The two people and one ghost arrived at Great Stone Lake. The lake was surrounded by an iron fence covered in creeping vines, forming a thick Green Vine Wall that made it difficult to see inside from the outside, with the entrance locked by iron chains.
"The chains are broken?" Zhou You asked in surprise. The finger-thick iron chains were snapped, and judging from the jagged gap, they had been forcefully torn apart by sheer physical strength.
Who could have torn them apart, and just how much strength would that take?
Zhou You gritted his teeth and pulled hard on the chains, but they didn't budge at all.
Great Stone Lake was overgrown with weeds. Because it hadn't been tended to in a long time, overgrown reeds occupied a third of the water's surface, and boulders taller than a person stood about. Frogs croaked loudly from within the reeds, possessing a raw, untamed aesthetic.
"So many mosquitoes," Zhou You complained, waving his hand to chase them away. The mosquitoes by the lake came in swarms, and the moment he reached the lakeside, the swarm flew right toward him.
Chu Xiaoyao narrowed her eyes, standing by the lake with her hands behind her back. A gentle breeze stirred ripples upon the water's surface and ruffled the strands of dark hair beside her ear.
"This is the place." Nuomi had the two of them stand at the edge of the lake.
"I'll be right back, just wait for my good news!"
Nuomi left Zhou You with a shadowy afterimage and turned to leap straight into the water, executing her move with such casual grace that Zhou You couldn't help but clap and cheer.
Then Nuomi floated on the water with the lower half of her body like a fishing bobber, drifting with the current.
Zhou You had to stop his applause.
Looking baffled, Nuomi popped her head out of the water; this was nothing like what she had expected.
"Strange, what's going on?"
"I'll try again!"
Plop-
Pop-
Nuomi repeated her previous action, only to end up stuck upside down in the water halfway through once more. Anything further down was blocked by an inexplicable force that bounced her right back out.
Several attempts all ended in failure.
"Why, my Little Treasury!" Nuomi wailed with tear-filled eyes, reaching out desperately toward the lake depths to scoop it up, yet her treasures were sunken at the bottom of the lake, far beyond her reach.
She had planned everything out so meticulously, like a clever rabbit with three burrows. The lake held her hope of making a comeback, and with such a thorough plan, how could this most crucial final step of retrieving her items fail?
"Alright, alright, come up first." Zhou You couldn't bear to watch any longer and hauled the bunny-who couldn't even enter her own nest-back up. The bunny was still kicking her legs vigorously and stretching her arms toward the lake.
"What's wrong?" Chu Xiaoyao asked. She found it quite amusing, as Zhou You looked just like someone performing in an invisible-props mime.
Zhou You described the process in detail, hoping Chu Xiaoyao could provide an answer since this concerned the starting capital of the Carefree Sect.
How on earth am I supposed to know the reason? Chu Xiaoyao thought to herself.
However, because Zhou You trusted her so much, she couldn't let him down.
Frowning in contemplation for a moment, she said, "I am unfamiliar with the life-and-death rules of this realm. According to the life-and-death rules of the Primordial Continent, only water ghosts can enter the water. Wasn't Nuomi not drowned during her lifetime? Is she not a water ghost?"
"Only water ghosts can enter the water?"
This was the first time Zhou You had heard such a theory, but upon careful reflection on the horror movies he had watched, indeed, anyone who could cause trouble in the water was invariably a water ghost.
He quickly thought of a way to verify it: "I'll try using Soul Projection."
Zhou You stood by the lake, his soul leaving his body and walking into the water. The lake water was bone-chillingly cold, something even his soul could feel.
One step, two steps, three steps... Zhou You's soul was completely submerged in the water. He wanted to walk further, but his soul couldn't travel too far from his physical body and had to return.
Even so, this proved Chu Xiaoyao's guess. Nuomi was not a water ghost and couldn't enter the lake, whereas his own soul body was not restricted and could go in; his cultivation was simply too low to walk very far.
Zhou You admired Chu Xiaoyao. She truly lived up to her title as a female emperor-she could figure out the cause even when the life-and-death rules of the two realms differed.
Inside, Chu Xiaoyao secretly breathed a sigh of relief and maintained a steady, composed nod. "It seems the life-and-death rules of this realm share similarities with the Primordial Continent."
"How can this be..." Upon learning that she couldn't enter the water, Nuomi suffered a heavy blow and grew deeply depressed.
"Should we ask Su Tingxue for help?" Zhou You suggested. Su Tingxue had the backing of Dragon-Tiger Mountain and came from wealth, so she should have a way.
For instance, renting a wetsuit and going down with an oxygen tank on her back?
"No way, we can't ask that stinky rice-thrower!" Nuomi, the wealthiest member of the Carefree Sect, expressed vehement opposition.
Zhou You slapped his forehead. He was so used to hanging out with Su Tingxue that he hadn't thought much of it, completely forgetting that this person and ghost were at odds.
