Chapter 9: Feng Yan's Training

"Commencing Tower Combat Test – Round Two – First Floor – Clay Puppets."

"What an annoying noise! Can't I die in peace?"

Feng Yan heard the mechanical tower's voice from the depths of darkness. She was annoyed that the automated tower had interrupted her peaceful sleep. Feng Yan opened her eyes to find herself in a vast hall once again. In that moment, she realized something was wrong. A flood of countless memories surged into her mind, causing her to scream in pain:

Screaming!!!

Feng Yan clutched her head in agony. It felt like a hot knife was being plunged into her skull, slicing through her brain. The sensation was indescribable. After a minute, Feng Yan collapsed to the ground as the endless stream of memories ceased. A faint aura of ferocity surrounded her as she lay in a pool of sweat, formed by the torment of the memory influx.

"Is this what you meant by a solution, Shun?!"

Feng Yan struggled to her feet, clutching her heavy head and laughing maniacally. She was incredibly relieved. The influx of memories contained detailed recollections of her previous three battles across the three floors. They were shockingly thorough, filled with minute details, and highlighted each of Feng Yan's mistakes, suggesting how to correct them. They even provided a comprehensive analysis of the abilities and techniques of the three types of puppets.

"It seems I was just a girl waving a sword without understanding swordsmanship. The memories reveal that I made over a thousand mistakes in the three battles. This is catastrophic! I think I need to start by addressing my two biggest issues: detection and movement. The root problem for both is my inability to control my spiritual energy. I should start by mastering my spiritual energy control."

Feng Yan clenched her fist, full of determination. She decided to train extensively on the first and second floors before attempting the third. While this had been impossible before, after her death in the first round and the start of the second, Feng Yan gained new privileges!

Firstly, Feng Yan now had the ability to rematch the puppets she had previously defeated in the first round. This meant that she could now reset the clay puppets after defeating them instead of receiving a green mist, allowing her to face them again an unlimited number of times.

Secondly, Feng Yan could now control when the ten gates would open, meaning the battle would not start until she was ready. This was incredibly advantageous as it allowed her to recover her mental strength and devise strategies before the battle commenced.

Thirdly, Feng Yan would receive a detailed report at the end of each round, summarizing all the battles and training sessions from the previous round, just as she had received at the end of the first round. This made the combat tower a miraculous treasure for creating miracles.

"Control Panel!"

Feng Yan shouted aloud. Instantly, a transparent screen appeared before her, featuring several buttons. Without taking time to explore the functions of each button, she pressed one labeled "Start Battle!"

Open!

Immediately after pressing the button, the ten gates began to open, revealing the clay puppets behind them. Feng Yan was excited, as she planned to fight these puppets for about twenty rounds to learn how to control her spiritual energy internally. The clay puppets moved, and the battle began. Feng Yan attempted to control her spiritual energy but to no avail. After two minutes, she had crushed all the clay puppets without feeling her spiritual energy at all. She spoke to herself while standing amidst the puppet debris:

"It seems this won't be as simple as I thought!"

She then summoned the control panel and restarted the battle...

A third time...

A fourth time...

...

The tenth time...

By the end of the tenth round, Feng Yan had managed to partially control the direction of her spiritual energy. While not perfect, there was a noticeable improvement. What kept Feng Yan going was the strange energy she received when her body reached its peak capacity. This strange energy wasn't something her spiritual core could absorb, but rather an energy her body absorbed, restoring its strength. Because of this, Feng Yan never stopped, becoming a tireless killing machine.

"This is amazing. Now I can control my spiritual energy well enough to enhance any part of my body as needed. It's time to move to the second floor for the next phase of training!"

Feng Yan summoned the control panel and began her ascent to the second floor. She received a green mist before ascending and broke through to the third step, feeling slightly stronger and celebrating this minor improvement. Upon reaching the second floor, the battle with the wooden puppets began.

Feng Yan focused initially on her movement by channeling her spiritual energy to enhance her legs. She didn't succeed in the first round, but by the second and third rounds, she gradually improved. She became much faster, able to defeat the wooden puppets more swiftly and without expending as much energy or injuring herself as she had before.

By the tenth round, Feng Yan was close to matching the speed of the Evil Puppets but hadn't yet achieved their agility. This left her unsatisfied, prompting her to continue refining her skills.

She continued fighting until she reached the thirtieth round:

"Finally, I can say my speed surpasses the Evil Puppets, but unfortunately, this technique I've created can only be used five times with my current abilities. I think my technique needs a name. What should I call it?

Got it! I'll call it the Movement Technique: Butterfly Flutter!"

Feng Yan found this name fitting for the powerful movement technique she had developed. She was very proud of her hard work and the incredible technique she had created. This wasn't the only technique she had produced; there were others, but in Feng Yan's opinion, they hadn't yet reached the stage of being called techniques. They were more like martial arts forms than combat techniques.

Feng Yan decided to name her martial arts form later when it was complete. Martial arts were no less important than combat techniques. Although combat techniques were stronger, they consumed much more spiritual energy than martial arts forms. Therefore, mastering a martial art was more important than mastering a combat technique.

"If I continue at this pace, I'll become invincible. With the ability to return after death in each round, I should unleash myself without any restraints, right, Shun?"

Feng Yan whispered to herself as she prepared to face the Evil Puppets again. Despite not addressing one of her major flaws—her inadequate detection skills against the swift and agile Evil Puppets who attacked with top-notch assassination techniques—she knew that attempting to defeat them was sheer folly. But for someone who didn't fear death, there was no harm in trying!

...

"Feng Yan is treading the path of her predecessors, believing that being invincible against death means there's nothing to fear. In reality, this advantage is both a lifesaving elixir and a deadly poison. I hope she realizes this before it's too late."

Shun sighed as she watched Feng Yan's performance. She noticed a faint death aura forming around her, an aura so subtle that no one else would detect it. Shun had seen this countless times before and was accustomed to such a slight transformation, which, given time, could turn into something that would swallow its bearer into an abyss of no return.