◎ Lin Shuang’s Secret, Finish Today’s Business Today ◎
Silence enveloped the secret chamber.
Senior Brother Xu Rui stood stiff, staring at his hair that fell to the ground.
“Th… three… strands…”
Zhou Xuanwu hesitated to speak, then turned away.
Now, Senior Brother, you shouldn’t be concerned about the quantity of your hair loss!
“Senior Sister, it seems…”
Zhao Keran suddenly saw the light, and a realization dawned upon her.
Her eyes shimmered with mixed emotions as she looked at Lin Shuang.
“I should have known; I should have known that Senior Sister’s path to fast cultivation… couldn’t possibly be weak!”
Zhou Xuanwu turned his head from the left to the right.
Fast cultivation?
“Junior Sister… you’ve won.”
Finally, Senior Brother Xu Rui tore his gaze away from his fallen hair.
The sword qi flashed by.
The three strands of hair, severed at the waist, turned into six!
Only then did he show a comfortable expression.
With this, his ability to think returned, and his gaze shifted to Lin Shuang.
Although they had only reached the third move just now, she had already cut his hair, and he couldn’t react in time; the contest was already lost.
“Why are you hiding your cultivation—”
Xu Rui didn’t understand, but his words stopped.
Lin Shuang was seen lowering the corners of her eyes, her left hand touching the side of her left ear, and she stepped back step by step.
With each step, her inner spiritual energy quieted by a fraction.
With each step, her thundering momentum dropped by a layer.
By the time she retreated to the wall of the secret chamber, the surging within her dantian had returned to calm.
Again, she became weak and helpless, at the third level of Qi Refining, just a little novice.
“…?”
“I didn’t hide it, Senior Brother,” Lin Shuang smiled and touched her dantian number one, the one in charge today, “I am at the third level of Qi Refining without a doubt.”
Xu Rui: “…”
Zhou Xuanwu: “…”
Only Zhao Keran, with a surprised look, tapped her forehead in realization. “I understand, Senior Sister. This is what you just said, every bit of cultivated spiritual energy is extremely precious. Don’t expend it unless necessary, right?”
“And also what was mentioned in the Second Part of the Fast Cultivation – Energy Management,” she continued, “cultivate a habit to switch rapidly between peak and lowest states.”
“When necessary, you can use habitual movements or objects as switches to awaken and put your body to rest. This way, you can save energy during normal times and burst out faster in times of crisis, surpassing your limits.”
Upon hearing this, Lin Shuang gave a relieved smile to her little junior sister as if saying, “You finally understand, and it’s not in vain that Senior Sister has taught you for years.”
Then, she let go of the hand touching her left earpiece.
In the fading echo of the high-intensity BGM in her ears, she checked every corner of her body.
Very good, except for Dantian Number One on duty today, all the other odd-numbered Dantians on the left side of her body were dormant.
Lin Shuang was in a delightful mood. She closed her hand, retrieving the reinforcement talismans that still had a few uses left on the ground.
“Senior Brother Xu Rui, don’t forget the exemption from the exam for ten years. Please inform the masters at the Transmission Hall that I won’t be attending the disciple assessment the day after tomorrow.”
“…”
“Also, for my grades, you can refer to last year’s. There’s no need to trouble the masters with it.”
“…………….”
Lin Shuang left leisurely, reminding her recently enlightened junior sister before she departed.
“When you spar with Senior Brother, Senior Sister won’t stay to watch. If you have any questions, gather them up and Senior Sister will read them all together the day after tomorrow.”
Zhao Keran nodded repeatedly, seriously acknowledging.
Her eyes were full of admiration and amazement.
Compared to Senior Sister, she was just a little sister!
In an instant, she recalled everything from the past—the rebound of Senior Sister’s astral qi when touched, the evaluation of the talisman’s grade… now everything made sense.
She had thought that she had thoroughly mastered the essence of Fast Cultivation, but she hadn’t realized that she hadn’t grasped its true essence!
“Junior Sister Zhao, as roommates, you also didn’t know her true strength?” Senior Brother Xu Rui frowned.
Zhao Keran’s round face displayed a hint of shyness and regret, quickly followed by a matter-of-fact tone, “Fast Cultivation has emphasized many times on conserving energy. Ah, it’s all because of my foolishness. I couldn’t comprehend the true meaning.”
“…”
“It’s also because I’m too weak. In front of me, who’s so weak, Senior Sister only needs to show the strength of Qi Refining Layer Three.”
“…………….”
“But on that day outside, Junior Sister Lin resisted the Foundation Stage Cultivator, continuously attacked, and didn’t save her spiritual energy as much as today.”
Zhou Xuanwu had been puzzled all along, tangled for a while, and finally asked, “Why is that?”
