Huo Yuhao slowly opened his eyes, and what met his gaze was a somewhat familiar ceiling.
As his consciousness gradually returned, a wave of sharp, needle-like pain immediately radiated from the depths of his brain.
Huo Yuhao couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air, reaching out to rub his throbbing temples.
He quickly recalled his memories before he had passed out.
In that pure white training room, facing the terrifying Hydra that Teacher Han Tianyi had manifested using Mental Force, he had exhausted almost all his means, launching Soul Shock after Soul Shock.
However, that Hydra was like an immovable mountain; his Mental Force attacks hitting its body were like a clay ox entering the sea, failing to stir even a single ripple.
After unleashing his final move, he still couldn't resolve the Hydra. Instead, because his Mental Force was depleted, he experienced the feeling of fainting once again. The last time he had exhausted his Mental Force was not too long ago.
"I really am useless."
Huo Yuhao lay on the bed, a bitter smile playing at the corners of his mouth as he thought self-reproachfully.
Just as Huo Yuhao's heart was filled with a sense of frustration...
With a "click," the metal door of the room was pushed open from the outside.
Teacher Han Tianyi, dressed in his simple grey robes with his hands behind his back, walked in from outside with a calm expression.
Hearing the movement, Huo Yuhao hurriedly endured the dizziness in his head, rolled out of bed to sit up, and stood up straight respectfully.
"Teacher Han."
Huo Yuhao lowered his head and spoke his apology very sincerely.
"I'm sorry, I failed to complete the task you assigned me."
Seeing Huo Yuhao like this, before Teacher Han Tianyi could even speak...
Deep within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness, the voice of the Skydream Ice Worm rang out first.
"Yuhao, what's the point of apologizing for something like this?"
"His Mental Force is countless times stronger than yours; his foundation is simply unfathomable! It's only natural that you couldn't break through the defense of something he manifested."
At this moment, Teacher Han Tianyi, standing before the bed and looking at the self-reproaching Huo Yuhao, did not offer any criticism. Instead, he asked calmly,
"Yuhao, do you know for yourself where exactly the problem lay in your battle this time?"
Hearing Teacher Han Tianyi's question, Huo Yuhao raised his head, thought seriously for a moment, and then replied,
"I understand."
"Oh?"
Teacher Han Tianyi raised an eyebrow slightly.
"Then tell me about it."
Huo Yuhao took a deep breath and analyzed his mistakes without reservation.
"I was too impatient. When facing that Hydra, not only did I fail to carefully search for its weaknesses, but I also abused my Mental Force."
"I attempted to use high-frequency attacks to forcibly dismantle it. As a result, my Mental Force was rapidly depleted in a short time, and I ultimately lost my combat effectiveness."
Hearing this reflection from Huo Yuhao, Teacher Han Tianyi nodded slightly.
"Good. Being able to realize this shows you aren't too stupid."
Teacher Han Tianyi's expression became serious. Looking at Huo Yuhao, he taught him earnestly,
"You must always remember that as a Spiritual System Spirit Master, your greatest reliance is your spirit! At any time and in any battle, the most important point is that you must keep your Mental Force within a controllable range forever!"
"You must never let your Mental Force be completely exhausted! Because once your Mental Force is gone, you will fall into a coma like you did just now, becoming a lamb to be slaughtered!"
"Of course, if you encounter a desperate situation, then it's not impossible. However, this was just a training session, a test."
"This student understands. I will never make such a low-level mistake again."
"It's not just this problem."
Teacher Han Tianyi looked at Huo Yuhao and continued speaking.
"You have other problems."
Hearing this, Huo Yuhao couldn't help but be slightly stunned, and he began to recall the final details of the battle.
Besides the abuse of Mental Force leading to exhaustion, what else had he done wrong?
"Could it be..."
Huo Yuhao looked at Teacher Han Tianyi with some hesitation.
"Was it the method I used at the end, when my Mental Force was about to run out, trying to compress all the remaining Mental Force together to erupt in a single point... was that wrong?"
