"Oww, I can't go on, Brother Chu Feng. Can we rest for a bit first?" Ning Rongrong sat on the ground, drenched in fragrant sweat, her tongue poking out of her little mouth.
She really couldn't hold on anymore. Her whole body ached.
Ning Rongrong looked at Chu Feng beside her, the corners of her mouth drooping.
Ten days had passed since their first training session.
In those ten days, everyone on the training grounds had worn out at least one set of clothes.
Training in the Martial Dao was even more grueling than cultivating as a Soul Master.
Even Tang San, who cultivated the Mysterious Heaven Skill, had to grit his teeth to endure it.
As a young lady who had been pampered since childhood, she had never experienced training this intense.
Had she not felt that this "Martial Dao" would be useful to her, and even to the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she would have given up long ago.
Chu Feng crouched down, his expression gentle.
Looking at the handsome face so close to hers, Ning Rongrong unconsciously stared without moving.
How could someone be so good-looking?
"No, you can't." Chu Feng softly uttered those words, instantly sending Ning Rongrong's rising affection for him plummeting.
"On the path of the Martial Dao, if you don't advance, you retreat!"
"Do you want to spend your whole life as a support-type Soul Master hiding behind others?"
Rest? What was rest?
At their age, how could they rest?
If they rested, how was his strength supposed to improve?
Over these ten days, he had taught them every fundamental principle and training method of the Martial Dao.
He had held nothing back.
No one wanted Tang San and the others to grow stronger more than he did.
"You're awful. If my dad knew you were pushing me this hard in training, he'd definitely beat you up." Ning Rongrong puffed out her cheeks in anger.
What a waste of that face.
"You can choose to leave Shrek Academy." Chu Feng's tone turned cold.
"Go back to being your pampered young lady."
If he accommodated Ning Rongrong today, he would have to accommodate someone else tomorrow.
How was he supposed to lead the team then?
Ning Rongrong froze. Her fair, delicate face reddened, and she looked at Chu Feng with resentment in her eyes.
As the young lady of the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, she had been showered with affection, the treasured darling of two Titled Douluos.
People had only ever indulged her.
Yet this awful Chu Feng was being so harsh with her.
She only wanted a short rest. Why did he have to speak so harshly?
Seeing that Chu Feng was angry, Xiao Wu hurried over to Ning Rongrong. "Boss Chu, Rongrong's just tired. Don't be so harsh."
With that, she tried to help Ning Rongrong up, only for Ning Rongrong to turn away sulkily.
Ning Rongrong glared sideways at Chu Feng.
You think you're the only one who can get angry? I can get angry too.
The training grounds fell silent. Tang San and the others looked at Chu Feng.
They wondered how Boss Chu would deal with this pampered young lady, Ning Rongrong.
"You..." Just as Chu Feng was about to speak, a stern rebuke rang out. "What are you doing? How can Soul Masters cultivate like this?"
Chu Feng turned to see a middle-aged man of average build walking over with his hands behind his back, his facial muscles stiff and his bearing dispirited.
"Teacher!" Tang San cried in delight and hurried over to greet him.
"Yu Xiaogang." Chu Feng narrowed his eyes slightly.
Wasn't this Gangzi?
Why had he come to Shrek Academy at this point?
And he was even questioning his training methods.
Ignoring Tang San, Yu Xiaogang strode quickly up to Chu Feng and looked down at him coldly.
"You're making a complete mess of things!"
"Soul Masters should act like Soul Masters. What good is spending so much time training in this so-called 'Martial Dao'?"
"You should be strengthening your bodies by running laps with rocks on your backs."
"Not fiddling around with your bodies here."
As he spoke, Yu Xiaogang's eyes widened, and he disparaged the "Martial Dao" as utterly worthless.
"You're simply leading these students astray."
A few days earlier, Flender had told him about the academy's recent happenings.
After learning about the prodigy Chu Feng and the "Martial Dao," he couldn't resist coming over.
He wanted to see just how talented Chu Feng was.
If he was like Tang San, he would take him as his disciple, and take the other students as disciples while he was at it.
Shrek Academy's students deserved to be taught by him, the continent's foremost authority on Soul Master theory.
So he needed to correct Chu Feng's mistakes.
And establish his authority as a theoretical Grandmaster.
He would criticize him sternly.
He would make Chu Feng obediently become his student, convinced in both heart and mind.
"Become my student, and I'll teach you how Soul Masters truly train."
With that, Yu Xiaogang raised a hand to pat Chu Feng's shoulder.
Smack!
Chu Feng raised his hand and knocked it away, a trace of disdain on his face.
"So you're Yu Xiaogang?"
"That Grandmaster of Soul Master theory who broke through fifty years of age at level twenty-nine."
In truth, he had never understood where Yu Xiaogang found his nerve.
In terms of strength, everyone present was stronger than him.
Did he really take him for a child?
"That's because my Martial Soul is defective." Chu Feng had struck Yu Xiaogang's sore spot, and he couldn't help losing his composure.
Although Yu Xiaogang never said it aloud, he was deeply bothered by his own strength.
As the son of the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Clan's leader, he was still only a level twenty-nine Soul Grandmaster to this day. His family regarded him as a disgrace, leaving him no choice but to leave the clan and travel the continent.
That was why he had delved into Soul Master theory, hoping to find a way to resolve his own defects.
"I may not be strong, but no one can match my research into Soul Master theory."
"I believe there are no trash Martial Souls, only trash Soul Masters."
"Under my teaching, even someone with a Trash Martial Soul can become strong."
Yu Xiaogang raised his chin and swept his gaze over everyone on the grounds, waiting for their looks of admiration.
Just like Tang San back then.
Those words would surely make these people regard him more highly.
Hearing Yu Xiaogang's words, Chu Feng couldn't help twitching the corners of his mouth.
"Are you insulting yourself?"
"And twice, at that."
His Martial Soul, Luo Sanpao: trash.
Breaking through fifty years of age at level twenty-nine: trash.
Both the Martial Soul and the Soul Master were trash.
"Pfft!" Someone let out a laugh they couldn't hold back.
Ning Rongrong covered her mouth and hastily turned away.
But her shaking body made it clear that she still couldn't quite contain herself.
Yu Xiaogang's stiff face reddened. He looked around the grounds and saw that everyone was stifling laughter.
Seeing Yu Xiaogang like this, Tang San felt somewhat awkward.
To be honest, although he thought Yu Xiaogang's Soul Master theories were good,
he was also speechless at the catchphrase Yu Xiaogang was always spouting.
Every time, he had to call himself trash twice.
"My Soul Power may be a little weak, but my Soul Master theories are unrivaled. The entire continent acknowledges that."
"No one understands how to become a powerful Soul Master better than I do."
When it came to Soul Master theory, Yu Xiaogang regained his confidence.
No matter what Chu Feng said, and regardless of his own strength,
he was confident that he stood first under heaven in Soul Master theory.
Even those Titled Douluos would have to address him as "Grandmaster."
"You may be strong, but without proper instruction, you're taking the wrong path."
"Only by listening to my theories and training according to my methods can you become stronger."
"Take Tang San, for example. His Martial Soul is Blue Silver Grass."
"Under my guidance, he has already become a level twenty-nine control-type combat Soul Grandmaster."
Yu Xiaogang pointed at Tang San, pride written on his face.
Tang San's success was proof of his standing as a theoretical Grandmaster.
Without him, could Tang San have become this strong?