Practical Combat Class

Hearing this, Qian Renxue nodded. She also felt that Xu Yang's Martial Soul had come from a mutation, and then the two of them continued chatting in fits and starts. Most of the talking was probably done by Qian Renxue, while Xu Yang listened, occasionally replying with a sentence or two.

Ning Fengzhi, off to the side, watched the two of them getting along so well and smiled too.

The lesson with Qian Renxue only lasted for the morning, and it soon came to an end.

"Senior Brother, come find me in Heaven Dou City when you have time. I'll be sure to receive you properly!" At the entrance to the Imperial Palace, Qian Renxue held Xu Yang's hand and said enthusiastically.

"Sure. Don't worry, Junior Brother. When I have time, I'll come to Heaven Dou City to visit you!" Xu Yang also held Qian Renxue's hand and agreed with a face full of smiles.

"Then it's settled!"

After saying that, Qian Renxue forcefully pulled her delicate hand out of Xu Yang's grip, seriously suspecting in her heart whether the person before her might be some gangster. She did not realize at all that Xu Yang had already discovered her identity.

After Xu Yang and Ning Fengzhi left, Qian Renxue turned and returned to her own Honghe Palace. She had only just begun playing the role of Xue Qinghe, and there were still many matters she had to deal with. The most important was to make sure Xue Ye and the others could not spot any flaws. The other was to find a way to get rid of Xue Qinghe's two brothers, who posed a threat to her.

On the other side, Xu Yang, who had returned to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, went back to his regular life.

Every day, apart from cultivating, he cultivated. He basically never left the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect. Occasionally, he would go with Ning Fengzhi to teach Qian Renxue, and because of that, the relationship between the two of them improved quite a bit, though it still had not reached the point where they could bare their hearts to each other.

Because of the resonance between his Martial Soul and Qian Renxue's, Xu Yang felt a sense of urgency in his heart, and he cultivated even more diligently.

As more and more Sun Flowers were planted, the cultivation environment became better and better, and the boost to cultivation speed became more obvious as well, increasing by about five percent. Do not underestimate that five percent. That was the capital Xu Yang had to pull away from others.

He had also more or less finished cultivating the basics of the Blade Skill and began practical combat training with Ning Haiyan.

That night, after Xu Yang finished his physical training, he fired off several bursts of "Morning Light" at himself to repair any hidden injuries that might exist, then arrived at the Training Field.

Ning Haiyan was already waiting there. When he saw Xu Yang come over, he tossed over the Wooden Sword in his hand.

"Young Master, are you really sure you want to do practical combat?!"

Xu Yang had just caught the Wooden Sword when Ning Haiyan's question rang in his ears. He smiled faintly and said seriously, "Of course. Only practical combat can build strength. I don't want to have cultivation in the future but no combat power!"

"Then are you ready to get beaten?"

"Huh?!"

Xu Yang was a little stunned. Just as he reacted, a Wooden Sword was already right in front of him, chopping straight onto his shoulder. In an instant, he felt his entire right arm go numb, and the Wooden Sword in his hand fell to the ground with a thud.

"The first key point of practical combat: if you want to fight, you first have to learn how to take a beating. You need to familiarize yourself with all kinds of attacks, stay calm under any circumstances, not lose your head, know how to respond, and apply what you've learned in actual combat!"

Xu Yang looked at the faint smile hanging at the corner of Ning Haiyan's mouth and seriously suspected this guy had done it on purpose.

Rolling his eyes in irritation, Xu Yang circulated his Soul Power into his right arm and drove away the numbness. Then he picked up the sword on the ground again and shouted, "Again!"

As he spoke, he raised the sword and charged forward.

He did not refute it, nor did he make excuses and say he had not been ready.

Having lived two lives, he only remembered that in his previous life, aside from getting into a few fights at school when he was little, he had basically never fought anyone. In this life, he had only consciously trained and studied theoretical knowledge, and had never fought either.

These days, although he had been practicing Blade Skill and Archery Skill, it had only been practice. He had not used those Blade Skills in real combat.

What followed was—

Thud!

"Again!"

Thud!

"Again!"

Thud!

"Again!"

Even though Ning Haiyan controlled his Soul Power to be about the same as Xu Yang's, Xu Yang was basically just getting beaten. His Blade Skill was essentially wild swinging, and he was completely unable to apply what he had learned during this period to combat.

This kind of attack had no effect on Ning Haiyan at all. It was like children playing house, and he could break through it casually.

Ning Haiyan's sword was too fast, too heavy, and too ruthless.

Decades of fighting had not only caused Ning Haiyan's combat experience to skyrocket, it had also honed his Blade Skill to a terrifying level. These were all things Xu Yang had to learn.

Two hours later, Xu Yang's miserable cries rang out without end. Only when he had barely learned how to apply his Blade Skill and lay on the ground with a bruised nose and swollen face did Ning Haiyan finally stop and sit down beside Xu Yang.

"Young Master, how does it feel?"

"Practical combat really is practical combat. Pure practice alone won't do. I have way too many problems!"

As he recalled the fight just now in his mind, every time he had clearly been able to see the trajectory of Ning Haiyan's swing, and his mind had had an idea of how to respond, but his hands simply could not keep up.

The classic brain: I've got it!

Hands: No, you don't!

"Actually, Young Master, you were a little too focused on my reminder and on the length of the Wooden Sword in your hand. The theory that an extra inch of length means an extra inch of strength is very useful in the army. Most people in the army are ordinary people. They don't have Soul Power, so they have more of an advantage using long weapons like spears and lances. But for Spirit Masters, that theory is the opposite. Soul Power can achieve ranged attacks, so the little bit of extra attack range from long-handled weapons vanishes in an instant. Instead, because the weapon is too long, it becomes difficult to change moves, giving the opponent an opportunity to exploit." Ning Haiyan pointed out Xu Yang's biggest problem.

Ning Haiyan was nearly two meters tall, and his arms were especially long. On top of that, the Wooden Sword he held was also bigger than Xu Yang's, so the range of each of his attacks was far greater than Xu Yang's. This was also the reason Xu Yang had kept staring at his hand and Wooden Sword during the fight.

"I understand! What I should be grasping isn't the length of the weapon, but the distance between the two of us. I need to keep that distance at a position advantageous to me. For example, when the two of us were fighting just now, if I had fought close to you, I wouldn't have let you freely use those wide, sweeping attacks, and I could have brought out my own advantages!" Xu Yang thought for a moment and understood what Ning Haiyan meant.

"Exactly!" Ning Haiyan was very satisfied.

"Then, Uncle Ning, let's continue tomorrow!"

Xu Yang glanced at the sky, fired off a few more "Morning Light" on himself to heal his injuries, called out to Ning Haiyan, then dragged his exhausted body back to his room.

In the blink of an eye, another eight months passed. Xu Yang's Soul Power finally reached rank twenty, and his blade skill had also improved by leaps and bounds. According to Ning Haiyan, he already had the strength to put up a fight among Spirit Masters.

During this period, he occasionally gained another task as well: babysitting.

That was right—babysitting.

Whenever Ning Fengzhi and his wife, along with the two Douluo, Sword and Bone, were busy, Ning Rongrong was handed over to Xu Yang to look after, leaving him extremely helpless.