Training Idiots

Saturday afternoon, the sun was just right. Tang Wulin drove the SUV toward Shrek Academy with Gu Yue beside him. The scenery outside the window flew past, and Gu Yue gazed outside with complicated feelings.

Ever since graduating, moving out of the dorms, building a home with Tang Wulin, then getting married and starting work, she had not set foot on this campus—where she had once poured out so much sweat and carried so many dreams—for a long time.

"Nervous?" Tang Wulin freed one hand and gently patted the back of Gu Yue's hand resting on the armrest.

"A little," Gu Yue admitted honestly. "It feels like a student who skipped class getting dragged back for remedial lessons."

Tang Wulin laughed. "We came back voluntarily for further study. It doesn't count as skipping class. Besides, with Xinglan here, she'll definitely have a way to help us get back into shape."

After registering at the school gate, the car drove in. The familiar tree-lined roads and familiar buildings remained, but the people and their state of mind had changed. Following the navigation, they found a standalone small building in the inner courtyard area. The surroundings were quiet, and the spiritual energy was clearly richer than in the outer areas. It truly was a good place to cultivate.

Tang Wulin rang the doorbell. Before long, the door opened. Ye Xinglan appeared in the doorway, dressed in neat training clothes, her long hair tied in a high ponytail. She looked valiant and dashing, with a few more traces of maturity and authority between her brows than she had possessed in her student days.

"Oh? What wind blew you two here?" Ye Xinglan raised an eyebrow, her tone teasing. "What rare guests."

"Xinglan!" Gu Yue smiled and stepped forward. "We came... to ask you for a favor."

Ye Xinglan stepped aside. "Come in. Don't just stand around at the door." She led them into the living room, which was simply furnished in a stark, practical style. Several open lesson plans and a copy of Advanced Soul Master Theory Fundamentals lay on the coffee table.

Ye Xinglan skillfully boiled water and made tea, her movements smooth and flowing, carrying the precise control unique to a Soul Master. The fragrance of tea rose gently, dispelling some of the unease in Gu Yue and Tang Wulin's hearts.

"Go on. You don't visit without a reason. Since you two came together today, it can't be something minor." Ye Xinglan pushed cups of tea toward them, then sat down opposite them. Her sharp gaze swept over them. "Trouble at work, or... some difficulty in your personal lives?"

Holding the warm teacup, Gu Yue took a deep breath and decided to tell the truth. "Xinglan, we... want to ask you to teach us how to cultivate again."

Ye Xinglan's hand froze midway to her lips. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she looked them over, as if judging whether they were telling the truth. "...What do you mean? Is this some kind of joke? With the foundation you two had back then, even if you neglected your cultivation for a while, you shouldn't need a newly hired teacher like me to teach you, right? Don't tell me you're so bored that you came here to make fun of my cultivation?"

Tang Wulin answered with a bitter smile. "Sister Xinglan, we're really not joking. Gu Yue and I... really did neglect it for too long. This morning, Gu Yue saw a video of you practicing swordsmanship and remembered that she was a Soul Master. She tried cultivating in the training room, only to find that her soul power circulation had become terribly sluggish. She nearly suffocated herself."

The teasing expression on Ye Xinglan's face gradually vanished, replaced by incredulous seriousness. "...It's that bad? What exactly happened? Ever since you started living together, you never cultivated again?"

Gu Yue lowered her head awkwardly, unconsciously rubbing the rim of her cup with her fingers. Her voice was muffled. "About... three years. At first, we were in the honeymoon phase. We felt that being together every day was enough, and that cultivation could wait. Later, we started working, there were so many trivial matters in life, and Wulin was busy with work too. Before we knew it, we just... forgot."

"Forgot?" Ye Xinglan's voice rose several degrees. She abruptly set down her teacup with a sharp smack, splashing a few drops of tea. "Gu Yue! Back then, you were the kind of person who could stay in the training room for three days without eating or drinking just to improve your soul power by the slightest bit! And now you're telling me you forgot you were a Soul Master?!"

