◎ Have You Ever Been Punished to Copy? ◎
Before the canyon of One-Line Heaven Mountain, a huge humanoid pit had been created.
Sun Lao and others from the caravan were hiding inside the carriages, filled with both surprise and joy.
Zhou Xuanwu stared at those pink gloves with red threads, as well as the swift figure, his eyes wide open.
At the third level of Qi Refining, the aura emanating from her body remained at the third level.
However, the continuous stream of spiritual energy within her body flowed, converged, and condensed at the forefront of those pink gloves.
With one punch, it seemed as if the power of a hundred third-level Qi Refining cultivators was converging into a single point, erupting with the force of thunder!
This was the first time he had witnessed such an operation.
“Old Sun, you all should leave in the carriage first!”
Compared to the relaxed expressions of the members of the merchant caravan, Zhou Xuanwu’s expression remained tense.
Old Sun in the carriage was taken aback; he thought everything was fine now.
“After all, she… isn’t at the Foundation Establishment stage.”
Zhou Xuanwu’s gaze was heavy.
Despite the strength of the spiritual energy on Lin Shuang’s fist, she was still at the Qi Refining stage. She couldn’t execute a Foundation Establishment killing blow power.
Once her spiritual energy was exhausted and she couldn’t recover as quickly as a Foundation Establishment cultivator, she would be in danger.
At this moment, she was only temporarily in control.
Zhou Xuanwu shouted, “Old Sun, keep going for another two hours, and you’ll reach the Hongxing Town up ahead!”
Old Sun and the martial practitioners of the caravan all had serious expressions.
Zhou Xuanwu struggled to turn his head again. “Junior Brother Xiao, this is a mission undertaken by our Clearwater Sect. It has nothing to do with you.”
Xiao Qi was taken aback.
“I request that you leave as soon as possible!”
After saying this, Zhou Xuanwu gathered his last bit of strength, tightly gripped his sword, and walked towards the intense battle between Lin Shuang and the evil cultivator in the pit.
Indeed, the next moment, Lin Shuang’s delicate figure suddenly halted in midair, and her pink fist stagnated.
Her abundant spiritual energy seemed to recede like an ebbing tide, gradually weakening until it vanished.
Zhou Xuanwu smiled bitterly.
He knew it.
Qi Refining cultivators had limited spiritual energy, and they couldn’t compare to the endurance of Foundation Establishment cultivators.
He quickened his pace, not noticing Xiao Qi’s complex expression of wanting to speak but holding back.
“Damn it!”
The Foundation Establishment’s evil cultivator finally broke free from the continuous barrage of punches, gasping as he leaped out of the pit.
“Ding, Xiao Ai reminds you that you’ve completed today’s fat-burning exercise within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.”
A soft and cute voice sounded from within Lin Shuang’s sleeve.
The evil cultivator’s figure paused, “?”
Zhou Xuanwu’s eyebrows twitched.
“Alright.”
Lin Shuang, seemingly unaware of the danger posed by the evil cultivator in front of her, nodded at the reminder and leisurely removed her gloves.
The announcement continued, “Rest for the time it takes to brew a cup of tea. The next activity is listening to sound healing music.”
Liu Ba, the cultivator wielding the adamant hammer, took advantage of this momentary opening and swiftly swung the hammer toward the distracted Lin Shuang.
Zhou Xuanwu roared, “Be careful!”
However, in the blink of an eye, he saw the massive iron hammer, as Lin Shuang leaped momentarily and landed lightly on its head.
Liu Ba’s face changed, and he tried to pull back forcefully, but the hammer didn’t budge.
Lin Shuang lowered her head, her expression obscured, her tone flat but not pleased.
“Didn’t you hear? I said I’m taking a break.”
The evil cultivator: “!”
Zhou Xuanwu: “!”
Xiao Qi nodded with a knowing expression and rubbed his nose.
Liu Ba, the evil cultivator, experienced a drastic change in his expression. He released the grip on the iron hammer with his remaining right arm and retreated in an instant.
A mouthful of refined blood sprayed onto the flying sword pulled out from the mustard seed pouch.
Then, he turned and fled.
Flee!
He had no chance of defeating this woman!
With one arm lost, his blood and qi had dropped to the level of an Initial Foundation Establishment cultivator. He should have been easily dispatched with a single blow by this Qi Refining female cultivator.
Just like the Qi Refining cultivator at the ninth level he dealt with before, who couldn’t even last for three rounds against him.
However, he couldn’t beat her!
Although he didn’t know why, he could only flee!
Luckily, this female cultivator’s mind was abnormal; she stopped fighting halfway through.
His luck had not yet run out!
Liu Ba’s back was drenched in sweat as he sprinted away.
But in the next instant, a gentle sigh sounded softly behind him.
“Ah.”
