Chapter 317: Li Bufan's Special Training!
The next day, Ling Feng did not return to the Tianshu East Court; instead, he went straight to the training ground of the East Court's sword team to train.
In a team-based sword fighting competition, as the name suggested, cooperation was paramount!
First and foremost, one must understand the abilities of all team members to achieve seamless cooperation during battle.
Ling Feng had already gained a preliminary understanding of this aspect during previous training sessions. As for Li Bufan, this guy was even more of a newcomer compared to Ling Feng.
Gu Tengfeng's first task for Li Bufan was to have Lin Mochen and Yu Sixian chatter incessantly in his ear.
The most basic and important aspect of cooperation was naturally communication!
Li Bufan had always been aloof and haughty, disliking unnecessary chatter. Therefore, Gu Tengfeng had Lin Mochen and Yu Sixian, the two chatterboxes, get him accustomed to this communication environment.
For Li Bufan, this was undoubtedly a form of torture.
Lin Mochen was a gambler and was constantly challenging Li Bufan to various bets. Yu Sixian, on the other hand, frequently talked about inappropriate topics.
Li Bufan felt like punching someone every minute!
However, to surpass Ling Feng, Li Bufan endured it!
"It seems Li Bufan is making good progress."
Seeing Li Bufan controlling his temper despite his darkened expression and quietly listening to Lin Mochen and Yu Sixian's chatter, Xue Xiaolin smiled faintly and walked over to Gu Tengfeng.
"Yes, it appears Li Bufan is indeed eager to surpass Ling Feng. This is a good thing."
Gu Tengfeng nodded. As an experienced veteran, he fully understood the ambitions of a young upstart like Li Bufan.
After all, wasn't he once a prodigy bursting with ambition himself?
On the other side of the training ground, Ling Feng, Gong Cheng, and Ye Nanfeng were gathered around a table, listening to Gong Cheng explain tactics and strategies for the sword fighting arena.
On the table lay a model of the sword fighting platform. Gong Cheng was analyzing past failures of the East Court's sword team as well as the situations of the top fighters from other courts.
One had to admit, as the vice-captain, Gong Cheng's research into tactical strategies was exceptionally thorough.
Perhaps, after Gong Cheng graduates from Tianwei Academy, he could become a great general of the empire.
...
Seeing Ling Feng exchange a blow with Gu Tengfeng, Ouyang Jing immediately shouted excitedly and cheered wildly for Ling Feng.
Besides Ouyang Jing, Ling Feng's other roommates—Jiang Xiaofan, Feng Mo, Yang Jun, and Zhou Kai—were also present.
Naturally, there was also Qin Wanwan, who had shamelessly insisted on using a favor to have Ling Feng bring her into the East Court's sword team training ground, along with her cousin.
These people were there as a cheerleading team and also to take the opportunity to observe high-level combat.
For them, this was undoubtedly highly beneficial.
After all, although Ling Feng occasionally gave them some pointers, nothing compared to the effectiveness of directly observing a battle.
As for how much they could comprehend and understand, that depended on their individual fortunes.
Take Jiang Xiaofan, for instance. Although his talent was not exceptional, his focus was unmatched. Consequently, his cultivation progress was slightly ahead of Ouyang Jing, Yang Jun, and the others.
Fearing being left far behind by Jiang Xiaofan, Ouyang Jing and the others worked even harder on their cultivation.
Throughout the Tianshu East Court and among all the yellow-tier students in the East Court, this competitive atmosphere led to rapid progress.
Even Leng Jianfeng, the Devil Instructor, was taken aback when he saw the students pushing each other to improve and never falling behind.
He wondered if these guys had taken the wrong medicine to be so relentless in their training.
What he didn't know was that the students were driven by a shared dread. Being surpassed by a genius like Ling Feng was not terrifying, but being left behind by someone like Jiang Xiaofan, who rose up through sheer effort, made them feel unworthy of being called geniuses.
"Not bad. Last time, you retreated ten steps; today, only seven. Your perceptiveness is truly frightening."
Gu Tengfeng looked at Ling Feng with appreciation. Using the same move twice in front of Ling Feng would immediately reveal its flaws to him, enabling him to find a way to counter it.
Gu Tengfeng had no words to describe such an opponent.
"Captain, you were just holding back." Ling Feng retracted his Crimson-Fire Golden Wind Sword, his hand still slightly numb.
Gu Tengfeng was the type of swordsman who used heavy and blunt force, completely different from the refined techniques of Yan Cangtian, such as Eight Directions Shatter Abyss.
"You're now almost on par with experts who have opened fifty-two meridian gates. If I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I wouldn't believe that you've only opened twenty meridian gates."
Gu Tengfeng sheathed his sword. "Let's call it a day. I'm very pleased with your progress over these past two weeks."
At that moment, an urgent voice came from outside that sounded panic-stricken. "Captain! Captain! The training match between the Central Court's sword team and the North Court's second team has already begun!"