Chapter 35: Training

From the age of nine, Qian Renxue had to infiltrate the Imperial Palace. Initially, she had to pose as a servant of Crown Prince Xue Qinghe, which was a surprising role for someone who was the proud holder of the Seraphim Martial Soul.

Later, she continued her disguise by pretending to be Xue Qinghe for many years, creating an entirely false personality. Despite this, she was able to fool even Ning Fengzhi, who she later became a disciple of. This success could not be attributed solely to her Angel's Skull Bone.

If only based on these achievements, Lu Yuan could not deny that Qian Renxue was indeed the best person to teach him.

But upon learning this new information about the Martial Souls, Lu Yuan could not help but reflect.

In the original story, for many years, Qian Renxue's performance and schemes seemed to be flawless, even if Xue Xing and Xue Beng suspected something. The throne of the Heaven Dou Empire was already nearly in her grasp, so any suspicion would be moot.

However, after Tang San exposed her identity and prevented her from seizing the throne by poisoning the Emperor, Qian Renxue's behavior changed dramatically. She became excessively arrogant and underestimated her enemies. She even began to admire Tang San after losing to him, and this obsession was amplified after the Angel God Test took place.

Where did the previously meticulous and intelligent Qian Renxue go?

Even Qian Daoliu, Qian Renxue's grandfather, had become heavily obsessed with Bo Saixi and his lifelong rival, Tang Chen, so much so that even in his last moments, he rejoiced that someone from his Qian Clan had surpassed his greatest rival.

Being hated by her mother, and living in disguise for many years in enemy territory, it was easy for Qian Renxue to be shaken by new emotions, making her easily confused and obsessed. Adding to this the influence of her Martial Soul, which seemed to amplify these emotions, it was no wonder that it led to her pitiful end in the original story.

But despite this, Lu Yuan still decided to agree. Although it seemed ironic to learn from the worst possible example he could think of, there were two additional reasons why he had made this decision.

The first reason was that even if Qian Renxue's method alone was not enough to completely control his Martial Soul, it still couldn't be denied that it was effective. And with Lu Yuan possessing the Pure Qi Sutra, if he managed to combine her method with it, the effects would obviously be much more effective.

The second reason was that although the levels of their Martial Souls were similar, with his being slightly higher, but if one spoke only of spiritual wisdom, Qian Renxue's should undoubtedly be superior to his.

This was because the Seraphim was a Martial Soul inherited from the Angel God. Thus, there was a constant influence of the Angel God on the Seraphim possessor that would undoubtedly become stronger as their cultivation increased. This would result in her being more easily influenced than him.

After thinking about this, although he didn't fully understand why Qian Renxue wanted to teach him, controlling his own Martial Soul was something he had to learn, so he couldn't pass up this opportunity.

He had never before lost control of his emotions as he had just now, and this could be because his Martial Soul always looked down on others with contempt, combined with the cultivation method, Pure Qi Sutra, he had never had any problems.

Even if he refused, he couldn't be foolish enough to believe that she would give up and obediently take him to Spirit City.

Therefore, he settled his mind and said earnestly, "Big Sister, I apologize if I offended you earlier. I would be honored to be taught by you."

Without the arrogance of the Golden Dragon, Lu Yuan had no problem taking teachings from others, just as he once approached Grandmaster to learn from his theories before.

'Speaking of Grandmaster, I wonder if he would have been able to help me with this problem,' he thought to himself.

When he refused to be his disciple, the friendship between him and Grandmaster was no longer the same as before, so something like Grandmaster intensively studying his Martial Soul had not happened.

"You don't have to worry about that, Xiao Yuan. Call me Sister Xue'er from now on," said Qian Renxue with a cheerful tone as she released Lu Yuan's cheek.

"Don't be confused by what I said before. The Martial Soul is part of us, but as thinking beings, we cannot be carried away by our instincts alone. This is why I will help you comprehend your own Martial Soul. With me by your side, you will also be able to avoid being dominated by the frenetic aura of the Golden Dragon while practicing."

Hearing Qian Renxue's words, Lu Yuan became reflective. He had never taken the time to truly understand the Golden Dragon's Martial Soul, which he had obtained so suddenly. Even during his training with Xiao Wu, he had solely focused on improving his movement technique, neglecting his Martial Soul.

Lu Yuan also considered the possibility of going beyond just understanding his Martial Soul. He remembered that, in addition to Innate Domains like the Angel Domain and Acquired Domains like the Deathgod Domain, there could be self-created Domains, such as Sword Douluo's. By accumulating a large amount of sword intent and creating his own Domain, wasn't Sword Douluo relying on his understanding of his Martial Soul?

However, before Lu Yuan could continue his thoughts, Qian Renxue spoke again. "Senior Xu provided me with all the information about you, and I can finally see it for myself. Your first Spirit Ring indeed reached 800 years, correct? This is only possible with an extremely powerful physique given by the Golden Dragon," Qian Renxue said with a hint of envy in her voice as she spoke of Lu Yuan's Spirit Ring.