“You owe me one Grade 5A scenic spot, a quarter of an incense stick’s time interrupted by the tomato timer, the time it takes to heal a fellow disciple, the mental distress…”
“Before you settle this debt, where do you think you’re going?”
Impossible.
She couldn’t possibly catch up.
He had escaped multiple times from pursuit by Foundation Establishment cultivators!
The evil cultivator Liu Ba burned a mouthful of refined blood, spraying it onto the tip of the sword. His speed instantly increased by half.
Equivalent to a high-level practitioner at the third stage of Foundation Establishment, running at full speed.
Zhou Xuanwu had just wanted to say that it was pointless to chase a desperate enemy since it would be difficult to catch up.
However, he then saw a brand-new yellow paper talisman flying out from Lin Shuang’s right sleeve.
From her left sleeve, she flung out a sachet filled with ink.
“You want to use binding spirit talismans?”
Zhou Xuanwu’s talisman scores ranked second among the outer disciples.
In an instant, he understood.
But he quickly shook his head, “No, Binding Spirit Talismans are only first level. They can only deal with cultivators below the ninth level of Qi Refining or lower. To face someone at the Foundation Establishment level, you would need dozens of them to form an array.”
Xiao Qi also raised his head to look over, muttering, “Then draw second-level talismans, third-level talismans.”
Zhou Xuanwu smiled wryly.
“Junior Brother Xiao, don’t forget we’ve only learned first-level talismans. Not to mention, the ink and paper quality for second-level talismans are vastly different.”
He pointed at the talisman paper flying out from Lin Shuang’s sleeve, “This is a first-level talisman paper given to disciples by the sect. When infused with spiritual energy, it forms a round moon symbol. How could I mistake it—”
But before he could finish, his words halted.
He looked closely and saw the talisman papers flying out from Lin Shuang’s sleeve, one after another, in succession…
A full twelve talismans, arranged in a row.
“… Junior sister, it’s too late!”
Twelve talismans, one by one crafted, but the evil cultivator had long fled!
Yet, Lin Shuang stood on the broadsword, seemingly unperturbed.
Following closely behind the escaping evil cultivator, from her mustard seed pouch, twelve wolf hair brushes flew out.
With the wind rustling the clouds, she held six in one hand.
Upon the twelve talisman papers arranged in two rows, left and right, she skillfully wielded all twelve brushes simultaneously.
Twelve tips of brushes moved in harmony.
Divine light surged.
The symbols opened.
Twelve sheets, first-level talismans, radiated a brilliant light!
Zhou Xuanwu: “!”
Xiao Qi: “…”
The members of the caravan on the ground stared up, stunned.
The evil cultivator sensed something amiss, turned his head to look, and his face turned ashen.
In an instant, the twelve talismans surrounded him from all directions, adhering to the acupoints all over his body!
In a breath, binding.
A red string flew out from Lin Shuang’s sleeve, suspending him behind her sword.
“!”
The evil cultivator’s face was like ashes.
“How is it possible… How could one manage to draw twelve talismans simultaneously with one’s divine sense?” Zhou Xuanwu’s eyes stared blankly, his words incoherent.
Lin Shuang, hearing this let out a chuckle as she pulled the evil cultivator, whose body was covered in talismans, to the ground with the broadsword.
“You, a good student, must not have heard of the technique of copying as a punishment.”
“?”
“Copying a book twice as a penalty, why not hold two pens in one hand and write the same thing twice simultaneously?”
“With proper training, why can’t one control six brushes with one hand, simultaneously using both the left and right hands? Just twelve identical copies…”
“!”
“!!”
Zhou Xuanwu’s gaze seemed to be scalded. He felt as though a gate leading to a new realm of cultivation had slowly opened before him.
Xiao Qi couldn’t help but look at the sword in his hand.
*
The caravan set up a bonfire next to the humanoid pit.
Over the fire, they suspended an iron pot they had brought along, cooking millet porridge. Besides it, they roasted steamed buns and mountain chickens over the firewood.
“Many thanks to Fairy Lin and Immortal Zhou for saving our lives.”
Sun Lao stood up gratefully.
“It won’t be a problem if we arrive at Hongxing Town a bit later.”
The passage through the One-Line Heaven Gorge was blocked by the hammer’s destruction, so they had to take a detour.
“I estimate at most half a day delay.”
Lin Shuang accepted the chicken leg handed to her by a female martial artist with a momentary pained expression.
Half a day’s delay?
Wouldn’t that ruin her plans for tomorrow’s schedule?
She had changed the plan for tonight’s observation of the One-Line Heaven moonlight to a bonfire barbecue party to stabilize her emotions. Now, she felt a sharp pain in her chest.
She looked at the fallen evil cultivator covered in talismans by the bonfire, and the fierce animosity in her eyes made even Xiao Qi beside her feel slightly uncomfortable.
