Chapter 69: Ning Rongrong

After a period of recuperation, Tang San also returned to the team, and he seemed only lightly wounded.

This time Tang San lost, but he was truly unwilling to accept it; it was just an ordinary Soul Fighting Competition, and before the match Yu Xiaogang had already restricted himself from using Hidden Weapons, otherwise Yang Xiong could not have won.

Not to mention that Tang San now possesses an External Soul Bone and even a Second Martial Soul, whereas Yang Xiong's primary martial soul seems to lack any ranged attack and can be easily restrained by his own Blue Silver Grass; for example, at the start of the battle I could use the controlling ability of Blue Silver Grass against Yang Xiong, but unfortunately my Soul Power Level is still too low.

Compared with Tang San, everyone gave Yu Xiaogang a slightly strange look.

Earlier Yu Xiaogang raved about the toughness of Control System Soul Masters, yet Tang San was immediately defeated by Yang Xiong, and from the whole process Yang Xiong showed no sign of injury, which indirectly proves that Control System Soul Masters are not absolutely unbeatable.

As for Yu Xiaogang's claim that Control System Soul Masters are the strongest unless their martial soul is countered, it seems Yang Xiong's martial soul does not counter Tang San's Blue Silver Grass, while Tang San's Blue Silver Grass is easily shattered by Yang Xiong.

In fact, Dai Mubai observed the whole fight; he was initially frustrated for losing to Tang San, but after seeing Yang Xiong's fighting style he thinks he can learn from it, especially since Dai Mubai's second soul skill White Tiger Fierce Light Wave relatively counters Blue Silver Grass.

Yu Xiaogang, seeing everyone's thoughts unsettled, couldn't help but cough a few dry coughs.

"Cough cough, the battle just now between Yang Xiong and Tang San was outstanding; at the Soul Elder realm, both should rarely meet opponents. Their combat power amazed me, and I hope all of you learn from those two."

"Especially, did you notice that both of them have extremely robust physiques and are highly skilled in using their bodies and martial souls, which shows the strength of their constitutions."

"I want to stress one point: for Soul Grandmasters, the body is fundamental, so we must focus on physical training; only a strong physique can wield stronger soul skills and adapt to tougher battles."

……

After finishing his speech, Yu Xiaogang addressed Yang Xiong: "Yang Xiong, your performance just now was excellent, but I want to ask why you never used any soul skill from start to finish? As far as I know, whether in the entrance exam or in the Soul Fighting Arena, you never used a soul skill."

Yang Xiong replied, "I'm truly sorry, Master. My martial soul is rather unique, so I don't like using soul skills, and also for my personal safety—I only use my soul skill when it's a matter of life or death."

Yu Xiaogang said, "Soul Masters should prioritize soul power and soul skills. I don't know what soul skill you have now, but if you need to obtain a Soul Ring in the future, I might be able to give you some advice."

Seeing Yu Xiaogang looking confident, Yang Xiong couldn't help but say, "Master, I'm truly sorry, my Soul Ring and soul skills are planned by my teacher, who will help me acquire them."

Yu Xiaogang asked, a bit puzzled, "Who is your teacher? I have considerable research on martial souls and soul skills, and theoretically I'm not inferior to anyone."

Yang Xiong, feeling helpless, finally said, "Master, my teacher is named Gu Rong, Title Bone Douluo."

Everyone widened their eyes at this; they hadn't expected Yang Xiong's teacher to be a Title Douluo, who holds supreme status in the Soul World.

Little Demon Girl Ning Rongrong glared at Yang Xiong, wondering how her beloved Gu Yeye could take Yang Xiong, this Xiao Xiongzi, as a disciple; moreover she hadn't heard any rumor, clearly Xiao Xiongzi was spouting nonsense.

But seeing Yang Xiong's serious demeanor, Ning Rongrong didn't expose him.

