Feng Xiaotian had possessed tremendous talent, but he had become engrossed in cultivating Self-Created Soul Skills.
In the end, he had failed to reach the ranks of the top powerhouses, falling far behind the Shrek group in the original story.
With enough force, even a brick could fly!
Stats were the ultimate truth!
Even if his mechanics fell short, as long as his stats were high enough, he still had a very good chance of defeating his opponent.
Besides, his mechanics weren't lacking.
But he noticed that Qian Daoliu clearly had more to say.
Sure enough, Qian Daoliu smiled and continued:
"But you can't do without skills to protect yourself, either."
"Especially since the Clear Sky Sect plans to bring people here for a friendly competition. Focusing on training in this area will also benefit your future."
"After all, as the Pope of Spirit Hall's disciple, you'll face assassinations, ambushes, and all sorts of schemes in the future."
"If you're merely a pure healing-type Soul Master, you may very well fall at someone else's hands."
"Even the strongest expert can't guard against every assassination attempt."
Hearing this, Lin Chuan's expression turned grave.
The higher one's status, the greater the pressure.
With the Clear Sky Sect coming, he, as the Pope's disciple, could never hide and avoid the fight.
Spirit Hall's honor was at stake.
And the Great Enshrined was right, too.
Even if he became the Holy Son in the future, that didn't mean no one would dare make a move against him.
If he wanted to keep his little life by lying low, he had to keep improving his strength.
Bibi Dong, meanwhile, had a flash of fervent fighting spirit in her eyes.
In her view, aside from Spirit Hall, the other sects were all clay chickens and pottery dogs.
Looking at the expressions on the two disciples' faces,
Qian Daoliu then said with interest:
"Chuan'er, exchange a few moves with Dong'er."
Bibi Dong couldn't help chuckling.
She could finally beat up her junior brother fair and square!
Lin Chuan's face turned green.
Level 14 Soul Power against level 17, and Bibi Dong is a Power Attack System Soul Master with another year of practical combat experience!
Haji Dong is definitely going to hit below the belt!
He couldn't help recalling the time he'd tickled Haji Dong's little feet.
It had been fun bullying her then.
Now he was done for. His retribution was coming.
The two soon arrived at a small training ground in the courtyard.
The rules for the spar were simple: they couldn't go beyond the circular platform of the training ground, and they couldn't fly more than ten meters high.
"Bad junior brother, you'd better be careful. I won't go easy on you."
Bibi Dong first summoned the Death Spider Emperor to possess her.
A dense purple breath of death then surged forth.
Haji Dong was really going to hiss, and Lin Chuan's scalp went numb.
After all, this was his first true fight against a Soul Master.
But he had a plan of his own.
Lin Chuan summoned his Wishing Angel Martial Soul.
The moment Bibi Dong lunged at him, he flew into the sky.
Just then,
Bibi Dong gave a little snicker. "I knew you'd fly up."
She immediately summoned her first Soul Skill, Death Spider Spear.
A black-and-purple spear condensed in her hand.
The spear then shot at the position she anticipated Lin Chuan would occupy at tremendous speed.
Lin Chuan's pupils contracted, and he shouted inwardly, Holy shit!
Haji Dong might not have been much good at academic lessons, but she really was talented in combat.
He couldn't dodge this attack.
He immediately summoned his Soul Bone Skill, Light Wing Blade. A sword of light shot out and flew straight at the Death Spider Spear.
The Soul Bone Skill's formidable power knocked the Death Spider Spear away in an instant.
Qian Daoliu, standing to the side, nodded.
His execution is still very rough, but his aim is good.
Bibi Dong was quite surprised.
Sure enough, a Soul Bone gave its user an overwhelming advantage in battle.
But she smiled inwardly. Too bad my bad junior brother has had one less year of training than me, after all. He's fighting entirely on instinct, and he won't beat me with ordinary punches and kicks.
The next moment,
There was more than one Death Spider Spear.
Bibi Dong instantly condensed five Death Spider Spears and fired them toward Lin Chuan.
Lin Chuan controlled the Wishing Angel's wings, maneuvering nimbly through the air.
He dodged the ones he could and used Light Wing Blade to cancel out the ones he couldn't.
He frowned inwardly.
If the fight went on like this, he would only use up more Soul Power than Haji Dong.
His chances of winning were too slim. He had to speed things up.
The next moment,
Bibi Dong leaped up. Her terrifying jumping power took her halfway into the air in an instant, and she thrust a spear straight at Lin Chuan.
As she saw it, the attack had caught Lin Chuan when he was too preoccupied to respond.
But just then, Lin Chuan suddenly vanished without a trace.
Bibi Dong's expression stiffened.
Oh no, bad junior brother must have used the same kind of concealment ability as the Light-Weaving Butterfly's.
I didn't expect him to stay in the air all this time just to use this move.
That's my junior brother, full of dirty tricks.
Great, now I can't find him. What am I supposed to do?
Seeing this, Qian Daoliu was surprised as well.
In his view, Lin Chuan's fighting was very rough, but he had his own approach to combat, which was rare.
Many high-level Soul Masters couldn't even manage that.
He wanted to see how Bibi Dong would respond.
Meanwhile,
Bibi Dong, having lost her target, landed on the ground.
A sly smile appeared in her eyes, and she stood motionless where she was, meeting all changes by remaining unchanged.
If bad junior brother wanted to keep up that invisibility ability, wouldn't he have to keep expending Soul Power?
Lin Chuan frowned.
He had thought Bibi Dong would use Soul Skills to probe for him. Once she had used a few more, he would be able to gain the upper hand in Soul Power.
If they were fighting in the wild, he could simply fly away.
