Soul Land: Full Body Martial Soul

After resting for a while, Tang San rejoined the team. Judging from his appearance, his injuries weren't too serious, though the sting of defeat clearly weighed on him.

Tang San felt deeply unwilling about his loss. This had been just an ordinary soul fight match, and Yu Xiaogang had already forbidden him from using hidden weapons before the battle began. Otherwise, Yang Xiong would have had no chance of victory. Tang San possessed an external soul bone and even a second spirit, giving him significant advantages. In comparison, Yang Xiong's original spirit didn't seem to have any long-range attack abilities, and it should have been easily restricted by his Blue Silver Grass. For example, at the beginning of the battle, Tang San could have used the control abilities of his Blue Silver Grass to restrict Yang Xiong's movements. Unfortunately, his soul power level was still too low to fully utilize these advantages.

While Tang San brooded over his defeat, everyone else looked at Yu Xiaogang with strange expressions on their faces.

Yu Xiaogang had spoken extensively about the power of control-type Spirit Masters, yet Tang San had been immediately defeated by Yang Xiong. What made it worse was that throughout the entire battle, Yang Xiong didn't seem to be injured at all. This indirectly proved that control-type Spirit Masters weren't absolutely powerful, contrary to what their teacher had claimed.

Yu Xiaogang had said that control-type Spirit Masters were the strongest unless they encountered a spirit that naturally restrained them. However, it didn't seem like Yang Xiong's spirit restrained Tang San's Blue Silver Grass. On the contrary, Tang San's Blue Silver Grass had been easily shattered by Yang Xiong's attacks.

Dai Mubai had observed the entire battle process carefully. He had originally been depressed because he lost to Tang San earlier, but after witnessing Yang Xiong's fighting style, he felt like he could learn something valuable from it. This was especially true since Dai Mubai's second soul skill, White Tiger Light Wave, was relatively effective against Blue Silver Grass-type spirits.

Noticing everyone's unsettled thoughts and questioning expressions, Yu Xiaogang couldn't help but cough a few times to regain their attention.

"Ahem," Yu Xiaogang began, trying to maintain his authority. "Both Yang Xiong and Tang San performed very well in the previous battle. At the Spirit Grand Master level, it should be difficult for either of them to meet a worthy opponent. Their combat power surprised me greatly. I hope all of you will learn from both of them."

He paused, scanning the group before continuing. "Especially, have you noticed that both of them possess very strong physical qualities? They are both very skilled in using their bodies in coordination with their spirits, which demonstrates the strength of their physiques."

"I want to emphasize one important point to all of you now," Yu Xiaogang said, his voice taking on a more serious tone. "For Spirit Masters, the body is the foundation of everything. We must pay more attention to physical exercise and conditioning. Only a strong physique can handle stronger soul skills and adapt to more intense battles."

After Yu Xiaogang finished his general comments, he turned his attention directly to Yang Xiong. "Yang Xiong, your battle performance was excellent just now, but I'm curious about something. Why didn't you use any soul skills from beginning to end? As far as I know, whether it was during the entrance exam or in previous soul fight arena matches, you have never used soul skills."

Yang Xiong replied respectfully, "I'm really sorry, Master. My spirit is quite special in nature, so I don't really like using soul skills in front of others. Another aspect is for my personal safety. I won't use my soul skills unless it's a matter of life and death."

Yu Xiaogang nodded thoughtfully. "Spirit Masters should still focus primarily on soul power and soul skills. I don't know what soul skills you currently possess, but if you need to obtain soul rings in the future, I might be able to provide you with some valuable reference and guidance."

Looking at Yu Xiaogang's confident demeanor, Yang Xiong felt compelled to respond. "Master, I'm really sorry, but my soul rings and soul skills are all planned by my teacher. My teacher will personally help me obtain them when the time comes."

Yu Xiaogang asked with a puzzled expression, "Who is your teacher? I have conducted extensive research on spirits and soul skills, and in theory, my knowledge is definitely not inferior to anyone else's."

Yang Xiong felt a little helpless and finally had to reveal the truth. "Master, my teacher's name is Gu Rong, the Bone Douluo."

