In an instant, Yang Ze felt his mind was clear of any distracting thoughts. He felt a sense of calm that he had never felt before. The chirping of insects, the sound of the gentle breeze outside his room, as well as the sound of his own breathing... everything was amplified.
Without wasting another second, he focused back on the Thousand Years Art in front of him, and the once obscure text that was hard to understand began to unravel its mysteries. Within a few seconds, Yang Ze was easily able to discern how to properly breathe and practice. Just a single glance and he had already remembered its content.
Standing up, he bent his knees and got into position while trying it. Even though it was his first time, his every step was carefully calculated. Whenever he made a mistake, he would correct it automatically. Not only that, but he was even able to modify it for better efficiency.
Seconds turned into minutes, and half an hour passed in the blink of an eye. It was at the last moment that Yang Ze felt a tremor in his body as his skin seemed to harden before relaxing on its own.
"Eh!? I have become a cultivator?" Coming out of his enlightenment state, Yang Ze muttered in a voice filled with disbelief. Usually, it takes anywhere from a few months to a few years for mortals to step into the Body Refining stage. After all, it is a gradual process of consuming resources to temper one's body.
But now... Now he was able to do it in a span of half an hour.
Just to make sure he wasn't wrong, Yang Ze looked at his personal panel.
[Name: Yang Ze]
[Age: 18]
[Realm: Early stage Body Refining ]
[Physique: Supreme Dao Body]
[Talent: Mighty Vigour (Blue), Affinity For Water (Blue), Enlightenment (Blue)]
[Evaluation: A delicious treat waiting to be devoured.]
"Sure enough." Although Yang Ze didn't feel a surge of strength, he wasn't worried about it. The early stage of body refining is about refining skin. It is all about making one's skin hard to increase defence.
Pinching the back of his palm with all his strength, Yang Ze smiled in satisfaction. Were it before, he would have cried out in pain, but now... he didn't even feel anything.
He then got into the position once again, hoping to achieve a similar result, but unfortunately for him, his practice was all over the place. Sometimes he would breathe too quickly, sometimes he couldn't even focus, and sometimes he would fail to get into a stance.
It was only now that Yang Ze truly understood the hellish difficulty of cultivation.
"Forget it." Shaking his head, he decided not to practice like this. Rather than wasting time like this, he would use half an hour of enlightenment to practice and then spend the rest of the time just reading the Thousand Year Art to have a better understanding.
With the excitement of cultivation, Yang Ze didn't even realise that it was already morning.
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On the other side of the Lin family, in front of the Slave Mountain where the steward's pavilion was, an old woman in her seventies was standing in front of a corpse whose head was five meters away.
Every day, the steward on duty would ring the bell for the slaves before assigning them work. In any case where the steward failed to perform their duties, it was her job to check upon them and know the reason.
"This can't go on." After staying silent for a long time, the old woman let out a heavy sigh. This was the third, or perhaps fourth, steward that died here under these conditions. She couldn't remember the exact number, but what she could remember was the reason for their death.
How could she, an elder figure of the family, not know whose handiwork was this? Other than the Young Lady and her maid, who would dare to kill in such a brazen way?
After collecting the corpse, she went back to the main hall before reporting the situation.
After half an hour, she finally got her reply. It was just a single sentence.
"Tell the two of them to come back. The Grand Competition is about to start."
With a nod, the old woman left the place.
---------------
Lin Yue, who was completely oblivious to all of this, was staring at Lin Wan with a knowing smile on her face.
She still couldn't believe that Wan'er would do something like this. Was it because of love? Thinking about how such a fine woman fell in love with a lowly slave, she even wanted to write a book, describing their love in extreme detail.
Lin Wan, on the other hand, felt a little uncomfortable under Lin Yue's gaze, but after a few minutes, she got used to it. She was still thinking about using that little bastard to her advantage. But to do that, she needed to find a breath-restraining technique first.
Usually, cultivators can not tell the cultivation realm of another person unless it is deliberately revealed or they are in the midst of fighting. But there were still techniques that could be used to discern another person's cultivation by observing the flow of their internal energy.
The Breath Restraining Technique was a counter to them.
With Yang Ze in her hand, she was sure of making progress by leaps and bounds. But at the same time, she was afraid that her cultivation speed would be exposed. And once that happens, her biggest opportunity would be taken away from her.
"What are you thinking about?" Just when she was lost in her train of thought, Lin Yue's voice sounded in her ears.
"Umm... Nothing." Lin Wan answered casually, but after a moment, she suddenly asked Lin Yue.
