After Flender left, Li Changsheng called Tang San over again.
"Teacher, what are your instructions?"
Tang San respectfully cupped his hands, his tone deferential.
"Ahem, Little San, I've already come up with a plan for your training." Li Changsheng handed him a scroll. The sheer number of layers it was rolled into made it clear that its contents were extensive.
Taking the scroll, Tang San eagerly unrolled it. Inside, densely packed writing listed the things he needed to do.
Mass-produce Sleeve Arrows, manufacture handguns, carve Go boards, forge black and white stones?
Tang San could understand the first two, but what were those last ones? Go!? Did the Douluo Continent have Go? And how did Teacher Changsheng know about it?
Three enormous question marks hovered over Tang San's little head.
"Teacher, this board..."
"This is a pastime I learned about while traveling the continent in my earlier years, but it doesn't seem to have reached the Heaven Dou Empire."
Li Changsheng's expression never changed, nor did his heart skip a beat. Judging by the setting of Douluo I, Go indeed did not exist here. But why did Tang San know about it? Because his previous life had been in a martial arts world, with dynasties and cultivation techniques. Wasn't it perfectly normal for him to know Go?
"This is called Go. And as you can see, I've assigned you plenty of tasks. You won't be doing these with your hands, but with your Life Spider Spears!"
"Can... can that really be done?"
Tang San hesitated. He struggled even to extend and retract his Life Spider Spears at will, let alone use them in place of his hands for handicrafts.
"There's a first time for everything. Don't rush. The Life Spider Spears have an extremely high ceiling and will be powerful weapons in your future battles. If a divine weapon were placed before you, but you didn't know how to use it, wouldn't that be a tremendous waste?"
"You're right. I certainly won't let your teachings down!"
Hearing Li Changsheng's words, Tang San immediately grew resolute. That was right. He hadn't even tried, so how could he give up so easily? With that thought, his confidence returned.
"By the way, have you spoken to Ning Rongrong? About the hidden weapons?"
"Uh... not yet."
Li Changsheng's sudden question left Tang San a little embarrassed. He couldn't very well say he had spent the past few days shopping with Xiao Wu, could he?
But Li Changsheng said nothing more. Later, Tang San might not even need to approach Ning Rongrong; she would come to him herself, as long as he could demonstrate his hidden weapons.
In a departure from the original story, without all those little mishaps and conflicts, Tang San had actually never used his hidden weapons even once. As a result, Ning Rongrong didn't know he possessed such things.
"It's fine. We can discuss that later. Also, when you use your Life Spider Spears, you need to hold a pickle jar in your arms, just like Ning Rongrong and the others!"
"Your Soul Power control is outstanding, but you can't command the Life Spider Spears at will. Holding the jar will give you more thorough training."
Xiao Wu was next. After Li Changsheng gave her a few instructions, she ran off to the side with cheerful steps to watch everyone train.
Last came Zhao Wuji.
"Old Zhao, I'll need you to apply extra gravity to the students during their wooden stake training later. Then... sorry for the trouble, but please notify the teachers that they won't need to eat at the cafeteria for the next few days. Have them eat here with us. The students will... cook everything fresh!"
"You got it!"
Zhao Wuji readily agreed. Eating meals cooked by the students themselves was certainly a novelty.
After finishing those arrangements, Li Changsheng explained Dai Mubai's and the others' individual special training. Though puzzled, they said little and followed his instructions as before.
The special training differed little from that in the comic, but Ning Rongrong and Oscar showed more obvious progress, since they had been carrying jars on their backs as Li Changsheng instructed ever since enrolling.
"Ning Rongrong, your Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect has its own unique Heart Separation Control. I don't know whether you studied it properly back at your sect, but I need you to fully master the first stage during this special training!"
The Three Aperture Governing Heart was the stage Ning Rongrong had currently attained. She knew her own level, too. She had been somewhat lax in her cultivation at the sect, so she nodded to show she understood.
For a time, everyone busied themselves.
As the sun gradually sank and dusk spread across the entire sky, the once clean and tidy training ground had become rather disorderly.
Shattered pottery lay everywhere, and there were even traces of rampaging Soul Power and countless claw marks.
Not far away, the Shrek Seven Devils were sweeping up the area with brooms. From their expressions, it was easy to tell that today's special training had been a failure.
"Little San, just how do you control your Soul Power? It's too hard! I can't get a handle on it at all."
Dai Mubai sidled up to Tang San, anguish written across his face. Not only did he have to break bowls, but once he finished sweeping, he still had to go knead dough for flatbreads.
"Ugh, Mubai, I'm suffering too! I can't do it. I just can't!!"
Tang San's wails drew everyone's attention.
"Little San, are you all right?"
"Third Brother, what's wrong?"
Realizing he had lost his composure, Tang San hurriedly waved his hands to indicate he was fine. He had just tried to control his Life Spider Spears, only to fail to operate them and scratch up the stone slabs on the ground instead.
"Where exactly did it go wrong? Why do they flail around uncontrollably whenever I use Soul Power?"
As he swept, Tang San began reviewing the reasons for his failure.
There were eight Life Spider Spears in total. Had he been too impatient in trying to control all of them right from the start?
Remembering something Li Changsheng often said-that a meal had to be eaten one mouthful at a time-Tang San's eyes suddenly lit up. He quickly finished sweeping his assigned area, called out to the others, then ran toward the nearby grove.
"What's Little San going off to do?"
Dai Mubai, Ma Hongjun, and the others exchanged looks, each seeing the same bewilderment in the others' eyes.
The girls were no different. Tang San had been acting far too strangely today. He had been like this during training too, running into the grove every so often.
"Say, should we go take a look? Little San must be hiding something from us!"
"Wouldn't that be a little inappropriate? What if it's Third Brother's secret? Wouldn't that count as spying?"
Ning Rongrong covered her little mouth. Despite her words, the anticipation in her tone and eyes had already betrayed her.
Watching Ning Rongrong like this, Oscar's eyes practically turned into hearts. Rongrong looks so cute with that expression!
"Xiao Wu, what do you think? Little San is your Third Brother. As long as you're on board, we'll sneak a peek!"
Seeing that they couldn't decide, Dai Mubai simply tossed the decision to Xiao Wu, leaving her to settle it.
Now Xiao Wu was torn again. She didn't want to pry into her Third Brother's secrets, but she was also a little curious. What sort of secret would he keep even from his younger sister?
While she pondered, Tang San had actually already returned, his face bearing a look of satisfied joy. Anyone could tell at a glance that something good had definitely happened!