Level-Nine Soul Power, Panda Light-Heavy Conversion
Blue Silver Grass tightened around him from every direction.
Dong Jian's arms were pinned to his sides, and his waist and legs were tightly bound.
The vines were not thick.
Yet the force within them was like several ropes tightening without end. The more he struggled, the tighter they bound him.
This was an opponent the Hundred Battles Hall had simulated based on Tang San's First Soul Skill.
It had no real Mandala Snake venom.
Nor was it as flexible as when Tang San himself controlled it.
But against Dong Jian, who had only level-eight Soul Power, it was still enough to completely suppress him.
"The crossing point by my right arm is the weak spot."
Kung Fu Deconstruction activated.
The flow of Soul Power through the vines gradually appeared.
Three strands of Blue Silver Grass converged below his right shoulder. Their force came from the roots first, then spread through the crossing point to his arm and waist.
As long as he broke that spot, the entire binding would loosen.
The problem was-
Dong Jian couldn't move his arms.
He could see the weak spot, but he didn't have the strength to reach it.
Cold words appeared on the stone stele.
Current chance of breaking free: less than ten percent.
Reason for failure: force dispersed.
"Force dispersed..."
Dong Jian stopped struggling against the vines.
The Panda Martial Soul slowly appeared behind him.
After Martial Soul Possession, his overall body weight would increase, and his defense and charging power would rise along with it.
But that weight had always been evenly distributed.
His arms grew heavier.
So did his legs.
As his strength increased, his speed inevitably decreased.
"If black and white Soul Power can flow separately, why does the weight have to be distributed evenly?"
Dong Jian closed his eyes.
Black Soul Power was heavy and stable.
White Soul Power was light and gentle.
In the past, he had always kept the two in perfect balance, afraid that his Martial Soul would lose control again.
But balance didn't mean remaining motionless forever.
True balance should mean that the black and white forces could circulate continuously.
If his right arm needed strength, he could temporarily gather black Soul Power there.
If his legs needed to move, he could let white Soul Power keep them light.
Dong Jian began adjusting the paths of his Soul Power.
Black force slowly flowed along his shoulder and into his right arm.
White force retreated toward his waist, abdomen, and legs.
At first, nothing changed.
Then the Panda Martial Soul suddenly raised its head, and the black fur on its right paw grew darker.
Dong Jian's right arm abruptly dropped.
It was as if the weight of his entire arm had doubled in an instant.
The Blue Silver Grass wrapped around his right arm pulled taut.
A faint sound came from where the vines crossed.
Crack.
The first crack appeared.
"It works!"
Dong Jian didn't rush to add more force.
With his right arm heavier, his center of gravity had shifted noticeably to the right.
If he let the black force keep gathering, his shoulder might give out before he broke the vines.
White Soul Power quickly flowed to the left side of his waist and abdomen.
His body steadied again.
The weight of his right arm continued to increase.
Crack!
The first strand of Blue Silver Grass broke.
A gap appeared in the binding.
Dong Jian immediately rotated his wrist, transferring the added weight from his right arm to his shoulder.
The way Mountain-Leaning Collision generated force was compressed into an extremely small space.
Bang!
The point where the vines crossed snapped apart.
The surrounding Blue Silver Grass simultaneously lost part of the Soul Power supporting it.
Dong Jian let out a low roar and forced his arms outward.
The remaining vines snapped one after another.
The chance of breaking free on the stone stele changed rapidly.
Ten percent.
Thirty percent.
It finally stopped at forty percent.
Dong Jian was just about to continue when his body suddenly tipped to the right.
His right arm was still heavy.
The black Soul Power had failed to recede in time.
"Oh no."
He raised his left hand to brace against the ground.
But his body's weight was already completely off balance.
Bang!
He fell sideways onto the ground.
The Panda Martial Soul also swayed twice and landed on its backside.
The words on the stone stele changed accordingly.
The rudiments of Light-Heavy Conversion have formed.
You can currently change the weight of your limbs for a short time.
Warning: conversion speed is insufficient. Continued use may cause loss of balance.
Dong Jian lay on the ground and rubbed his shoulder.
"I can make it heavier, but I can't change it back."
"What kind of Light-Heavy Conversion is that?"
The Panda Martial Soul tilted its head and looked at him.
It seemed to be laughing at how badly he'd fallen on his first attempt.
By the time Dong Jian left the Divine Dragon Secret Realm, the sky was beginning to brighten.
He didn't return to Dorm Seven to rest. Instead, he went straight to the bamboo grove behind the academy.
Li Man was practicing with Green Jade Bamboo.
The bamboo tip thrust out repeatedly.
Each strike landed on a different spot on the wooden post before her.
The shoulder hollow, wrist, knee, and ankle.
Her movements were clean, without a single unnecessary pause.
"You're just in time."
Li Man didn't ask how his training had gone last night.
Her Green Jade Bamboo was already sweeping toward him.
Dong Jian raised an arm to block.
The instant they made contact, black Soul Power gathered in his left arm.
His arm rapidly grew heavier.
Smack!
The Green Jade Bamboo struck it, and the bamboo bent visibly.
Li Man's gaze shifted.
"Your weight changed?"
"I just learned it."
Dong Jian answered.
"It's not stable yet."
