Training (III)

Training had entered its third month, the final month of the first stage in Tang Xuan's plan. During the first two months, he had layered progressively more demanding vitality cultivation onto their physical training, focusing on strengthening their bodies while supplementing it with various secondary exercises. The workload kept doubling. This month, he would add more while maintaining everything they had already been doing. The most agonizing time was often not when darkness descended, but the night before dawn. In the first month, they had adapted to the training and kindled their fighting spirit. In the second, their edge had begun to dull, leaving only physical endurance. Now, in the third month, their fighting spirit and drive had been worn away, and even their stamina was nearly exhausted.

Today's appetizer was obstacle training. The Shrek Seven Monsters were already utterly spent, training without a shred of motivation, as though they might collapse at any moment and never get up. Tang Xuan's expression grew grave as he watched them.

"Dai Mubai, are you a coward?" The sudden question jolted Dai Mubai, who had been on the verge of giving up.

"Do you want to keep running away? Do you want to spend your whole life in your brother's shadow? You think you can't change the circumstances of your birth, so you bow your head to fate. If you aren't a coward, then fight your way forward with everything you have. Do everything you can to become stronger. Only the strong can change their fate. If you want to live as your true self, if you want to become someone strong enough to change his destiny, you have to overcome the hardship right in front of you."

"Aah!" Dai Mubai roared, dredging up a sliver of strength to keep charging forward. Every word Tang Xuan spoke struck him straight in the heart. That was right-only the strong could change their fate!

Just then, Oscar fell to the ground.

"Oscar, you're a support-type Soul Master without any combat ability. Think about it. If you can't even protect yourself, how will you protect someone you love in the future? How could her parents feel at ease entrusting their own flesh and blood to you? There has never been a support-type Soul Master capable of fighting an enemy. If you want to be the first, if you want the strength to protect the person you love, then you shouldn't stop before this little hurdle. It should be nothing more than a stepping stone. Once you tread it beneath your feet, your future will hold more possibilities. If you give up now, you'll only ever be an ordinary support-type Soul Master. Will you charge past it, or stay where you are and submit to whatever fate brings?"

Oscar stood up and continued climbing over the obstacles.

"Ma Hongjun, if you can't persevere, you'll always be a barnyard chicken, never a true phoenix..."

"Ning Rongrong, if you want to prove you aren't someone who rests on your sect's honors and lives off your elders' prestige, then keep charging forward. Even if you have to crawl, crawl all the way to the finish..."

Tang Xuan used his words to provoke them, awakening the pride in their hearts and turning it into the drive to move forward.

In the distant Attic, Flender and Zhao Wuji watched everything unfolding.

"Xuan has drawn out the very last shred of their potential."

"I really have never seen a training method like this!" Zhao Wuji said with feeling.

The next day, after Tang Xuan led them through their usual series of exercises from morning until noon, they began combat training again.

"For the next round of combat training, you can choose fair matches, one against one or two against two, or uneven matches with different numbers on each side. The choice is yours."

"Or perhaps you'd like to fight me," Tang Xuan added, sweeping his gaze over them.

Everyone shook their heads in unison at that. We'd rather get ganged up on than fight you!

"Xuan, we can handle it ourselves. Sorry for the trouble!" Oscar said ingratiatingly.

"Yes, yes, we'll handle it ourselves," the others agreed, nodding. "Actually, fighting Brother Xuan would be pretty good." A dissenting voice rang out. Zhu Zhuqing continued in her cool voice, "Only by fighting Brother Xuan can we make greater progress, can we... mmph!" Before she could finish, Dai Mubai suddenly stepped forward and clapped a hand over her mouth. Her mouth had been open, and she accidentally brushed his finger with her tongue. Her little face turned visibly red.

"Xuan, we're going over to train now!" With that, he took Zhu Zhuqing's hand and ran toward the training grounds. The other five hurried after them. Tang Xuan smiled without saying anything.

Tang Xuan sat cross-legged on the Flag Platform, preparing to meditate and cultivate. Lately, the soul power within him had been surging more intensely, likely a sign that he was about to break through. For now, he wanted to build up his reserves a little longer. He therefore planned to compress and refine his soul power again, reinforcing the barrier at level forty to suppress his breakthrough. Ripples of surging soul power began to spread around him.

On the distant training grounds, the Shrek Seven Monsters' battles were in full swing. Ma Hongjun and Oscar faced the three girls, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing. Dai Mubai and Tang San, who had the highest soul power, were fighting a one-on-one duel.

These matchups were very well chosen. Tang Xuan had long since analyzed their individual shortcomings for them. Like other power attack-type Soul Masters, Dai Mubai was naturally constrained by control-type Soul Masters. Tang San's control was exceptionally refined, but his explosive power was somewhat lacking. Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Flame had tremendous explosive power, but lacked speed and precision. As agility attack-type Soul Masters, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing already excelled in speed, but their explosive power still fell short. With these arrangements, they could learn from each other's strengths in battle and make up for their own weaknesses.

Dai Mubai and Tang San's duel was a dazzling spectacle, with both giving it their all. On the other side, however, the scene took a sudden turn. Zhu Zhuqing whipped a kick toward Ma Hongjun's face, and he hastily dodged.

"Whoa! Zhu Zhuqing, are you trying to kill me? If that kick landed, wouldn't it ruin this handsome face of mine?" Ma Hongjun said, touching his face with lingering fear. Zhu Zhuqing remained silent, her expression cold. Xiao Wu kicked Ma Hongjun in the backside from behind, making him jump.

