Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Chapter 35: Chapter 35 Zhao Yuanzhen: "You are not worthy

Among the Three Arts and Five Spells, the Three Arts consist of the Shifting Technique that enhances movement speed, the Cloud Ascension Technique that breaks free from the grasp of gravity, and the Wall-Penetration Technique that ignores physical barriers.

All three Arts are related to a cultivator's movement, which is the core of any tactics; therefore, mature training methods developed in later generations actually involve creating extremely complex terrain to engage cultivators in comprehensive positioning practice.

However, at this point in time, the overall theoretical research is still not complete, so the Three Arts are practiced on separate grounds—such a design seems rather foolish.

The training ground for the Shifting Technique is a specially designed track and field stadium, featuring a long straight track, a long curved track, and multiple hairpin turns. The cultivator students ran laps around the track, striving to adapt their bodies to the rhythm of casting the Shifting Technique.

Yan Yu watched leisurely and noticed that the majority of students had one flaw: they liked to push the speed of the Shifting Technique too high. Soon, they couldn't keep up the stepping pace with their legs and had to slow down to stabilize themselves before attempting to accelerate to an excessive speed again.

This cycle of speeding up—losing control—slowing down—stabilizing—speeding up again was actually less efficient than maintaining a steady cruising speed; the prerequisite for steady-state cruising is knowing what your maximum controllable speed is... so in the end, it was still a lack of proficiency.

Qiu Ze also excitedly ran a few laps. Similar to his talent in a previous life, he could now invoke the Shifting Technique both swiftly and steadily.

"Coming or not, bro?" He stopped beside Yan Yu and said, "How about running a few laps together?"

Yan Yu responded noncommittally. He wasn't interested in simple running practice, instead, he gestured to the side:

"Why not practice that."

Qiu Ze looked over to where he was pointing; it was the training ground for the Cloud Ascension Technique, arranged to resemble an old town district with narrow alleys, low walls, a forest of telephone poles, and obstructive abandoned cars everywhere, with hardly a clear path in sight.

"You want to practice Cloud Ascension Technique, right?" He hesitated slightly.

"Practice Shifting Technique and Cloud Ascension Technique together." Yan Yu replied, "Follow the designated route from the starting point to the endpoint. The total horizontal distance is about a kilometer, right? Let's aim to complete it within 1 minute and 20 seconds, how about that?"

"1 minute and 20 seconds... How is that even possible!" Qiu Ze was immediately startled.

His exclamation was so loud that the other students practicing the Shifting Technique nearby also came to a halt, looking over with expressions of astonishment.

A distance of one kilometer—if it were a flat terrain track, Qiu Ze was confident he could run it in 1 minute and 20 seconds. But that was the training ground for the Cloud Ascension Technique! There were hardly any normal paths throughout the course; it was mostly about vaulting over walls, leaping over car roofs, and jumping back and forth on rooftops, etc.

Some students tried to follow the designated route with the Cloud Ascension Technique, stumbling along the entire distance in roughly 4 and a half minutes. If they became proficient later on, perhaps they could reduce it to 3 and a half minutes, but 1 minute and 20 seconds...

How could that be possible?!

"Nothing is impossible." Yan Yu knew this guy's thought process was entirely unopened, reminding him, "Keep the Shifting Technique going continuously as much as possible throughout the course, switch to the Cloud Ascension Technique to overcome obstacles when encountered, and then quickly switch back to the Shifting Technique to continue running. Just try to maintain the speed."

Qiu Ze: ..........

It was theoretically possible, sure. Just as when a tiger is pouncing towards you, you could indeed manage a slide under its body, and incidentally slice open its belly with a knife.

It's just that the difficulty seemed to be a wee bit high.

Keep in mind, when cultivators employ the Shifting Technique, they can reach speeds of even 60 yards. If you were to have a car charging at you at 60 yards per second, are you one hundred percent certain you could react in time and dodge to the side?

"Big brother!" Qiu Ze couldn't help but smile wryly; if his previous address of "handsome guy" contained flattery, this time "big brother" was a genuine plea for mercy, "Your proposal seems a bit unrealistic."

"How is it unrealistic?" Yan Yu furrowed his brows.

"You mean, to rush forward with Shifting Technique first," Qiu Ze pointed to the low wall ahead of them, "and at the moment of approaching the wall, interrupt the Shifting Technique, and then initiate Cloud Ascension Technique to vault over it?"

