Douluo Continent, my martial soul is a mushroom.

Chapter 22 Half a Year Soul Master

When Chi Ping found Zhao Wuji, Zhao Wuji was practicing the refined operation of his third soul skill.

He seemed to have encountered some difficulties, looking quite distressed.

Upon seeing Chi Ping approach, Zhao Wuji quickly put on a nonchalant expression.

"Xiaoping, what brings you here?"

Chi Ping, unsuspecting, repeated what he had said to Dai Mubai.

Zhao Wuji sighed, "You young people really know how to play these tricks! Alright, I agree! But we need to make this clear beforehand: you can't let this affect your soul power cultivation. The golden age for soul masters is before the age of twenty; the level they reach before twenty often determines their future achievements. I don't object to you practicing these things; monsters' thinking is definitely different from ordinary people, and I can't make any conclusions before we get results. But there are priorities; cultivating soul power is your main task right now."

Zhao Wuji spoke with sincerity and earnestness, clearly offering advice from the bottom of his heart.

Chi Ping wasn't some ungrateful brat, so naturally he wouldn't ignore Zhao Wuji's advice.

"Don't worry, Teacher Zhao, I know what's important."

Since Chi Ping insisted, Zhao Wuji didn't say much more. "Since you insist... when will we begin?"

"Now is fine."

Chi Ping took ten steps back, covering his eyes and ears with a strip of cloth.

"That's enough, Teacher Zhao!"

After saying that, Chi Ping prepared for Zhao Wuji's stones.

Although it doesn't completely shut down vision and hearing, there's still about 80% chance of that.

Chi Ping felt as if a constantly changing, iridescent white plastic picture was pasted in front of him, but due to Zhao Wuji's threat of the stone, this useless and chaotic information was subconsciously rejected.

With his hearing impaired, Chi Ping couldn't hear Zhao Wuji's words and had no idea when the training would begin or when or from where the pebbles would hit him.

He could only concentrate fully, relying on his sense of touch to perceive the movement of the wind and his intuition to instinctively dodge.

Snapped!

--it hurts.

Zhao Wuji threw the stone with considerable force, and when it hit Chi Ping, Chi Ping frowned.

Snapped!

—Isn't it the right side, not the left? You made a mistake...

Boom!

—Did you dodge it?

Snapped!

—Was it luck...?

Snapped!

—You didn't dodge it again...

Snap snap snap thud snap snap...

Pebbles of varying sizes fell on Chi Ping, initially leaving only red marks, which later turned into bruises. Chi Ping's movements, which were initially uncoordinated due to the darkness and silence, became increasingly fluid. However, as time went on, more and more pebbles hit him, and his movements began to become distorted.

—This kid really has a lot of perseverance.

As Zhao Wuji threw the stones, he thought to himself.

He couldn't remember how many stones he threw, or how many hit Chi Ping. He only remembered that he had to clear the stones around Chi Ping's feet more than ten times.

—It's time for lunch.

Zhao Wuji casually tossed aside the stone he hadn't finished throwing and approached Chi Ping.

"Kid, it's time to eat. You can continue your training after you finish eating."

As Zhao Wuji spoke, he grabbed Chi Ping's shoulder and then ripped off the cloth strip tied to his head.

"Hmm? Hmm! Teacher Zhao?"

Chi Ping instinctively twisted his body to dodge, but he still couldn't avoid it. By the time he realized what was happening, the strip of cloth had already been torn off.

"Kid, that's it. Time to go to the cafeteria for lunch!"

Zhao Wuji spoke patiently.

"Okay, I got it!"

Chi Ping took the strip of cloth back from Zhao Wuji.

But as if he hadn't recovered from the state he was in just now, Chi Ping stood there blankly.

Zhao Wuji had only taken two steps when he realized that Chi Ping hadn't followed, so he turned around, grabbed him by the collar, and dragged him away.

That afternoon, Chi Ping pulled Zhao Wuji to continue his sensory cultivation.

During this time, Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun, out of curiosity, also tried the blindfolded training for half an hour, but they quickly couldn't stand the pain and their inner panic and left on their own.

Zhao Wuji did not mock Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun because of this.

How could a normal person so easily tolerate losing two senses?

When Chi Ping treated the bruises on his body after lunch, Zhao Wuji had tried Chi Ping's training methods himself and knew what kind of fear and panic they involved.

—Perhaps we could talk to Flander and make this a lesson for the future, called Overcoming Fear.

……

Time flies, and half a year has passed in the blink of an eye.

At six o'clock in the morning, Dai Mubai woke up to find Chi Ping cultivating his soul power in bed, his body surrounded by glowing soul power.

"It's so late, aren't you going to training?"

Dai Mubai was a little confused about the situation.

He had never seen Chi Ping in the dormitory at this time.

The dormitories at Shrek Academy are double rooms. Perhaps because they enrolled together, Dai Mubai and Chi Ping seemed to have been assigned to the same dormitory by default.

From the day he enrolled, Chi Ping insisted on getting up at five o'clock every day to train his physical fitness for two hours. After breakfast, he would go to Zhao Wuji for sensory cultivation, continue after lunch until dinner, and then cultivate his soul power and do some operations that Dai Mubai could not understand.

Ikehira persisted for six months.

Dai Mubai is a genius. Although he was cowardly and fled to Shrek Academy because of the rules of the Dai family, he never completely let go of his pride.

