18: Chapter 18 The Mother Tiger Trains Two Girls! Hmph~ Just wait until I bring Bingbing back, you'll be in for a surprise!

"Raise your wrist three inches. No, the left hand! Lower your center of gravity, use your waist to generate force! Did you not eat? Use some strength!"

"You! That rabbit! Are your feet just decorations? When dodging, don't just use your eyes to look; use your body to feel the changes in the airflow! You don't even understand such a simple principle?"

In the camp at dawn, Wang Qiuer's vigorous voice, filled with undisguised disdain, echoed.

Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan had been dragged out of their dreams early in the morning by this newly joined blonde girl to begin their nightmarish "morning training."

The reason was simple.

Wang Qiuer had only taken one look at their daily sparring, and she couldn't stand it anymore.

"Stop!"

A crisp word, carrying unquestionable authority.

Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan subconsciously stopped their movements and looked at her in confusion.

Wang Qiuer crossed her arms, strode on her long legs, and paced back and forth in front of them twice.

Finally, she stopped and looked them up and down with a look that said, "Are you serious?"

"Is that it?"

She finally spoke, her brows furrowed tightly. "You call this a fight?"

Tang Ya said somewhat unconvinced, "We are just sparring, so of course we are holding back."

"Holding back? I think you left your brains and strength at home!"

Wang Qiuer's words were as sharp as a knife. "You, the one using grass, your vines are limp; are you trying to tickle the enemy? And you, the rabbit, jumping around, who are you putting on a show for? Do you think a Spirit Beast will stop eating you just because you jump well?"

Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan's faces turned bright red instantly. They had never been criticized so mercilessly before.

Wang Qiuer ignored their expressions and just turned her head to look at Huo Yuhao, who was preparing breakfast nearby.

Her gaze instantly switched from a disdainful tyrant to a gentle older sister next door.

"Yuhao."

"Hmm?" Huo Yuhao looked up.

"From now on, leave the training of these two to me." Wang Qiuer announced in a tone that allowed no room for negotiation.

Without waiting for Huo Yuhao to answer, she turned back and looked at Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan.

In a voice only the three of them could hear, she added coldly, "I don't want you two dragging your feet and causing Yuhao to get hurt."

After speaking, she didn't give Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan a chance to retort and simply beckoned with her finger.

"Come on, both of you attack together. Let me see just how weak you really are."

The time that followed was simply hell for Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan.

Wang Qiuer's so-called "teaching" was simple, brutal, and inhumane.

To sum it up, it was one word: beat.

She didn't even release her Spirit; she relied solely on her monstrously strong physical constitution as a Spirit Beast comparable to a hundred-thousand-year-old one that had taken human form, as well as the primitive and efficient combat instincts that seemed branded deep into her soul, to completely toy with the two of them.

"Too slow!"

Wang Qiuer's figure appeared beside Tang Ya like a ghost, and a hand strike precisely chopped at the roots of the Blue Silver Grass Tang Ya was trying to use for Binding, instantly cutting off her Soul Power.

At the same time, she kicked out, landing squarely on Tang Ya's calf, causing her to stagger and nearly fall.

"Your openings are too large!"

Jiang Nannan activated her first Spirit Ability, "Waist Bow," and her body ejected toward Wang Qiuer's back at an incredible angle.

However, Wang Qiuer acted as if she had eyes in the back of her head, not even turning around.

With a simple sidestep, she let Jiang Nannan's attack brush past her clothes.

Immediately after, Wang Qiuer grabbed backward, surprisingly striking first despite moving second, and directly caught Jiang Nannan's ankle.

Then... like throwing a sack, she flung her toward Tang Ya.

"Bang!"

The two girls rolled into a heap in a sorry state.

"Get up! Continue!"

The cold voice was like a death warrant.

Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan gritted their teeth, climbed up from the ground, and exchanged a glance, both seeing the humiliation and unwillingness in each other's eyes.

"Blue Silver Spike Formation!" Tang Ya shouted, injecting her Soul Power into the ground.

"Paragon Golden Body!" Jiang Nannan also activated her strongest defensive Spirit Ability.

However, all of this seemed so ridiculous in front of Wang Qiuer.

Facing the countless Blue Silver Grass spikes suddenly emerging from the ground, Wang Qiuer just lightly tapped her toes on the ground.

Her whole body floated up like a weightless feather, landing lightly two meters away.

And when Jiang Nannan rushed over with her Paragon Golden Body, Wang Qiuer didn't even dodge.

She just stood in place, waited until Jiang Nannan reached her, and then extended a finger.

A fair, slender index finger that looked completely harmless.

She used this finger to lightly tap on the light barrier of Jiang Nannan's Paragon Golden Body.

"Pop."

A soft sound, like a bubble bursting.

Jiang Nannan's Paragon Golden Body, which was capable of withstanding a full-force strike from a Spirit Ancestor, just like that... shattered.

The expression on Jiang Nannan's face froze completely.

"The use of Soul Power is not about who is more ferocious, but who is more skillful."

Wang Qiuer retracted her finger and said indifferently, "Use the least amount of force, find the most vulnerable point, and strike fatally. Don't you know such a simple principle?"

Within this day, Tang Ya and Jiang Nannan were beaten up twenty-seven times in all sorts of unimaginable ways.

By evening, when Wang Qiuer finally announced "That's it for today," the two girls almost collapsed to the ground, with every part of their bodies crying out in soreness.

Those invisible bruises made it difficult for them to even move a finger.

Huo Yuhao walked over carrying two bowls of steaming meat soup and some special medicinal ointment.

"Drink some soup first, and then I'll help you apply the medicine." His voice carried a hint of apology and heartache.

Tang Ya took the bowl weakly, drank a mouthful of hot soup, and felt that she had finally come back to life a little.

