In the Trial Cave, Lin Shuang lay on her back reading a storybook, occasionally glancing at the movements on her left and right.
“Should be fine, right?”
The rail transit cultivation method she had given them was actually the first draft she wrote nine years ago. Compared to the current seventh draft, it was still much simpler. For example, there was also the maglev train cultivation method, which allowed spiritual energy to generate magnetism, suspending it above the meridians to reduce friction and accelerate the flow speed. Such newly added techniques… she hadn’t given them those.
She was afraid the difficulty would be too great, causing them to struggle to learn and possibly damage their meridians and dantian. Now, it only speeds up their cultivation several times—shouldn’t be hard, right?
After giving them the rapid cultivation method, Lin Shuang felt a bit guilty. After all, the first little white junior sister who lived with her had left not long after.
Could it be that Sister Bai had been scared off by those frequent exams she used to hold—mini-tests every three days and major ones every five?
After Zhao Keran came later, she had dared not push that junior sister anymore.
“Oh well, rote learning isn’t good.”
“If you guys think these methods are difficult, then forget it. Take it slow,” Lin Shuang thought to herself as she comforted Meng Zi and Huangpu Yuan on her left and right.
Both of them trembled slightly.
Feeling she had reminded them sufficiently, Lin Shuang lay back down contentedly. Meng Zi held the paper and took a deep breath. Trying a cultivation method meant for a Qi Transformation disciple was quite embarrassing. But what was dignity compared to the importance of passing with spirit stones?
The problem was, he had repeatedly thrown warning wooden tablets to that outer sect Zhao junior sister, urging her to leave this unambitious Lin Shuang!
Moreover, he had promised Little Bai that he would take matters into his own hands.
Now, what should he do?
Was he going to break his own words just for spirit stones?
But if he didn’t try according to this paper, wouldn’t that mean admitting the method was difficult and he couldn’t handle it?
Meng Zi glared. Just a three-hundred-layer trial had put him in a dilemma.
He turned his head, intending to see what Senior Huangpu would do.
But as soon as he glanced sideways, he saw Senior Huangpu smiling at him, activating his fire-element technique and actually following her instructions to give it a try.
Then, he smiled again and swallowed three bottles of pills.
He chewed several at a time, crunching loudly.
After downing those three bottles, Huangpu Yuan’s face turned crimson, and his light shield shattered.
He had forcibly advanced his cultivation by consuming pills!
Meng Zi: “!”
They had both succeeded, leaving him the only one left?
In an instant, Meng Zi’s scalp tingled, and he had no choice but to look down at the paper in his hand.
1. Fat burning, higher heart rate?
He didn’t quite understand—could it mean a faster heartbeat?
Meng Zi looked left and right, noticing Huangpu Yuan had closed his eyes and Lin Shuang had already fallen asleep.
He immediately stood up and, within the light formation, began practicing the Forty-Two Form Saber Technique!
Jumping up and down…
Then came the high temperature. He glanced left and right again. Without having learned fire-element techniques, he quickly pulled out a wooden bucket from his spatial pouch.
“What is Junior Brother Meng doing?”
In the projection of Layer 349, the team of three including Little Bai was stunned.
Especially the senior brother who had sent a message to Xu Rui, saying that Lin Shuang from the outer sect had mental issues, now felt a burning sensation on his face.
Inside the projection stone, Meng Zi was furiously practicing sword techniques within the spiritual energy formation meant for cultivating heart techniques.
He had also boiled a large wooden bucket of suspiciously hot water and jumped into it fully clothed.
He… was actually taking a bath in the Zhenchuan Trial!
Compared to the quiet breakthrough and now sleeping female outer sect disciple beside him, he looked even more deranged!
“Uh, does Meng Yaoqian know that the more the projection is watched, the more reward points the examinees get?”
“…”
The older senior brother pressed his forehead, “Has he gone mad over spirit stones?!”
Only Little Bai remained silent, his eyelashes trembling, his hand holding the projection stone slightly shaking.
“Heart rate, high temperature…”
“That’s right, it’s the fastest to learn…”
“What?”
“He… is about to breakthrough…”
“Huh?!”
Just as he finished speaking, they saw in the projection stone that Meng Zi was immersed in the bucket, his face contorted in pain.
But the spiritual energy gathering above his head was forming a vortex!
Like a dragon sucking water, it seemed eager to rush into his body, creating a small gust of wind!
The three in Little Bai’s team were all astonished, their eyes wide.
“What kind of spiritual energy absorption speed is this!?”
“Junior Brother Meng is only at the third layer of Yuan Condensation!”
Their team had two members at the peak of the fourth layer of Condensed Yuan, and Little Bai at the fifth layer, yet none of them had ever encountered a spiritual energy vortex resembling a dragon sucking water during cultivation.
