the soul power circulation paths when releasing the Dark Gold Terrorclaws."

The Mimicry Training Ground was not very large; aside from the small Soul Fighting Arena, there was only a small platform constructed from a Soul Tool.

Sitting cross-legged on this platform usually accelerated the flow of soul power within the body, thereby indirectly increasing one's cultivation speed to a certain extent.

Feng Piaoling was long accustomed to such large-scale Soul Tools for accelerating cultivation, as the Crown Prince's Mansion had even better ones.

It was just that the actual boost to cultivation speed was not very significant; otherwise, Shrek would not have set the rent at a mere one Gold Soul Coin per day.

Feng Piaoling's method for fusing the two Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear External Soul Bones was quite simple.

He would multitask, channeling the Heaven-Reaching Demon Eye into his vision, utilizing Clone Shadow for footwork, and continuously activating the Dark Gold Terrorclaws to strike the stake from various tricky angles.

The benefit of this was that he could improve his Heaven-Reaching Demon Eye and Clone Shadow while observing the soul power circulation paths of the Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear and testing various ways to exert force.

This was all in preparation for creating new sword techniques.

Not only that, but under the effect of his golden finger, Heaven Rewards Diligence, the two Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear External Soul Bones were gradually fusing completely with Feng Piaoling's body.

During the fusion process, Feng Piaoling could clearly feel the strength and grip of his hands increasing at an incredible rate.

It felt as if he could easily crush hard pebbles with his bare hands without even using soul power.

And so, time ticked away, second by second.

When Feng Piaoling grew tired, he would sit cross-legged on the platform built by the Soul Tool and circulate the Green Lotus Sword Art to recover his soul power.

When he was hungry, he would eat some dry rations.

Afterward, he would continue to train.

The cycle repeated over and over.

By the time he finished his day of training, Feng Piaoling had already destroyed three or four of the specialized iron stakes.

Only then did he move Shrek's original stake back into its place.

He sat cross-legged on the Soul Tool platform to recover his soul power.

By the time his soul power was fully restored, it was already evening, and the sky had darkened.

Feng Piaoling walked out of Mimicry Training Ground No. 36.

Jiang Nannan had been waiting outside for a long time, sitting cross-legged in meditation. Hearing the sound of the Gate of Opening, she immediately stood up to greet him.

"You've been waiting a long time, haven't you?" Feng Piaoling gave a faint smile.

Jiang Nannan shook her head. Looking at Feng Piaoling's school uniform, which was soaked through with sweat, his slightly messy black hair, and his handsome face—which even the beads of sweat could not hide—she remarked with some emotion:

"No wonder Benefactor is so young yet possesses such strength; in terms of diligence alone, no one can compare."

"All of this is just forced upon me by reality," Feng Piaoling said, leaving Jiang Nannan puzzled.

"Forced by reality... does that mean Benefactor has also encountered difficulties?" Jiang Nannan was confused. In her eyes, this benefactor of hers had money, talent, looks, a kind heart, potential, and strength.

Logically speaking, such a person should have a perfect life that everyone envied; why would he say such a thing?

"Everyone has their own difficulties; it's just that the scale and the aspects of those difficulties vary from person to person."

Feng Piaoling sighed, offering no further explanation, and turned toward the Soul Fighting Arena. "Let's go. We've already delayed long enough; it's time to go meet that Young Master Xu of the Mysterious Underworld Sect."

Jiang Nannan remained silent, feeling that what Feng Piaoling said made sense, yet she still felt somewhat lost.

Unable to make sense of it, she hurried to follow him. While feeling secretly pleased that Feng Piaoling was willing to gamble for her and Xu Sanshi, she asked with concern:

"Benefactor, you've been training all day; aren't you tired? Why not rest for a few hours before going? There's no specific time set anyway; we just need to get there before midnight, before the Soul Fighting Arena closes. Let that annoying Xu Sanshi wait there in vain."

Feng Piaoling shook his head. "It's fine, I have already rested."

"I see..."

The two of them strolled along, their voices gradually fading into the afterglow of the setting sun.

The Soul Fighting Arena was exceptionally lively tonight; not only had almost every student from the Outer Courtyard arrived, but many teachers had also come to watch. It could be considered the non-tournament soul fight that had attracted the largest audience in the history of the Shrek Academy Outer Courtyard for hundreds of years.

In the first row of the spectator stands.

"Teacher Zhou, I heard that your Class One student, Dai Huabin, lost to our Class Nine student, Feng Piaoling, last night. So, did you come here today specifically because you've taken an interest in my student?"

A female teacher, appearing to be around thirty years old, walked up to an old woman and said with a low chuckle.

The old woman wore half-rimmed glasses, her skin withered and her hair white. Her graying hair was coiled atop her head, held in place by a straight metal hairpin, giving her a fierce appearance.

She was none other than Zhou Yi, the Shrek teacher whom Feng Piaoling detested the most—bar none. In terms of how much he loathed her, she was on par with Gangzi from ten thousand years ago.

ps: Three chapters again. Any monthly tickets? Please, I need monthly tickets!