Senior Brother Xu Rui was taken aback. They’ve indeed encountered a tough nut!
Zhao Keran was also stunned and amazed by what she heard, but then she asked for details and understood in an instant.
“Oh, three days ago, that was an ‘even number’ day. Senior Sister does fat-burning exercises on even-numbered days, which means sweating. But today is the ninth day of the month.”
The ninth day was odd-numbered.
Odd-numbered days allowed the body to rest without the need for sweating.
Therefore, not going all out.
Case solved!
Senior Brother Xu Rui’s thin lips stiffened, trembling for half a moment.
Zhou Xuanwu suddenly realized.
Transmission Hall, Elders’ Chamber.
The four transmission masters, respectively, imparted mental techniques, sword techniques, talismans, and daily hand seals.
At this moment, they all emerged from their meditation and browsed through the scriptures, looking up in astonishment.
“What did you say, Xu Rui? You agreed to exempt Lin Shuang from the exam for ten years?”
“You’ve been managing the Outer Sect for thirteen years. Why would you do something so irregular? If a disciple is exempt from the exam, how can they gain the respect of others?”
Xu Rui looked up, “Masters, it’s not thirteen years, it’s thirteen years and six months.”
“…”
The four masters were left speechless.
This disciple was good in every way, just a little problematic.
“Nonsense! If she’s exempted, how will Lin Shuang’s ten-year performance in the Outer Sect be evaluated?”
Xu Rui: “…”
Taking a deep breath, he respectfully saluted.
“Respected Masters, have any of you sparred with Junior Sister Lin?”
“???”
*
Lin Shuang took a shortcut, passing directly through the back door of the cafeteria, walking along the medicinal field path, and entering the back door of the book repository.
“Hmm? Why do I suddenly have a bad feeling?”
She touched her left eye, which was faintly throbbing, and hissed.
“Could it be that what Senior Sister Chen said next door is correct? Have I offended the Tai Sui this year? Is my luck bad?”
She quickly pressed her left eyebrow and entered the unguarded book repository.
The corner tower of the Outer Sect’s book repository was located between the medicinal field and the administration office.
There weren’t many disciples passing through here on ordinary days because Clearwater Sect’s techniques were stored in the Transmission Hall, guarded by the teaching elders.
Most of the books in the book repository were unrelated to cultivation.
At this moment, Lin Shuang passed through the first floor of the corner tower, glanced at the shelves containing the sect’s history, and then went upstairs. On the second floor, most of the books were about the lifetimes of the elders, travelogues, and local customs.
She sat cross-legged, taking a black-gold iron box from her mustard seed bag. This morning, she had sorted through it, pulling it out from the pile of spirit stones in the evil cultivator’s mustard seed bag, the one containing the Golden Hammer.
Opening the iron box revealed three sections of gruesome adult finger bones, streaked with blood, laid out on a black silk cloth.
Cold and pale, exuding a chilling sensation.
Upon careful perception, there was still some residual spiritual energy.
Lin Shuang frowned involuntarily and lowered her head, pulling up the left sleeve of her robe.
There, on the pinky finger of her left hand, was a faint scar that ran from the fingertip to the base, barely discernible in color now. But when placed next to the bones in the iron box, its curvature seemed similar to the pristine white finger bones.
It seemed like in the past, the method to remove the bones from the chicken claws involved cutting through the flesh and tendons from the palm and between the fingers, leaving the bones intact.
Lin Shuang closed her eyes. “Liu Ba, the Demonic Golden Hammer…”
When she arrived here, her memories of the original body were very vague. She only remembered that ‘she’ was one of the ninety-nine-nine-year-old girls who had died tragically in the wilderness, pierced by a sword through the heart.
The rest was a blur.
When she woke up, her pinky finger was still intact.
“‘I wasn’t injured by the hammer.”
The person who killed the original body and the other ninety-eight girls was likely not this evil cultivator Liu Ba.
Lin Shuang frowned, taking out a charcoal pencil and a diary.
[December 9th, Clear Skies
The truth behind my death seems to have a slight clue, but not much.
The original puzzle remains unsolved: How did ‘I’ know there were ninety-eight other girls who died with me? At the age of nine, ‘I’ was about to die, so ‘I’ should have been panicked. Why did ‘I’ pay attention to the number of people present?
If it wasn’t ‘me’ who counted, how did ‘I’ know there were ninety-nine?
Did the person who killed ‘me’ reveal the information at the time? Ninety-nine, is it related to some kind of evil ritual?]
Lin Shuang stopped writing at this point, furrowing her brows and putting down the pen.
She took out the noise-canceling version of the V3 talisman and inserted it into her ears, closing her eyes.
A gentle white noise, like flipping through pages of a book, sounded for a moment.
