Since the trials had stopped issuing tasks that required her to run until her legs gave out,
Ning Rongrong had no desire to make herself suffer for nothing.
She ran three laps, just to test the waters.
She had just been about to head back to her room to cultivate when she suddenly received another trial notification.
"Battle God's Eleventh Trial: I'll Forge My Future with My Own Two Hands."
"As the Battle God's inheritor, you must be well-versed in the martial virtues. Train your fists."
"Go to Seven Treasure Forest and punch through a hundred-year-old Red Leaf Parasol Tree with your bare hands."
"Time limit: one month."
After hearing the trial's requirements, Ning Rongrong nearly choked on her own saliva.
What was a Red Leaf Parasol Tree?
A Plant-type Soul Beast with no offensive abilities whatsoever.
Its only notable trait was how quickly it grew.
A ten-year-old Red Leaf Parasol Tree could grow as thick as a bowl and over ten meters tall.
As for a hundred-year-old Red Leaf Parasol Tree, not a single one stood under fifty meters, and its trunk could grow thick enough for two adults to wrap their arms around it.
That was also why the sect's idea of raising Soul Beasts in captivity could be put into practice so quickly.
They only had to plant a batch of Red Leaf Parasol Trees, and a few decades later, they would have a whole forest.
These trees were the sort that would grow as long as you watered them.
"You want... me to punch through a hundred-year-old Red Leaf Parasol Tree?"
Forget a Red Leaf Parasol Tree—even punching through the crooked tree outside her home would be a struggle.
With just one month, Ning Rongrong had no hope of completing the trial.
"Wait... that's not right. Didn't I also get a force-generating technique called Super Strength?"
"If I master it, won't I be able to do this?"
There was no point wishing when she could act. Ning Rongrong reviewed the instructions for Super Strength in her mind as she headed toward Seven Treasure Forest with Little Bear.
With a Hundred-Year Dark Gold Terrorclaw Bear by her side, the Soul Beasts in Seven Treasure Forest were no threat at all.
Besides, she had no intention of venturing deep inside. She only needed to find a Red Leaf Parasol Tree near the edge of the forest.
"Climbing trees? Stepping on water?"
"Oh, so to master Super Strength, I first have to improve the precision of my Soul Power control!"
"As expected of the Battle God. What a subtle way to improve Soul Power control."
"..."
Ning Fengzhi, his face bruised and swollen, watched Ning Rongrong repeatedly try to climb the tree using only her legs. Sword and Bone, who had come along with him, looked just as baffled.
"What is that girl up to now?"
Unlike Gu Rong, who was simply confused, Ning Fengzhi was far more concerned.
If running laps around the sect had merely been a way to build up her physical strength, then beating herself up and climbing trees by walking on them with her legs were both beyond the bounds of common sense.
In Ning Fengzhi's eyes, something had to have happened to his daughter that he didn't know about.
"Looks like I'll have to ask Rongrong about it when she gets back."
"Yeah. Ever since we returned from Soul Hunting, the girl's been acting strangely. We should ask her."
At dusk, Ning Rongrong returned to the sect, rubbing her swollen backside.
Ning Fengzhi had already been waiting outside her room for a long time.
Ning Rongrong thought her father had come to demand an explanation for the beating she'd given him that morning, and an awkward smile immediately spread across her face.
"Heh, heh."
"Father, you're looking much better."
"Mm. Come inside."
They entered the room one after the other. Ning Fengzhi glanced at his daughter's mud-stained skirt, then asked solemnly:
"Tell me, why have you been doing all this lately?"
"Huh? Doing what?"
Ning Rongrong's eyes darted around as she instinctively tried to hide the Battle God trials, but there was no fooling the wily old fox Ning Fengzhi.
"I'm asking why you've been running laps around the sect."
Ning Rongrong shrank her neck.
"Of course it's to train my body."
"Then why did you attack your father? And why were you climbing a Red Leaf Parasol Tree just now?"
Faced with Ning Fengzhi's barrage of questions, Ning Rongrong—who had been ready to offer a few excuses—immediately ran out of ideas.
She sighed, then decided it was better to come clean.
It wasn't as if her father would go around telling everyone.
"Father, have you ever heard of gods?"
"Gods?"
"I've heard a little about them. Isn't there an Angel God behind Spirit Hall?"
"Father, I've been chosen by a god too."
"What!"
Ning Fengzhi had barely sat down when he sprang to his feet. His voice even turned a little shrill.
He couldn't believe his ears. His daughter, who did nothing but eat, drink, have fun, and play pranks, had been chosen by a god.
Though it might have been a little impolite, he still wanted to ask which god had such poor judgment.
Ning Rongrong caught every change in her father's expression and stamped her foot in displeasure.
"Dad, what's that supposed to mean?"
"Who are you looking down on?"
"Take a look at my Soul Power before you say anything."
Without hesitation, Ning Rongrong pulled a crystal ball from her Soul Tool. As she poured Soul Power into it, the device—which could measure levels below Soul Elder—stopped at the mark for level 26.
This was also thanks to the hundred days of cultivation she had just received as a reward for completing the Tenth Trial. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been able to raise her Soul Power to level 26.
The sight was truly astonishing to Ning Fengzhi.
His daughter had only obtained her Second Soul Ring three months ago. By normal standards, she should have been level 23 at most.
Yet she had broken through to level 26.
Ning Fengzhi walked over to his daughter with a serious expression and placed a hand on her shoulder to examine her. Only after finding that her Soul Power was solid and showed no sign of instability did he finally relax.
"What does that have to do with anything?"
"It's the God Trial! Didn't I already tell you that a god chose me? Completing the god's trials rewards me with cultivation and extra years on my Soul Rings."
"Don't be fooled just because both my Soul Rings are still a hundred years old."
"My First Soul Ring is already close to six hundred years, and my Second Soul Ring is nearly eight hundred."
"Gasp..."
One unbelievable thing after another appeared before him. Even Ning Fengzhi, the sect master, was a little dumbfounded.
But he soon sank into wild joy.
Aside from being chosen by a god, there was no other explanation for all the strange things happening to his daughter.
"Wonderful... simply wonderful!"
"Can you tell me which god chose you?"
"The Battle God, a god who lives for battle."
Ning Fengzhi: "..."
Although he was still baffled that the Battle God had chosen his daughter, a support-type Soul Master, the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect had no choice but to support Ning Rongrong in completing her trials.
They even arranged for top-tier nutritionists and masseurs to take care of her.
As her exercise increased, Ning Rongrong's appetite grew exponentially.
Now that he knew why, Ning Fengzhi naturally had to make sure she got proper nutrition.
With nothing left to worry about, Ning Rongrong could devote even more energy to mastering Super Strength.
Half a month later, Ning Rongrong punched a crater into the trunk of a hundred-year-old Red Leaf Parasol Tree. Ning Fengzhi, Sword, and Bone all looked satisfied.
"The Battle God's combat techniques truly are extraordinary."
"To think they could give Rongrong, a support-type Soul Master, this kind of strength."
Chen Xin nodded. The technique of concentrating all one's Soul Power into a single point was truly remarkable.
Ning Rongrong had only just mastered the basics. Its power would only grow greater from here.
And it wasn't just Ning Rongrong who could benefit from it. Even Ning Fengzhi had gained some insight from Super Strength.
In other words, he could use this move too.
Before you continue