The day after the sect competition ended, just as dawn's first light began to break, Xiao Qi was still deep in slumber when he was abruptly awakened by a series of harsh, insistent knocks on his door. From outside came the familiar, clear voice of Senior Sister Liu Yun, now carrying an unmistakable tone of authority: "Tang Xiao Qi! You have ten breaths to get to the usual spot on the training grounds! One moment late, and you'll train an extra hour!"
Xiao Qi jolted wide awake, all drowsiness vanishing instantly. He scrambled out of bed, hurriedly pulled on his disciple robes, grabbed the frying pan from beside his pillow (these days, he rarely went anywhere without it), and rushed out. He knew this day would come—that "astonishing" roll during the competition could never have escaped Third Senior Sister's sharp eyes. He just hadn't expected the "reckoning" to arrive so swiftly.
When he arrived, panting, at that familiar clearing, Liu Yun was already standing there, arms crossed. The morning breeze stirred her goose-yellow combat attire and her high, tied-up ponytail, giving her a heroic, spirited appearance—though the look she fixed on Xiao Qi held a trace of a "ferocious grin." "Well, well, Junior Brother Xiaoqi," Liu Yun began, circling him with measured steps, her tone revealing neither joy nor anger. "Half a year has passed, yet your skills don't seem to have improved much. But this 'ground eighteen roll' technique—you've mastered it without a teacher! Quite reminiscent of Second Senior Brother's style, wouldn't you say?" Xiao Qi's cheeks burned, and he hung his head, not daring to utter a word.
"However," Liu Yun's tone shifted abruptly as she stopped before him, her gaze sharp, "being able to react under Zhou Tong's full-powered sword strike and dodging in that... hmm, unique way shows there's a tiny bit of potential in your reaction speed. As for your ability to withstand blows..." She sized up Xiao Qi's still somewhat frail frame, "Last time, a single sweep from Sun Yi left you unable to get up for half the day. This time, Zhou Tong merely tapped your chest, and you surrendered. Still too weak!" A sense of foreboding rose in Xiao Qi's heart.
"Starting today, 'special training' is upgraded!" Liu Yun declared with a decisive wave of her jade-like hand, leaving no room for argument. "Goal: train your reaction speed to rival that of a wildcat, and turn these bones of yours as hard as ironwood!" And so, Xiao Qi's days of "trial by fire" officially began.
Liu Yun's training methods were simple, direct, and "utterly merciless." For reaction speed, she was no longer satisfied merely with weaving between wooden stakes using "Swimming Fish Steps." She had somehow procured several dozen solid wooden balls of varying sizes, each suspended by tough beast-tendon ropes, hung at different heights on branches surrounding the clearing.
"Stand in the center!" Liu Yun commanded. The moment Xiao Qi took his position, Liu Yun flicked her fingers rapidly, sending several faint strands of spiritual energy to strike specific wooden balls with precision.
The balls instantly swung like uncontrolled pendulums, hurtling toward Xiao Qi from different directions, each with its own speed and trajectory! Startled, Xiao Qi hastily executed his footwork to evade. The balls moved with no discernible pattern, and their speed was considerable. At first, he was thrown into disarray—either getting struck on his arms or legs by the wooden spheres or tripping over himself while dodging, tumbling into a dazed heap.
Liu Yun watched coldly from the sidelines, occasionally barking orders: "Left! Duck! Turn! Are you made of wood? Use your eyes, sense with your heart!" She demanded that Xiao Qi not only rely on visual observation but also attempt to mobilize his faint spiritual sense to perceive the trajectory and force of the incoming balls.
This was extremely challenging for Xiao Qi, only at the third layer of Qi Refining. But he dared not disobey; he could only grit his teeth and endure, striving to enhance his perception and reaction amidst the repeated impacts and reprimands. As for the training in withstanding blows, it was even more "unadorned and practical." Liu Yun had obtained a thick, bowl-sized, exceptionally resilient hardwood post and firmly secured it into the ground.
"Activate the 'Body Forging Fist' heart method! Use your arms, calves, and back to strike the post! Don't stop until I say so!" Liu Yun ordered coldly, arms crossed.
Xiao Qi stared at the sturdy post, swallowing hard, but under Liu Yun's "piercing" gaze, he steeled himself. Summoning faint spiritual energy to shield his limbs, he began striking the post, one blow after another. "Thud! Thud! Thud!" The dull, heavy impacts echoed through the morning clearing. For the first several dozen strikes, Xiao Qi felt excruciating pain in his arms and calves, as though his bones were about to crack.
But he remembered his senior sister's instructions. Clenching his teeth, he operated the crude body-refining technique from "Body Forging Fist," guiding his meager spiritual energy to nourish and strengthen the impacted areas. Liu Yun didn't simply let him brute-force it. When he reached exhaustion or his movements became severely distorted, she would halt him, pointing out flaws in his force application and spiritual energy circulation. Sometimes she would even step in personally, gripping his arm or leg to correct his posture—the force she applied each time made Xiao Qi grimace in pain.
Beyond that, Liu Yun added weighted cross-country running. She made him carry that heavy frying pan (under the pretext of "adding load") and run back and forth along a rugged, difficult mountain path behind the mountain within a set time limit, training both his endurance and his adaptability in complex terrain. Every day, Xiao Qi returned as limp as a ragdoll, covered in bruises of all shades, collapsing into bed as soon as he got back.
The fellow servants sharing his quarters looked on with a mixture of sympathy and amusement at his condition. He once secretly complained to Second Senior Brother Luo Feng, but Luo Feng merely chuckled and patted his shoulder: "Endure it, little junior brother. Third Sis' methods might be harsh, but the results are solid. Look at Elder Senior Brother's abilities—back in the day, he wasn't spared from being 'tempered' by Master and senior siblings either."
Xiao Qi could only continue bearing it with a pained expression. Yet, amid this daily "torment," subtle changes were quietly taking place. He noticed himself growing increasingly composed when dodging the wooden balls, with the number of times he got struck noticeably decreasing. When striking the post, the pain became more bearable, and beneath the skin of his arms and calves, a thin layer of toughness seemed to be forming. During his weighted runs, his breathing grew steadier and longer.
His body, subjected to this seemingly brutal training, was like iron ingot being repeatedly forged—gradually, imperceptibly, becoming tougher and more agile. Although his cultivation progress remained slow, the foundation of his physical vessel was being honed ever more solid under Senior Sister Liu Yun's relentless "special training." He understood that behind his senior sister's severity lay the expectation for him to succeed. This "gift" wrapped in pain was something he must endure and, equally, must cherish.
Each bruise from a wooden ball impact, each ache following a post strike—all silently narrated the footprints of his growing strength.