Sword Qi

"When I first... no, wasn't it that the Auxiliary System could only increase Laziness Qi when it made you work?"

Watching Zhou Bai explain himself, Christina gave a dry laugh. "Elsa."

Thud.

Seeing the broom Elsa had brought over in her mouth, Zhou Bai smiled. "That's... impressive, Christina. When did you teach Elsa to fetch things?"

Christina glanced at the floor and said leisurely, "While I was in seclusion these past few days, the floor in this room has been getting dirtier and dirtier."

Seeing Christina staring at him with her cat eyes, Zhou Bai took a deep breath and shouted, "What do you mean by that, Tina?!"

As he spoke, he grabbed the broom and yelled at Christina, "Do I need a dog to fetch it for me? I can get it myself!"

"From now on, I'm in charge of sweeping this room. Nobody better fight me for it."

Watching Zhou Bai sweep, mop, and do the housework, Christina immediately brightened up.

"Good boy. Hmm, let me see how far you've gotten..."

And so, over the next while, Zhou Bai did housework as he listened to Christina's instruction.

It was clear that after her Primordial Spirit Value reached 99 and some of her cultivation knowledge had awakened, Christina's theoretical knowledge had soared. She was more than qualified to be Zhou Bai's teacher.

Under her guidance, Zhou Bai felt himself improving noticeably every day. He became increasingly familiar with the theoretical foundations of cultivation, all kinds of key and common terms, and the basic theories.

Thus, Zhou Bai cultivated Laziness Qi while Christina began cultivating the Divine Map. She also gave Zhou Bai lessons at night, and several days passed in the blink of an eye.

"Finally, that's enough." Zhou Bai looked at the Auxiliary System panel and revealed a gratified smile.

Daoization Degree: 0%

Primordial Spirit Value: 99

Divine Map: Nine Calamities of Heaven and Man

Laziness Qi: 2250

Then he looked at the Supreme Unity Disc.

Sumeru: Stand like iron, sit like steel, lie like a mountain. Adjust the Spiritual Machine's perception throughout the body through different postures, forming a defensive formation.

Cultivation method: (directly skipped by Zhou Bai)

Laziness Qi (0/2200)

Recalling the agony of having his bones reshaped last time, Zhou Bai deliberately lay down on the bed this time, found a towel to bite down on, then poured 2,200 points of Laziness Qi into the starlight point.

In an instant, Zhou Bai felt his entire body tremble as if electrocuted. An invisible force wandered throughout him, spiraling continuously in a peculiar pattern, as though leaving something behind within his body.

Immediately afterward, Zhou Bai felt his Primordial Spirit shudder. A towering, empty, yet incomparably vast aura spread from within his mind.

Zhou Bai thought to himself, Huh? It's over so quickly this time? Does that mean this isn't simply strengthening my body?

But Zhou Bai checked his condition. Since he was lying down anyway, he might as well test his defense.

He turned to Christina. "Tina, try attacking me."

Christina said, "Huh?"

Zhou Bai said, "I'm telling you to attack me. I want to..."

"You said it!!" Christina laughed maniacally, leaping into the air. She opened her mouth and spat out a streak of Sword Qi.

"Meow-hahahaha! Perfect, I can test the power of the first starlight point I cultivated—Sword Qi!"

It turned out that Christina had been diligently cultivating the Divine Map during this time. After her Primordial Spirit Power reached 99, she had finally completed the cultivation of her first starlight point.

It had to be said that Christina's cultivation speed was astonishing. An ordinary cultivator would need at least half a month to cultivate this first starlight point, yet she had done it in only a few days.

If Zhou Bai, that cheat, were excluded, she would probably have been the most gifted one of this class.

Unlike Zhou Bai, whose successive cultivation focused on strengthening his body and defense, Christina had chosen the Sword Diagram. Its first starlight point was to cultivate a mouthful of Sword Qi.

This Sword Qi normally resided within her body. As she breathed in and out, drawing upon the Spiritual Machine, she constantly nurtured it with Primordial Spirit Power and Spiritual Machine, making the Sword Qi increasingly powerful.

And in turn, the Sword Qi nourished her body, strengthening some of its physical qualities.