And if there were cover, he could use it to launch a sneak attack.
But this was an arena match, and the platform was bare. The initiative was undoubtedly in Bibi Dong's hands.
Even if he went over while invisible, any large movement would make it easy for Bibi Dong to see through the concealment of his half-baked Soul Skill.
And if he wanted to catch Bibi Dong off guard with a surprise attack, her current reaction speed would make that difficult too.
Ultimately, his stats still weren't high enough, so he had to worry about this and that.
If his Soul Power were about the same as Bibi Dong's, he could fight her head-on with his Soul Bone Skill.
There was no point in continuing the stalemate. At best, it would be a draw.
So he revealed himself and said, "I lost."
Bibi Dong gave a smug little chuckle.
"Bad junior brother, you still have a lot to learn."
She thought with satisfaction, Sure enough, stinky junior brother still isn't as good as me when it comes to fighting.
She looked at Qian Daoliu, wanting to know how the Great Enshrined would assess the fight.
Qian Daoliu was also very surprised by Lin Chuan's performance. He had thought the fight would be one-sided.
But he didn't show it.
Instead, he first praised Bibi Dong:
"Dong'er is very experienced in combat, and when she encountered a situation she couldn't react to in time, she chose exactly the right strategy."
Hearing Qian Daoliu's assessment, Bibi Dong puffed out her little chest.
After assessing Bibi Dong, Qian Daoliu turned to Lin Chuan.
"Chuan'er showed plenty of thought and ideas in his fighting, which also surprised me."
"But your problem is still that you lack far too much combat experience."
"If Dong'er weren't your senior sister, you might not have had any chance to use those moves at all."
"So you must improve your combat experience. Only then, in large-scale team battles in the future, will you be able to preserve yourself amid complex situations while providing healing for your companions."
Lin Chuan nodded and said respectfully, "Please teach me, Grandpa Great Enshrined."
Qian Daoliu was very pleased.
Who didn't like a student eager to learn?
"First, Chuan'er, your control over Soul Power still isn't precise enough."
"In my view, you used far too much Soul Power when using your Soul Bone Skill."
"If your swordsmanship were skillful enough, you could summon just one Light Wing Blade and use it to block several Death Spider Spears."
"That's one aspect. Next is your use of Soul Skills."
"You need to shorten the preparation time for the concealment effect of your first Soul Skill's variant."
"And I noticed that your Soul Bone Skill, Light Wing Blade, can remain for a while without disappearing. Could you apply it to the Wishing Angel's wings?"
"That way, your wings could not only attack but also become stronger, indirectly increasing your speed. When necessary, they could protect your back as well."
"Have you even considered whether the concealment effect of your first Soul Skill could be combined with your Soul Bone Skill, Light Wing Blade?"
"If you could produce an invisible sword with a concealed blade, might it have a different effect?"
Hearing Qian Daoliu's analysis, Lin Chuan was very surprised.
He had thought Qian Daoliu was the rather old-fashioned type of teacher. He hadn't expected him to have so many imaginative ideas.
His teaching wasn't rigid and utterly unfocused like Gangzi's or Zhou Yi's in Douluo II.
He thought it over carefully and felt there was great potential in it.
Was he really going to become a crafty old schemer?
After giving him some pointers,
Qian Daoliu formally got to the main subject.
What he taught Lin Chuan was simple: it was called the Qian Family Sword Technique.
It was a family martial art in every sense of the word.
Only a select few with exceptional talent or those who had made contributions had a chance to learn it.
And Lin Chuan had evidently earned that qualification through his contribution of Whale Rubber.
When Lin Chuan first began learning the Qian Family Sword Technique, he felt like a tone-deaf person singing or a stiff-limbed person dancing. It was terribly awkward.
But before long, more than half a day had passed, and he was wielding the sword with flair.
He swung the Light Wing Blade, that sword of light, with flair.
Seeing this,
Bibi Dong once again felt a sense of urgency.
This bad junior brother was improving too quickly.
Before, bad junior brother had clearly been very clumsy, but now his swordplay looked quite proper.
In a few more days, wouldn't she be unable to bully bad junior brother anymore?
She found it utterly absurd.
Could there really be a genius like bad junior brother?
Just then,
Qian Xunji returned.
She had already made arrangements for everything.
As soon as she returned to the courtyard, she was shocked.
"Is that Qian Family Swordsmanship?"
"Is Chuan'er the one practicing with the sword?"
Seeing that Lin Chuan had actually mastered Qian Family Swordsmanship so quickly, she too found it utterly absurd.
Did this disciple of hers have no weaknesses?
Seeing Qian Xunji return, Lin Chuan said excitedly, "Teacher, look, I've learned how to use a sword."
Qian Xunji could not help smiling and nodding.
"Chuan'er, it's a good thing you're progressing so quickly. You haven't brought shame to me as your teacher."
Qian Daoliu, however, could not help saying irritably,
"Brought shame to you? You have no idea how much effort it took me to teach you this sword technique back then."
Hearing this, Lin Chuan and Bibi Dong could not help looking eager for the gossip.
It was the first time they had learned that there was something their teacher was not good at.
Qian Xunji's face darkened.
Could you please not bring up my glorious exploits in front of my dear disciples?
It'll damage my dignified image as a teacher.
She hurriedly changed the subject.
"Lately, the younger generation have all been doing extra training at the practice grounds, so injuries are inevitable."
"Chuan'er will treat all the injured so he can absorb more Power of Faith."
After all, these trainees were quite talented, and as Soul Masters, they could provide Lin Chuan with more Power of Faith.
This Power of Faith would undoubtedly help Lin Chuan increase his Soul Power faster.