Chapter 39: A Loose Sand.
Dai Mubai opened his mouth to say something, but the words faltered. Although he was wealthy compared to Tang San, Oscar, and the others, his daily expenses were considerable. He wanted to tell Shi Yi like a man that he would pay for Zhu Zhuqing's herbs, but how long would his money last?
At this moment, even the food in front of Dai Mubai tasted bitter.
Ma Hongjun, his good friend, noticed Dai Mubai's anomaly and whispered, "Big Dai is just a woman. With your skills, you can find a suitable woman."
Dai Mubai felt annoyed and said angrily, "What do you know? Get out of here."
"You..." Ma Hongjun glared at Dai Mubai, but seeing the cold glint in his eyes, he dared not say anything more.
Oscar sat off to the side, eating his meal with a nonchalant air. After learning the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's rules from Shi Yi, Oscar had lost hope in Ning Rongrong. Shi Yi was right; as long as he practiced diligently, he'd be a popular prospect anywhere.
Tang San always had eyes only for Xiao Wu. Ever since being beaten up by Zhao Wuji, he seemed to have a constant barrier between him and everyone else. As his teacher, Yu Xiaogang was well aware of this, and it was the biggest difference between Tang San and Shi Yi.
Yu Xiaogang believed that while Shi Yi could be a bit aloof and look down on his peers, he was able to assess the situation when dealing with those stronger than him, learning from their strengths and even leveraging their abilities to his advantage. But his own disciple was different.
If Shi Yi is a lone wolf, willing to follow a stronger pack, then Tang San is like a snake skilled at hiding. While he's not as aloof as Shi Yi, he hides many things.
Whenever someone crosses Tang San's line, his disciple will try to strike back, like a man stepping on a hidden snake. Zhao Wuji is a prime example, though he's still too inexperienced to face a Soul Sage.
As for Ning Rongrong, a young lady from a sect who's come to experience life,
Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but feel a headache watching the students' differing expressions. His training was merely maintaining a facade of unity.
Yu Xiaogang sighed, "Xiao Yi is right. When faced with real hardship, people often have only themselves to rely on, or perhaps only themselves."
Dai Mubai ate quickly, packing up a portion afterward, apparently to send to Zhu Zhuqing, as if afraid Shi Yi would steal his job.
Everyone finished their meal and left, leaving Yu Xiaogang and Shi Yi alone in the cafeteria.
Yu Xiaogang sighed slightly and said, "Xiao Yi, perhaps my training method is really not good enough. How can such a team complete the fusion flow?"
Shi Yi smiled and shook his head and said, "Teacher, the training method is not wrong, but it is not suitable for Shrek today. If you want true unity, first of all, there can only be one voice in the team, you or Xiao San. Secondly, there must be external contradictions. External contradictions can often unite even people who are incompatible. In fact, you shouldn't let me be the teacher, because then there will be two voices, such as Zhu Qing, Oscar and Ning Rongrong. They will believe in my theory more. How can such a team be united?"
"Xiao Wu always listens to Xiao San, and Xiao San is always a strong-minded person. As for Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, even for the sake of face, they have to contradict me. Don't worry too much about it. Just focus on your class. How much you learn is often not determined by how much the teacher teaches, but how much the students learn on their own."
Yu Xiaogang nodded helplessly upon hearing this. He suddenly understood why Flanders chose to let these children run wild. Geniuses often have distinct personalities, and distinct personalities are often difficult to integrate. As Shi Yi said, unless there is a powerful voice or a strong external conflict, it is difficult for these geniuses to merge.
After finishing their meal, Shi Yi also smiled and slowly left. He knew that he was the biggest variable. His presence had invisibly weakened Tang San's influence, causing him to dormant. Without Tang San's leadership, Shrek became a mess.
"Everything I do will cause corresponding changes. Perhaps the future will become more interesting," Shi Yi thought to himself.
Three months passed in a flash. Under Shi Yi's training, with adequate nutrition and medicinal baths, Zhu Zhuqing quickly became accustomed to the iron leggings. Initially, she learned to walk, then run, and now, perform high kicks, completing Shi Yi's most basic requirements.
During these three months, Shi Yi didn't require Zhu Zhuqing to do any combat training. Besides physical exercise, she meditated. During this time, Zhu Zhuqing's spirit power level increased by one level.
