Training Methods

After Flender and Grandmaster had walked away, Ma Hongjun was the first to leap out of the group. He rushed over to Wang Xingyu in three strides, grabbed his arm with both hands, and shook it.

"Brother Yu, Brother Yu! What exactly is your relationship with Grandmaster? What happened when he was at Nuoding Academy? Why did he bow to you? Did you teach him something? Come on, tell us!" As he spoke, he leaned closer, blinked hard twice, and forced his face into an extremely contrived attempt at looking cute.

Wang Xingyu was shaken so hard that he nearly dropped his fan. Looking at Ma Hongjun's round face right in front of him and those forced "big innocent eyes," he felt his stomach churn and put his fan between them. "Cut out the cute act already. It's disgusting. Let go, and I'll tell you."

Ma Hongjun let go at once, but leaned in even closer.

Oscar, Dai Mubai, Ning Rongrong, and even Zhu Zhuqing crowded around, their eyes sparkling with the desire for gossip.

"It's really not that complicated." Wang Xingyu unfolded his fan and waved it, speaking at an unhurried pace.

"Back at Nuoding Academy, Grandmaster wanted to take Little San as his disciple. Little San's Martial Soul was Blue Silver Grass, but he had Innate Full Soul Power. Grandmaster spotted the signs at a glance and thought he had twin-" His fan paused as the words reached his lips, and he forcibly changed course. "-that he was a promising seedling."

Tang San stood nearby, already looking over.

Without a change in expression, Wang Xingyu continued, giving them a rough account of the debate he and Grandmaster had at the gates of Nuoding Academy: Grandmaster's theories, the possible directions for Blue Silver Grass to mutate, the reasoning behind choosing Soul Rings, and the remark that had left Grandmaster speechless for days.

From beginning to end, he never breathed a word about Twin Martial Souls. Though the secret would certainly come out later, it should be Tang San himself who told them.

As his brother, he could help pave the road for Tang San, but he couldn't open the door for him.

When he finished, he closed his fan and tapped it against his palm. "Really, when all's said and done, Grandmaster mainly figured it out himself. He'd known about Luo Sanpao's problem for a long time, and he'd tried the flesh and blood of dragon-type Soul Beasts too. He just hadn't found the right method. At most, I reminded him of it again. It really wasn't a big deal."

As soon as he finished speaking, Dai Mubai's fist came in from the side and landed on his shoulder. The blow wasn't hard, but it was enough to make his shoulder dip.

"Really modest, aren't you?" Dai Mubai withdrew his fist and folded his arms, a hint of a smile on his lips. "The number one theorist in the Soul Master World bowed to you after you shut him down, and you call that a reminder? You Support System types have thicker skin than me, a Power Attack System Soul Master."

"He's always been thick-skinned," Xiao Wu chimed in from the side, the corners of her mouth raised.

Everyone burst out laughing, and the atmosphere grew much more relaxed.

Luo Sanpao wandered over from the direction of the office, his slightly plump body swaying from side to side and his purple tail wagging unhurriedly. He circled Tang San's feet, rubbed against Wang Xingyu's trouser leg, and finally stopped in front of Xiao Wu.

Xiao Wu crouched down and reached out to stroke his head. Sanpao lifted his head and gave a low purr.

"Rongrong, Zhu Zhuqing, come pet him too. The fur on Sanpao's head is so soft!"

Ning Rongrong crouched beside Xiao Wu and poked Luo Sanpao's ear. Sanpao's ear twitched, and his tail wagged more happily. Zhu Zhuqing gave him a stroke too. "Mm, it really is soft."

Ma Hongjun watched the three girls chattering around a mangy dog. He put his hands behind his head and took a step back. "So are we still resting today? Grandmaster and the dean will probably be talking for a while."

Oscar flopped straight down on the grass, his peach-blossom eyes narrowing to slits. "Another day off? That's the best!"

Early the next morning, everyone gathered on the training ground on time. The morning light had just spilled over the crooked-necked tree, and two people were already standing at the front, waiting.

Flender still wore his brown robe, with reflective glasses perched on his long face. The person standing beside him made everyone pause in surprise.

Yu Xiaogang had tidied up his hair.

His long, unruly hair had been cut short, falling just to his shoulders, and was loosely tied behind his head with a strip of gray cloth. The stubble had been shaved from his face, revealing a defined jawline.

He had also traded his worn cloth clothes for a clean robe. He looked much tidier overall, and standing there in the morning light, he really did bear some resemblance to the comic-book version of Grandmaster in Wang Xingyu's memory.

Surprise flashed through Tang San's eyes. Xiao Wu's mouth hung open. Luo Sanpao crouched at his master's feet, tilting his head as he looked at everyone, his narrowed eyes narrowing even further.

Flender pushed up his glasses. "All right, Grandmaster's training starts today."

Grandmaster nodded, his gaze settling on Wang Xingyu. "Wang Xingyu, do you have any insights?"

Wang Xingyu closed his fan and put it in his storage bag. It would be inconvenient to wave a fan while training; he was at least aware of that much.

Scenes of Grandmaster's training in the comic flashed through his mind: Zhu Zhuqing catching fish in a penguin suit, Tang San using the Eight Spider Lances to repair a house, and Grandmaster seemingly being chased and scolded by Flender over the training expenses.

He really couldn't remember the details of each training exercise very clearly, but the comic-book Grandmaster's style had left a deep impression on him: finding all sorts of ways to put people through the wringer, each time pushing them right to their limits.

"Grandmaster's knowledge is extensive enough that I wouldn't call them insights, but I do have a few shallow observations."

Flender chuckled, the corners of his mouth raised, but said nothing. Grandmaster said nothing either, merely waiting for him to continue.

"The essence of training comes down to four things: the body, Soul Power, willpower, and actual combat.

"For the body, we can use Teacher Zhao's gravity to increase the pressure of the environment, forcing the meridians and muscles to keep expanding.

"For Soul Power, we can also use gravity. By fighting under gravity, using more Soul Power to resist the pressure and less Soul Power to attack, we can improve the precision of our Soul Power control.

"We can also blindfold ourselves to cut off our sight, relying purely on our bodily reactions and our sense of Soul Power to judge where attacks are coming from. As for willpower and actual combat, I haven't studied those much, so I'll leave them to you, Grandmaster."

Flender turned to look at Yu Xiaogang. "Haha, right, right, Xiaogang, I forgot to tell you. As soon as this kid entered the academy, he went to Zhao Wuji and worked out a cultivation method that uses gravity to train the body. Zhao Wuji used to use Gravity Enhancement to smash people; now it's changed professions and become exercise equipment."

Grandmaster looked at Wang Xingyu and nodded. "Physical conditioning, refining Soul Power control, and strengthening perception. Your reasoning is clear, and your starting points are all solid. Good."

Beside them, Ma Hongjun's face fell at once. "Brother Yu! Don't give Grandmaster ideas! He was already going to train us, and now you've added a few more suggestions. Do we have any way to survive?"

Oscar edged behind Dai Mubai, looking as though he had lost all desire to live. "We're done for. I was hoping to slack off, but now there's no hope of that at all."

Zhu Zhuqing listened with her arms folded, her eyes full of approval.

Grandmaster paused, his gaze sweeping over everyone present. "Then we'll begin formal training today. First, run one lap around the training ground to loosen up."