TEC Chapter 4

◎ Fat-Burning Exercise ◎

The dispute over the spiritual springs between the outer disciples of the Mountain and Sea Sect and the Clearwater Sect occurred every year. Over time, they learned some lessons from the battles.

For instance, they used a two-by-two isolation array, which didn’t affect the side-by-side fights while preventing others from peeking and learning their sect’s unique skills after observing for too long.

Though it was a battle, they had no intention of helping each other improve. It was impossible.

However, Xiao Qi didn’t expect that today, inside the isolation array, he couldn’t understand a single word spoken by this female disciple.

“Now, heart rate… 86.” Lin Shuang lowered her head, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the cloth-wrapped long sword embedded in her left arm.

What did she mean?

Xiao Qi’s long sword clashed against a vast ocean wave, and he looked incredulously at the seemingly weak girl before him. Suddenly, he took a step back, “You are more than at the sixth level of Qi Refining?”

He shouted, and his aura surged, not daring to underestimate her. Channeling ten percent of his true power into the long sword!

The blade was covered in sword aura, and it transformed into a snake, instantly swallowing Lin Shuang whole.

However, a ghostly and agile sigh could be heard echoing in the sword light.

“Heart rate 98… too low, still too low, unable to burn fat.”

“???”

Xiao Qi looked up in bewilderment and saw the seemingly slender and weak female cultivator in the sword light, dressed in the standard outer disciple’s blue robe.

Her wide sleeves were tied with red cords, and her pant legs were as well, showing agility and liveliness.

At this moment, she was hopping on her feet, and her hands somehow took out two bulging and red things that looked like boxing gloves from her mustard seed bag, putting them on her hands.

As he tried to get a clear look, the fists came at him like a torrential storm!

Right hook, left hook!

Straight punch, uppercut!

In an instant, the pink fists formed shadows, continuously striking his sword light!

“Heart rate 103.”

“Heart rate 118.”

“Heart rate 125.”

In the devilish and light chant.

Crackling sounds echoed, and his seventeen sword lights shattered in an instant.

Just as the pink boxing gloves were about to strike his bright and clear long sword—

Xiao Qi’s eyes turned red: “??? Stop!”

But a punch hit his jaw, and he was sent flying, crashing against the edge of the sealed isolation array.

In a flash, Lin Shuang caught up to him with small, nimble steps and grabbed his clothes by the collar.

“Hmm? I need to sweat for an incense stick’s worth of time, and it’s only one-third done.”

“…?”

Was this Clearwater Sect’s female disciple a devil?

He was competing with her!

Xiao Qi activated his technique, clenched the sword that had flown back into his hand, and performed his most powerful sword move for now—the Soaring Dragon Seal!

But as soon as he reached eighty percent of his Qi, he felt a steady stream of spiritual energy rushing into his chin and the collar she had just hit with her fist from all directions.

At the ninth level of Qi Refining, his cultivation was on the verge of breaking through to the next level.

The feeling was intoxicating as if he was riding on a phoenix, and his spiritual energy gathered at an incredible speed, advancing his cultivation at an astonishing rate.

In this strange feeling of expansion, Xiao Qi felt stronger than he had ever been. He lowered his head in confusion and touched his chin, which was still a bit sore from her punch.

As he touched it, he found… an Increasing Spirit Talisman.

Xiao Qi: “?”

Lin Shuang punched again, hitting his spiritual Qi.

“Well, with your level of improvement, I can barely get my heart rate up to 140.”

Xiao Qi: “?!?”

In front of the mountain gate, one after another, the sealed isolation arrays opened, and the disciples who had fought in pairs walked out.

Some were frustrated, and some were elated, reporting their victories and losses to the sect’s elders.

Zhao Keran had already finished her battle; she left a three-inch-deep mark on the sword testing stone, winning against the Mountain and Sea Sect disciple.

However, at this moment, she had no trace of joy on her face as she nervously watched the position where Lin Shuang entered the sealed isolation array.

“Xiao Qi still hasn’t come out?”

“It’s almost been one incense stick’s time; this shouldn’t be happening. Xiao Senior Brother has a six-level higher realm than her, so the outcome should have been decided!”

“Could it be that she’s too weak and got injured during the battle, so Xiao Senior Brother had to put in extra effort to treat her?”

Alongside her, many excited female cultivators and sword cultivators were also waiting.

Xiao Qi was a young and talented elite disciple of the Mountain and Sea Sect, with a bright future ahead of him to enter the inner sect. Besides being obsessed with the sword, he was also wealthy, handsome, and charming, making him the dream partner for many female cultivators and the favorite topic of discussion and competition among the sword cultivators who wanted to surpass him.

The disciples from both sects who had finished their battles soon gathered around, and even the two managing senior brothers and elite disciples from the top ranks of both sects looked curiously over.

