Team Battle Training: Dai Mubai

The dining hall.

Flender stood before the long table, holding a yellowed sheet of paper with seven names written on it.

"Seven people for the Elite Tournament team battles." He slapped the paper onto the table. "Dai Mubai, Tang San, Lin Yuan, Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, Oscar, Ning Rongrong."

Dai Mubai leaned against the wall with his arms crossed. "What's there to practice? We can each fight our own way. It all comes down to individual ability anyway."

Lin Yuan sat on the table, wiping down his fishing rod. "That won't work. Without coordination, you won't catch a single fish."

Dai Mubai frowned. "We're going to fight people, not catch fish."

Lin Yuan looked at him. "Fighting people and catching fish work the same way. You need to know when your teammates get a bite and when to give them line."

"Speak plainly."

"Tang San controls the field, you deal damage, and I support." Lin Yuan planted his fishing rod on the table. "You release your White Tiger Fierce Light Wave when I give the signal."

Dai Mubai bristled. "Why should I listen to you?"

"Because Teacher Zhao knocked you down in three moves the last time you sparred." Lin Yuan looked up at him. "At level six, I kept Teacher Zhao chasing me for the time it takes an incense stick to burn."

Dai Mubai: "..."

Xiao Wu squatted on a chair, cracking sunflower seeds and laughing so hard she slapped the table. "Boss Dai, so this day finally came for you."

Dai Mubai glared at her. "What are you laughing at?"

"I'm laughing because someone played you on the end of a fishing rod, and you don't even know it." Xiao Wu tossed a seed shell onto the table. "Lin Yuan, I'll train with you."

Zhu Zhuqing raised her head from the corner and gave Lin Yuan a cold look, but said nothing.

Oscar came over. "Can I sit this out? I'm a food-type Soul Master. I can just stay in the back."

Lin Yuan glanced at him. "Stand wherever you want, but there's one thing you need to learn."

"What?"

"When to hand a sausage to whom."

Oscar froze. "I have to learn that too?"

"Have you ever cooked?"

"No. Does making sausages count?"

"That's why your sausages always taste off when people eat them." Lin Yuan rested the fishing rod on his shoulder. "Starting tomorrow, you're learning to cook fish with me."

Oscar's face went pale. "I'm a food-type Soul Master, not a cook..."

"A food-type Soul Master who can't cook is as embarrassing as an angler who can't tie a hook."

Oscar shut his mouth.

Beside Back Mountain Lake.

Lin Yuan drew several circles in the grass and assigned everyone a position.

"Tang San in the center, Dai Mubai on the left flank, Xiao Wu on the right. Oscar and Ning Rongrong in the rear. Zhu Zhuqing moves freely."

Dai Mubai asked, "Where will you stand?"

Lin Yuan walked to the very back and set his fishing rod on the ground. He cast the line across the entire Training Ground, looping it once beside each person's feet.

"I'll stand farthest away."

Dai Mubai frowned. "You're hiding in the back?"

"People fishing for big fish never stand at the water's edge. Get too close, and the fish see you and flee." Lin Yuan secured his rod. "My hook's in the water now. If any of you moves, I can feel it. Anglers call that reading the bite. I can tell what you're about to do next."

Dai Mubai looked doubtful. Without warning, he threw a punch at Tang San.

The moment his fist rose, Lin Yuan called from behind them, "Dai Mubai, your right shoulder moved first."

Dai Mubai froze, his fist suspended in midair. "How did you know?"

Lin Yuan waggled the rod. "The line told me. Before you moved, the ground trembled. The tremor shook the line, and the line told me."

Dai Mubai looked down at the fishing line by his feet, then back at Lin Yuan, his expression conflicted.

Xiao Wu raised her hand. "What about me? Can you feel it when I move?"

"You scratched your nose three times and switched legs twice."

Xiao Wu's eyes widened. "You've been watching me this whole time?"

"I've been watching the line." Lin Yuan pointed to the fishing line by her feet. "It shakes whenever you move. Different parts of your body make it shake at different rates."

Xiao Wu turned to Tang San. "Is he a monster?"

Tang San nodded. "I've thought so for a while."

For the combat drill, Flender refereed and Zhao Wuji played the opponent.

Zhao Wuji stood in the middle of the Training Ground, flexing his fists. "Come on, then. Let me see what all this practice has amounted to."

Lin Yuan set up his rod at the very back and cast his line across the center of the grounds.

Zhao Wuji charged, his footsteps shaking the earth.

Lin Yuan shouted, "Tang San, left!"

Tang San whipped his Blue Silver Grass to the left, wrapping it around Zhao Wuji's left leg.

Zhao Wuji raised his right foot to stomp it, and Lin Yuan shouted again, "Dai Mubai, wait for him to land!"

Dai Mubai's White Tiger Fierce Light Wave blasted the spot where Zhao Wuji's right foot was about to land.

Forced to leap, Zhao Wuji was still in midair when Lin Yuan reeled in his line. The hook caught Zhao Wuji's belt, and Lin Yuan used the force of his jump to pull him toward Tang San.

Tang San wove his Blue Silver Grass into a net. Zhao Wuji flew headfirst into it and was bound tight.

Lin Yuan had not taken a single step. He had only moved his mouth and his rod.

Zhao Wuji hit the ground wrapped in Blue Silver Grass. He struggled three times without breaking free, then glared at Lin Yuan.

"You brat... what type are you, exactly?"

"Support-type."

"A support-type knocked me down?"

"I didn't knock you down." Lin Yuan reeled in his rod. "You ran into Tang San's net yourself. I just told Tang San when you would jump."

