Qingshuitang Outer Gate.
Cottage No. 99, although small, only containing two beds, a long bench, and a wooden table, exudes a warm atmosphere that commands admiration and awe in every corner.
“Thank you, Senior Sister, for preparing dinner for me.”
Zhao Keran suppressed the scream inside her heart and thanked Lin Shuang with a red face.
She wanted to ask more questions, but seeing her senior sister had already plugged her ears, Zhao Keran hurriedly finished her dinner, used her last ounce of strength to wash the bowls, and soaked her feet before collapsing onto the creaking wooden bed.
Eagerly, she opened “A Study and Discussion on the Fastest Method of Cultivation.”
[Map Section—Optimal Route Between Labor Sites, the Dining Hall, the Transmission Hall, and the Wooden Dormitory]
[Chores Section—Time Efficiency Discussion on 135 Different Tasks]
“!!!”
Zhao Keran looked at the miniature map of the outer gate drawn inside, and at the detailed explanations of streamlined actions for different chores, and suddenly understood.
Outside the cottage, stars shimmered in the sky, and frogs croaked in the spirit fields.
Sunken into the long chair, after finishing the latest chapter 143 of the comic, Lin Shuang finally shifted her gaze to the “unconscious” roommate in the cottage.
Zhao Keran’s jade slip stopped at shortcut path—Map 83.
Dark circles under her eyes, even breathing, deeply asleep.
Lin Shuang approached, put away Xiao Ai, embedded it into the pile of spirit stones to “recharge,” and then slowly returned to her homemade comfortable sofa.
Eighty-five points.
Based on her observations over the past few days, among the 324 new outer gate disciples, Zhao Keran had a mild temperament, was quiet and talkative, and was also striving.
She was the kind of roommate easy to get along with, not adding extra conflicts to the schedule.
Lin Shuang thought for a moment, then turned her head to cast a dust-removing spell on Zhao Keran, who was fast asleep without even taking off her outer robe.
The next day, morning light filled the sky.
Zhao Keran woke up and saw her elegant senior sister in a blue robe sitting by the small table, writing with her left hand and drawing with her right.
A silver claw floated above her head, while on the left chair, the news stone played the daily news of Qingshui Sect, and on the right chair, the voice stone played the sound of a musician playing the qin.
Her red lips sipped from a transparent straw, drinking some spirit tea.
Then she spoke, “You’re awake. Xiao Ai, open the window, warm up breakfast, and record today’s calligraphy count for me.”
The first sentence was directed at her, the latter at the talisman lion dog.
Zhao Keran: “!”
Her senior sister was doing so many things at once and still noticed she had woken up?
“You can too,” Lin Shuang even had time to reply. “The golden 20-80 principle of time management. 80% of important things in life are accomplished in just 20% of the time.”
“?”
“Junior sister, you’re going to be late.”
“Ahh!” Zhao Keran immediately jumped up, grabbed two steamed buns, and rushed out the door.
The moment she stepped out, she ran in the opposite direction of other disciples.
According to the annotations on Map 32, she walked from the southeast of the wheat field, passing by the spirit spring well, where she could collect water along the way.
Afterward, whether watering the spirit fields or feeding the immortal cranes, she could use the same water without backtracking.
At least half an hour faster.
What kind of person exactly is Senior Sister?
Zhao Keran pondered while sprinting.
*
“Today’s first news: Recently, a male cultivator from Liuxian Village who had been missing for several days was found dead near Biquan Mountain. All disciples should be cautious when going out…”
Lin Shuang watched her junior sister leave, and the Qingshui Sect news playing in her ears caused her pen to pause momentarily.
Another disappearance, another death.
In recent years, she had heard of no fewer than a hundred such cases.
Her gaze fell on the faint scar peeking from under the sleeve on her left wrist.
Three inches long, already somewhat faded.
Seven years ago, when she transmigrated into this world of cultivation, the body she had taken over bore a fatal penetrating wound that ran from her left chest down to her left arm and little finger.
The original body had died, but after she was transported, this broken body strangely healed.
After the wound healed, she left the place of death and joined Qingshui Sect.
For seven consecutive years, she had listened to cultivation news without finding any clues.
She still didn’t know who the enemy of this body was or whether they still posed a threat to her.
“Today’s second news: In the past seven years, many sect conflicts have arisen due to disputes over the ownership of spirit springs…”
Fortunately, after seven years, she had long changed from a little girl’s appearance and reverted to her original name, Lin Shuang.
Even if she encountered them, the enemy probably wouldn’t recognize her.
No immediate danger.
Lin Shuang shook her head, her pen paused briefly before quickly resuming its elegant strokes.
