Training Apart

"Holy crap, is this Soul King?"

When Yu Tianshuang gracefully landed beside Ye Lingling, Yan looked towards the side they were responsible for. The Lost Track Grand Canyon had now transformed into a passageway of ice and snow, with countless ice sculptures of Wasteland Wolf remaining in their lifelike poses, some pouncing, some running, and some tearing. Where the giant white ice sword had fallen, a huge crater had formed, but there were no Wasteland Wolf ice sculptures within a ten-meter radius, only broken pieces of ice of varying sizes scattered on the ground. Clearly, the ice sword had crushed them into fragments when it fell.

Meanwhile, the Wasteland Wolf on the Demon Charm's side lost their leader's command, and their animal instincts kept warning them. Instantly, they all turned tail and ran away. Seeing this, the Demon Charm dispelled her Martial Soul Fusion Skill. Hu Liena and Xie Yue were also shocked by the two worlds that were clearly divided into black and white and remained speechless for Jiujiu.

"Tianshuang, Brother Tianshuang!!"

Ye Lingling and Zhu Zhuqing, seeing Yu Tianshuang land on the ground, happily ran over, greeting her with smiles. Yu Tianshuang stroked Ye Lingling's soft silver hair and said:

"His Holiness the Pope has returned, and I have successfully broken through to the Soul King realm. Are you all alright? How did you end up encountering so many Wasteland Wolf?"

Even if he didn't intervene, with Ye Lingling as their super healer, they could slowly kill all the Wasteland Wolf. In the end, with the combined strength of the five of them, even the leader of the Wasteland Wolf wouldn't be a match for them.

"After you and the teacher left, we thought we'd explore a bit, but we'd only walked a few hundred meters when we heard wolf howls. And that's what you see here. Thank goodness you came, otherwise we would have had a fierce battle. By the way, you've broken through to Soul King, right? Is that your Fifth Soul Skill? With that power, I wouldn't be surprised if your grandfather were here..."

Hu Liena's clothes were also quite torn, clearly indicating that she had gone through a tough battle. Fortunately, Ye Lingling was there, so she only looked a bit disheveled. At this moment, the tall and Charm woman walked over gracefully, explained the situation, and then looked at the icy world again. Her lips twitched, and she couldn't help but complain.

"This is Soul Skill I created myself after breaking through to the Soul King realm. Um... as you know, I have Twin Martial Souls, so, um... that's it..."

Yu Tianshuang didn't trust Hu Liena enough to tell her everything, especially with Xie Yue and Yan beside her. She stammered, her face flushed with embarrassment. After all, it was a little embarrassing to claim that the sword move from the sect's strongest technique was her own self-created Soul Skill.

Hu Liena was an exceptionally intelligent person. As the Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall and the leader of the Golden Generation, how could she not realize that Yu Tianshuang simply didn't want to tell her the truth? Although she felt somewhat disappointed and dejected at the moment, she quickly regained her Charm demeanor.

"Oh, if you don't want to talk about it, then don't. Do you think I'd force you? Look how nervous you are, stammering like that, really..."

"You brat, um, you wiped out all these Wasteland Wolf in one go. What's the point of our training then? I won't thank you. You ruined our training, I..."

Yan was in a state of great inner conflict. As a member of the Spirit Hall Golden Generation, he was exceptionally talented and had a clear understanding of himself. He recognized that his fellow Golden Generation, such as Hu Liena and Xie Yue, as well as Tang San and Yu Tianshuang, were all more talented and powerful than him. It wasn't difficult for him to acknowledge his own limitations, but he wouldn't compromise or give up because of it. Although he admired Yu Tianshuang, he couldn't bring himself to say it.

"That's true. Then I won't interfere next time, otherwise I'll ruin your training, and I'll be guilty of a terrible sin."

Understanding the meaning behind Yan's hesitant words, Yu Tianshuang made a rare joke. He actually quite liked this hot-tempered and straightforward man, at least he was better than hypocrites like Dai Mubai.

"Haha, stop teasing him. There's a saying, 'You always bully honest people,' haha~"

Seeing that Yu Tianshuang and Yan were gradually integrating into the team atmosphere, Hu Liena was very happy and couldn't help but tease Yan again.

"Who, who's the honest one? I'm ruthless, I kill without blinking an eye, I'm telling you..."