The Carefree Sect's first pot of gold was hidden in the water and couldn't be retrieved, and Zhou You felt it was a terrible pity to fall short at the final hurdle.
Although he knew how to swim, he didn't dare go down into the water to get it. The lake was choked with waterweeds and the situation was complicated; the lake water was dark, and once underwater, nothing could be seen. Furthermore, this was stagnant water, and who knew how many kinds of bacteria and viruses were inside it.
Suddenly, he recalled the description of the Body-Refining Technique: "When Skin Tempering reaches great success, the skin naturally fortifies itself with a natural luster."
It meant that by then, a protective film would automatically form on the outer layer of the skin, invisible to others, and this film would be indestructible, impervious to blades and spears, and immune to all poisons.
Once he had achieved great success in Skin Tempering, he could hold his breath and go underwater.
As for not being able to see things clearly below, going down a few more times would make him familiar with the path.
Zhou You explained his train of thought to Chu Xiaoyao, and she nodded slightly in affirmation.
"Body-refining, is it? That's one method."
Zhou You was greatly encouraged.
Neither of the two people nor the ghost noticed that not far away, the Ghost King Zhenyue was staring intently in the direction of Great Stone Lake, extremely nervous.
Could it be they've discovered that I hid Humanity's Supreme Treasure in the lake?
Upon seeing Nuomi repeatedly enter and get bounced back out, he relaxed slightly.
Thank goodness there's a seal on the treasure box, Vengeful Ghosts can't get in.
When the two people and one ghost returned to the classroom, it was almost time for evening self-study. Although they hadn't managed to retrieve Nuomi's Little Treasury, they now had a clear direction for their efforts, and next they just needed to figure out how to work hard on body-refining.
"It's so itchy." Zhou You scratched his arm. For some reason, ever since he returned from Great Stone Lake, his body had been very itchy. It was pitch black on the road so he couldn't see clearly, but back in the classroom, he caught sight of the itchy spots on his arm and got a fright.
"Why are there so many mosquito bites?"
There was a series of seven small red dots on his arm, all mosquito bites, lined up just like the Big Dipper.
It wasn't just his arm; his neck, calves, and the backs of his hands were all covered in mosquito bites.
"Were these bitten just now at Great Stone Lake?"
Zhou You remembered. There really were a lot of mosquitoes by the edge of Great Stone Lake, and back then he had been so focused on watching Nuomi perform as a fishing bobber that he hadn't noticed the mosquitoes on his body.
In just that short while, he had been bitten this much.
He glanced sideways at Chu Xiaoyao's arm. It was white and flawless, without a single mosquito bite.
"How come they didn't bite you, and only bit me?"
Amidst his confusion, a mosquito landed on Zhou You, and he slapped it dead with a smack.
The only minor consolation was that ever since he became a Qi Refining Stage cultivator, his reaction speed had grown much faster, allowing him to swat mosquitoes every time.
Chu Xiaoyao let out a soft huff. "Naturally, it's because this seat's imperial might radiates outward, and mosquitoes dare not draw near!"
A faint fragrance drifted over from Chu Xiaoyao, and Zhou You sniffed the air, suddenly enlightened.
"You sprayed floral water!"
Refusing to admit it, Chu Xiaoyao pushed Zhou You away. "That is imperial might with a floral water scent!"
Scratching his itch, Zhou You reached out a hand. "It's so itchy, lend me some to spray."
Wait, itchy?
Suddenly, a thought occurred to Zhou You. His voice gradually trailed off, his hand froze in mid-air, and his gaze turned blank and motionless, just like a stone statue.
Scratching an itch... mosquito bites... skin irritation... the Ming King Body-Refining Art!
Today's experiences connected together like a single key-a key capable of unlocking the Body-Refining Technique.
Could it be...
Zhou You acted the moment the thought struck him. He closed his eyes, centered his mind, and quickly entered a state of meditation. If Su Tingxue had been by his side, she undoubtedly would have been astonished by Zhou You's speed in entering meditation.
Pity that beside him were only the all-knowing Chu Xiaoyao and the clueless Nuomi.
He circulated his meridians just as the Ming King Body-Refining Art described, running a full circulation of spiritual power. When the spiritual power traveled and passed through the mosquito bites, that patch of skin and the surrounding area reacted, growing warm and tingly as if a faint electric current were passing through, continuously stimulating the skin.
It worked!
Zhou You understood. Skin Tempering, when all was said and done, was simply a matter of stimulating the skin while circulating the spiritual power within the body.
Getting beaten wasn't the only way to stimulate the skin; getting bitten all over with mosquito bites and stubbornly enduring the urge not to scratch-though the initial irritation wasn't as intense as taking a beating, its advantage lay in persistence, and it could likewise provide the skin with sufficient stimulation!
Truly, cultivation required opening up one's mind; one shouldn't just look at what was written in books, but also connect it to real life.
Holding the floral water aloft, Chu Xiaoyao's arm was starting to feel a bit sore.
Did you want the floral water or not?
Before you continue