In fact, Yang Xiong himself felt helpless; he didn't want to provoke Yu Xiaogang, as their personalities and other aspects made them incompatible, and he has many secrets, especially the uniqueness of his primary martial soul, and his soul skill cannot be easily revealed.

Yu Xiaogang, however, was extremely flamboyant, eager to publish every discovery as his research on Soul Masters and martial souls, which clashes with Yang Xiong's low‑key development; instead of future entanglements, he just brought up the Bone Douluo, especially since Ning Fengzhi had said he wanted the Bone Douluo to take him as a disciple.

Seeing Yang Xiong mention the Bone Douluo, Yu Xiaogang said nothing more and simply continued the lesson.

Next, Dai Mubai consecutively fought the pairings of Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing and Ning Rongrong, and Ma Hongjun with Oscar.

Dai Mubai seemed energized by Yang Xiong and Tang San's duel; the whole process was incredibly fierce, and after a brief rest he consecutively defeated those three opponents.

However, those three opponents were clearly not weak, especially the Ma Hongjun–Oscar pairing; Oscar's Sausage combined with Ma Hongjun worked very well, and after eating the Sausage both could fly, which greatly countered an ordinary Soul Grandmaster like Dai Mubai.

The three battles took over an hour, and after Tang San took some medicinal herbs and rested for an hour, his injuries recovered by more than half, appearing no longer affected by pain.

Yang Xiong was also surprised; it seems Tang San's Mysterious Heaven Skill is more profound than he imagined, truly capable of endless regeneration, rapidly restoring soul power and even healing wounds.

Thinking of this, Yang Xiong felt he must quickly perfect the Yin Yang Meditation Method, for when this technique reaches its true culmination, his cultivation speed should increase dramatically again.

After watching everyone's fights, Yu Xiaogang's face remained extremely calm, yet he essentially criticized everyone except Yang Xiong.

He even analyzed each person's combat, pointing out the flaws in each fight, which was relatively objective.

In fact, for many ordinary freshmen, combat experience is relatively lacking; they focus more on Meditation and have no training experience, so their grasp of opportunities is very poor.

The main criticisms targeted Xiao Wu, Oscar, and Tang San: Xiao Wu is too playful and careless, her soul skill is rather haphazard, and she fails to seize the moment against Dai Mubai; given her Teleportation ability, even if she can't defeat him she wouldn't be at a severe disadvantage, and Oscar, being Food System, hardly protects himself.

As for Tang San, although he is Yu Xiaogang's disciple and he has always been fairly satisfied with him, the recent battle clearly followed Yang Xiong's rhythm and did not showcase his controlling advantage.

After his critique, Yu Xiaogang became unusually angry: "Are you a bunch of Little Monsters? You've disappointed me. From now on you'll be punished—run ten laps back and forth to Suotuo City; if you fail, you won't get lunch."

Yang Xiong was speechless; this must be the so‑called stone‑carrying running training—though it looks fine, it's overly simple and lacks any technical content.

Moreover, no one knows that Yang Xiong fought Tang San while carrying a hundred‑jin load; otherwise his speed would have been far faster, and each strike could have increased in power by at least twenty percent.

Just like in the original, everyone carried stones and ran ten laps to Suotuo City; except for Yang Xiong, each collapsed exhausted, even though Yang Xiong's stones were the heaviest among them and he even helped others carry many, but he had trained since childhood, so it posed no difficulty.

The focus is Ning Rongrong, whose physical condition was the poorest; she fainted during the last three kilometers.

Yang Xiong didn't hesitate, shoving all the stones behind her into his huge bamboo basket on his back, then lifted her and started running.

Ning Rongrong, swaying on Yang Xiong's back, seemed to struggle: "Xiao Xiongzi, what are you doing? Put me down; I can run by myself."

Yang Xiong's face remained calm: "They're almost finished; you're the only one left at the back. Either I carry you while running, or I drop you here, and then you won't complete the punishment; the Master might impose an even harsher penalty."

