Holiday Training

Leng Yaoyu sat at the table, her gaze sweeping across the three of them.

Ziyang stood at the front, his expression as calm as ever. Na'er stood to the left, silver hair falling over her shoulders, her eyes half-open as if she had not fully woken up yet.

Gu Yue stood on the right, her back straight, her eyes fixed on Leng Yaoyu before her.

The three stood before her, each with thoughts of their own.

Leng Yaoyu did not rush to speak. She first lifted the teacup on the table and took a sip. The tea was warm, and white mist rose from the rim, dispersing into a thin veil before her.

"You're all here."

Ziyang listened quietly. Na'er lazily opened her eyes, while Gu Yue looked over with curiosity.

"For the next month, the three of you will train properly."

Leng Yaoyu's gaze fell on Gu Yue again. "In one month, Gu Yue will return to school."

The room fell silent for a moment.

Na'er suddenly laughed. Tilting her head to look at Gu Yue, the corners of her lips curled upward, her eyes carrying that lazy, undisguised amusement at someone else's misfortune.

"You still have to go to school—" She dragged out the last word, as though savoring something entertaining.

Ziyang stood beside her, his expression still calm. "You say that like you don't have eight a.m. classes."

Na'er's smile froze on her face.

She turned and stared at Ziyang. Her eyes widened round, devoid of sleepiness and filled only with the indignation of someone whose tail had been stepped on.

"Ziyang!!!"

She opened her mouth but could not find anything to say in retort. Then her eyes reddened. She was not really crying; it was the kind of grievance that came from being flustered and angry with nowhere to vent it. She stamped her foot, the sound especially loud in the quiet room.

Then she reached out and slapped Ziyang on the arm. It was not hard, but it landed solidly.

Of course, it only seemed light to Ziyang. An ordinary soul master would have been sent flying.

Ziyang did not dodge. He was merely teasing her a little. After all, even if he did not go to school, he still had this thing called an eight a.m. class.

Damn it, even after two lifetimes, he still could not escape the curse of eight a.m. classes.

He had to create a world where every week had seven days off.

Leng Yaoyu lifted her teacup and took another sip. Watching this scene, she was already accustomed to it.

"Enough. Follow me."

She rose to her feet, walked around the table, and headed for the door.

The three followed.

After passing through the corridor and turning two corners, Leng Yaoyu stopped before a door.

She raised her hand and pressed the sensor beside it. The door slid open soundlessly.

Inside was a small room. A machine stood at the center, shaped somewhat like the chamber of an Ascension Platform, though larger and with a simpler structure.

"A byproduct of the Ascension Platform." Leng Yaoyu gave a brief explanation and stepped aside from the doorway. "Gu Yue does not need to ascend her spirit for now, so you can use this for training."

The three nodded and entered the machine.

Their vision went dark for a brief moment again.

The next instant, the sensation of solid ground beneath their feet returned.

They stood on an empty plain. The sky was gray and sunless, yet the light fell evenly across the land. The ground was hard yellow earth, and several low hills stood in the distance, their outlines blurred.

Leng Yaoyu's voice came from above, as though falling from a great distance away. "The three of you already had some brief coordination in the previous Ascension Platform. Now, soul masters will be used to test your strength. Their power is temporarily set at the Four-Ring level. If you work together, you will certainly be able to deal with them."

The moment her words fell, the air thirty meters ahead began to distort.

Three figures gradually emerged from the blur and solidified.

The soul master on the far left was slender, holding a Moon Blade in each hand. Their blades curved like crescent moons, their edges glimmering with cold silver light. He stood in place and lightly spun the Moon Blades once in his hands, the movement as fluid as if they were part of his body.

A woman stood in the middle, a fluffy fox tail trailing behind her. Its fur gradually shifted from white at the roots to red at the tip.

Her eyes were amber vertical pupils, and a faint, ambiguous smile curved across her lips.

Martial Soul, Demon Fox.

The soul master on the far right was powerfully built, his entire body covered in a layer of dark-red rock armor. Magma-like red light flowed through its cracks.

Martial Soul, Flame Lord.

With every breath he took, a wave of heat blasted from the gaps in his armor, scorching the yellow earth beneath his feet black.

They were three Four-Ring Soul Elders with standard soul rings.

Ziyang had already guessed that there was definitely a martial soul fusion skill among the three. He immediately released the Dark Demon Evil God Tiger and Austin Griffin. "Little Black, Little Evil, go. Take them down."

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger and Austin Griffin shot out from his side. The tiger's shadow was as black as ink, the dragon's body rode the wind, and two dark forms skimmed across the ground as they advanced.

But someone was faster than them.

The instant Gu Yue raised her hand, the air changed. Beneath the Flame Lord's feet, the ground suddenly split open, and several jets of water erupted from the cracks.

The moment water met fire, white mist exploded outward like a wall suddenly rising into place.

Na'er's figure burst out of the mist.

The Silver Dragon Spear lit up in her hand, its tip carrying a cold arc of light as it shot straight for the Demon Fox's throat. Her movements were decisive in a way that did not suit her age, fast, clean, and sharp.

The Demon Fox turned sideways, one tail lifting in an attempt to wrap around the spear shaft. But Na'er's spear tip abruptly changed direction midair, shifting from a straight thrust into a horizontal sweep. Silver light carved out a half-moon, forcing the Demon Fox back several steps.

Moon Blade hurried over to support her. The two Moon Blades crossed in a slash, sending a silver cross-shaped strike flying toward Na'er's back.

The angle was vicious, the timing precise.

The instant the Demon Fox retreated was precisely the instant Na'er had exhausted her old force before generating new force.

A momentary opening.

The Dark Demon Evil God Tiger slammed into them from the side. It used no skill, only its body. The black tiger's form was like a meteor, crashing directly into the gap between Moon Blade and Na'er.

The cross-shaped strike exploded across its back, leaving faint marks in its black fur.

Moon Blade's pupils contracted slightly.

Austin Griffin gave him no time to react. Its three heads attacked simultaneously from three directions.

Moon Blade could only take the attack head-on, his twin blades dancing before him into a silver barrier.

But he had no defensive ability at all and was blasted directly into the air.

The Flame Lord made his move at that moment as well. The ground beneath his feet began to crack, magma surging from the fissures and climbing up his body. His entire body turned into a moving volcano.

But just as he took one step, the magma beneath his feet suddenly went out.

"Trying to move? Did you ask me?"

Gu Yue stood in the distance, a ball of azure light spinning in her palm. Wind and water intertwined, extinguishing the flames covering the Flame Lord's body.

At that very moment,

The Demon Fox slid sideways and ran toward where Moon Blade had fallen.

Moon Blade had already climbed up from the ground. With a gesture of his right hand, the thrown Moon Blade flew back into his palm.

The two suddenly embraced, preparing to unleash their martial soul fusion skill.

The two merged into a long-haired figure whose gender was impossible to distinguish.

Martial Soul Fusion Skill: Demon Charm.