“Could it be that he’s taking a medicinal bath???”
The skeptical senior brother was stunned.
Only Little Bai clenched his teeth and looked up.
No.
Taking a bath was just the prelude; the real secret technique was the rail transit method, unfortunately, he couldn’t learn it!
In the projection, Meng Zi didn’t know that their mere three-hundred-layer trial was being watched by disciples spending spirit stones to view the projections. Otherwise, he would have been delighted.
At this moment, he was immersed in his cultivation.
The hot water and sword techniques made his blood and energy boil, accelerating their flow.
And the rail transit…
He had tried four times, and on the fifth attempt, he finally succeeded in circulating it along his Conception Vessel.
It completed two full circuits in an instant, nearly causing his dantian to fly off!
He had never felt anything this fast before!
Excited, he suddenly froze.
The “Early Bird Gets the Worm” technique she gave him… actually worked.
A shiver ran down Meng Zi’s spine, and goosebumps rose on the back of his neck.
As he pondered, the vortex of spiritual energy suddenly dissipated.
He opened his eyes in confusion.
[Condensed Yuan Layer 3 Peak → Layer 4.]
[Trial successful.]
The spiritual energy barrier shattered instantly.
Meng Zi: “!”
So fast?
Hearing the sound, Lin Shuang opened her eyes sleepily from her cot and saw Huangpu Yuan sitting cross-legged at the cave entrance, already out of the trial.
He must have succeeded.
Lin Shuang sighed in relief. That was pretty fast.
She glanced at another trial light cover and saw Meng Zi, still soaking in the hot water bucket, with an expression of both shock and reluctance.
Lin Shuang smiled: “Looks like you’ve learned it.”
Soaking Meng Zi: “!”
A flush spread from the corners of his peach-blossom eyes all the way to behind his ears.
He quickly lowered his head, pressing his hand on his soaked chest.
Trying to cover up his embarrassment.
“I was about to breakthrough anyway…”
Meng Zi turned his head away, gritting his teeth.
He took a deep breath and quickly jumped out of the bucket.
“I… owe you one.”
Lin Shuang smiled and nodded, packing up her folding cot into her spatial pouch.
Meng Zi stole a glance from the corner of his eye.
His heart was filled with confusion and struggle.
Why did she have such rapid cultivation methods, yet remained merely at the Qi Transformation stage for years?
For the first time, Meng Zi felt lost.
Little Bai, the secret you refused to tell about fleeing the outer sect—what exactly is it?
Could it really be that she just didn’t cultivate diligently?
Meng Zi was puzzled.
“Junior Sister Lin, thank you this time,” Huangpu Yuan also said with a pale face.
Lin Shuang waved her hand.
“It’s nothing. What I provided was just the initial draft from nine years ago, the fastest to learn.”
“???”
“…”
Huangpu Yuan and Meng Zi both had their foreheads twitching. But in an instant, a five-colored beam of light shot into their disciple waist badges from a portal in the cave.
[Huangpu Yuan, Meng Zi, and Lin Shuang have passed the Zhenchuan Trial of Layers 349!]
[Staying in the Mountains, I Sit Alone, My Shadow Makes Three: Completed in 102 Days.]
[Currently the fastest in this trial, congratulations. You may proceed to the Resting Pavilion to view the rewards for this layer.]
The red notice fluttered again, appearing before everyone’s eyes.
A drumbeat sounded, and the door of the cave on Layer 349 twisted instantly.
—Lin Shuang, Meng Zi, Huangpu Yuan.
—Currently the fastest disciples!
Their names were carved stroke by stroke, powerfully into the copper nails, as if imprinted!
At the same time, on the right chest of their Qing Shui Sect robes, a ripple-like pattern slowly emerged.
A beast’s head faintly appeared, with “349” written on its forehead.
Lin Shuang’s heart swelled with excitement.
She stood up straight, feeling proud.
Beside her, Huangpu Yuan’s phoenix eyes narrowed as he looked at the copper nail, his expression somewhat strange.
Meng Zi’s lips twitched.
“Fastest disciple in the trial? Let’s go to the Resting Pavilion to see the rewards for this layer.”
The hot bath was worth it!
But after walking a few steps, he looked at Lin Shuang and took a deep breath, “Then… ‘Early Bird Gets the Worm,’ can I exchange it with you for my Swift Table?”
Lin Shuang’s face immediately turned sour.
“No good.”
Meng Zi: “!”
He gritted his teeth. Indeed, such a secret manual that would benefit future cultivation was generally worth at least ten thousand spirit stones.
“Then I’ll give you the Gathering Spirit Table too. I also ordered a third-tier Spirit Binding Talisman chair from an inner sect senior sister. This… I’ll give it to you too!”
An inner sect senior sister?
“…”
Lin Shuang’s eyelid twitched.
