Chapter 62

Snap... Snap... Snap...

The rhythmic sound echoed through the forest. To the left of Lu Ping, there was a tall pile of material fragments, but soon, a smaller pile also formed to his right, the pieces even finer than those on the left.

Success did not come easily. Each time, Lu Ping was careful, careful, and even more careful, but the result was always the same: a snap, and the fragments became even smaller.

But he did not lose heart.

Each time a piece broke, he picked up another, repeating the action over and over. He found no boredom in it, fully engrossed and focused. Wen Yan had been watching from the library window for nearly half an hour, but he did not notice her at all. After half an hour, he paused slightly, as if thinking or organizing something. Then he turned his head to look in another direction, where Su Tang was still wandering aimlessly in the forest, trying various movements. When Lu Ping turned back, he finally saw Wen Yan at the window, and she quickly asked, "What are you guys doing?"

Wen Yan could not understand Su Tang's actions in the forest at all.

At first, she could not understand Lu Ping's actions near the window either, but she eventually saw a pattern.

But Lu Ping's answer was simple: "Cultivating."

As he spoke, he picked up another fragment, focused his mind, sensed the Soul Force, and then carefully injected it into the fragment.

"Hey, take a break!" a voice came, and Wen Yan, who was leaning on the windowsill, spoke again.

Snap...

A light sound, like a sigh, and Lu Ping failed again.

Lu Ping was not frustrated by simple failure, but he was very annoyed by external interference. His gaze, filled with reproach, turned toward Wen Yan.

"Blame me?" Wen Yan said.

"Yes, don't disturb me," Lu Ping said.

Wen Yan was angry. She had been patient for half an hour. She did not understand what strange cultivation Su Tang was doing, but she had figured out something about Lu Ping. She had been present when Lu Ping destroyed all the equipment in the sound transmission room due to his impure control of Soul Force. Now, using this pile of discarded materials, he seemed to be training to address that issue.

But how easy was that? Pure control of Soul Force was a necessary condition for breakthrough. When she had reached the sixth level of Chongzhi Soul Force, it took her eight months to achieve the breakthrough. Even then, she was considered one of the most talented cultivators at Tianzhao Academy. These people from Xianfeng Academy, who claimed to be participating in the Soul Force Competition, were really planning to achieve a breakthrough in just one month?

Wen Yan loved to join in the fun, and any abnormality would be seen as interesting. But this situation did not seem interesting to her at all; it seemed absurd. And this guy was actually blaming her for such an absurd thing. Wen Yan did not feel the least bit apologetic; she felt a bit wronged.

But Lu Ping clearly did not intend to pay her any more attention. He lowered his head to continue cultivating, but when he saw the fragment in his hand, he paused.

The fragment was cracked but not completely broken, with a small part still connected, hanging from the main piece.

This was a situation that had never occurred before. The same material, the same strength, had always broken completely before, but this time it did not. Did this mean progress?

Progress was certainly something to be happy about, but how had it been achieved? His control did not seem particularly different at the moment. Just as he was about to inject the Soul Force into the fragment, Wen Yan's voice had interrupted him. Then, the fragment broke as it usually did, but this time, the break was slightly less severe.

Was it a coincidence? Or did the distraction from hearing her voice actually enhance his control?

Lu Ping could not be sure. He looked up, a bit confused, and saw Wen Yan, who was still leaning on the window, looking at him angrily.

"You can't even control pure, single Soul Force, and you think you can achieve the breakthrough in a month? That's too naive, isn't it?"

Opportunity!

Hearing Wen Yan continue, Lu Ping quickly picked up another fragment from the ground. This time, he did not rush but calmed his mind, just as he always did, but he paid attention to what Wen Yan was saying.

"You are really strange. Your Soul Force is clearly very powerful, so why can't you do such a simple thing? Even stranger, why can't I sense your Soul Force most of the time?"

Snap!

The fragment in Lu Ping's hand broke again.

"Hey, are you listening to me?" Wen Yan shouted.

"I am, I am!" Lu Ping was happy because this time he had confirmed his hypothesis. Listening to Wen Yan seemed to improve his control. The fragment broke, but not completely, just like the last time.

"Keep talking," Lu Ping said, already picking up another fragment.

"What do you mean, keep talking! It's your turn to answer me. Didn't you hear my question?"

Snap!

A new fragment broke, just like before. This time, Lu Ping was certain that it had something to do with listening to Wen Yan.

"Did you use any ability when you spoke?" he wanted to confirm further.

"What ability?" Wen Yan was irritated. After two attempts, she had also noticed a pattern. As a Chongzhi Soul Force breakthrough cultivator, her eyesight was excellent, and she had noticed that the degree of fragmentation had changed, indicating that Lu Ping's control over Ming Soul Force had improved.

"That's because you were listening to me. This is related to the perception of Ming Soul Force. It unconsciously increases your attention to Ming Soul Force, but the effect is only a little bit, not very valuable," Wen Yan explained, not only noticing but also understanding the principle.

"Okay, keep talking," Lu Ping said, already picking up another fragment, eager to try.

"What do you mean, keep talking!" Wen Yan was angry. At home, she was a young lady, and at the academy, she was a star. Why did she feel like a servant to this mountain bumpkin?

She glared at Lu Ping, and of course, she would not keep talking. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a flat, round object, slapping it on the windowsill. "Use this."

"What is this?" Lu Ping asked.

"Have you never seen a sound recorder?" Wen Yan was surprised. How poor and backward was Xianfeng District?

"Oh, I've heard of it," Lu Ping remembered. Su Tang had described such a device to him, saying that some students had one, and it seemed to be called that.

"Poor guy..." Wen Yan felt a bit sympathetic toward Lu Ping. If he had only heard of it but never seen it, he must have been quite eager.

"This is how it works," Wen Yan's tone softened. "You collect sounds using Ming Soul Force and store them inside. Then, you activate it with Ming Soul Force, and the sounds can be replayed, like this."

Wen Yan tapped it lightly, and without any visible use of Soul Force, melodious music began to play from the flat, round device.

"How is it?"

"Um, using this for cultivation is really convenient!" Lu Ping marveled.

Cultivation? Who said this thing was for cultivation?

Wen Yan could not follow Lu Ping's logic, but he had already picked up another fragment. This time, he listened to the music while controlling his Ming Soul Force.

"If this works for cultivation, why do people work so hard?" Wen Yan muttered.

Snap, a light sound.

That's right! Wen Yan thought, but when she looked, she saw that the fragment in Lu Ping's hand had not broken at all, only a deep crack had appeared, clearly showing progress.

"Nice music," Lu Ping praised the music from the sound recorder.

The pleasant music further enhanced his focus?

Wen Yan thought, but her face quickly turned dark.

Did this mean that her voice was more unpleasant to listen to than the music?

"Damn brat!" Wen Yan muttered, but this time she did not disturb Lu Ping. She clearly saw his improvement in a short time, and what he was doing was not as absurd as she initially thought.

Maybe it's really possible... Wen Yan was thinking when she suddenly felt a sharp Soul Force surge toward her. She quickly ducked behind the window.

Snap!!

Dust rose from the windowsill. Wen Yan stared in shock, seeing that her sound recorder had turned to dust.

"You need to focus on the process, not the result," a voice came from a distance. Under a large tree, the drunk woman was holding a bottle of wine, drinking and lecturing Lu Ping.

(Early, early, did it scare you? If it did, quickly vote for a recommendation!)

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