Chapter 433: Training
Within the spacious study, Hu Gan eyed the wall beside the study, which was slowly closing. Only then did he turn and face Xiao Yan and the four others in front of him. He said smilingly: “Alright, it can be considered that you all obtained your reward. Rest for the next two days. In two days, you will all be entering the Inner Academy. At that time, there will be chances for you all to cry bitterly.”
Xiao Yan and the others watched Hu Gan’s smiling manner. They exchanged glances with one another before nodding slightly.
“That’s right, I will remind you once again that if the new students entering the academy want to avoid being bullied by the older students, the only way is for your fist to be harder than theirs. Of course, students who can enter the Inner Academy are basically the past top students of the Outer Academy. Their training talent is not weak. Adding this to the unique training methods in the inner academy, it is likely going to be a little difficult for you new students, who have just entered, to catch up to their progress.” Hu Gan’s gaze swept across the five of them as he said: “Therefore, I advise all of you to try your best to abandon the enmity between each other and cooperate. Otherwise, you would suffer quite a bit in the end.”
“Don’t tell me that our hands and legs will be broken or we will be killed by those fellows?” Hu Jia rolled her eyes, while the other people were non-committal. In order to be able to become the top five of the Qualifying Competition, which of them did not have the ability to defend themselves?
“It is unlikely to be the case. After all, this place is an academy, not a battlefield. However, that feeling of others using their strength to trample over you is ultimately not a good one, right? Which of you fellows is not filled with arrogance in your heart?” Hu Gan smiled and shook his head while he said.
“Alright, if there is nothing else, all of you can go back. Report here two days from now. I will bring all of you into the academy at that time.” When he saw Hu Jia twitching her lips, wanting to say something, Hu Gan’s face immediately became stern as spoke while waving his hands towards Xiao Yan and the others.
“Deputy Headmaster, thank you for your reminder. We will pay attention to it.” Xiao Yan nodded a little. He bowed and greeted Hu Gan before he immediately leaving together with Xun Er. Behind him, Hu Jia and the other two also left one after another.
“These fellows don’t know what pain really is without having collided into a wall. Once you enter the Inner Academy, you will realize that surviving there is very tough. That place has never lacked talent…” Hu Gan sat on his chair and eyed the few people who had left. He tapped his finger against his table and said helplessly.
After entering the ‘Book Collection Hall’ and obtaining the thing which he needed, Xiao Yan used the remaining two days to enter into the large mountain behind the academy. He used all his effort to search for a secluded training ground, and thus began to study the two kinds of Dou Techniques he had obtained.
Although Xiao Yan was not too concerned about Hu Gan’s words, a premonition within his heart caused him to faintly feel an impulse telling him that he needed to quickly raise his strength. If he was alone, it would not matter. However, now that Xun Er was also following him as they entered into the Inner Academy together, as a man, he naturally needed to protect her until she did not feel even the slightest bit of danger. Moreover what Hu Gan had said did have some logic to it. Which of those people, who could become the top fifty of Jia Nan Academy’s Outer Academy, were not geniuses who had been gathered from all over the continent? If he lacked some foundation, even Xiao Yan would not dare to say that he could muddle along very well within the Inner Academy that he did not know much about.
Therefore, the current Xiao Yan needed to raise his strength as soon as possible. He would not be able to make much progress in terms of Dou Qi cultivation during this short period of time. Therefore, he could only rely on the two kinds of Dou Techniques in his hands.
“Three Thousand Lightning Movement.”
“Lion Tiger Gold Shattering Roar.”
One was a Low Level Di class Dou Technique, while the other was a High Level Xuan class Dou Technique. One was a Agility-type Dou Technique, while the other, a Sonic-type Dou Technique. One to dodge, one to attack. If Xiao Yan wanted grasp some of the knowledge of the two Dou Techniques, it would clearly not be an easy matter, even with Yao Lao’s help. Therefore, after some consideration, Xiao Yan first placed his focus on the ‘Lion Tiger Gold Shattering Roar’. This High Level Xuan class Dou Technique was clearly much easier to practice compared to the Low Level Di class ‘Three Thousand Lightning Movement’. Moreover, it was an extremely unorthodox attacking technique. If he were to fight with people in the future, it could obtain the effect of catching someone off guard.
Of course, this so-called ‘much easier to practice’ was built on the foundation of the comparison between the ‘Three Thousand Lightning Movement’ and itself. No matter how one put it, the ‘Lion Tiger Gold Shattering Roar’ also belonged to the High Level Xuan class. If an ordinary student was able to possess one type of technique of that class, he would be able to rely on it to stand out amongst his peers. Therefore, the difficulty of practicing it was also at an extremely tough level. This was especially so for people like Xiao Yan, who was practicing a Sonic Dou Technique for the first time. The difficulty was multiplied when he practiced it.
This place was a small-sized waterfall, which was surrounded by lush, green, dense forest. A silver river-like waterfall brought a loud rumbling sound as it flowed off the cliff and rolled down. Finally, it smashed against the mountain rocks and splashed water everywhere.
On a certain mountain rock, just below the waterfall, a black-robed young man had his mouth wide open with a flushed expression on his face. He emitted a soft roar. That roaring sound of his was quite strange. It appeared like a tiger roar, but also appeared to be a lion roar. The roaring reverberated throughout the mountain unceasingly before overlapping with the sound of the waterfall splashing down, shaking the surface of the lake until circular ripples began to spread outwards.
“*Roar*… *cough*, *cough*…” Xiao Yan once again let out a roaring sound with a flushed face before he could finally not resist coughing intensely. He did his best to swallow a mouthful of saliva to moisten his burning throat. With a bitter laugh, he said: “Isn’t this damn Sonic Dou Technique too difficult to practice? I have roared for nearly an entire afternoon. My throat is about to become mute. Yet, it is still this lethargic tone. Can this really be used to attack?”