This unique aesthetic—stepping on two tables and adding a chair on top—she couldn’t handle it.
She waved her hand and quickened her pace to leave.
“No need. The VIP content starts from the third draft.”
“???”
[Zhenchuan Trial, Layer 349 Masters—Huangpu Yuan, Meng Zi, Lin Shuang!]
[Congratulations to the three disciples!]
The red notice of the updated layer master information was seen by many disciples within Zhenchuan.
“So fast! The previous group took half a year; they actually finished eighty days faster!”
“Huangpu Yuan, Meng Zi, unexpectedly!”
“Ah, who is this Lin Shuang?”
Many inner sect disciples were confused.
But Lin Shuang, the focal point of their attention, was completely unaware.
Between each Pomodoro session, she had set a five-minute break.
At this moment, she was leisurely looking around, spacing out.
Meng Zi activated a stream of spiritual energy in front of the Insight Stone Wall on Layer 349.
The moss-covered stone wall slowly opened.
Revealing a world separated by just a wall deep within the cave—
There was a large construction platform, with a jade-carved table about three people long in the center, surrounded by several round tables and tea tables, enough to accommodate a hundred people.
On the left were twelve transmission light pillars—”elevators”—leading to different floor trials.
On the right were self-service shelves filled with pills, spiritual treasures, and other items.
A cat-eyed woman in pink Daoist robes was standing behind the central jade-carved table, holding an abacus.
As soon as she saw Lin Shuang and the others appear, her cat-like eyes lit up.
Especially when her gaze swept over Lin Shuang, who was looking around curiously at everything, she smiled even more broadly, “Little sister, you look new here. Is this your first time in Zhenchuan?”
“Would you like to replenish some pills or have some spiritual tea to rest for a while?”
Five minutes of rest before the next Pomodoro session.
Lin Shuang looked around, “Is this the Resting Pavilion in the Zhenchuan Trial?”
Just when the red notice was announced, it said they should come here to collect their rewards.
“That’s right, little sister.”
The cat-eyed woman smiled warmly, enthusiastically stepping out from behind the table, and pulled Lin Shuang to the side stone table.
“Hey—” Meng Zi tried to stop her, but it was too late.
Lin Shuang had already been pressed onto the tea table by the cat-eyed woman.
Meng Zi’s mouth twitched.
Huangpu Yuan also showed a trace of helplessness on his face.
Lin Shuang looked at them suspiciously, but in an instant, a red tray with three jade talismans was placed in front of her.
When the cat-eyed woman saw the outer sect badge on Lin Shuang’s waist, her pupils trembled.
Her enthusiasm grew even more intense.
“Little sister, you don’t have a cave residence in the inner sect yet, right? Now that you’ve passed Layers 349 of Zhenchuan, you’re qualified to purchase or rent a cave residence numbered within 300 in the inner sect!”
In an instant, the jade tablet that could be flipped through displayed cave residence images, geographical locations, and scenery, all spread out before Lin Shuang.
“Just look, these are all precious places with beautiful scenery and abundant spiritual energy.”
Lin Shuang was taken aback. She looked up and saw three words embroidered on the cat-eyed woman’s pink Daoist robe—Sales Office.
“…”
She twitched her forehead.
So what Senior Brother Xu Rui said was true—inner sect cave residences had to be arranged by oneself.
So the Qing Shui Sect had formed a real estate sales chain?!
Cave residence promotion had even reached the trial?
Huangpu Yuan clenched his fist and coughed into his pale hand, “Cough.”
His phoenix eyes, which showed a glassy hue in the bright light, swept over the tea table, “The higher you go in Zhenchuan, the better the conditions for selecting a cave residence.”
Meng Zi, who was notoriously stingy, couldn’t help but press his forehead, “Auntie, your cave residence numbered 300 has the weakest spiritual energy, and costs thirty thousand spirit stones annually. Don’t try to scam people!”
“Are newbies not people anymore?”
The cat-eyed woman’s white forehead suddenly showed a blue vein, as she forced out a laugh, “It’s okay if the spiritual energy is low. We provide annual Gathering Spirit Arrays to speed up cultivation all year round. No need to worry.”
Lin Shuang held her forehead. Was this like a telecom data package?
She still had two minutes left in her break, so she flipped through a few pages of cave residences.
Each jade tablet contained a hundred selectable cave residences.
As inner sect disciples improved their strength, they would move out of lower-tier cave residences, and outer sect disciples would move in.
The sales office was indeed busy.
“Uh, is 300 the best cave residence here?”
But Lin Shuang glanced at the map and frowned.
Cave residence number 300 was located at the foot of a mountain, one and a half hours away from the inner sect’s largest Transmission Hall by sword flight.
A one-way trip of three hours!
Lin Shuang was stunned.
This was at least six-ring territory!
