Soon, everyone completed Yu Xiaogang's first punishment: carrying stones while running ten round trips between Shrek Academy and Soto City.
Once finished, everyone except Yang Xiong and Ning Rongrong collapsed from exhaustion, even Tang San, who had the best physical strength, was no exception.
Ning Rongrong had been carried by Yang Xiong for the last few laps, so her condition was relatively better and she wasn't completely worn out.
As for Yang Xiong, with his current physical fitness, this type of weighted running wasn't much of a challenge. He hadn't even reached his limit.
Several of the boys were carried back to the dormitory with the help of Zhao Wuji and the others. Bath barrels and medicinal bath ingredients had already been prepared, along with a supply of hot water that could be added as needed. The girls, meanwhile, were carried off by a few village women.
The dormitory was quite crowded, and the teachers like Zhao Wuji were rough by nature, clearly not the gentle, caring type. Tang San was directly carried by Yu Xiaogang.
Yang Xiong, Tang San, and Oscar shared a dorm. Watching Tang San and Oscar being placed into their bath barrels like limp noodles, Yang Xiong couldn't help but shake his head.
Yu Xiaogang was indeed ruthless. This kind of weight training pushed everyone to their absolute limits, leaving them in a state of extreme exhaustion.
Without hesitation, Yang Xiong took off his clothes and stepped into his prepared bath barrel.
The liquid in the barrel had a slight green tint, presumably from the medicinal ingredients. The formula was decent, though the herbs weren't particularly rare.
There was a small incident during this time. When Yang Xiong undressed to enter the barrel, he removed all his weights except for his close-fitting Hundred Herb Pouch and wrist-mounted soul device. These weights were quite heavy, even the lightest wrist guards weighed about ten jin (roughly 5 kg), while the chest armor alone weighed 60 jin (around 30 kg). Dropping them to the ground caused a noticeable thud.
Zhao Wuji and Yu Xiaogang looked at Yang Xiong in shock, especially Zhao Wuji, who had a good sense for strength and had recently been helping Yang Xiong with combat training.
Zhao Wuji picked up one of the weights and examined it closely. "Yang Xiong, what are these things? I'd guess they total over 100 jin."
Yang Xiong smiled. "These are just my regular training weights. I'm used to them. I don't usually take them off unless I'm bathing."
"These were custom-made for me, similar to soft armor, so they don't interfere much with my movements."
Yang Xiong felt quite relaxed at this point. After physical training, a medicinal bath could greatly enhance the body's absorption of the ingredients, improving both physical resilience and recovery.
Yu Xiaogang looked serious. "Yang Xiong, since when have you been wearing weights? Can your body handle it?"
Yang Xiong replied, "It's no problem. I've been wearing weights since I became a soul master. They were lighter at first, but after reaching the level of a Grand Soul Master, I increased the weight."
The two teachers looked at each other in disbelief. If Yang Xiong had been wearing over 100 jin of weights during his fight with Tang San and during the running punishment, then he had likely carried a total of nearly 300 jin. That was far beyond what a Grand Soul Master should be able to endure.
After a moment of silence in the bath barrel, Yang Xiong spoke up. "Master, Teacher Zhao, the new dorms should be finished soon. When I take medicinal baths in the future, please just prepare hot water. I'll handle the herbs myself."
Yu Xiaogang replied, "Yang Xiong, the medicinal bath I prepared is quite rare and the formula is excellent, well-suited to your current cultivation stage."
Yang Xiong nodded. "Thank you, Master. But my body is a bit special, and I've been taking medicinal baths for a long time. These ordinary herbs no longer have much effect. My teacher has already prepared a new set of herbs for me."
Yu Xiaogang could only nod in response.
After chatting for a while with Yu Xiaogang and Zhao Wuji, Yang Xiong began meditating on his own.
His fight with Tang San had made him realize that he had been too self-confident, thinking his foresight would allow him to create unmatched techniques and become invincible.
But today, Tang San had clearly held back. He hadn't gone all out, hadn't used his external soul bone, nor his hidden weapons. This was probably only about 60% of his true strength.
Yang Xiong had also held back, using maybe 50% of his strength and no soul ring abilities.
