Chapter 119: A Minor Interlude

After a long moment, their lips parted.

Tang Yi couldn’t help but lick his lips, still feeling the lingering warmth. He felt somewhat reluctant to end, yet he knew for safety’s sake, the moment couldn’t last any longer.

“Well, that should be enough for a ten-year sentence,” Tang Yi joked to himself.

Larulace’s tone was soft and distant. “Were you practicing energy perception just now?”

“Energy perception?” Tang Yi came back to himself. “Oh, yes, yes, energy perception.”

“You’re lying to me!” Larulace sounded upset and a little hurt. “You only made that up because you wanted to do... that, didn’t you?”

“That’s not true, Larulace,” Tang Yi said seriously. “I admit, I wasn’t practicing energy perception just now. But that’s because you’re still not used to the mouth-to-mouth action. If you can’t calm your mind, you can’t guide the energy.”

“Is that so?”

“Yes. Think carefully, in that state just now, could you really have guided the energy with the same skill as usual?”

A brief silence.

Larulace whispered, “Then what should we do?”

“So first we have to get proficient. When we do... that, you must keep your mind calm, only then can we proceed,” Tang Yi said seriously, discussing something shameless without hesitation.

“That’s too difficult.” Larulace wanted to say it was impossible.

How could she possibly stay calm in such an embarrassing situation!

Suddenly, Larulace became alert, as if waking from a realization. “By proficient, you mean we have to keep going?”

“Yes, theoretically.”

“Th-then...” Larulace’s voice trembled.

My heavens, we actually have to continue?

Tang Yi scratched his head. Even for the sake of practice, it felt excessive. He slowed his tone. “Let’s call it a day. You should rest early. We’ll see how things go tomorrow.”

“No!” Larulace’s tone turned firm again.

“Huh?”

“We don’t have much time left. The college entrance exam is coming!” Larulace said seriously.

“Yeah, that’s true.”

In daily training, Larulace had basically mastered the Kiss of Absorption, but her proficiency was still low. The lessons for Reflection Walls and Light Barriers had yet to begin.

Time was indeed running out.

“We have to hurry!” Larulace repeated firmly.

“So, shall we continue?” Tang Yi asked uncertainly.

Larulace seemed to be persuading herself, adding, “It’s all for the college exam, right?”

“Yes, everything is for the college exam!”

“Then let’s go!”

“Alright!”

With fearless dedication, they pressed together once more.

The shameless scene unfolded again.

This time it lasted only a minute before Larulace pulled away.

“I thought of a way. If I keep thinking of you as a big bad guy, I might be able to stay calm,” Larulace said in a tone of academic inquiry.

“Uh, worth a try.”

“Yeah, let’s do it.”

They pressed together again.

Three minutes later, they separated.

“What’s wrong now?” Tang Yi asked.

Larulace looked troubled. “It still doesn’t work. Every time I think of you as a big bad guy, I can’t help but want to use my telekinesis on you. What should I do?”

Tang Yi pondered. “I think you’re too eager. Honestly, there’s no fancy trick. The more times you do this, the more you get used to it, and naturally you’ll calm down.”

“How many times will that take?”

“No idea. How about we try every night from now on?”

“Every night?” Larulace’s voice trembled again.

“Ah, too often? Then every other day?”

“Forget it, every day it is.” Larulace hesitated a long time but made the difficult decision.

From that day forward, Tang Yi and Larulace added a secret element to their daily training.

The new week arrived. Li Yaowen gave Tang Yi more advice. To speed up Larulace’s training, they decided to train Reflection Walls and Light Barriers simultaneously.

“Actually, these two skills are based on similar principles. Once you learn one, the other isn’t much harder. Of course, there are differences, but this is the best way to save time.”

Time was indeed scarce.

Tang Yi’s pace of life had quickened unknowingly. Besides daily training, he couldn’t neglect his written exam preparation.

In truth, his review had fallen behind during the second phase of the qualifying competition. So after the selection, he had to spend more time daily on exercises.

Before, on weekends or after school, Tang Yi could occasionally take Larulace to the nearby park, but now he no longer had the time.

His peers weren’t much better. During this final sprint, most had become even more serious.

Less than a month remained until the third round of the main competition, and only two months until the college entrance exam.

“Lately, Larulace seems a bit distracted,” Gu Qingyue said. She hadn’t talked to Tang Yi for a long time. This girl, determined to enter medical school, had been extremely diligent recently.

One day after class, while Larulace was still inside her Pokéball, Gu Qingyue came to chat with Tang Yi. She had seen Tang Yi and Larulace after school the previous evening and had noticed something then.

Tang Yi nodded thoughtfully.

“Are you putting too much pressure on Larulace?” Gu Qingyue guessed.

“You might not believe it, but actually Larulace is putting a lot of pressure on me.”

Gu Qingyue snapped, “Nonsense.”

It was almost true. Tang Yi reflected briefly. He was originally a couch potato, but now he was preparing for the final stage of the selection and still studying hard. Larulace was indeed a big reason.

“I mean, don’t put too much pressure on your Pokémon. I have a cousin who recently had a falling out with his Pokémon. Last weekend, he came to me crying, hoping my Togepi could help mediate.”

“Your cousin is taking the college exam too?”

“No, he’s in the second year of high school, but next year is college exam time for him too. He just adopted a Torchic, but they recently had a big fight. It’s really troublesome.”

“Why did they fight?” Tang Yi became a bit interested.

“He enrolled Torchic in a flying training class, but Torchic was too playful and didn’t study seriously. He got angry and scolded her, and then they started arguing,” Gu Qingyue explained briefly.

Tang Yi shook his head. “That’s your cousin’s fault. How could he scold her?”

Gu Qingyue agreed. “I know. My cousin regretted it right after. He’s not a bad guy at heart; he treats Torchic very well. Their family is ordinary, and he even saved his breakfast money to buy good things for Torchic. But still... I don’t know what to say.”

The noble faction.