She looked at Wang Qiuer, who was gently wiping Huo Yuhao's sweat not far away, and couldn't help but whisper to Jiang Nannan beside her, "That woman... is simply a devil..."

Jiang Nannan nodded silently; she didn't even have the strength to speak now.

"However..."

Tang Ya moved her sore wrist, but a strange light flashed in her eyes. "Although it hurts a lot, I feel... my Blue Silver Grass seems to have become tougher than before. Moreover, my control over Soul Power has become much more precise."

She recalled the last sparring session this afternoon.

When Wang Qiuer's fist struck, she had almost subconsciously used three vines from three different angles to instantly weave a small shield, precisely blocking the front of the fist.

Although that shield was shattered instantly, that fluid feeling was something she had never experienced before.

Jiang Nannan felt the same way.

She discovered that her body seemed to have become lighter and more agile than before.

Several times, she was able to anticipate the direction of the attack the moment before Wang Qiuer made her move.

This kind of progress was real.

Although the process was painful, the results were astonishingly significant.

The two girls exchanged a glance and saw a complex emotion mixed with pain and excitement in each other's eyes.

Perhaps... being trained by this devil wasn't such a bad thing.

Night fell, and the camp returned to tranquility.

The girls had all gone into their tents to rest, while Huo Yuhao sat cross-legged by the campfire alone.

His eyes were closed, but his mind had already sunk into his own vast Spiritual Sea.

Electrolux's translucent figure floated before him.

[How does it feel?] The old man's gentle voice sounded.

"Very wonderful."

Huo Yuhao felt the changes in his body. "Watching them spar during the day, although my Mental Energy wasn't projected outward, I was subconsciously simulating their combat. I discovered that my Mental Energy seems to be able to 'understand' their Soul Power circulation methods more easily."

[This is the manifestation of your Mental Energy reaching the peak of the Spirit Domain realm.]

Electrolux stroked his beard, [Your Spirit has begun to be able to touch the 'rules' level of this World. The Soul Power circulation of ordinary Spirit Masters, in your eyes, is like a formula written on paper, clear at a glance.]

"Teacher, I feel that my Mental Energy could break through to the next realm at any time, but I always feel... something is still missing." Huo Yuhao stated his confusion.

[Don't be impatient.]

Electrolux's voice carried a hint of a smile, [Your foundation is built too solidly, so the opportunity for a breakthrough is also harder to find than for ordinary people. Just wait patiently. Now, let's practice that thing.]

"Yes, Teacher."

Huo Yuhao calmed his mind and began to practice a brand-new technique according to Electrolux's guidance.

This was not any kind of meditation method from Douluo Continent, but a necromancy spell from Electrolux's original World specifically used to strengthen the connection between souls, the Soul Resonance Technique.

As the technique operated, Huo Yuhao's Mental Energy began to vibrate at a peculiar frequency.

He could feel that the light spots in his Spiritual Sea belonging to the "Soul Spirits" began to respond to his vibrations.

The huge golden light spot representing the Tianmeng Iceworm emitted a lazy, warm glow, as if a Fatty who was dozing off had hummed comfortably twice.

This feeling was far more profound than the simple mental connection before.

Huo Yuhao felt as if he could personally sense their emotions, their power, and their existence.

He knew that Teacher Electrolux had him practice this technique to prepare for his future second Soul Spirit, and even more Soul Spirits.

He had not yet added his second spirit ring.

Because he was waiting.

Waiting for a special opportunity, and a... special partner destined for him.

"Little Tianmeng~"

A cloyingly sweet voice rang out outside Huo Yuhao's tent.

Immediately after, the tent flap was lifted.

A girl wearing an ice-blue dress, looking eighteen or nineteen years old, and as cute as if carved from jade, poked her head in and crawled inside.

It was none other than the Tianmeng Iceworm.

"Look, look, is my dress pretty today?" She lifted the hem of her skirt and spun around in front of Huo Yuhao.

Huo Yuhao had just finished meditating, and when he opened his eyes and saw this scene, he smiled helplessly: "It's pretty."

"Heehee, I knew it!"

Tianmeng Iceworm received the compliment and immediately beamed with joy.

She took small steps, opened her arms, and prepared to give Huo Yuhao a "love pounce" as usual.

"I'm here to give you a goodnight hug~"

However, just halfway through her pounce, her body seemed to hit an invisible wall and was instantly bounced back.

Before she could even react, a hand from the other side reached out as fast as lightning and precisely pinched the back of her neck—the scruff of her fate.

Wang Qiuer's face, carrying a hint of a "kind" smile, appeared in front of her.

"Little Tianmeng, not sleeping so late, do you want to find me, your big sister, to 'loosen your bones'?"

"No... no need! I... I suddenly feel so sleepy! I'm going to sleep first!"

Tianmeng Iceworm was startled into a shiver and instantly turned into a streak of light.

She slipped out of Wang Qiuer's hand, crawled into her little nest, covered her head with the blanket, and shivered.

On the other side of the tent, Gu Yuena was holding a book, reading with great interest, as if nothing had happened just now.

Only her fingers, resting on the page, seemed to have moved slightly just a moment ago.

Scenes like this had played out several times almost every day in the past few days.

Every time Tianmeng Iceworm tried to have "intimate contact" with Huo Yuhao, she would be stopped by either Gu Yuena or Wang Qiuer in various subtle ways.

After a while, Tianmeng Iceworm's depressed, circle-drawing-like curses came from under the blanket.

"Wuwuwu... two tigresses... bullying a worm too much..."

"Just wait! Wait until I trick Bingbing into coming back! She is a four-hundred-thousand-year-old super Spirit Beast! And she has Ultimate Ice! If we join forces, we will definitely wash away this shame! Hmph~!"