Practical combat class! (Part one) (Please invest! Please send recommendation votes! Please send monthly votes!)

After swallowing a Mystic Water Pill, Qin Xu's soul power rose from rank fifteen to the peak of rank sixteen.

He could take another Mystic Water Pill, but he was in no hurry. He planned to consolidate his cultivation and digest the medicinal power remaining in his body first. Once his soul power broke through to rank seventeen, he would take the second pill to maximize its effects.

The early cultivation resources provided to the Young Heaven Class students by the Black Dragon King's Palace and Heavenly Profound Academy included not only a Mystic Water Pill, but also a dose of Body-Tempering Potion.

As its name suggests, the Body-Tempering Potion is a medicine that tempers the physique. It can strengthen young soul masters' bodies to a certain extent, increasing the upper limit of the soul rings they can absorb. It is one of the few means of strengthening the physique available in the soul master world.

The formula for this potion was quite common, and nearly every major power on the continent possessed it. Preparing a basic dose of Body-Tempering Potion cost only a hundred thousand gold soul coins, a negligible sum to those major powers. However, the potion came with severe restrictions. Not only could it be used just once, but it could also easily interfere with physical development.

Thus, major powers and sects usually gave their core disciples a dose of Body-Tempering Potion within a year of awakening their martial souls, increasing the age of their first or second soul ring. As they grew older, the potion's effects would diminish considerably.

In theory, the ideal age for using the Body-Tempering Potion was between four and six. Yet nearly every power had tacitly settled on six, for one simple reason: using it any earlier interfered too much with physical development.

These conclusions were all drawn from historical experience.

The Body-Tempering Potion the academy prepared for the Young Heaven Class students was top-grade. Every ingredient was of superior quality, and the total value was at least two hundred and fifty thousand gold soul coins. They had truly spared no expense.

The Body-Tempering Potion was primarily applied externally, with the body absorbing its medicinal power through soaking. In short, it was a medicinal bath.

One afternoon, the Young Heaven Class students were divided into two groups, boys and girls, and brought into separate classrooms. Each received a wooden tub and began their medicinal bath under the teachers' guidance.

This communal bathing experience also became an important event that brought the Young Heaven Class students closer together.

Several more days passed after they used the Body-Tempering Potion.

"Today, we'll be doing practical combat training. Everyone, head to the Soul Fighting Arena," Tian Zilai said.

The Young Heaven Class assembled in the Soul Fighting Arena, where their homeroom teacher, Tian Zilai, and their Support System teacher, Sun Rou, arrived one after the other.

"One-Ring Soul Masters, step forward," Tian Zilai called. "Today's practical combat class will focus on soul masters. Soul Scholar students, stand outside the arena and observe."

At Tian Zilai's call, the eleven soul master students, led by Qin Xu, stepped forward and formed another line. The remaining seventeen students obediently moved to the edge of the arena, their faces showing varying degrees of reluctance.

"Good. Today, we'll hold five one-on-one soul fighting matches. We'll draw lots to determine the two students for the first match," Tian Zilai said. "After the first match ends, the remaining nine will draw again to determine the participants in the second match, and so on. In the end, one student will receive a bye."

"The student who receives a bye will participate in the first match of our next practical combat class, so there's no need to worry about getting one less chance at actual combat than everyone else.

"All right, start drawing. The two who draw numbers will be the participants in the first match."

Tian Zilai took out a box of lots, and Qin Xu and the others stepped forward in turn to draw a slip of paper.

"Teacher Tian," Vielvi called, raising her hand. "I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"Can we use soul tools? If not, I might as well surrender right now." Vielvi raised the numbered slip in her hand as she asked.

Vielvi could hardly be blamed for saying that. Her brain martial soul leaned toward utility, and her first soul skill was purely supportive. If soul tools were forbidden, she would truly have no choice but to fight hand-to-hand.

As an imperial princess, Vielvi could not accept that style of combat.

"Yes." Tian Zilai paused in surprise, then continued, "But there are restrictions. You may only use one, and it cannot be a highly destructive shell-type soul tool. Weapons like those have no place in our practical combat classes at this stage."

"That's more than enough," Vielvi said in satisfaction. She turned and stepped into the Soul Fighting Arena. "Who's my opponent? Come on up. Big Sister Vielvi will go easy on you."

A boy silently stepped into the Soul Fighting Arena.

Tian Zhi, a rank-twelve Agility Attack System soul master whose martial soul was the Lightning Bird.

With both students in position, Tian Zilai led the remaining nine students outside the arena. Teacher Sun Rou had already taken her seat at the judges' table on the other side.

