After hearing his explanation, Qian Renxue nodded slightly. She too believed that Xuyang's martial soul was the result of a mutation. From there, the two continued their casual conversation—mostly Qian Renxue doing the talking, and Xuyang quietly listening, occasionally chiming in with a sentence or two.
Off to the side, Ning Fengzhi watched their interaction with a faint smile. Clearly, they were getting along quite well.
Their lesson only lasted through the morning, and soon it came to an end.
Outside the palace gates, Qian Renxue took Xuyang's hand with surprising warmth and said,"Senior brother, if you have the time, you must visit me in Heaven Dou City. I'll make sure you're well taken care of!"
Xuyang smiled as he returned the handshake."Of course, junior brother. If I get the chance, I'll come visit and have some fun."
"It's a promise then!"
With that, Qian Renxue forcefully withdrew her delicate hand from his grip. Inwardly, she was beginning to suspect if this guy might be… into men? She remained unaware that Xuyang had already seen through her true identity.
After Xuyang and Ning Fengzhi left, Qian Renxue returned to the Honghe Palace. She had only just begun impersonating Xue Qinghe and there was still much to take care of—most importantly, ensuring that Emperor Xue Ye and the rest of the royal court didn't suspect a thing. Additionally, she needed to eliminate Xue Qinghe's two brothers—both potential threats to her plan.
—
Back at the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Sect, Xuyang resumed his regular routine: cultivating day and night, barely stepping outside the sect grounds. Occasionally, he would accompany Ning Fengzhi to Heaven Dou City to attend lessons with Qian Renxue. The more time they spent together, the more their relationship improved—although they still weren't close enough to speak from the heart.
The martial soul resonance he experienced with Qian Renxue had lit a fire in Xuyang. He trained harder than ever.
As more sunflowers were cultivated within the sect grounds, his environment for cultivation steadily improved. The effect was subtle, but meaningful—his cultivation speed increased by about five percent. That might seem insignificant, but for Xuyang, it was a key edge that could help him pull ahead of others over time.
By now, he had already mastered the fundamentals of swordsmanship, and had begun real combat training under Ning Haiyan's guidance.
That evening, after finishing his physical exercises, Xuyang cast a few "Dawnlight" soul skills on himself to soothe any internal injuries, then made his way to the training field.
Ning Haiyan was already waiting there. As soon as he saw Xuyang approach, he casually tossed him a wooden training sword.
"You really want to spar for real, young master?" Ning Haiyan asked with a raised brow.
Xuyang caught the sword and smiled confidently."Of course. Combat is the only way to forge true strength. I don't want to just look strong—I want to be strong."
"Then I hope you're ready to take a beating."
"Huh?"
Before Xuyang could fully react, the wooden sword was already swinging down at him. It slammed hard into his shoulder. Instantly, a wave of numbness shot through his right arm, causing the wooden sword in his hand to drop to the ground with a dull clatter.
"First rule of combat: if you want to fight, learn to take a hit. You need to get used to pain, used to reacting under pressure, and learn how to stay calm no matter what. Only then can you apply what you've learned."
Xuyang shot Ning Haiyan an annoyed look—he definitely did that on purpose.
Suppressing a groan, Xuyang circulated his soul power into his right arm to dispel the numbness. Then he bent down, picked up the wooden sword, and shouted,"Again!"
With that, he charged forward.
He didn't complain or make excuses. He didn't try to say he wasn't ready.
In his previous life, he'd only been in a few schoolyard scuffles. In this one, he'd trained with weapons and theory—but never once had he truly fought.
Until now.
BANG!
"Again!"
BANG!
"Again!"
BANG!
"Again!"
Again and again, even though Ning Haiyan deliberately limited his soul power to match Xuyang's level, Xuyang still took blow after blow. His swordplay was a mess—just wild, chaotic swings. Nothing he had practiced found its way into actual combat. To Ning Haiyan, it was like watching a child playing with a stick—easily read and countered.
Ning Haiyan's sword strikes were fast, heavy, and ruthless.
With decades of real battlefield experience, his combat instincts and swordsmanship had been honed to terrifying levels. It was everything Xuyang still lacked.
Two hours later, the training ground echoed with Xuyang's pained groans. Only after he began showing signs of applying his sword techniques did Ning Haiyan finally stop. He sat down beside the bruised and battered Xuyang, who lay flat on the ground, catching his breath.
"So, young master—how does it feel?"
"Combat is… brutal. Just practicing isn't enough. I've got way too many problems."
Xuyang replayed the fight in his mind. He had seen every strike coming. He had thought of counters. But his body just didn't move fast enough.
It was the classic case of:
Brain: I got this.Body: No, you don't.
Ning Haiyan chuckled and gave him some advice."Your biggest issue is that you're overthinking my reach and my weapon's length. 'Longer weapon, stronger fighter'—that rule applies in armies where people don't have soul power. For soul masters? It's the opposite. We can launch ranged attacks with our abilities. Long weapons just become liabilities—they're harder to control and leave openings. A shorter weapon, well used, is far deadlier."
Indeed, Ning Haiyan was nearly two meters tall with long limbs. His wooden sword was also larger than Xuyang's. It made sense that Xuyang kept focusing on his reach.
"I get it now," Xuyang nodded. "What I need to control isn't the weapon's length—it's the distance between us. If I keep that distance in my favor, I can negate your reach. Like earlier—if I had gotten in close, you wouldn't have been able to swing your sword so freely, and I could've used that to my advantage."
"Exactly!" Ning Haiyan beamed with satisfaction.
"Uncle Ning, we go again tomorrow!"
Seeing that the sky had darkened, Xuyang gave himself a few more shots of "Dawnlight" to treat his bruises. With a quick wave to Ning Haiyan, he dragged his sore body back to his room.
—
In the blink of an eye, eight more months passed.
Xuyang finally broke through to Level 20 Soul Power, and his swordsmanship advanced by leaps and bounds. According to Ning Haiyan, he was now more than capable of holding his own against other soul masters.
During this time, he also picked up another responsibility: babysitting.
That's right—babysitting.
Whenever Ning Fengzhi and his wife, along with Sword and Bone Douluo, were too busy, they left Ning Rongrong in Xuyang's care. Much to his exasperation.