[Solutions to the Enemy Problem]
[1 Become the strongest in the world, fearless (currently No.1: Elder of Yuheng Sect in seclusion, about to ascend, cultivation for 1452 years)]
[2 Create a fifth-tier time-reversal talisman to find the real culprit (requires reaching the Soul Formation stage)]
[3 Continue searching for other clues (clues missing)]
After finishing, Lin Shuang burned the rice paper into ashes.
Her eyes flickered.
At the normal speed… it would take a thousand years to become the strongest in the world.
As for the second option, time-reversal talismans were priceless and hard to obtain.
If she had to make one herself, the youngest time-reversal talisman maker in the Huadong region was 201 years old, while she had only been cultivating for seven years.
Lin Shuang shook her head.
Unless she had several major opportunities stacked together, it was impossible for now.
Forget it.
Putting aside unachievable goals temporarily was the most efficient approach.
Otherwise, being dominated by unknown panic would be counterproductive.
Half an incense stick later, Lin Shuang threw down her pen and sank back into the soft cushions on the bed, her eyes vacant.
If she had spiritual awareness like this in her previous life, combined with the Pomodoro technique, she wouldn’t have had to work overtime every night.
*
The sky had not yet brightened, and the immortal cranes had not yet cried out.
Zhao Keran opened her eyes, quietly climbed down from the bed, and secretly looked at Senior Sister Lin Shuang, who was still sleeping soundly with a sweet smile.
After ten days of chores, she had tried hard to follow Senior Sister’s fourth essay on labor efficiency, doing two things at once, such as wiping the table and sweeping the floor while cooking breakfast, and finally found herself a bit faster.
But she still couldn’t handle the tasks of chores, cultivation, cooking for Senior Sister, and cleaning the cottage simultaneously.
Therefore, seven days ago, she gritted her teeth and got up an hour earlier.
While doing things, she recited the collection of the fastest cultivation techniques written by Senior Sister.
“Good morning, Xiao Ai.” Zhao Keran greeted the lion-shaped talisman on the floor, although it was not activated and didn’t respond to her at all.
She then cast a soundproofing spell on Senior Sister’s wooden bed and started cleaning the cottage.
After finishing everything, Zhao Keran set out early to the spirit fields outside, to take care of the ginseng assigned to her.
Zhao Keran gently closed the wooden door, not noticing at all that the Lin Shuang on the inner bed had unknowingly opened her eyes.
With a look of satisfaction, she watched her leave.
*
“Junior Sister Zhao, I heard you chose the ‘Haoqi Method’ in the Transmission Hall,” Xu Rui, the senior brother, wearing a Taoist crown and carrying two symmetrical Bagua swords on his back, stopped Zhao Keran after the chore work.
The Haoqi Method was a minor cultivation method of Qingshui Sect.
It was extremely difficult to cultivate in the early stages, and in recent years, fewer disciples had chosen it.
“Mm.” Zhao Keran nodded.
Her father had said that cultivation should lay a solid foundation.
The Haoqi Method was difficult in the early stages, but once it broke through the third layer, it would become much faster.
She had fallen in love with it at first sight in the Transmission Hall. As long as she gritted her teeth and overcame the initial difficulty, she could use it all the way to the inner gate.
Xu Rui’s expression was complex; the little junior sister didn’t know what path she had chosen.
“Junior Sister, every thirty days, the Transmission Master will test the disciples. If there is no progress, a minor offense will be recorded. After three offenses, you will be advised to leave.”
Zhao Keran: “!”
What!?
“Finished with dad, finished with mom, finished with cousin…”
“Carrying the spirit and embracing unity… I clearly followed it, gathering the spirit into the dantian, so why no reaction at all?”
Back in the cottage, exhausted to the point of collapse, Zhao Keran dared not sleep anymore.
Normally practicing for two hours, now she studied for four hours with great effort!
But she sat for half a day, not only feeling no light in front of her eyes but also feeling blocked.
Indeed, should she have followed other disciples and chosen another method?
She was greedy for the future cultivation speed and completely overestimated herself.
Even the managing senior brother Xu Rui had chosen the simpler Shuiling Method, and the caring Senior Sister Lin had also chosen it—her “Fastest Cultivation Guide” also mentioned the simplicity and ease of the Shuiling Method.
Sigh.
Not listening to Senior Sister’s advice, she really regretted it.
Zhao Keran looked toward Senior Sister Lin Shuang, who had already sat at the long chair after dinner, reading a comic, plugging her ears with earplugs, and smiling.
Envy.
She also wanted to cultivate elegantly for half an hour every day like Senior Sister and then lie down~
What was she stubbornly doing?
“No, I can’t give up like this, continue!”
Zhao Keran continued to go out early and return late for more than ten days, meditating every night.
“Why still no progress, no, I can’t give up.”
