50. Taking small steps

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Quan Yi gently rubbed his cheeks, the cold, hard texture of the Sun Gauntlets grounding him, sharpening his focus.

"Calm down… take it one step at a time."

He muttered the words under his breath, reminding himself not to get ahead of himself. This was just the first step—no one could master a technique in a single attempt.

"Let's start with two."

He decided to limit the number of fire outlets, focusing on what he could control.

"Pfft—pfft—"

With the infusion of soul power, two miniature jets of flame erupted from the surface of his gauntlets, positioned on his forearm.

Both tail flames angled slightly backward, their color shifting instantly from red to white—a clear sign that the flames had been compressed in a short amount of time.

At the exact moment of color change, Quan Yi threw a punch forward, channeling the propulsive force into his strike.

"Whoosh!"

The difference was immediate—his punch was significantly faster and heavier. The air itself seemed to split, producing a distinct sonic snap as his fist cut through it.

The sheer force of the propulsion nearly threw him off balance. Fortunately, his exceptional physical strength allowed him to stabilize himself before he stumbled forward.

"No… it's still not right."

The power had indeed increased greatly, but Quan Yi shook his head, dissatisfied.

During the punch, he had distinctly felt two separate propulsive forces pushing against his arm.

This caused a slight deviation—his fist didn't land exactly where he intended.

The strength of his punch and the propulsion force were still not in perfect harmony.

Without hesitation, Quan Yi took a deep breath and repeated the steps, throwing another punch.

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The entire playground echoed with rhythmic bursts of air, the sharp cracks of his fists slicing through the stillness.

His focus sharpened—each punch executed with absolute concentration.

Just like when he first learned boxing, he immersed himself in every movement, feeling every shift in force with the mindset of a beginner.

Quan Yi knew the truth—

There were no shortcuts to mastering this skill.

Only through relentless, day-after-day practice could he achieve true proficiency.

As the training continued, his movements became smoother, his concentration more refined. He thought of nothing else—only the subtle changes in each punch, making constant micro-adjustments to achieve perfect unity between strength and propulsion.

Whenever his right arm tired, he switched to his left.

Whenever his soul power ran low, he sat cross-legged to meditate, recovering as quickly as possible.

The entire afternoon passed in this tedious, repetitive cycle.

By the time he finally stopped, the sky had begun to darken, the sun slowly sinking beyond the horizon.

Quan Yi collapsed onto the ground, grabbing a handful of dried meat and devouring it ravenously.

The additional training had pushed his energy consumption far beyond the usual, and if he wanted to maintain his boxing practice in the evening, he needed to replenish his strength.

As the dried meat settled in his stomach, a warm current spread from his abdomen, flowing steadily into his limbs and bones.

A satisfied smile crept onto his face.

For the first time today, he allowed himself to relax, quietly enjoying this brief moment of peace.

After an entire afternoon of relentless training, he had finally begun to grasp the simplest balance of forces.

His straight punches were now almost perfectly aligned, and when he punched with full force, he could strike in a straight line without deviation.

However—

It still required his full concentration.

If he lost focus, even slightly—errors would occur.

It was only the first day, yet Quan Yi was already satisfied with his progress. With that, his mindset became calmer.

At the beginning, however, he had been restless and eager, spurred by the endless potential of the propulsion technique.

The excitement of discovering something groundbreaking had made him impatient to master it.

But as he repeated the motions over and over again, that initial rush of excitement gradually settled into focused discipline.

"A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step."

Quan Yi understood now—true mastery could only be achieved through steady accumulation.

It was the same with physical training and soul power cultivation.

Even though only a week had passed since he began his current training regimen, he could clearly feel the progress.

His Body Was Changing.

Thanks to the combined effects of soul power cultivation and consuming soul beast meat, his physical fitness was rapidly improving.

Recently, he had noticed that his clothes and shoes no longer fit properly.

It wasn't because they had shrunk—it was because his body was growing stronger, silently but surely.

His soul power was growing too.

Because he cultivated in a mimicry environment every night, his soul power improvement was no less significant than his physical growth.

Additionally, he had been refining his cultivation method, making small optimizations to his soul power circulation path.

The results weren't immediately noticeable, but he knew—this effort would pay off in the near future.

After finishing his meal, Quan Yi sat quietly on the playground, using this moment of rest to think about tomorrow's combat training.

A thought crossed his mind—

'What kind of expression will Teacher Bai Yan have tomorrow?'

Their victories today and yesterday had been largely due to strategy, but in reality, it was also because Teacher Bai Yan had underestimated them.

Objectively speaking, the combined strength of Quan Yi and Huo Wu already exceeded that of a Level 20 Spirit Master.

After all, Quan Yi alone was already far stronger than the average Level 20 cultivator.

This meant that Teacher Bai Yan had seriously misjudged their capabilities.

Tomorrow would not be so easy.

That was precisely why Quan Yi had been experimenting with new techniques—

Everything was in preparation for the battle ahead.

Even though his opponent was his teacher, in a fight where victory and defeat mattered, he had to give it his all.

Even if it was just a training session, he refused to hold back.

That was the standard he set for himself.

But it was because of that high standard that he would face even greater pressure from Teacher Bai Yan.

And yet, to Quan Yi, pressure was a form of motivation.

This was a rare opportunity to hone his combat skills in a safe environment—an opportunity he would not waste.

Now, with the propulsion technique added to his arsenal, he had yet to solve his mobility problem, but he had made significant progress in his striking speed.

Quan Yi was almost certain—

If Teacher Bai Yan engaged in close combat with him, he would definitely be able to land a hit using the propulsion technique.

Even if Huo Wu had to step in, he would still ensure that he remained undefeated.

But despite his confidence, there was still a lingering unease in his heart—

A doubt that had been bothering him since yesterday.

Quan Yi's mind flashed back to the first battle.

Before the fight, Teacher Bai Yan had said something that unsettled him.

"Don't be afraid to use the Seal of Rhinoceros."

At first, he thought she simply meant that he should try engraving the seal on her—

But after the battle, he realized something troubling.

Even with his Level 16 soul power, his teacher had been unable to completely neutralize the implosion effect of the Seal of Rhinoceros.

This meant that if he successfully engraved it directly onto her body, she would have no way to avoid its destructive force.

And yet, her tone had been completely indifferent.

That was what confused him.

Had she already found a way to counter it?

Or had she simply not cared about the risk?

For that reason, Quan Yi had chosen to fight alongside Huo Wu in both battles.

It wasn't just because he refused to abandon his teammate—

But also because deep down, he felt uneasy.

If Teacher Bai Yan truly had a method to neutralize his Seal of Rhinoceros, then even if he enhanced his punches with propulsion, he might still be unable to defeat her.