"That's right." Yan Yu said.

"What if it fails?" Qiu Ze looked puzzled.

"Why would it fail?" Yan Yu asked, confused, "Activating the Cloud Ascension Technique allows you to ignore gravity and inertia, you know this, right? No matter how fast you're moving forward, as soon as you start Cloud Ascension Technique, the forward speed immediately drops to zero…"

"But the problem is you need to activate Cloud Ascension Technique on time, every time." Qiu Ze argued somewhat frantically, "When you're charging towards a wall using Shifting Technique, you're going at speeds of over ten meters per second at the fastest, right? What if you initiate Cloud Ascension Technique too slowly?"

"Then you'll smash headfirst into the wall." Yan Yu replied.

"Exactly!" Qiu Ze shouted, excited, "Who can guarantee they can activate Cloud Ascension Technique on time every time!"

"I can," Yan Yu said.

Qiu Ze was once again left speechless by his retort. Due to his previous shouting, a group of students had gradually gathered around, all curious about the commotion.

"Moreover, you all would need to be capable of doing the same," Yan Yu seriously continued, scanning the students around him, his expression suggesting he was not joking, "It's meaningless to run one kilometer under one minute on a flat track; at most, it proves you can use the Shifting Technique.

Pull someone over from the street who drives a motorcycle, they could do it with the aid of a vehicle, perhaps even faster than you."

"Considering real combat, you'd have to maintain a high speed with the Shifting Technique throughout any complex environment and use the Cloud Ascension Technique for flexible maneuvering. Without integrating both, mastering them by heart, no matter how proficiently or quickly you can run with the Shifting Technique, you'll just be a moving target on the battlefield."

He spoke earnestly, uttering uncompromising words that left many students around him displaying indignant expressions.

So, we've been practicing the Shifting Technique on the field all day long, and you're dismissing it as worthless? Not even the instructor said anything, and you're here trying to preach?

Do you think you are better than the instructor?

"If that's the case, why don't you show us what you've got!" suddenly someone in the crowd shouted.

Yan Yu turned his gaze to the source of the voice, recognizing the guy who had eaten with Qiu Ze and him before.

Being typical college students who feared neither heaven nor earth, the challenger held his ground even under Yan Yu's gaze, instead urging him on:

"With all your impressive talk, show us how to run like that so we can learn too!"

"Right!"

"Exactly!"

Several other guys joined in the shouting, giving Qiu Ze meaningful looks.

Qiu Ze, however, hesitated. He could see that Yan Yu had incited anger in the crowd; after all, college guys hated two kinds of people the most: those who boast and pretend a lot, and those who harm pretty girls. Yan Yu had crossed both lines.

But he instinctively felt that Yan Yu wasn't showing off on purpose… Considering that this guy mastered the Three Arts and Five Spells in the few days since the start of the semester, it was possible that his level was indeed higher than ours.

If he was actually feigning incompetence, this could be a death wish for you all!

Facing the jeers and heckling of the crowd, Yan Yu did not immediately agree. He simply shook his head and said:

"I've already mastered it; practicing this further is meaningless."

"So, the big shot thinks it's beneath him to run, right?" The crowd laughed mockingly, taking it as him boasting and then failing to deliver, thereby looking for an excuse to back out.

The guy who had initially spoken up was about to make a sarcastic comment when he heard Yan Yu turn to him and say:

"It's you guys who really need to practice this, not me!"

Everyone was almost ready to burst into laughter at his remark, and the guy got so furious that he confronted Yan Yu:

"How can we learn if you don't demonstrate it for us!"

Yan Yu asked him with confusion:

"The instructor demonstrated the Shifting Technique for you this afternoon. Did I see you running one kilometer in one minute? Even if I showed you on the spot, with your talent, could you really learn it?"

"Damn it!" The young man exploded, turning to Qiu Ze and saying, "I can't take this, Old Qiu!"

"Hey, hey, we're all classmates…" Qiu Ze still tried to mediate and keep the peace, only to hear the guy angrily challenge Yan Yu:

"As you said, run a lap around the Cloud Ascension Technique ground, using the Shifting Technique the whole way without stopping. If you can, I'll call you Daddy; if you can't, you be my son!"

Before Yan Yu could even respond, Zhao Yuanzhen burst through the crowd, seething with anger, pointing at the guy, and cursed:

"Fuck off! You're not fit to claim kinship with the likes of me!"