Everyone's eyes widened in shock when they heard this revelation. They hadn't expected Yang Xiong's teacher to be a Titled Douluo. Everyone knew that Titled Douluos held supreme status in the spirit master world, standing at the very peak of power and prestige.

However, Ning Rongrong glared at Yang Xiong directly, her eyes flashing with indignation. How could her dearest Bone Grandpa accept this little rascal Yang Xiong as a disciple? Moreover, she hadn't heard even the slightest bit of news about this supposed apprenticeship. Obviously, this little troublemaker was talking nonsense and making up stories.

Despite her suspicions, seeing Yang Xiong's serious appearance and confident manner, Ning Rongrong decided not to expose him in front of everyone.

Yang Xiong himself was actually quite helpless about the situation. He genuinely didn't want to provoke Yu Xiaogang or get too involved with him. Whether it was in terms of personality or other aspects, the two of them were simply not suitable for close contact. Yang Xiong had too many secrets to protect, especially regarding the special nature of his original spirit, and his soul skills could not be easily revealed to others.

Yu Xiaogang seemed extremely high-profile in his approach to research. In order to showcase his research abilities, he couldn't wait to publish and publicize everything he discovered, claiming it as his own research results on Spirit Masters and spirits. This approach was completely contrary to Yang Xiong's preference for relatively low-key development and keeping his abilities hidden. Rather than becoming entangled with Yu Xiaogang in the future, it was better to directly mention the Bone Douluo as protection. After all, Ning Fengzhi had mentioned that he wanted Bone Douluo to accept Yang Xiong as a disciple anyway.

Seeing that Yang Xiong had brought up the prestigious Bone Douluo, Yu Xiaogang didn't dare to say anything more and simply continued with the day's training session.

Next, Dai Mubai fought successively against several different combinations: first against the team of Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Ning Rongrong, then against the combination of Ma Hongjun and Oscar.

Dai Mubai seemed to be greatly stimulated and motivated by the battle between Yang Xiong and Tang San. Throughout the entire process, he appeared incomparably powerful and determined. After only a short rest, he continuously defeated all three of these challenging opponent groups.

However, these three opponent combinations were obviously not weak, especially the partnership of Ma Hongjun and Oscar. Oscar's recovery sausages combined with Ma Hongjun's phoenix fire created a very effective synergy. Both of them could achieve limited flight after consuming the sausages, which gave them a significant advantage against ground-based Spirit Masters like Dai Mubai.

The three consecutive battles took a full hour to complete. During this time, Tang San had taken some medicinal herbs and rested for an hour. Surprisingly, the injuries on his body had actually recovered for the most part, and it seemed that he was no longer affected by pain or discomfort.

Yang Xiong was surprised for a while by this rapid recovery. It seemed that Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill was even more mysterious and powerful than he had originally imagined. The technique could apparently provide endless energy, quickly recovering soul power and even healing physical injuries at an accelerated rate.

Thinking about this impressive ability, Yang Xiong felt that he had to improve his own Yin-Yang Meditation Method as soon as possible. Perhaps when this set of exercises was truly completed and perfected, his cultivation speed would increase dramatically once again.

After Yu Xiaogang had watched everyone's battles and performances, although his face remained extremely calm and composed, he basically criticized every single student except for Yang Xiong.

In particular, he thoroughly analyzed everyone's battle situations, pointing out the specific shortcomings and weaknesses in each person's combat process. His analysis was relatively objective and detailed, though somewhat harsh.

For some ordinary newly enrolled students, their combat experience was relatively lacking compared to what Yu Xiaogang expected. Everyone focused more on meditation and theoretical study but had very little practical experience at all. As a result, their ability to grasp opportunities during actual combat was quite poor.

The main criticism was directed towards Xiao Wu, Oscar, and even Tang San. Yu Xiaogang pointed out that Xiao Wu was too playful and casual during serious combat situations. As an agility-type Spirit Master, Oscar was too careless and couldn't seize the fleeting opportunities that appeared during his fight against Dai Mubai. Otherwise, with Xiao Wu's teleportation ability and quick reflexes, even if she couldn't completely defeat Dai Mubai, she wouldn't have been at such a severe disadvantage. As for Oscar, being a food-type auxiliary Spirit Master, he wasn't naturally good at protecting himself during direct combat.

