The outer sect’s Transmission Hall was a two-story building.
The senior disciples usually taught and lectured on the first floor.
The second floor mainly housed cultivation technique books.
However, there was also a secret underground chamber beneath the hall, specifically reserved for disciples to spar and practice.
The walls of the chamber were inscribed with reinforcement arrays left by formation masters.
Among them, six rooms were for Qi Transformation disciples, while only one room was reserved for Core Formation seniors and elders, capable of withstanding even a full-strength strike.
At this moment, Lin Shuang was following Senior Brother Xu Rui into the underground chamber.
Beside her was Zhao Keran, anxiously holding a medicine chest.
The surrounding disciples couldn’t help but cast curious glances.
“Is Senior Brother Xu going to guide Senior Sister Zhao?”
“Senior Sister Zhao, who has entered the top three disciples within less than four years since joining the sect, naturally receives great attention from Senior Brother Xu due to her extraordinary talent.”
“She’ll probably enter the inner sect next year.”
Amidst the whispers, Lin Shuang remained expressionless. In contrast, Zhao Keran blushed.
Senior Brother Xu Rui furrowed his brow, clearly displeased by the disciples standing in the corridor.
Three disciples stood on the left.
Five on the right.
One light, one heavy—an imbalance of Yin and Yang.
Closing his eyes briefly, Xu Rui said solemnly, “The Transmission Hall is for disciples to study techniques. What are you all doing here? If you have nothing to do, leave immediately.”
The disciples quickly retreated into their respective chambers, too afraid to come out.
The corridor emptied.
Xu Rui let out a long breath.
Behind him, Lin Shuang smirked slightly.
Zhao Keran lowered her head, biting her lip hard to prevent herself from reciting aloud.
“Senior Brother Xu, the hall supervisor, suffers from severe obsessive-compulsive disorder. He has extremely high standards for what he sees, hears, and touches, favoring neatness and symmetry. He especially dislikes lateness and disorder, and prefers even numbers.”
—Chapter on Preferences of Outer Sect Supervisors and Disciples, from *The Fastest Cultivation Handbook*
No wonder she’s the senior sister!
Everything matches perfectly!
“Senior Brother, if you only spar with Senior Sister Lin alone, won’t it be like a single pillar bearing too much weight?”
It’s asymmetrical!
Zhao Keran gripped her sword tightly. “Why don’t you spar with me first, then spar with Senior Sister? Wouldn’t that make it even?”
She could deplete most of Senior Brother Xu’s spiritual energy first.
Upon hearing this, Lin Shuang couldn’t help but smile approvingly at her younger sister who had mastered the information so well.
Sure enough, the two Bagua swords behind Xu Rui, symmetrically crossed in the shape of the number eight, trembled violently.
A flicker of light, struggle, and wavering appeared in his gentle yet rigid eyes.
[Zhou Xuanwu]: Senior Brother, I think I’ll talk to you the day after tomorrow.
“…”
Xu Rui’s communication stone vibrated at his waist, and his temple twitched upon reading the message.
[Xu Rui]: No need. I’ll spar with Lin Shuang right away.
He only put away the communication stone after confirming that his transmitted words were perfectly neat and orderly. He looked at the two junior sisters before him—damn it, the cursed symmetry and harmony.
Coughing lightly, Xu Rui said, “Lin Shuang, you go first.”
Zhao Keran immediately looked disappointed.
Lin Shuang, however, felt relieved. Starting first meant finishing first, avoiding the waste of time waiting around.
“Fine.”
Xu Rui drew his Bagua sword, “Four moves.”
He walked to a symmetric corner within the sparring circle, stood firm, and said, “Junior Sister, use your full strength, don’t hold back.”
Lin Shuang smiled, “Okay.”
Turning her head, she faced Zhao Keran’s anxious and worried expression, “Don’t worry.”
“Now that we’re here, Senior Sister will also use this unexpected event to teach you a few things, while improving our roommate bond and enhancing our cultivation efficiency.”
Zhao Keran coughed lightly.
Here we go again.
