A Chance Encounter with Yu Xiaogang

The morning sun shone through the cave entrance, falling across Qian Renxue's face.

Inside the cave, the water in the bathing tub had turned clear. After a night of cultivation, Qian Renxue had absorbed all the medicine's potency.

Qian Renxue's chest rose and fell slightly. Her eyelashes trembled, and then she slowly opened her eyes.

She instinctively glanced toward the cave entrance and saw that Jiang Nian was still there. Only then did her anxious heart settle, and she began to sense the changes in her body.

After a night of cultivation aided by the medicinal liquid Jiang Nian had personally refined, Qian Renxue was surprised to discover that her Soul Power had actually reached level 10, and her body had grown stronger as well.

If she faced the Scarlet Fire Lizard from yesterday alone again, she still couldn't beat it to death with physical strength alone, but she definitely wouldn't be as battered as she had been yesterday.

Qian Renxue shifted slightly, only then remembering that she had no change of clothes.

She was about to ask her teacher for help when she noticed a little dress already laid out beside the tub.

Jiang Nian's voice came into the cave. "Get dressed. In a little while, I'll take you to find some fruit for breakfast, and then we'll continue today's training."

"Okay!" Qian Renxue promptly climbed out of the tub and got dressed, then ran over to Jiang Nian. "Teacher, Xue'er's dressed! Where are we going today?"

Jiang Nian didn't answer. He turned to look at Qian Renxue.

After she had broken through her physical limits yesterday, her absorption of the medicinal liquid had been extremely effective. At this rate, in another two months, Qian Renxue should meet the minimum physical requirements to absorb a Thousand-Year Soul Ring.

Body tempering would only grow harder the further she progressed. She could advance this quickly because this girl Qian Renxue truly wasn't afraid of hardship.

For any other child, never mind fighting a Hundred-Year Soul Beast one-on-one as she had yesterday-even running to the point of exhaustion every day for a month would have been impossible.

Qian Renxue had the makings of a god.

The Angel Martial Soul merely gave Qian Renxue a direct path to the Angel God, while this perseverance was the key reason she could become a god.

Teacher and disciple casually gathered some wild fruit to fill their stomachs, then began the second stage of Jiang Nian's training.

Qian Renxue still needed to break through her physical limits, and the most convenient method remained fighting Soul Beasts to the death.

This continued for a month and a half. Qian Renxue went from fighting Hundred-Year Soul Beasts at the start to two-hundred-year, then three-hundred-year beasts...

Through one real battle after another, Qian Renxue's combat awareness steadily improved.

Even when facing four-hundred-year Soul Beasts, she could handle them with room to spare, relying on her experience and the power of Suction Palm.

For a six-year-old child to reach such a level made her a top-tier heaven's chosen across the entire Douluo Continent.

That day, Qian Renxue went to Jiang Nian.

"Teacher, I have a question."

"Go on. What is it?"

Qian Renxue raised her hand and used Suction Palm to pull a stick in the distance into her grasp. "Suction Palm works by using Soul Power to pull things. So could I also use Soul Power to push a target away?"

Jiang Nian raised an eyebrow, thinking that Qian Renxue was indeed a genius. In just over a month, she had thoroughly mastered Suction Palm, and now she could even draw inferences from one example to another.

He rubbed the girl's head. "Excellent. But think about it: Suction Palm relies on Soul Power from the surroundings to pull objects from a distance. If you want to push something away, you'll have to use up your own Soul Power. You can try it in your next fight."

Today, Jiang Nian had found Qian Renxue the oldest Soul Beast in the Soul Hunting grounds: a four-hundred-year Flame-Tailed Leopard.

The Flame-Tailed Leopard possessed two skills, Flame Leap and Scarlet Flame Whip.

Whether in agility or attack power, it far surpassed other four-hundred-year Soul Beasts, making it a tremendous challenge for Qian Renxue as well.

Jiang Nian took Qian Renxue to the place where he had found the Flame-Tailed Leopard. To ensure her safety, he left a wisp of Bone Spirit Cold Flame on her.

"Xue'er, your goal today is to kill this beast. I'm going to look for some medicinal herbs. I'll be right back."

"Okay, Teacher, don't worry. Xue'er will definitely kill this Soul Beast!"

With that, Qian Renxue leaped into the Flame-Tailed Leopard's territory and took an attacking stance.

When the Flame-Tailed Leopard spotted Qian Renxue, it used Flame Leap to charge, leaving a trail of flames on the ground. In the blink of an eye, it was above her head, its flaming tail whipping down at her.

Qian Renxue had already anticipated its attack. She dodged with a sideways flip into a sliding tackle.

