Douluo: Infinite Lottery System

As the crowd dispersed, only Xiao Tianyang and Ma Hongjun remained in the open space. The former appeared somewhat nervous, which was understandable.

The latter, despite not deliberately exuding his aura, carried a casual smile that nonetheless put immense pressure on those around him.

"Ma Hongjun, let me ask you something. As a mid-range and long-range assault-type soul master, what do you think is the most important aspect of attacking?" Xiao Tianyang inquired before taking action.

Regardless of anything else, Ma Hongjun was undoubtedly a genius. After all, he was destined to become a god in the future.

Facing Xiao Tianyang's question, he couldn't help but suppress his usual brashness. After contemplating for a moment, he responded seriously, "It should be attack power..."

Xiao Tianyang shook his head. "No. Let me ask you this: if an attack doesn't land on the enemy, what use is its power?"

"So you're going to train my aim?" Ma Hongjun's eyes lit up involuntarily. At least, he figured, this kind of training wouldn't involve getting beaten up, right?

But Xiao Tianyang quickly shattered his illusion.

"No, that's just one part of it. I'm merely explaining why your answer was incorrect." A smile formed on Xiao Tianyang's face. "What I actually want to train you in is melee combat. If you're looking for aiming practice, you should ask Xiao San—he has much more experience than I do."

Ma Hongjun swallowed hard and weakly asked, "Can I refuse?"

"You have three minutes to attack. I will allow you to activate your martial soul and use your soul skills." Xiao Tianyang ignored his protest and simply stated the rules.

Realizing that there was no way to avoid this ordeal, Ma Hongjun clenched his teeth as two soul rings emerged beneath his feet.

"Second Soul Skill: Bathing Fire Phoenix!"

"First Soul Skill: Phoenix Fire Wire!"

Unlike his earlier battle at the village entrance, Ma Hongjun now fully understood the power of Xiao Tianyang. He had no intention of holding back and immediately unleashed his full strength.

However, in the next moment, Xiao Tianyang's figure flickered and easily dodged the Phoenix Fire Wire.

"It's a bad habit to attack directly after locking onto an opponent."

"If your enemy is too fast, you need to learn to predict their movements and follow up accordingly."

Ma Hongjun remained silent, knowing this was no time for small talk. He focused all his soul power into his mouth, his sharp eyes fixed on Xiao Tianyang.

This time, he had learned his lesson and refrained from attacking immediately, instead opting to wait and predict his opponent's movement.

Of course, the idea was sound, but the reality was unforgiving. Leaving aside whether he could even aim at Xiao Tianyang, the bigger question was: even if he landed a hit, could he actually harm him?

Dai Mubai, watching from the sidelines, facepalmed and groaned, "Ma Hongjun is really reckless. He should be conserving his soul power right now and preparing for close combat in three minutes."

"Yeah, he's still thinking about counterattacking. I really don't know what's going through his head…" Oscar chimed in.

As the saying goes, bystanders see more clearly. The spectators could easily recognize Xiao Tianyang's verbal trap.

However, they chose not to warn Ma Hongjun—partly because they were mere onlookers, and partly because they were intimidated by Xiao Tianyang's presence.

Joking around at this moment would not be wise.

Soon, the three minutes were up. Ma Hongjun's attacks hadn't even brushed the edge of Xiao Tianyang's clothes.

"Time's up. Now it's my turn." Xiao Tianyang's lips curled into a smirk as he gazed at the panting Ma Hongjun. "I will only fight you at one-tenth of my usual speed, so you better pay attention."

With that, he swiftly advanced, raising his hands into a Wing Chun stance.

One defining feature of Wing Chun was its rapid execution, designed to subdue opponents in the shortest possible time.

What happened next was simply brutal.

Even though he had deliberately slowed himself down to one-tenth of his usual speed, Xiao Tianyang utterly dominated Ma Hongjun in close combat.

Yet, despite their concern for Ma Hongjun, the others were more captivated by Xiao Tianyang's martial arts.

Curiosity flickered in their eyes—along with admiration.

After all, as soul masters, no matter whether they specialized in brute strength or agility, close combat was inevitable. Possessing a technique like this wouldn't make them invincible, but it would certainly prevent them from being completely defenseless!

They also now understood the deeper meaning behind Xiao Tianyang's actions. Wasn't this his way of teaching them? Otherwise, why would he bother to slow down?

As for why Ma Hongjun was chosen as the punching bag…

Well, he kind of had it coming.

...

Five minutes later, Xiao Tianyang struck Ma Hongjun's neck with both palms, stepped back, and ended the bout.

Ma Hongjun rolled his eyes, swayed, and collapsed with a heavy thud.

Exhaling lightly, Xiao Tianyang turned to the others and asked, "Did you all understand?"

"Wasn't that too fast?" Oscar's mouth hung open. He had been able to follow at first, but as the fight progressed, all he could see were afterimages. Let alone learning—he could barely keep up with his eyes!

"Is fatty okay?" Dai Mubai gulped.

"He's fine. He just fainted and will wake up soon." Xiao Tianyang waved dismissively before looking at Tang San. "What about you, Xiao San?"

"I barely managed to learn." Tang San had used his Purple Demon Eyes to enhance his vision, forcing himself to memorize the moves.

He had retained about sixty to seventy percent of what he saw, but without an explanation of how to use the techniques, the knowledge remained incomplete.

For a scholar like him, this was rather frustrating.

"That's good. At least it wasn't for nothing." Xiao Tianyang smiled and added, "Once fatty wakes up, I'll teach you the basic movements. How fast you master them will depend on your comprehension."

Not long after, Ma Hongjun groggily regained consciousness. Upon understanding what had transpired, embarrassment washed over his face.

This was truly his own fault—his big mouth had led to an unnecessary beating.

But there was no time for the others to tease him, as Xiao Tianyang had already begun explaining Wing Chun.

He covered training methods, advantages, weaknesses, and intricate details as if he were an official teacher at Shrek Academy.

Of course, Xiao Tianyang was more than happy with this situation. He had already taught Tang San and Xiao Wu back at Nuoding Academy. To him, teaching one person, two people, or an entire group made no difference.

As he relaxed under the shade of a tree, he glanced at his system interface.

Ding! Congratulations to the host for completing the side mission: [Training 2]!

Reward: Lottery Value x300!

Another minor mission was completed, and another reward was secured!

The lottery value was a bit low, but considering the simplicity of the task, Xiao Tianyang wasn't complaining.

As long as he didn't lose out, everything else was secondary.

…

If you'd like to support me and gain access to 40+ advanced chapters, you can follow the link:

patreon.com/DarkLord621