CH 17.1

sister’s seventeenth lesson (cultivation)_portable cultivation kit

the heart-examination formation, a century in a glance.

the disciples gradually woke up one after another, their gazes blank, lost, and exhausted.

some had been overjoyed and indulgent after experiencing a sudden two-level improvement in their cultivation, causing instability in their dao’s hearts. others had experienced a sudden drop in their cultivation, leading to despair and doubt clouding their dao hearts…

as they opened their eyes in the formation, they felt like they were still trapped in a nightmare, physically and mentally scarred, and with severely depleted energy.

only a few managed to wake up in good condition.

to maintain their original hearts for a hundred years without change was as difficult as reaching the sky.

li dao wei and the other four teaching masters sternly admonished the disciples after they had regained consciousness.

“today’s dream is a lesson for the future! remember it at all times!”

the stone monument in front of the transmission hall displayed golden characters, floating in the air.

[heart-examination assessment:

1. lin shuang – transparent dao-heart, top grade

2. zhou xuanwu – solid dao-heart, middle grade

3. zhao keran – persevering dao-heart, bottom grade

…]

the disciples were dumbfounded.

“lin shuang? did they make a mistake?”

“which lin shuang are they talking about?”

“could it be?”

they all turned to look in the same direction – near the entrance and exit path. there, they indeed saw lin shuang wearing an expression of pain.

“help—”

lin shuang groaned in agony.

the disciples: “…???”

was she in more pain than those who had just gone astray or were struck by lightning and came back?

after a moment, they came back to their senses and realized.

“same name, same surname?”

“yesterday, senior brother xu rui said a new batch of disciples would be coming soon. could it be today?”

“with over twenty thousand disciples in the outer sect, having the same name is common.”

but soon, the stone monument in the transmission hall displayed a new set of wavy characters.

[update on outer sect disciple rankings:

1. zhou xuanwu – 9th layer of qi condensation, rank 1→1

2. zhao keran – 8th layer of qi condensation, rank 3→2

3. chen sixin – 9th layer of qi condensation, rank 2→3

…

9999. lin shuang – 3rd layer of qi condensation, rank 14993→9999

10000. chen ming – 5th layer of qi condensation, rank 10021→10000]

“!!!”

in front of the transmission hall, silence reigned.

they had searched for so long to find lin shuang!

and her disciple ranking had unexpectedly risen by nearly five thousand places… this speed of improvement was simply soaring!

such a leap had never happened in the outer sect before, nor had they ever seen it. it was equivalent to surpassing a quarter of the outer sect’s disciples in a single assessment!

nine thousandth place wasn’t particularly high, but for her, a qi condensation third layer disciple, to be sandwiched among a group of qi condensation fifth layer disciples was strange and out of place.

the disciples were practically wearing confusion on their faces.

“seems like my luck is really bad. first, there was spiritual energy forcing me to break through… and now, there’s a high score that greatly improved my ranking…”

lin shuang pressed her dull throbbing temple, keeping that bestowed spirituality trapped between her eyebrows, suppressing her instinctual absorption.

while doing so, she mumbled to herself.

her state of mind was about to collapse!

“the probability of being surrounded and questioned by fellow disciples is 100%, the probability of wasting half an hour is over 80%, and the probability of occupying the entire flexible schedule for the day and hindering subsequent schedules is over 50%…”

“the chance of successfully using the urinary escape technique is 0, the chance of being called away temporarily is 0, and the chance of fainting is 100%…”

lin shuang closed her eyes and collapsed in a second.

xu rui, who had been standing behind her the whole time, said, “…”

junior sister, he heard everything!

“fainted from exhaustion?”

the disciples exclaimed in shock.

“could it be the phenomenon described in ancient texts, where spiritual roots are greatly enhanced overnight and there’s a complete transformation of one’s body?”

lin shuang, who closed her eyes, was supported by her anxious junior sister, zhao keran.

she displayed a faint smile of relief.

very good, everyone was automatically filling in the blanks themselves, and she didn’t need to explain, saving her time!

she immediately cast a ‘sleeping spell’ on herself and peacefully fell asleep.

***

in just half a day, the rumors of three disciples receiving blessings from the heart-reading formation spread throughout the outer sect, becoming common knowledge.

most disciples had awakened after the blessings had dissipated, so they hadn’t witnessed it.

however, that night, the aura radiating from zhou xuanwu’s room displayed a vision of colorful light that indicated he had advanced to the great perfection of the qi condensation stage. many people saw it.

according to rumors, in the evening, zhao keran had gone to the cafeteria as usual.

her aura overflowed, indicating that she had recently broken through and couldn’t yet control the fluctuations of her 9th layer of qi condensation within her body.

“what about lin shuang? she must have broken through as well, right? i’m envious.”

“those blessings helped two people with qi condensation at or above the 8th layer to break through. i’m afraid lin shuang, at the 3rd layer, couldn’t handle it, and that’s why she fainted.”

“i haven’t seen her yet, but there’s no doubt she broke through.”

the disciples chatted while on duty, practicing swordsmanship, and having meals.

not long after, they saw a relaxed figure of a 3rd layer qi condensation cultivator walking leisurely past them.

“???”

why hadn’t she broken through yet?

lin shuang swayed unsteadily and looked content as she inwardly observed the new qi condensation third layer, her 91st dantian, located three inches above her left arm.

the other newly acquired 88th to 90th dantians had already extinguished, just like other holiday dantians, and were sleeping, scattered throughout her limbs and bones.

the left side of her body was numbered in odd numbers, and the right side in even numbers.

everything was in perfect order.

