Hard Training

"Right."

Ma Hongjun nodded and lay back down.

"Good night, Brother Wen."

"Mm."

Fu Wen answered and lay down too.

But he didn't sleep.

Level 18 was only a small goal.

There was still a long road ahead.

Level 20, level 30, level 40...

One ring, two rings, three rings...

Titled Douluo, Peerless Douluo, god...

Every step had to be taken with both feet on the ground.

He couldn't rush, but he couldn't dawdle either.

The moon outside the window shone brightly, casting down a swath of silvery light.

Fu Wen gazed at the moonlight beyond the window, slowly sinking into sleep.

Early the next morning, Flender learned that Fu Wen had broken through.

It wasn't Fu Wen who told him. It was Ma Hongjun.

The little fatty's mouth was faster than his brain. At breakfast, he blurted out, "Master, Brother Wen reached level 18 last night," leaving everyone at the table stunned.

"Level 18?"

Flender set down his bowl and chopsticks and looked at Fu Wen.

"Mm."

Fu Wen nodded, his expression calm. "I broke through last night."

"Good!"

Flender slapped the table and roared with laughter.

"Level 18 with one ring! And in just over three months!"

"Xiao Wen, you're advancing even faster than Xiao Ao did back in the day!"

Oscar sat across from him, his mouth stuffed with a bun. He muttered indistinctly, "Dad, could you stop using me as a cautionary tale?"

"You're not a cautionary tale. You're a point of comparison."

Flender pushed up his glasses. "You need a comparison to see the difference."

Oscar rolled his eyes and kept eating.

Zhao Wuji set down his chopsticks and gave Fu Wen a once-over.

"Xiao Wen, your aura is indeed much stronger than it was yesterday."

"But aren't you leveling up too fast?"

"Have you laid a solid foundation?"

Fu Wen nodded. "Don't worry, Teacher Zhao. My foundation is very solid."

"Before every breakthrough, I refine my Soul Power over and over. I don't chase speed; I only care about quality."

Zhao Wuji nodded in satisfaction.

"That's good."

"With cultivation, speed isn't the real skill. Stability is."

"You understand that, so I won't say more."

Li Yusong pushed up his glasses and spoke. "Xiao Wen, you're at level 18 now. At this rate, you'll be ready to break through to the Second Soul Ring in two months."

"Have you thought about what you want for your Second Soul Ring?"

Fu Wen thought for a moment, then shook his head. "Not yet."

"No rush."

Li Yusong said, "The Second Soul Ring can be over seven hundred years old. With your physical strength, you could even aim for nine hundred years. You have a much wider range to choose from than you did for the first ring."

"Take your time. There's no need to hurry."

"Understood, Teacher Li."

Fu Wen nodded.

Shao Xin came over carrying the last basket of buns and set it on the table.

"Xiao Wen, have some more. Build yourself up."

"You're still growing. You can't afford to skimp on nutrition."

"Thanks, Uncle Shao."

Fu Wen picked up a bun and took a bite.

Shao Xin's cooking was as good as ever.

Ma Hongjun leaned over and asked in a low voice, "Brother Wen, what did it feel like when you broke through last night?"

"Not much."

Fu Wen's expression didn't change. "It happened naturally."

"Just happened naturally..."

Ma Hongjun repeated the words, pondering them.

"When will it happen naturally for me?"

"First, get better at aiming with your Phoenix Holy Light Strike."

Fu Wen glanced at him. "Yesterday, you hit only six out of ten targets."

"Once you hit all ten, your Soul Power will naturally improve."

Ma Hongjun shrank back. "Got it..."

Flender watched the three boys, the corners of his mouth lifting slightly.

Shrek Academy was starting to look more and more like a proper academy.

Three days later.

At dawn, the sky had only just begun to brighten, but the sound of fists and feet striking one another already rang across Shrek Academy's training ground.

"Phoenix Holy Light Strike!"

Ma Hongjun shouted and spread his arms.

The phantom of the Evil Fire Phoenix appeared behind him, its wings condensing several golden feathers of light.

There were nearly twice as many as a month ago.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh!

The feathers of light shot out, striking the wooden targets twenty paces ahead with pinpoint accuracy.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

The targets burst apart, sending splinters flying. In the wake of the explosions, golden light spread out, sweeping away the dampness in the air.

"Nine out of ten!"

Oscar counted from the side and whistled. "Xiao Pang, your aim's pretty good!"

"One more to go."

Ma Hongjun wiped the sweat from his forehead, dissatisfied. "I won't call it good enough until I can do what Brother Wen said and hit all ten."

"How long will that take?"

"Who knows?" Ma Hongjun shook his head. "But Brother Wen said you have to take things one bite at a time and walk the road one step at a time. You can't rush it."

As they spoke, Fu Wen walked over from nearby.

He wore a neat training outfit. A faint sheen of sweat covered his forehead, and his breathing was steady.

Clearly, he'd already finished one round of training.

"Brother Wen, what did you train today?"

Ma Hongjun asked curiously.

"Fundamentals."

Fu Wen uttered the three words flatly.

"Fundamentals?"

Ma Hongjun froze. "Aren't you already level 18? Why are you still training the fundamentals?"

"No matter your level, you still have to train them."

Fu Wen glanced at him. "Soul Power is Soul Power, and the body is the body. If your Soul Power improves but your body can't keep up, it's a castle in the air. One shove and it'll fall."

Ma Hongjun nodded thoughtfully.

Oscar chimed in from the side. "Xiao Wen's right. I used to hate training the fundamentals too. I figured it was enough to raise my Soul Power. Then Teacher Zhao beat me up a few times, and I realized that if you've got Soul Power but don't know how to use it, you're just a punching bag with legs."

"A punching bag with legs..."

Ma Hongjun's mouth twitched. "Brother Ao, that's a pretty vivid comparison."

"Of course." Oscar puffed out his chest proudly. "That's the kind of wisdom you get from being beaten up."

Fu Wen ignored the two jokers, walked over to the wooden targets, crouched down, and carefully examined the marks left by Ma Hongjun's attack.

The points where the feathers had exploded were scattered around the centers of the targets. They weren't concentrated enough yet, but they were already much better than they'd been a month ago.

"Xiao Pang, your problem isn't your aim."

Fu Wen stood up and looked at Ma Hongjun. "Your problem is uneven Soul Power distribution."

"What do you mean?"

Ma Hongjun stepped closer.

"When you use your Phoenix Holy Light Strike, you send out so many feathers of light at once, but each one has different power."

Fu Wen pointed at the uneven marks on the targets:

"Look here. Some explosions dug deep, while others barely left a mark. That means your Soul Power isn't evenly distributed when you release the attack. Some are strong, some are weak. It drags down the overall power."

Ma Hongjun stared at the targets for a long while, then suddenly understood.

"No wonder! I always felt like some of the feathers hit hard, while others seemed like they were just along for the ride!"

"Exactly."

Fu Wen nodded. "For the next part of your training, don't aim for quantity. Aim for quality. Send out fewer feathers at a time and work on maximizing each one's power. Once you can precisely control how much Soul Power goes into each feather, gradually increase their number."