“What if I try this way again…”
Zhao Keran sat cross-legged, her face gradually showing pain, her tightly closed eyes dark and sunken, her dry lips already peeling.
A month later, she scratched her head, her hair falling on the bed and floor increasing.
“Carrying the spirit and embracing unity…”
“…Can it not separate…”
Her brows furrowed tighter, her chest felt stuffy, almost painful.
Just as she felt her vision darken and was about to fall, a warm, soft hand gently supported her from behind.
Who?
Was it Senior Sister?
Impossible, Senior Sister had already gone to sleep at the ugly hour of the night.
To prevent disturbance, she had even cast a soundproofing spell before cultivating; her murmuring shouldn’t have woken Senior Sister.
Zhao Keran couldn’t even open her eyelids, but she felt the warm palm behind her inject a stream of warm and moist spiritual energy into her weary meridians, flowing along her meridians to the dantian.
A faint orange fragrance followed, enveloping her nose and sinking into her heart and lungs.
The stagnant spiritual energy in Zhao Keran’s dantian began to circulate.
Not only that, but she also felt more energy to think.
The faint orange scent… it was Senior Sister… she had been watching a comic, applying mud, listening to a story, and eating two big oranges before sleeping.
“Still distracted?”
A soft voice sounded in Zhao Keran’s ear.
“The five organ energies go down in five paths, one by one and together.”
Zhao Keran suddenly had an epiphany.
So that’s how it was.
Embracing unity, she couldn’t find the feeling.
Then unify each organ one by one.
What a clever method.
And she heard the sound of pages flipping again in her ear. Wait, what was Senior Sister reading?
“This is white noise, to help you calm your mind.”
White… noise, what was that?
But Zhao Keran listened carefully, and the sound of pages flipping actually made her chest feel magically smooth, her nose seemed to smell the faint fragrance of aged ink, reminding her of her always calm and composed father.
Her heart was filled with peace.
With all thoughts unified, she felt it!
Zhao Keran was just about to show a grateful smile, but she froze.
Wait, Senior Sister wasn’t cultivating the Shuiling Method?
How come she also knows the Haoqi Method!
Zhao Keran struggled to open her eyes, trying to look behind her, gazing in admiration at Senior Sister, who was supporting her, now wearing a white inner robe…
Senior Sister was just too amazing… how could she know everything!
Zhao Keran’s last thought was only a shadow before she quickly closed her eyes and entered deep meditation.
“The early stages of the Haoqi Method are indeed too slow.”
Lin Shuang saw her sit steadily before slowly withdrawing her hands.
After standing up, she revealed a small sense of relief.
“Today, guiding Junior Sister a bit can speed up her cultivation by at least fifty percent.”
“Greatly reducing her nighttime cultivation troubles.”
Junior sister’s cultivation speeding up, effectively enhancing her mood, improving the atmosphere in the house, and maintaining a pleasant environment.
Thus, their efficiency in doing things would increase.
Lin Shuang nodded satisfactorily.
She took out today’s schedule.
[Ugly hour: Roommate communication, emotional bonding √]
*
The next day, Zhao Keran woke up and found herself still in the meditative lotus position from before.
Looking inward at her five organs, she joyfully discovered that she had already entered the first layer of the Haoqi Method.
“Thank you, Senior Sister.” Zhao Keran gratefully looked toward Lin Shuang, who had finally gotten up in the morning.
However, she saw Senior Sister gently open the comic book, “No need. It’s just my schedule.”
Zhao Keran’s eyes sparkled.
Senior Sister, how could you be so powerful yet so contradictory in words and actions.
What exactly is Senior Sister’s cultivation realm?
Last night, she could ignore the soundproofing spell while sleeping.
Had she cultivated two methods simultaneously?
Could she be stronger than the managing senior brother Xu Rui?
The more Zhao Keran thought, the more unfathomable Senior Sister seemed.
Without realizing it, she unconsciously walked to the outer gate Transmission Hall, bumping into several disciples who were consulting the Transmission Master.
“Master Li, I heard a new disciple chose the Haoqi Method. It’s impossible to enter the first layer within thirty days, right?”
“No disciple in the outer gate has broken through to the third layer in the past decade.”
“No, there was a disciple who broke through to the third layer.” the Transmission Master said.
Zhao Keran opened her mouth, stopped her steps.
It must be Senior Sister Lin!
The Transmission Master sighed, “Don’t try it easily. Once you choose it, if you can’t enter the first layer within thirty days, give up early. The Haoqi Method focuses on embracing unity and transforming spirit, which is difficult to achieve. Without talent, it’s a waste of time.”
So that’s how it is, similar to what Senior Sister said.
No, Senior Sister’s explanation was more vivid and specific than the Transmission Master’s.
She even used something called white noise to guide her into the first layer.