“junior sister, you’ve broken through.”

“no, don’t talk nonsense. i’ve only gained a mere four qi condensation third layer dantians—”

but as soon as she finished speaking, she froze for a moment, her gaze fixed. she stiffly turned around.

behind her, xu rui, expressionless, and the fourth master with complex expressions stood together, both displaying a series of astonished, puzzled, and shocked expressions.

lin shuang: “…”

could she correct her slip of the tongue now?

[as long as you persistently train, you can master the muscle strength in various parts of your body, and operate it accurately, so why can’t you do the same with your dantian?]

[today, i trained my legs; tomorrow, i’ll train my abdominal muscles; the day after tomorrow, i’ll train my arms. why can’t i do this with my dantian? rest the parts you don’t use, why can’t it be like this? the parts at rest, i call them the second dantian.]

[scratch that, today i have a third dantian. i can now rest two dantians at the same time.]

[scratch that again, today i have a fourth dantian…]

—the fastest path to immortality (third draft), the dantian decomposition section.

lin shuang recalled nervously. multiple dantians, was it, not some extraordinary cultivation phenomenon?

“well, senior brother, masters, what i just said…”

senior brother xu rui and the four masters exchanged glances.

senior brother xu rui took a deep breath. “lin shuang, you’re participating in the upcoming outer sect martial competition in the eastern hua region.”

lin shuang stepped back aghast, unable to believe it. she looked at the four masters.

she was only at the 3rd layer of qi condensation!

li daowei glanced at her pale face and the faint qi fluctuations within her body.

the key point was her disciple badge at her waist, marked with “9999,” denoting that she was the 9,999th ranked disciple in the outer sect.

during the competition, most sects had their top five disciples participate. even the clearwater sect sent their 9,999th-ranked disciple… the outcome was uncertain, but it would be quite embarrassing.

li daowei contemplated, feeling that the situation was somewhat hard to watch. how could he explain this to the twelve sect masters in the eastern hua?

he couldn’t help but ponder. “first, you will be a substitute disciple.”

lin shuang immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

being a substitute didn’t necessarily mean she would be on the battlefield. hehe, she still had a chance.

under the disapproving gaze of senior brother xu rui, lin shuang left happily.

when she returned to her wooden house, she immediately deleted the audio message from little ai that contained senior brother xu rui’s version.

that housekeeping senior brother was truly her lifelong nemesis…

***

inside the inner sect’s honored treasure pavilion.

a disheveled disciple riding a flying sword descended rapidly.

“huangfu senior brother, i’m here to pick up something.”

he called out as he rushed towards the mustard seed shelf at the back, colliding head-on with a delicate junior disciple.

“xiao bai?”

“meng senior brother.”

both of them were momentarily stunned.

meng zi stopped in his tracks and looked at the junior disciple in front of him, whose features were exquisite. he sighed internally.

“xiaobai, don’t go to the outer sect lately. if you hear anything about the outer sect, don’t take it to heart.”

his expression was solemn.

bai yu’s hands trembled. “meng senior brother, could you be talking about the outer sect heart-reading formation and the bestowed spiritual energy for the top three disciples?”

it was an unprecedented phenomenon in the outer sect for the past ten years.

even those in the inner sect who were well-informed had heard about it.

it was said that the last time such a phenomenon occurred, it was orchestrated by an elite senior disciple from the inner sect.

meng zi frowned. “you’ve heard about it already? so be it. don’t dwell on it. staying lazy and unambitious for a century is also a testament to a strong dao heart.”

bai yu fell silent, biting his lip and shaking his head.

seeing bai yu’s forlorn expression, meng zi couldn’t help but feel frustrated.

“xiao bai, i have some urgent matters to attend to. i’ll be back in three days, and then we can talk in detail.” with that, he hurried back to retrieve the item.

“alright. i wish senior brother meng a smooth journey,” bai yu replied.

meng zi bid farewell to him, glanced around discreetly, and realizing that no one was paying attention, he took out a plain wooden tablet from the mustard seed shelf and quickly stuffed it into his mustard seed pouch.

he then departed on his sword.

however, after he left, a slender figure, untouched by dust and dressed in white, floated gracefully into the honored treasure pavilion. this figure approached a swaying bamboo recliner.

on the armrest of the bamboo chair lay a large bundle of fox fur with a pale gold color on a white background, its tail as brilliant as fire, draping down to the ground.

it was half draped over the pale man who sat on the chair, not stained by even a speck of dust

from the chaotic tufts of fox fur, slender fingers emerged, veined and sinewy, pressing on a projection stone.

inside the stone, there was precisely the unusual scene from the outer sect’s heart-reading formation yesterday.

the pale fingertip of the man touched the image of the woman in the azure robe who had a steadfast dao heart that remained unchanged for a hundred years.

a lazy voice rang out. “is this the woman who made you willingly become a man?”

bai yu’s breath momentarily halted, and a blush crept up to his ears. however, he quickly straightened up and respectfully said, “my lord, i have just come of age.”

“…”

“my lord, i have spread the news about the high-priced purchase of finger bones. i just don’t know if she, lin shuang, and zhou xuanwu have noticed…”

the pale man on the recliner, with half-closed phoenix eyes, slowly raised an eyebrow from the corner of his eye.

“oh. then send the news directly to her.”

***