Even though the phrase "honest person" is a compliment, Yan, despite his slow reaction time, understood Hu Liena's meaning. His face turned as red as his hair, and he spoke urgently, his head practically steaming.

Haha~

The people around him laughed happily. At this moment, the team, having integrated with each other, seemed even closer and more harmonious.

"Brother Tianshuang, we... we'll change our clothes..."

After chatting for a while, Zhu Zhuqing walked over with a slightly flushed face, tugged at Yu Tianshuang's sleeve, and said in a shy, blushing voice.

Yu Tianshuang immediately understood. Although Ye Lingling's presence meant that no one had any serious injuries, their clothes were all somewhat torn after the battle with the Wasteland Wolf. Ye Lingling was the only one among them whose clothes were intact, but the other men were one thing, and Hu Liena and Zhu Zhuqing's clothes were also torn. Although they didn't reveal anything, it still made Zhu Zhuqing feel a little uncomfortable.

Yu Tianshuang waved his hand, summoning a thick ice wall—his First Soul Skill —then pulled Yan and Xie Yue around and said:

"Okay, you guys go change your clothes. Lingling, you should change into something too, you're all covered in dust, it doesn't look good on you..."

Ye Lingling hadn't intended to change her clothes, since she hadn't been hurt at all. But when she looked at her snow-white clothes, now completely covered in dust and grime, her face flushed red. She raised her small hand and punched Yu Tianshuang, then lowered her head and ran behind the ice wall with Zhu Zhuqing and Hu Liena.

"Hey, can you even see your own ice wall? Don't try to take advantage of us. I saw your match against the Blazing Fire Academy, no wonder Huo Wu called you a pervert. But if you want to see, I'll let you..."

From the other side of the ice wall came a soft, rustling sound that stirred the heart. Hu Liena's Wumei voice came through, causing Yu Tianshuang, who had his back turned, to sigh helplessly. Just then, Yan and Xie Yue also looked over at him, making him feel instantly embarrassed.

"Big sister, you know it was a misunderstanding, okay? The energy of Frost Raging Dragon Strike just happened to be exhausted after passing through Huo Wu's fireball, so..."

Although he knew Hu Liena was joking and teasing him, Yu Tianshuang held back and explained again.

"Who knows if you did it on purpose? You... My God, Zhu Zhuqing, although I know you're very old, this is... this is too much of a compliment... And you, Lingling, you're usually so unassuming, yet you're actually on the same level as Shui Bing'er, ahhhh, I feel so inferior..."

Hu Liena originally wanted to tease Yu Tianshuang a bit more, but the next moment she changed the subject, making the three men present feel embarrassed. They looked at each other and silently lowered their heads without saying a word.

"Ahem... Nana, watch your words! You are the Holy Maiden of the Spirit Hall. What kind of behavior is this...?"

As Hu Liena's brother, although the actual leader of the Golden Generation was the Holy Maiden Hu Liena, Xie Yue was still his brother. Although he was somewhat embarrassed by his sister's lewd words, he still coughed a few times and spoke.

"According to my information, we are currently located on the right side of the Esoteric Sect Grand Canyon, which happens to be the territory of the Wasteland Wolf. Continuing to the right will continue to be the Wasteland Wolf ' territory, while going to the left is the territory of the Dark Blue Horned Dragon clan. The most dangerous place is here, the only fork in the road in the Esoteric Sect Grand Canyon. At the end of this fork is the habitat of the Dark Phoenix, the strongest of the three kings."

The three women had just changed their clothes. Zhu Zhuqing and Ye Lingling still had a slight blush on their faces, and even Hu Liena had a blush that had just faded.

Hu Liena took out a map that was clearly hand-drawn by herself and began to explain it casually, but her pink eyes kept glancing at Yu Tianshuang.

"Nana, you decide. I'll do whatever you say."

After Hu Liena finished speaking, she looked at everyone with a questioning look in her eyes. Yan spoke up almost as soon as Hu Liena looked at him. In his mind, with Hu Liena around, he didn't need to use his brain at all. He just had to do whatever Nana told him to do.

