Lin Qi looked as though her backside had caught fire. She immediately let out a howl, looking utterly miserable.
"Big Sister Feng Ling, you tricked a child!"
She tearfully accused Feng Ling.
She could not fool her just because she was young!
If she had been given even a little mental preparation, she would never have obediently stepped into this blasted bath barrel, even if beaten to death.
Wasn't this just a weakened version of being roasted in an Alchemy Furnace?!
Next door, Luo Ci had only just steeled himself and stepped one foot into the bath barrel when he heard that scream. He slipped straight in out of fright.
A stabbing pain surged in from all directions at once. His entire face twisted in agony, but he forced himself not to make a sound.
Listening to Lin Qi's miserable cries next door, Luo Ci suddenly felt as though his own body did not hurt quite as much.
Luo Ci gritted his teeth.
He could not make a sound even if he died, or how would he mock Second Senior Sister later?!
Lin Qi knew nothing of Luo Ci's little scheme. Even if she had known, there was nothing she could have done about it.
It hurt far too much!
She had thought that once she endured the first wave, the pain inside her body would lessen. Who would have thought the agony would pile up like crashing tides, each wave higher than the last?
Lin Qi felt that if she closed her eyes, she could pass out at any moment.
A blazing inferno burned within her, seeming intent on reducing all her flesh, blood, and meridians to ashes. Lin Qi hurt so badly that her fingers were nearly clawing through the wooden barrel.
At her side, Feng Ling kept reminding her that she could not faint. If she did, the medicine's effects would be halved.
Lin Qi began down the road of wailing like ghosts and howling like wolves.
After an entire afternoon, Lin Qi had absorbed every last drop of the blackish-red Body Tempering Medicine. She lay half-dead on the bed, unable to even lift a finger.
Feng Ling silently took out a packet of needles, pinched a long, slender Silver Needle between her fingers, and stood coolly beside Lin Qi's bed.
"Come on. Take off your clothes!"
Lin Qi: ...
Lin Qi could not even be bothered to ask what the Silver Needles were for. She sprawled on the bed and let Feng Ling do as she pleased.
Instead, Feng Ling, who had always been a woman of few words, began speaking.
She explained, "Silver Needles stimulate the acupoints and promote the absorption of the medicine's effects."
Lin Qi stared blankly ahead and asked hoarsely, "Big Sister Feng Ling, is body tempering done once every half month?"
Seeing how obedient and sensible she looked, Feng Ling felt a little reluctant. "Once every half month is for using Fire Spirit Flowers to dispel the cold energy in your body. Yours is to temper your physique. You need to soak twice every seven days."
Lin Qi's little heart trembled.
"Twice a week?!"
Her eyes rolled back, and she wanted to faint on the spot.
Feng Ling said, "True Lord said that the Bloodline Power within you awakened early. If you do not quickly improve your body's strength, then when your fleshly body cannot withstand the strength of your bloodline, you may very well explode and die. That is why your Body Tempering Medicine is much stronger than Yuan Xi's and Luo Ci's, and why you need to temper your body more often..."
"Explode and die?!"
Even Lin Qi's hoarse voice could not conceal her shock.
So the countdown on her life was not one hundred years—it might be even shorter!
Lin Qi felt as though the words "short-lived ghost" were all that was missing from her face.
If she wanted to live, she had to endure this pain.
Lin Qi held a breath in her chest.
She did not want to die!
Wasn't it just body tempering?
Temper it!
Endure it, and it would pass...
Lin Qi: ...
Seeing Lin Qi accept everything so quickly, Feng Ling made no effort to hide the admiration in her eyes.
"Your will is the strongest I have ever seen in my life."
"Little Qi, you truly do not seem like a four-year-old child."
Under the double impact upon her body and soul, Lin Qi's state of mind had already become as still as water.
"After Mother entered closed-door cultivation, I stopped being a child."
Feng Ling froze, a trace of surprise appearing in her eyes as she looked at Lin Qi.