Ah, you’re one ring more than five!
Lin Shuang’s face twisted in pain, “Hmm, is there a cave residence within a quarter of an incense stick’s travel time from the Transmission Hall, the Library, the Management Office, and the cafeteria?”
The cat-eyed woman looked at her with a complex expression.
The three jade tablets were suddenly taken away.
Lin Shuang: “?”
The cat-eyed woman chuckled, “You’ll need to climb five hundred more layers of Zhenchuan!”
Huangpu Yuan’s phoenix eyes smiled lightly, and Meng Zi also relaxed.
“The inner sect isn’t full of people who can reach the upper layers of Zhenchuan. Good cave residences require the ability to claim them.”
“Little sister, I’ll be waiting for you to come back.”
The cat-eyed woman stood up, took the red tray with the jade tablets, and left.
“Alright, stop pushing your unsold goods, Auntie,” Meng Zi turned around with his sword on his shoulder, “Let’s go exchange the rewards for this layer. Then we’ll proceed to the next level.”
The cat-eyed woman gritted her teeth, huffed, and returned behind the jade counter.
Lin Shuang touched her nose, “Not buying, but calling her Auntie isn’t too nice either, right?”
Meng Zi chuckled.
Huangpu Yuan smiled, “The inner sect real estate office is made up of senior sisters and aunts who have retired due to injuries.”
“Since they no longer handle official matters and are now just ordinary residents within the sect selling houses, calling them senior sisters or aunts would actually anger them. The youngest among them is over two hundred years old.”
Lin Shuang: “!”
Her gaze involuntarily drifted toward the fair-skinned woman in pink outside the cat-eye peephole. She looked nothing like someone two hundred years old.
She hadn’t expected to meet the woman’s bright gaze again.
“Oh, little sister interested in beauty pills? Buy a cave dwelling, and I’ll give you one!”
“!”
Lin Shuang fled in panic.
She followed Huangpu Yuan and Meng Zi, leaving the private tea room reserved for house viewing, and arrived at a red-patterned stone tablet near the teleportation column.
Their disciple badges instantly created ripples like water waves on the tablet.
【Reward settlement for Cave Dwelling 349: 349 contributions have been distributed.】
Lines of rippling water solidified into text.
【Additionally, for the fastest-clearing layer owner, reward settlement—】
Clap, clap, clap—the stone tablet seemed to spit out a long string of game completion tickets like an arcade machine!
They rapidly flew toward the three of them.
Lin Shuang was stunned. In her hands, she already held three dried leaves.
—5000 spirit stones, redeemable for purchasing or renting cave dwellings numbered 1–300 (layer owner exclusive discount);
—1000 spirit stones, which can be used for inner sect spiritual energy fees, dust removal fees, fasting pills, and other living expenses;
—500 spirit stones, applicable for any grade one heavenly or earthly treasure or other purchases within Zhenchuan.
Lin Shuang bared her teeth.
Wasn’t this just like the red envelopes from JD.com? Even restricted to specific product categories.
A line of text had already formed on the stone tablet.
【Cave dwellings numbered 1–300: Viewable at the sales office】
【Spirit energy fees, dust removal fees, and other living expenses: Fees can be deducted at your rented/purchased cave dwelling (those without residence cannot purchase this item)】
Lin Shuang pressed her head. Was this essentially gas and electricity bills?
One household, one fee?
【Grade one heavenly or earthly treasures and other items available for exchange in Zhenchuan: Please place your disciple badge near the stone tablet to activate and view the catalog.】
Lin Shuang tried placing hers, but Meng Zi beat her to it.
【Meng Zi’s highest this year: 349th layer; 349th layer owner.】
【All grade one spiritual treasures and other items unlocked.】
Instantly, the entire list unfolded before them.
The pills were all grade one, nothing particularly special.
But the other grade one items were quite unique.
“Notes of Master Lü, the 132nd Generation of the Qingshui Sect (with autograph)” – 100 spirit stones
“Behind the Scenes of the Inner Sect Management Hall” – 120 spirit stones
“Standards for Choosing a Cultivation Partner” – 200 spirit stones
“How to Pursue Female Immortals” – 300 spirit stones
Lin Shuang was amazed. This ‘other’ category was actually inspirational literature.
Meng Zi shook his head, clearly thinking, “Not falling for your tricks.”
Huangpu Yuan smiled, hugging a hand warmer, seemingly uninterested as well.
But Lin Shuang’s playful gaze suddenly stopped at the very bottom of the list.
—”Shao Ke’s Guide to Talisman Crafting, Volume One”
“Beep, Xiao Ai detects a sensitive word. Shao Ke is marked in Xiao Ai’s database as an important figure.”
“Profile highlights: At the age of 301, Shao Ke created the fifth-grade Time Reversal Talisman, thereby advancing to the sixth-grade talisman master level.”
