“A simple exercise like this shouldn’t be so hard.” Jing said to the struggling Qing.
“The human body isn’t supposed to bend like this...” Wan Qing tried to reason as her entire body cried in pain from the curled-up shrimp-like pose she was in. Jing lightly slapped her back with her whip that sent shivers through her already shaking body.
No longer was she in the ideal female body she made with her Illusionary Urn. The pain that came with these exercises was too much to try and keep her illusion up. Jing said that these poses would somehow help her become stronger but she never answered directly what they did. How were they making her stronger was what she wanted to know. Not if they did or didn’t. Wan Qing didn’t believe Jing would make her do something for no reason but she was interested in learning how this was making her stronger. And if all this suffering was worth it.
“You two little cub.” Jing’s whip found its way to gently slap Ni Xong’s bottom who yelled at the tap of her whip.
He tried his very hardest in performing the beginner poses that Qing already did. They were simpler than the ones she was doing now. Jing thought it was nice that the warm up exercises worked for people of any stage and physique similar to humans. These particular poses strengthened the bones, muscles, and improved blood flow within the body. At the stages Qing was at, more improvements would start to show such as: removing muscle tension, correcting any strength imbalance in the body, and improving flexibility. After seeing the effects of these simple but strange looking positions, Jing figured she should get her other followers to start them as well. There was no reason not to after all.
‘Mom. People are heading this way.’ Li Li said to her through their soul link.
“How strong are they?” She asked.
‘I can deal with them.’ He responded.
“Hmm... Let me find out their identity first. They don’t seem to be hiding either even though they’re coming straight towards me somehow. Did my Qi Suppression array fail somehow?” Jing wondered.
A Qi Suppression array is a formation that fell under the supportive category. Its purpose was to dampen the qi of anyone inside the array, making it harder for those inside to utilize qi and almost impossible for people to sense those inside it. Jing made this to make it harder for people to look for her and also for training purposes. This formation could help train qi control as well because of how it restricts control over a cultivator’s qi. A secondary effect of this was stopping Qing from using her qi to strengthen her body and unconsciously cheating through her training.
“I’ll be back in a bit. Li Li watch over them.” Jing started walking away as Li Li stood on a branch and looked down on the two with a small grin on his face.
Both Qing and Ni Xong felt that Li Li wouldn’t spare them any mercy while Jing was gone. If they dared tried slacking off even the slightest bit, he’d tell Jing in a heartbeat. They didn’t feel that he’d do anything crazy just because Jing was gone but probably would enjoy watching them suffer just like his master. And they’d be wrong actually. Li Li doesn’t enjoy seeing others suffer like his mother.
A trait he did gain from her was feeling enjoyment when in a position of power. There was rarely a time in his life where he ever felt weaker or lower than someone. In fact, there hasn’t been a single moment where he didn’t think he could win against someone. At least in a fight. This was why he always tried new things he saw so that he could know what it felt like to be on the opposite position. But most of the time, he usually excelled anyway.
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“Hmph. Who are you people?” An arrogant black-haired youth questioned with killing intent aimed at the two of them like a sharp blade.
“...” Ju Ju didn’t respond to the weakling. Her task was to recruit Jing, not get involved with random trash.
“Heh, talk all you like but this one isn’t much of a talker.” The pink-haired youth grinned while pointing to Ju Ju.
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“And none of you wastes decided to answer my question. Do you take me for some arrogant fool that throws around words like they’re nothing but dirt?” He aimed his spear at the girl ahead of him and posed to strike straight through her back.
She looked back with a glare that froze him down to his bones. Yi’s killing strike was stopped before he even attempted it. This girl was dangerous... Probably the most dangerous person around his own age. If he dared to attack her, he’d probably be killed in a single move.
“Tch. Annoying wench. Don’t think that just because I didn’t strike means that I'm afraid of you.” Yi stated as he put away his spear.
“I would’ve warned you but I didn’t think a guy like you would listen to someone like me. She’s one of the Great Prodigies in the Inner Court. Someone who can stand up to the top factions in the Inner Court just by herself.” The pink-haired cultivator explained.
“Just wait till I reach the intermediate stage of my Demonic Overlord technique. I’ll be able to do the same.” Yi scoffed.
“...” Ju Ju continued on ahead to her task.
She might’ve spared some attention to these two clowns next to her if her master didn’t thoroughly explain how powerful this Jing was. On her journey here, she’s been doing nothing but mentally preparing herself in case things go wrong. A Qi Gatherer that can face off against a spirit beast in the Core Stage spirit. It was something she could never picture herself being able to do nor produce a feat that comes even close to it. If things go well, Ju Ju would love to exchange pointers with her and learn just how powerful she is compared to her.
Ju Ju suddenly stopped straight in her tracks while Yi and Wen almost continued on ahead. Wen stopped after seeing Ju Ju stop and Yi stopped after seeing the both of them stop.
“What are you two getting cold feet now?” Yi sneered.
“Idiot... Are you telling me you can’t feel that?” Wen visibly shivered.
Ju Ju could feel her senses firing off like crazy right now. Swear poured out of her skin and her muscled tensed up, preparing to escape at her fastest speed at the smallest sight of danger. Something was watching them. Something that she had no hopes of fighting against. Was this Jing? Did she somehow catch on to the fact that they were coming towards her?
“...” Ju Ju’s eyes darted around to find any signs of someone around them.
But there was nothing. Even when she flared her qi out, she detected nothing in the distance. Ju Ju looked at the two pieces of trash and a comforting thought came to her head. She could probably use them as bait while she escaped.
“I don’t feel anything. Why the hell are you two so scared? Did you fall into some fear illusion array or something?” Yi scoffed while secretly deep in his heart he was starting to get scared as well.
If that silent girl of all people was shaking in fear, then he better ready himself for the worst. The three cultivators who didn’t know a damn thing about each other unconsciously placed their backs to one another. Covering their weak spots while standing in their combat stances. Yi with his spear, Ju Ju with her palms, and Wen with his sabre. Whatever was watching them best prepare itself if it wants to take all three of them down.
“Don’t drag me down.” Yi told the others.
“You’re the weakest one here.” Wen nervously chuckled.
“Silence.” Ju Ju softly spoke, shutting both boys up.
Then everything went blue for all three of them. A large bubble suddenly engulfed them all along with four talismans appearing under the bubble that formed into an array that quickly began draining their qi. Ju Ju’s qi sparked with a blue lightning that burst the bubble but didn’t affect the array that drained their qi. It didn’t help that a second array was formed around the first array when they were stuck that lulled them into a sleepy state. Yi immediately fell face first into a deep sleep. Wen stabbed his hand to keep himself awake. Ju Ju broke her pinky finger, replicating Wen’s quick thinking.
They both moved at their fastest speed with their movement arts. Something latched around Wen’s foot and tripped him. As he was falling, he grabbed onto Ju Ju so that she wouldn’t leave him behind. Not knowing that he sealed both of their fates by refusing to go down alone. The object around his leg slowly crawled up his body and wrapped around both him and Ju Ju as sleep began to take them.
“I will kill you for this...” Ju Ju promised before falling asleep.
“I’m sorry... I just didn’t want to die with him.” Loud snores began to sound out from him.
A familiar figure walked out into the opening. A small smile was on her face as she looked at their current defenseless states.
“Now let’s see which Elders was desperate enough to send a prodigy on this level to me. She’s so cute I might have to keep her for myself...” Jing gently grabbed the girl’s face and got a good look at her at all angles. She wasn’t Wenling but, she could have fun with a girl like her too.