Li Man didn't stop.
The Green Jade Bamboo sprang back along the direction of its bend.
The force of the horizontal sweep suddenly turned downward.
The butt of the bamboo struck toward the back of Dong Jian's knee.
Dong Jian tried to make his legs lighter.
The white Soul Power had only just begun to flow, but the black force in his left arm failed to disperse in time.
Heavy above, light below.
His body lost its balance again.
Li Man gave a light tug with the butt of the bamboo.
Thud!
Dong Jian fell to the ground.
"It really isn't stable."
Li Man withdrew her Green Jade Bamboo.
"Again."
Dong Jian stood up.
The second time, he returned his left arm to normal in advance.
But he switched its weight too slowly and was still struck on the shoulder by the bamboo tip.
The third time, the instant his right leg grew lighter, Li Man didn't attack his lower body.
Instead, she planted the Green Jade Bamboo against the ground and used its rebound to leap to his side.
The bamboo lay across the front of his neck.
"Don't force yourself to use a new ability every time just because you have it."
Li Man said:
"You still have your old Center of Gravity Perception."
"If you forget everything you already knew just to practice Light-Heavy Conversion, you'll only become weaker."
Dong Jian was taken aback.
The mirror image in the Hundred Battles Hall possessed all his abilities.
The reason it was so hard to defeat wasn't that any one move was especially powerful.
It was because it never used a move just to show it off.
It used one only when it was needed.
"Continue."
Dong Jian settled back into his stance.
This time, he didn't rush to change his weight.
Li Man's bamboo tip stabbed toward his chest.
Dong Jian turned sideways to evade it.
The second strike swept toward his ankle.
He used Center of Gravity Perception to lift his foot in advance.
Only when the Green Jade Bamboo attacked from the side a third time did Dong Jian make his right arm instantly heavier.
His palm pressed down on the bamboo.
Li Man immediately let go.
Under her Martial Soul's control, the Green Jade Bamboo sprang up from the other end.
Dong Jian made his legs lighter and stepped forward.
As he evaded the butt of the bamboo, his shoulder drew close to Li Man.
Black force quickly shifted from his right arm to his shoulder.
Mountain-Leaning Collision!
Li Man tapped her Green Jade Bamboo against the ground.
The bamboo bent to its limit.
She used its rebound to leap backward.
Dong Jian's shoulder brushed the edge of her clothes, missing her.
They stopped at the same time.
"That was more like it."
Li Man spoke.
"Just more like it?"
"In a real fight, you wouldn't have hit me."
Dong Jian smiled.
"Again."
The sounds of their clashes continued in the bamboo grove for an entire morning.
Li Man wasn't just acting as his sparring partner.
She was also using Dong Jian's constantly changing weight to train her own reactions.
When Dong Jian's arms grew heavier, the Green Jade Bamboo couldn't meet them head-on.
When his legs grew lighter, his movement speed would suddenly increase.
When his shoulder grew heavier, Mountain-Leaning Collision was far more powerful than before.
Li Man had to judge the changes in his weight the instant they made contact, based on the vibrations transmitted through the Green Jade Bamboo.
This was combat training as well.
At noon, they exhausted their Soul Power almost simultaneously.
Dong Jian sat down cross-legged.
His level-eight Soul Power circulated slowly through his body.
After a morning of repeated conversions between the black and white forces, the barrier that had stalled him began to loosen.
Li Man didn't rest immediately.
She planted her Green Jade Bamboo beside Dong Jian.
Pale cyan Soul Power spread across the ground.
She wasn't helping him break through.
Rather, she was sensing changes in the surrounding Soul Power to prevent the black and white forces from falling out of balance again.
"The Soul Power on the right is too heavy."
Li Man warned him.
Dong Jian adjusted it immediately.
The black force flowed back.
The white force filled the gap.
Once.
Twice.
When the cycle reached its ninth turn, a faint sound suddenly came from within his body.
The level-eight barrier shattered completely.
Level nine!
The Panda Martial Soul appeared of its own accord.
An exceedingly faint emerald glow emerged along the edges of its black-and-white fur.
Dong Jian opened his eyes.
He could feel that he still wasn't proficient enough with Light-Heavy Conversion.
But his level-nine Soul Power had noticeably increased his conversion speed.
"I broke through."
"I can see that."
Li Man withdrew her Green Jade Bamboo.
A fine sheen of sweat covered her forehead as well.
"You're nearly at level nine too."
Dong Jian spoke.
"A few days at most."
Li Man looked toward the wooden post not far away.
"Next time, I won't just help you train."
"We'll have a real fight."
"All right."
Dong Jian stood up.
Just as they were preparing to leave the bamboo grove, a commotion suddenly came from the direction of the academy's training grounds.
A student ran into the bamboo grove.
"Li Man!"
"The combat class teacher is looking for you!"
"Someone said your Green Jade Bamboo is only good for recording and doesn't deserve a place in the lower-year combat rankings!"
Li Man's gaze turned slightly cold.
She gripped her Green Jade Bamboo.
"Who said that?"
"Lin Hao, the one with the Crimson Fire Dog Martial Soul."
Dong Jian looked at her.
"Do you need me to come with you?"
"No."
Li Man turned and headed for the training grounds.
"I'll fight this one myself."