Douluo Continent: I am the true master

Chapter 14 Xiao Lie Wants to Become Stronger

In the following days, no noble dared to cause trouble for Sanshe. Ye Wen proved with his strength that even if his martial soul was not an offensive martial soul, these noble scum who had not yet obtained their soul rings were definitely no match for him.

Having experienced that defeat, Xiao Lie became much more composed than before, when he was carefree and arrogant, and his eyes were always filled with contemplation.

"I'll be 12 in a year, but by then my soul power probably won't even reach level 15. Why is that kid so much stronger than me? Our innate soul power is about the same as level 4. And my martial soul is such a powerful offensive beast martial soul."

After much contemplation, Ye Wen's calm and decisiveness during battle kept replaying in his mind.

Looking at his own meager cultivation level, Xiao Lie couldn't help but chuckle. He understood that his poor performance was entirely his own doing. He was also a terrible student, never paying attention in class. He wanted to become stronger, but had no way to do so, and his anxiety began to grow.

"No, I must become stronger. Even if I can't obtain a noble title, I can't continue to wallow in self-pity so that my mother can live a truly superior life."

I'm different from my mother. I'm a true Soul Master. As long as I cultivate diligently, with my talent—as my father said—even if I'm terrible, I can still reach the Soul Venerable level. Even if I can't compare to my father, I can still give my mother a good life, so she won't have to suffer people's scorn anymore.

Seemingly having made up his mind, Xiao Lie's eyes turned fierce, and he began to strengthen his resolve.

"Boss, I heard that two new girls have arrived at Cuiying Tower. Their skin is so tender, why don't we go and have some fun?"

Xiao Lie's strategist, seeing his boss's sullen mood these past few days, knew it was time for him to step in and quickly went up to flatter him.

But Xiao Lie remained unmoved, glanced at him and said, "Go by yourself if you want to. Don't follow me anymore. I need to focus on my cultivation."

After saying that, Xiao Lie turned around and walked towards the direction of the Third Dormitory.

The lackey was stunned by the situation, but seeing Xiao Lie's resolute expression, he dared not continue to flatter him.

"Damn it, what a waste of all that effort!" the lackey muttered dejectedly.

The so-called aristocratic group at Notting Junior Academy is actually only a small part. The majority are self-taught students from the city. Although they do not have noble status, they are quite wealthy. However, if their families want to climb the social ladder, they need to curry favor with some nobles who have a lot of valuable resources.

The lackey was clearly this kind of person. He couldn't curry favor with the top nobles, but Xiao Lie, although not a noble in the traditional sense, could still get some influence with the city lord and get some benefits for his family. Unfortunately, the plan failed before it even started, which really angered him.

Unfortunately, he was still just a child. If he were an adult, he would have shamelessly continued to pester Xiao Lie, expressing his loyalty. Although a Soul Master wasn't much in a larger city, it was extremely rare to find someone with the aptitude to cultivate to the Soul Master level in this remote town.

Xiao Lie arrived at the Third Dormitory again, but he was somewhat surprised to see it empty.

It's afternoon practice time now, and most people will return to their dormitories to practice quietly.

But can someone tell me where that huge group of people went?

However, he was once the top dog at Notting College. Xiao Lie casually asked a part-time student who came out of the next dormitory to get a drink of water.

"Where are the people from the third dormitory?"

The work-study student in front of him swallowed timidly and pointed to the back mountain, speaking softly.

"The older brothers from the third dormitory are all cultivating there. I heard it's a cultivation method created by their leader."

Upon hearing about the unique cultivation method, Xiao Lie's eyes lit up. Wasn't he here to find Ye Wen precisely to become stronger? Hearing that Ye Wen and the others indeed had their own unique cultivation method, he felt a surge of excitement and asked out of curiosity.

"What kind of cultivation method is it? Do you know?"

The work-study student didn't answer immediately. After all, peeping into the secrets of others' cultivation was a major taboo in the world of Soul Masters, even for students like them who hadn't yet become Soul Masters. Yet, he had still managed to peek. Or rather, practically every work-study student eager to become stronger had done so.

Seeing the student stammering, Xiao Lie urged impatiently, "Speak quickly!"

"I don't know the specifics, but when I went to peek, they were constantly lifting very heavy things and practicing with each other."

"Weightlifting? Sparring?" Xiao Lie muttered to himself.

He abandoned the work-study student and walked towards Ye Wen's direction.

"Hey!"

"ha!"

"Ugh—"

"what!"

Even before getting close, Xiao Lie could clearly hear the various heavy, painful breaths.

After crossing a grove of trees, the cultivation of the three students was finally exposed to Xiao Lie.

One by one, the boys, shirtless, were doing handstands, horse stances, push-ups, and running at high speeds, among other things.

Ye Wen, whom Xiao Lie was targeting, was squatting and standing up while holding a huge barbell. Sweat poured down his body, soaking the ground.

"Hiss!" Seeing this scene, Xiao Lie couldn't help but feel that he had made a contribution to the global greenhouse effect.

He wasn't particularly surprised by the training that the ordinary students in the third dormitory did, because his father often trained his body in the same way, and he had also told him when he was young that a Soul Master not only needs to cultivate Soul Power, but also needs to cultivate his body.

Otherwise, he would only become a third-rate Soul Master. Unfortunately, he was still young at the time and quickly forgot about those words.

What truly surprised him was the barbell Ye Wen was carrying.

If his eyes were not mistaken, the barbell was forged from pure iron, the same material as the weapons used by the guards at the gate of the house.

Ordinary weapons are fine; they don't use much iron, and a spearhead weighs only three or four pounds.

However, Xiao Lie estimated that the barbell Ye Wen used probably weighed 800 jin (400 kg).

Even with his own martial soul, Ye Wen might not be able to lift such a weight, but he could tense all his muscles, and even Xiao Lie's appearance did not affect the speed of Ye Wen's squat.

He moved closer to examine the weight of the weight marked 100 jin on the iron plates of the barbell. Xiao Lie counted them carefully; there were exactly eight iron plates, weighing eight hundred jin. He was secretly horrified.

"He has this power but doesn't have a beast spirit. How did this guy train his body? Even if he didn't use his spirit to possess me that day, I probably wouldn't be able to withstand one punch."

At this moment, Ye Wen also stopped his physical training, not because of Xiao Lie's interference, but because he had already reached the standard he had set for himself.

It’s too late.

(End of this chapter)