Chapter 393: Special Training

Zu’an laughed heartily: "That's enough then. This should become stronger as my cultivation improves."

Initially, "Great Wind" could only be used once, exhausting almost all of his primal energy. Now, he can use it several times consecutively, and each "Great Wind" allows him to travel a greater distance than before. Therefore, the individuals that "Hundred Calls" can influence and control will also become stronger in the future.

Mi Li, however, adopted a serious expression: "You must not be careless. Psychic abilities are indeed rarer and more uncommon than other elemental abilities, and they offer a greater advantage. However, this is also a double-edged sword. If you encounter someone far stronger than yourself, or someone with stronger mental power, attempting a psychic attack on them can easily backfire. At best, your mind will suffer severe damage, greatly reducing your strength; at worst, your soul could be extinguished, leaving you as a mere physical shell, a complete imbecile."

"Don't worry, I'm not stupid. I wouldn't use it on someone with a higher cultivation level than mine," Zu’an said. He knew she was misunderstanding, as the ability of "Hundred Calls" was likely not tied to his mental power, so the situations she feared wouldn't occur. However, the reasons were difficult to explain, so he simply agreed with her.

Only then did Mi Li nod. "Right, try punching me."

Zu’an: "???"

"Punch with all your might. There's something I need to confirm," Mi Li reminded him.

Zu’an was a little worried. "What if... what if I hurt you?"

With his cultivation improved, he felt an explosive power coursing through his entire body. If she were in her normal state, he wouldn't doubt for a second 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 made him worry.

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 grant it!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he moved abruptly, channeling all his True Qi into a punch that even carried a whistling sound of tearing wind.

Mi Li's face flushed. As she dodged backward, she cursed inwardly, "This brat, out of all places to punch, he aims for the chest!"

Rage points from Mi Li: 33!

He had truly misunderstood. Zu’an chose that spot mainly because he thought it wasn't a vital area, and there was a thick layer of fat there to provide a cushion, so even if something went wrong, it wouldn't seriously harm her.

Zu’an was somewhat puzzled by the rage points appearing in his system. This woman told him to punch her; why was she getting angry now?

Mi Li dodged back slightly, then extended a jade-like palm to directly catch his fist. Zu’an felt as if his hand had sunk into a ball of cotton, and all his strength vanished like a mud ox entering the sea. What surprised him even more, however, was that Mi Li, despite being a soul body, felt remarkably similar to a normal person upon contact. She had the same sense of touch 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 Scripture, but now it seems there's much more to it than that."

"Now that you have no injuries, this should be the strength you exert in your normal state. However, your primal energy intensity, strength, and speed are all higher than those of other cultivators at Fifth Rank, Fourth Stage—significantly higher, in fact."

"I just tested it myself, and your primal energy intensity is roughly comparable to that of an early Sixth Rank cultivator."

"Early Sixth Rank!" Zu’an was astonished. While he had always felt that fighting above his level wasn't that difficult, he never had a concrete understanding of it.

"This must be due to the Phoenix Nirvana Scripture you cultivate. It truly lives up to its reputation as a legendary wondrous cultivation method," Mi Li continued. "However, there are pros and cons. From my observations recently, your leveling speed is much slower than that of ordinary people. Considering your exceptional talent, you absolutely shouldn't be progressing at this pace."

"I knew it!" Zu’an immediately realized. The Phoenix Nirvana Scripture forms nine formations in each rank, and each formation requires more and more primal energy fruits to fill. The first three ranks were manageable, but later ones demanded astronomical numbers. For example, the fifth formation in the Fifth Rank currently requires a total of 2,178,309 primal energy fruits. Since each fruit on average costs 1,000 rage points, the total rage points needed would exceed 2.1 billion! He recalled that the most rage points he had ever earned before was only around 200,000. It was impossible to know when he would accumulate enough primal energy fruits for an upgrade. This was just for Fifth Rank, Fifth Stage. He couldn't even imagine the rage points required for the later formations.

Only after hearing Mi Li's explanation did he feel completely relieved.

"You don't seem discouraged?" Mi Li was quite impressed by his mindset.

"Why would I be discouraged? Isn't this standard for a protagonist!" Zu’an chuckled. Weren't all the web novels he read before transmigrating like this? Protagonists, for various reasons, level up much slower than ordinary people, but the quality of each level is far higher, allowing them to defeat opponents beyond their rank every time.

"Protagonist?" Mi Li frowned, not quite understanding, but she had long grown accustomed to the strange new terms he used.

"One more thing. I also watched your previous fight with Old Man Mi. I noticed that you were restrained by him not only because of the cultivation gap but also because of the movement technique I taught you. You could only create two illusory figures, and he, relying on his cultivation, could grab both. If you could split into three or more, it wouldn't be so easy for Old Man Mi to catch you, even if you met him again."

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

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

With that, she brandished a bamboo stick she'd picked up from somewhere and directly lashed it at him.

"Ow!"

When the bamboo stick struck him, Zu’an immediately felt a burning pain and couldn't help but cry out. It was well-known that his body had been tempered by the Primordial Chaos Scripture; even if an ordinary person were to slash him with a knife, he wouldn't feel such pain. Who would have thought that a casual bamboo stick picked up by Mi Li would 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 muttered inwardly, *Is this woman taking the opportunity to get revenge on me?*

However, seeing the bamboo stick lashing out again, he had no time to be distracted. He quickly activated the improved "Sunflower Mirage," splitting into two figures that moved in two different directions. Unfortunately, the next second, another scream rang out. Mi Li's bamboo whip had once again precisely struck him on the buttocks.

"I'm not playing anymore, you're cheating! You taught me this movement technique, so of course you know which way I'll dodge!"

Old Man Mi at least didn't know about his improved movement technique, but Mi Li knew all about it.

Zu’an clutched his buttocks, staring intently at her. *Does this woman have some kind of special fetish? Her beauty and aura, combined with her holding a bamboo whip, made her look exactly like an S&M queen.*

"If you could create three figures, wouldn't I miss?" Mi Li's lips curved slightly upwards. *Why did it feel so... pleasant when she just whipped him?*

As she spoke, the bamboo whip in her hand lashed out again. Seeing that she was serious, Zu’an could only scramble and roll to dodge. Soon, continuous wails echoed through the mountains and fields.

"Ah!"

"Ah, ah!"

"Hm? Ah!"