This was Fang Ling's deliberate move, to draw Dugu Yan's attention.
He didn't need much, just a little bit.
Their relationship wasn't close enough yet, and Fang Ling knew well not to speak too intimately too soon.
That's why he needed to start preparing now.
Only through subtle influence and long-term effort could things appear natural later.
So his gaze swept across the room and lingered briefly on Dugu Yan before turning away.
The timing was perfect, not at all deliberate.
Seeing Fang Ling turn his head naturally, Dugu Yan thought to herself, "So he wasn't looking at me. I must've imagined it."
She didn't think much more of it.
The students who ended up in the second team had already gone off to train, only the first team remained here.
Fang Ling began explaining in more detail:
"I was born with a pretty decent sense of intuition. It has saved me more than once. That's actually the foundation of my courage to engage in life-and-death combat."
Even in a fantasy world like Douluo Continent, intuition was still a mysterious thing.
Claiming it was a natural ability like a soul beast's weak point detection was hard to explain, calling it intuition was better.
His natural battle instincts were already sharp, so calling it intuition wasn't wrong.
And later, this explanation could help him deal with Dugu Bo's questioning or any of Dugu Yan's suspicions.
"Born with great intuition... I see," Qin Ming's eyes lit up, deepening his impression of Fang Ling.
Though Fang Ling lacked spirit power talent and his martial soul was ordinary, his combat aptitude was outstanding.
"Then why do you go all out from the start of a battle? Is that a habit from life-and-death fights?"
"Also, your second soul skill releases extremely quickly. Is it an instant-cast skill?"
Faced with these rapid-fire questions, Fang Ling replied slowly and methodically:
"Yes, it's a habit developed from life-and-death battles."
"Soul power is only useful if you're alive. Saving it won't give birth to more."
"Life-and-death battles are about killing the enemy. The process is much faster than sparring. You just unleash your full strength and take down the enemy quickly."
"Going all out from the beginning often catches the enemy off guard, and can even let the weak defeat the strong."
Everyone took note of this statement.
It wasn't just useful in the Great Spirit Arena. It was a vital truth when facing real life-and-death danger.
A true combat genius indeed had unique insights.
"Wouldn't going all out leave you vulnerable to counterattacks from special soul skills?" Yu Tianheng asked earnestly.
Fang Ling organized his thoughts and replied:
"It's hard to say. But I'm sure of one thing: if your opponent goes all out and seizes the initiative, while you move slowly and cautiously, the outcome probably won't be pleasant."
"In battle, once you fall into someone else's rhythm, it's very difficult to break free."
Fang Ling gave the recent fight with Yu Tianheng as an example: "Just like earlier, in our match, I had the initiative and you fell into my rhythm. What should've followed was a continuous series of attacks, giving you no time to activate your soul skills, ending in defeat born of hesitation."
He paused here with a hint of regret.
"It's just a pity that the Blue Lightning Tyrant Dragon is a top-tier beast martial soul. Its explosive power was too strong, and you moved too fast, I couldn't keep up. That gave you the chance to unleash a long-range soul skill."
If he had been able to keep up with Yu Tianheng?
Ha!
Without a soul skill to use, relying only on the dragon arm to block the Curse Blade, after a few strikes, it would've ended in death.
"Thank you for the lesson," Yu Tianheng said, blushing slightly.
As a direct descendant of one of the three upper clans, he was no stranger to battle.
But due to his noble status, he had never taken part in a true life-and-death battle. It had always been controlled sparring.
That meant he'd never faced a situation where the fight was to the death.
After hearing Fang Ling's words, a realization dawned upon him.
"Thanks for the guidance." Dugu Yan, Yufeng, and the others also listened intently.
As true talents, when they encountered something they didn't understand, but knew was important, they were naturally eager to learn and improve.
After sharing a few unimportant insights, Fang Ling had already integrated smoothly into the group. He waved his hand and smiled modestly.
"We're all classmates, no need for thanks."
"It's just a little bit of personal experience, nothing major."
Then Fang Ling turned to the second question Qin Ming had asked:
"My second soul skill isn't an instant-cast. The reason I can release it so quickly is actually linked to my first soul skill."
There are two key factors to rapid soul skill activation:
First, extremely fast neural reflexes.
Second, the ability for soul power to circulate faster through the meridians.
He only needed to mention the first. He had no intention of revealing his passive skill from the Warrior's Will.
Under everyone's curious gaze, Fang Ling continued:
"My first soul ring came from a star-nosed mole that had just reached one hundred years of age."
"I remember that species..." Qin Ming began to recall.
Fang Ling confirmed, "Yes, it's an extremely weak soul beast. Even at one hundred years old, it's only as strong as an average ten-year soul beast."
"As a low-tier beast, its only advantage is its extremely fast neural reflexes."
"The soul skill I gained from it, which I named 'Star Mole Shift,' enhances my reaction speed by 20 percent."
This was the same explanation he'd given Tang San.
The exact percentage didn't matter, but since he'd already told Tang San, it was best to stay consistent to avoid any awkward contradictions later.
"Twenty percent?" Qin Ming was skeptical.
Fang Ling reaffirmed, "Yes, twenty percent."
"My martial soul used to be just a wooden-handled farming sickle. Even with the same soul skill, I couldn't match others."
Fang Ling summoned his martial soul again and gently stroked the silver-white blade.
"But after obtaining my second soul ring from a Thorn Blood Dragonfly, it somehow evolved into the current metallic long-handled scythe. Only then did my second soul skill become more impressive."
Dugu Yan tapped her jade-like cheek with her index finger, still unconvinced.
"Even with a twenty percent boost, I feel like you're still too fast."
Fang Ling smiled and said:
"That's because I was born with fast reflexes. So with a 20 percent boost, it becomes quite significant. Combined with my intuition, it may have created a bit of an illusion for you all."
Thanks to his passive skill from his physical traits, this explanation wouldn't fall apart.
Without warning, Yufeng, standing to Fang Ling's left, suddenly threw a punch.
Fang Ling caught it effortlessly with a raised hand, then raised his brows at them.
"See?"
Yufeng quickly apologized, and Fang Ling simply said it was fine.
As long as he saw the move coming, normal attacks couldn't exceed Fang Ling's reaction limit.
"No wonder you chose the agility-attack path," Qin Ming said, finally understanding.
He had always felt that Fang Ling's soul ring configuration was a bit unusual.
Now, after hearing Fang Ling's detailed explanation, it all made sense.
Originally, Fang Ling's martial soul was a small farming sickle, so his combat style focused on quick reactions and close-range technique, perfect for an agility-type path.
But after his martial soul evolved, his scythe became a two-meter-long double-bladed weapon.
The increased weight made it harder to control as before.
That's why his style had begun to resemble a power-type fighter, more direct and overwhelming.
If you want to read 40 advanced chapters and 3 new chapters daily, please subscribe to my : patreon.com/Moorowkeel