Zhao Keran was anxiously holding the Revival Pill in her hand, deeply worried.

Just when her heart was in turmoil, a burst of spiritual light appeared in the sky, and the hazy yellow array that obstructed their view slowly dissipated.

“He’s coming out! He’s coming out!”

In this battle, the Clearwater Sect was undoubtedly defeated.

The disciples of the Mountain and Sea Sect were delighted, while the Clearwater Sect members felt disheartened and silent.

However, as the array dissolved, a slender figure in blue emerged.

She had a rosy complexion, sweat on her forehead, and was breathing slightly heavily, yet she walked out calmly.

On the other hand, the other disciple of the Mountain and Sea Sect, Xiao Qi, who was among the top three in the outer sect rankings, was nowhere to be seen.

Everyone was taken aback.

“Sister, are you injured?”

Zhao Keran hurriedly ran to Lin Shuang and checked her all over.

“Did you take the Revival Pill?”

Xiao Qi, who was sitting in meditation, shook his body.

He was the one who took the pill.

He was the one who got beaten!

“The winner of this round is Mountain and Sea Sect’s disciple, Xiao Qi.” The supervising senior disciple of the Mountain and Sea Sect smiled, scanning Lin Shuang’s weak cultivation and recording it with a pen.

Xiao Qi’s chest hurt, and he looked at the Mountain and Sea Sect’s senior disciple.

His lips moved, and his eyes gradually turned red.

‘Ah, it’s almost an incense stick’s worth of time. I’ve sweated a lot.’

‘Troublesome… When the isolation array opens, should I say it’s good that I won or that I lost?’

‘If I say I won at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer, my little junior sister, Senior Brother Xu, and the master who passed on the techniques will all ask me at least three rounds of questions about my cultivation. Explaining my cultivation issue will take at least an hour and a half.’

‘And that might cause other outer sect disciples not to believe me and challenge me. But I don’t need to burn fat for half an hour every day… If I have to deal with it every day, I’ll waste at least two hours every week…’

‘But if I say I lost, it might affect the allocation of the spiritual springs, and it might slow down my progress of reaching 100 Dantian breakthroughs to the Condensing Yuan realm.’

In a daze, Xiao Qi recalled the fragmented mumbling he heard when his spiritual Qi shattered just now.

One hundred Dantian…

He turned his head to look at Lin Shuang, who was being protected by others. She appeared innocent and delicate, and he couldn’t discern whether everything that happened just now was a dream or an illusion.

“In that case, you should just say you admit defeat later, because today we don’t fight against women, okay?”

Xiao Qi was stunned, and when he saw Lin Shuang smiling at him with her eyebrows raised, all his grievances and indignation surged.

She had even thought of an excuse for how he lost!

Looking at the disciples of the Mountain and Sea Sect waiting for the outcome of their battle after the isolation array opened.

Looking at the senior disciple of the Mountain and Sea Sect who thought he had won and recorded the result.

Xiao Qi was filled with sadness and anger, and he gritted his teeth and lowered his head.

“What… what did you say?”

“???”

“What, what did you say?”

The scene fell into silence.

The recording senior disciple of the Mountain and Sea Sect had his pen ink smeared.

Xu Rui, the senior disciple of the Clearwater Sect, had his Eight Trigram Sword trembling behind him.

Zhao Keran was stunned and forgot to blink.

“It’s impossible, Xiao Senior Brother, how could you lose to someone at the Qi Refining Third Layer!”

“Xiao Qi, are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”

But in an instant, the array stone emitted a radiant light because the outcome was decided, shooting into their waist tokens.

【Lin Shuang: Disciple of the Clearwater Sect, Qi Refining Third Layer】

【Spring Robbing – Victory (9 victories, 6 absences)】

【Contribution to the sect: 500 points】

【Due to defeating an opponent from a higher realm, contribution doubled to 1000 points】

【Updated ranking of Clearwater Sect’s outer disciples: 18888 → 17291】

【Xiao Qi: Disciple of the Mountain and Sea Sect, Qi Refining Ninth Layer】

【Spring Robbing – Defeat (13 victories, 1 defeat)】

【Deducting contribution to the sect: 500 points】

【Updated ranking of Mountain and Sea Sect’s outer disciples: 3 → 5】

The words on the sect tokens appeared, hovering in the air.

Silence.

A suffocating silence.

“She ranks 18,000th… and she won against Senior Brother Xiao, who is third…”

“Senior Brother Xiao dropped out of the top three… and she’s still ranked 17,000th…?”

Putting their cultivation levels and rankings side by side, was simply ridiculous.

“Could it be that, like the Mountain and Sea Sect disciples who encountered her in previous years, Xiao Qi suddenly had bad luck today? Is he suffering from diarrhea, or is he troubled by emotions, or has he just gone berserk?”