"I think we should continue to the right. Zhu Zhuqing and I are both agility-type Soul Master. The Wasteland Wolf is very suitable as a training partner for both of us, both in terms of speed and attack power. It's also very suitable for Yan. Its high-speed attacks can effectively train your defense, which is great for a relatively clumsy but high-defense warrior like you."

After thinking for a moment, Xie Yue looked at Zhu Zhuqing and Yan and spoke. Hu Liena nodded and added:

"Yes, brother is absolutely right. And that's not all; the Wasteland Wolf's high-frequency attacks will keep Lingling in a constant state of healing, which is also very good for Lingling."

In fact, Ye Lingling doesn't have many opportunities for actual combat. Everyone rarely gets injured during training, and in actual combat, in Soul Master competitions, many matches are crushing victories. Apart from that one match against the Shrek Academy where everyone was seriously injured, she rarely treats opponents during battles, but rather treats them after the match.

"Furthermore, Tianshuang, you can't come with us. Although it's hard to admit, the fact is that your current strength completely surpasses ours. With you here, we can't truly train on the edge of life and death. We'll always think that with you, no matter how badly we suffer, you'll be there to protect us. And that defeats the greatest purpose of this training. Since you can't come with us, my suggestion is that you go to the Dark Blue Horned Dragon Clan to train by yourself. Your Martial Soul soul is a dragon-shaped Martial Soul, and the dragon beasts there will be very suitable for you."

Hearing Hu Liena's words, even the stubborn Yan couldn't help but nod. Yu Tianshuang's words made it seem as if there was always a master following them in the dark, preventing them from truly being put in a desperate situation and experiencing the feeling of fighting between life and death.

"Tianshuang, I think Nana is right. The difference between having you and not having you is huge. In the previous battles, when you weren't there, I was almost always on high alert. If any of the four of them had even a minor injury, I could make sure my healing would be applied to them immediately. But after you came, I completely forgot about healing. The sense of security you bring is too strong, so I agree with Nana's suggestion."

After exchanging clothes inside the ice wall, the three women's relationship deepened, and they stopped addressing each other by surnames. After Ye Lingling finished speaking, Zhu Zhuqing nodded in agreement on her cool and lovely face. Indeed, she had clearly used her Netherworld Shadow Clone, preparing for a desperate battle, but when Yu Tianshuang appeared and his enormous, icy-white greatsword fell, she froze on the spot. That feeling of not needing to worry about anything as long as he was there had both advantages and disadvantages.

"Hmm... you have a point, but..."

"I know what you're worried about, but what I want to say is, if you can't bear to see them get hurt, can't bear to see them in danger, and only want to cultivate them like flowers in a greenhouse, then from your perspective, that's certainly right. But are they truly willing to do that? To always be by your side, receiving your protection? They might as well just go home and do your laundry and cook for you. Why bother with cultivation? They are also Soul Master, not ordinary people. They don't want to hide behind you forever. They also want to do everything they can to provide you with some help..."

Hu Liena's words silenced the two women. Indeed, that was what they thought. Every time, he was the one who turned the tide, and they felt like they were superfluous by his side. That feeling of powerlessness—being so close to him yet so far away—was the reason they came here for this training, hoping to change things.

Looking at the two women's faces, Yu Tianshuang instantly understood Hu Liena's words after years of getting along with them. They resonated with her. In fact, many times, people avoid this kind of communication with those close to them, which is why the appearance of a third party is especially important.

"Oh, why are you all making such a serious scene, like it's a matter of life and death? I was just saying what was on my mind. Hey, have you forgotten what I said to you in front of the Pope's Palace?"

Hu Liena's words instantly broke the deadlock. Ye Lingling and Zhu Zhuqing's dejected expressions vanished completely, and they stared at Yu Tianshuang in astonishment.

"Ah, what? Oh, you mean I have to go and gain experience on my own? Oh right, I'm off then..."

Huo Wu's public confession that day had already troubled him greatly, and now, although Hu Liena was trying to ease the atmosphere, he immediately felt like he had been caught in the crossfire. He quickly looked around, ignoring the two women's questioning gazes, and summoned the Heavenly Frost Cold Qi to fly away.

"This guy..."

Hu Liena watched Yu Tianshuang in disarray, finding it somewhat amusing, but then a pang of melancholy washed over her. In truth, what she had just said was the truth, reflecting her own thoughts; she didn't want to fall too far behind this man...