Forgotten Training

Saturday morning light filtered through the gap in the curtains, spilling across the rumpled bedding. Tang Wulin was still fast asleep, letting out faint snores.

Gu Yue had been awake for some time. Lying on her side, she absentmindedly traced circles over the blanket with her fingertips, her gaze fixed on a point in the empty air. Clearly, her thoughts were not on the warmth and tranquility of the moment.

Her phone screen lit up with a video Xu Lizhi had sent to the group chat. She casually opened it. A woman in fitted training clothes appeared on the screen, holding a slender sword. Her sword light poured forth like a river of stars, its cold gleam sharp and chilling. It was Ye Xinglan practicing her swordsmanship. That familiar opening stance, that restrained yet razor-sharp soul power fluctuation, was like a stone dropped into a still lake, sending ripples through Gu Yue's heart.

Ye Xinglan... Soul Master...

The words struck Gu Yue's memories like floodwaters bursting through an unsealed gate. She suddenly sat upright, the movement so abrupt that it woke Tang Wulin beside her.

"Mm? What's wrong, honey?" Tang Wulin groggily opened his eyes, his voice thick with sleep.

Gu Yue did not turn around. She merely stared blankly at her spread-open hands, as if seeing for the first time the hands capable of commanding elemental power. "I... think I forgot something very important."

Tang Wulin propped himself up and rubbed his eyes. "What is it? Are you hungry? Want me to make you something?"

Gu Yue turned to him, her eyes complicated—enlightenment, regret, and a faint, barely noticeable excitement all mingled within them. "Not hungry. I mean... I think I haven't cultivated in a very long time."

The words startled even her. Yes, how long had it been? Ever since she and Tang Wulin had made their relationship official and moved out of the dorms into this little home, the focus of her life had unknowingly shifted from improving her strength and pursuing the pinnacle of power to daily necessities, household matters, and the tender entanglements she shared with the man before her. The sweetness of new love, combined with the bustle of adjusting to a new job, had made her almost completely forget her duty as a Soul Master.

Tang Wulin was fully awake now. He blinked as he looked at Gu Yue. "Uh... that's true. The last time we circulated our soul power and sparred together was probably... the winter three years ago?" He scratched his head. "I'm about the same. I stare at surveillance screens all day. My soul power is practically rusting."

Gu Yue threw back the covers, got out of bed, and walked to the window, pulling open the curtains. Sunlight immediately flooded in, almost painfully bright. She looked back at Tang Wulin, her tone carrying the decisiveness of someone who had made up her mind. "No. We can't keep wasting away like this. I need to check the training room."

Tang Wulin hurriedly nodded. "Right, right, we need to train! Otherwise, we'll really turn into shut-ins. I'm coming too! We'll go after breakfast!"

Breakfast was simple: milk oatmeal and fried eggs. Both of them ate faster than usual. Afterward, Gu Yue pushed open the door to the training room. A faint smell of dust and stale elemental energy rushed toward her, making her frown slightly.

Just as she had expected, the room that had been specially arranged for her cultivation was covered in dust. A thin gray layer blanketed the once-polished floor of soundproof formation-patterned stone, and there were even a few cobwebs in the corners. The core crystal of the Spirit-Gathering Formation was dull and lifeless, clearly having gone a long time without soul power being infused into it for activation.

"Looks like it really needs a thorough cleaning." Gu Yue rolled up her sleeves. There was little complaint in her tone; instead, she seemed to be treating the recovery of something old with solemn care.

Tang Wulin volunteered to help. The two divided the work, one wiping while the other swept. Then they worked together to polish the core crystal of the Spirit-Gathering Formation and infused it with a small amount of soul power to reactivate it. As the formation slowly began to circulate, the elemental activity in the room gradually rose, and a faint fresh scent once again filled the air.

