Early the next morning, as soon as Chu Xiaoyao put down his schoolbag, he saw Zhou You stealthily pulling an ancient book out of it.
"Look, the Body-Refining Technique of this world. Perfected Lord Wenchang gave it to me, and Su Tingxue said this cultivation manual is extraordinary."
"The Ming King Body-Refining Art?" Chu Xiaoyao took it and curiously flipped through the pages.
After getting the Body-Refining Technique last night, Zhou You was extremely excited. Aside from the Tao Te Ching, this was the second proper cultivation method he had encountered.
Unfortunately, the contents within were far too obscure and difficult to understand. Reading it was like looking at heavenly script; after just two glances, he grew drowsy, finding it hard to concentrate and read on.
However, it did not matter, for he had Chu Xiaoyao. It would be fine to ask Chu Xiaoyao for an explanation.
"It is a decent Body-Refining Technique with commendable aspects. It is worthy of this sovereign's perusal." Chu Xiaoyao calmly closed the book and gave a detached appraisal.
"Can I cultivate according to this? Or should you teach me a body-refining technique?" Zhou You asked impatiently. After fighting with the Mighty Warrior, Zhou You deeply felt that his own body was frail, and he wanted to become stronger.
"The art of body-refining is like a towering ancient tree; though its branches and leaves are lush, they share the same roots and source."
"Therefore, at the very beginning of body-refining, the cultivation methods are largely the same. You may simply cultivate according to this."
"But I can't understand the contents inside." Zhou You said, hoping the Free and Unfettered Female Emperor could explain it to him.
She turned solemn and said, "Zhou You, don't you think you are too reliant on me in your cultivation?"
"Huh?"
With earnestness and gravity, Chu Xiaoyao pointed out the maze for Zhou You: "Although you have my guidance and practice step by step, you can ultimately achieve something and become a towering figure in the Primordial Continent. Yet, this is merely walking along my old path."
"The shortcuts taken today will ultimately become your shackles and bottlenecks. Blindly imitating me will not make you a second Immortal Emperor."
"The paths of immortal cultivation are countless, far beyond three thousand. You should have your own thoughts, your own insights, and your own path."
Hearing this, Zhou You felt ashamed and deeply reflected upon himself. Indeed, ever since he learned Chu Xiaoyao's true identity, he had wanted to seek answers from her for everything.
Naturally, this was convenient, and as Chu Xiaoyao said, his cultivation would be smooth sailing. But this was also a lazy mindset at work, which would later become a bottleneck trapping him and proving detrimental to his cultivation.
"I understand. I will work hard to study this Body-Refining Technique."
Nuomi, listening from the side, nodded repeatedly. Although she still couldn't understand what Chu Xiaoyao was talking about, she always had a feeling of gaining a lot.
Learning new knowledge early in the morning, I am truly diligent.
Chu Xiaoyao sighed with emotion: "Back when I was studying the method of body-refining in the Primordial Continent, I suffered quite a bit of hardship. Besides spending money on food, I also frequently had to soak in medicinal baths made of various precious spiritual herbs, which were equally priceless."
"Yet all of this was worth it. To train every inch of skin in the body to an unimaginable strength-rebirth from a drop of blood is merely small success in body-refining. Those with great success in body-refining, like myself, even if the myriad worlds collapse, time withers, and the universe turns to dust, still stand proudly at the peak of the heavens, free and unfettered."
So strong. Hearing Chu Xiaoyao describe it like this, Zhou You's heart stirred greatly, and he hoped he could become as strong as Chu Xiaoyao.
Speaking of body-refining costing money, he didn't seem to have much money. What should he do about body-refining when the time came?
Nuomi seemed to see through Zhou You's worries and took the initiative to say, "Sect Master, if you guys are short on money, I have a way."
As the Vice Sect Master of the Carefree Sect, she was shielded by the Grand Supreme Elder and shared honor and disgrace with the sect. She wanted to shine and heat up for the Carefree Sect.
"You have a way?" Zhou You was surprised.
Hearing Zhou You ask this, Nuomi looked extremely proud. Her skills were far greater than Zhou You imagined: "Hmph hmph, I've saved a lot of money over the past two years, which can be considered my little treasury. I'll donate it to our sect."
The Sect Master and the Grand Supreme Elder are so pitiful; they can't even pull out five thousand yuan.
Could it be that she was the richest person in the Carefree Sect?
Zhou You was deeply moved, and even entertained the thought of risking his life to urge the Grand Supreme Elder to abdicate and let Nuomi succeed her.
