CH 4.1

◎ fat-burning exercise ◎

the dispute over the spiritual springs between the outer disciples of the mountain and sea sect and the clearwater sect occurred every year. over time, they learned some lessons from the battles.

for instance, they used a two-by-two isolation array, which didn’t affect the side-by-side fights while preventing others from peeking and learning their sect’s unique skills after observing for too long.

though it was a battle, they had no intention of helping each other improve. it was impossible.

however, xiao qi didn’t expect that today, inside the isolation array, he couldn’t understand a single word spoken by this female disciple.

“now, heart rate… 86.” lin shuang lowered her head, raising an eyebrow as she looked at the cloth-wrapped long sword embedded in her left arm.

what did she mean?

xiao qi’s long sword clashed against a vast ocean wave, and he looked incredulously at the seemingly weak girl before him. suddenly, he took a step back, “you are more than at the sixth level of qi condensation?”

he shouted, and his aura surged, not daring to underestimate her. channeling ten percent of his true power into the long sword!

the blade was covered in sword aura, and it transformed into a snake, instantly swallowing lin shuang whole.

however, a ghostly and agile sigh could be heard echoing in the sword light.

“heart rate 98… too low, still too low, unable to burn fat.”

“???”

xiao qi looked up in bewilderment and saw the seemingly slender and weak female cultivator in the sword light, dressed in the standard outer disciple’s blue robe.

her wide sleeves were tied with red cords, and her pant legs were as well, showing agility and liveliness.

at this moment, she was hopping on her feet, and her hands somehow took out two bulging red things that looked like boxing gloves from her mustard seed bag, putting them on her hands.

as he tried to get a clear look, the fists came at him like a torrential storm!

right hook, left hook!

straight punch, uppercut!

in an instant, the pink fists formed shadows, continuously striking his sword light!

“heart rate 103.”

“heart rate 118.”

“heart rate 125.”

in the devilish and light chant.

crackling sounds echoed, and his seventeen sword lights shattered in an instant.

just as the pink boxing gloves were about to strike his bright and clear long sword—

xiao qi’s eyes turned red: “??? stop!”

but a punch hit his jaw, and he was sent flying, crashing against the edge of the sealed isolation array.

in a flash, lin shuang caught up with him with small, nimble steps and grabbed his clothes by the collar.

“hmm? i need to sweat for an incense stick’s worth of time, and it’s only one-third done.”

“…?”

was this clearwater sect’s female disciple a devil?

he was competing with her!

xiao qi activated his technique, clenched the sword that had flown back into his hand, and performed his most powerful sword move for now—the soaring dragon seal!

but as soon as he reached eighty percent of his qi, he felt a steady stream of spiritual energy rushing into his chin and the collar she had just hit with her fist from all directions.

at the ninth level of qi condensation, his cultivation was on the verge of breaking through to the next level.

the feeling was intoxicating as if he was riding on a phoenix, and his spiritual energy gathered at an incredible speed, advancing his cultivation at an astonishing rate.

in this strange feeling of expansion, xiao qi felt stronger than he had ever been. he lowered his head in confusion and touched his chin, which was still a bit sore from her punch.

as he touched it, he found… an increasing spirit talisman.

xiao qi: “?”

lin shuang punched again, hitting his spiritual qi.

“well, with your level of improvement, i can barely get my heart rate up to 140.”

xiao qi: “?!?”

in front of the mountain gate, one after another, the sealed isolation arrays opened, and the disciples who had fought in pairs walked out.

some were frustrated, and some were elated, reporting their victories and losses to the sect’s elders.

zhao keran had already finished her battle; she left a three-inch-deep mark on the sword testing stone, winning against the mountain and sea sect disciple.

however, at this moment, she had no trace of joy on her face as she nervously watched the position where lin shuang entered the sealed isolation array.

“xiao qi still hasn’t come out?”

“it’s almost been one incense stick’s time; this shouldn’t be happening. xiao senior brother has a six-level higher realm than her, so the outcome should have been decided!”

“could it be that she’s too weak and got injured during the battle, so xiao senior brother had to put in extra effort to treat her?”

alongside her, many excited female cultivators and sword cultivators were also waiting.

xiao qi was a young and talented elite disciple of the mountain and sea sect, with a bright future ahead of him to enter the inner sect. besides being obsessed with the sword, he was also wealthy, handsome, and charming, making him the dream partner for many female cultivators and the favorite topic of discussion and competition among the sword cultivators who wanted to surpass him.

the disciples from both sects who had finished their battles soon gathered around, and even the two managing senior brothers and elite disciples from the top ranks of both sects looked curiously over.

zhao keran was anxiously holding the revival pill in her hand, deeply worried.

just when her heart was in turmoil, a burst of spiritual light appeared in the sky, and the hazy yellow array that obstructed their view slowly dissipated.