If the Transmission Master himself felt it was difficult and couldn’t help the disciples, how could Senior Sister do it?
Zhao Keran’s heart was shaken.
“Since you’re here, you might as well take the monthly spirit stones for cultivation below the fifth layer of Qi Transformation to distribute.”
“Yes!”
Zhao Keran was about to leave when she was called by two senior brothers who had just come out of the Transmission Hall.
“Eh, you’re the new one sharing a room with Lin Shuang? Take these, two portions of Qi Transformation third layer, each with a hundred low-grade spirit stones.”
Huh?
Zhao Keran turned back in shock.
“Senior Brother, you must have made a mistake?”
How could Senior Sister Lin only have Qi Transformation third layer!
…
Indeed, only Qi Transformation third layer.
Three years later, Zhao Keran looked at Senior Sister sleeping with a flushed face in the room, her expression worried.
She silently tied on the indigo-dyed blue wave-patterned sash—it was the proof of rank for outer gate disciples of Qingshui Sect.
Now she had seven continuous water waves on her sash, meaning she was already a Qi Transformation seventh-layer cultivator.
But Senior Sister’s sash still had three water waves, the indigo blue had faded, and she hadn’t changed it yet.
Zhao Keran sighed softly, tidied her outfit, quickly and quietly poured some washing water, kept it warm with a heating technique, and personally cooked a pot of pickled vegetable and shredded pork noodles.
Carefully, she walked to Senior Sister Lin Shuang’s bedside.
Watching the countdown displayed on the lion dog ‘Xiao Ai’ next to her.
[Time remaining until Lin Shuang’s average weekend natural awakening: expected five more seconds… three seconds…]
Before the numbers reached zero, Lin Shuang turned over under the warm talisman-covered blanket and opened her eyes, her face rosy, as she woke up.
The bright sunlight from the cottage window shone in, climbing up her delicate eyebrows.
It was just the perfect time for a natural awakening.
Lin Shuang comfortably stretched, then happily slid back into the quilt.
“…Senior Sister, it’s noon now, it’s our—daily communication time.”
Zhao Keran hesitated, then said firmly.
“Senior Sister, do you have time to give me a hand to break through the barrier?”
In the first half of this month, she had already reached the peak of Qi Transformation seventh layer and was ready to advance at any time.
The dense forest behind Cottage No. 99, a breeze passed by.
Silence filled the room, as if no one was there.
“…Senior Sister, I know you’re awake.”
“…”
Lin Shuang reluctantly pulled down the quilt.
“Little junior sister, turn left and take 300 steps, that’s where Senior Brother Zhou and Senior Sister Chen at the eighth Qi Transformation layer live.”
Zhao Keran’s mouth twitched.
Senior Sister had even calculated the number of steps for her in advance?
“Senior Sister, the selection for elite outer gate disciples is coming soon, and they’re all preparing.” Zhao Keran gritted her teeth, taking another step closer.
She was about to break through, originally shouldn’t mention it in front of Senior Sister at the third Qi Transformation layer, nor should she ask Senior Sister for help.
But she secretly asked several masters and learned that when cultivators observe others breaking through, they might gain insights, and with luck, could break through overnight.
Senior Sister was a theoretical expert.
Just a bit lacking in practice.
“Please, Senior Sister, help me. Just ask the Transmission Hall elders for help in the critical moment.”
Zhao Keran was very confident about this breakthrough.
After entering the Haoqi Method, her cultivation had always been smooth.
“Seven days of pickled vegetable and shredded pork noodles, plus egg yolk from the spirit spring.”
Soon after, the sound of calculations filled the cottage.
The quilted bundle on the small wooden bed moved, “Fifteen days.”
“…”
Zhao Keran took a deep breath, “Deal.”
The quilt opened, Lin Shuang rubbed her eye corners, slowly sat up, slid from the bed to the ground, opened the immortal music-accompanied cultivation novel radio in the room, and stretched her hands into the warm water basin to wash.
Zhao Keran saw her in a single layer of clothing, barefoot on the ground, her eyelid twitching, “It snowed on the Spirit Mountain last night.”
The body at the third Qi Transformation layer couldn’t resist the cold of spirit snow.
“Senior Sister, take care of your health!”
She grabbed the outer robe hanging by the bed and quickly draped it over Lin Shuang’s shoulders.
But as she was about to withdraw her hand, her fingertips accidentally brushed against Lin Shuang’s inner garment.
Her fingertip was suddenly repelled, quickly losing sensation.
Zhao Keran was stunned.
How could this be?
The protective aura at the third Qi Transformation layer should be like thin paper, easily pierced through by someone at her seventh layer.
*
“Carrying the spirit and embracing unity, can it not separate,” quoted from the Tao Te Ching.
——————–
(This book comes from: Longfeng Internet)
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