"Bro, what are you thinking about?" Tang Wuyue's voice pulled Lu Chuan back to reality.
Lu Chuan came to his senses,
lowered his head to look at his younger sister beside him,
and smiled:
"I was thinking about what to have for dinner."
"Liar."
Tang Wuyue didn't believe him,
"Your expression just now clearly said you were thinking about something really important!"
"Was it? Could anything be more important than you? Come on, your big brother will take you to get something delicious."
Lu Chuan smiled,
pinched the little girl's cheek,
then slung an arm around her shoulders
and headed toward Eastsea Academy.
As it turned out,
the little girl was very easy to placate,
and one sentence from Lu Chuan had her smiling from ear to ear and obediently doing as he said.
The two walked out of the park side by side,
and by then,
the sun was setting,
the afterglow stretching their shadows long, long behind them.
Unbeknownst to them,
in the branches of a great tree in the distance,
Xie Xie had circled back after leaving.
She crouched quietly on a branch,
her dark green eyes watching the two figures recede into the distance,
the Light Dragon Dagger and Shadow Dragon Dagger spinning in her hands,
intense Soul Power fluctuations rippling around her.
"Lu Chuan..."
"One day, I'll defeat you."
Early the next morning, before the sky had fully brightened,
Lu Chuan was hugging his blanket and dreaming sweetly.
In his dream, he was cuddling the Silver Dragon King, who had regained her memories, and kissing her,
when the next second,
a loud crash rang out,
and the dormitory door was kicked open.
Sensing danger,
Lu Chuan jolted upright almost instantly.
When he opened his eyes,
he saw the door flying toward him.
He hurriedly leapt out of bed to dodge,
and with another crash,
the door slammed straight into the wall at the head of his bed!
One could only imagine—
if Lu Chuan hadn't dodged just now,
that handsome face of his
would probably have been ruined!
"Who the hell is this, barging in so early in the morning?!"
Fury flared in Lu Chuan's eyes,
and a terrifying surge of blood and qi burst from his body.
In that instant,
the air itself was wrenched and warped out of shape.
He looked toward the doorway,
where someone was standing.
White clothes like snow,
long, dark hair cascading over her shoulders,
and a breathtakingly beautiful face bearing an icy expression.
She gazed silently at Lu Chuan.
Who else could it be but Wu Zhangkong?
Only today,
her gaze was exceptionally sharp, as if she had a knife hidden in it.
Even with Lu Chuan brimming with rage,
her expression didn't change. In fact, she seemed to be waiting for him to defy his teacher and commit an act of disrespect.
"Get dressed and meet me on the field. You have three minutes. If you're late, today's training doubles."
Wu Zhangkong's red lips parted.
After dropping those words,
she turned and left,
her clothes fluttering as she left behind a trace of cool, delicate fragrance.
How could a woman be so cool!
Lu Chuan froze for a second,
and half his anger vanished at once.
With an aloof goddess as his teacher,
what could he do?
With his current cultivation,
he obviously couldn't get his revenge by crushing her outright!
He sprang up as if his ass were on fire and hurriedly pulled on his clothes.
For now, Lu Chuan swallowed his anger.
Once another layer of his self-seal was broken,
he would absolutely settle the score with Wu Zhangkong!
He hurried,
rushing toward the field.
Three minutes?
That wasn't even enough time to wash up!
But under Wu Zhangkong's pressure,
Lu Chuan made a rare breakthrough past his limits.
By the time he reached the field, panting,
Wu Zhangkong was already standing there.
The morning breeze stirred her white dress and long hair.
She stood with her hands behind her back,
her tall, straight figure
like a cold sword drawn from its sheath!
But unlike yesterday,
neatly arranged on the ground at her feet was a row of things—
four Gravity Rings,
two pairs of Iron Chain Leg Weights,
a Metal Vest that looked incredibly heavy,
and... a Willow Switch that seemed to do little damage but was intensely humiliating.
That's right, a Willow Switch.
Thin and long, with excellent flexibility,
Wu Zhangkong had even soaked it in chili water
and infused it with icy Soul Power.
One look was enough to tell what it would feel like to be struck by it.
Soul Masters might not fear pain, but they definitely cared about their dignity!
When Lu Chuan saw the items, his pupils trembled.
He looked at Wu Zhangkong in confusion, his voice quivering slightly:
"Teacher... what are these...?"
Wu Zhangkong faced Lu Chuan and explained simply:
"After our fight yesterday, I went back and thought it over. My training methods for the others might be too gentle for you."
"A nine-year-old Soul Elder is an absolute genius across the entire continent."
"But being a genius doesn't mean you're invincible.
Talent is only the starting point. How far you can go depends on the trials you endure afterward.
