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The next morning.
Sunlight streamed through the window onto Ning Rongrong's bed.
"Hmm~" With a lazy sigh, Ning Rongrong slowly sat up from her bed. Perhaps it was due to yesterday's Cultivation, but Ning Rongrong had slept exceptionally soundly last night.
Moving her still somewhat soft legs, she lingered in bed for another half an hour before lazily getting up.
Fortunately, after the medicinal bath, Ning Rongrong's legs, aside from being a bit soft, had no other discomfort.
After tidying up, as soon as she walked out of the dormitory, she noticed seven people in the distance undergoing physical training under the supervision of a middle-aged man, and their training method was the simplest form of running.
"Those people must be from the Heaven Dou Battle Team, right? It seems the teachers at Heaven Dou Royal Academy are nothing special." After curiously watching for a while, Ning Rongrong pouted, then turned and walked towards the dining hall.
The middle-aged man in the square, watching the departing Ning Rongrong, frowned slightly. Ning Rongrong had spoken without any reservations, and the middle-aged man's hearing was also astonishingly sharp; he had heard Ning Rongrong's voice even from that distance.
Of course, besides that, there were some special reasons. Both Ning Rongrong's and Shi Quan's dormitories were actually Heaven Dou-level student dormitories at Heaven Dou Royal Academy.
The students of Heaven Dou Royal Academy were divided into three tiers: newly enrolled students and those below rank 25 were the first tier, called Heaven Micro-level; those between rank 25 and 30 were the Heaven Ultimate-level; and those above rank 30 entered the highest Heaven Dou-level.
Of course, only students with special statuses could reside there, such as the students the middle-aged man was currently training. Although they were not all Heaven Dou-level students, they belonged to the Heaven Dou Battle Team and thus also had the right to live in these dormitories.
This was also why the middle-aged man noticed Ning Rongrong's presence.
"Teacher Qin, those two dormitories seem to have new occupants. Don't you know them?" One of the running teenagers asked the middle-aged man curiously as he passed by.
Heaven Dou Battle Team, Teacher Qin.
These eight people were Qin Ming, Dugu Yan, Yu Tianheng, and their group.
Although the specific roster for the Heaven Dou Battle Team had not been finalized, in reality, if no accidents occurred, the selection of the Heaven Dou Battle Team members would hardly change after the first year's selection.
The main purpose of setting up subsequent selections was only one: to motivate students to Cultivate diligently.
So, the current seven members of the Heaven Dou Battle Team were the original seven from the novel: Yu Tianheng, Dugu Yan, Shi Mo, Shi Mo, Yu Feng, Oslo, and Ye Lingling.
The one who posed the question to Qin Ming was Yu Feng, the owner of the Wind Chime Bird Martial Spirit.
Qin Ming turned to look at Yu Feng, "You still have the energy to ask questions? It seems the training isn't enough. Everyone, add five more laps."
Upon hearing Qin Ming's voice, the seven people on the training ground all let out wails, glaring angrily at Yu Feng.
Yu Feng originally wanted to say something more, but upon seeing Qin Ming's faint gaze, he immediately shut his mouth tightly and buried his head, running earnestly.
Qin Ming shouted sternly, "All of you, run properly! I received news from the Education Committee that the Academy has added a very formidable student this year. He plans to join the Heaven Dou Battle Team and will participate in next week's selection. Don't say we didn't warn you."
Yu Tianheng, as the temporary captain of the Heaven Dou Battle Team, asked, "Teacher Qin, what's that person's name? Why haven't we heard of him?"
"What? You're scared now that you know you have a rival? And you want to inquire about him?" Qin Ming looked at Yu Tianheng with a half-smile.
"Scared?" Yu Tianheng's eyes flickered with electric light as he laughed, "I'm curious if he's worth my time to play with him."
Qin Ming said mysteriously, "You'll know when the time comes. I'm not sure how strong he is, but for any of you, he should be a very interesting opponent."
"Interesting?"
Upon hearing Qin Ming's introduction, everyone couldn't help but show a hint of curiosity. Could the word "interesting" be used to describe an opponent?
"It seems your Energy is still quite abundant today, so let's add five more laps," Qin Ming said again with a chuckle.
Yu Tianheng and the others groaned in distress. They didn't know why their physical training had drastically increased from the very first day of this semester. Now, only two or three days into the semester, all seven felt like they had lost a size, and they were utterly exhausted after every day's training.
On the other side.
Although Heaven Dou Academy was large, a day was enough for Ning Rongrong to explore it.
After having breakfast at the dining hall, Ning Rongrong, having nothing to do, arrived early in the morning at the forest where Shi Quan practiced Mimicry (mimicry) Cultivation. Seeing the empty clearing, she immediately shouted loudly towards the wooden house, "Shi Quan, come out quickly! Your Young Miss is here!"
Shi Quan, who was studying inside the wooden house, heard the shouts from outside, his face darkened, and he sighed, getting up and walking out of the house.
"What are you doing here?"