Now that Zhou Bai had actually asked to be beaten, Christina immediately spat out that mouthful of Sword Qi and thrust it at him like a sword.

But she did not truly intend to hurt Zhou Bai. She merely aimed at his shoulder, wanting to leave him with a wound and show off how formidable she was.

When the Sword Qi came within an inch of his shoulder, it encountered an invisible barrier—but the barrier was quickly torn apart by the Sword Qi.

Having ripped through the barrier, the Sword Qi weakened slightly and continued toward Zhou Bai's shoulder.

But the moment it struck his shoulder, a loud clang rang out.

Christina felt as if her Sword Qi had crashed into a huge diamond. No matter what, it could not pierce through.

Zhou Bai rubbed his shoulder and continued lying on the bed. "Put some strength into it. I didn't feel a thing."

"Hmph!" Christina swung her cat paw again. After circling through the air, the Sword Qi accelerated into a charge and shot at Zhou Bai's shoulder again like lightning.

Another clang rang out, yet it still failed to break through Zhou Bai's skin.

Christina let out an angry meow. She immediately gathered all her Primordial Spirit Power and continuously poured it into the Sword Qi, thrusting at him with all her strength, but she still could not break Zhou Bai's defense.

After that expenditure, her Sword Qi completely wilted, becoming limp and feeble. It slowly returned to Christina's mouth, and she swallowed it in one gulp.

Christina stared at Zhou Bai in disbelief. "What kind of defense is that? How can someone at the zeroth realm of cultivation have such tyrannical defense?!"

Zhou Bai, however, was immensely satisfied with the effects of the fifth starlight point, Sumeru. The only regret was that he could only gain this level of defense while lying down.

So Zhou Bai went on to test his defense while sitting and standing.

While sitting, Christina's Sword Qi could break his defense in a single strike, but it took a second strike at the same spot to actually injure him.

While standing, his defense was even weaker. Zhou Bai felt that he could probably withstand a small-caliber handgun, but if Christina unleashed her Sword Qi at full power, she could pierce straight through his body with one strike.

"This starlight point's effect is really good." Zhou Bai looked at Christina and said, "Now that I'm tough enough myself, and I have your Sword Qi for offense, maybe among the six hundred people in our class, nobody can beat me anymore."

Christina's Sword Qi might have struggled somewhat against Zhou Bai, but its power was actually far greater than an ordinary firearm's. Only Zhou Bai's defense, which far surpassed those of the same level, allowed him to withstand it so stubbornly.

"Just so happens, I chose the Sword Diagram, and the teachers and students all think I'm cultivating the Sword Diagram. I can keep this defensive power hidden during normal times. But..."

Zhou Bai looked helplessly at the mouthful of Sword Qi Christina had released. "Why did you have to make perfectly good Sword Qi pink?"

With a slurp, Christina sucked her Sword Qi back into her mouth. Dissatisfied, she said, "What's wrong with pink? I think pink Sword Qi is adorable. It suits my temperament perfectly."

Zhou Bai curled his lip. Though dissatisfied with the color of the Sword Qi, he tolerated it for the sake of its power.

Besides, Christina would continue cultivating the Divine Map in the future, and she could be kept within his sea of consciousness.

Didn't that mean he alone could wield the power of two Divine Maps?

On the surface, he had inherited the Sword Diagram, but in reality, it was the Nine Calamities of Heaven and Man.

On the other side, Christina looked at Zhou Bai unhappily. "I can still cultivate the Sword Diagram's first starlight point behind closed doors, but the remaining six all require pills and all kinds of talismans and formations to work together. Zhou Bai, you need to think of something!!"

Unlike the nine starlight points on the zeroth level of the Nine Calamities of Heaven and Man, the Sword Diagram's zeroth level had seven starlight points in total. All of them strengthened that mouthful of Sword Qi, granting it ever more powerful killing force.

Hearing Christina's cry, Zhou Bai nodded. "I'll think of something. Come to think of it, since I chose the Sword Diagram, the Dao School should prepare cultivation materials for me. I'll go look into it tomorrow."

Then Zhou Bai looked toward the next starlight point, wanting to see what it contained.

But just then, there came a knock on the door. It was Jianxing's voice.

"Zhou Bai, are you there? I have something important to tell you."