Zhao Wuji was silent for a long time.

"You call that support?"

"I call it fishing." Lin Yuan crouched until he was eye to eye with Zhao Wuji. "The fish doesn't decide where it swims. The bait does. I didn't decide where you charged; you did. I merely told Tang San before you made your choice."

Zhao Wuji stared for three seconds, then suddenly laughed.

"Flender!" he shouted from the ground. "Where did you pick up a monster like this?"

Flender stood at the edge of the grounds with his arms folded. "He came to us."

By the time training ended, darkness had fallen.

Dai Mubai sat by the lake, staring blankly at the water.

Lin Yuan walked over and sat beside him.

"What's on your mind?"

"Something you said today." Dai Mubai turned to him. "You said I was too impatient."

"Yeah."

"I never thought so before."

"And now?"

Dai Mubai was quiet for a moment. "Xiao Ruoxue is two years younger than me and level twenty-two. I'm sixteen and level twenty-five. I always thought she couldn't match me. But watching you train today, I suddenly felt that if I fought her, I might lose."

Lin Yuan said nothing.

"Because I'm too impatient." Dai Mubai looked down at his hands. "I always want to finish an opponent in one move, but a true expert won't give me that chance."

Lin Yuan laid the fishing rod across his knees. "You figured it out."

"I did." Dai Mubai stood. "Are we training again tomorrow?"

"We are."

"Training what?"

"Waiting." Lin Yuan stood too. "The first lesson for any angler is to wait. The longer you can wait, the bigger the fish you can catch."

Dai Mubai looked at him. "Can you lead us to victory in the Elite Tournament?"

Lin Yuan hoisted his fishing rod onto his shoulder. "Anglers never promise a net bursting with fish."

"Then what can you promise?"

"As long as there are fish in the water, I can find a way to make them bite."

Dai Mubai watched him for two seconds, then suddenly held out his hand.

Lin Yuan looked at it and shook it.

"All right." Dai Mubai grinned. "Then I'll wait."

Xiao Wu bounced out from nearby, carrying two fish. "Enough with the heartfelt talk, you two! Oscar's grilled the fish. If you don't come now, they'll get cold!"

Lin Yuan and Dai Mubai exchanged a glance and followed her.

Oscar squatted beside the fire, holding two fish grilled black, looking embarrassed.

"Um... it's my first time grilling fish. They might not look very good."

Lin Yuan took one and bit into it.

Oscar watched him nervously. "How is it?"

"You didn't scrape off all the scales."

Oscar's face fell.

"But it tastes all right." Lin Yuan took another bite. "Remember to scrape off the scales next time."

Oscar stared for two seconds, then broke into a smile. "Okay! I'll scrape them off next time!"

Zhu Zhuqing sat on the other side of the fire, quietly eating her fish and glancing up at Lin Yuan from time to time.

Ning Rongrong leaned over. "Zhu Zhuqing, what are you looking at?"

Zhu Zhuqing looked away. "Nothing."

Ning Rongrong followed her gaze and spotted Lin Yuan teaching Oscar how to scrape off scales.

"Oh..." Ning Rongrong drew the word out.

Zhu Zhuqing glared at her. "Shut up."

The seven of them sat together around the fire.

Looking at the group, Lin Yuan suddenly felt this was far more interesting than fishing alone at Nod Ting Academy.

A system notification sounded:

[Ding! Teamwork training complete. Rating: Good. Reward: Lakebed Fishing Permit +1.]

The corner of Lin Yuan's mouth lifted.

From behind a second-floor window, Flender watched the firelight by the lake, a teacup in his hand.

"Grandmaster."

"Mm."

"How far do you think they can go?"

Grandmaster stood beside him and pushed up his glasses. "I don't know, but one thing is certain."

"What?"

"As long as Lin Yuan has that rod in his hands, this team won't lose."

Flender took a sip of tea. "You have that much faith in him?"

Grandmaster opened his notebook. Its pages were densely covered in writing.

"Flender, I've studied Martial Souls for thirty years." He closed the notebook. "But I've never seen a Martial Soul that could turn seven people into one."

"What do you mean?"

"Didn't you see it just now?" Grandmaster looked toward the lake. "Lin Yuan's fishing line connected everyone's positions, movements, and rhythms. He wasn't providing support. He was commanding them."

Flender was silent for a long time.

"Then why did you say he wasn't taking it seriously?"

"Because he wasn't." Grandmaster turned and walked away. "When he starts using that rod like a conductor's baton, you'll see what he's truly capable of."

By the lake.

Lin Yuan looked up at the stars and suddenly remembered something.

"System."

"Yes."

"What's the Lakebed Fishing Permit?"

The system was silent for a moment.

[Answer: An unknown Soul Beast exists at the bottom of Back Mountain Lake. Once the permit is unlocked, the host may enter deep water to fish at night. Recommendation: Wait until Soul Power Level reaches twenty before attempting.]

Lin Yuan gazed at the calm lake, remembering those scales like a field of stars.

"Level twenty," he murmured. "Soon."

Xiao Wu came over. "Who are you talking to?"

"Secret."

"Another secret." Xiao Wu crouched beside him. "What exactly is this secret of yours?"

Lin Yuan turned to her. Xiao Wu's eyes shone in the moonlight.

"Do you really want to know?"

"I do."

"Then tell me first." Lin Yuan stared at her. "What kind of Soul Beast are you?"

Xiao Wu's smile stiffened.

Then she stood and brushed the bits of grass off her skirt.

"It's late. Time for bed."

She turned and ran.

Lin Yuan watched her go and smiled.

"What are you running for?"

"Sooner or later, you'll take the bait."