Ye Lianka followed Guan Tong to a room that resembled an indoor billiards hall. She saw that the several tables inside were all stood upright against the wall, likely arranged by Guan Tong.
"Since what you lack is proficiency in the energy-based manipulation of Mind Power, then practical combat training will naturally focus on that."
Guan Tong said as he walked to the center of the room, turning to ask Ye Lianka, "You've received combat training before, right?"
He thought that if Ye Lianka truly ca from Xisiya Empire nobility, she would definitely have undergone corresponding combat training.
One of the reasons Xisiya Empire nobles were famous worldwide was their educational model of "holistic education." It ant cultivating people as "all-round talents." In ancient tis, this would an mastery in music, chess, calligraphy, painting, archery, horsemanship, spear, and sword.
Ye Lianka nodded. "I've studied traditional Xisiya hand-to-hand combat."
"That's enough then," Guan Tong said. "You attack , I'll only defend. During this process, don't use any items or skills except for Mind Power."
Back when Guan Tong first t Shi Jingyi, in the industrial park warehouse, after she covered her body with Mind Power, the martial arts she displayed smashed through the living dead like breaking dry weeds and rotten wood.
That was the enhancent effect of Mind Power on the body. Since Ye Lianka had studied combat, having her train in practical combat this way was the fastest thod to improve her proficiency.
"I'm starting."
After saying this, Ye Lianka launched her attack, charging forward and throwing a heavy hook punch at Guan Tong.
Her movents were really fast.
One could never tell from Ye Lianka's relatively serene appearance that she could move this quickly. Guan Tong felt she had closed the distance to right in front of him in the blink of an eye.
He raised his arm to block in front of his face. The punch landed with a dull "thud."
Ye Lianka's eyes narrowed slightly. She felt her fist was blocked by sothing like a hard mbrane, not actually making contact with Guan Tong's arm.
"This is the 'shield' ford by Mind Power," Guan Tong explained. "I told you to use Mind Power when attacking. Did you forget?"
He could sense that Ye Lianka's punch was purely brute force, with no Mind Power covering her fist.
"...It feels sowhat uncoordinated," Ye Lianka said.
"Uncoordinated is correct. Usually, your flow is conducted in a static state. But maintaining the flow while your body is in motion is what counts as truly mastering it. Isn't that exactly what you need to practice?"
Guan Tong's tone was sowhat stern. Ye Lianka didn't say anything, continuing to try and circulate Mind Power while attacking.
This lack of coordination imdiately made her attacks sluggish and awkward. There were even instances where she would stop a kick halfway, wait for the flowing Mind Power to cover it, and then complete the kick.
Guan Tong, as he had stated earlier, only defended and did not attack.
In truth, he didn't have much combat skill. He had never learned any, plus in his battles, he rarely engaged in close combat. Most of the ti, he controlled Shadow from mid to long range while staying in a safe position.
Ye Lianka could see this too.
In her eyes, although Guan Tong only defended, his defensive movents were also full of openings, downright clumsy.
Yet, despite such clumsy defensive skills, the enhancent from the Mind Power shield completely neutralized her offense.
Moreover, she keenly noticed that Guan Tong's physical fitness was much better than hers. Many of his defensive moves were achieved through rapid movent.
After more than twenty minutes of this, she was already panting heavily, her forehead covered in a fine layer of sweat, her chest heaving violently.
The Guan Tong in her eyes, however, seed to have just finished warming up. Apart from a slight flush on his face, he didn't even have a single drop of sweat.
Seeing that Ye Lianka's stamina was almost depleted, Guan Tong said to her, "Let's stop here for now. Circulating Mind Power dynamically consus a lot of ntal and physical energy. It's not bad that you could last this long while still unskilled. Go back and think carefully about areas for improvent. We'll practice again next ti."
"......"
After Guan Tong finished speaking, he left first. Ye Lianka stayed by herself for a good while longer, recalling the many details from the practical combat training, thinking about where she could do better.
She then thought about Guan Tong's condition after the fight. Even though he was only defending, he was also continuously circulating Mind Power to maintain the shield. The Mind Power consud in this process was certainly no less than hers, if not more. Yet, he showed no signs of fatigue afterward.
Ye Lianka understood clearly that this ant Guan Tong's Mind Power Upper Limit was probably unusually high. She took a deep breath, knowing that such a good opportunity for advanced study was rare. She must seize it and hone her strength to the required level as soon as possible.
......
"'Mind Network'... how exactly is it constructed?"
After helping Ye Lianka with practical combat training, Guan Tong returned to the shelter and began researching the content ntioned in the Hidden Rule.