Ning Rongrong struggled in Yang Xiong's arms, nearly falling, but Yang Xiong reacted quickly and lifted her up.

Now Ning Rongrong's face flushed with shame: "Xiao Xiongzi, you bastard, you're taking advantage of me—can't you just carry me?"

Yang Xiong, without hesitation, set Ning Rongrong down and pointed to the basket behind him: "Look, my basket is full of stones; besides yours there are many others. Do you think the others can bear that weight?"

"Moreover, everyone's stamina is at its limit; apart from me, I doubt anyone else can carry you to finish the last stretch."

The surrounding people exchanged puzzled looks and remained silent.

Both Yang Xiong and Ning Rongrong come from the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect and have been classmates since childhood, so their relationship is clearly closer than the others', and no one dared to interject, all bowing their heads.

As Yang Xiong said, his huge basket was already packed with stones, apparently over a hundred jin; besides his own stones, it held all of Ning Rongrong's stones and some of Oscar's stones.

Originally Yu Xiaogang should have calculated based on everyone's bearing capacity; his stones were the heaviest, followed by Tang San, Dai Mubai, and Ma Hongjun—who are all Battle Soul Masters—then Xiao Wu, Zhu Zhuqing, and Oscar with relatively fewer, and Ning Rongrong the least.

But Yu Xiaogang evidently miscalculated; during Yang Xiong and Tang San's fight, Tang San sustained many injuries and could no longer bear others' weight, especially since he also had to look after Xiao Wu.

Given this load, probably only Yang Xiong, Tang San, and Dai Mubai could complete the task; the others could not.

But this weight was nothing for Yang Xiong; he even carried many of Oscar's stones, including all of Ning Rongrong's.

Originally Zhu Zhuqing, being Agility Attack System with lower endurance, struggled to keep up with Yang Xiong, and Yang Xiong considered helping her carry some, but the girl, being particularly strong‑willed, outright refused.

Yang Xiong didn't bother further; the stones in his own basket were already the heaviest, so he let them continue forward.

Now Ning Rongrong was completely exhausted, clearly about to faint, and the others remained silent—no one could keep holding her to finish the trial, and the other two girls were also near their limits.

Finally, after a struggle, Ning Rongrong, feeling weak and extremely fatigued, gritted her teeth and said, "Xiao Xiongzi, take me to complete the final test, but I'll sit inside your bamboo basket behind you."

Yang Xiong, helpless, replied, "My bamboo basket is already full; do you think we have any other way now?"

Ning Rongrong retorted, "Of course there's a way; I'll sit directly on the stones. You just be careful not to shake them too much."

After the final round of communication, Ning Rongrong fell straight onto the bamboo basket, her hands gripping Yang Xiong's shoulder in a strange posture.

Yang Xiong felt helpless as well, one hand supporting Ning Rongrong's hand, and he handed her bamboo basket to the nearby Oscar, pressing on with a basket of huge stones and the teetering Ning Rongrong.

However, Ning Rongrong's little hand was quite smooth and white; though not as comfortable as a hug, grasping that little hand gave the lifelong bachelor Yang Xiong a strange feeling.

Especially, the little hand was tender, cute, even slightly crystal‑clear, truly worthy of the pampered Little Princess of the Seven Treasures Glazed Tile Sect.

Ning Rongrong seemed to sense something and shouted angrily, "Xiao Xiongzi, what are you thinking? Hurry up and run, or we'll be far later than everyone else."

Yang Xiong muttered inwardly, "You just passed out on the ground, why aren't you thinking about completing the mission, and now on my back your temper just flares up."

Finally, Yang Xiong reluctantly gathered his focus and kept moving forward, a person on his back and a load of nearly 250 jin, even with his robust strength he could only advance slowly.

The others, watching Ning Rongrong like that, whispered to one another, as if brimming with gossip.

(End of chapter)