Changing Tactics

But when you were under someone else's roof, you had to bow your head. In the end, he still knew better than to push his luck and added, "I'm sorry. It won't happen again."

Only after hearing Yu Xiaogang apologize again did Ning Rongrong's mood finally improve. Then her gaze shifted to the woman beside Qian Renshuang, dressed in a dark blue maid uniform.

"Who's this?" Ning Rongrong tilted her head and curiously sized up Xiang Ya. She had noticed the unfamiliar woman when Qian Renshuang arrived, but hadn't found a chance to ask about her.

Her gaze lingered on Xiang Ya's face for two seconds, then flicked back to Qian Renshuang's, carrying a hint of scrutiny that was hard to detect.

"I happened to rescue her from some human traffickers on the way here." Qian Renshuang repeated the excuse smoothly, then turned to Xiang Ya and instructed her, "Tidy up this room."

"Yes, young master." Xiang Ya answered, rolled up her sleeves, and began efficiently cleaning Ning Rongrong's dorm room, which was so messy there was barely anywhere to step. She moved briskly and neatly, making the bed, clearing the desk, sweeping the floor, and wiping the windows in one fluid motion.

"Grandmaster, you can go now." Ning Rongrong saw that Yu Xiaogang was still standing at the doorway and bluntly showed him the door. "There's something I want to ask Qian Renshuang in private."

"Go on, go on!" Guilmon chimed in, herding Yu Xiaogang away from the door like a chicken. Yu Xiaogang had no choice but to limp off.

After Yu Xiaogang had gone some distance, Ning Rongrong placed both hands on Qian Renshuang's face and turned it toward her. Looking up at him, she asked seriously, "Qian Renshuang, running is just too exhausting... But I don't want to fall too far behind the other students. Do you know of a training method that would suit me?"

She stood a little closer than usual, close enough for Qian Renshuang to catch the faint scent of soap on her.

Qian Renshuang looked down at the small face before him, noticed that her eyes weren't as swollen as before, and replied, "Before Soul Power Level 41, just focus on cultivating soul power. After Level 41, practice your family's Distraction Control Method."

"It's called the Distraction Control Method!" Ning Rongrong was very particular about her family's secret technique being named correctly. She shot him a stern look, speaking as though he were beyond help. "What's this 'dividing your attention'? It sounds awful!"

Qian Renshuang rolled his eyes. People in the Douluo World loved to play word games. It was obviously the same thing, yet they insisted on quibbling over the name.

It was like someone who had just obtained a Soul Ring and had 100 points of attack power. Once they activated the ring, they gained 50 more, so they would say, "It can increase attack power by 50%."

Later, even when their base stats had grown to 200 or 300, they still wouldn't care how much that extra 50 points had been diluted. They would keep saying, "It can increase attack power by 50%."

Qian Renshuang couldn't be bothered to argue. He turned to leave. "Then I'll go back to my room and cultivate my Soul Power Level. See you."

"Wait!" Ning Rongrong called after him, her voice more urgent than before. She hurriedly reached for his wrist, then let go just as quickly. Her expression shifted from haughty to confused. "My father always tells me to practice the Distraction Control Method first. Why do you want me to wait until I'm a Soul Ancestor?"

Qian Renshuang stopped and turned around. He didn't answer right away, instead asking, "Do you know why Soul Masters have to go out and gain experience after reaching Level 41?"

His gaze settled on Ning Rongrong's face. Her almond-shaped eyes were fixed on him, bright and shining like the clearest two stars in the night sky.

"I don't know. Why?" Ning Rongrong tilted her head, confusion written across her almond-shaped eyes. She clearly couldn't see how these two seemingly unrelated questions were connected.

"Because after Level 41, talent makes up a smaller and smaller part of the speed at which your soul power grows." Qian Renshuang turned toward her, looking into her eyes, which shone with curiosity, and shared his theory.

"And the understanding of one's Martial Soul that comes from gaining experience makes up a larger and larger part of it."

Ning Rongrong blinked, apparently trying to digest his words.

He called it a theory because there were too few examples to rule out special cases.

As far as he knew, there were only three examples that could validate it: Tang Chen, Bibi Dong, and himself.

Tang Chen, Tang Hao's grandfather, had developed the Disorder Splitting Wind Hammer, the Clear Sky Nine Absolutes, and the Great Sumeru Hammer. Yet his Soul Power Level had risen no more slowly than Qian Daoliu's, who had the blessings of a divine trial.

After Bibi Dong developed a way to resolve the mutual rejection between Twin Martial Souls, along with all the methods derived from it, he'd heard she'd then wasted several more years. Even so, she had become a Titled Douluo in her thirties.

As for himself—from Medicine and Food Share the Same Origin to its second form, Medicine and Poison Share the Same Origin—he'd developed it step by step. He'd been stuck at Level 41 at nineteen, then rocketed to Level 51 by the time he was twenty-one and a half.

All three had relied on insight and understanding: one had eventually caught up in Soul Power Level to someone blessed with a divine trial; another had wasted nearly ten years yet remained the youngest Titled Douluo in history; and he himself was already showing signs of the same thing.

"So what exactly do you mean by 'understanding'?" Ning Rongrong bit her lower lip, her brows knitted. She tried to connect her family's Distraction Control Method to Qian Renshuang's idea of "understanding the world," but the more she thought about it, the more confused she became. In the end, she simply asked, "Does our ancestral Distraction Control Method... count as the kind of 'understanding' you mean?"

Qian Renshuang shrugged, his casual tone almost irritating. "I'm not sure. I don't know the specifics of your family's situation. But there's no harm in trying."

Ning Rongrong wanted to hit him, but she also felt that he made some sense. All she could do was give a sullen "Hmph." "That's no different from saying nothing."

Her words were dismissive, but her gaze never left Qian Renshuang's face. She noticed that when he spoke to her, his eyes were a little softer than when he looked at other people. The difference wasn't especially obvious, but if she looked closely, she could tell.

The discovery stirred something in her heart, and the tips of her ears warmed. She quickly looked away, pretending to watch Xiang Ya wipe the table.

"Forget it, forget it. Let's talk about something else." Ning Rongrong changed the subject. "Qian Renshuang, do you know why my family doesn't set up an academy within our own sect? That way, we could protect the sect at the same time."

"Actually, Uncle Ning tried that before you were born." Qian Renshuang recalled, his gaze drifting into the distance. "But when they helped the villagers awaken their Martial Souls, most of them only had innate Soul Power Levels of one or two..."

"So they couldn't have stopped because of the cost, could they?" Ning Rongrong pressed urgently, stepping half a pace closer and leaning toward him. "The Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect is the wealthiest power on the continent."