Xiao Qi hurriedly comforted, “I searched his waist and found a bag of holding. Inside were 3,200 spirit stones, a second-level flying sword, and some Revival Pills and Foundation Establishment Pills.”
“Also, a reward of 5,000 spirit stones…”
Lin Shuang sighed with an “ah” sound, “An inch of time is worth an inch of gold, but gold can’t buy back time.”
Xiao Qi: “…”
Zhou Xuanwu, who was gripping two wolf hair brushes in his right hand, nearly lost control.
If it weren’t for the fact that outer disciples were not qualified to practice time-related techniques, he might have thought that she had perfected it!
“Tomorrow, when we reach the destination,” Lin Shuang finished her chicken leg and wiped her hands, “we’ll need about two days for the return journey.”
For the return journey, there was no need to bring along the mortal members of the caravan; they could travel at full speed using their swords.
“We can only make the best of it and use up everything within two days.”
“?”
Late into the night, the two of them finally received Lin Shuang’s plan.
【Evil Cultivator Utilization Plan (Two Days):…
Chen period – Early Chen period: Xiao Qi and the evil cultivator spar, advancing the Vajra Technique…
…
Noon period – Early Noon period: Zhou Xuanwu and the evil cultivator engage in pursuit, improving talisman skills.
Last hour period – After the Last hour period: Xiao Qi and the evil cultivator spar again, refining the Heavy Mountain Sword…
… Lin Shuang and the evil cultivator spar, perfecting sword techniques…
…]
Zhou Xuanwu remained silent, as did Xiao Qi.
This was the rhythm of squeezing every last bit of potential out of the evil cultivator.
“Ah, much more comfortable.”
After finalizing the plan, Lin Shuang breathed a sigh of relief, and a rosy hue of contentment finally graced her jade-like cheeks.
Wasting two hours but gaining back two days and nights!
She was back on track.
Xiao Qi and Zhou Xuanwu: “…”
With satisfaction, Lin Shuang put away the wolf hair brush, her mood restored, and she fell asleep peacefully.
Grandma Dean, today she didn’t waste any time. She’s been living well and working hard.
*
“The “Diamond Heart Sutra Technique, with each breakthrough, your body becomes tougher.”
“In the initial stage, Gang Qi circulates on the surface of your muscles…”
At the foot of the mountain.
Under the life-threatening attacks of the frenzied evil cultivator, Xiao Qi mumbled to his blocked ears and explained to him.
Learning Pyramid:
– Saying and doing achieve a 90% learning effect.
– Teaching the other person in the manner of a master deepens self-understanding.
Amid the attacks of life-threatening danger, Xiao Qi occasionally halted his movements and had insights.
“I see; do you understand?”
“I don’t understand, let me explain again…”
“Ah, I see now… let me explain again…”
Evil cultivator Liu Ba, who could read simple lip movements: “…”
After each explanation and practice, Xiao Qi’s comprehension of the second layer of the Diamond Heart Sutra Technique deepened.
Then came sword techniques, mental techniques, and cultivation methods… they were reviewed repeatedly according to the Ebbinghaus curve.
Xiao Qi gradually turned the tide.
Two days later, Zhou Xuanwu held two talismans in his hand and continued to wear that unattractive appearance.
However, his swordsmanship and mental techniques, just like Xiao Qi’s, rapidly broke through during life-and-death duels.
When Meng Zi, stepping on the Gathering Spirit Talisman wooden table, arrived and finally met the returning trio, he saw the swollen and unrecognizable face of Liu Ba, the one-armed Golden Hammer.
Upon seeing him, Liu Ba seemed to be seeing a loved one, tears streaming down his face.
“It’s you!?
Take me away!”
“I’d rather you hack me to death! Take me away!!”
Meng Zi: “??”
He turned his head and saw Lin Shuang, whose face was sunbathing on a broadsword nearby, with a healthy rosy complexion.
Lin Shuang turned her head and also saw him… and the slightly familiar square wooden table he was stepping on.
His brow twitched.
Hers also twitched.
Author’s Note:
Lin Shuang: At that time, I was disgusted by this style.
**”Memoir of the 134th Generation Zhao Sect Leader Chapter 11″: “Later, Senior Sister never admitted it, but she was disgusted by her ugly talisman table.”
**”Cultivation Symbol Compendium”: Starting from that year, talisman tables became hard to find, and their prices rose every year. It’s said that Lin Fairy had higher aspirations and rarely created the humorous artworks of her youth. However, there’s a rumor that Lin Fairy found the peculiar design of this talisman table matched only with the esteemed Meng Zi. It’s well-known that he doesn’t care much for tidiness.
Meng Zi: …? Let me tell you, thank you…*