However, Tang San's control and understanding of combat were beyond what Yang Xiong had expected. Especially the Tang Sect techniques, which thoroughly outclassed Yang Xiong's self-created fighting methods. At least in terms of physical combat, Yang Xiong was completely overwhelmed.
Additionally, his Taiji Meditation and Taiji Fist were still inferior to Xuantian Skill and Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon. Let alone the other Tang Sect techniques.
Still, the battle was valuable. Fighting against Controlling Crane, Capturing Dragon had deepened his understanding of Taiji. Perhaps he could gradually refine his meditation technique.
Despite being tired, Yang Xiong began training with his yin-yang meditation method. Some of the blockages he had felt before began to loosen, and soul power surged through his body, slowly beginning to integrate. Especially after this battle, he was beginning to understand the true essence of Taiji.
Seeing this, Zhao Wuji and Yu Xiaogang both fell silent. Occasionally, they would add hot water to the barrels of Yang Xiong, Tang San, and Oscar. Shao Xin, a rare food-type Soul Sage, took care of Oscar and handled cooking for everyone.
Both Zhao Wuji and Shao Xin, being Soul Sages, could feel Yang Xiong entering deep meditation. Soul power in the air surged into Yang Xiong's body.
What they didn't notice, however, was that the calm surface of Yang Xiong's bathwater had started to swirl into a vortex.
Over two hours later, all three teachers had left. The medicinal effects had completely worn off, and the green water had turned pale with a hint of black.
Tang San and Oscar were still sleeping soundly in their barrels.
Yang Xiong cleaned himself and his weights, then quietly left the dorm. After such a grueling day, and having skipped lunch, he decided to grab something to eat in the cafeteria.
Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang met with Flender to discuss the students.
Flender looked proud. "So, Xiaogang, what do you think? These students are all monsters, right? Surely they won't waste your talents."
Yu Xiaogang nodded. "They're all excellent, talented and hardworking. But the one who surprised me most was Yang Xiong. His physical strength is even more impressive than I expected. Although his innate soul power was only level 6, his cultivation speed is not at all inferior to the others."
"Especially his combat ability, even though he's only level 27, I don't think any other Soul Elders can match him."
Flender nodded. "He surprised me the most too. You know he's from the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan. It seems they've invested heavily in him."
Yu Xiaogang added, "I find it odd. Normally, soul masters whose martial spirits are body-related have very slow cultivation and low potential. From the records I've seen, the highest any such soul master has reached is Contra. Title Douluos have never appeared in this category, and even Soul Sages are rare."
"These soul masters tend to be weak in combat and soul skills, making them relatively poor compared to their peers."
Flender said, "I'm just as puzzled. It's strange for the Seven Treasure Glazed Tile Clan to invest so much in someone like him. They even sent Lin Gong, a Contra, to secretly protect him."
Yu Xiaogang hesitated before saying, "Flender, I want to study Yang Xiong's martial spirit and cultivation method. But he rejected me today. Do you have any suggestions?"
Flender shook his head. "No. Yang Xiong is Bone Douluo's disciple. We can't afford to cross someone of that level. I suspect Bone Douluo has already given him a full cultivation method and training plan. We shouldn't interfere."
"Plus, Ning Fengzhi personally wrote to me. He said Yang Xiong is to receive normal education here. We're not to get involved in his soul ring selection or self-created soul techniques."
Yu Xiaogang was shocked. "Could it be that the clan plans to groom him as their future guardian Douluo? But surely they know body-type martial spirits have never produced a top-tier expert."
Flender was silent for a while before speaking. "Xiaogang, I understand your concerns. Yang Xiong did beat Tang San today, even across a level gap. I watched the whole thing. Both of them performed very well. Don't overthink it."
Yu Xiaogang shook his head. "It's different. Tang San may have lost, but you know his true potential. Today's outcome means little, their soul power gap will only grow with time. Once Tang San reaches Title Douluo level, the difference will be obvious."
"And in today's battle, it was clear. While Tang San's control and Blue Silver Grass were strong, his martial spirit lacks burst power. That's why he lost in the end."
Flender asked, "So what are you trying to say?"
Yu Xiaogang paused before answering, "Flender, don't you think Yang Xiong's self-created soul technique was incredible? It had explosive power and could significantly raise a student's combat capability. It might even change the landscape of the soul master world."
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