Chapter 17

C17 – Fighting

Wen Shanmei hadn’t tapped into her Genuine Qi, yet her strength far surpassed Lu Lixing’s. She advanced with a step, her right hand balled into a fist, and hurled it straight at him. Her punch wasn’t particularly swift, but the power behind it was formidable. If Lu Lixing wasn’t careful in his defense, he was bound to take a beating.

Lu Lixing took the threat of Wen Shanmei’s seemingly insignificant fist seriously. Instinctively, he sidestepped, pivoting to avoid the blow. But Wen Shanmei was one step ahead; she lifted her leg and swept it behind his heel, sending him tumbling to the ground.

“Do you think your enemies will only come at you with their fists? What good does dodging a punch do if you’re open to other attacks? If I had wanted to kill you, that kick would have been the end of you. Get up and try again!”

In training mode, Wen Shanmei was all business, scolding Lu Lixing without a hint of mercy. Yet, he took no offense, instead taking her words to heart as he picked himself up.

“Now, it’s your turn to go on the offensive.”

At Wen Shanmei’s prompt, Lu Lixing wasted no time in initiating his attack.

“Your punch is too slow. Didn’t you eat enough?”

“Such an unstable stance. Who gave you the confidence to kick?”

“That punch is so feeble, it wouldn’t compare to a woman’s. Do you even qualify as a man?”

“Does it hurt? Go on, shout it out. I promise I won’t mock you.”

In the ring, Lu Lixing gasped for air, his face drenched with sweat, his training outfit clinging to him, soaked through. Every inch of his body ached, feeling like it was on the verge of collapse. If he could, he’d lie down right there and sleep for hours.

Wen Shanmei, however, remained the picture of tranquility, as if she were merely a spectator. She watched Lu Lixing with a detached gaze, her face etched with a mocking sneer and a hint of disdain.

“You claimed you could withstand any hardship. Yet here we are, not even an hour in, and you’re already faltering?”

Confronted with Wen Shanmei’s biting sarcasm, Lu Lixing was itching to fire back, but he was too winded to muster more than breaths, let alone words. His defiant gaze was the only weapon he had left to signal his refusal to be cowed.

Wen Shanmei, noting Lu Lixing’s stubborn resistance, chose not to push him further. She leapt gracefully from the arena and made her way to the nearby maintenance pod. She beckoned to Lu Lixing, “Come over here, strip down, and get in.”

With each step a struggle, Lu Lixing descended from the arena and shuffled toward the pod. Before he could even begin to undress, Wen Shanmei, growing impatient, swiftly peeled away his clothes, leaving him in just his black shorts.

Surveying the bruises that marred Lu Lixing’s slender frame, Wen Shanmei gave a nod of approval. She then ushered the enervated Lu Lixing into the pod and activated the nutrition treatment mode.

The chamber quickly filled with a deep green nutrient solution, and Lu Lixing’s face twisted with pain – a pain that was strangely exhilarating.

Immersed in the solution, Lu Lixing felt as though countless hands were kneading his muscles, easing the tension away. It was an exquisite sensation, unlike anything he had ever felt before.

But as always, bliss was fleeting. After a mere twenty minutes, Wen Shanmei extracted Lu Lixing from the pod. His bruises had vanished, his condition seemed to have not only returned to its peak but had subtly advanced. The rush of newfound power left Lu Lixing buzzing with excitement.

“This beating wasn’t for nothing,” he thought.

Eager eyes fixed on Wen Shanmei, Lu Lixing was now as eager for the challenge as he had once been resistant.

“Forget it,” Wen Shanmei said coolly, “With your current condition, you can only handle one nutrient soak per day. Any more than that would be too much for you.” She gave Lu Lixing a nonchalant glance. “Get dressed and go train on your own.”

Though a twinge of disappointment at the loss of the incredible sensation lingered, Lu Lixing was content. He quickly donned his freshly laundered training gear and approached his backpack, rummaging through its contents. The so-called space bag was modest, offering only double the capacity of a regular backpack. It wasn’t much, but it was enough; the one million in cultivation resources took up only about half the space, without coming close to filling it.

Lu Lixing laid out his cultivation resources and meticulously inventoried them. Among the items were 100 packets of advanced spirit powder and 100 tubes of advanced nutrition paste, but what caught his eye was a bottle of light purple liquid glowing softly. Known as Violet Spirit Liquid, it was highly beneficial for Brain Domain development and was valued at a staggering six to seven hundred thousand for just a small bottle!

Surveying the resources spread before him, Lu Lixing sighed. A million in resources might sound substantial, but it was just enough to get him to the peak of the Body Tempering Stage, and that was with penny-pinching. The cost of future cultivation resources was bound to be a significant expense.

Putting other considerations aside, the nutrition liquids he had used for soaking alone were worth well over a million. He would never have asked for them if Wen Shanmei hadn’t offered first. Though she hadn’t mentioned it, Lu Lixing was deeply grateful and committed her generosity to memory.

He now had a glimpse of understanding as to why Sha Xiufen had agreed to become Zhang Tu’s girlfriend. He could understand her choice, even if he didn’t agree with it.

Shaking off these thoughts, Lu Lixing focused on the task at hand—cultivating his Brain Domain. He carefully extracted three drops of the Violet Spirit Liquid and applied them to his forehead. As he smoothed the liquid across his skin, a refreshing coolness washed over his brain, emptying his mind and plunging him into a state of serene confusion.​

The sensation was fleeting; after a mere three minutes, the effects of the Violet Spirit Liquid dissipated. Reluctantly, Lu Lixing emerged from the trance-like state. With eyes closed, he tuned into his body, noticing a marked improvement in his sensory perception and a deeper connection to his physical self.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

“Violet Spirit Liquid truly lives up to its reputation,” he mused, eyeing the bottle. With roughly a hundred drops remaining, he could sustain that transcendent state for about a hundred minutes of cultivation, potentially enhancing his Brain Domain by 5%.

A sigh escaped him as he considered the inevitable depletion of the liquid. Once it was gone, he’d be unable to afford more. The path of cultivation was indeed fraught with hardships for the impoverished.

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