The Second Martial Soul Transformed! Special Training Began

Inside the special training room.

Su Yao stood with her back to Ning Chengyi, the power of a Soul Emperor faintly radiating from her. Only after a long while did she turn to face him and say:

"From now on, I'm your special training instructor. You're my sole responsibility."

"You?"

Surprise flashed in Ning Chengyi's eyes. All he had done was beat up one troublemaker, hadn't he?

"What makes the Heavenly Apex Class special is its students' strength and backgrounds. As for you... I don't know what makes you special."

"But I've received orders. I'll train you for one month. You'll fight the Heavenly Apex Class every week until the final match at the end of the month."

Su Yao told him everything she knew.

Ning Chengyi gave a wry smile. It seemed the Three Education Committee Members were afraid he might kill every student in the Heavenly Apex Class.

Still, this suited him fine. Their agreement lasted only a month, and having someone train him to grow stronger could only help.

"All right." Ning Chengyi agreed without hesitation.

"You're agreeing?" Su Yao had not expected that. With His Majesty backing him, she thought the little fellow might object to the committee's arbitrary arrangement.

"Why not? It's just training. Strength is what matters." Ning Chengyi spoke casually. He was more interested in how strong he would become afterward. Everything else was beside the point.

"Then we begin tomorrow. I'll tailor your training based on the information the Three Education Committee Members provided."

"Your room is next to mine. Follow me."

Su Yao led Ning Chengyi away.

Back in his room, Ning Chengyi found himself looking forward to this so-called special training.

Before long, someone knocked. Ning Chengyi opened the door, saw who it was, and smiled.

"This is the Moonlit Perching Butterfly Flower. The ring holds some cultivation resources too." The visitor was Snake Lance Douluo, She Long. Ning Chengyi accepted everything without ceremony or another word, then shut the door.

"What a rude little fellow."

She Long grumbled outside.

Should I report this to Your Eminence? His personality is rather like hers.

Yue Guan, that old chrysanthemum, said Your Eminence was injured and her cultivation regressed. I wonder if she's recovered, and whether her attempt to acquire another Martial Soul succeeded.

She Long's eyes filled with worry.

Inside, Ning Chengyi ignored the other supplies and took out the carefully protected Moonlit Perching Butterfly Flower. He gazed at it with delight.

The Moonlit Perching Butterfly Flower formed when moonlight fell upon the ground and froze together with the surface dew into an icy blossom. The conditions were exceptionally exacting. Once the ice flower formed, it released a fragrance most people could not detect, attracting Moonlight Spirit Butterflies to land on it and pollinate it.

Only then was the Moonlit Perching Butterfly Flower complete.

But after a Moonlight Spirit Butterfly landed and pollinated it, the flower devoured the butterfly's entire essence, much like a mantis consuming its mate after breeding.

That was why the flower was so rare.

The copied records described the Moonlit Perching Butterfly Flower in detail.

Fortunately, someone from Spirit Hall had once found one and recorded everything they had observed over decades of watching it. That was how Ning Chengyi had learned of the flower and come to want it.

If a butterfly-type Soul Beast absorbed the flower, its purified essence would greatly strengthen the beast's Martial Soul Origin.

"Healing wounds, suppressing and neutralizing poison, resisting illusions, steadying the mind... It's perfect for my Phantom Butterfly Spirit Tide."

Recalling the records, Ning Chengyi's eyes shone. The method of absorption was simple, too.

He only had to let his Martial Soul absorb it on its own.

Following the instructions, Ning Chengyi sat cross-legged and summoned the Phantom Butterfly Spirit Tide.

He placed the Moonlit Perching Butterfly Flower before him and channeled Soul Power into it to draw out its medicinal power. The Phantom Butterfly fluttered forward and used his Soul Power as a bridge to draw in the flower's essence. Wisps of floral energy flowed through the butterfly's illusory mouth and into his Martial Soul Origin.

"Come!"

Once it finished absorbing the flower, Ning Chengyi held out his right hand. The Phantom Butterfly flew into his palm like a tiny pet. Seeing it sway as though drunk filled him with joy.

"Desolation-Suppressing God-Breaking Spear!"

The moment the spear appeared, the Phantom Butterfly stirred and darted onto its tip.

"Let's see what you can do now."

From the start, Ning Chengyi had wanted to combine his Martial Souls for ambushes, but the Desolation-Suppressing God-Breaking Spear's sweeping style was ill-suited to stealth. Paired with the mist of the Phantom Butterfly Spirit Tide, however, the possibilities multiplied.

As Ning Chengyi considered them, a faint light rippled across the spear standing beside him beneath the Phantom Butterfly's mist. Several mosquitoes buzzed over and happened to land on its gleaming tip. The instant they touched it, they dropped to the floor, lifeless.

Surprise flashed in his eyes. "After absorbing the Moonlit Perching Butterfly Flower, the Phantom Butterfly gained a poisonous attack too?"

His eyes brightened further at the thought.

"But keeping anyone from discovering my Second Martial Soul is another problem."

For all his excitement, hiding the Phantom Butterfly would be difficult.

"I'll have to send it out to spread poison before a fight begins. That way, I can combine the two without exposing it."

Ning Chengyi sighed helplessly. He took off the inner armor Bibi Dong had given him, put it away, and fell fast asleep.

The night passed quietly.

The next morning, a knock woke Ning Chengyi. When he opened the door, Su Yao was already waiting outside.

"Time for special training." Ning Chengyi rubbed his eyes and glanced outside. It was still pitch-black. He looked at Su Yao in surprise.

"Yes. Otherwise, it wouldn't be special training."

"We'll start by tempering your body. How else will you withstand higher-ranked Soul Rings?"

"Fine." Ning Chengyi said no more and got dressed. He followed Su Yao to the training room. "Start running. No Soul Power. Put this on, too, and keep running until the sun is fully up."

Ning Chengyi only asked whether she was joking when she brought out a full set of weighted gear that covered him from head to toe.

"A weighted vest, leg weights, and arm weights. Sixty kilograms in total. Run until sunrise."

As Su Yao explained the equipment, Ning Chengyi swiftly put it on. She paused, surprised by how readily he followed her instructions.

Ning Chengyi had no objection to the training. If anything, it felt only natural.

Throughout the five years when he had made no progress in cultivation, he had exercised every day.

Without Soul Power, he had become the Muscle Ripper.

The training room was as large as five football fields and held every kind of equipment. As Ning Chengyi stepped onto the track, Su Yao produced a stopwatch-like Soul Tool.

It displayed the time and lap count, with buttons in the center and on either side. The moment Ning Chengyi set off, Su Yao pressed the center button, and the timer began to run.

"I hope you surprise me."

Once Ning Chengyi settled into his stride, his steps and breathing stayed steady. He breathed in and out every two steps without losing his rhythm.

"He really is promising. It's been a long time since I've seen someone so clever and gifted."

Su Yao watched him with approval.

"First lap: two minutes, twenty seconds."

Ning Chengyi frowned slightly at the time. He clearly was not satisfied, but he neither lengthened his stride nor quickened his pace, maintaining his original speed.

Each lap was eight hundred meters. Carrying sixty kilograms, two minutes and twenty seconds was already his top speed.