Sparring, teaching, and chatting—
Senior Sister never rests unless she accomplishes multiple goals at once.
“Look, by carefully observing and listening, you can notice that Senior Brother Xu speaks in pairs when he’s serious.”
As she explained, Lin Shuang slowly walked toward the sparring circle.
“This shows that his dual-sword style must be symmetrical in technique, with spiritual energy distributed equally between both arms.”
Zhao Keran suddenly had an epiphany, as if grasping a crucial point.
“We can only win a match with minimal spiritual energy and time consumption by understanding our opponent’s fighting habits and abilities.”
“Remember, every bit of spiritual energy is precious, accumulated through countless days of cultivation. Once lost, it takes time and effort to recover through meditation.”
“We must cherish it dearly.”
“Similar to what Senior Brother Xu said about not holding back, Junior Sister, don’t believe it for a second.”
Lin Shuang shook her head and sighed.
“Only a fool would charge in recklessly like that.”
Zhao Keran: “!”
Senior Sister, as always, makes perfect sense.
Xu Rui: “???”
Junior Sister, he heard everything!
By the time Zhou Xuanwu hastily flew his sword to the underground chamber of the Transmission Hall, crashing into the second-tier training room as the top outer sect disciple, he saw the fire burning in Senior Brother Xu Rui’s gentle eyes.
“Junior Sister, four moves in total.”
He looked at Lin Shuang’s Qi Transformation Layer 3 defensive barrier, and even the usually gentle Senior Brother’s temper flared.
“First move, Twin Dragons Emerge from the Sea!”
His Bagua sword instantly transformed into two dragons rising from water, soaring high behind him with overwhelming momentum!
Lin Shuang narrowed her eyes, instantly serious. Her Core 1 of Qi Transformation Layer 3 instantly accelerated to full speed.
A small lion talisman flew out from her sleeve, hovering high above.
[Beep, Xiao Ai is measuring spiritual energy…]
[Detected spiritual energy flow 1 within 30 steps to the southeast, strength approximately Qi Transformation Layer 4, peak.]
[Detected spiritual energy flow 2 within 30 steps to the southwest, strength approximately Qi Transformation Layer 4, peak.]
Xiao Ai’s familiar voice instantly sounded.
All three people in the chamber were momentarily stunned.
The twin dragons swirling around Xu Rui’s sword hesitated mid-air.
Lin Shuang’s expression confirmed her suspicions.
Senior Brother Xu, your gentle nature is showing.
I almost fell for it.
What full strength? You’re holding back so much.
Lin Shuang patted her storage pouch in slight relief, and twelve Tier 1 reinforcement talismans instantly flew out.
They circled around her wide sword held in one hand!
[Xiao Ai Reminder: Methods to resist Qi Transformation Layer 4 as a Qi Transformation Layer 3:]
[1. Form an array with twelve reinforcement talismans to enhance defense.]
[2. Activate the second core inside…]
Before she could finish, Lin Shuang’s wide sword, covered in yellow talismans, charged straight at the twin dragons!
The twelve reinforcement talismans instantly lit up.
The talisman nodes connected, drawing in the surrounding spiritual energy.
The talisman patterns emerged from the paper, encircling and forming a formation!
“This is from last week’s talisman homework!”
Zhao Keran suddenly realized.
Zhou Xuanwu also recalled, “Teacher Li gave her a B-minus grade.”
Xu Rui’s fundamental skills far surpassed the two.
He almost instantly recognized the talisman patterns as the talismans flew out.
The ink was too light, and the talisman nodes were insufficient.
The cinnabar was barely visible.
This B-minus grade talisman was too unstandardized, almost making him want to stop and urge her to remake it!
But with a buzz, Lin Shuang’s wide sword instantly doubled in size.
It collided fiercely with Xu Rui’s hesitant twin dragons!
Lin Shuang held the sword and took three steps back, barely managing to stand.
The twin dragons in the air, having exhausted their spiritual energy, slowly dissipated and vanished.
Zhao Keran immediately cheered, “She blocked the first move!”