"Begin the match!" The shout officially marked the start of the first soul fighting match in the Young Heaven Class's first practical combat lesson.

Vielvi and Tian Zhi released their martial souls and soul rings simultaneously. Vielvi showed no visible change; only a yellow soul ring rose behind her and hovered behind her head. Tian Zhi's transformation was obvious. His short black hair stood on end, blue feathers appeared around both wrists, and faint flashes of electricity flickered along his arms. A yellow soul ring also hovered behind him.

Tian Zhi had made his breakthrough at the academy, and a Young Heaven Class teacher had personally taken him to obtain his soul ring.

"Big Sister Vielvi, watch out!" Tian Zhi warned before immediately unleashing his first soul skill. A Lightning-Woven Wing Phantom plunged into his body, and arcs of electricity appeared all over him. A moment later, he shot toward Vielvi like a streak of lightning.

Opening with a soul skill was the standard fighting method for a One-Ring Soul Master.

Vielvi's eyes shone with a keen light. A slender metal tube appeared in her hands. Holding it with both hands, she gently fed soul power into it. A ball of white light emerged at its aperture, followed by a laser beam.

The Single-Barrel Laser Emitter was the most basic beam-type soul tool, suitable for One-Ring Soul Masters. It could fire up to ten laser shots and was one of the most widely used soul tools.

As though it had eyes of its own, the laser struck precisely in front of Tian Zhi, missing his body by the narrowest margin. It forced him to make a sharp turn, abruptly draining the momentum of his charge.

"Oh no! I missed! Let's try again!" Vielvi murmured. She raised the metal tube and aimed at Tian Zhi once more, her eyes shining even brighter this time.

Seeing this, Tian Zhi gritted his teeth and drove his legs forward again. He had to reach Vielvi before his soul skill wore off; only then would he have a chance of winning. Arcs of electricity danced wildly across his body. With his hands held behind him, the feathers around his wrists fluttered, stirring gusts of air.

"Whoosh!"

Another laser struck precisely beside Tian Zhi's feet, breaking the momentum of his charge yet again. As the saying went, the first drumbeat roused the spirit, the second weakened it, and the third exhausted it. Tian Zhi's fighting spirit was already close to spent.

"Whoosh!"

Before Tian Zhi could adjust, another laser came flying toward him. He threw himself sideways, letting the beam graze past his shoulder. But the sudden sideways lurch cost him his balance, and he fell to the ground.

Tian Zhi hurriedly scrambled up, no longer caring how he looked. He raised his eyes, located Vielvi, and launched another attack.

Outside the arena.

"Vielvi has won," Xue Zhao declared. "Tian Zhi lacks ranged attacks and relies entirely on the speed boost from his first soul skill. Vielvi is wearing him down from a distance, waiting at ease while he exhausts himself. By the time he reaches her, his soul skill will probably have worn off long ago. With nothing but his bare fists, he'll be even less of a match for her."

"Mm." Qin Xu agreed with Xue Zhao's analysis.

"Yiyi, why do you feel his pain so deeply?" Xue Zhao asked in puzzlement. "Doesn't your first soul skill let you attack from a distance?"

"But my first soul skill is my only ranged attack!" Ye Guyi said with a rueful smile. "Once I've used it, don't I still have to fight at close quarters?"

At that, Qin Xu said speechlessly, "Yiyi, I think you're putting yourself a little too deeply in Tian Zhi's shoes. His Lightning Bird martial soul has no wings before he gains his second ring, so he can't fly. But you have an angel martial soul! You can already fly! That's your advantage!"

"Oh, right!" Ye Guyi suddenly understood and exclaimed in delight. "How did I forget I could fly? Ah, I got too caught up in his perspective. It's mainly because the ranged attacks from Vielvi's soul tool really feel like cheating."

"Hahaha." Qin Xu laughed. "Actually, there's more to it than that. Haven't you noticed? Every one of Vielvi's attacks precisely hits the spot where Tian Zhi is about to step. An ordinary person couldn't manage such precise control."

"Spiritual power!" Xue Zhao put her finger right on it. "Vielvi has strong spiritual power, so she can keenly perceive Tian Zhi's movements, then use her spiritual power to help her aim. That's how she achieves that level of precision."

"Exactly." Qin Xu nodded, a trace of envy in his eyes as he looked at Vielvi.

That must have been the advantage of a spiritual martial soul: the ability to perceive things down to the finest detail. His spiritual power was no weaker than Vielvi's, but he still found it difficult to achieve her degree of control.

"Vielvi wins!"

The first soul fighting match ended. Vielvi had waited at ease while her opponent exhausted himself, securing victory.