“he’s coming out! he’s coming out!”

in this battle, the clearwater sect was undoubtedly defeated.

the disciples of the mountain and sea sect were delighted, while the clearwater sect members felt disheartened and silent.

however, as the array dissolved, a slender figure in blue emerged.

she had a rosy complexion, sweat on her forehead, and was breathing slightly heavily, yet she walked out calmly.

on the other hand, the other disciple of the mountain and sea sect, xiao qi, who was among the top three in the outer sect rankings, was nowhere to be seen.

everyone was taken aback.

“sister, are you injured?”

zhao keran hurriedly ran to lin shuang and checked her all over.

“did you take the revival pill?”

xiao qi, who was sitting in meditation, shook his body.

he was the one who took the pill.

he was the one who got beaten!

“the winner of this round is mountain and sea sect’s disciple, xiao qi.” the supervising senior disciple of the mountain and sea sect smiled, scanning lin shuang’s weak cultivation and recording it with a pen.

xiao qi’s chest hurt, and he looked at the mountain and sea sect’s senior disciple.

his lips moved, and his eyes gradually turned red.

‘ah, it’s almost an incense stick’s worth of time. i’ve sweated a lot.’

‘troublesome… when the isolation array opens, should i say it’s good that i won or that i lost?’

‘if i say i won at the qi refining ninth layer, my little junior sister, senior brother xu, and the master who passed on the techniques will all ask me at least three rounds of questions about my cultivation. explaining my cultivation issue will take at least an hour and a half.’

‘and that might cause other outer sect disciples not to believe me and challenge me. but i don’t need to burn fat for half an hour every day… if i have to deal with it every day, i’ll waste at least two hours every week…’

‘but if i say i lost, it might affect the allocation of the spiritual springs, and it might slow down my progress of reaching 100 dantian breakthroughs to the condensing yuan realm.’

in a daze, xiao qi recalled the fragmented mumbling he heard when his spiritual qi shattered just now.

one hundred dantian…

he turned his head to look at lin shuang, who was being protected by others. she appeared innocent and delicate, and he couldn’t discern whether everything that happened just now was a dream or an illusion.

“in that case, you should just say you admit defeat later, because today we don’t fight against women, okay?”

xiao qi was stunned, and when he saw lin shuang smiling at him with her eyebrows raised, all his grievances and indignation surged.

she had even thought of an excuse for how he lost!

looking at the disciples of the mountain and sea sect waiting for the outcome of their battle after the isolation array opened.

looking at the senior disciple of the mountain and sea sect who thought he had won and recorded the result.

xiao qi was filled with sadness and anger, and he gritted his teeth and lowered his head.

“what… what did you say?”

“???”

“what, what did you say?”

the scene fell into silence.

the recording senior disciple of the mountain and sea sect had his pen ink smeared.

xu rui, the senior disciple of the clearwater sect, had his eight trigram sword trembling behind him.

zhao keran was stunned and forgot to blink.

“it’s impossible, xiao senior brother, how could you lose to someone at the qi refining third layer!”

“xiao qi, are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”

but in an instant, the array stone emitted a radiant light because the outcome was decided, shooting into their waist tokens.

【lin shuang: disciple of the clearwater sect, qi refining third layer】

【spring robbing – victory (9 victories, 6 absences) 】

【contribution to the sect: 500 points】

【due to defeating an opponent from a higher realm, contribution doubled to 1000 points】

【updated ranking of clearwater sect’s outer disciples: 18888 → 17291】

【xiao qi: disciple of the mountain and sea sect, qi refining ninth layer】

【spring robbing – defeat (13 victories, 1 defeat) 】

【deducting contribution to the sect: 500 points】

【updated ranking of mountain and sea sect’s outer disciples: 3 → 5】

the words on the sect tokens appeared, hovering in the air.

silence.

a suffocating silence.

“she ranks 18,000th… and she won against senior brother xiao, who is third…”

“senior brother xiao dropped out of the top three… and she’s still ranked 17,000th…?”

putting their cultivation levels and rankings side by side was simply ridiculous.