Meditation Body-Tempering Method

"Ah, right, Changkong, do you have a rag?"

"Yes, over there."

Shui Yue'er took the spare rag from his desk, made a face at him, then turned and ran back to the room next door.

An hour later, Wu Changkong finished mopping the last bit of floor, washed the mop clean, and hung it upside down on the hook behind the door. Standing in the middle of the room, he looked around.

He nodded in satisfaction. Just as he was about to sit down and catch his breath, a commotion came from the hallway.

"You call this cleaning windows? There's still dust on the sill, and water stains in the corners of the glass. Do it again."

Ling Shuang's voice came from next door, followed by Shui Yue'er's miserable wail.

Wu Changkong watched the four girls in the neighboring dorm scramble to reassign their tasks.

As young ladies from prominent families, Shui Bing'er and Shui Yue'er had never done much housework.

Xue Wu was only half-competent, while Gu Qingbo worked very carefully.

Ling Shuang asked, "Changkong, have you finished cleaning?"

"Yes, Teacher."

"I'll inspect it."

Ling Shuang entered Wu Changkong's room, her gaze sweeping from the ceiling to the floor, from the windows to the desk, from the bed to the wardrobe.

She ran a finger through the narrow crack between the windowsill and the wall, then turned her hand over to inspect it. Her fingertip was clean.

"Not bad. Of all the dormitories inspected today, this is the only one where I can't find a single flaw. Keep it up."

"Thank you, Teacher."

After Ling Shuang turned and left, the four people from the neighboring dorm poured into Wu Changkong's doorway in unison.

Shui Yue'er was the first to rush in. She circled his room once and exclaimed, "You're way too good at cleaning. You even wiped the window cracks."

Wu Changkong put on an air and said, "Is it that hard?"

"It is for me."

At that moment, Shui Yue'er's eyes shifted, and a fawning smile immediately spread across her face.

"Brother Changkong, help us clean too. It won't take long."

"Do your own work."

Wu Changkong was completely unmoved by her beauty.

"I'll treat you to dinner."

"A new restaurant opened outside the academy. Their sweet-and-sour pork ribs are especially delicious. I'll treat you."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Yue'er." Shui Bing'er walked in and knocked her younger sister on the head. "Stop trying to cut corners. Do your own work. You've loved slacking off since you were little—slacking off in cultivation, slacking off while cleaning. Now that you're at the academy, you still want someone else to do your work for you?"

Shui Yue'er covered the spot her sister had tapped and pouted pitifully. "I just wanted to save a little effort..."

Wu Changkong watched the scene and shook his head helplessly.

"Alright, I'm going to cultivate now. You girls should keep cleaning."

Shui Bing'er asked, "Want to go out for dinner together tonight?"

"Since Bing'er is the one inviting me, of course I'll go."

The girls at the door all reacted differently.

Leaning against the doorframe with her arms crossed, Xue Wu raised an eyebrow and pressed, "What if we were the ones inviting you?"

"I'd consider it."

"Wow..."

The girls all wore teasing expressions.

Suppressing the curl of her lips, Shui Bing'er pushed Shui Yue'er by the shoulder toward the neighboring room. "He's joking. Come on, let's go back and finish cleaning."

Only after watching them leave did Wu Changkong turn back to the bed and sit cross-legged upon it.

He put those thoughts aside and closed his eyes.

On the path of cultivation, Soul Power Level was a visible measure, but true powerhouses never focused solely on Soul Power numbers.

In his previous life, he had seen too many so-called geniuses with inflated levels and unstable foundations. Their Soul Power rose rapidly, but their bodies could not keep up. It was like building a tall tower on a rotten wooden frame—the higher it rose, the more dangerous it became.

From the very first day he awakened his martial soul in this life, he had set an iron rule for himself: Soul Power and the body had to be tempered in tandem.

To that end, he had devised his own cultivation method and named it the "Meditation Body-Hammering Method."

The principle was not complicated—while operating the Mysterious Heaven Skill to absorb the soul energy of heaven and earth, he used his mind to guide a portion of that soul energy outside his meridians, allowing it to seep into his muscles, bones, fascia, and skin for internal tempering.

The amount he could temper each time was tiny, and the effects were negligible, but dripping water could pierce stone.

For seven years, over two thousand five hundred days and nights, he had not missed a single day except when he was sick or away hunting soul rings.

Coupled with years of following his father in blacksmithing and forging, tempering his muscles and bones through high heat and heavy labor, his physical strength had long surpassed that of Soul Masters at the same level.

Though he possessed only thirty-ninth-level Soul Power, his physical strength had reached at least the standard of a forty-fourth-level assault-type Soul Ancestor.

The sky gradually darkened. The noise from the dormitories along the corridor slowly subsided.

Knock, knock, knock.

Shui Bing'er's voice followed. "Changkong, it's time to go out for dinner."

"Okay." Wu Changkong responded as he slowly withdrew from meditation and opened his eyes.

He flipped off the bed, casually picked up the shirt draped over the back of the chair, and was about to put it on.

The door was pushed open.

Shui Bing'er stood in front, one hand still raised in a knocking posture.

The moment she saw Wu Changkong, she froze.

The thirteen-year-old boy was still somewhat slender, but his muscles were already smooth and firm. His shoulders were broad, his back straight, his waist trim, and his skin a cool pale white.

Shui Bing'er hurriedly looked away, her face tinged with shyness.

Standing behind Shui Bing'er, Gu Qingbo abruptly covered her eyes with both hands, though a narrow gap remained between her fingers.

Xue Wu stood on the other side of the doorframe with her arms crossed, looking him over from top to bottom, then bottom to top.

Shui Yue'er was even more outrageous. Staring was one thing, but she was practically drooling.

Wu Changkong held his shirt in front of himself. "Why did you open the door?"

Even though he had lived two lives and his thick skin had been repeatedly tempered over the course of a single day, embarrassment still surged up uncontrollably when four girls saw him bare-chested at once.

Shui Bing'er said, "I knocked."

"I hadn't said come in yet."

Wu Changkong spoke as he hurriedly pulled on his shirt.

"And Shui Yue'er, wipe up your drool."

Shui Yue'er hurriedly wiped her mouth. "I'm drooling because I'm hungry."

Xue Wu exposed her. "Really? Our class monitor is your type, isn't he? And he's the person your sister likes."

"I really am hungry. And don't try to drive a wedge between us sisters."

"Yue'er, stop talking." Shui Bing'er warned.

Shui Yue'er stuck out her tongue.

The five of them left the dormitory building and headed toward the academy gate.

On the way, Shui Yue'er smiled at Wu Changkong. "Changkong, you look pretty thin when you're dressed, but I didn't expect you to be so well-built."

Wu Changkong replied, "My dad is a blacksmith, so I'm a bit sturdier."

"Your dad's a blacksmith?"

"Yeah. And I only sleep four hours a day. The rest of the time, I'm either cultivating or forging. It's hard not to build muscle."