Her tone was harsh with disappointment, even carrying a trace of anger. "Tang Wulin too! One of you had seven rings, the other eight. You had limitless futures ahead of you, and you just let yourselves waste away like this? So what if you fell in love? Can love fill your stomachs or serve as soul rings?"

Faced with their old friend's verbal barrage, Gu Yue's face flushed bright red. Yet she had no way to refute it and could only defend herself softly. "We realized something was wrong too, which is why we came to you..."

Ye Xinglan rose to her feet in anger and paced back and forth through the living room, pointing at them. "This is outrageous! I thought you must have been maintaining high-intensity training in private, maybe even breaking through to Titled Douluo already! But what happened? Three years! A full three years! You've practically thrown away the foundation of being Soul Masters! No wonder Gu Yue said her soul power felt viscous. Those are typical symptoms of atrophied meridians and decreased soul power activity!"

Tang Wulin shrank his neck, feeling a chill run down his back. He quietly said to Gu Yue, "Honey, Xinglan seems really angry..."

Gu Yue could only look at Ye Xinglan pitifully, signaling with her eyes, We know we were wrong. Please stop scolding us and save us already.

After venting for a while, Ye Xinglan saw their thoroughly cowed expressions and knew that more scolding would be useless. She could only let out a long sigh, sit back down on the sofa, and rub her temples. "Sigh... forget it. Scolding you won't help. The facts are right in front of us. You really did completely cut cultivation out of your lives."

She fixed a blazing stare on Gu Yue. "Tell me, can you still clearly sense the fire, water, wind, and earth elements around you? Can you accurately separate and draw them in?"

Gu Yue tried her best. Her brows tightly furrowed, and after a long while, she shook her head. "It's very vague... and it feels chaotic. It's not as effortless as before."

"Tang Wulin, what about your Blue Silver Emperor? Can you still summon it? How much of its characteristics can you still use?"

Tang Wulin's face reddened. He shook his head as well and spoke with some difficulty. "...Even mobilizing my soul power is difficult, let alone condensing my martial soul."

Ye Xinglan sighed again, this time filled with profound helplessness. "Fine, I understand. You weren't being modest. You really have basically regressed to square one." She stood up, her tone brooking no argument. "Wait here. I'll make a plan for you."

With that, she headed straight for the study, leaving Gu Yue and Tang Wulin staring at each other in the living room. The atmosphere became somewhat stiff, and only the ticking of the wall clock could be heard.

About twenty minutes later, Ye Xinglan emerged carrying several pages covered in writing and heavily slapped them onto the coffee table.

"Listen," she said, her tone softer but still stern. "Given your current condition, directly engaging in high-intensity cultivation will only injure you. We have to start with the most basic things and gradually regain the feeling."

She pointed at the first page. "This is Soul Power Revival Fundamentals Guidance, tailored to your current situation. Once each morning and evening, no less than one hour each time. You'll mainly practice elemental perception and internal observation of soul power. Don't seek speed; seek only clear perception and smooth circulation."

Then she pointed to the second page. "This is Meridian Relaxation. It works with a specific breathing method to help clear blocked meridian nodes and alleviate the viscosity of your soul power. It's normal if you feel pain while doing it, but you cannot force a breakthrough."

The third page contained some simple physical training and soul power control games, such as using soul power to hold up a feather for ten minutes without letting it fall, or controlling a small flame to burn steadily on the tip of a finger.

"Starting tomorrow, carry this out strictly. I'll inspect your progress once a week." Ye Xinglan's gaze swept over them. "I'll adjust the plan according to your progress. Don't even think about slacking off, and don't half-ass it just because you think these are too simple. What you need now is to drill these most fundamental basics until they become muscle memory."

Gu Yue and Tang Wulin hurriedly nodded like pecking chickens, as if they had been handed a lifeline.

"Xinglan, thank you!" Tang Wulin thanked her sincerely.