So after Ma Hongjun provoked him, Dai Mubai beat Ma Hongjun up and became Ma Hongjun's boss. He also wanted to become Chi Ping's boss, but he was unwilling to take advantage of Ma Hongjun's misfortune.

However, Chi Ping was working so hard that Dai Mubai couldn't find a chance to fight him!

If we cannot compare military strength, we can only compare other aspects.

For example, battle record in the Soul Arena and cultivation level.

The two participate in a sparring match at the Soto Grand Arena every ten days. Their records are mixed, but their scores are currently the same. As for their cultivation levels, they both reached level 29 three months ago, and the difference between them is not significant.

Having a competitor who is roughly the same level as oneself is a blessing for a genius.

Chi Ping's existence is like a mirror, preventing Dai Mubai from falling into depravity and constantly making him think about surpassing Chi Ping.

Compared to before he enrolled, Dai Mubai's daily training volume has increased by at least two times! Ma Hongjun was also dragged into it, and he was exhausted every day.

Just as Dai Mubai was about to step forward and wake Chi Ping, Chi Ping opened his eyes.

"I'm level 30."

Dai Mubai didn't understand at first. How could someone improve two levels in half a year? Impossible! Absolutely impossible!

"Mu Bai, I'm going to find Teacher Zhao."

"Okay, you go ahead, I'll go find Fatty."

After Chi Ping left, Dai Mubai, still half asleep, went to the room next to the dormitory, forcefully pulled Ma Hongjun off the bed, and dragged him to the playground.

"Boss Dai, what are you doing?!"

Ma Hongjun yawned, extremely dissatisfied with Dai Mubai waking him up at this hour. If Dai Mubai couldn't give him an explanation, he swore he would burn off his flamboyant golden hair with the Phoenix Fire Line!

"Fatty, Chi Ping is level 30."

Dai Mubai suddenly said.

"Level 30 is fine, what does it have to do with us! Wait a minute!"

Ma Hongjun also realized what was happening, and then screamed like a pervert whose toe had been stepped on.

"Damn! Did that guy eat too many mushrooms and start hallucinating?!"

Just like six months ago, Dai Mubai slapped Ma Hongjun on the back of the head.

"No respect for elders!"

Ma Hongjun was too lazy to pursue the matter of Dai Mubai's slap.

"Brother Dai, let's hurry and find Teacher Zhao. He'll definitely be able to tell whether Brother Ping has really reached level 30!"

Food-type Soul Masters are notoriously difficult to improve, and Ma Hongjun couldn't believe that Chi Ping could break through the level 30 barrier so quickly.

"You said the same thing when Chi Ping broke through to level 29 last time," Dai Mubai said quietly.

Ma Hongjun was extremely excited. "Last time is last time, and can the difficulty of going from level 28 to 29 be the same as going from level 29 to 30? Boss Dai, don't believe everything Boss Ping says. What if Boss Ping is wrong!"

Ma Hongjun successfully persuaded Dai Mubai, or rather, Dai Mubai refused to believe that Chi Ping had made another breakthrough so quickly.

The two hit it off immediately and jogged towards the playground where the enrollment area was located.

Chi Ping's breakthrough to Soul Master is a major event that will surely alarm the Dean. Instead of searching for Zhao Wuji everywhere, it would be better to go directly to the Dean.

Flanders' office was also his residence, located not far from the small playground.

"Xiaobai, Hongjun, you're here! I have some good news to tell you: Xiaoping has broken through to the Soul Master realm!"

As soon as he entered, Flander delivered the "good news" that broke Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun's hearts.

"Haha...hehe!"

"Haha...hehe!"

The two forced awkward smiles.

Snapped!

Snapped!

"You two brats, is it hard for you to handle Xiaoping's breakthrough to Soul Master?!"

Zhao Wuji slapped the brothers away, banishing their bitter smiles.

Congratulations!

Congratulations!

"We have something to do, so we'll head to the playground first."

Flander clicked his tongue, immediately noticing the envy and bitterness in Dai Mubai and Ma Hongjun's hearts.

"Old Zhao, pack your things. Tomorrow morning, take Xiaoping and Xiaobai to the Star Dou Great Forest to obtain spirit rings. Xiaoping and Xiaobai, don't train today. Go back to the dormitory and rest for a day to adjust your condition. This is not just Chi Ping's responsibility, but also a shared experience for both of you. Before encountering a thousand-year-old spirit beast, Teacher Zhao will not easily intervene. Everything depends on yourselves."

"Hongjun, stay here, I need to talk to you about something."

……

"Dean, is there something you want to talk to me about in private?"

"What's wrong? You don't even want to call me 'teacher' anymore?" Flander teased.

Ma Hongjun said with a bitter face, "Teacher."

Flanders nodded in satisfaction, then straightened his expression and said, "You're very unwilling, aren't you?"

Ma Hongjun kept his head down and remained silent.

"If I had encountered a classmate who advanced two levels in six months when I was in school, breaking through no barriers, and I couldn't catch up with their pace even though I worked myself to the bone every day, I would have felt resentful. But..."

Flander's gaze sharpened.

"You really think your efforts can match Ikehira's!"

"Can you get up at five o'clock every day, rain or shine, to train your physical fitness? Can you endure the darkness and helplessness, and train your mind for nearly ten hours a day? If you can't do that, then don't envy Chi Ping's cultivation level!"

"Go back and think about it carefully. You reap what you sow. Instead of envying what others have gained, think about how much they have put in!"

(End of this chapter)