Seeing that Qian Renxue was already engaged in battle, Jiang Nian set off to find medicinal herbs.

With Bone Spirit Cold Flame on Qian Renxue, Jiang Nian could check on her at any time, and if she truly faced danger, he could return immediately.

Qian Renxue was indeed struggling against the four-hundred-year Flame-Tailed Leopard.

For the past month and more, she had practiced only Suction Palm repeatedly and had yet to try any other Dou Techniques. Against a Soul Beast with two skills, she really couldn't gain the upper hand for the time being.

Fortunately, her physique was now strong enough to withstand attacks from a nine-hundred-year Soul Beast, so the Flame-Tailed Leopard couldn't threaten her life either.

But when its flaming tail lashed her body, she could still feel the searing pain.

After the Flame-Tailed Leopard struck her arm again, Qian Renxue showed no fear. Instead, her face lit up with the excitement of meeting a worthy opponent.

"Teacher is amazing. He finds me an evenly matched Soul Beast every time." Qian Renxue clenched her little fists. "After today, I should be able to absorb a Soul Ring, right? I can't wait to see my first Soul Skill!"

Rather than simply dodging, she took the initiative and attacked the Flame-Tailed Leopard.

"Suction Palm!" Qian Renxue called out, and a tremendous suction force came from her palm. The normally agile Flame-Tailed Leopard flew toward her, unable to control its body.

Just as the Soul Beast's massive body was about to crash into her, Qian Renxue shouted again, "Get back!"

She reversed Suction Palm, and the Soul Beast was subjected to a pulling force and a pushing force at the same time. It immediately howled in pain.

"I did it?" Joy flashed across Qian Renxue's face. Distracted by that moment of surprise, she let the Flame-Tailed Leopard break free, and it swept its tail at her again like a whip.

Just as Qian Renxue prepared to dodge, a dark figure suddenly leaped out. "Fart like thunder, Earth-Shattering Luo Sanpao!"

Without warning, a pig jumped out and let rip a fart, blocking part of the Flame-Tailed Leopard's attack.

After dodging, Qian Renxue looked up, her face full of confusion.

The newcomer was none other than Yu Xiaogang. Dressed in a black robe, he stood on the cliff with his hands behind his back. "Little girl, it's too dangerous here. Run!"

Qian Renxue frowned. "Thank you, Uncle. I'm training, and you're interrupting me."

"Training? This is simply nonsense." Yu Xiaogang scolded her. "You look quite young. You must have awakened your Martial Soul only recently. How can you come to a place like this to train?!"

Who is this uncle...? Qian Renxue's frown deepened. "Uncle, my teacher arranged this training. There's no need to worry. My teacher knows what he's doing."

"Your teacher? Who is your teacher? He's simply leading his student astray!" Yu Xiaogang cleared his throat. "My nickname is Grandmaster. Little one, your Soul Power appears to have reached level 10. You must have Innate Full Soul Power. I can be your teacher and guide your cultivation."

Qian Renxue's expression instantly turned cold. "Uncle, please leave. Don't interrupt my training. Someone like you isn't qualified to judge my teacher!"

"You!" Yu Xiaogang hadn't expected to be looked down upon by a child, especially one with a face so familiar to him. "Little brat, if I don't use my strength, it seems you won't see how formidable I, the Grandmaster, am!"

"Fart like thun... mmph..."

Yu Xiaogang had only gotten halfway through the words when someone suddenly kicked him in the backside, sending him tumbling down like a dog eating dirt.

"Who dares sneak-attack this Grandmaster?!"

Qian Renxue waved excitedly. "Teacher, you're back! This guy interrupted my training. I told him to leave, but he wouldn't, and he even wanted to take me as his disciple!"

Jiang Nian looked expressionlessly at the familiar middle-aged man with the crew cut. "Yu Xiaogang?"

Yu Xiaogang climbed to his feet and straightened his clothes. "It seems you've heard my name. Be sensible and hand your disciple over to me, and I won't hold it against-"

Smack!

A slap landed on Yu Xiaogang's face.

Jiang Nian's face was full of disgust. "How did I run into this brain-dead idiot here? What rotten luck! Xue'er, let's find another place."

Yu Xiaogang held his face, utterly stunned. "G-good, good, good! You dare hit me? I, Yu Xiaogang, am irreconcilably opposed to you!"

But just after he finished making his threat, a beast's roar came from behind him.

He turned to look, and the Flame-Tailed Leopard was already pouncing at him.

Yu Xiaogang was scared senseless, his body unable to move. He felt only warm drops trickling from his lower body and wetting the crotch of his pants.