Changing Course

But when you were under someone else's roof, you had no choice but to lower your head. In the end, he still tactfully added, "I'm sorry. I won't ever do it again."

Only after hearing Yu Xiaogang confirm his apology again did Ning Rongrong's mood fully improve. Then her gaze shifted and landed on the woman in the dark-blue maid uniform beside Qian Ren Shuang.

"Who is this?" Ning Rongrong tilted her head, curiously sizing up Xiang Ya. She had noticed this unfamiliar woman when Qian Ren Shuang arrived earlier, but she had never found the chance to ask.

Her gaze lingered on Xiang Ya's face for two seconds, then flicked back to Qian Ren Shuang's face, carrying a faint, almost imperceptible scrutiny.

"Picked her up on the road after intercepting her from human traffickers," Qian Ren Shuang repeated the excuse smoothly. Then he turned his head and instructed Xiang Ya, "Clean up this room."

"Yes, young master," Xiang Ya answered. She rolled up her sleeves and began briskly tidying Ning Rongrong's dorm room, which was so messy there was nowhere to set foot. Her movements were clean and efficient—folding the quilt, organizing the desk, sweeping the floor, wiping the windows—all in one smooth flow.

"Grandmaster, you can leave first." Seeing Yu Xiaogang still standing motionless at the doorway, Ning Rongrong gave the order to leave without the slightest politeness. "I have some things I want to ask Qian Ren Shuang alone."

"Hurry up, hurry up!" Guilmon, meanwhile, nudged Yu Xiaogang out from the doorway with its head like it was herding a chicken. Helpless, Yu Xiaogang could only limp away.

Once Yu Xiaogang had gone far enough, Ning Rongrong stretched out both hands and turned Qian Ren Shuang's face so he was looking directly at her. She looked up at him, then asked seriously, "Qian Ren Shuang, running really is too exhausting... but I don't want to fall too far behind the other students. Do you know any training method that suits me?"

She stood a little closer than usual, close enough that Qian Ren Shuang could smell the faint scent of soapberry on her.

Qian Ren Shuang lowered his head and looked at the small face before him, noticing that much of the redness and swelling around her eyes had faded. He answered, "Before rank forty-one, just cultivate your soul power. After rank forty-one, practice that multitasking thing your family has."

"It's called the Distraction Control Method!" Ning Rongrong cared a great deal about her family's secret technique being called by the wrong name. She shot him a glare, her tone full of exasperation. "What multitasking? That sounds awful!"

Qian Ren Shuang rolled his eyes. People in this Douluo World just loved playing word games—when it was clearly the same thing, they still had to nitpick over the name.

For example, when someone had just obtained a soul ring and had 100 attack power, activating the soul ring might add another 50 points, so that person would say, "It can increase attack power by 50%."

Later, when their base stats rose to two hundred, then three hundred, they would completely ignore how diluted that extra 50 attack power had become and still say, "It can increase attack power by 50%."

Qian Ren Shuang was too lazy to argue. He turned to leave. "Then I'm going back to my room to cultivate my soul power rank. See you."

"Wait!" Ning Rongrong called out to stop him, her voice a little more anxious than before. She hurriedly reached out and grabbed Qian Ren Shuang's wrist, then quickly let go. The expression on her face shifted from proud and spoiled to puzzled. "My father always tells me to practice the Distraction Control Method first. Why do you want me to wait until after I'm a Soul Ancestor to practice it?"

Qian Ren Shuang stopped and turned around. He did not answer immediately, but instead asked, "Do you know why soul masters all go out to gain experience after rank forty-one?"

His gaze fell on Ning Rongrong's face, and he saw those almond-shaped eyes staring at him without blinking, bright and shining, like the two purest stars in the night sky.

"I don't know. Why?" Ning Rongrong tilted her head, her almond-shaped eyes filled with confusion. Clearly, she could not understand how these two seemingly unrelated questions had become connected.

"Because after rank forty-one, talent accounts for a smaller and smaller portion of the speed of soul power improvement." Qian Ren Shuang turned fully toward her and, looking into those eyes made bright by curiosity, voiced his conjecture.

"And the understanding of one's martial soul gained through experience accounts for a larger and larger portion of the speed of soul power improvement."

Ning Rongrong blinked, seeming to work hard to digest those words.

Qian Ren Shuang called it a conjecture, but in truth, it was because his sample size was too small, and he could not rule out special cases.

As far as he currently knew, there were only three samples that could verify this theory: Tang Chen, Bibi Dong, and himself.

Tang Hao's grandfather, Tang Chen, spent time developing the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer Technique, the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes, and the Great Sumeru Hammer, yet his soul power rank actually did not rise any slower than Qian Daoliu's, who had a divine trial.

After Bibi Dong developed the method to resolve the mutual repulsion of Twin Martial Souls and the series of techniques derived from it, she reportedly wasted several more years, yet she still became a Title Douluo in her thirties.

As for himself—from "medicine and food sharing the same origin" to "Medicine and Food Sharing the Same Origin, Second Form: Medicine and Poison Sharing the Same Origin," after developing all the way down that path, he had still been stuck at rank forty-one at nineteen, but by twenty-one and a half, he had shot up to rank fifty-one.

All three had relied on understanding and insight: one eventually caught up in soul power rank to someone blessed by a divine trial; one remained the youngest Title Douluo in history even after wasting nearly ten years; and he himself was already showing signs in that direction.

"So this 'understanding' you're talking about—what exactly does it mean?" Ning Rongrong bit her lower lip, her brows slightly furrowed. She tried hard to connect her family's Distraction Control Method with Qian Ren Shuang's so-called "understanding of the world," but the more she thought about it, the more confused she became, so she simply asked directly.

"My family's ancestral Distraction Control Method... does that count as the 'understanding' you're talking about?"

Qian Ren Shuang shrugged, his casual tone somewhat annoyingly punchable. "Not sure. After all, I don't know the specifics of your family's situation. But there's no harm in trying."

Ning Rongrong was so angry she wanted to hit him, but she also felt there was some truth to what he said, so she could only give a sullen "hmph." "That's the same as saying nothing."

Though her mouth was full of disdain, her gaze never moved from Qian Ren Shuang's face. She realized that when this person spoke, the way he looked at her was slightly softer than when he looked at others—not an especially obvious change, but if she looked closely, she could notice it.

That discovery made her heart stir slightly, and the roots of her ears heated up as well. She quickly looked away, pretending to watch Xiang Ya wipe the table.

"Forget it, forget it. I won't ask about that anymore." Ning Rongrong changed the topic. "Qian Ren Shuang, do you know why my family doesn't set up an academy inside our own sect? That way, it could also help guard the sect."

"Actually, before you were born, Uncle Ning did try it," Qian Ren Shuang recalled, his gaze drifting slightly into the distance. "But when they helped mortal villages awaken martial souls, most of the ones awakened were only innate rank one or rank two..."

"Surely it couldn't have been stopped because of cost, right?" Ning Rongrong pressed anxiously, taking half a step forward and moving a little closer. "My Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is the richest force on the continent."