At this moment, if one were to carefully listen to Xiao Yan’s voice, it was clearly much more hoarse compared to two days ago. It appeared that in order to practice this so-called ‘Lion Tiger Gold Shattering Roar’, he had suffered quite some hardship.
“It can already be considered quite good that you can mostly imitate the roar of a tiger and lion within a day. As long as you continue to diligently practice, you will sooner or later be able to control the strength of the roaring sound and not end up causing your own throat to be injured.” Yao Lao smiling voice sounded within Xiao Yan’s heart.
“I also want to spend the entire day and night imitating. However, didn’t teacher said that there is a strict daily time limit when one practices this kind of Sonic Dou Technique? It seemed to be three hours, right? Once one has exceeded this time limit, one would place an extremely great burden on one’s throat. If one is not careful, one might turn into a mute.” Xiao Yan’s hand scratched his throat, which was beginning to feel some pain, as he helplessly said.
“This is indeed so for an ordinary person. However, with me around, do you still need to worry about this small problem?” Yao Lao smiled proudly.
“Teacher has a solution?” Xiao Yan was startled when he heard this. He immediately and hurriedly asked.
“Have you gathered all of the medicinal ingredients that I asked you to prepare last night?”
“They are gathered… the medicinal ingredients warehouse in Jia Nan City is far richer than that of the Jia Ma Empire. I have let Xun Er help me to prepare all of the medicinal ingredients that you need.” Xiao Yan nodded and said.
“Take out the medicinal ingredients. After which, refine one thing by yourself. I will transmit the medicinal formula into your mind.” As Yao Lao’s voice sounded, Xiao Yan’s mind suddenly swelled. Immediately, he felt that there was a heap of information being forcefully stuffed in.
“‘Ice Spirit Throat Protecting Liquid’, an assistance type medicine. It is able to relieve various searing pains and protect the throat, such that it would not be affected and destroyed by the sudden appearance of heated energy. The medicinal ingredients needed to refine it are: Ice Spirit Leaf, Three Flower Grass and a Water Type Monster Core.”
“This is a bauble, which I had successfully researched in the past, when I had nothing better to do. It can protect your throat. After you consume this, you need not be concerned with that time limit of the Sonic Dou Technique. As long as your spirit can endure it, it is up to you how long you want to roar. Your throat will not become mute.” Yao Lao smilingly said.
Xiao Yan’s eyes brightened when he heard this. He nodded his head excitedly. If an ordinary person were to practice a Sonic Dou Technique, he could only practice for a maximum of three hours a day. However, if he were to consume this so called ‘Ice Spirit Throat Protecting Liquid’, he would be able to continue to train for a couple of days without stopping. It was said that hard work could make up for one’s clumsiness. Xiao Yan believed that he would be able to grasp the essence of the ‘Lion Tiger Gold Shattering Roar’ if he went all out and trained hard during these two days. Moreover, Xiao Yan was not clumsy!
This so called ‘Icy Spirit Throat Protecting Liquid’ basically could not even be considered a medicinal pill. Although one must pay extreme attention to some of its refining details, refining it went very smoothly for Xiao Yan, who had an unusually strong Spiritual Perception. Therefore, after he took out the medicinal ingredients, which he had already prepared, he began to raise his hand and refined it. Nearly half an hour later, the medicinal ingredients, that were placed in front of him, had already turned into pale-blue liquid and easily filled two small, jade bottles.
“Ah, not bad. Your ability to control flames has improved very quickly. Looks like the effect of having an outstanding Spiritual Perception is quite great.” Yao Lao nodded his head and exclaimed a little as he eyed the small jade bottles in Xiao Yan’s hand. Although it was not difficult to refine this so called ‘Icy Spirit Throat Protecting Liquid’, being able to maintain a success rate of seventy percent on Xiao Yan’s first attempt at refining it could indeed be considered an extremely outstanding result.
“Swallow one mouthful every hour. After that, you can practice the ‘Lion Tiger Gold Shattering Roar’ recklessly. If you are lucky, you might be able to grasp some initial control over it during the remaining time that you have.” Yao Lao smilingly said: “As for that ‘Three Thousand Lightning Movement’, you should temporarily steer clear of it. One reason is that there is not enough time. The second is that practicing Di class Dou Techniques is not as easy as you think. Therefore, we can only wait until after you enter the inner academy before I can find some opportunity to help you design a training procedure.”
“Yes.”
Xiao Yan nodded. He first kept one small jade bottle before pouring a mouthful of liquid from the other bottle into his mouth. The moment the ‘Icy Spirit Throat Protecting Liquid’ rolled down his throat, it turned into an icy cool feeling that began spreading out. Xiao Yan was able to clearly feel that these icy cool liquid were covering the spot where his throat was. The remnant searing pain, that had been present earlier, swiftly disappeared at this moment.
“Hei, it is indeed a good thing… now, let us strive to grasp the initial control over this ‘Lion Tiger Gold Shattering Roar’ during the remaining time.”
As he sensed the searing pain disappear, Xiao Yan could not help but feel a little strange at the swift effect of this liquid. He parted his mouth and smiled. Immediately, he inhaled a long breath of somewhat moist air before that strange roaring sound once again roared out from Xiao Yan’s mouth a moment later. Finally, it turned into a circular-shaped ripple which spread out in all directions with Xiao Yan at the center. It formed waves of ripples across the surface of the lake.
Under the waterfall, the strange roaring, which was covered by the loud splashing of the waterwall, was becoming increasingly sharp and pressurized.