Once everything was in order, Gu Yue took a deep breath, walked to the center of the room, and sat down cross-legged. Tang Wulin sat on the floor nearby, beginning to mobilize his own soul power and trying to create a faint resonance with Gu Yue's elemental fluctuations so he could assist her or regulate the environment if necessary.

Gu Yue closed her eyes and followed the introductory cultivation method used by Soul Masters, attempting to guide the elemental power between heaven and earth into her body, temper her meridians, and nourish her spiritual sea.

However, the process was far less smooth than she had imagined.

The elemental awareness that had once come as naturally as water flowing downhill now felt sluggish. It was as though a hazy veil lay between her and the elements. She could sense their existence, yet could not clearly grasp or smoothly draw them in. When she tried to guide a thread of wind element into her meridians, the power that should have been light and agile completed one cycle through her body with an unexpectedly thick, sluggish sensation, as if it were moving through glue. It was nothing like the ease she had once known.

"Haa..." Fine beads of sweat appeared on Gu Yue's forehead, and her face turned slightly pale. Merely observing inwardly and circulating her power at the most basic level left her feeling unprecedented strain. Her soul power no longer moved through her meridians as easily as her limbs followed her commands. Instead, it felt like trudging with difficulty along an unfamiliar, rugged mountain path.

She gritted her teeth and persisted, forcibly circulating her soul power in an attempt to break through the stagnation. But the more impatient she became, the more chaotic its flow grew. After more than half an hour, she had no choice but to stop dejectedly. When she opened her eyes, she was drenched in sweat, her breathing unsteady and her chest rising slightly. She had clearly exhausted herself for very little gain.

"I can't..." she panted weakly. "It's been too long. My soul power has practically clumped together. I can't get it moving."

Tang Wulin immediately stopped cultivating and moved closer to inspect her with concern. "How are you? Don't force yourself. Take it slowly. We've neglected it for so long, after all."

Gu Yue waved a hand and pushed herself to her feet, feeling as if every bone and muscle in her body had rusted over, aching terribly. "It's even worse than I imagined. It feels like I've nearly forgotten everything I learned before."

Her soul power level was still at seventy-one, and breaking through to level seventy-two still seemed impossibly far away. Tang Wulin's situation was probably not much different from hers.

"Go take a shower first. You're soaked in sweat; don't catch a cold." Tang Wulin thoughtfully supported her and handed her a dry towel.

Warm water washed over her body, taking away the exhaustion and sweat while easing some of the soreness in her muscles. Gu Yue leaned against the cold tiles of the shower, letting the water strike her face as a tangled mix of emotions filled her heart.

She had forgotten cultivation not because she had become lazy, but because she had immersed herself in a different kind of happiness.

Yet now that she had picked it up again, she realized what she had lost was not merely time, but also her sharp instinct for controlling power and the foundation built through daily accumulation. This sense of unfamiliarity made her more anxious than the stagnation of her soul power level ever had.

After her shower, Gu Yue changed into dry, comfortable loungewear, her hair still damp. Tang Wulin had already given the training room a simple tidying and was sitting on the couch, holding his phone as though researching something.

"What are you looking at?" Gu Yue walked over and sat beside him.

"Looking something up." Tang Wulin turned the phone screen toward her. "I'm checking whether there are any tutorials or precautions for recovery training suitable for 'beginner Soul Masters' like us. Look at this one, Soul Power Revival Fundamentals Guidance. It seems pretty useful."

Gu Yue glanced at it. It contained some very basic methods for sensing soul power and relaxing the meridians. To who they had once been, it would have been child's play, but now, perhaps they truly needed to start over from the beginning.

"Looks like we need to make a systematic training plan." Gu Yue sighed, but determination had returned to her voice. "We can't keep muddling through like this."

Tang Wulin took her hand. "No problem! I need to find my rhythm again too. Starting tomorrow, we'll cultivate at a fixed time every day. We'll take it step by step and slowly get the feeling back."

"Okay." She answered softly, a faint curve rising on her lips, no longer clouded by confusion.