Xu Rui withdrew his stance, standing straight, his gaze momentarily pausing, revealing a hint of admiration.
“I see now. Although these talismans are of low quality, each only providing about 20% of their effect individually, they are all identical, with only minor differences between them.”
“When formed into a talisman array, their effectiveness multiplies.”
Zhao Keran and Zhou Xuanwu were both deeply moved.
Now they understood.
Xu Rui nodded, elaborating for them.
“Twelve talismans arranged in the twelve Earthly Branches positions. Normally, each talisman made by a disciple would provide about double the effect.”
“But Senior Sister’s control over spiritual energy is extremely precise. The quality of each talisman is nearly identical, without the usual fluctuations between talismans. Thus, this talisman array achieves three to four times the enhancement.”
Zhou Xuanwu’s lips twitched.
Extremely close? Because she copied the same batch using a talisman-copying technique?
“Thank you for the praise, Senior Brother.” Lin Shuang smiled modestly.
Xu Rui waved his hand, “Then prepare for the second—”
“Xiao Ai, recalculating data.”
Lin Shuang rubbed her wrist holding the sword.
“Just eight talismans would have sufficed to repel a Qi Transformation Layer 4 attack.”
“Ah, I wasted four. All Senior Brother Xu’s fault! He tricked me into giving my all, using reverse psychology to provoke my long-dormant competitive spirit. I really did go all out just now.”
Zhou Xuanwu and Zhao Keran froze simultaneously.
Xu Rui’s temple twitched: “…”
He stepped forward, his dual swords flying out, “Second move!”
From sea dragons transforming into dragons, the power doubled.
[Beep, Xiao Ai detected two attacks of Core Formation Layer 6 peak!]
[Estimated need for forty-eight… Beep, Xiao Ai recalculating, thirty-nine sturdy talismans…]
Instantly, talismans flew again, once more covering the wide sword.
In Xu Rui’s twitching gaze, Lin Shuang charged toward the Bagua swords in the air shaped like twin dragons.
The three swords collided.
Lin Shuang staggered backward five steps, barely managing to stop by planting her wide sword into the ground.
As the twin dragons dissipated, her wide sword still trembled uncontrollably in her hands.
Xu Rui’s eyes flickered slightly. She actually managed to block it just right?
But her five steps backward made his chest ache. Holding his Bagua sword, he instinctively took another step back, making the count six.
“Again!”
“Junior Sister, let’s see how many talismans you have left! Disperse the talismans and show me your true strength!”
In an instant, the dual swords pierced toward her panting face.
[Two incoming attacks, Core Formation Peak!]
[Estimated need for 1444 reinforcement talismans (insufficient stock, only 136 available), warning, severe warning!]
[Recommend activating the odd-numbered cores.]
What?
Odd-numbered what?
Xu Rui was momentarily stunned.
Zhou Xuanwu looked up.
Zhao Keran seemed to recall something, opening her mouth.
But all they could see were talismans swirling before Lin Shuang, her broadsword trembling faintly.
Behind the wide sword, she reached out, pulling a homemade earpiece talisman from her sleeve and inserting it into her left ear.
As an intense BGM ignited in her ear, the slumbering spiritual seas throughout her limbs and body, numbered 1 to 87, awakened one by one.
Odd-numbered cores, activate!
“Senior Brother, the warm-up is over.”
Lin Shuang lifted her lips, her left eye glowing like a burning flame.
Her left hand lightly tapped the sword hilt.
The wide sword instantly flew forward like a comet trailing a tail, tearing through the night—
CRASH! It knocked aside the Bagua swords!
It didn’t stop there, slicing off Senior Brother Xu Rui’s Daoist crown!
Cutting three strands of his hair!
Zhao Keran: “!”
Zhou Xuanwu: “!”
Xu Rui: “!!!”
“Oops, calculation error. I actually overestimated the strength of Core Formation Peak.”
“Activating just three-sevenths of the cores would have sufficed… Damn it, what a waste.”
“This cursed competitive spirit of mine!”
Lin Shuang’s muttering drifted into the ears of the three.
“…”
“…………….”
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