Shi Yi himself wore his own high-density tungsten armor. While his strength control wasn't perfect, he could move freely within Zhao Wuji's gravity field. Zhu Zhuqing had also attempted to enter Zhao Wuji's gravity field wearing the iron leggings, but she was unable to even lift her legs due to insufficient strength.
This disparity inevitably caused Zhu Zhuqing to feel defeated, but Shi Yi was very supportive of her. Putting aside his identity as a time traveler, Shi Yi believed that his own perseverance was not as good as hers.
"It's been three months. After today's training, I will give you a seven-day vacation like my teacher..."
Shi Yi was interrupted by Zhu Zhuqing before he could finish his words. Zhu Zhuqing said sparingly, "Training."
Shi Yi smiled and said, "Sometimes being too tense is not a good thing. I know what you are thinking. After training for such a long time, as a quick-attack soul master, your speed is still not as good as mine. I can tell you about this."
Zhu Zhuqing looked at Shi Yi without saying a word.
Shi Yi explained slowly: "The speed of a soul master is often composed of many factors. You should know that I am a pure strength soul master. Strength is one of the conditions that affect speed, because I can use my powerful strength to instantly generate explosive speed. In addition, I pay attention to physical training and the high upper limit of pure strength. The average agility attack soul master cannot be faster than me in a short period of time."
"Now let's talk about you. First of all, as your cultivation deepens, your beast soul will make you faster and your body lighter. As your soul rings continue to increase, your soul rings are all leopard cat-type soul rings. The power of the soul rings will also make your speed faster, and even produce speed-enhancing soul skills. Now that you have been trained by me, with the increase in your core strength and leg strength, as well as your strength control, breathing, posture, stride, and step frequency, you have made great progress. Compared with others, your speed is already the fastest."
"But I'm still not as good as you now, am I not?" Zhu Zhuqing said lightly.
"This is just a short-term advantage of pure strength. No matter how much you train, you can't surpass it in a short period of time. Your speed advantage can only be reflected in a long period of time. Do you understand? During long-term training, when your cultivation becomes higher, your spirit rings and spirit skills become more numerous, and your strength becomes stronger, your speed will definitely surpass mine." Shi Yi said helplessly.
"I will come again tomorrow." After saying that, Zhu Zhuqing slowly left.
Shi Yi looked at the tall back and opened his mouth, not knowing what to say. Zhu Zhuqing didn't want to rest for a while, but he still wanted to. He sighed slightly and stayed there for a while. Seeing that the time was almost up, Shi Yi also walked towards the cafeteria. As he was walking, he saw a person staggering towards him.
The figure saw Shi Yi and turned away evasively. Before Shi Yi could even begin to wonder, he heard another voice.
"Who the hell is this? Why does he have a pig's head?" Oscar exclaimed in a somewhat exaggerated tone.
Shi Yi looked closely and saw that the person staggering and stumbling was Ma Hongjun, though he looked extremely disheveled. Not only were his clothes torn and dusty, but his round, plump face was completely swollen, with purple-black bruises around his eyes and dried blood at the corners of his mouth. When Shi Yi looked at him, his eyes were evasive.
"Fatty, what's wrong with you?" Oscar hurried over to support the staggering Ma Hongjun. He then expertly summoned his healing sausage and handed it to him.
Ma Hongjun didn't hesitate, devouring it in two or three bites, and he looked better now.
"Damn, this is so embarrassing!" Ma Hongjun's eyes were filled with hatred. He already had a round face and small eyes, and now, with the swelling, his eyes were almost invisible under the fat.
Oscar looked at Ma Hongjun, then his gaze fell on Shi Yi, who was not far away, as if he understood something.
Oscar frowned and said slowly, "Fatty, you didn't cause any trouble out there again, did you?"
Ma Hongjun raged, "What do you mean by causing trouble? It was clearly that girl I fell for first. That sleazy old man is so shameless!"
After hearing Ma Hongjun's words, Oscar finally understood. In Douluo Continent, whoever has the bigger fist has the final say, and Ma Hongjun had clearly been dealt a hand.
Shi Yi, seeing this, smiled faintly and ignored these trivial matters, slowly entering the cafeteria.
