We're both men, so what are you getting embarrassed about?
After a long while, Qian Renxue recovered from her initial astonishment and asked:
"Does this... really work?"
She could hardly be blamed for doubting it.
In the days before her Martial Soul Awakening at six years old.
Her grandfather and father had searched everywhere for rare spiritual ingredients to lay the strongest possible foundation for her,
instructing the kitchens to cook nourishing Soul Beast meat every day to nurture her body and meridians.
As she understood it, the greatest taboo in a Soul Master's physical training was depleting blood and Qi, so she instinctively pressed:
"Shouldn't they be using dietary nourishment instead?"
Xu Fan gave her a somewhat surprised look:
"Brother, you know quite a lot."
Qian Renxue's expression briefly froze. Before she could find an excuse to cover for herself,
Xu Fan waved a hand and began complaining with a laugh:
"That's true in principle, but brother, don't forget what kind of place Shrek Academy is.
They've carved stinginess above all else into their very bones!
That Flender even pockets the students' ten-Gold-Soul-Coin registration fees.
How could he possibly bear to spend a fortune buying precious ingredients and Soul Beast meat for his students?
How could that be cheaper than filling bamboo baskets with rocks and driving the students out to run like idiots under the sun?"
Qian Renxue had no answer for a moment.
Thinking it over, that shabby, third-rate academy really was capable of something like that.
Just then, Xu Fan's eyes suddenly lit up, and he edged closer to the side of the bed:
"But brother, since we're talking about dietary nourishment, there really is something good on the Douluo Continent.
Very few people in the entire Soul Master world know its true use!"
Qian Renxue stirred inwardly and asked:
"What is it?"
"Whale rubber!"
Xu Fan lowered his voice and explained:
"It's a gelatinous tonic extracted from whale-type Soul Beasts in the ocean.
The older the Soul Beast, the more potent the whale rubber extracted from it.
When Soul Masters eat it, it can greatly strengthen their bodies' tolerance and even raise the age limit of the Soul Rings they can absorb.
"But... it has one nasty side effect. It's also a powerful aphrodisiac and virility tonic!
So nobles across the continent all treat it as a dangerously potent drug for their pleasure-seeking.
Once they eat too much, it immediately goes to their heads, and they start doing all sorts of things they can't stop themselves from doing!"
Qian Renxue was taken aback.
During her years undercover in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, she had naturally heard of the outrageous things Heaven Dou City's princes and nobles did in private, using whale rubber to spice things up,
but she had never imagined that this stuff could actually raise the limit of the Soul Rings a person could withstand.
Before she could think it over, Xu Fan eagerly slapped the quilt and continued:
"Speaking of whale rubber, there's one iconic scene I have to mention!
Oh, right, brother, I never told you before-the novel I read in that other world,
its author went on to write several more installments!
The Tang San we've been talking about lately was only the story of the first one."
Waves surged through Qian Renxue's heart.
There was more than one volume of this extraordinary book that could foretell the future?
Completely oblivious to his brother's shock, Xu Fan launched into his tale with an animated expression:
"The second installment takes place on the Douluo Continent ten thousand years later, and its protagonist is called Huo Yuhao.
Back then, to temper his physique, he ate a huge chunk of top-grade, high-age whale rubber all at once, without knowing about the side effects!
Good grief, once its effects kicked in, he went completely dazed.
And of all times, Ma Xiaotao showed up right then. With the drug going to his head and unable to stop himself, he went straight for that girl and..."
Xu Fan gestured as he described that scene of dry tinder meeting a raging fire, of losing control in a haze.
At the bedside, Qian Renxue's previously calm expression changed little by little with his blunt descriptions.
She was, after all, an unmarried young woman.
Whether at Spirit Hall or disguised as Xue Qinghe, everyone around her was invariably deferential.
When had anyone ever spoken so explicitly in front of her about aphrodisiacs, virility tonics, and the intimate affairs of men and women losing control?
First, a flush quietly spread over her pale ears.
