An Yi had not chosen to train Qian Renxue with Tidal Gravity on a whim.
The original Moon Martial Soul primarily possessed Spatial and Mental Attributes, and gravity, when all was said and done, was also a type of spatial ability.
Spatial abilities could be roughly divided into several levels.
Distance, folding, and teleportation belonged to the geometric level of space.
Cutting, fault lines, and barriers concerned the structure of space.
As for gravity, gravitational attraction, and repulsion, those belonged to the force-field level of space.
Going deeper still, gravity also involved the curvature of spacetime itself.
Of course, these were only theoretical classifications. Knowing the principle behind an ability did not mean one could easily master it.
Developing a Martial Soul had never been as simple as, "If you know how something works, you can easily do it."
One had to keep exploring how to control one's own Martial Soul energy to produce the corresponding effect.
The Soul Skills provided by Soul Rings also essentially channeled Martial Soul energy in specific ways to produce corresponding abilities.
This was actually somewhat similar to the Soul Guidance Circuits in Soul Tools.
Both made energy circulate along specific routes and in specific ways to produce different effects.
Although the Moon Martial Soul of the past had possessed the Spatial Attribute, its control over space had been very limited by its own quality.
But after it evolved into the Great Yin Heaven-Devouring Dragon, An Yi's control over space had undergone a qualitative leap!
The effect of Tidal Gravity had changed as a result.
Previously, the Tidal Gravity he released could only suppress targets on a physical level, with an effect much like ordinary gravitational suppression.
But now, the suppressive effect of this gravitational force had become very similar to the Sea God's Light on Sea God Island.
It exerted more than intense physical pressure; even the energy within a Soul Master's body was suppressed!
That was also why Qian Renxue remained unable to break free, even though she had activated her Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul and drawn on her Holy Soul Power to resist.
Of course, An Yi's energy suppression was not exactly the same as the Sea God's Light.
The Sea God's Light was more like a higher-level energy exerting superior suppression over ordinary energy.
His Tidal Gravity, on the other hand, had a devouring property. While suppressing a target, it would disrupt or even devour the energy circulating within them.
The two forces manifested similarly, but their principles differed.
As for the deeper changes involved, An Yi was still exploring them.
As it happened, Qian Renxue's Six-Winged Angel Martial Soul possessed a powerful Holy Attribute, and the quality of her Soul Power far surpassed that of Soul Masters at the same level.
She could not have been a better choice for testing the effects of Tidal Gravity.
Time flew.
The sun sank in the west, and the sky gradually turned orange-red.
When the last ray of sunlight vanished beyond the horizon, the warm halo around An Yi gradually faded as well.
Not far away, Qian Renxue had long since been worked to exhaustion. Like a salted fish that had lost its dreams, she lay motionless on the grass, with nothing left to live for.
At first, she had shouted herself hoarse begging for mercy, trying to awaken An Yi's sympathy.
But she later realized that An Yi seemed to have entered Deep Meditation and could not hear her at all.
When begging proved futile, she could only grit her teeth and struggle against the pressure with all her might.
Unfortunately, since this was her first encounter with a force field that suppressed energy, she had no idea how to deal with it and could only rely on brute strength to resist.
The result was predictable: she exhausted herself half to death and nearly drained the Soul Power in her body, only to remain pinned to the ground and rubbed against it.
An Yi raised a hand and made a slight gesture, and the moon hovering above Qian Renxue's head dispersed.
The pressure vanished at once. Qian Renxue felt her body grow lighter, and even breathing became much easier.
An Yi walked over to her and crouched down. "How do you feel?"
Qian Renxue raised her head and looked at him with tears in her eyes.
"You bullied me!"
The corner of An Yi's mouth twitched.
"We'll continue tomorrow."
With that, he brushed off his robes, turned, and left the courtyard.
"You-!"
Qian Renxue ground her teeth in anger and braced her hands against the ground, trying to get up.
But as soon as she exerted herself, a wave of weakness swept through her limbs, and she fell straight back down with a plop.
Once she realized she truly did not even have the strength to stand, Qian Renxue resigned herself to her fate and closed her eyes. Still lying on the ground, she began meditating to restore her depleted Soul Power.
Half an hour later, as her Soul Power gradually recovered, her physical exhaustion finally eased somewhat.
Qian Renxue pushed herself up with her hands on her knees and staggered to her feet.
Once she was steady, her first impulse was to run up the mountain and tell Grandpa on him!
She felt that An Yi was clearly tormenting her on purpose!
But after taking only a few steps, she stopped again.
"No..." Qian Renxue bit her lower lip.
Only last night, she had promised An Yi to his face that she would behave, even swearing on her Martial Soul. If she turned around and ran to Grandpa to complain now, what if she angered him?
Would he really ignore her forever after that?
Wouldn't that mean she could never see Mom again?
Thinking of Bibi Dong's cool yet comforting embrace, Qian Renxue hesitated again and again. In the end, she stamped her foot resentfully and gave up the idea of complaining.
He said this was to help me cultivate... Then I'll put up with it for a while! If it doesn't work, I'll go tell Grandpa on him! Qian Renxue silently vowed.
Over the next few days, Qian Renxue's life fell into an extremely regular cycle.
Every day at first light, she gritted her teeth and ran to An Yi's courtyard to begin meditating and cultivating.
An Yi, meanwhile, unfailingly took his time coming back from Saintess Hall at noon.
Then, for the entire afternoon, An Yi ruthlessly unleashed Tidal Gravity, pinning her firmly to the ground and leaving her to struggle desperately like a turtle that could not turn itself over.
At sunset, he lifted the suppression right on time, dusted himself off, and went to keep Bibi Dong company.
The cycle repeated, day after day.
At last, on the evening of her seventh day of torment.
Qian Renxue was once again bent over by Tidal Gravity. Gritting her teeth with her fists clenched, she drew on all her Soul Power to support her body, little by little.
Her legs trembled constantly, and fine beads of sweat appeared on her forehead.
But this time, she did not fall straight to her knees as she had on the previous days.
She stayed on her feet!
Although her body was still trembling, both feet were planted firmly on the grass.
The moment she stood up, An Yi opened his eyes and withdrew his Moon Martial Soul ahead of time.
The mountain-like pressure vanished into thin air. Qian Renxue immediately felt an indescribable lightness throughout her body, as though the slightest effort could send her floating into the air.
"How do you feel?" An Yi asked.
Qian Renxue bit her lip and closed her eyes, carefully sensing the surging power within her.
She tried hard to think of how to describe it, but simply could not find the right words.
But she was certain of one thing: after struggling against that hellish pressure for the past few days, she could clearly feel that it really did seem to be speeding up her cultivation. The Soul Power in her body had become much more condensed than it had been seven days ago!