Pain and Pleasure in Hellish Training

The night passed in silence. When the morning of the next day arrived and the first rays of golden dawn spilled across the entire Sea God Pavilion, the world once again welcomed the bustle of the day.

Under that golden veil, the entire Golden Tree and Sea God Pavilion were bathed in a layer of brilliant, golden radiance.

At this moment, on the third floor of the Sea God Pavilion.

Xue Mingqing, who had spent the night in silence absorbing the spirit bone and cultivating, also woke up on his bed.

Opening his eyes, a strange brilliance flashed within them—proof that his spiritual power had been sublimated.

Having lived two lifetimes, his spiritual power was already no weaker than that of a spiritual spirit master of the same rank, and perhaps even surpassed them.

At this moment, his sea of spirit could truly be called a sea of spirit!

Previously, the total capacity of his sea of spirit, at its absolute limit, was only the size of a lake.

But now, under the absorption of the Wind Snow Evil Pupil, his spiritual power had faintly touched the edge of a boundless ocean.

Waking from his sea of spirit, Xue Mingqing instinctively raised a hand to touch the center of his brow.

He felt nothing.

"How could you possibly feel it? Use a mirror to look."

Feng Qingyang's voice came from the side. Instinctively raising his hand, Xue Mingqing caught the mirror Feng Qingyang tossed over.

Lowering his gaze, he looked into the mirror. At the center of his brow, there was no Heavenly Eye like that of Yang Jian.

At this moment, what was imprinted between Xue Mingqing's brows was a cyan-blue mark.

Externally, it looked as sharp and biting as ice and snow; internally, it was as agile and elegant as a breeze. It was, unmistakably, a vertical eye mark!

And that was the Wind Snow Evil Pupil that Xue Mingqing had obtained from absorbing and fusing with the spirit bone.

Raising an eyebrow, he casually put away the small mirror and turned to look at Feng Qingyang.

"Teacher, how can this spirit bone be so heaven-defying?"

He had already sensed it; currently, this spirit bone possessed three skills.

Wind Snow Domain, Wind Snow Divine Light, and Wind Snow Amplification.

The first skill was to open a domain that amplified himself while weakening and slowing down enemies; there was nothing much to say about that.

As for the remaining two, Xue Mingqing couldn't use them anyway, so there was no point in discussing them.

Xue Mingqing had not yet fully fused with this spirit bone, so naturally, he could not use them.

As he gradually fused with the spirit bone over time, until they became one and inseparable, the remaining skills would be unlocked and usable as a matter of course.

Although this spirit bone currently had skill locks, just for these three spirit skills alone, it could already be called heaven-defying.

One must know that this was an External Spirit Bone, which would grow alongside its master.

In short, the current three spirit skills were merely its starting point. By the time it grew to a hundred-thousand-year level, a divine artifact, or even a super-divine artifact, who knew how heaven-defying this spirit bone would become?

Hearing this, Feng Qingyang merely curled his lips.

"Slowly experience and comprehend it. One day you will know, but that day is not today."

After leaving behind a cryptic remark as his daily routine, Feng Qingyang flicked his long sleeves.

Right before Xue Mingqing's numb expression, he vanished with the wind and returned into his body.

Seeing this, what else could Xue Mingqing say? He could only close his eyes and choose to ignore Feng Qingyang's words.

He swore that one day, he would make Feng Qingyang explain every single word he said!

But for now, he looked at his own hands, felt his spirit power level of just over 15, and sighed helplessly.

"The road is long and the journey is arduous... Little Mingqing, you must continue to work hard and strive to become the true Grandpa Xue as soon as possible..."

With a light sigh, Xue Mingqing said no more and took out the cultivation resources Mu En had given him, beginning to cultivate with all his might.

Inside his body, Feng Qingyang, sensing his actions, felt the corners of his mouth hook up slightly.

"Keep going, little thing... I am waiting for the moment you recognize me."