Initially, he thought this Mind Network required one person to act as the "host," and then others would use their Mind Power to connect to this host, forming the network.
But no matter how he tried to create this "host," he ended in failure.
This made him feel he might be going in the wrong direction.
"If there's no host, or if everyone is a host, then how do they connect to each other? Through contact of Mind Power? But..."
During the earlier practical combat with Ye Lianka, their Mind Power had already made contact. However, it didn't produce the effect of a "mind connection."
Could it be that both parties need to have this subjective intention simultaneously?
Guan Tong pondered, wanting to experint, but frustratingly found he didn't know who to ask.
He had no acquaintances in the mountain city of Pinglu. To be precise, if he really wanted to find soone for an experint, the only person he could ask was Shi Jingyi.
Because only Shi Jingyi knew his identity.
If he asked soone else, he would have to first tell them the content of the Hidden Rule. Then, naturally, they would wonder, "Why do you know? Isn't the one who knows hidden rule intelligence the Administrator of Ascendant Ho?"
Unless the authorities made it public, then everyone would know, and mutual attempts would naturally be fine.
But the trouble was that Guan Tong couldn't access a computer and couldn't log into the Ascendant Ho website to sell or publicize the intelligence. That being the case, what were the chances that official personnel would suddenly have a flash of inspiration and think of the existence of the Mind Network?
"Should I go find Shi Jingyi? But her current situation isn't very convenient either," Guan Tong thought. "Otherwise, I should use Shadow to leak the Hidden Rule to the authorities, and then have them publicize it."
He felt that if he didn't take the initiative to reveal it, it would be very difficult for soone to stumble upon this Hidden Rule by accident.
After all, the most common situation for Mind Power contact between people is during combat, when their Mind Power weapons collide. But at that mont, both parties would need to simultaneously have the thought of "mind connection" to possibly successfully establish a Mind Network.
The problem is, when two people are fighting, what they're thinking about is how to defeat their opponent and how to protect themselves. Why would they inexplicably think about mind connection?
One can imagine how low the probability of such a situation occurring would be.
However, what Guan Tong didn't expect was that besides this problem, a new issue would soon co looking for him.
The next morning, when he went to the academy, he found Dean Zhou Qinfeng specifically waiting for him outside the classroom, asking him to co to his office for a talk after class, without saying what it was about.
Guan Tong initially didn't know what was going on, but during the class, the students' behavior was also sowhat strange. The way they looked at him and Ye Lianka wasn't quite normal, which gave him a vague guess about the situation.
Sure enough, after class when he went to the Dean's office, Zhou Qinfeng directly asked him if he had been tutoring Ye Lianka individually.
"I'd like to know which regulation this violates?" Guan Tong admitted and then countered.
Zhou Qinfeng gave a bitter smile. "I didn't say you violated any regulations, Teacher Guan. It's just that other students will inevitably have opinions once they know. They'll feel that as a teacher, you should treat everyone equally and shouldn't give individual students extra tutoring."
"This isn't extra tutoring. Ye Lianka Stacia's progress has surpassed the others. What she learns in the regular curriculum is already of little help to her."
"Sigh, the point isn't whether it's tutoring or not, but the 'individual' part," Zhou Qinfeng sighed. "Teacher Guan, you're still young and don't pay much attention to these matters. Sotis you still need to consider the feelings of the majority."
"Moreover, students like to spread and create rumors. This could cause harm to you and to that student. Even if you don't care, Teacher Guan, you should consider that student."
Listening to this made Guan Tong feel irritated. He had never liked various rules and constraints. Even taking on the Lecturer role, as long as he didn't break the regulations, that was enough. He had no intention of blindly accepting all the unwritten social rules.
"The one who asked for my help was that student. Dean Zhou, you go talk to her. I have things to do and won't keep you company." After saying this, he directly walked out and left, leaving Zhou Qinfeng utterly dumbfounded, taking a good while to recover.
"This kid is really..."
Zhou Qinfeng hadn't expected it to be so difficult to persuade him.
However, he had seen from the first interview that this Guan Tong was unwilling to suffer the slightest disadvantage. Moreover, the man seed to have little guile. Whenever he was displeased, regardless of the other person's status, he would imdiately show it on his face and in his words, easily making the other person lose face on the spot.
Just like during the interview when facing the academy's senior Lecturer Zhang Linliang, he directly said he would use only one-fifth of the other's Mind Power to spar, and after winning, didn't even utter a polite word, making Zhang Linliang lose all face.
Zhou Qinfeng thought for a mont and shook his head. "Forget it, this isn't like the old universities. Even if you want to manage it, you can't. If so commotion really breaks out, let him deal with the consequences himself."
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