Entering the Fray

Early the next morning, Lu Yuan arrived at the East Training Area on time.

The eight people left behind yesterday had already arrived.

Hu Liena stood in the front row, and seeing him walk over, she first glanced behind him.

"The Young Lord didn't come with you?"

Lu Yuan stuffed his living quarters tag into his belt.

"Why would she come with me?"

"She specifically had you stay behind yesterday, so I thought you two were already quite close."

"We barely spoke a few words in total."

The suspicion in Hu Liena's eyes did not decrease at all.

She wanted to speak again, but Yan Tuo had already walked over from the other side of the training ground.

"Line up."

The eight people quickly quieted down.

Yan Tuo stopped in front of the group.

"Starting today, I am in charge of your training for the first three months."

"Those who can enter here do not have poor talent. How to meditate and how to cultivate your soul power are things I do not need to re-teach."

He raised a finger and pointed at the training ground.

"What I am going to teach you is how to truly use that bit of skill you all have."

With that, he walked straight to the center of the area.

"First task: touch my back within half an hour."

Zhou Qi couldn't help asking, "Instructor Yan, what is your rank?"

"Forty-second rank."

The expressions of several people changed.

Yan Tuo added one more sentence.

"No Martial Soul."

"Begin."

The eight people immediately chased after him.

Lu Yuan did not rush to the front.

Yan Tuo's speed was much faster than theirs, yet he never left the vicinity of the wooden stakes and weapon racks. Every time someone got close, he only needed to side-step half a step to make them lunge into empty space.

Zhou Qi chased him three times in a row without even touching the hem of his clothes.

Another boy hurriedly tried to flank him, but Yan Tuo intentionally circled behind a wooden stake, causing the two of them to almost collide.

Yan Tuo didn't even look back.

"If you only know how to chase my back, don't expect to finish by noon."

Hu Liena retreated to Lu Yuan's side and caught her breath.

"Why aren't you chasing?"

"Can't catch him."

"Then what do we do?"

Lu Yuan stared at Yan Tuo as he took a few steps.

"If one person can't catch him, then don't chase him alone."

Hu Liena quickly figured it out.

"Block his path?"

"Let's try."

Lu Yuan called a few people together.

The first containment didn't last long.

Yan Tuo only sprinted toward the weakest boy, and the opponent instinctively dodged, immediately creating a gap in the encirclement.

The second time, Lu Yuan placed the two slowest people on the outside, solely responsible for sealing the path.

Hu Liena used a training wooden staff to jam the right side, while Zhou Qi closed in from the front.

The moment Yan Tuo stepped aside to the left, the yellow spirit ring beneath Lu Yuan's feet lit up.

Piercing Edge!

He didn't use the spear tip.

The Dark Iron Spear swept horizontally, the shaft brushing across Yan Tuo's back.

Slap.

Yan Tuo stopped in his tracks.

Zhou Qi was the first to let out a breath of relief.

"That counts as touching, right?"

"It counts."

Yan Tuo lowered his head and glanced at the grey mark on his lower back.

"Lu Yuan finishes for the morning. The rest of you, continue."

Hu Liena immediately looked up.

"We helped too."

"So?"

Yan Tuo looked at her.

"The rule is that the person who touches me finishes."

Hu Liena opened her mouth, and in the end could only resign herself to her fate.

As Lu Yuan prepared to leave, Yan Tuo called out to him again.

"Go to the Outer Courtyard of the Consecration Hall this afternoon."

"The Young Lord had someone send word early this morning."

Hu Liena abruptly turned her head.

"She really called for you?"

Lu Yuan walked outward.

"Didn't I say so yesterday?"

"And you said you just met!"

The voices behind him grew more and more distant.

That afternoon, Lu Yuan arrived at the Outer Courtyard of the Consecration Hall as agreed.

The courtyard was very quiet. On both sides of the blue-stone-paved open space stood wooden racks, upon which were placed many training wooden sabers, long staves, and bamboo poles.

Qian Renxue was already waiting.

Today she had changed into light-colored fitted martial attire, her long golden hair still tied behind her head. Her cuffs were tightened, and there were no superfluous decorations at her waist. She lacked a bit of the aloofness she had shown standing under the veranda yesterday, and looked much more brisk.

Lu Yuan swept his gaze around.

"Didn't you say you'd change to someone else yesterday?"

"I did."

