Refining the Five Senses

"No matter, I enjoy educating geniuses most of all."

"Feng De, level 17, one-ring Battle Spirit Master, Martial Soul: White-Footed Jumping Spider."

Seeing the sneer on his opponent's face, Lin Beiya had no intention of exchanging pleasantries. A statue appeared in his hand instantly, and his first spirit ring lit up simultaneously.

As a golden pillar of light shot into the sky, everyone present, including Shi Nuo, witnessed such a peculiar spirit skill for the first time.

The appearance of the Golden Ram left Feng De stunned on the spot.

"Kid, what is this..."

Before the words had even faded, the Aries Gold Cloth attached itself to Lin Beiya.

Facing an enemy who wouldn't take the initiative to attack, he had no intention of wasting energy on a Crystal Wall. He pressed his palms against his waist, and specks of starlight gathered between them.

"Starlight Extinction!"

The ultimate technique of Aries was an offensive skill capable of both point and area damage; against a clumsy enemy, focusing the power of the stars into a single point was most effective.

But against an enemy like Feng De who favored evasion, a scattered strike was the better choice.

As Lin Beiya pushed his hands upward, a golden rain of stars began to fall from the sky.

Feng De's pupils constricted. He hadn't expected the kid before him to be so decisive, finding a way to counter him the very first moment.

Under the state of Martial Soul Possession, he began to dodge rapidly, relying on his spider-sense.

Watching this scene unfold, Lin Beiya revealed a cold smile. Having heightened senses didn't mean one's physical reflexes could keep up; in other words, even if you sensed the attack, you couldn't dodge it.

The facts proved exactly that. After three seconds of twisting and turning, Feng De was struck in the shoulder by the first beam of light, followed immediately by a saturated bombardment.

Screams erupted on the spirit fighting stage. When the light rain ceased, only the unconscious Feng De remained on the ground. He was in a miserable state; the standard uniform issued by the academy was tattered, and his body was covered in bruises.

It was only a spirit fight, and Lin Beiya hadn't dealt a lethal blow; he had kept the power of Starlight Extinction within a very reasonable range.

It was enough to teach Feng De, who wanted to bully the weak, a lesson without taking his life.

"Hey."

He called out to Feng De's companions, and the group looked at Lin Beiya with fearful eyes.

"Wh-what is it? This guy did this to himself... it has nothing to do with..."

"Hurry up and drag him to the infirmary, he's too noisy!"

Lin Beiya scratched his ear and jumped off the stage, leaving the training ground together with Shi Nuo, who looked at him with worshipful eyes.

The surrounding students were left standing there in a daze; this was the most ferocious first-year student they had ever seen in their lives.

The few people on the stage looked at each other, swallowed hard, and then carried Feng De's limbs toward the infirmary.

"That was too amazing, Beiya!"

"Average, just average. You'll be able to do it too in the future."

"No way, that guy had a first spirit ring and was still played like a fiddle. It's just because you're strong."

After being complimented by Shi Nuo for a while, even Lin Beiya felt a bit embarrassed, so he quickly changed the subject.

"Did the academy say when they would organize a group spirit hunt?"

"Hmm, it seems to be after the holidays. The academy organizes two spirit hunts every year. At that time, teachers will take students who have reached their bottlenecks to hunt spirits. Of course, those with high-level spirit masters in their families can also go hunt spirits on their own."

Lin Beiya nodded. Organizing two spirit hunts a year was very reasonable; it could ensure that no child would have to wait too long at a bottleneck, especially since there were many children from orphanages in the academy.

Arriving at the dormitory entrance, Lin Beiya waved goodbye to Shi Nuo. He had told him while packing his luggage that he wouldn't be living at the academy. Shi Nuo understood that he had joined the Douluo Hall, so living there was perfectly acceptable. He was already satisfied enough to be attending school with his good brother.

In truth, if Lin Beiya wanted to, he could have asked Qian Daoliu for permission to live at the academy, but staying there only meant being with the little fatty Shi Nuo—how could that compare to the comfort of being accompanied by a soft and cute little angel?

Days passed, and Lin Beiya settled into a routine of traveling between two points: leaving every morning for classes at the Martial Soul Primary Academy, and returning to the Douluo Hall to cultivate his spirit power after having lunch with Shi Nuo.

Because of school, Lin Beiya and Qian Renxue had agreed to meet after dinner, when the little angel finished her daily swordsmanship lessons and could spare the time.

On this day, Qian Renxue and Lin Beiya had arranged to meet at the garden pavilion as usual.

She waited for a long time before seeing him stumbling toward her.

That's right, he was feeling his way over.

Lin Beiya's eyes were currently covered by a bandage, and he was groping his way toward the pavilion based on memory.

Seeing this, Qian Renxue felt a surge of anxiety and rushed to his side to ask:

"Beiya, what happened to you? Are your eyes injured?"

The anxious tone warmed Lin Beiya's heart. He waved his hand and explained:

"I am training myself to be able to act as usual even without the use of my vision."

Hearing this, Qian Renxue breathed a sigh of relief, though she asked with full confusion:

"Ah? Why are you pretending to be blind when you're perfectly fine?"

"What do you know? Sometimes eyes can deceive you, but the heart cannot. Only those with a clear perception of the five senses can remain invincible at all times."

The little angel curled her lip. It sounded reasonable enough, but could he please lower those hands that were flailing about like a zombie before they discussed philosophy? It was hard for this young lady to believe he wasn't just trying to swindle her.

Successfully touching the stone pillar of the pavilion, Lin Beiya revealed a satisfied smile; it seemed that training his heart-sense this way was indeed effective.

Pulling down the blindfold, Qian Renxue's pretty face, currently wearing a look of disdain, instantly appeared before him. Lin Beiya knew his movements just now had been a bit unsightly, but he had only just started, hadn't he? Being able to do this much was already quite good.

"Stop staring, hand over the Gold Cloth first. This young lady still needs to comprehend those combat techniques!"

"Fine, here you go!"

Donning the Gold Cloth, the little angel's face lit up with joy as she immediately began to manifest a Crystal Wall. She was extremely interested in a move that could defeat her while she was a higher rank without the slightest effort.

Meanwhile, Lin Beiya continued to sit cross-legged in the pavilion to train his hearing. He closed his eyes, using his ears to listen to the subtle movements in his surroundings until he could distinguish every living thing in the garden; this was the goal he had set for himself.

Only by training the five senses to their absolute limit was there a possibility of awakening the Cosmo. Lin Beiya was very clear on this point.

The scene of the two little ones training separately was quite harmonious, causing Qian Daoliu, who was observing from not far away, to nod to himself. The fact that his granddaughter lacked playmates of her own age had always been a source of distress for him, but this had been successfully resolved with the arrival of Lin Beiya.

Yet, now that she had a playmate, Qian Daoliu began to worry about Qian Renxue's cultivation progress, fearing that his granddaughter might squander her talent.

But as it stood, spending time with Lin Beiya not only made his granddaughter more lively, but the two had also formed a healthy competitive relationship, a point that left Qian Daoliu very satisfied.

After inspecting Lin Beiya's movements, although he did not know what use the so-called five-sense training the boy spoke of had, he did not intend to interfere. What if it was something guided by the boy's peculiar Martial Soul?