She formed a hand seal, and before her, an entire three rows of bookshelves lifted into the air.
One hundred and eight strands of divine consciousness poured out!
One hundred and eight books flipped open in succession!
“Not this one.”
“This one’s useless.”
“Next.”
“Pass.”
“…Useless.”
“Finished reading, didn’t find it.”
One hundred and eight strands of divine consciousness rapidly flipped through pages, quickly moving on to the next book!
“Is anyone here? The book repository needs cleaning…”
The disciple on duty, carrying a straw broom, came up to the second floor and stood there, eyes wide open.
He slipped and tumbled down the stairs.
“Monster, a monster!”
Lin Shuang was already submerged in several scrolls and bamboo slips.
Half an incense stick’s time later, she opened her eyes to the white noise.
Several books had landed in her hands.
“Evil cultivators slay righteous paths, absorbing the vitality of others to enhance themselves. They must be eradicated.”
“If witnessing injustice, encountering an evil cultivator dismembering a mortal, seemingly venting anger, it’s hateful. I shall execute them on the spot.”
“Rumors say this evil cultivator has slain eighteen powerful demons and is now wanted.”
Lin Shuang raised an eyebrow.
[December 9th, Clear Skies
In the external library, there are only three relevant entries, as follows…
Righteous paths, mortals, powerful demons. The scope of the evil cultivators’ activities is quite broad.
However, it’s still unclear whether ‘I’ was killed by an evil cultivator.
Sigh, the external library is still too limited. There’s a complete lack of information about the relevant techniques of evil cultivators and the truth about their cultivation. In this way, it’s challenging to find the cause and effect of ‘my’ death and pinpoint the actual perpetrator.
I can’t spend my whole life dissing all evil cultivators in the world. When will this ever end?
Should I really enter the inner sect, gain the Master’s favor, become a direct disciple, obtain a fifth-tier magic tool, and then use a retrograde symbol to find out the truth behind ‘my’ death?
Forget it, I’ll stop here for today. There are other things to do.
—Clue 1: Finger bones related to my death.
—Clue 2: Extracted quote about my death.]
Lin Shuang closed the scroll of records, sighing lightly.
After all these years, there were only two clues.
She quickly returned the books and bamboo slips she had looked through and descended the stairs.
“Senior Sister Lin is that you… you…?” The on-duty disciple stood at the doorway, his face pale.
Lin Shuang smiled. “You’ve worked hard cleaning.”
With that, she stepped onto her snowboard-like wide sword and left.
The on-duty disciple slid to the ground, covering his eyes. “Senior Sister… what kind of technique is this for cultivation? Using books to play?”
The speed at which she flipped through those books, there’s no way she could have read them all, right?
Impossible!
Lin Shuang walked straight out of the library, replenishing first-order talisman paper and ink at the management office on the way. Afterward, she collected the duty schedule for the following week.
Finally, she made her way to the inner sect.
As usual, she handed over the items she was delivering to the senior sister guarding the entrance.
“Bringing more items again?” The guarding senior sister was already familiar with her.
After all, Lin Shuang’s appearance was outstanding, and her snowboard-like sword under her feet was eye-catching.
Lin Shuang smiled and nodded, continuing forward. She turned right to the Rong Bao Pavilion at the edge of the inner sect’s entrance.
She took out a newly crafted third-tier Swift Travel talisman from her mustard seed bag—a seemingly ordinary wooden tablet, even newer than the previous one—hoisted it with one hand, and placed it among the shelves of the Rong Bao Pavilion.
After completing her checklist:
1. Investigate my death √
2. Replenish talisman paper √
3. Collect duty schedule √
4. Rong Bao Pavilion transaction √
In less than half a candle’s worth of time, she had completed all four tasks on her way.
She truly lived up to her name!
Lin Shuang gave herself a thumbs-up.
[The Fastest Female Cultivator]: The Swift Travel Talisman (Variant) has been sent out. There’s only one, so collect it from the usual spot.
Inside the Rong Bao Pavilion, a pale-faced man leaned half-sleepily against a bamboo chair, his phoenix-like eyes half-closed. He seemed drowsy.
His thin hand covered his forehead, with two or three blue veins lightly protruding, shading his eyes from the sunlight.
When the wooden tablet, with its somewhat familiar four-sided design, floated into the Rong Bao Pavilion, he stirred from his half-asleep state. His eyelids twitched lightly, and his coughing halted.
“…”
Standing up, yet no one was in sight.
His slender hand slid from his brow to his lips.
Perhaps due to coughing up blood, his lips were as red and vibrant as oleander flowers.
“Master.”
A white-clad handsome youth didn’t dare to lift his head, quickly walking up behind him.
“Liu Ba’s mustard seed bag has been delivered by the Annihilation Pavilion.”
