Early morning. A light mist filled the air.
The soft morning sun fell like golden dust, gently scattered across the forest.
It filtered through the overlapping leaves, creating a series of flowing paintings.
The interplay of light and shadow swayed gracefully in the breeze, accompanied by the occasional chirping of mountain birds, adding to the peaceful atmosphere.
Although Heaven Dou Imperial Academy was built among the mountains, the range it occupied wasn't a primitive forest.
There were no dense roots or dark canopies like the Star Dou Forest.
Thanks to the regular clearing by academy teachers, no soul beasts could appear here.
Everyone ran without worry.
Qin Ming followed behind to ensure safety.
In the running group, Ye Lingling was in front, Fang Ling was second.
Despite his strength and even being capable of injuring Yu Tianheng, he was placed second.
Because of his prosthetic leg, his spirit power only at Level 23, currently the lowest among them, and being shorter with a smaller stride, he was assumed to be the weakest in terms of endurance.
A logical conclusion, difficult to refute.
But just wait and see.
Fang Ling would show them what it meant when they said, "Where there's a will, there's a way. Without will, a hundred years is wasted."
He ate three full meals a day, each one double portions, and had a much higher digestion and energy absorption rate.
The energy he drew from food far exceeded what Yu Tianheng and the others could manage.
That was the foundation for his physique being on par with beast-type soul masters.
Eat more, train more, grow more.
After all, the body doesn't lie.
One lap, two laps, three laps…
Because of the expansive land, including hundreds of simulated cultivation zones, the Heaven Dou Academy campus covered a massive area.
Running through rugged mountain paths, each lap was no less than twelve kilometers.
Even though they were all highly talented soul masters, after running four laps without using soul power, about 48 kilometers, they were drenched in sweat, panting heavily.
Their legs felt like they were filled with lead, sore and numb.
Though their eyes still showed determination, the trembling of their lips revealed how exhausted they truly were.
The heavy breathing echoed through the quiet forest.
Four laps, or 48 kilometers, was the minimum required by the teachers. It was recommended to increase based on one's personal training intensity.
For the others, it wasn't too bad, they were all battle soul masters.
Still manageable for now.
At the front, Ye Lingling was the first to show signs of struggling.
As a healing-type soul master with the Nine-Heart Begonia martial soul, her body was naturally weaker.
After passing the 60-kilometer mark, it seemed she had suddenly hit her limit.
Her steps grew heavier and unsteady.
It was obvious her mental strength had faltered.
She had met the mandatory minimum, and her mind and body instinctively began to relax.
But in endurance training like this, once you begin to loosen up, it's basically over.
Fang Ling, who was also sweating profusely but still in decent shape, noticed her weakness from behind.
Hearing her increasingly erratic breathing, he advised, "Senior, stop. You've reached your limit."
"No! I want to run!"
Ye Lingling, for some reason, was especially stubborn.
Even though speaking was difficult and her lungs felt like they were about to explode, she still forced each word out with determination.
It reminded Fang Ling of that stubborn one-eyed horned antelope.
Being shouted at despite his kind advice didn't bother him. He didn't press further.
"After four laps, you can run freely. For optimal results, battle soul masters should run five laps."
Yu Tianheng explained another training rule to Fang Ling, then suddenly sped up, cutting through the forest from the side and overtaking him.
Without any weight burden, running five laps, 60 kilometers, by noon was the most basic requirement.
After losing face earlier, he was looking to earn it back here.
"Let's compete. Your endurance is better than I expected. I think you can run even faster."
Yu Tianheng was issuing a challenge, though in a rather unique way.
"I can't beat the captain, but I'll do my best."
Fang Ling passed Ye Lingling and stared at the fast-moving figure ahead.
He remained silent.
Seriously? You just want to show off in front of Dugu Yan like a child?
You're already a Soul Elder, with the bonus from a thousand-year soul ring, and you want to compete in running with a ten-year-old Soul Master with a prosthetic leg?
No sense of fairness at all.
Still, since Yu Tianheng had said it, it gave Fang Ling a perfect opportunity.
Digging your own hole? How adorable.
He didn't use the jumping ability of his soul bone, it was part of a greater plan involving Dugu Bo, so he wouldn't expose it now.
To everyone's shock, Fang Ling sped up to follow him.
"What? You're five years younger and missing a leg, how can you still run like that?"
Oslo, who had always viewed Fang Ling as a competitor, was getting a bit frustrated.
He was already struggling to keep going.
How was Fang Ling still going strong?
"What a tenacious limping kid!"
Dugu Yan, the team's other Soul Elder, was still doing fine physically. But she had no desire to compete.
She simply ran at her own pace in the middle of the group.
Seeing Yu Tianheng acting out again, she let out a cold snort.
She planned to have a word with her grandfather when she went home on break, to warn this shameless guy once and for all.
Ye Lingling had fallen to the back, still trying to persist.
But she looked like a candle flickering in the wind, ready to collapse at any moment.
Yet she wouldn't give up.
Qin Ming silently kept pace at her side, knowing her psychological issue had flared up again.
It was a serious problem.
The Nine-Heart Begonia was a heaven-blessed martial soul, its only strength was healing, hailed as a miracle among martial souls.
Its soul skill was a full-area group heal. Regardless of how many soul rings the user had, there was only this one ability, with the healing strength determined by the user's will.
The higher the level, the more soul power the user had, the more powerful the healing.
It was the strongest healing martial soul in the world.
But it was also a curse.
The Nine-Heart Begonia could only be passed down to one person per generation.
At most, two could exist at the same time. A new successor could only appear after one of them died.
And those who died were always direct blood relatives.
She herself would face the same fate in the future.
Growing up with this harsh reality shaped her distant and cold personality.
Even when around her familiar teammates, she would choose to stand in the darkest corner of the room.
No emotion showed in her eyes; all anyone could feel from her was loneliness and sorrow.
Her voice, though beautiful, was empty, sounding strangely unreal.
Just looking at her made one's heart ache.
This was a matter of life and death, of family loss. No comforting words could ever truly help.
Qin Ming had seen classmates die at Shrek Academy, but he still couldn't relate to her pain.
His past experience told him: as long as he kept an eye on her and prevented her from doing anything rash, she would recover slowly on her own.
Life and death…
Thinking of this, his mind suddenly turned to Fang Ling.
They say facing death is terrifying, but Fang Ling had been constantly walking the edge, yet remained cheerful and optimistic. Maybe he had some unique method for mental adjustment?
Maybe he could be the one to help Ye Lingling?
Otherwise, with her current psychological state, it was only a matter of time before something bad happened.
Qin Ming quietly considered the idea.
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