"Eh? Sister Xue'er, did you know that the Spirit Ring's absorption depends on the Spirit Master's physique?" Lu Yuan was surprised. Wasn't it common knowledge on the Continent that the first Spirit Ring could only reach a maximum of 423 years?

"Of course I do. Where do you think I come from? At the Spirit Hall, we have the most knowledge and information gathered throughout the ages. We came to that conclusion a long time ago," Qian Renxue rolled her eyes at him before taking out a thick book from her soul guide.

Lu Yuan took the book from Qian Renxue and began flipping through it. It wasn't long before his face changed to one of surprise. This book contained not only the knowledge he had learned from Grandmaster but many concepts were also explained in greater detail or corrected some holes in Grandmaster's theories.

Among the concepts mentioned in the book was the absorption of Spirit Rings based on physics, as Qian Renxue had explained. Lu Yuan, after flipping through the pages, turned to Qian Renxue who was sitting across from him, and asked, "Sister Xue'er, wasn't it commonly known that the first Spirit Ring could only reach a maximum of 423 years?"

Qian Renxue replied, "You must have gotten that information from the Ten Core Competencies, right? Although it looks useful, is actually quite useless for people like us. If you read the book I gave you, you would know that the number of years a Spirit Ring can be absorbed depends on one's physique. Some weak or sick people might not even be able to reach the 423-year limit for the first Spirit Ring."

"On the other hand," she continued, "some people are born with a strong physique, and with proper nutrition and exercise, they can surpass the limit you mentioned. When it comes to the 10,000-year Spirit Ring, things are different. Absorbing a Spirit Ring of that age requires not only physical strength but also a certain amount of mental strength to withstand the Spirit Ring's Soul Shock."

"I understand, thank you for the information, Sister Xue'er," Lu Yuan thanked her. This was a knowledge that even Grandmaster was unaware of.

"Very well, you can keep that book. I'll give you more later. Read them when you have free time,"

"I only have this week to teach you, then I have to leave for some other duties. I'll only be able to come back once a week to check on your progress," Qian Renxue said to Lu Yuan.

"After that, for three weeks, I'll let She Long train you. According to Senior Xu, you used a spear when you fight, right? She Long's Martial Soul is the Snake Lance, even though it's not a spear, it shouldn't be much different." Qian Renxue was a bit curious about Lu Yuan's spear, it was very rare for a Spirit Master to use weapons other than their Martial Souls. But she didn't bother to ask at this point, instead, she continued.

"When you finish this, the second part of your training will begin."

Finished speaking, Qian Renxue waved her hand, and immediately, a figure with white hair and a scar on his eye appeared. This figure was none other than the subordinate who had served tea earlier, named She Long.

"She Long, you will be in charge of training Xiao Yuan when I am gone. Can you do it?"

"As you command, Young Master," She Long replied respectfully, bowing. He then turned to Lu Yuan and said in a friendly tone, "Little boy, I apologize for what happened earlier. I lost control of my temper for a moment when I noticed you hadn't drunk the tea I served."

Hearing the same blatant excuse, Lu Yuan inwardly rolled his eyes, but outwardly showed a smile and replied in a friendly tone, "Forgive me, Uncle She, for unintentionally neglecting the tea you served. I hope to learn a lot from you starting next week."

"Hehehe, good boy, good boy," She Long chuckled heartily.

'Looks like the two of them will get along well.' Thought Qian Renxue with a smile as she watched the 'friendly' interaction between the two.

...

After small talk, Qian Renxue sat down next to Lu Yuan and began introducing him to the concept of Martial Souls.

Although Lu Yuan had some prior knowledge, he realized that Qian Renxue's teaching was of a higher level and included information that he had only heard of superficially.

Also, Qian Renxue mentioned several Superior Martial Souls that were only heard of in legends or ancient periods. To Lu Yuan's surprise, these were the same Martial Souls he had seen in Grandmaster's book, and the descriptions were nearly identical.

When Lu Yuan asked about this, Qian Renxue casually mentioned that the information was gathered by the Spirit Hall over thousands of years. This left Lu Yuan pondering, and although he did not want to acknowledge it at first, the truth was right in front of his eyes and also made quite a bit more sense.

Moreover, Qian Renxue's teaching methods were unexpectedly very effective, her words were to the point and her meditation technique seemed to have been practiced countless times by her.

On the first day, Lu Yuan learned the meditation technique and started resonating with his Martial Soul, causing him to lose control several times due to the hostility of the Golden Dragon by being too close to Qian Renxue's Seraphim.

However, by the second day, Lu Yuan was able to integrate his Pure Qi Sutra into the technique, which allowed him to maintain control for longer, despite losing control a few times, which even pleasantly surprised Qian Renxue.

On the fourth day, Qian Renxue no longer had to help prevent him from losing control and even began to gain a calmer and more majestic aura, in addition to reducing the Golden Dragon's arrogance and ferocity.

On the sixth day, Lu Yuan seemed to have mastered the technique completely and achieved peak resonance with his Martial Soul. After this, he would need to resonate again with his Martial Soul each time he added a new Spirit Ring, since every new ring would not only increase the Spirit Master's strength, but also the spirituality of the Martial Soul.