Ma Hongjun's eyes seemed fixed on Shi Yi. The smile on Shi Yi's face felt like a slap in the face. Seeing Shi Yi enter the cafeteria, Ma Hongjun angrily said, "Smiling! Sooner or later, I'll make him pay."
Oscar looked at Ma Hongjun in front of him, continued to make several large sausages, and said calmly, "Let's go in and eat first."
Thanks to Oscar's recovery sausages, Ma Hongjun's health improved significantly, and the two of them entered the cafeteria.
It was lunchtime, and when Oscar helped Ma Hongjun into the cafeteria, everyone's eyes were instantly focused on Ma Hongjun.
Shi Yi, Tang San, and Zhu Zhuqing said nothing, quietly clearing away their food. Ning Rongrong glanced at Ma Hongjun with disdain before continuing to eat. This was interesting part: after Shi Yi heard Oscar had given up on Ning Rongrong, the fat Ma Hongjun, a toad wanting to eat swan flesh, actually pursued Ning Rongrong. Naturally, he was ridiculed by the young lady, but dared not do anything.
Even Dai Mubai, once a like-minded friend, remained silent upon seeing Ma Hongjun's discomfiture. For his own life and the Nether White Tiger, he could no longer go out with Ma Hongjun on such a quest, and naturally, he would not stand up for him now.
The unity that once existed to achieve training goals had become incredibly fragile under these divergent minds. Such was the nature of human nature.
Everything had changed since Tang San had chosen his own spirit development plan.
Having chosen the offensive path and not relying on Zhao Wuji to establish his authority during the Shrek entrance exam, Tang San lost his status as the team's leader from that moment on, becoming nothing more than an ordinary student.
Furthermore, with all the immortal treasures now stored in Shi Yi's spirit guide, without prestige or benefits, Tang San couldn't possibly raise a team capable of resisting the Spirit Hall, as he did in the original novel.
Seeing no one speaking, not even a single one concerned about his injuries, Ma Hongjun snorted coldly and walked away.
As for where he went, Shi Yi presumed he'd gone to find Flender; after all, the fat boy wouldn't take a beating for nothing, given his personality.
After Ma Hongjun left, Ning Rongrong also sat down next to Shi Yi with a plate in hand and said, "Are you kidding me? I've been training for such a long time, how come I don't feel anything?"
Shi Yi's face darkened upon hearing this. "Do you think evolving your martial soul is easy? Especially with a martial soul as high-quality as the Seven Treasures Glazed Pagoda? You want it to evolve in just three months. Those who don't know would think you've suffered terribly. Also, all the conditions I mentioned only indicate possibilities for martial soul evolution, not guarantees. Besides, have you really felt nothing in these three months? Has your physical condition improved? Has your meditation training speed increased?"
Ning Rongrong couldn't help but stick out her tongue upon hearing this and said, "Isn't there any other way? An easier way."
Shi Yi nodded seriously and said, "Yes, have your father mobilize the power of the sect to hunt down a 100,000-year soul beast and give you a few 100,000-year soul bones. Then you don't have to work hard. 100,000-year-old soul bones are definitely enough to stimulate the power deep in your bloodline to evolve your martial soul."
"Can spirit bones really evolve spirits? Then why hasn't Dad's spirit evolved?" Ning Rongrong asked.
"I would simply categorize the sources of a spirit master's power into body, spirit power, mental strength, and spirit. These factors influence and reinforce each other. As long as you continuously improve the first three, your spirit, as the spirit master's twin, will eventually transform. This is why spirit masters above level ninety-five experience a transformation with each additional level of spirit power. You can verify this with Sword Douluo."
"You have great talent. As you often say, you are the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect's greatest prodigy in a hundred years. So, don't waste it. I'm sure you have the potential to evolve your spirit, but you should learn from Zhu Qing. If you can share Zhu Qing's willpower, it's only a matter of time before your spirit becomes the Nine Treasures Glazed Tile Tower," Shi Yi explained slowly.
"Then can I join your training?" Ning Rongrong asked, blinking her eyes.
"You?" Shi Yi raised an eyebrow at Ning Rongrong.
As if she thought Shi Yi wouldn't agree, Ning Rongrong glared at him and even puffed out her chest, saying, "What's wrong with me? If Zhu Qing can do it, so can I."
"Sure, but you have to pay more." Shi Yi chuckled and nodded.
"Huh?"
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(End of this chapter)