Xiaowu snorted, "Competing in speed? Like I'm afraid of you." With a bounce, she pounced towards Tang San.
Tang San smiled faintly. This time, he was thoroughly prepared. If Xiaowu could take him down easily again, all those years of his training would truly have been in vain.
A hint of purple flashed through his eyes as the Purple Demon Eyes subconsciously came into play. Under their influence, Xiaowu's movements seemed significantly slower to him. His feet moved in a perplexing pattern; with a sliding step, he shifted two meters to the side, perfectly dodging Xiaowu's charge—even her ponytail and long legs couldn't reach that far.
Xiaowu clearly paused, taken aback. Known for her agility, she found it strange that Tang San's speed didn't seem fast, yet it was just enough to dodge her attacks. And her most skillful soft techniques required physical contact with the opponent first, which Tang San had just denied her.
Xiaowu was not the type to concede easily. Flipping like a rabbit, she increased her speed even more and lunged at Tang San with clawed hands.
Tang San took a deep breath, channeling the Mysterious Heaven Method into his legs. His steps traced the Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track as he began to maneuver around Xiaowu on the training field.
The Ghost Shadow Perplexing Track was extremely subtle. Though Tang San's movements didn't seem fast, each step contained profound truths. No matter how quick Xiaowu was or from which direction she attacked, he always moved at the most appropriate time in the most appropriate direction, never giving Xiaowu a chance to get close.
This was the true skill of the Tang Sect. Martial artists of the Tang Sect didn't rely on direct combat with their enemies; hidden weapons were their forte. Using qinggong in conjunction with hidden weapons was the ace up the sleeve of Tang Sect disciples.
The two of them ran around the field, one chasing and the other dodging. In a short while, they had covered half the field. Xiaowu was starting to get short of breath, yet she couldn't catch up to Tang San.
"Hey, that's cheating," Xiaowu said, no longer pursuing. She stood with her hands on her hips and glared at Tang San. "We're supposed to be sparring, not playing hide-and-seek. What's the deal with all this dodging? If you dare, attack me!"
Tang San smiled slightly, "Alright, then be careful." While speaking, he casually picked up a few stones from the edge of the field and held them in his palm. "I'm aiming for your left shoulder." And a stone flew out.
Xiaowu snorted and swayed to the right, dodging.
"Aiming for your right shoulder, left shin, right shin." Three stones flew out from Tang San's hand simultaneously.
The first was indeed targeting Xiaowu's left shoulder. Seeing the three stones flying out as if heading in the same direction, Xiaowu thought to herself that this guy must be tricking her. Rather than retreating, she surged forward with increased speed, pouncing towards Tang San while shielding her chest with her hands. They were just stones - she could knock them down.
But to Xiaowu's surprise, when the stones were about to reach her and be swatted away, they suddenly split off, tracing three different arcs through the air.
Being so close, it was already too late to react.
"Ow, ow." The three stones hit exactly where they were supposed to: Xiaowu's right shoulder, left shin, and right shin.
Though Tang San had not infused the stones with Mysterious Heaven Method, they still stung Xiaowu considerably when they hit her head-on.
"You, you dared to hit me with stones."
What Xiaowu didn't know was that this was the first time Tang San had truly used a hidden weapon against an opponent in this world. He utilized the Splitting Sparrow Flying Technique from the Hidden Weapons Hundred Solutions of the Mystic Sky Records. It seemed simple, but the subtle technique within was extremely exquisite. From the Hidden Weapons Hundred Solutions, due to the constraints of the Mysterious Heaven Method, Tang San had only barely mastered two or three kinds, and the Splitting Sparrow was the most proficient among them.
"So it's okay for you to throw me, but not for me to use stones? You've lost this time," Tang San declared.
"No way, that doesn't count. Let's do it again..." Xiaowu was convinced that as long as she was prepared, Tang San would not be able to hit her again.
"Xiaowu, you still want to go on? Bring it on then..."
The sparring continued, and it went on for a very long time. As for the outcome? When Tang San left the Primary Soul Master Academy with Grandmaster early the next morning, he was still muttering to himself, "Shooting at a moving target is so much more satisfying!"
That night, nothing happened between the two who shared a bed, for they were simply too exhausted from their sparring.
Early in the morning, while most of the students and teachers at Notting Academy were still asleep, a tall and a short figure had already stepped out of the academy gates.
"Teacher, where are we going to find soul beasts?"
The two leaving the academy were none other than Grandmaster and his disciple Tang San.
"We're headed to the Hunting Soul Forest, four hundred miles northeast of Notting City. It's an imperial reserve for soul beasts. We'll definitely find one suitable for you there," Grandmaster said, dressed in a sharp outfit that added a touch of vigor to his appearance. However, his stiff expression still gave off a discordant vibe.
"Reserve? Can soul beasts be kept in reserves? Teacher, tell me about soul beasts."
Grandmaster nodded and explained, "High-level soul beasts certainly cannot be kept in reserves, but the low-level ones can. Soul beasts are simply wild beasts that possess Soul Power. The longer they live, the stronger they become. Generally speaking, we distinguish soul beasts into five categories based on their age: ten-year soul beasts, centennial soul beasts, thousand-year soul beasts, ten-thousand-year soul beasts, and hundred-thousand-year soul beasts. As the names suggest, a ten-year soul beast has cultivated for more than ten years, and so on. The classification of Soul Rings is the same as for soul beasts. Different Soul Rings are easy to recognize by their color: ten-year soul beasts have white Soul Rings, centennial beasts have yellow, thousand-year beasts have purple, ten-thousand-year beasts have black, and hundred-thousand-year beasts have red Soul Rings. The soul beasts kept in national reserves and hunted by Soul Masters are mostly ten-year and centennial beasts. It's rare for thousand-year soul beasts to appear."