“He then entered seclusion for twenty-six years until now, leaving behind twelve volumes of ‘Shao Ke’s Guide to Talisman Crafting.'”
The prompt tone of the Pekingese dog Xiao Ai sounded in the earpiece Lin Shuang always wore.
“Many talisman masters speculate that the method for crafting the Time Reversal Talisman is written in the twelfth volume.
However, this set of essays was limited-edition released by Shao Ke’s disciples, with only ten sets available across the four realms. Therefore, twenty years ago, after the tenth volume, the price of ‘Shao Ke’s Guide to Talisman Crafting’ was hyped to hundreds of millions of spirit stones.”
“Most people never had the chance to see it. Moreover, due to collectors attempting to maintain the set’s value, Shao Ke’s catalog has never appeared on the market. There’s no confirmed information about which volume contains the Time Reversal Method.”
“Known destinations of the ten limited sets: 16 years ago, the Shanhai Sect purchased one set at an auction for one billion spirit stones;
8 years ago, the Qingshui Sect purchased one set at a talisman exhibition, priced at approximately twenty-six billion spirit stones…”
The Pekingese dog Xiao Ai’s prompt echoed in the earpiece Lin Shuang always wore.
Lin Shuang’s eyes flickered. The information Xiao Ai provided were all details she had previously collected from the outer sect library and by listening to the Qingshui Sect’s daily news.
Her original plan had been to enter the inner sect in ten years, becoming a favored disciple of the sect leader or important elders to gain access to this priceless talisman crafting method.
But she hadn’t expected—Zhenchuan had it!
Her gaze flickered as she looked at the stone tablet before her.
Zhenchuan’s 300th layer could redeem “Shao Ke’s Guide to Talisman Crafting, Volume One.”
Would there be a Volume Twelve? And in which layer?
If she was lucky, maybe the Time Reversal Talisman would be in Volume Ten or Eleven.
Lin Shuang took a deep breath, trying to calm her overly excited heart rate.
No good—she wasn’t burning fat now.
“Can we view the entire Zhenchuan exchange catalog?”
“Disciples of the 300th layer do not have this authority.”
Huangpu Yuan shook his head.
Lin Shuang felt regret.
“Let’s go to the next challenge. We can’t view any cave dwellings below the 500th layer.” Meng Zi was also getting excited. The higher they went, the more spirit stone rewards they’d get!
Huangpu Yuan smiled silently, nodded, and with his index finger, gestured in the air on the stone tablet.
【Disciple cleared 349th layer, can unlock up to five hundred.】
【Currently selectable: 349th layer—848th layer.】
【Note: If the trial fails, you will be sent back three hundred layers. Please choose carefully, disciples.】
“Directly to the 848th layer?”
Lin Shuang and Meng Zi’s eyes sparkled, speaking in unison.
Huangpu Yuan’s temple twitched slightly.
At another counter, one of the three disciples, a slightly chubby one, handed over his disciple badge.
“I’ll take cave dwelling number 300.”
“Chen Sheng, you really are just like your senior brother and senior uncle. Every time you break through, you must have a cave dwelling as a memento,” the surrounding disciples exclaimed.
Chen Sheng smiled, waving his chubby yet nimble hand. “If it weren’t for just receiving the 349th layer owner’s reward, I wouldn’t dare.”
The expressions of the surrounding disciples immediately turned strange. Even the pink-robed woman behind the counter looked at him with a complex expression.
Chen Sheng laughed, “I just went to check. The rental reward for layer owners renting cave dwellings is five thousand spirit stones. Renting cave dwelling number 300 for a year only costs thirty thousand. By my calculations, the first two months of this cave dwelling are basically free for me.”
The pink-robed woman’s expression showed the relief of finally meeting a smart disciple.
But in an instant, they all turned awkward.
She scanned Chen Sheng’s disciple badge with a jade slip, and a voice floated out.
【Chen Sheng: Eligible to purchase a cave dwelling at the 300th layer!】
【Chen Sheng: Second place in clearing the 349th layer.】
【Judgment: No transaction discount for numbers 1–300.】
【Full payment required, thirty thousand spirit stones!】
Chen Sheng: “What?! Wait—”
His face changed. “I’m not renting anymore! Cancel, cancel the transaction…”
The pink-robed woman’s temple twitched violently, three bulging veins popping out.
“Damn it! Once sold at this counter, no refunds or exchanges!”
“Ahh!?”
Chen Sheng collapsed.
Who was it? Who stole his layer owner title!
“Kusuo Layer? It seems to be Meng Zi, and someone named Lin Shuang?”
“Lin Shuang? Never heard of her.”
“Hey, didn’t you all check the red list? Layer owner Lin Shuang… seems to be at Foundation Building, right…”
Chen Sheng was stunned.
