Lulu's Training

Note: (Thanks to xiaotang246 for the reward and review. This is the first time anyone has rewarded this book. My heartfelt thanks. No matter how it does in the future, I'll keep writing! Thank you.)

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"Those of us who practice martial arts must stand like pines and sit like bells. Our bodies must remain in an instinctive attacking state at all times. Even when sleeping, we cannot relax!"

"A Martial Dao Will must be as hard as steel, tempered through a thousand hammerings. No matter how great the hardship, never relax; even death is worth facing without hesitation."

"Smack!"

Er Dongsheng tapped the little Succubus on the head with a small bamboo switch as a warning.

"Don't let your mind wander. Hold your arms in a circle, bend your legs slightly, and relax your body!"

Over the past few days, Er Dongsheng had begun teaching the little Succubus Chinese Martial Arts. In his view, he could not keep her forever beneath his wings. Perhaps one day he might be unable to protect her. The Abyss was so dangerous; they could not place all their hopes on others. It was necessary to begin strengthening the little one's ability to survive.

The little Succubus had good aptitude—or rather, the Abyssal Species all had fairly good aptitude. Through preliminary Standing Post practice, she could now sense the presence of essence and qi. Before long, she would likely be able to begin Refining Essence into Qi.

The thirst for power among creatures of the Abyss was beyond the understanding of beings from other planes. It was an impulse carved deep into their bones. In the Abyss, lacking strength meant death, so even a Succubus as young as the little one possessed a yearning for power.

The young know not the taste of sorrow; to compose new verses, they force themselves to speak of grief.

Such words made no sense at all in the Abyss. There was no such thing as youth in the Abyss, nor any question of sorrow. There was only survival—survival! Even if you were a newly born juvenile Abyssal Species, you still had to face cruel challenges of survival.

Every Abyssal Creature learned combat, survival, and death from the moment it was born!

Either you died, or I perished.

The little Succubus was not afraid of death. She was only afraid of being separated from her brother, so she wanted to grow stronger—strong enough that no one could ever separate her from the brother she loved most! Therefore, she trained bitterly, trained twice as hard!

"Drip, drip."

Standing Post was boring. If she relaxed for even a moment, her thoughts would drift away. Standing for too long was even more exhausting; her whole body began to tremble. Yet the little Succubus still gritted her teeth and persevered, her eyes filled with stubborn determination!

Come on, Lulu, come on! Brother said that as long as I endure, I'll become stronger! I have to keep going! The little one kept encouraging herself in her heart, forcibly holding on for another quarter of an hour!

"Not bad, not bad." Watching the little Succubus stubbornly persist, her physical strength already at its limit yet still unwilling to give up, Er Dongsheng was immensely satisfied!

Though martial artists emphasized aptitude, what truly limited progress in martial arts was often not aptitude, but a Martial Dao Will that never admitted defeat, never gave up, persevered without rest, and was hard as steel. That was also why Er Dongsheng had placed such emphasis on willpower earlier.

In truth, no matter the plane, willpower was often more important than aptitude. Had one not seen countless young geniuses make rapid progress in the beginning, advancing at incredible speed whether in study or martial arts? Yet after many years, which ones were truly successful?

If, among ten successful people, you could pick out even one who counted as a genius, that would already be quite good. Take the thirteen Ancient Demons whose names shook countless planes and stirred the entire Abyss—who among them had been born with uniquely blessed aptitude? None. Not a single one. The thirteen Ancient Demon Lords had all clawed their way step by step from the lowliest Abyssal Species to the altar of gods, enduring tens of millions of years and countless brushes with life and death before finally reaching the summit.

So without a formidable Martial Dao Will, do not dream of practicing martial arts.

"All right, girl, that's enough for today. When you're just beginning martial arts, you can't rush things." Seeing the little girl already swaying on the verge of collapse, Er Dongsheng waited a little longer before speaking.

When practicing martial arts, one could not simply train recklessly. That would only continuously damage the body! One had to know when to stop, giving the muscles, cells, and bones throughout the body time to recover before reaching their limits. That was the most perfect approach.

Do not imagine that you can break through the so-called limits of the human body by cultivating through brute force. You would merely exceed what your cells and bones could endure, damaging your body and draining your vitality as the price. Breaking through limits did not work that way. It came when essence, qi, and spirit were all at their peak, the body was in its best state, the soul was empty and clear, and one followed the natural course!

For example, during Er Dongsheng's last battle, his essence, qi, and spirit had instantly twisted into a single strand, his will had reached its absolute peak, his soul had become empty and clear, and the breakthrough had followed!

"Nnngh! It's finally over!" Without the slightest regard for appearances, the little girl plopped down onto the ground, grabbed her brother's large wooden cup, and began gulping from it.

"Nn! So delicious!" She licked the fruit juice from her lips, looking utterly satisfied. The large cup of fruit juice had already been completely poured into the little Succubus's tiny belly.

This little one absolutely loved the fruit juices Er Dongsheng made.

Once, when Er Dongsheng had nothing to do, he squeezed some juice from fruit they could not finish eating. After tasting it once, the little Succubus fell in love with this juice made by pressing together many different fruits, and every day she asked Er Dongsheng to make some.

There was plenty of fruit in the Abyss now, so there was no need to fear wasting any. If she wanted it made, then he would make it. After all, he only had this one adorable little sister!

"Eat something, then get a good rest later. There's still much to do tomorrow. The fruit outside is already beginning to dwindle, so we need to store more before the dry season arrives." Er Dongsheng handed the little Succubus a piece of cooked beast meat, watching her eat as he instructed her.

"Nn, store?" The little one was somewhat confused. In her memory, these Abyssal fruits spoiled very easily. Even the most durable ones could not be stored for long. How were they supposed to stockpile them?

"Yes, we need an ice cellar. We can simply dig another one at the deepest part of the cave. It needs to be large enough, and we'll also need a great many frozen leaves. Without those, our ice cellar can't be completed!"

"An ice cellar? Like that cold cave where we store meat?" The little girl's eyes lit up, as if she understood at once.

"Hehe, you only ever think about eating. That's right, but this time we need to make a larger one. We can store the fruit you love inside, and that way, even during the dry season, you'll still be able to eat fruit!" Er Dongsheng smiled helplessly. In this little girl's mind, food would always be the most important thing, second only to Er Dongsheng himself!

Perhaps all creatures of the Abyss were like that.

"Mhm, mhm! Then we have to make it huge, so we can eat fruit and drink fruit juice every day from now on!" The little girl's eyes grew brighter and brighter as she listened. If she had not been exhausted beyond measure, she probably would have dragged Er Dongsheng off to begin at once.

...How embarrassing...

Am I making trouble for myself in the future?

Perhaps as time flowed on, in the distant future, there would be such a legend: the fourteenth Ancient Demon of the Abyss—what was the name again?

Dedicated fruit juice squeezer!!!!

Damn, what kind of demon-pitting nonsense was that!