Chapter 54 What is a genius?
For the Shrek team, it was a tiring but fulfilling day.
Everyone was exhausted, and the entire academy quickly fell silent.
Late at night.
On the empty playground, a figure stood alone.
Ye Liuyun did not sleep.
The scene of practicing with Xiao Wu that afternoon kept replaying in his mind.
Ye Liuyun recalled Xiao Wu's movements: raising her leg, twisting her waist, and throwing a punch.
Thinking about how to deal with it was the best solution.
Breaking through each move wasn't difficult.
But Xiao Wu didn't attack and then wait.
She often launched continuous attacks, like a raging storm.
When put together, Ye Liuyun's movements became incredibly stiff, like a puppet being pulled on strings, completely lacking any fluidity.
His reaction speed was nowhere near as fast as Xiao Wu's ability to change moves.
Just then.
A soft footstep sound came from behind.
Zhu Zhuqing, dressed in a black, tight-fitting training outfit, walked out of the girls' dormitory.
She didn't sleep either.
In order to survive, she would often practice for a whole day and then replace sleep with meditation.
To keep up with her sister, she had no time to rest.
Zhu Zhuqing paused upon seeing Ye Liuyun on the playground.
She recalled Ye Liuyun's indifferent glance during their run earlier that day, and his subsequent unhesitating acceleration as he left.
What a heartless fellow.
Zhu Zhuqing snorted coldly in her heart.
Her budding feelings of affection and anticipation had long since vanished, and now, seeing Ye Liuyun, she felt only a strange anger rising within her.
So, without looking to the side, she walked straight to the other corner of the playground and began to do her stretching exercises.
The two were separated by half the playground, each practicing their own routine, ignoring the other.
An awkward and subtle atmosphere of cold war permeated the air.
However.
The commotion on Ye Liuyun's side was really too "eye-catching".
While stretching her legs, Zhu Zhuqing caught a glimpse of Ye Liuyun trying to perform some kind of difficult dodge move, which almost caused her to trip over herself.
Finally, she couldn't hold back any longer.
"Puff."
A contemptuous sneer rang out clearly in the quiet night.
Ye Liuyun stopped what he was doing and turned to look at her.
Zhu Zhuqing felt embarrassed, as if she had been caught doing something wrong.
She stopped moving, stood up straight, and stared intently at Ye Liuyun with her clear, cold eyes, saying earnestly:
"Stop practicing."
"If you keep practicing like this, I'll be embarrassed for you."
Ye Liuyun raised an eyebrow, not angry, looking at the little wildcat who had taken the initiative to cause trouble:
"What? Am I bothering you?"
"I just can't stand people tarnishing the word 'martial arts'."
Zhu Zhuqing crossed her arms and stated a fact in a calm tone:
"You were able to fight Xiao Wu to a draw this afternoon only because Xiao Wu didn't go all out and because you have better physical fitness."
"If we strip away the advantages of soul power and physical attributes, and focus solely on pure fighting skills..."
She looked Ye Liuyun up and down, then shook her head:
"You can't even beat me."
These words were both an expression of her anger at being ignored during the day and a display of her absolute confidence as an agility-based Soul Master in the realm of skill.
In her view, Ye Liuyun's fighting style, which only involved brute force, was an insult to the art of combat.
"A genius like you doesn't need to waste time on fists and kicks."
"After all, no matter how good one's fists and feet are, a Soul Master's combat still relies on martial soul and soul power."
"Just practice what you're good at."
Ye Liuyun paused, then slowly retracted his leg.
He turned around, sweat dripping down his chin.
Faced with Zhu Zhuqing's questioning, his expression remained calm and unwavering.
Ye Liuyun picked up the towel hanging around his neck and wiped his face, his voice low:
"Playing to your strengths and avoiding your weaknesses, or avoiding them, does not mean they don't exist."
"Only by overcoming weaknesses can we avoid fatal flaws."
That was fallacy.
Zhu Zhuqing interrupted him without any politeness, a hint of impatience flashing in her eyes at this foolish persistence:
"Just like I am an agility-based attacker, my martial soul is the Netherworld Cat. What I pursue is the ultimate speed and explosiveness, a one-hit kill."
"Does this mean that in order to have no fatal weaknesses, I have to train my strength and go head-to-head with someone like Dai Mubai, who is a powerful attacker, like a wild bear?"
That was foolish.
Zhu Zhuqing stepped forward, staring intently at Ye Liuyun, attempting to awaken this "nitpicking" genius with her own logic:
"Similarly, your battlefield is far away. If the enemy can get close to you, it means that your control has failed. At this time, you should be thinking about how to create distance, instead of trying to counterattack with your lousy, amateurish skills."
"A person's energy is limited. If you waste your time here, your soul power control and your martial soul development will stagnate."
After saying that, Zhu Zhuqing looked at Ye Liuyun, waiting for him to come to his senses.
However.
Ye Liuyun simply listened quietly until the end.
"Perhaps."
He replied with three words indifferently.
There was no argument, because what she said did make a lot of sense.
Bang.
A punch was thrown, creating a sharp gust of wind.
He continued practicing.
It was as if Zhu Zhuqing's words had just passed by like a breeze.
Were there really that many geniuses in a particular field?
People often used the word "genius" to negate a person's painstaking efforts.
Using the word "talent" as an excuse for the difference between the two.
Little did people know how much unseen effort lay behind every success.
"..."
Zhu Zhuqing looked at that unyielding figure and felt speechless.
Beyond redemption.
Despite possessing enviable talent, his mind was as stubborn as a rock.
Since you insist on wasting your time, then so be it.
"Idiot."
Zhu Zhuqing coldly uttered two words, the probing look in her eyes completely vanishing.
She didn't look at Ye Liuyun again and turned to walk towards the dormitory building.
After a long day of hard work, she still needed to meditate on her soul power; she didn't have time to waste here.
Once again, only Ye Liuyun remained on the playground.
The cool moonlight shone on the Shrek Academy playground.
There were only heavy breathing sounds and the occasional sound of feet scraping the ground.
Ye Liuyun repeated the movements he had seen during the day over and over again: side kick, block, punch.
He had to practice, practice repeatedly, countless times.
Practice until every gesture was graceful and effortless.
He practiced until everyone thought he was born that way.
He practiced until the first time people saw his martial arts skills.
People would say, "This kid is really lucky, he's a genius!"
Time flew by amidst sweat and battle.
Life at Shrek Academy became monotonous and routine.
Early morning was a grueling physical challenge of weighted running, where everyone teetered on the edge of their limits.
In the afternoon, there was intense, brutal sparring, with screams echoing across the training ground.
At night, the Soto City Grand Soul Arena became a battleground of life and death, where blood and glory coexisted.
And just like that, three months passed in the blink of an eye.
Over the course of these three months, the youthful naiveté of the group had faded, replaced by a sense of competence and ruthlessness.
Of course, the most direct manifestation was the soul power level.
Under the devilish pressure, Dai Mubai, Tang San, Xiao Wu and others generally increased their soul power by one level.
At the Soul Elder level, advancing one level every three months was already an astonishing speed.
However, while everyone was still basking in the glory of their advancement, Ye Liuyun's data was like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone's heads.
Level 36.
It had been upgraded by two levels!
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[end of the chapter]