*
“Ahh, I wish I had let Meng Junior Brother press the floor button. I knew my hands would shake.”
Huangpu Yuan sighed as he stepped out of the teleportation column.
Meng Zi was also in pain.
They were heading to the 848th layer, but due to Huangpu Yuan’s sneeze, the teleportation dial was misaligned, and now they arrived at the 841st layer.
Luckily, it wasn’t too far off.
“Never mind, just seven layers off. Go with the flow.” Meng Zi, holding his blade, walked ahead, cheerful.
Lin Shuang nodded.
Accuracy was important, but not more than a good mood.
As she stepped out of the towering teleportation column, she started a five-minute rest Pomodoro timer, perfectly reaching the last second.
Perfect.
She was in a great mood.
But as she stepped out of the teleportation formation, about to look toward the trial cave dwelling on this floor, suddenly a sword qi flew and struck half an inch in front of her feet.
Three rapidly moving figures blocked the only path forward.
“You’re Lin Shuang?!”
The leader shouted, a sword flying out!
“Chen Sheng, Wu Xing, Qian Wanjun challenge layer owner 349!”
“If we win, you must go to the Rest Hall and change the layer owner’s name!”
Meng Zi’s face changed.
Huangpu Yuan raised his drooping eyebrows.
Lin Shuang looked up, seeing the leading figure was slightly chubby, his face filled with indignation.
As if she had stolen his treasure.
“Chen Sheng, don’t push too far. It’s just the 300th layer of Zhenchuan. You still want to challenge us?” Meng Zi frowned, his hand reaching for his sword hilt.
“What if we challenge you? One of you relies on pills, and the other—”
The leading Chen Sheng was practically hopping, especially when he looked at the lagging Huangpu Yuan and Lin Shuang.
“Robe of Azure, Foundation Building!”
“A mere outer sect disciple at the third level of Foundation Establishment dares to participate in the Zhenchuan Trials. Naturally, breaking through the first stage of Foundation Establishment makes me faster than breaking through the Condensation stage!”
“She used tricks and shortcuts to break my trial record. I, Chen Sheng, refuse to accept this. Why shouldn’t I challenge her!”
She caused him to lose the price difference for buying a cave dwelling!
Chubby Chen Sheng immediately summoned the aura of the second stage of Condensation.
Meng Zi was furious, about to step forward.
But another disciple blocked him, his hands forming seals. “Senior Brother Meng, your opponent is me. Formation activate!”
In an instant, Meng Zi and him disappeared from the spot.
Meng Zi’s angry cursing voice came from the distant clouds.
“Damn it—Lin Shuang, take out the fast-moving desk I gave you and run!”
“Huangpu Senior Brother, wait for me to deal with this, and I’ll come save you—eat your pills first…”
Lin Shuang and Huangpu Yuan simultaneously looked up, exchanging expressions of mutual understanding.
“Senior Brother Huangpu, please.” The third pale-faced disciple took out a pill cauldron and smiled. “We’ll compete in pill refining.”
Huangpu Yuan smiled and nodded.
The two moved back to the rest cave dwelling.
A pill refining competition—truly a civilized and safe contest.
As Lin Shuang marveled, a sword suddenly flew past, nearly severing the hair in front of her forehead.
“Outer sect female disciple, if you admit defeat now and agree to change the layer owner’s name to mine, I’ll let you go.”
Chubby Chen Sheng spoke softly.
“I have no grudge against you. I don’t intend to bully the weak, but you broke the rules, and I must correct it!”
“Breaking the rules?”
Lin Shuang raised her eyes.
“Oh.”
Seeing Chen Sheng, whose eyes were high, about to speak again, she quickly raised her hand to stop him.
“You don’t need to explain to me. Explanations waste time.”
Who wanted explanations?
Wasn’t it the one breaking the rules who should explain?
Chen Sheng was furious.
Lin Shuang extended her hand toward him.
She raised her index finger and beckoned. “Come on.”
Chen Sheng was stunned, feeling both angry and amused. “Alright, alright. I’m at the peak of the second stage of condensation. Please, enlighten me!”
Lin Shuang didn’t speak. Just then, a soft sound came from her ear.
【Beep, Xiao Ai reminds you, the next Pomodoro is for reading entertainment novels.】
Lin Shuang nodded slightly, taking out the latest scroll of novels from her ring bag and flipping to the page marked with a dried yellow leaf bookmark.
Then, she lowered her long, fair neck to read.
But halfway through turning, a cracking sound came from her shoulder and neck bones.
Lin Shuang frowned.
Earlier, in the meditation cave dwelling, she had been sitting cross-legged for a long time, then lying down. Her posture had been too monotonous.
Some muscles were tense.
“Lin Shuang! You’re provoking me!”