Xiao Qi: “???”

He looked at Lin Shuang, only to see her still innocently receiving her junior sister’s concerned inspection.

Is she a repeat offender?!

Xiao Qi took a deep breath, lowered his head in silence, and wrapped the sword layer by layer, from the inside out.

The outermost layer was made of brown linen, breathable and sweat-absorbing.

In the middle was cotton cloth for warmth, suitable for use as outer clothing.

Wrapped in all three layers, Xiao Qi wiped the brand-new black boots under his feet and cast a dust-dispelling spell on them before finally stepping onto his beloved sword.

He turned his head to look at Lin Shuang, but quickly blushed and turned away.

“Everyone, I’ll head back to the Mountain and Sea Sect first.”

He had lost all face and staying here would be humiliating.

Besides, after the blow he just experienced, he felt unstable in his ninth-level realm and was feeling uncomfortable.

“Senior Brother Xiao, wait! I’ll accompany you on the way back. Can you take me along?” A junior brother who was also heading back called out, trying to catch up with Xiao Qi.

“Sure,” Xiao Qi replied without looking back.

“First, wash your feet.”

“…Fine.”

“If you don’t want to wash, you can use your sword.”

“…”

Lin Shuang raised her head and watched Xiao Qi leave, stepping on his junior brother’s sword. Her brow twitched.

What a strange person.

Then, another bright mark faintly appeared on her waist token.

【Victory over a Qi Refining Ninth Layer disciple, surpassing six minor realms.】

【Reward from the Clearwater Sect’s management office: 600 spirit stones!】

All the disciples cast envious glances.

Lin Shuang took out her sketchbook and stepped on her wide sword like a sled.

She examined herself internally.

Dan Tian 1: Qi Refining Third Layer, peak, running at 100%.

Dan Tian 2: Qi Refining Third Layer, peak, running at 0%.

Dan Tian 3: running at 0%.

…

Dan Tian 85: running at 0%.

Her body had returned to its normal state after burning fat, leaving only one dantian active.

She nodded slightly, waved her sleeve at the still-unresponsive management senior brother Xu Rui, and left with Zhao Keran on their swords.

Xiao Qi was absent-minded all the way back, stepping on his junior brother’s flying sword. It was only when he met his senior brother at the Mountain and Sea Sect’s outer gate that he gradually regained his senses, after being overwhelmed by grief and indignation.

His Senior brother was surnamed Zhao and was the same age as Xu Rui, the senior disciple of the neighboring Clearwater Outer Sect.

Zhao Ming didn’t participate in the fight for the Spirit Spring today because he had already reached the Fourth Layer of Foundation Establishment.

Like Xu Rui, after reaching the Foundation Establishment realm, he no longer participated in the outer disciples’ battles, as the difference in strength would make it unfair.

“Seventh Junior Brother, what’s going on? The management office asked me when you took an oath not to fight against female cultivators, but I had no idea,” Zhao Ming said with a serious expression.

The rules of the Mountain and Sea Sect were strict, and there were punishments for disciples who lost in battle.

According to the rules, Xiao Qi, having lost to a cultivator six levels below him, would need to receive six hundred strikes with a spiritual ring ruler.

The ruler had been soaked in a hundred-year chili pepper water prepared by the disciplinary hall, and when it struck a disciple, the skin would crack open and bleed.

Xiao Qi showed no expression and took off his outer garment.

“Senior Brother, go ahead.”

Zhao Ming’s eyebrows twitched.

Xiao Qi remained silent.

After a moment, he turned his head to look at the spirit ring ruler in his senior brother’s hand.

“If I lose too much blood and faint, Senior Brother, please remember not to let my blood flow onto my sword.”

“—If, by any chance, it does get on the sword, Senior Brother, don’t mind me, just save my sword first! Remember to use the spirit silk fabric, dip in the Spirit Spring to wipe, and then use the Dragon’s Saliva Incense to remove any smell…”

Zhao Ming’s eyelid twitched, and he firmly pressed his hand on Xiao Qi’s back.

He was about to strike with the ruler, but when he saw Xiao Qi take off his outer robe, he noticed a large area of red swelling on his back.

“?? Junior Brother, were you injured by a female disciple? Are you troubled by emotions?”

“…” How could there be emotions involved in this? It was a one-sided incident!

“Wait, Junior Brother, quickly stabilize your Qi and condense it into one. Your realm is unstable, and the Foundation Establishment Qi on your body is about to dissipate!”

Xiao Qi looked bewildered.

He raised his head.

“???”

What dissipated?

Foundation Establishment… Qi?

Did he remember it wrong?

Wasn’t he just stepping into the peak of the Qi Refining Ninth Layer?