After leaving behind a sentence that Xue Mingqing could not hear, Feng Qingyang sank into the depths of the sea of spirit and fell into a deep sleep once again.

This bone-refining process, which seemed effortless, had actually consumed a great deal for both of them. To put it bluntly, in his current state, he might sleep for a year or two.

But—

Xue Mingqing was at Shrek Academy, and with Mu En as his backer, it wasn't his place to worry about safety.

It was precisely because he understood this that Feng Qingyang had refined the bone for Xue Mingqing without regard for the cost.

He treated it as taking a long vacation for himself.

In fact, Feng Qingyang had guessed correctly. Since the day he fell asleep, Xue Mingqing, who was on his own, had indeed not encountered any danger.

However, it was truly not an easy time.

Was the Sea God Pavilion's resources so easy to take? Obviously not.

Almost the day after he took the resources, that old man Mu En came personally to train Xue Mingqing.

In the morning, the meals consisted of soul beast meat, whale glue, and other highly nourishing ingredients for cultivation.

By noon, Xue Mingqing's hellish training would begin.

The first step was pressure resistance—yes, literal pressure resistance. Mu En did not have Xue Mingqing run laps or perform other physical conditioning.

He simply used his own soul power to suppress Xue Mingqing, aiming to train both his mind and body.

The second step, occurring sometime in the afternoon, was when Mu En would wait until Xue Mingqing's body and spirit were nearly exhausted before arranging a combat assessment.

Every opponent was a soul beast Mu En had personally captured from the Star Dou Forest, and each one was no less than 1,500 years old.

It was equivalent to forcing Xue Mingqing to fight a human soul master around level 35 while his body was on the verge of collapse.

Of course, Mu En wasn't sadistic enough to make Xue Mingqing kill them while in such an exhausted state.

For this disciple in whom he placed such high hopes, Mu En only required him to fight to a draw or at least not fall behind; that was enough.

As for whether putting Xue Mingqing through this would cause any accidents, that was entirely out of the question. Not everyone was Xuan Zi, and given the importance Mu En placed on Xue Mingqing, even if he truly couldn't defeat the soul beast, Mu En would slap it to death the very moment before it could strike.

Therefore, regarding safety, Xue Mingqing had absolutely nothing to worry about.

The final third step required the physically and mentally exhausted Xue Mingqing to stay in the Mental Training Room until nightfall.

Mu En had personally vetted this training regimen; Xue Mingqing's physical constitution and mental fortitude were surprisingly high.

In other words, this entire process was specifically researched and arranged by Mu En for Xue Mingqing.

It perfectly utilized every spare moment to maximize the development of Xue Mingqing's talent and potential.

Thus, there was no possibility that Xue Mingqing's body wouldn't be able to handle it or that his foundation would be damaged.

After completing the third step, Xue Mingqing, having reached his physical and mental limits, could finally rest.

However, it wasn't true rest; "rest" here meant soaking in a medicinal bath barrel, using soul power meditation to replace sleep.

When the night passed and the sun rose the next day, Xue Mingqing would continue this hellish training cycle.

Throughout this hellish routine, Xue Mingqing was simultaneously in pain and enjoying it.

On one hand, he was tortured to the point of wanting to die by the daily grind.

On the other hand, his soul power was skyrocketing like a rocket.

It truly made him feel a mix of love and hate.

In just half a year, the seven-year-old Xue Mingqing had already reached a soul power level of 20.

Such rapid progress left even Mu En marveling in wonder.

Now, half a year later, having joined Shrek Academy midway through, he had completed his first semester.

At this moment, Xue Mingqing sat in the steaming medicinal barrel, his lean upper body—already showing the outlines of muscles—bare, wearing only his undergarments, as he completed his daily medicinal bath meditation.

Feeling the medicinal power nourishing his body, he looked toward a person standing by the barrel, having grown a bit taller himself.

It was a beautiful woman dressed in form-fitting white clothes, her graceful, voluptuous figure impossible to hide.

"Aunt Lu, I'm going home this time. Would you like to come with me?"