“But there’s nothing inside that we’re looking for.”
The man’s phoenix-like eyes suddenly opened, revealing a sliver of daylight.
His ink-black pupils turned blood-red, adding a touch of eerie allure to his pale face.
“Liu Ba fled into the Great Wilderness Mountains before his death. The last contacts he had, apart from the Annihilation Pavilion, were the Sun Clan’s merchant caravan that passed through the Great Wilderness Mountains, and the two disciples from the Clearwater Sect’s outer sect who escorted him…”
“Zhou Xuanwu, Lin Shuang.”
*
Two days later.
The assessment for the outer sect disciples was in full swing.
Many disciples were hurrying back and forth to the Teaching Pavilion, their brows furrowed, faces bitter, their stress immense.
Only Lin Shuang, with a grin on her face like an old man, stood with folded hands in front of the passing wooden houses, watching.
“Oh, Junior Sister, are you going for the assessment again? Oh, today is the Sword Technique assessment. Good luck!”
“Huh, you’re also taking an afternoon assessment, Junior Sister? Oh, it’s the Rune Crafting assessment then there’s nothing to worry about.”
“I don’t need to go.”
Hehehe.
Lin Shuang had a sly smile on her face. Every morning and afternoon, she would personally send Zhao Keran off to the Transmission Hall for assessment.
“Senior Sister!”
On the second day of the continuous assessments, Zhao Keran couldn’t bear it anymore.
Her Senior Sister’s flaunting was truly infuriating. She wanted to hit someone.
But she could only grit her teeth and endure it.
What else could she do?
She hadn’t mastered the essence of the fastest learning like her senior sister. She couldn’t be exempted and had to participate in the comprehensive year-end assessments!
For two consecutive days, from morning until afternoon, she couldn’t even drink water…
Sigh.
“Senior Sister, if you keep this up, I won’t go to the management office to pick up a new table for you. Seriously, how is it possible that you don’t have a single one left!”
Hehehe.
Lin Shuang currently couldn’t hear anything.
In her mind, there were only two words: “exempt from assessment.”
For these two days, she hadn’t planned anything, simply enjoying the stolen time as if it were a high-quality vacation.
This was like swallowing an entire summer’s worth of joy!
“Junior Sister, do well in your exam, carefully review your answers, and it’s fine if you come back a bit late.”
“…!”
For two happy days, Lin Shuang’s year-end assessments for the outer sect disciples finally concluded.
Though she was somewhat reluctant to see them end, she adjusted her mindset. She prepared a sumptuous dinner to reward her poor examination-taking Junior Sister.
In the meantime, she congratulated herself. Starting tonight, she could return to her normal routine exempt from assessments.
However, as the night fell and the sunset, a bell toll rang out.
“Outer sect disciple assessments are complete. Do not leave.”
“After the duration of an incense stick, the sect will conduct a thorough examination. It will begin immediately.”
Lin Shuang was taken aback.
In the blink of an eye, the management senior brother, Xu Rui, hurried over, “Junior Sister, the exemption from the four assessments has ended, except for the disciple’s ‘Heart Examination’.”
Heart Examination.
It assessed whether a practitioner’s Dao heart was pure.
Given the rampant rise of evil cultivation, the sect feared that disciples might tread on the path of evil. If that discovery came too late, the consequences would be dire.
Lin Shuang quickly understood.
This was akin to the morality and ethics exams from her previous life.
Even if someone excels in language and mathematics, they might not necessarily pass the ethics section.
She silently extended her hand, pulling down her left sleeve to cover the faded scar on her hand.
“Senior Brother, how long does this examination take?”
Xu Rui pondered, “The Heart Examination activates the Time-Space Array. Although it takes several years in the mind, it’s actually just an instant.”
Lin Shuang’s breath slightly hitched.
What kind of divine examination was this?
In the blink of an eye?
“Then, could I complete all the assessments for the 11th year onwards within the Heart Examination? Four assessments, four blinks.”
“???”
Junior Sister, what kind of nonsense are you thinking again?
With a stern expression, Senior Brother Xu Rui personally accompanied Lin Shuang, or rather, he escorted her, flying on his sword to the Teaching Pavilion.
“Junior Sister, take the Heart Examination seriously. Don’t joke with the masters.”
“Okay, Senior Brother? I never joke.”
“…!”
Author’s Note:
Lin Shuang: Defamation. Senior Brother Xu Rui and the masters are never on my contact list for joking.
“Memoirs of the 134th Generation Sect Leader Zhao” Chapter 15: “Senior Sister knows how to make jokes and flaunt. That’s right, during those years, Senior Sister’s targets for jokes and flaunting were always me. Don’t ask what ‘flaunting’ means; recalling it, I both laugh and cry.”
Senior Brother Xu Rui: …
*