"Xiao Wu, what are you doing?" Ma Hongjun demanded angrily.

"Fatty, if you don't start training properly, we'll tell Brother Xuan later. Then you'll have a bitter fruit to swallow," Ning Rongrong threatened.

"Exactly. We'll have Brother Xuan train with you and see if that makes you behave," Xiao Wu added.

"Please don't! You know how terrifying Brother Xuan is! I'd rather die beneath your feet than fall beneath his sword! My three dear little sisters-no, my three dear big sisters-please, I'm begging you, don't tell Brother Xuan!" Ma Hongjun pleaded desperately.

"Well, Fatty, happy now? When the time comes, you can train alone with Xuan. Don't drag me into it." Oscar immediately tried to distance himself from Ma Hongjun. It was not that he lacked loyalty-Tang Xuan was ruthless even with support-type Soul Masters! He truly could not take it.

Ma Hongjun panicked at that. "Oscar, don't think you can wash your hands of this. You won't get away either."

Then he turned back to the three girls. "My three dear big sisters, let's keep training. Please!" Ma Hongjun pressed his palms together, his doll-like eyes nearly bulging out. Beside him, Oscar's thoughts were clear: A man without shame is invincible. Just look at that pathetic display.

Unable to stand Ma Hongjun's shameless behavior any longer, Xiao Wu and the other two agreed to resume the fight.

"My three big sisters, you really are good people-my own dear sisters! When we fight, my two fists can hardly fend off four hands! So when you're handing out a beating, remember to spare some attention for my teammate too!" As he spoke, Ma Hongjun shot Oscar a meaningful glance. Oscar no longer had the strength to complain. This was undoubtedly the very definition of a rotten friend.

"Don't worry. We'll spread the rain and dew evenly," Xiao Wu declared grandly. In the ensuing battle, Oscar and Ma Hongjun took heavy blows from Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing. Although Ma Hongjun had support from Oscar's sausages, Xiao Wu and Zhu Zhuqing likewise had Ning Rongrong's support, and their levels were not evenly matched either. Every time Ma Hongjun failed to hold them off, Oscar also came under attack. Whenever Ma Hongjun dodged aside, Oscar felt certain he was doing it deliberately to get him beaten up. Fortunately, he had learned some fighting techniques from Tang San and undergone special training with Tang Xuan recently, so he could put up some resistance against their attacks rather than suffer too miserable a beating.

Although Tang Xuan was cultivating with his eyes closed, his spiritual power already covered the area. Not even the slightest rustle could escape him, and he kept watching all seven fight.

Their long training had built up a longing for combat, and all of them felt the urge to vent. Their combat training had now lasted half a month. During that time, more than a dozen battles each day had given them a deep understanding of their own Soul Skills and one another's, revealing their weaknesses and their opponents' openings. Their desire to gain an advantage in the next battle drove them to keep innovating with their Soul Skills. Nothing remained unchanged forever. Although change was not always good, refusing to innovate would certainly leave them behind others. Developing their existing Soul Skills further would eventually allow them to create new ones. For a Soul Master, having one more Soul Skill was like having one more bullet in a gun. When an opponent ran out of ammunition, that would be the moment to seize victory.

Tang Xuan demanded genuine fighting, telling them to treat the training grounds as a real battlefield. Through these live-fire battles, they suffered more injuries in half a month than they had in the previous two months. Yet they were not worried. Tang Xuan's pills gave them tremendous confidence; however severe an injury was, a single pill could resolve it, so all seven fought without restraint. Training that approached real combat greatly improved their fighting skills and their coordination with one another.

For the past half month, Tang Xuan had been busy compressing his soul power and reinforcing the barrier at level forty. Doing so would inevitably make a breakthrough more difficult. To advance a single level, he would need to accumulate more than ten times, or even dozens of times, as much soul power as others. Across the entire continent, there was probably no one besides Tang Xuan who would suppress the growth of his soul power so desperately. Soul Masters dreamed of breakthroughs in soul power; why would they fight so hard to suppress them? But Tang Xuan was not concerned about the slow rise of his soul power level. His strength already far surpassed that of his peers. He could not blindly pursue higher levels; building his own reserves was what mattered most. That was why he had not immediately taken Oscar and Ma Hongjun to obtain Soul Rings after they broke through.

During the remaining days, the seven found each day more painful and difficult to endure than the last. It was not merely a physical burden beyond their limits, but mental torment as well. With such an enormous workload, they now had only a little over four hours of rest each day. Every other moment was packed with training. Their bodies seemed wound like clockwork, running without stopping, while a string stayed taut in their minds, never daring to slacken. The whole team grew much quieter. Even Oscar and Ma Hongjun, usually so lively and mischievous, became men of few words in this final stretch, acquiring a measure of steadiness.

But inwardly, Oscar and Ma Hongjun protested: It's not that we've stopped being lively. We're just too exhausted to have any energy for it.

Tang Xuan did not relax his demands for even a moment. He knew this final stretch was the hardest to endure, but once they made it through, they would see the dawn of victory.

Watching the seven train in silence, Tang Xuan gave an "Ah..." and yawned, stretching before looking up at the blazing sun. "Sigh! I'd better go back and lie down a little longer." He turned and returned to his room, brought out a reclining chair, set it outside the door, and lay down on it.