There are plenty of people with Innate Full Soul Power or Twin Martial Souls who still end up as good-for-nothings.
Since you have this talent, and you've also met me, I can't let it go to waste in my hands."
Wu Zhangkong spoke calmly, her voice cool and clear as water.
She bent down, picked up the Metal Vest, and casually tossed it to Lu Chuan.
Lu Chuan instinctively reached out to catch it.
"Thud!"
The vest crashed into his arms.
Caught off guard,
he staggered backward two steps under its weight
and nearly fell flat on his butt.
That thing Wu Zhangkong had thrown at him... weighed at least three hundred pounds!!
"Put it on. Then wear the four Gravity Rings on your wrists and ankles, and strap on the leg weights too."
Lu Chuan pulled on the vest, feeling as if he were carrying an anvil on his back.
Next came the Gravity Rings.
Each one felt heavy in his hand,
weighing at least fifty or sixty pounds.
Once they were on, his limbs felt as heavy as lead.
Finally came the leg weights.
The moment he tightened them,
Lu Chuan felt as if his legs weren't even his own.
With the full set of gear on,
he made a rough estimate:
the extra weight was at least six hundred pounds.
For a nine-year-old child,
even one who was a Soul Elder,
a reincarnation of the Golden Dragon King,
and born with divine strength,
this was no joke.
"Teacher, isn't this a little..."
"A little what?"
Wu Zhangkong glanced at Lu Chuan coolly.
That aloof, proud gaze
made her look even more like a king than he was!
"A little... a little light." Lu Chuan's Adam's apple bobbed as he answered bitterly.
At his words, Wu Zhangkong's lips unconsciously curled up slightly.
Her smile was beautiful,
but for some reason, in Lu Chuan's eyes, it...
No matter how you looked at it, it sent a chill down your spine.
And as it turned out, things unfolded exactly as he'd expected.
Wu Zhangkong smiled. His fate was anyone's guess!
"Good. You've got some guts.
"Then today's fifty kilometers are now one hundred.
"You have an hour and a half to finish. For every minute you go over, you'll be punished with an extra kilometer."
Lu Chuan's mouth twitched at her words.
One hundred kilometers in an hour and a half?
Did she think he was a soul-guidance automobile?
But when he saw the steely look in Wu Zhangkong's eyes,
he knew there was no room for negotiation,
so he could only grit his teeth and run!
"Begin." Wu Zhangkong gave the order,
and Lu Chuan immediately set off at a run.
The moment he took his first step,
he realized the long-distance run was even more exhausting than he'd imagined!
Six hundred pounds of weight pressed down on him,
and he still had to run—
it was more than any person could bear!
Every step required him to engage every muscle in his body just to keep his balance.
At that moment,
Lu Chuan felt as if the ground beneath his feet had turned into a swamp,
and every step took a mighty effort to pull free before planting it again.
By the time he reached the twentieth kilometer,
he was drenched from head to toe.
Sweat dripped from his chin,
and his breathing was as ragged as a bellows in a forge.
By the time he reached the fortieth kilometer,
his legs had begun to tremble,
and dark spots appeared at the edges of his vision.
By the time he reached the sixtieth kilometer—
Lu Chuan could barely make out anything in front of him!
And just then,
"Smack!"
A crisp sound rang out behind him,
followed by a burning sting on his butt.
Lu Chuan stumbled and looked back.
Wu Zhangkong held a Willow Switch
and drove a soul-guidance automobile,
following three or four meters behind him at an unhurried pace,
her expression calm and unruffled.
"You've slowed down. I told you that going over the time limit would mean extra punishment. But if you slow down now, the road ahead will only get harder."
"Teacher, you really hit me with a Willow Switch?!" Lu Chuan asked incredulously.
"Got a problem with that?"
"I do!"
As soon as the words left his mouth,
"Smack!" She hit him again, this time on the butt.
"Keep your complaints to yourself. Keep running."
Lu Chuan gritted his teeth,
enduring the burning pain in his butt,
and forced himself to pick up the pace.
By the time he reached the eightieth kilometer,
Lu Chuan felt like he was about to reach heaven!
The road ahead wavered,
as if an earthquake were about to strike and carry him away.
All he could hear was his own ragged breathing,
and his heart pounding like a drum.
Sweat ran into his eyes,
stinging like mad,
but he barely had the strength left to raise a hand and wipe it away.
His foot caught on something he couldn't see,
and he pitched forward—
The mighty Golden Dragon King was so exhausted he could trip over some nameless thing on the road.
That showed just how tired he was!
But—
Instead of the hard ground he expected,
he fell face-first into something soft and warm.
Lu Chuan lifted his head groggily,
and Wu Zhangkong's face appeared right before his eyes.
She didn't seem quite so icy now. There was even a little flush in her cheeks.
Before you continue