Chapter 3: The Day After Refining Martial Arts.
Shows the usual morning teaching session, but today, before class, Second Master Yu Yuanhai decided to review the two students' assignments.
Yu Xiaogang's assignment was neatly written, full of quotations, and even reached several thousand words;while Yu Xiaolie's assignment was not only crookedly written, but it didn't even fill a single page!
Yu Yuanhai was about to explode, but the next second his eyes widened slightly—without a deep reading, judging solely by the appearance and handwriting, Yu Xiaolie's article did indeed make one suspect he hadn't taken it seriously.
However, once read, one would find that although Yu Xiaolie's article was short, it was concise and to the point, getting straight to the core issues in just a few words, without any unnecessary embellishment.
On the other hand, Yu Xiaogang's article, despite its respectful attitude, consisted of only one point—that is, do what the book says, and learn what Second Master teaches.
This viewpoint wasn't necessarily wrong, but Yu Yuanhai knew that as one's strength increased and one saw the wider world, one would eventually realize that theoretical experience was limited.
Xiao Lie's perspective, however, was surprisingly clear and logical, like a sharp knife providing a perfect analysis!
Could this child be a one-in-a-million cultivation prodigy?
He suppressed his surprise and began today's lesson as usual.
Just as lunch break arrived, Yu Yuanhai was about to leave the classroom when Yu Xiao Lie chased after him with a smile.
"Second Master, I want to learn martial arts from you."
Hmm? Yu Yuanhai was surprised. "Why do you have this idea?"
He knew that martial arts were merely one of the clan's methods for physical fitness; no one truly valued physical training.
After all, members of the Yu family were born with innate soul power of at least level 5, and even level 9 geniuses were not uncommon.
Coupled with their innate Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon Beast Martial Soul, no matter how strong the martial arts, they lacked the combat power to contend with them.
Instead of focusing on cultivating and perfecting their martial soul, they're pursuing physical attack power—isn't that putting the cart before the horse?
"Xiao Lie, your current task is to focus on learning the basics so you can successfully awaken your martial soul in the future. You shouldn't be distracted by other things."
Yu Xiao Lie smiled. "Second Master, I think there's something wrong with the family's current training methods."
The Second Master was somewhat angry and scolded, "Such arrogant talk at such a young age! Tell me what the problem is!"
Yu Xiao Lie calmly replied,
"Please calm down. I think relying solely on your martial soul isn't safe when fighting against other soul masters. After all, enemies aren't inflexible; they won't knowingly fight head-on."
"If the enemy deliberately avoids my strengths and exploits my weaknesses, what use is my high soul power and strong martial soul?"
"Even if you ultimately win by virtue of your martial soul advantage, you might exhaust your soul power, putting yourself in danger. Combat is about efficiency, not brute force."
These words completely shocked Yu Yuan Hai, not because the child's ideas were absurd, but because everything he said was true!
Back in the day, during a mission, his squad had been ambushed by the enemy. The enemy outnumbered them twice as many, and half of them were skilled Soul Masters.
If it weren't for his considerable fighting skills, allowing him to fight and retreat, he probably wouldn't be the Soul Douluo Yu Yuanhai he is today.
What he couldn't forget was that nearly 90% of his comrades-in-arms were lost in that battle.
A young boy, yet he had succinctly captured the lessons learned through the blood and tears of his predecessors. "
Xiao Lie, you've given me one surprise after another today."
Thinking of this, Yu Yuanhai smiled slightly and said to Yu Xiao Lie, "If you want to learn fighting, come with me."
The two arrived at the foot of a mountain, the highest peak in the surrounding area, shrouded in mist from the halfway point upwards, obscuring the summit.
"To learn fighting, you first need a strong will. I'll wait for you at the top."
Looking at the seemingly endless mountain path, Yu Xiao Lie estimated it would take at least half a day to climb to the top.
"Oh, right, I forgot to mention, there's a time limit for climbing the mountain, until sunset. If you haven't reached the top by dark, you'll have to give up on martial arts."
He'd better hurry. Just as Yu Xiaolie was about to take a step, he suddenly felt a heavy weight on his back—a large rock weighing about fifty pounds was pressing down on him.
"I have to carry this to pass!"