“You should go read novels in the outer sect!”
Chen Sheng couldn’t contain his anger anymore and swung his sword again.
She looked at the sword wind before her, taking three steps back.
“Xiao Ai, adjust my schedule. My right shoulder is sore.”
Chen Sheng: “?”
【Xiao Ai is here to serve you. The entertainment novel has been changed to enjoying a shoulder and back massage for one incense stick’s time.】
Lin Shuang hummed in agreement, looking at the fierce sword wind before her.
She lightly stepped forward, facing it head-on.
Smiling slightly at the astonished Chen Sheng.
“Senior Brother, then I’ll trouble you.”
“?”
She touched her right shoulder, sliding from the trapezius muscle down to the right side of her back.
“I’m sore all over here.”
“!”
“…”
Four outer sect figures flying toward Zhenchuan on their swords were stunned as they watched Lin Shuang’s image on the projection stone.
What was she saying?
“What is Lin Shuang doing?” Chen Sixin, the third-ranked outer sect disciple, asked in confusion. “Provoking the inner sect senior brother?”
She had also been assigned by her master to go to Zhenchuan to help out.
She only learned of Lin Shuang’s famous deeds on the way.
Xu Rui held his forehead, wanting to stop her from speaking.
But it was too late.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Keran, who had been admiringly watching the projection stone, couldn’t wait to speak up.
“I know, I know. The fastest learning’s leisure and entertainment section.”
“Rest is for better progress. At peak energy, including but not limited to good mood and physical condition. Therefore, things like massages, foot baths, aromatherapy, and saunas are all excellent dual-purpose rest methods that can simultaneously improve mood and physical condition.”
“Sister is reading too long, her neck is sore and needs a massage.”
Ma…sa…ge…
“It means kneading and rubbing to unblock the meridians, allowing the muscles and blood to regain vitality.”
“!!”
Three figures on their flying swords fell into stunned silence.
Xu Rui pressed his temple, looking at the inner sect disciple Chen Sheng on the projection stone, unsure whether to feel sorrow or concern.
But on the projection stone, the battle instantly triggered, winds changing, leaves flying.
“Lin Shuang, are you humiliating me?”
Chen Sheng roared in fury, his condensed sword qi at the Gathering Stage shooting toward her and stopping just half an inch from her feet.
The sword qi pierced her right shoulder, enough to shatter her shoulder bone!
But ten steps away, Lin Shuang smiled, not dodging the sword qi at all. Instead, she took out earplugs from her ring bag.
Calmly inserting them into both ears, instantly, cheerful music cultivation playing softly.
“Oh, sorry, accidentally turned the volume up. Let me adjust it.”
Chen Sheng: “…?”
Bang! As she spoke, the sword qi pierced her shoulder.
Her body trembled.
Chen Sheng’s slanted eyebrows twitched. He stepped forward half a step but stopped.
He didn’t intend to kill his fellow disciple.
Aiming for the right shoulder, it shouldn’t endanger her life or her cultivation foundation, right?
But no cry of pain came. Had she fainted directly?
He frowned, but heard a sigh from the faint mist of sword qi.
“Senior Brother, could you aim a little more to the left?”
“? ? ?”
The sword qi dissipated. Lin Shuang tilted her head, standing there, looking at her right shoulder.
From her ring bag, she took out a yellow paper and stuck it three inches to the right of the trapezius muscle on her neck.
Her eyes full of expectation looked at Chen Sheng.
“It’s here. Senior Brother, don’t miss next time.”
“Otherwise… I’ll be very troubled.”
How… how could this happen?
Chen Sheng’s eyes widened in shock. He furiously formed a hand seal and launched six consecutive sword qi attacks with full strength.
Six streaks of sword light swiftly enveloped her in a blue robe.
As the sword shadows and chaotic spiritual energy slowly dissipated, Chen Sheng’s raised eyebrows tightened as he gazed at the spot where Lin Shuang had stood.
Soon, astonishment and fear overtook his face!
From the gradually condensing mist of the valley, Lin Shuang stepped forward one after another, approaching him.
Lowering her head, she wore a satisfied and pleased expression.
“Senior apprentice-brother, yes, just like that, keep it up.”
Chen Sheng stepped back repeatedly.
How could this be… how could it be?
She exuded the aura of Foundation Building cultivation…
Chen Sheng couldn’t believe it, but suddenly his gaze froze.
She was Foundation Building, but at this moment, her right shoulder radiated a Nascent Core Layer Three aura.
“You… you… you’re not Foundation Building!”
[Little Ai reminder: Concentrate the energy in your dantian to the right shoulder – right back.]
[Only two-thirds of the incense stick remains.]
Lin Shuang immediately turned her gaze toward the confused Chen Sheng.
“Shh.”
“There’s not much time left for senior apprentice-brother to give me therapy, so hurry up.”