After the body tempering, Lin Qi was so exhausted that her eyelids were nearly closing. But when she thought that she might one day explode and die, she was so frightened that she immediately climbed out of bed.
"Cultivate!"
Either explode and die, or grind herself to death—wasn't it just a choice between two?!
Who was afraid of whom!
While it was still early, Lin Qi ate and drank her fill, then took her Small Wooden Sword and went to find True Monarch Qingyun.
In the next room, Luo Ci, who was half-dead, heard the commotion and used his jade token to contact Lin Qi.
"Where are you going?"
Lin Qi's voice carried the resolve of one who regarded death as home.
"To find Master and learn swordsmanship and movement techniques!"
Luo Ci went completely blank.
He wanted to die too.
Could she not take a break?
"Aren't you tired?" he asked unwillingly.
Lin Qi's face twitched. "Tired!"
"Then why are you still so enthusiastic?!"
Imitating Senior Sister Yuan Xi's unfathomable tone, Lin Qi said, "You do not understand. I have no choice but to work hard."
Luo Ci went numb. He propped himself up from the bed and gritted out, "I'll go with you!"
Lin Qi raised an eyebrow. "Junior Brother, there's no need to force yourself..."
Before she could finish, Luo Ci cut her off. "I'm not forcing myself!"
He gave a haughty snort. "At least I didn't howl during body tempering today. Unlike certain people, who cried like ghosts and howled like wolves. Anyone who didn't know better would have thought some terrible disaster had happened."
Lin Qi's gaze sharpened, and her hand suddenly felt a little itchy.
In a hoarse voice, she said, "Junior Brother, you had better walk faster. Later, Senior Sister would also like to ask you for some pointers on movement techniques."
Sensing the fire in Lin Qi's voice, Luo Ci immediately shut his mouth of his own accord.
True Monarch Qingyun was not surprised by Lin Qi's arrival. But when she saw Luo Ci, the smile in her eyes deepened by several degrees.
"Sure enough, once Little Qi returned, Luo Ci became much more diligent in cultivation as well. As your master, I like seeing the two of you urging each other onward."
Lin Qi and Luo Ci: Hehe.
Zonglei Peak had a unique movement technique called the Zonglei Art. It was a low-grade earth-rank movement technique. Once cultivated to Great Accomplishment, one could travel amid thunderclouds.
After Lin Qi learned the essentials and footwork, it was time to practice the movement technique.
True Monarch Qingyun smiled as she took out her Eight-faced Flowing Wind Array Plate and tossed it into the air.
"Little Qi, Luo Ci, get up there and train."
Lin Qi instinctively looked at Luo Ci beside her and, sure enough, saw his tearful, miserable expression.
Lin Qi: ...
Lin Qi stepped onto the array plate as though marching toward death.
Four wind blades shot toward Lin Qi from four directions in an instant. Lin Qi instinctively dodged, only to hear True Monarch Qingyun's voice at her ear. "Use the movement technique!"
Lin Qi's steps paused.
In that instant of hesitation, one wind blade slashed viciously across her body. Lin Qi staggered back five or six steps before barely steadying herself.
Before she could catch her breath, the remaining wind blades came again.
These wind blades each followed their own patterns. Lin Qi dodged properly several times and discovered that every step landed precisely on the positions prescribed by the Zonglei Art.
After several rounds, she had completely familiarized herself with the first stage of the movement technique. She could not help marveling inwardly at True Monarch Qingyun's skill.
At first, only four wind blades darted about from every direction, and Lin Qi and Luo Ci could still handle them.
Just as Lin Qi adapted, the four blades immediately became eight.
Luo Ci had experience and had expected this. He dodged with practiced ease, his feet moving with effortless mastery, each step carrying a unique rhythm.
Lin Qi was a novice, and she quickly fell into chaos again.
Luo Ci stole a laugh amid the chaos and even provoked Lin Qi.
"Senior Sister, you just said you wanted to ask me for pointers. Who knew the chance would come so quickly?"
Lin Qi gave a cold laugh and, without a second thought, moved closer to Luo Ci with her footwork.
Before you continue