“Senior Brother, what if I use a Boosting Spirit Talisman at the Qi Refining Ninth Layer?”

Zhao Ming: “??”

“Who wasted such a precious item? The Boosting Spirit Talisman is usually used at the peak of the Qi Refining realm, and it can barely allow one to experience the Foundation Establishment realm’s Qi Refining Initial Stage for the duration of three sticks of incense. If used in battle…”

Xiao Qi opened his mouth, then closed it.

In an instant, he sat cross-legged, hugging his sword, and entered a meditative state.

“Sh*t! Senior Brother, don’t wake me up, let me remain in this Foundation Establishment dream and never wake up.”

xxx

“Junior Sister, don’t wake me up. I’m too tired, let me take a short nap.”

Lin Shuang returned to her wooden house, relieved to hear that the Spirit Spring was eventually won by the Clear Water Sect, and she lay comfortably on her small bed.

Today’s achievements:

Aerobic exercise √

Practicing talisman usage √

She lowered her eyelids, barely allowing Xiao Ai to record the completion of today’s tasks, and then closed her eyes.

…

“Xiao Shuang, are you not done with work yet?”

“Yes, I have to work hard, but I also need to rest. Otherwise, I’ll have problems all over my body, and I won’t have any friends.”

“How can I leave at ease if you say that?”

Lin Shuang tried hard to open her eyes, wanting to see the elderly person standing on the roadside talking to her.

She wanted to hold the old person’s hand, but could only touch the bloodstained clothes.

The warm and moist liquid flowed from the old person’s body, and she couldn’t tell whether it was tears or blood…

Too slow.

She was too slow.

If only she could be faster…

Faster in completing experiments, faster in satisfying her boss, faster in getting off work, faster in riding to the orphanage, and faster in not taking detours…then the grandmother wouldn’t have to wait at the intersection… Just a few minutes faster, and she could grab the grandmother’s hand by the roadside, not losing her…

Lin Shuang breathed in pain, her entire being engulfed in blood red.

It was all her fault.

It was all because she was too slow.

“If only I were faster… even faster…”

Lin Shuang opened her eyes in a daze.

The setting sun’s afterglow slanted through the window of the wooden house, falling on her face.

She reached up to touch the corner of her eyes, and the moist liquid slowly rolled down her fingers.

She sat up, silent, her face in her hands.

【Ding, Xiao Ai has timed your rest, it’s the end of a short break.】

【Resting is for higher efficiency. Your next schedule is to listen to the latest chapter of Cultivation Tales, followed by learning a new talisman for the duration of a stick of incense. Then, communicate with your roommate and have dinner.】

Lin Shuang tugged the corners of her mouth.

Grandma Dean, she was being obedient now.

She would follow her plans and quickly complete all her tasks.

Study, rest, make friends, exercise, nothing is delayed.

Grandma Dean…

This time, she will never be slow again.

She will become the outstanding and happy person you always wanted me to be, right?

“Sister, I’m back.”

Zhao Keran, covered in dust, pushed open the door of the wooden house and handed over the 600 spiritual stones rewarded by the administration.

Blinking her eyes, she noticed that her Senior sister’s eyes seemed a little red. Was it her imagination?

“Senior Sister, remember that we have to submit the talisman assignment tomorrow, okay?”

Lin Shuang yawned, then hugged the blanket and slithered down from the bed.

Zhao Keran tapped the table, “It’s twelve sound-transmitting talismans.”

Lin Shuang nodded but soon frowned.

Sound-transmitting talismans, first grade.

She had already completed all the talisman classes of the next three years at the Transmission Hall—72 first-grade talismans and 35 second-grade talismans.

Grandma Dean, she learned fast enough this time, right?

But learning too fast was also a headache.

Now, making first-grade talismans had no practice effect on her anymore.

Lin Shuang put on a wry and happy smile, “Junior sister, can you do it for me?”

Zhao Keran: “???”

Sister, what are you thinking?

“No, sister, Master of Transmission has said it many times. Cultivation relies on oneself, and making talismans is no exception. Only through practice can we improve. I will supervise and assist Sister in completing the assignment together with Xiao Ai.”

Lin Shuang’s body stiffened.

But in an instant, a voice was heard from outside the door.

“Lin Shuang, someone from the Mountain and Sea Sect seems to be looking for you!”

Author’s note:

“Memoirs of the 134th Generation Leader Zhao of the Clear Water Sect – Part 4”: It was only after a long period that Sister told me how she completed the talisman assignments that I was unwilling to do for her all those years. Since then, the way talismans were made by the talisman masters underwent a major transformation that hadn’t happened in a hundred years.

“Manual of Cultivation Talismans”: Lin’s method of making talismans started to take shape in that year.