Hearing Huo Yuhao's guess, Teacher Han Tianyi shook his head.
"That's not it."
Teacher Han Tianyi said to Huo Yuhao,
"The fact that you could figure out the technique of compressing Mental Force and launching an attack on your own in such a short time, without receiving systematic guidance, was somewhat beyond this old man's expectations."
"Being able to adapt on the fly shows that your Comprehension Ability is quite good."
However, just as Teacher Han Tianyi said Huo Yuhao's Comprehension Ability was good, he changed his tone and shook his head gently.
"But..."
Teacher Han Tianyi looked at Huo Yuhao with a hint of oddness in his eyes.
"If I were to evaluate your Comprehension Ability, to say it's good, it is indeed good. But to say it's poor... it really is outrageously poor."
As soon as these words came out...
Not only was Huo Yuhao completely confused, but even the Skydream Ice Worm within Huo Yuhao's Sea of Consciousness was directly dazed by these words, his mind filled with confusion.
"What exactly does this old fellow want to say?"
The Skydream Ice Worm grumbled dissatisfiedly in the Sea of Consciousness.
"What do you mean it's both good and poor? If you want to praise someone, praise them; if you want to scold them, scold them. Can't you be a bit clearer?"
Teacher Han Tianyi ignored the confusion in Huo Yuhao's eyes and suddenly spoke, asking a basic question.
"Yuhao, let me ask you, when you entered the training room, what specifically was the task I gave you?"
Although Huo Yuhao was puzzled, he still answered honestly.
"You told me to use my Mental Force to defeat the Spirit Beast you imagined."
"Correct."
Teacher Han Tianyi nodded, then his gaze suddenly sharpened, staring directly into Huo Yuhao's eyes.
"Since you are clear that the task was to defeat that Spirit Beast, then..."
"Why, during the entire battle, did you never think to use Mental Shock on me personally?!"
The moment he heard these words, Huo Yuhao was stunned on the spot.
He had subconsciously believed that only by defeating the monster in front of him would the task be considered complete.
Seeing Huo Yuhao like this, Teacher Han Tianyi spoke slowly with his hands behind his back.
"Didn't I tell you clearly from the very beginning? That Hydra was a product of my imagination using Mental Force!"
"It is not a real life form; it is merely a manifested extension of my Mental Force!"
Teacher Han Tianyi's voice echoed in the room, each word like a gem, directly striking Huo Yuhao's mental blind spot.
"To defeat such a dead object constructed of Mental Force, there are only two paths."
"If you, Huo Yuhao, had a sufficiently strong foundation and your Mental Force was as vast as the sea, far exceeding mine, then you could naturally rely solely on a direct clash of Mental Force to forcibly crush and defeat that Hydra!"
Teacher Han Tianyi paused, his tone becoming sharp.
"But what if you don't have such massive Mental Force? What if you find that your attacks cannot break the defense of that manifested product at all?"
"Then, your way to break the situation is naturally to turn your spear and launch an attack directly at the caster himself!"
Huo Yuhao's breath hitched, and his eyes became completely clear.
Teacher Han Tianyi continued.
"You should know that when a typical Spiritual System Spirit Master launches an attack, their own mental defense is in a relatively weak vacuum period. Of course, for me, I can achieve both offense and defense simultaneously. However, in this assessment, as long as I sensed you using Mental Shock on me, you would have passed. Unfortunately, you didn't perceive the true intention."
As Teacher Han Tianyi spoke, he didn't forget to praise his own simultaneous offense and defense.
Huo Yuhao nodded seriously; he had indeed fallen into a habitual way of thinking.
"Thank you for your guidance, Teacher!"
"Next, I will further guide your training. First, recover your health."
After leaving these words, Teacher Han Tianyi left the room.
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A/N:
I hope all of you are enjoying this story so far. I would appreciate some Power Stones if you can spare any. Leave a review if you like the story. Thank you.