Yu Xiaolie gritted his teeth and asked, "Are there any other restrictions?"
"No. Then you climb slowly, I'll wait for you at the top."
Although he said that, Second Master was actually a little worried. He secretly observed him from the air for a few minutes.
Seeing Yu Xiaolie's unsteady but determined climb towards the summit, Yu Yuanhai also stopped teasing and became serious.
"Then let me see how strong your resolve is."
The next second, Yu Yuanhai appeared at the summit. He found a large rock to sit on and admired the surrounding scenery.
An hour passed, two hours passed, and the sun was setting, the sky already turning slightly red.
Could this kid have gotten tired and run home halfway?
Or perhaps he encountered danger?
With the sun about to set, Yu Yuanhai could no longer sit still. He turned around and prepared to search for Yu Xiaolie against the mountain path.
"Thump—"
A loud crash—the sound of a boulder falling.
Yu Xiaolie, his face flushed, reached the summit just before sunset!
"Second Master, can you teach me fighting now?"
Yu Yuanhai smiled happily, "I keep my word."
...
Time flies, and nearly four years have passed.
"Xiao Lie, that's enough for today's fighting lesson. The Martial Soul Awakening Ceremony is about to take place, so how about we take a two-day break?"
"No need, I can still manage."
Yu Xiao Lie stood there, panting, barely able to speak a few words, but his eyes were full of determination.
Looking at the slightly nascent muscle outline of him, Yu Yuanhai couldn't help but sigh. This child's perseverance was extraordinary.
Back then, he couldn't resist Yu Xiao Lie's persistence and thought of coaxing him by teaching him a few moves. But after a couple of days, Yu Xiao Lie couldn't take the hardship and gave up.
Judging from Yu Xiao Lie's behavior before learning martial arts, this seemed reasonable.
Unexpectedly, this little guy not only persevered but also exceeded the daily training volume. Sometimes, he would even take the initiative to stop the training, afraid that Yu Xiao Lie would get injured due to over-fatigue.
After several years of instruction, he had already surpassed his peers in fighting skills, physical fitness, and perseverance.
In terms of pure hand-to-hand combat, even an adult inner disciple of the Yu family would likely be no match for him. Take the recently concluded equipment training, for example. Xiao Lie, wearing hundreds of pounds of protective gear, moved nimbly among rapidly swinging targets, and in a fleeting moment, stopped a sandbag with a single blow.
Even a Soul Master around level 20 would probably be unable to do that without using Soul Power.
After training, the two walked to eat together and happened to run into Yu Xiaogang, who was eating.
In the past few years, both Yu Xiaogang and his brother had grown quite a bit taller, but compared to his younger brother, he appeared somewhat thin.
Although the two brothers usually participated in basic physical training, Yu Xiaogang would leave before each extra combat training session.
To outsiders, it might seem that their second master, Yu Yuanhai, was biased, treating Xiaogang and Xiao Lie differently.
In fact, several years ago, not long after Xiao Lie began learning combat techniques, Yu Yuanhai invited Yu Xiaogang to learn martial arts together.
However, this suggestion was immediately rejected by Yu Xiaogang.
His reason was simple—it wasn't necessary.
In his eyes, martial arts were clearly "heretical" and of no use to cultivation.
The theories in the books stated that "the amount of innate soul power determines a soul master's future potential and is the sole standard for measuring personal strength."
And what determines this standard is the talent bestowed upon each person by their bloodline.
In the Blue Lightning Tyrant Clan, a person's cultivation level and future prospects depend entirely on their mastery of the sect's cultivation path.
The earlier one awakens their martial soul, the faster they perfect its dragon form, and the greater they unleash its attack power and lightning attributes, the stronger they become.
The martial soul awakening ceremony for the younger generation is scheduled for the end of this month, less than ten days away.
Yu Xiaogang now spends all his time, except for eating and sleeping, repeatedly reviewing the soul power circulation path within his body, hoping to fully integrate its power immediately after the martial soul awakens.
In his heart, he is undoubtedly the number one among the third-generation disciples of the sect; his goal is the broader and more competitive imperial rankings.
Just as his grandfather had hoped when he was born—that the name Yu Xiaogang would be known throughout the world!
(End of Chapter)