Chapter 390: Special Training

Zu'an laughed. "That's enough then. This ability should grow stronger as my cultivation improves."

Initially, the "Great Wind" technique could only be used once before almost all his *qi* was depleted. Now, he could use it multiple times consecutively, and each use allowed him to cover a greater distance than before. Therefore, the "Hundred Cries" ability would also be able to affect and control increasingly powerful individuals in the future.

Mi Li, however, looked serious. "You must not be careless. Psychic abilities are indeed rarer than elemental ones, and they offer a greater advantage. However, they are also a double-edged sword. If you encounter someone far stronger than yourself, or with more potent psychic energy, attempting a psychic attack on them could easily backfire. At best, your mind would be severely damaged and your strength greatly diminished; at worst, your soul could be obliterated, leaving you a mere shell of a body, a complete idiot."

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid. I wouldn't use it on someone with higher cultivation than me," Zu'an said. He knew she was misunderstanding; the "Hundred Cries" ability wasn't tied to his psychic power, so the situations she worried about wouldn't occur. However, the reasons were difficult to explain, so he simply agreed with her.

Mi Li nodded then. "Right, try punching me."

Zu'an was confused.

"Punch me with all your strength. There's something I need to confirm," Mi Li prompted.

Zu'an worried, "What if... what if I hurt you?"

With his improved cultivation, he felt his body brimming with explosive power. If she were in her normal state, he wouldn't doubt that even ten times his full strength wouldn't harm her, let alone just his full strength. But now she was only a soul body, much more fragile overall, which naturally caused concern.

Mi Li smiled confidently. "Don't worry, you can't hurt me yet. Go on, punch!"

Seeing her insistence, Zu'an took a deep breath. "Alright, I've never heard such a request in my life, but I'll indulge you!"

The moment he finished speaking, he moved abruptly, channeling all his *qi* into a punch that whistled through the air.

Mi Li's face flushed. As she dodged backward, she secretly cursed, "That brat, he could have aimed anywhere else, but he just *had* to aim for my chest!"

Rage points from Mi Li +33!

He truly misunderstood. Zu'an chose that spot mainly because it wasn't a vital point, and there was a thick layer of cushioning there, so if anything unexpected happened, she wouldn't be hurt. Zu'an was puzzled by the rage points appearing in his system. This woman asked him to punch her; why was she getting angry now?

Mi Li dodged back slightly, then extended a hand like white jade and caught his fist directly. Zu'an felt as if his fist had sunk into a ball of cotton, and all his strength vanished like a clay ox entering the sea. What surprised him more was that despite Mi Li being a soul body, her touch was remarkably similar to a normal person's. She had the same feel, and even body temperature, though it was much colder than usual.

Mi Li released his hand and said with some relief, "Just as I thought."

"What is it?" Zu'an asked curiously.

Mi Li explained, "When you fought me in the secret realm before, I found it strange. Your combat power far exceeded what your cultivation level should allow. I initially thought it was due to the enhancement from the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra, but now it seems there's much more to it than that."

"Now that you have no injuries, this should be your normal strength. However, your *qi* intensity, strength, and speed are all much higher than those of other cultivators at Rank 5, Tier 4."

"I just tested it myself. Your *qi* intensity is roughly comparable to that of an early Rank 6 cultivator."

"Early Rank 6!" Zu'an was quite surprised. Although he had always felt that fighting above his rank wasn't too difficult, he had never had a concrete understanding of his actual power level.

"It must be the credit of the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra that you cultivate. It truly lives up to its name as a legendary miraculous cultivation method," Mi Li continued. "However, there are pros and cons. I've observed that your leveling speed is much slower than normal. Considering you have super-tier aptitude, this speed should be impossible."

"I knew it!" Zu'an instantly realized. Each rank of the Phoenix Nirvana Sutra forms nine arrays, and each array requires an increasing number of energy fruits to fill. The first three ranks were fine, but later on, it became an astronomical figure.

For example, the fifth array of the fifth rank currently requires 2.1 billion energy fruits, and each energy fruit extracted requires an average of 1000 rage points. This means he would need over 2.1 billion rage points in total! Previously, the most rage points he had ever earned at once was around 200,000. He had no idea when he would accumulate enough energy fruits for an upgrade. This was just Rank 5, Tier 5. He dared not imagine the rage points required for later arrays. Hearing Mi Li's explanation, he finally felt completely relieved.

"You don't seem discouraged?" Mi Li admired his mindset.

"Why would I be discouraged? This is standard for protagonists!" Zu'an laughed. All the web novels he read before transmigrating were like this: protagonists level up much slower than ordinary people for various reasons, but each level they gain is far more potent, allowing them to consistently defeat opponents of higher ranks.

"Protagonist?" Mi Li furrowed her brow, not quite understanding, but she had grown accustomed to his novel vocabulary over time.

"One more thing. I also watched your fight with that Old Man Mi. I realized that besides the cultivation gap, the reason you were restrained was also due to the movement technique I taught you. You could only create two illusions, and he could easily grab both due to his higher cultivation. If you could split into three or more, it wouldn't be so easy for him to catch you, even if you encountered him again."

Zu'an gave a wry smile. "But I practiced a lot before, and I could only ever split into two."

Mi Li said, "That's because your cultivation was too low before. Now that you've reached Rank 5, with more training, you should have a chance to split into three. Watch out!"

As she spoke, she brandished a bamboo stick she had snapped off at some point and directly lashed it at him.

"Ouch!"

When the bamboo stick hit him, Zu'an immediately felt a searing pain and cried out involuntarily. His body had been tempered by the Primordial Chaos Sutra, and he wouldn't feel this much pain even if an ordinary person attacked him with a knife. He never expected Mi Li's casually picked bamboo stick to be so potent.

"You're not allowed to fight back. You can only use your movement technique to dodge," Mi Li paused, then added, "Of course, even if you did fight back, it wouldn't make a difference."

Zu'an grumbled inwardly, *Is this woman taking the opportunity to get revenge on me?* However, seeing the bamboo stick lash out again, he had no time to be distracted. He quickly activated the improved "Sunflower Mirage," splitting into two figures that darted in different directions.

Unfortunately, another yelp of pain rang out the next second. Mi Li's bamboo whip had accurately struck his backside again.

"I'm not playing anymore, you're cheating! You taught me this movement technique, so of course you know where I'm going to dodge!" Old Man Mi at least didn't know his improved movement technique, but Mi Li knew it perfectly.

Zu'an, clutching his backside, stared intently at her. *Does this woman have some peculiar fetish? Her beauty and demeanor, combined with the bamboo whip in her hand, made her look like a true dominatrix.*

"If you could create three illusions, wouldn't I miss you then?" Mi Li's lips curved upward slightly. *Why did hitting this guy just now feel so... delightful?*

As she spoke, the bamboo whip in her hand lashed out again. Seeing that she was serious, Zu'an had no choice but to scramble and roll to dodge. Soon, the mountain wilderness echoed with successive howls.

"Ah!""Ahhh!""Hmm? Ah~"

***

It's really cold in Chongqing now. Sitting at home makes it easy to feel like you're freezing. The air conditioner's heating effect seems to be almost zero. Last year's small heater broke, so I quickly bought another one.