Regarding Tang San, although he was Yu Xiaogang's personal disciple and Yu Xiaogang had always been quite satisfied with his progress, the recent battle had clearly proceeded according to Yang Xiong's rhythm and pace. Tang San hadn't properly utilized his control-type advantages, which should have been his greatest strength in combat.

After finishing his detailed commentary, Yu Xiaogang appeared unusually angry and disappointed. "Are you really the so-called little monsters that this academy is famous for? You've disappointed me far too much! As punishment for your poor performance, you will run back and forth to Soto City ten times while carrying stones. If you don't complete this task, you won't receive any lunch today."

Yang Xiong was internally speechless at this punishment. This was probably the infamous running training with stones on their backs that he had heard about. Although the concept looked good in theory, it was quite crude and lacked any real technical sophistication or scientific approach.

What made it even more interesting was that nobody knew Yang Xiong had been carrying a hundred pounds of additional weight during his entire fight with Tang San. Otherwise, his speed would have been even faster, and the power behind each of his moves would have been at least twenty percent stronger than what everyone had witnessed.

Just like in many training scenarios, everyone began running back and forth to Soto City ten times with heavy stones strapped to their backs. Except for Yang Xiong, they were all completely exhausted by the end. Even though Yang Xiong carried the heaviest load of stones among all of them, and even helped others carry some of their weight, this kind of endurance training had been part of his routine since childhood, so it posed no real problem for him.

The main issue arose with Ning Rongrong, whose physical fitness was by far the worst among the entire group. She fainted directly during the final three kilometers of the punishment run.

Yang Xiong didn't hesitate for even a moment. He immediately transferred all the stones from her back into the huge bamboo basket on his own back, then started running while carrying her in his arms to complete the remaining distance.

Ning Rongrong slowly regained consciousness while secure in Yang Xiong's arms. She seemed to struggle a bit against his grip. "Little Xiongzi, what do you think you're doing? Put me down right now! I can run by myself!"

Yang Xiong's face remained calm and practical. "Everyone else is almost finished with their runs. Right now, you're the only one lagging far behind at the very back. Either let me carry you to the finish, or I'll just leave you here alone. Then you won't be able to complete this punishment task, and Master will probably assign an even stricter punishment as a result."

Ning Rongrong struggled more forcefully in Yang Xiong's arms, almost causing herself to fall. Fortunately, Yang Xiong reacted quickly and securely caught her before she could hit the ground.

At this moment, Ning Rongrong's face turned slightly red with embarrassment. "Little Xiongzi, you bastard! You're taking advantage of me! Can't you just carry me on your back like a normal person would?"

Yang Xiong calmly put Ning Rongrong down on the ground, then pointed to the massive basket strapped to his back. "Look carefully at my basket. It's completely full of stones. Besides yours, there are lots of other people's stones that I'm already carrying. Do you think anyone else here can handle this much additional weight?"

"Besides," he continued logically, "everyone's stamina is at its absolute limit right now. Except for me, I'm afraid no one else has the strength left to carry you and still finish this final section of the run."

Everyone around them looked at each other when they heard this exchange, and they all remained diplomatically silent.

Yang Xiong and Ning Rongrong both came from the prestigious Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, and they had been classmates since early childhood. Obviously, their relationship was closer and more familiar than their relationships with the others. The other students didn't want to interfere in what seemed like a personal matter, so they all politely lowered their heads and continued with their own struggles.

As Yang Xiong had accurately pointed out, his huge bamboo basket was already completely full of stones, and it looked like it weighed well over a hundred pounds. Besides Yang Xiong's own assigned stones, it contained all of Ning Rongrong's stones, plus a significant portion of Oscar's stones as well.

Originally, Yu Xiaogang should have calculated the weight distribution according to everyone's individual carrying capacity and physical abilities. Yang Xiong's stone load was intentionally the heaviest among all of them, followed by Tang San, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun, since they were all battle-type Spirit Masters with stronger physical builds. Then came Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Oscar, who had been assigned relatively fewer stones due to their builds and specializations. Ning Rongrong, as an auxiliary-type Spirit Master, had been given the lightest load.

