Conjugal Master-Disciple with Xiao Wu

After spending a few more days playing around Holy Soul Village, Jiang Jiu and the others returned to Nuoding City.

It was the same daily routine of training, cultivation, and blacksmithing; nothing had changed, yet some things truly were different.

For instance, Tang San now openly showed his hidden weapons to Jiang Jiu.

The mechanical hidden weapons were quite interesting, but they still didn't distract Jiang Jiu from his relentless obsession with tempering Iron Essence.

If he couldn't hammer out a Spirit Refinement, he was determined to hammer out a Hundred Refinement or a Thousand Refinement.

Truth be told, as Jiang Jiu's strength and experience increased, the quality of the Iron Essence he forged kept getting better, though it was hard to say exactly when he would achieve a qualitative breakthrough.

"Brother Jiu, are you really not going to learn?"

Jiang Jiu wasn't just anyone; Tang San felt no pressure about passing on some hidden weapon crafting techniques to him. He was especially covetous of the Iron Essence Jiang Jiu tempered, as the hidden weapons crafted from it would undoubtedly be top-tier.

"My energy is limited."

Between accumulating soul power, practicing martial soul control, training in Soft Technique, physical conditioning, and blacksmithing to make some extra money, Jiang Jiu's daily schedule was truly packed.

"You should focus on yourself, Tang San. Don't let it delay your soul power cultivation."

"I'll keep that in mind."

Tang San's expression turned serious as he nodded. As for whether he actually took it to heart, Jiang Jiu couldn't say.

These things relied entirely on self-discipline; even with Xiao Wu, Jiang Jiu wouldn't say too much.

However, Xiao Wu had also been stepping up her cultivation.

Mainly because during their time at Holy Soul Village and their recent sparring sessions, Xiao Wu discovered that she had been defeated several times in a row whenever she didn't use her martial soul.

She didn't know when it had started, but Jiang Jiu's physical strength and speed had quietly surpassed her own.

Facing an opponent who knew her moves inside and out, combined with the fact that he was faster and stronger, Xiao Wu was truly tasting the bitter fruit of "the apprentice surpassing the master." She had to pull out all her trump cards just to avoid the miserable outcome of losing every single match.

Sister Xiao Wu was determined to work hard!

"Jiu, what do you think of this rooster I drew?" It was safe to say her drawing skills weren't very strong.

"It perfectly captures the miserable state of it being strangled to death by you," Jiang Jiu glanced at it.

"Nonsense, it's clearly full of vigor."

Jiang Jiu stopped what he was doing and looked at Xiao Wu.

"What? I told you, I've been studying very seriously."

"I acknowledge your effort."

The cultured words that occasionally popped out of Xiao Wu's mouth always made Jiang Jiu react this way.

Xiao Wu would accept it with a mix of shyness and annoyance while secretly continuing to study harder.

"Jiu, teach me those things you practice, too."

"Why? Aren't you afraid of making your legs thick?"

Previously, when Jiang Jiu had Xiao Wu try weighted squats, she had complained about being tired, but she was also worried about thickening her slender legs. Xiao Wu still preferred to keep her figure slim.

"I feel like you quite like them."

"How did you figure that out?" It was true that Jiang Jiu preferred legs with a bit of meat over "chopstick legs."

"When we bathe, you only touch your own legs, never mine." Xiao Wu wasn't the least bit shy when she started spouting nonsense.

"I shouldn't have praised you." Jiang Jiu rolled his eyes. He wasn't a pervert, lusting after the legs of a girl who looked to be about seven or eight years old.

"It's true, though. I feel like your legs really do feel better to touch."

It was safe to say the real pervert was someone else.

"Don't talk about this when we're outside."

"Hehe." Xiao Wu tried to act cute to get away with it.

After dinner, they finished their work and headed home.

"See you tomorrow, Brother Jiu."

"See you tomorrow."

Tang San now seemed to have a stable core; he still didn't talk much, but when he was around Jiang Jiu, his entire presence felt much softer.

Back at their place, Xiao Wu pulled Jiang Jiu to his usual workout area.

She wasn't just saying it when she asked Jiang Jiu to teach her strength training.

"Wait, wait, wait, let me change my clothes first."

"That's true. I'll go take a bath first, then."

"Oh, right. Let's take a bath first."

Xiao Wu forcefully squeezed into the bathroom.

When she returned, Xiao Wu was wearing nothing but hot pants and a small tank top.

"You're wearing that?"

"Is there a problem?" Xiao Wu giggled.

This was what one might call killing two birds with one stone.

It was just that Xiao Wu hadn't started developing yet, so she didn't look nearly as enticing as Jiang Jiu.

"We'll start with the empty bar." Ignoring her cheeky grin, Jiang Jiu went straight into teaching.

Having practiced for half a year himself, Jiang Jiu had enough confidence to help Xiao Wu adjust her form, while also taking the opportunity to review whether his own movements had drifted over these past few days.

The lesson went smoothly. Xiao Wu already had a solid foundation, and her superior physical coordination allowed her to execute every one of Jiang Jiu's instructions with precision; she grasped the essence of the three movements very quickly.

"Seems pretty easy, doesn't it?"

"Persistence is what matters more."

"Fine, fine."

The correct form that modern people would take several sessions to learn was incredibly easy for the likes of Xiao Wu to master; one could only say that the physiques of different individuals could not be generalized.

Because Xiao Wu learned so quickly, the session ended before she had even gotten to press against Jiang Jiu much.

"That's it for today. Follow the training plan I gave you from here on out."

"Understood, Teacher Xiao Jiu."

Jiang Jiu put the equipment back in place.

Since the progressive overload routine he was using hadn't been proven ineffective yet, he might as well let Xiao Wu use it too.

He wondered if Xiao Wu would end up becoming a muscular rabbit in the future, but he would definitely need to supplement her diet; relying solely on beans wouldn't cut it anymore, she needed to eat more meat.

Additionally, Jiang Jiu planned to forge a new barbell.

His own squats had already broken through four hundred kilograms, and if he continued to push for heavier weights, it was hard to say when that fifteen-kilogram Iron Essence bar might snap. Furthermore, with both him and Xiao Wu training, the metal fatigue of the barbell would accumulate faster, shortening its lifespan.

"So poor."

Jiang Jiu felt like the small nest egg he had finally managed to save up was about to go up in smoke again.

"Xiao Jiu, it's time to cultivate soul power now. Don't be lazy."

"Yes, yes, Teacher Xiao Wu."

Xiao Wu was really getting ahead of herself, even accusing him of being lazy.

Jiang Jiu pinched Xiao Wu's little cheek and then scurried back to the bed.

"Ah!"

Seeing that Jiang Jiu had already settled into a meditation posture, Xiao Wu couldn't disturb him anymore.

"Hmph, you pinched me, so I'll pinch you tonight too."

Watching the natural, fluid curves of Jiang Jiu's body as he meditated, Xiao Wu gestured with her small hands a few times, a wicked arc curling at the corners of her mouth.

She had been worrying about not having a legitimate excuse to ambush Xiao Jiu tonight.

Soon after, Xiao Wu also sat cross-legged on the bed and began her evening cultivation.

It had to be said that under Jiang Jiu's subtle influence, Xiao Wu had truly begun to put in the effort.

How long she could keep it up, however, remained to be seen.