"I have nothing to do this morning, so I came to play with you. Besides you, I don't know anyone else in the Academy," Ning Rongrong said, swaggering into Shi Quan's wooden house.
"What are you doing?" Ning Rongrong's head scanned the wooden house, and her gaze fell on the book on the table. "You're reading?"
"That's right." Shi Quan walked to the desk and sat down again. Ning Rongrong came to Shi Quan's side, leaning her head forward. "What's this book about? What's so good about it?"
Shi Quan rubbed his temples and said, "This book is about gem-type Martial Spirits. Uncle Ning asked me to help you research the method of Martial Spirit evolution. I need to study, so I don't have time to play with you. You go play somewhere else."
"The method of Martial Spirit evolution?" Ning Rongrong's eyes were full of curiosity. "Shi Quan, I heard your Innate spirit power is only rank one. Is that true?"
"It's true."
Ning Rongrong's eyes widened, and she continued to ask, "Then is your Martial Spirit evolution also true?"
"It's true."
"How did you do it?"
"Studying," Shi Quan said without batting an eye. Although the truth had nothing to do with studying, it was the only answer he could give.
"Studying?" Ning Rongrong continued to ask, "Is there anything else?"
Shi Quan sighed deeply, realizing that if he didn't divert Ning Rongrong's attention, she would probably pester him. He slowly closed the book, looked at Ning Rongrong, and said, "And thinking."
"That's it?"
"Just those two."
Ning Rongrong rolled her eyes at Shi Quan and said, "You make it sound like no one else knows how to study and think."
"Come with me."
Shi Quan led Ning Rongrong out of the wooden house, to the front of the pond.
Shi Quan pointed to the slightly rippling water in the pond and asked, "What thoughts do you have looking at the water in front of you?"
"Thoughts?" Ning Rongrong looked at the clear, bottomless water in the pond and subconsciously said, "Isn't it just water?"
Shi Quan said calmly, "I see the flow of water. If I asked you to think and learn from the flow of water, what could you come up with?"
"The flow of water?" Ning Rongrong stared blankly at the flowing water and said hesitantly, "Think about why water flows? Learn… what is there to learn from this?"
Shi Quan gently shook his head, "What I think about is how to break the flowing water, and what I learn is the power of the flowing water."
"Breaking the flowing water? The power of the flowing water?" Ning Rongrong was even more confused by Shi Quan's words, "What do you mean?"
"Try punching the water with force."
Ning Rongrong squatted down and punched the water surface forcefully. The water surface caved in, splashing a lot of water onto Ning Rongrong. Seeing this, Ning Rongrong felt as if she had been tricked, and immediately stood up, glaring at Shi Quan and saying, "Are you playing with me?"
Shi Quan gently shook his head, raising his hand to signal to Ning Rongrong, "You also punch me with force."
"Punch you?" Ning Rongrong hesitated, confirming, "You're telling me to punch you?"
"Yes." Shi Quan nodded.
"Then I won't be polite." Ning Rongrong's eyes lit up, and she hammered towards Shi Quan's chest.
However, Shi Quan merely raised his hand and moved it lightly; the force in her hand seemed to dissipate into thin air, disappearing completely. The next second, her fist was held tightly in Shi Quan's hand.
Shi Quan released Ning Rongrong's fist and asked, "Do you understand?"
Ning Rongrong stared blankly at her own fist, and after a moment of daze, she finally said, "How did you do that?"
"Studying." Shi Quan pointed to his own head, then put on a profound look and continued, "Learning is endless. All things, in fact, can be our learning targets. When observing people, events, and objects, one cannot be limited to the surface. No matter what, think more, and you will find that everything has something worth learning from."
"You should think about it carefully." Watching Ning Rongrong fall into deep thought, Shi Quan said indifferently, but in his heart, he thought, "Watch me completely trick her into confusion."
After tricking Ning Rongrong, Shi Quan then turned and returned to the house to resume his studies.
The hidden guard in the shadows, after hearing Shi Quan's words, had eyes full of admiration. Originally, he was amazed at how Shi Quan, an Innate rank one waste, had managed to reach his current level. After following Ning Rongrong for these two days, the hidden guard finally understood.
This Shi Quan could not be measured by ordinary people. Just Shi Quan's few brief remarks earlier had greatly benefited him, a Spirit King. It was no wonder that a person with such talent could achieve Heaven-Defying change of fate and evolve his Martial Spirit.
The hidden guard quickly took out paper and pen, writing down everything Shi Quan had just said. They had to report back to Ning Fengzhi every once in a while, and he naturally had to report every single word of today's remarks without error.
Shi Quan didn't think that much; he just wanted Ning Rongrong not to disturb him, so he casually came up with a theory to make Ning Rongrong think for herself, so he could focus on his own matters.
For him, it was just a few words, so he naturally didn't bother to care.
If Ning Rongrong really gained some insight from his words, then that would be her own fortune.
However, how could such things be easily comprehended? Like the martial arts he displayed, weren't they all created by their creators expending immense effort for decades and then refined by generations of successors, only then to be finally created with great difficulty? If it could be easily comprehended, then that person would truly be a genius.