Then that burning blush crept up her neck and onto her cheeks.
Inside the room, Xu Fan told his story in vivid detail.
Looking up and seeing his brother's face bright red and even his gaze wandering, he scratched his head in puzzlement:
"Brother, we're both men, so what are you getting embarrassed about?"
Qian Renxue stiffened all over, and even her breathing faltered for half a beat.
She abruptly turned her face away, pressed a fist to her lips, and gave two dry coughs,
covering for herself in a slightly stiff tone:
"Who's embarrassed? It's just a bit stuffy in here. Enough of this filthy nonsense."
Afraid Xu Fan would keep dwelling on the topic, Qian Renxue hurriedly dragged the conversation back to serious matters:
"Let's put those unorthodox methods aside.
Since Shrek Academy can't afford precious ingredients, if the goal is simply to stimulate the body's potential and temper the will,
wouldn't having a high-ranking Soul Master release soul pressure directly over their entire bodies be far more effective than running with rocks on their backs?"
Xu Fan was completely stunned.
He looked his brother sitting beside the bed up and down and asked in amazement:
"Brother, how do you know so much? You even know how Soul Masters cultivate?"
Qian Renxue's heart lurched. In her haste to change the subject, she had nearly exposed herself again,
but she remained composed on the surface:
"I do work in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace, after all. When I pass the palace training grounds,
I sometimes see the princes' Soul Master teachers guiding their cultivation that way. After seeing it enough, I naturally picked up a rough understanding."
"So that's how it is!"
Xu Fan nodded in realization, then began pondering what she had said:
"But brother, now that you mention it, that soul-pressure cultivation method you just brought up really might work!
According to the setting later in the novels, whether it was the God Trial Tang San eventually took part in or the Angel God Trial over at Spirit Hall,
the first trials of both followed exactly that approach!"
At the words "God Trial," Qian Renxue's heart gave a sudden leap, and her attention instantly sharpened to its utmost.
"Take the Sea God's first trial, for example. It was called the Sea God's Light.
Put simply, the participants had to climb steps while resisting terrifying divine might, using that immense pressure to squeeze out their bodies' potential;
the Angel God's first trial likewise tempered the body and Soul Power under divine pressure.
Although the soul pressure released by high-ranking Soul Masters can't compare with the pressure of a God Trial, the principle should be much the same.
It would provide at least some tempering, a hundred times better than stupidly carrying rocks around!"
At this point, Xu Fan curled his lip and mocked without the slightest restraint:
"But the problem is, brother, think about who the main teacher responsible for guiding the Shrek Seven Devils' cultivation is.
It's Yu Xiaogang!
He's been stuck as a level-twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster his whole life. His Soul Power Level is even lower than that of his own student, Dai Mubai.
Where's he supposed to get the soul pressure to provide his students?"
Xu Fan spread his hands and said:
"And he's so desperate to save face that he'd never admit he lacks the ability and let Flender or Zhao Wuji teach in his place.
To hide his own shortcomings, he could only come up with a stupid method like running with rocks to fool people!"
In this world, the more incompetent people were, the more they liked tormenting others to show off.
Listening to Xu Fan, Qian Renxue wholeheartedly agreed.
Soon, however, her thoughts settled on the words "God Trial."
Her grandfather had once told him to cultivate diligently.
Only after breaking through to the Soul Saint realm could she pray for the Angel God to bestow divine grace and formally begin her own God Trial.
Over the past few years, she had spent most of her effort on maintaining her disguise in the Heaven Dou Imperial Palace and navigating political affairs,
always feeling that Soul Saint and the God Trial were still rather distant.
But now, after hearing the plot of the novels from Xu Fan, she understood more clearly than ever,
only by raising her cultivation as quickly as possible and beginning the Angel God Trial sooner could she truly take control of the overall situation.
A resolute light quietly gathered in Qian Renxue's eyes.
Strength was everything!
PS: Please keep reading the latest releases. This book's survival depends on it. My deepest thanks, dear readers!