“???”
Silence.
A deathly silence.
At the 2751st level of Zhenchuan Mountain, the Baiyu trio stared at the current projection stone, stunned.
“Chen Sheng was just one step away from reaching Nascent Core Layer Three.”
Yet in the projection, he was frantically attacking Lin Shuang, an outer-disciple female apprentice.
The sword went, but Lin Shuang stood firm.
Another sword strike, and Lin Shuang still stood firm.
…
Another sword strike, and Chen Sheng collapsed.
His Nascent Core energy, after half an incense stick’s time, was completely drained from multiple attacks fueled by extreme anger. He fell backward with a thud, his sword slipping from his hand and clattering to the ground.
“Chen Sheng… this is so embarrassing!”
“Who exactly is she?!”
“She must have Nascent Core cultivation, no, at least Nascent Core Layer Three!”
“Could she be wearing outer-disciple robes on purpose? Maybe she’s actually an inner-disciple!”
The two senior apprentices stared at the projection stone, stunned and babbling, their imaginations running wild.
Baiyu, farthest from the projection stone and sitting alone at the edge of a thousand-layer cliff, bit her lip, her eyes flickering.
Lin Shuang.
Finally, someone else was equally impressive.
Finally, someone else would be awestruck day after day, just like her, and feel inferior.
Baiyu gazed at Chen Sheng in the projection stone, her clear eyes filled with sympathy, yet a hint of relief lingered.
“He should be grateful he’s only at Nascent Core Layer Two.”
“What?” Her companion apprentice asked in confusion, turning around.
Baiyu didn’t answer and shook her head.
She instantly realized that Chen Sheng’s full-strength attacks couldn’t even reach the aching knots in her muscles, let alone help relieve her tense muscles.
For long-term therapy, she definitely wouldn’t choose Chen Sheng at Nascent Core Layer Two.
Only this incense stick’s worth of time.
“Just endure it, it’ll be over soon.”
“…”
Baiyu sat cross-legged. “Senior apprentice-brother, I’m going to cultivate now.”
The fear of being chased, no, of never being able to catch up with her, wrapped around him again.
*
Chen Sheng, fleeing in defeat, met his equally defeated junior apprentice at the cliff of the five hundred and first layer.
Upon seeing each other’s disheveled state, they both trembled.
“You lost?”
“You also lost?”
“! How could you lose to the long-sick Huangpu Yuan?”
“? How could you lose to an outer-disciple Foundation Building female apprentice?”
“!”
“…”
They blurted out simultaneously, then turned pale in unison.
*
Although this senior apprentice possessed strong cultivation, the sword techniques he practiced were truly unsuitable for therapy.
They didn’t even penetrate into her blocked meridians.
Lin Shuang patted the dust off her shoulder and clothes, which had been shaken by the sword qi.
She met Huangpu Yuan head-on, who had just stepped out of his resting chamber, elegantly wiping his slender fingers.
He had a composed and calm expression, walking leisurely.
Lin Shuang was the same.
When they met face to face, both paused slightly in their gaze.
The sickly and weak Huangpu Yuan, who had no combat ability and couldn’t defeat Foundation Building cultivators, froze mid-motion while slowly wiping his fingers.
The outer-disciple, low-level Foundation Building cultivator Lin Shuang, paused mid-pat on her shoulder.
“Senior apprentice-brother Huangpu, you won?”
“Junior apprentice-sister Lin, you won?”
They spoke in unison.
They both glanced at each other’s neatly arranged hair and undamaged clothes, then looked up.
At the same time, they exchanged a complicated expression, as if they had discovered a secret.
“Cough, junior apprentice-sister… I competed in alchemy with the opponent and barely won.”
Lin Shuang narrowed her eyes.
He didn’t emit the slightest trace of fire spiritual energy from alchemy.
“Senior apprentice-brother, what a coincidence, I also…”
Huangpu Yuan stopped coughing, falling silent.
“Junior apprentice-sister, so you’re also good at alchemy?”
“No, what a coincidence, I also barely won. Senior apprentice-brother Chen had something urgent and left in a hurry before the incense stick had fully burned.”
“…”
Huangpu Yuan’s phoenix eyes flickered with a glint of light, scanning the residual aftermath of Nascent Core sword qi behind her.
Hmph.
The low-level Foundation Building Lin Shuang and the powerless Huangpu Yuan exchanged glances, silently understanding each other.
Lowering their heads, they both wore knowing, subtle expressions.
“Lin Shuang! Senior apprentice-brother Huangpu!”
Meng Zi shouted loudly, rushing out of the illusion formation in a flustered manner.
“I’m here——”
The weak Foundation Building Lin Shuang fluttered her eyelashes.
The powerless Huangpu Yuan trembled slightly in his body.
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