"Can you find a breath-restraining technique for me?"
"Eh!?" Lin Wan's request was too abrupt, surprising Lin Yue for a while, who, after giving her an understanding look, nodded in response.
"I will give it to you later." With a smile, Lin Yue asked further.
"Do you know where that little slave is? I was planning to teach him a lesson, but I couldn't find him. He seemed to have disappeared."
Of course, she knew where that little bastard was; she was just trying to see what Lin Wan actually thought about him. If she refused to reply, then she wouldn't poke her nose in it. But if she gave a different reply, then she would definitely dig deeper.
The refusal would mean that she truly loved him and was willing to take a risk by hiding it with her. In that case, Lin Yue would forget everything that had happened till now. But if she made any excuses, then....
"Oh, him!" Lin Wan nodded in response, "I didn't like the way he talked back to you. So, I cut off his tongue and took him as a personal slave. I was thinking of torturing him slowly."
"....."
"....."
"....."
"Uh huh!" Lin Yue's eyes widened in disbelief. If not for the fact that she had personally seen that little bastard hugging and groping her as well as that messy room, she might have believed her words.
For a moment, she couldn't help but wonder if Lin Wan was under some kind of spell. Otherwise, how could one explain her intimacy with that slave?
Just when she was about to ask further, her eyes narrowed into slits and her gaze turned to her left.
Lin Wan, too, followed her gaze only to look at a figure that had silently appeared there.
"Young Lady." The old woman first gave her a bow before speaking slowly, "The matriarch has ordered you to return and prepare for the Grand Competition."
"....." Lin Yue didn't say anything, but the expression on her face turned frosty.
"I am just here to relay orders. Please don't make it difficult for me." With a forced smile, the old woman gave her another bow before disappearing from her place, leaving the two of them behind.
"Young lady..." Lin Wan was about to speak when she saw Lin Yue raising her hand, signalling her to stop before turning around with a smile.
"It sounds so interesting. How about I stay at your place for a few days? I wanna see how you torture him."
"That..." Lin Wan's corner of lips twitched. She didn't think Lin Yue would be so interested in such an insignificant matter. She could only blame it on her bad luck and her rebellious nature.
"What?" The smile on Lin Yue's face only widened in response, "Do you have anything to say?"
"...." Lin Wan was silent for a good while before shaking her head in response. "No worries. Let me make some arrangements first."
"No need, let's go." Without waiting for her, Lin Yue slowly walked towards the direction Yang Ze was staying.
-----------------
Yang Ze, on the other hand, was completely oblivious to the upcoming trouble. A few moments ago, he just jokingly wanted to try out enlightenment again and to his surprise, he actually managed to do it.
"It seems this skill's cooldown would reset at midnight." Muttering to himself, he didn't waste another second and started practising the Thousand Years Art.
After half an hour, when he came out of the trance, he didn't immediately stop, but kept on practising. Even though he didn't manage to break through, he had made significant progress. Judging by the speed, in less than three days, he would be able to step into the mid-stage Body forging realm.
"Hehe." With a smirk, he comfortably sat on the bed while envisioning his bright future in this world. Thinking about standing at the top of the world, catching stars with his bare hands and dropping meteors upon his enemies... he couldn't help but tremble in excitement.
But before he could enjoy this dream of his, he was rudely woken up by a shout.
"You damned slave. How dare you not come and greet the Young Lady?"
Listening to this familiar voice, Yang Ze cursed loudly in his mind before hurriedly looking around and grabbing a black piece of clothing and wrapping it around his face.
After making sure his face was all covered up and his hair blocked his eyes, he walked out trembling.
"Eh!?" Looking at the boy that was half her size, all covered in black and hiding his face all the while trembling there in fear, Lin Yue couldn't help but raise a brow.
"What's your name?" She asked with a playful smile.
"....." Yang Ze didn't reply, but his body trembled more. Earlier, when Lin Wan put forward her conditions, acting mute and hiding his face was one of them. He needed to make it look like he was a mere, insignificant slave who was being tortured and would die soon at her hands.
Earlier, when he agreed to her condition, he didn't think that he would have to act so soon.
"Interesting." Lin Yue first glanced at him and then at Lin Wan before letting out a gentle laugh and walking inside the house. She had never seen something so interesting before.
Lin Wan, on the other hand, frowned in displeasure before looking at Yang Ze and letting out a cold snort.
"Wait for me tonight." Whispering to him, she just turned around and followed behind Lin Yu, leaving Yang Ze, who was still cursing his rotten luck.