However, Yu Xiaogang had obviously miscalculated the realistic demands of this punishment. During the intense battle between Yang Xiong and Tang San, Tang San had suffered considerable injuries and couldn't bear the additional weight of helping others anymore. This was especially true since Tang San also had to look after and assist Xiao Wu during the run.

According to the weight distribution that Yu Xiaogang had assigned, probably the only students who could realistically complete the full task besides Yang Xiong were Tang San and Dai Mubai. The others simply couldn't complete the demanding task with their assigned loads.

Fortunately, this weight presented no real challenge to Yang Xiong due to his exceptional physical conditioning. He had voluntarily helped Oscar carry a substantial portion of his stones, and he had taken on all of Ning Rongrong's stones when she began to falter.

Originally, Zhu Zhuqing, as an agility-type Spirit Master, had relatively poor carrying capacity compared to the others and seemed to be struggling significantly to keep up with Yang Xiong's pace. Yang Xiong had also considered whether he should help her carry some of her burden, but this particular girl was especially stubborn and proud. She had refused his offer of assistance directly and firmly.

Yang Xiong decided not to push the issue any further. The stones in his basket were already the heaviest load among the entire group, so he respected her wishes and let her continue forward on her own determination.

At this critical moment, Ning Rongrong was weak all over and obviously about to faint again at any moment. The other students remained silent, understanding that they couldn't possibly carry her themselves to complete the test. The other two girls in the group were also almost at their physical limits as well.

Finally, after struggling internally for several minutes, Ning Rongrong felt overwhelmingly weak and extremely tired. She gritted her teeth with determination and said, "Little Xiongzi, you can carry me to complete this final assessment, but I want to sit in the bamboo basket on your back instead."

Yang Xiong looked at her helplessly. "My basket is already completely full of stones. Do you think we have any other realistic option at this point?"

Ning Rongrong replied with some irritation, "Of course there's a way to make this work! I'll just sit carefully on top of the stones. Just be careful and don't shake me around too much while you're running."

After some additional negotiation and discussion, Ning Rongrong carefully positioned herself on top of the bamboo basket, holding onto Yang Xiong's shoulders with both hands in what was admittedly a rather strange and precarious position.

Yang Xiong felt helpless about the unusual arrangement, but he held one of Ning Rongrong's hands securely with his free hand while Oscar took responsibility for carrying Ning Rongrong's personal basket. Yang Xiong then continued forward, now bearing a basket full of heavy boulders plus the additional weight of the precariously positioned Ning Rongrong.

However, Yang Xiong couldn't help but notice that Ning Rongrong's small hand was remarkably smooth, soft, and white. Although this arrangement wasn't as comfortable as carrying her properly in his arms, holding this delicate little hand created a different kind of pleasant feeling for Yang Xiong, who had been single throughout two entire lifetimes.

Her hand was particularly white, tender, and cute—even somewhat crystal clear in appearance. It was clearly worthy of being the pampered little princess of the renowned Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School, who had been carefully protected and cared for throughout her entire life.

Ning Rongrong seemed to sense something in Yang Xiong's demeanor and shouted with renewed indignation, "Little Xiongzi, what exactly are you thinking about right now? Hurry up and start running properly, otherwise we'll be far too late compared to all the others!"

Yang Xiong complained silently to himself. You were lying unconscious on the ground just a few minutes ago, and you weren't thinking about continuing the task then. Now that I'm carrying you and helping you complete the punishment, your temper has somehow gotten even bigger and more demanding.

Finally, Yang Xiong helplessly gathered his wandering thoughts and refocused his mind on the task ahead. He continued moving forward with determination. With one additional person positioned on his back, plus all the accumulated weight from the stones, his total burden was now almost two hundred and fifty pounds. Even with Yang Xiong's exceptionally strong physical conditioning and endurance, he could only move forward at a slow, steady pace rather than his usual quick stride.

The other students watched Ning Rongrong in this unusual position and arrangement, whispering among themselves and exchanging glances. They seemed full of curiosity and gossip about the developing situation between these two childhood acquaintances from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.

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