During all these days of learning, the relationship between the two had become much closer, this could not be helped, the constant contact between the two on both the physical and soul level had made their perception of each other change as well. And even the Golden Dragon's Martial Soul had become a little less hostile to Qian Renxue's Seraphim.

Although the mansion was very large, there was no hired servant, this made sense to Lu Yuan as he knew the type of mission Qian Renxue was performing. It was because of this that every time they finished training, the two of them would go together to eat in the city.

In one of the many talks they had, Lu Yuan learned that when the Phoenix Village accident happened, Qian Renxue was coming back from Star Dou Forest as she had just gone there to hunt her fourth Spirit Ring. And it was a coincidence that she had sensed his aura while she was passing through.

By the seventh day, Qian Renxue had to prepare to return to her important mission. Lu Yuan, based on the information he had gathered, surmised that she managed to extend her stay with him to one week because she had used the pretext of obtaining her Spirit Ring. If she didn't show up at the Palace after a week, an investigation into her whereabouts would ensue.

After bidding farewell to Qian Renxue, it was time for him to begin the spear training with She Long.

...

Today was the first day of the second week.

Lu Yuan wielded his weapon, the Imperial Dragon Spear, and launched an attack towards She Long. However, She Long easily dodged the attack by simply turning his body to the side.

She Long then spoke, "You have good spear skills, but you're forgetting the fundamentals of using a spear. The art of using a spear is based on a combination of physical strength, technique, coordination, and strategy. It's important to have a thorough understanding of your stance and form, as well as a clear and focused mind, and the ability to read and react to situations in real-time."

"As you have learned from Young Master, Martial Souls are not just dead things, but spiritual beings. No matter what Martial Soul you have, it will have at least some spirituality. You have learned to resonate with your Martial Soul, right? Treat it as a part of your body, not just an external tool to hit harder."

"I have to admit that your movement techniques are very good, but your combat experience is shallow. This is limiting the full potential of your spear techniques. Combat experience can be gained over time, but with your spear techniques, I can help you get the most out of them." She Long finished speaking and used only two fingers to grasp the spear tip that was heading towards him.

Breathing heavily, Lu Yuan listened carefully to She Long's words and realized that it was true that his combat experience was still shallow. Although he had trained with Xiao Wu, his fights were mostly based on agility, and he had never used any spear to train with.

Seeing She Long loosen his grip, Lu Yuan retracted his spear and no longer attacked. An appreciative look appeared on She Long's face upon seeing this, and he released his Martial Soul, revealing 9 Spirit Rings under his body.

"Although I don't know your techniques, it's not necessary to know them. Everyone has to come to their own understanding. Right now, I will teach you some of my techniques, so watch carefully and tell me if you want me to repeat it," said She Long. The Snake Lance in his hand shook in an instant, giving the sensation of flowing water and appearing even more natural than Lu Yuan's Hanhai Spear Technique forms.

Lu Yuan watched in rapt attention, trying to imagine himself wielding his spear and correcting his mistakes in wielding it, as well as the exact force he had to apply with his hands. His well-defined face looked very serious.

After demonstrating the technique a few times, She Long turned to Lu Yuan and said, "Now, demonstrate your technique to me."

Lu Yuan nodded, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath for a few seconds. When he opened his eyes, his Martial Soul, the Golden Dragon, was quickly possessed, and he executed the Hanhai Spear Technique.

As he executed his moves, Lu Yuan began to feel that the Imperial Dragon Spear in his hand became much softer and easier to swing. This was because his movements had become more like the waves of the sea, avoiding the resistance of the air. Although he still felt he could do better, it was already much improved from the beginning.

She Long watched Lu Yuan swing his Imperial Dragon Spear, and his eyes lit up in an instant. Lu Yuan had corrected many of his previous flaws just by watching him wield his Snake Lance a few times, and Lu Yuan even seemed to have integrated some of his own moves into his technique, making it even more incredible.

'This brat is not only a prodigy in terms of his Martial Soul, but also in terms of learning talent,' thought She Long. He had only demonstrated his technique a couple of times, it was already good for Lu Yuan to learn a thing or two, but he didn't expect the improvement to be so high.

In his heart, She Long even considered accepting Lu Yuan as his disciple, but as soon as the thought came to mind, he immediately suppressed it. He saw that his Young Master was very interested in Lu Yuan, and if his assumptions were correct, even he, a rank 92 Title Douluo, would not be qualified to take Lu Yuan as a disciple in the future.

...

After Qian Renxue's departure, the person who was most affected was none other than herself.

Initially, she seemed to be her usual self, but as time went by, she became easily distracted and her appetite decreased, which worried Ci Xue, who was still in the shadows protecting her.

The situation worsened to the point that even the Imperial Palace servants began to take notice. Ci Xue then suggested that she could take a "break" and return to the mansion a few days a week at night.

At first, Qian Renxue was reluctant, as she felt that she could not treat the mission so carelessly like that, but Ci Xue finally managed to convince her.

Finally, with the agreement of Qian Renxue, she began to return more frequently to the mansion.

The change was immediate - she seemed to come alive again. Lu Yuan was thrilled to have her around more often, as he had enjoyed her company during the brief time they had known each other.