Chapter 46 — A Growing Sense of Urgency
After swallowing the pastry, Lin Beiya took a sip of his drink and shook his head.
"I do have techniques related to strength control, but I'm not actually a strength-type soul master."
"And training my body isn't entirely for combat purposes either."
Hu Liena rested her chin in her hands, staring at him with sparkling peach-blossom eyes, completely absorbed.
Lin Beiya could only sigh inwardly.
Explaining all this was a hassle—but since she brought him pastries out of kindness, he couldn't just chase her away after eating.
With a wave of his hand, he summoned the Athena statue. A yellow and a purple soul ring instantly appeared, landing right in front of the little fox's eyes.
The girl gasped, covering her mouth.
"Heavens!"
Her parents had been soul masters, and she had seen their soul ring configurations. But obtaining a thousand-year second soul ring… that was utterly unheard of.
"Soul power is like warm water, and the body and mental power are like the cup holding it. How much water you can have depends on the cup."
"With that, you should understand why physical training matters, right?"
Hu Liena nodded, her eyes full of admiration.
"I understand, Senior Brother. I'll start training my body seriously too. Can you teach me more about this?"
"Uh…"
Lin Beiya's original intention was simply to explain why he trained so much. Whether she wanted to follow him or not was her own business. He didn't expect her to spin it around and involve him again.
"…It isn't impossible. When I train, just follow along with me. Stop once your body can't take it anymore. But… don't interfere with my training rhythm."
"Great! Thank you, Senior Brother!"
Having achieved her goal, Hu Liena was delighted. She quickly cleaned up the leftovers on the stone table, then gave him an impish wink.
"Then I'll come find Senior Brother again tomorrow."
"Ahh…"
Watching the cheerful little fox hop away, Lin Beiya was filled with helplessness.
He had clearly wanted to keep his distance from this ungrateful master-disciple pair.
Yet not only had Bibi Dong accepted him as a disciple, but now this fox was planning to follow him for training every single day.
In the following days, without exception, the moment Lin Beiya began his training in the back mountain, a small tail would appear behind him.
He wore the heavy, custom-made weighted gear crafted by the artisan. Hu Liena, meanwhile, trained without any weights.
But the result was always the same—the little girl would collapse midway, lying there unable to move.
She would stare at Lin Beiya with big, teary eyes, silently pleading for him to stop and wait for her.
Unfortunately, Lin Beiya trained with his eyes closed. Even though he could sense her movements, he pretended not to notice and continued forward.
This made the little fox pout and mentally complain, but she had no choice—she had insisted on training with him.
And as someone equally proud, she refused to let her Senior Brother think poorly of her. After resting a bit, she would grit her teeth and chase after him again.
"Se… Senior Brother… you're not human…"
"Hey, hey, hey! Who are you calling not human? How am I not human?"
After the morning's training session, the little fox lay on the ground, panting like a broken bellows, half-lidded eyes full of despair.
Lin Beiya felt deeply insulted. You're the one who is not human! Your whole family is not human!
Realizing she had said something wrong, Hu Liena hurriedly got up, waving her hands in panic.
"No—no! That's not what I meant!"
For her first day of training, running 10 kilometers without weights was already her limit.
Meanwhile, Lin Beiya—wearing a hundred-kilogram weighted suit—finished 20 kilometers like it was nothing, then moved on to weighted push-ups, frog jumps, squats…
A whole series of high-intensity workouts left the little fox stunned and filled her with deep admiration.
As expected, obtaining a thousand-year second soul ring wasn't something that could be done easily. After all, Lin Beiya had clearly maintained this level of intense training for a long time—only then could he handle everything with such ease.
"Being able to run this far on your first try is already impressive. You have to know that she…"
Thinking of Qian Renxue, who had been away for several months, Lin Beiya felt a faint sense of longing. He wondered how she was doing in Heaven Dou City.
Seeing him suddenly stop mid-sentence, Hu Liena couldn't help but ask curiously:
"Who is she?"
"No one. You've already done well—just increase your training little by little. Sweat will never betray your efforts."
After saying that, Lin Beiya no longer paid her any attention and walked toward his quarters, leaving behind the little fox who waved her tiny fist at his back.
"Hmph! Fine, don't tell me then. This lady totally didn't want to know anyway!"
---
Back in his residence, a maid delivered news—Shi Nuo had returned.
The two brothers immediately agreed to meet at a restaurant in Spirit City.
"Beiya, over here!"
"Oh? You look pretty happy. Got the soul ring you wanted?"
"Heh… hehe!"
Shi Nuo scratched his head. Thanks to Lin Beiya urging him early on to focus on physical training—and with the supply of whale rubber—his physique had far surpassed that of soul masters his age.
During this hunt, he obtained a soul ring close to 900 years old. It wasn't a thousand-year ring like Beiya's, but he was already extremely satisfied.
"It was a nearly 900-year-old Vajra Strength Bear. I gained the soul skill 'Vajra Strength Transformation.'"
"I can increase both strength and defense by 50% for ten minutes."
"Not bad. With the amplification from both of your soul rings, your strength is already top-tier among Soul Grandmasters."
Lin Beiya nodded, genuinely happy for his brother. His advice had clearly helped. If not for him, this fool might've actually picked a speed-type soul ring for his second one.
"Right, Beiya—are you still going to participate in the academy's opening tournament?"
"Hm? I think I'll skip it. Feels too much like bullying."
"I figured… Then, about the Taurus Gold Cloth…"
"You can use it. Wear it for the competition—I don't mind."
There were currently no Soul Elders in the Junior Spirit Academy. If Lin Beiya participated, it would indeed be unfair.
Besides, he didn't care for the final rewards. Might as well stay out of it.
But if the chubby guy wore the Taurus Gold Cloth, he could easily take first place.
That would draw the attention of Spirit Hall's upper ranks—something that would benefit Shi Nuo's future immensely.
"Thanks, Beiya."
"No need to be polite. Since you're back, go to the Pope's Palace every morning and have someone notify me. I'll come out and give you the Gold Cloth."
"Alright."
Shi Nuo didn't say more thanks—he had already owed Lin Beiya enough. Gratitude was something he would keep in his heart; if trouble came, he would be the first to charge forward to defend his brother.
Truthfully, watching his good brother break through to the Soul Grandmaster realm, Lin Beiya felt a faint sense of pressure.
After months of cultivation, he had reached nearly rank 27, but his five senses and physique had hit bottlenecks—the improvement had slowed to a crawl.
More importantly, he still couldn't touch the threshold of the Cosmo.
Multiple attempts had proven one thing: without awakening the Cosmo, he couldn't touch the final techniques of the Gold Cloth.
It was like staring at a gorgeous piece of jewelry in a display case… but not being able to afford it.
—
End of Chapter