"Where is the person?"

Qian Renxue walked to the center of the blue-stone area.

"Me."

Lu. Yuan looked at her.

"You're doing it?"

She stepped back a few paces.

"I won't use my Martial Soul, nor my soul skills."

"Within a quarter of an hour, find a way to touch me."

Lu Yuan was silent for a moment.

"Instructor Yan trained us the exact same way this morning."

"Then you've already tried it once."

Qian Renxue looked at him with her light golden eyes.

"That just saves me the trouble of teaching the rules."

Lu Yuan summoned the Dark Iron Spear.

"Can't I use yesterday's method?"

"You can."

Qian Renxue said, "Though I know you'll retract your Martial Soul."

Lu Yuan looked at her for two breaths.

"Begin?"

"Begin."

As her voice fell, Qian Renxue retreated backward.

Lu Yuan did not immediately use Piercing Edge, instead testing her twice with the tip of the spear first.

The first thrust aimed for her shoulder, and she simply slanted her body to let it pass.

The second thrust suddenly shifted downward, attempting to force her to change her footing, but Qian Renxue seemed to have anticipated the spear path in advance, and with a tap of her toes, she had already retreated to a position the spear shaft couldn't reach.

The third time, Lu Yuan directly activated Piercing Edge.

The yellow spirit ring lit up, and his entire body lunged forward fiercely.

Qian Renxue stepped aside a step ahead of time.

The spear tip brushed past her sleeve.

Still didn't touch her.

Lu Yuan stopped.

Qian Renxue didn't urge him either, merely standing a few paces away and watching him.

"Still coming?"

"Of course."

"You have less than half a quarter-hour left."

Lu Yuan glanced at the blue-stone ground behind her, then swept his gaze across the wooden racks on both sides.

Then he suddenly withdrew the Dark Iron Spear.

Qian Renxue's gaze flickered slightly, but she didn't close in.

Clearly, she had been guarding against that trick from yesterday all along.

Lu Yuan didn't rush toward her either.

He turned and ran toward the nearby wooden rack.

For the first time, Qian Renxue revealed a hint of confusion.

"What are you doing?"

"You only said to touch you."

Lu Yuan drew a training bamboo pole over a zhang in length from the rack.

Qian Renxue looked at the bamboo pole, then looked back at him.

"Does this count?"

"You didn't say it doesn't."

She was silent for a fraction of a second.

"Fine."

Lu Yuan gripped the bamboo pole with both hands and swept it out fiercely.

His attack range suddenly lengthened by a large margin.

Qian Renxue finally couldn't just step back half a step like before, and her body rapidly evaded backward.

The moment she dodged the bamboo pole, Lu Yuan let go.

The bamboo pole continued to tip forward.

The Dark Iron Spear reappeared in his palm.

The yellow spirit ring lit up.

Piercing Edge!

Lu Yuan fiercely cut in from the other side.

Just as Qian Renxue avoided the bamboo pole, the spear butt swept past her sleeve from the side.

A light brush.

The two of them stopped at the same time.

Qian Renxue lowered her head and glanced at her left sleeve.

"You changed your method again."

"You already knew yesterday's."

Lu Yuan took back his Martial Soul.

"There's no real point in using it again."

Qian Renxue looked up at him, and after a moment, asked:

"Is that how Yan Tuo was touched by you this morning, too?"

"It's different."

"How is it different?"

"He didn't know what I was going to do."

Lu Yuan glanced at her.

"You know."

Qian Renxue did not speak right away, only looking him over again.

"You always like to look first?"

"If I can tell something from it, of course I look first."

"And if you can't?"

Lu Yuan thought about it.

"Then I test it first, and change it if I test wrong."

Qian Renxue nodded lightly and did not continue asking.

The gray text, however, reappeared above her head at this moment.

[Qian Renxue]
[Critical destiny node: age nine, leaving Spirit City]
[Heading to the Heaven Dou Empire]
[Living on under another name]

The patch of gray at the very bottom that had originally been blurry finally completely dispersed.

Three new characters manifested.

[Xue Qinghe]

Lu Yuan's gaze lingered on those three characters.

Qian Renxue quickly noticed.

"What is it?"

Lu Yuan raised his eyes.

The girl before him was still wearing that light-colored fitted outfit, her blonde hair tied behind her head, quietly waiting for his answer.

Yet he did not speak immediately.