"Where is it?"
"It's sunk inside the Great Stone Lake."
The Great Stone Lake was located at the southeastern corner of the school. It was said that when the school was established, the construction team procured materials locally and dug out soil on campus, ultimately excavating a large pit. After the school was completed, the large pit was not easy to fill, so the principal slapped his forehead and simply filled the pit with water, creating a lake. Because there was a boulder over a man's height beside the lake, the students all referred to it as the Great Stone Lake.
After Zhou You passed this good news on to the Grand Supreme Elder Chu Xiaoyao, Chu Xiaoyao was likewise deeply moved.
"Good Nuomi, the revitalization of my Carefree Sect is in sight."
Seeing that Chu Xiaoyao only offered verbal praise and had no intention of abdicating, Zhou You shook his head inwardly. This was where Chu Xiaoyao fell short of him-she was far too petty in her actions.
"The Great Stone Lake is over by the Old Dormitory Building, a bit far from the teaching building. Going there and back takes quite a bit of time. Let's go together while eating dinner," Zhou You suggested, and both Chu Xiaoyao and Nuomi agreed.
For the entire day, Zhou You was very well-behaved. He attended classes during class time and studied the Body-Refining Technique after class, spending his time very productively.
Although rumors circulated that "he made a heavy move against Wang Chong for Su Tingxue, declaring his sovereignty," Zhou You firmly believed that a cultivator should not be swayed by external evaluations and simply laughed it off.
Through uninterrupted study between classes, leafing through those two hefty tomes—the Dictionary of Ancient Chinese and the Modern Chinese Dictionary—Zhou You roughly understood how to begin cultivating the Body-Refining Technique.
As the saying goes, body-refining starts with Skin Tempering. The skin is the human body's first line of defense. Once the skin is successfully tempered, it can substantially neutralize the force of attacks and become impervious to swords and spears.
"If I can succeed in Skin Tempering, I won't be afraid when I run into that big fellow again," Zhou You muttered to himself, referring to the Mighty Warrior.
To practice Skin Tempering, one needed to continuously whip the skin to stimulate it while simultaneously following the Body-Refining Technique's instructions to circulate spiritual power through the meridians.
Circulating spiritual power through the meridians was easy; with his Soul Projection, he could see the meridians clearly.
It was just this whipping the skin part... Zhou You struck himself twice, feeling a slight sting.
He truly couldn't bring himself to inflict it, so he had no choice but to seek external help.
"Xiaoyao, would you mind hitting me hard a couple of times?"
Zhao Zhuo in the front row was filled with question marks. What kind of new game was this?
Chu Xiaoyao let out a disgusted sound of aversion and flatly refused: "No."
As soon as the last class of the afternoon ended, Zhou You and Chu Xiaoyao didn't even care about eating dinner and rushed toward the Great Stone Lake with Nuomi in tow.
Fearing that students might fall into the water, the school surrounded the Great Stone Lake with a circle of iron fences, and usually no students came around here.
"Why did you hide your things in the Great Stone Lake? Wouldn't it have been better to hide them in the Old Dormitory Building?" Zhou You chatted idly with Nuomi as they walked.
"You don't understand, this is called a cunning rabbit having three burrows." Nuomi felt immensely smug about her own intelligence; this was the wisdom of survival.
"So many people come to the Old Dormitory Building to exorcise evil spirits. What if one day I run into someone I can't beat? I'd have to run for my life in a hurry. Where would I have the chance to transfer my little treasury then? Of course it has to be hidden elsewhere."
"Are there a lot of people coming to exorcise spirits?" Zhou You was puzzled. Could it be that the Old Dormitory Building was some kind of popular tourist spot in the circle, with so many people coming to exorcise spirits?
"Once every few months, I heard they are all incompetent Taoist priests specifically invited by your school leaders."
"Specifically invited?" Zhou You didn't understand.
Nuomi tried hard to recall the scene at that time: "Mhm, I once ran into your school leaders chatting with a Taoist priest, saying they just wanted to find an incompetent Taoist priest to get rid of me. Afterwards, they would split the money with the leaders, and if he couldn't get rid of me, the leader would have an excuse to keep inviting Taoist priests over."
Zhou You: "..."
Had they encountered such dark matters before even leaving the campus?
"That's why I've always worried about your leaders getting caught. Fortunately, the thing I was worried about didn't happen."
"...I actually wish the thing you were worried about would happen."
Before you continue