Teaching (II)

You drew back your thoughts. Jiang Che faced Zhu Zhuqing and said earnestly, "For an Agility Attack Soul Master, as the name suggests, 'agility' comes before 'attack.' Many people mistakenly believe offensive Soul Skills are the most precious, overlooking the value of other attributes instead."

"In my view, the core pursuit of the agility attack system should be speed!" Jiang Che said with certainty.

Zhu Zhuqing blinked and asked in confusion, "Speed? But if speed has no attack power, can an agility attack specialist like that really be strong?"

This stumped Jiang Che. If he answered using the knowledge from his previous life, Zhu Zhuqing certainly would not understand.

He could hardly tell Zhu Zhuqing about kinetic energy converting into potential energy.

However, there was another point to keep in mind: if the body was not strong enough and had no protection, excessive speed could very well tear it apart.

If the body was strong enough, one could also charge forward like a cannonball and smash the enemy into pulp.

"I can't explain it clearly to you, so let's go straight to practical combat."

Jiang Che looked around and said, "Wait here for me a moment."

With that, Jiang Che headed deeper into the Star Dou Great Forest.

Naturally, he was going to catch a Soul Beast that could take a beating to serve as Zhu Zhuqing's punching bag, while also earning enough Skill Points to exchange for the Symbiosis Method.

Jiang Che naturally had no need to worry about Zhu Zhuqing. This was the outskirts of the Star Dou Great Forest, and as a Soul Grandmaster, she could protect herself.

Besides, he had arranged Blue Silver Grass all around. As long as a Soul Beast approached, he would quickly sense it.

Before long, Jiang Che returned with a Profound Water Turtle around five hundred years old. He had also earned enough to reach 2,500 Skill Points and exchanged them for the "Incomplete Symbiotic Cultivation Method."

The cultivation instructions for the technique appeared in Jiang Che's hand, along with a contract.

Following the method in his mind, Jiang Che cut his finger and dripped blood onto the contract.

A notification sounded in Jiang Che's mind.

[Contract activated!]

The contract in his hand burned away, turning into streams of golden light that burrowed into Jiang Che's mind.

Jiang Che looked behind him. He had already beaten the Profound Water Turtle into submission, and it was following him with utmost deference.

"Zhu Zhuqing, come over and throw a punch at this turtle with all your strength."

Zhu Zhuqing looked in puzzlement at the Profound Water Turtle following behind him.

The Profound Water Turtle behind Jiang Che had a bruised nose and swollen face, clearly having taken quite a beating.

Zhu Zhuqing then gathered all her strength into her right fist and swung it hard.

Her punch landed on the Profound Water Turtle's hard shell.

The Profound Water Turtle did not budge.

Zhu Zhuqing saw an expression of relief on the Profound Water Turtle's bruised and swollen face.

The Profound Water Turtle breathed a sigh of relief. Fortunately, that force was like a tickle. Even a hundred blows like that would leave it unharmed.

The light in Zhu Zhuqing's eyes instantly dimmed.

Sure enough, the attack power of an Agility Attack System Soul Master was ultimately still too weak.

"Zhu Zhuqing, again! Remember, this punch needs to be fast. Seek only speed! The faster, the better!" Jiang Che said.

Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing gathered her thoughts, put some distance between them again, planted her feet, and threw another right punch.

This time, she did not deliberately pursue strength, but speed instead.

Rather than deliberately exerting force, she followed her body's instincts.

Her innate sensitivity to speed came far more naturally than brute strength.

Her fist swept past, leaving only an afterimage, followed immediately by a muffled thud.

The Profound Water Turtle shifted backward just a little. Zhu Zhuqing distinctly felt that the impact of this punch far exceeded the previous one.

A delighted light suddenly lit up Zhu Zhuqing's eyes.

"It's true! The faster I move, the stronger my attacks become!" she could not help crying out.

Before this, her fighting style had always relied on speed to close the distance, then on the sharp claws formed by her Soul Skills to tear at her opponents, inflicting damage through blood loss.

She had never imagined that speed itself was power.

At this moment, Zhu Zhuqing gained an entirely different understanding of the word "speed."

"Good." Jiang Che nodded, approval in his eyes. "Now, use your first Soul Skill, but you're not allowed to attack with it. Only borrow the speed it grants you, and use that speed itself to hit this turtle."

"All right!"

Zhu Zhuqing retreated more than ten paces, steadied herself, took a deep breath, then abruptly charged forward.

She pushed her speed to its limit. Just as her figure was almost about to split the air, the first Yellow Soul Ring beneath her feet suddenly lit up.

Her speed abruptly doubled!

She turned into a black phantom, sweeping up to the Profound Water Turtle in the blink of an eye.

Riding that explosive forward rush, she drove her right fist out with the momentum. Her punch carried the inertia of her headlong charge as it slammed into the Profound Water Turtle's hard shell.

This time, the Profound Water Turtle was forcibly driven back several meters, its thick limbs carving shallow furrows into the ground.

At that moment, the "what can you do to me?" expression on the Profound Water Turtle's face vanished completely, replaced by a trace of bewilderment and fear.

It did not understand why the human before it had become so much stronger.

The Profound Water Turtle turned to look at Jiang Che.

Its gaze seemed to say, She isn't going to beat me to death, is she?

Jiang Che gave the Profound Water Turtle a reassuring look. "Don't worry, she won't beat you to death!"

He did not know whether the Profound Water Turtle could understand him.

Meanwhile, Zhu Zhuqing stood where she was, still holding her punching stance, her eyes widening slightly.

She lowered her head to look at her fist, somewhat dazed.

She clearly had not used the sharp claws formed by her first Soul Skill just now. She had merely borrowed the speed boost granted by the skill.

Before this, she would not even have dared imagine it.

Watching her expression, Jiang Che's lips curved slightly. "Good. You grasped it quickly."

He paused, a hint of testing in his tone. "Now, you understand what an Agility Attack System Soul Master is, don't you?"

Zhu Zhuqing withdrew her fist, straightened her back, and nodded firmly, her eyes blazing. "Yes!"

In that instant, she seemed to have truly found the path that belonged to her.

"Don't celebrate too soon. Pursuing speed is often easiest at the beginning, but the further you go, the harder it becomes."

"If your physical conditioning can't keep up, all that speed will be useless. From now on, you'll need not only to cultivate, but also to improve your physical conditioning."

"Yes!"

Hearing this, Zhu Zhuqing was not discouraged at all. Instead, hope ignited in her heart.

What part of cultivation was ever easy? Who did not improve little by little through effort accumulated day after day?

Zhu Zhuqing fell silent for a moment, the understanding that had just been kindled still churning in her mind. After a long while, she raised her head and posed her first question. "I heard that the Heaven Dou Empire once had four great single-attribute clans, and one of them was the Speed Clan. But since they specialized in speed, why did they end up as nothing more than a subordinate sect of the Clear Sky Sect? And now they've even been struck from the Clear Sky Sect's rolls?"

At her words, a trace of admiration flashed through Jiang Che's eyes, and his lips curved slightly. "Good! That's an excellent question."

His tone held heartfelt gratification. "I've only just taught you that speed equals power and shown you the immense potential of Speed System Soul Masters, yet you immediately connected it to the rise and fall of the Speed Clan. Such quick thinking is rare."