After parting from Ning Fengzhi and the others, Tianlin went alone to the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, keeping his promise to plant the Blue Silver King in the best spot.
"Holy Spirit Pearl First Soul Skill— Holy Breath Healing!"
Tianlin activated his Holy Spirit Domain and used the healing soul skill. This didn't just heal wounds but also replenished blood and energy.
The Blue Silver King, just like Ah Yin in the original story after absorbing Tang San's blood, recovered much faster.
The small blue-silver grass trembled slightly as if expressing gratitude.
Tianlin had forced its sacrifice, but his compensation gave the Blue Silver King a better future, so it didn't hate him at all.
And Tianlin would, as promised, often use his Holy Spirit Domain to help it grow.
The Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well wasn't just good for the Blue Silver King, but for Tianlin too. The dense ice and fire energy helped make up for the slow progress of extreme attributes.
But now, Tianlin had hit a major bottleneck.
"Level 60 to 70 is truly the hardest for ultimate attributes. Even with the Ice and Fire Yin Yang Well, my cultivation speed isn't even 70% of before."
After half a day's meditation, Tianlin found that even with the environment and domain, his current speed was only comparable to an average innate rank 7 soul master.
It wasn't slow per se, but Tianlin wanted to break through to level 70 before the soul hunting operation.
That way, when he summoned the God of War, his strength would be close to a Soul Douluo.
Back when Chrysanthemum Douluo was weakened to level 91, Tianlin needed him to have used a lot of soul power before daring to fight, but if he was a Soul Douluo himself, killing him would be easy.
Only with that strength could he contribute to the soul hunting operation.
Tianlin stood up, shaking his head. "Forget it. Slow progress is inevitable with ultimate attributes—there's always a trade-off."
"Senior, just cultivate here as you wish; the Holy Spirit aura I left will last for months."
After bidding farewell to the Blue Silver King, Tianlin flew his sword back to Seven Treasure Glazed Tile School.
A brutal scene was unfolding there. After Ning Fengzhi and the others agreed to let Ma Hongjun be trained by Qin Ming, Qin Ming began a hellish training regimen. The results were obvious—Ma Hongjun's combat skills improved greatly.
As a fellow fire-type burst soul master, Qin Ming's experience was very helpful.
Seeing this, Ning Fengzhi had Ning Rongrong, Meng Yiran, and Oscar join the training too.
"You all, get moving! Rongrong, your footwork is good, but your movements are too big and waste stamina. Tianlin can keep the same footwork but minimize movements. From now on, I'll bombard you with flame bullets, and you must learn to dodge with the smallest movements."
"Oscar, eat your mushroom and invisibility sausages first so you can deliver them to teammates quickly and secretly. Throwing them one by one wastes time and risks interception. Do you want to help the enemy?"
"Ma Hongjun, apart from meditation and learning my burst combat style, use the rest of your time to exercise and lose weight. For burst soul masters, hitting your target matters most. Otherwise, with poor endurance, you'll easily fall behind. Stay in shape so you can be agile."
"Yiran, your skills are fine, but your soul power is falling behind. Remember, soul power is everything. From today, two extra hours of meditation!"
Qin Ming's roars made the kids miserable. He was even harsher than Grandmaster, who only made them run laps, but Qin Ming's targeted methods were much more effective.
Gu Ran and Ye Lingling had long returned to the sect. After suffering under Qin Ming once, they had no intention of going back.
Gu Ran didn't even want to care about his big sister; he just wanted to stay far away.
"Teacher Qin, you're as strict as ever," Tianlin called as he landed in the square.
Seeing him return, Ning Rongrong, Ma Hongjun, and the others looked like they'd seen a savior.
Ma Hongjun collapsed at Tianlin's feet, begging, "Boss, save me! Chop my hand off—I don't want this flame right arm soul bone if I can just escape from Senior Qin!"
"Sure!" Tianlin smiled. "But you'll have to wait until you're level 90 to remove a soul bone by sacrificing ten levels. Until then, just accept your fate."
Ma Hongjun was desperate. Level 90? Who knew how long that would take?
He suddenly envied Zhu Zhuqing, who, due to her fake death, had to stay hidden in the bamboo forest, training undisturbed.
"Brother Sword, is this how you, Gu Ran, and Sister Lingling used to train? No wonder your Emperor Team was so strong," Ning Rongrong sighed.
Oscar and Meng Yiran nodded. Qin Ming's targeted training was much more effective than Grandmaster's team-based approach.
Under Qin Ming's training, they'd improved a lot. In just over a year, Ma Hongjun and Oscar reached level 47; Ning Rongrong was level 50 and about to hunt for her fifth ring. Meng Yiran lagged due to talent, now at level 44, but that was still excellent.
Their combat skills had also improved greatly—they might not even lose to the original Star Luo Royal Academy now.
Tianlin patted Ning Rongrong's head, smiling. "Qin Teacher's training is tough, but the results are obvious. As the future sect leader, you must set an example."
Although Tianlin doted on Ning Rongrong, he supported Qin Ming in training. Suffering now for a lifetime of strength was worth it.