Yaoqing, just before daybreak.
The thin mist had not yet completely dissipated.
Unlike the once prosperous Azure City, the air in Yaoqing always carried a chilling sense of slaughter.
When Jingliu woke up, she stretched her limbs, feeling refreshed.
The days of high-intensity sword-swinging training had already lasted for a full half-month.
She didn't have much memory of what happened after each session ended, but every morning when she woke up, her spirit was full and her fatigue was gone.
There was no smell of sweat, nor any sticky feeling.
Jingliu knew her Master was taking care of her... after all, there was no third person in this remote residence.
At first, she felt a bit of bashfulness.
The shyness stemmed from the reserve her mother had taught her since childhood; the shame stemmed from the fact that she fainted at the end of every training session.
Her Master had to personally clean everything up for her... but as it happened more often, Jingliu became desensitized.
Although the training was painful and arduous, she felt she was gradually adapting to the rhythm.
Swinging a sword three thousand times consecutively while maintaining posture and rhythm was not impossible to complete as long as she gritted her teeth and persevered.
Last night, she had successfully done it.
From noon until nightfall, she had perhaps swung her sword no less than a hundred thousand times... putting aside yesterday's experience, Jingliu cheered herself on in her heart and pushed open the door to welcome a brand new day.
At this moment, she didn't realize that what she called 'adapting' and 'completing' was, in Qi Zhimu's eyes, merely a stepping stone to the next level of suffering.
Martial Arts Field.
Qi Zhimu was here early, holding a horse stance with several cylindrical heavy steel bars on his shoulders.
Each one weighed no less than ten jun.
"Master."
Jingliu stepped forward quickly to pay her respects.
Qi Zhimu did not speak. With a jolt of his shoulders, he shed the weights. The ground trembled, showing their weight.
"Starting today, wear these for your morning run."
Seeing Qi Zhimu pull out a pair of bracers and greaves, Jingliu's gaze dazed for a moment.
When she subconsciously took them, her hands suddenly sank, and even her waist nearly buckled.
So heavy!
Jingliu's eyes widened as she looked down. The material of the bracers and greaves was pitch black, and it seemed as if light reflecting off the surface would be absorbed.
Qi Zhimu's voice sounded above her head.
"They are cast from Star-Iron Sand, totaling two hundred catties."
Two hundred catties... was nothing to a regular Cloud Knight.
But for Jingliu, who was still growing and had never received professional weight training, it was several times her own body weight... a trace of hesitation unconsciously flashed in Jingliu's eyes.
But facing Qi Zhimu's expressionless face, she silently buckled the cold, heavy equipment onto her limbs.
Her feet and hands felt as if they were filled with lead, pulling her downward.
"Master... how far do I have to run wearing these?" Jingliu asked softly.
"Unchanged."
Those two simple words made Jingliu unable to help but swallow her saliva.
Un... unchanged?
For the past ten-plus days of morning runs, it had been 80 li without stopping every day, and the speed could not be lower than 40 li per hour.
If she stopped midway or her speed was insufficient, the distance would be recalculated, just like the sword-swinging practice.
Her daily training consisted of only these two items, but these two were enough to make her suffer from morning till night.
Running 80 li with a weight of over seven jun... I'll die, won't I?
Jingliu looked up at Qi Zhimu, her small face showing a bit of pleading.
Qi Zhimu remained unmoved, tossed an object to her, and pointed to the outer ring of the Martial Arts Field.
"There are only three Hydration Pills. If you don't finish the run, you aren't allowed to eat, and certainly not allowed to practice the sword."
"..."
One lap around the outer ring of the Martial Arts Field was half a li, so she had to run 160 laps... Jingliu bit her lip and tried to move her legs, finding that her usually light steps had completely vanished.
She felt like she was dragging two heavy logs, and every step required all the strength of her core.
For the first lap, she could barely maintain a running posture.
By the fifth lap, sweat had soaked her clothes, and her leg muscles began to cramp.
By the tenth lap, her trachea felt blocked, and every breath was incredibly difficult.
On the fourteenth lap, she failed and had to recalculate the distance.
The sun gradually rose, and the sunlight turned from warm to scorching.
Qi Zhimu did not sit in the shade with cold tea like a conventional master, leisurely watching the figure stumbling on the track.
Instead, he was in the center of the Martial Arts Field, tirelessly practicing his fist techniques.
Jingliu could clearly hear the occasional sounds stirred by his punches.
She was currently in a very bad state; her speed was getting slower and slower, and she could barely maintain the minimum required speed.
The heavy greaves constantly rubbed against her ankles, and she could feel the flesh breaking even through the fabric.
"Lift your feet higher."
Qi Zhimu's voice came coldly.
"When the Cloud Knights pursue Abominations, they must charge even if their legs are broken. Are you taking a stroll? How can you speed up with this posture?"
Jingliu bit her lower lip hard, forced out a breath, and compelled her numb feet to lift higher again.
Can't stop... if I stop, I have to start over... Master won't pity her, let alone feel sorry for her... time passed, and the fierce sun began to tilt.
Jingliu fell to her knees on the track with a thud, her chest heaving violently as she gasped for air, instinctively looking toward the figure in the center of the Martial Arts Field.
"Get up."
Qi Zhimu was still urging her to continue.
She gritted her teeth, but in the end, she still collapsed on the ground, her vision blurring rapidly.
Sensing his disciple's exhaustion, Qi Zhimu's elbow suddenly struck sideways, tearing a terrifying gale through the air before he withdrew and adjusted his breathing.
Exhaling, he looked at where Jingliu had fallen, a flicker of pity passing through the depths of his eyes.
The hardship Jingliu was suffering now was no less than what he had endured as a child.
In fact, his training volume was much higher than hers, so he knew exactly how arduous it was.
Xianzhou people possessed the blessing of abundance, and their constitution and recovery power were indeed formidable.
But training like this to the death was still too cruel for an ordinary girl who hadn't even reached the age of fifteen.
However—
If a Cloud Knight is not ruthless to themselves, it is kindness to the enemy.
When Jingliu woke up, she felt pain all over her body, as if her bones were about to fall apart.
Her arms and calves especially felt like they were being bitten by a thousand ants, making her want to chop them off.
"Awake? I'll give you five minutes to adjust your state, then continue today's training."
Her Master's devilish urging sounded in her ear.
"Master, the jump in difficulty is too great, I..."
"If you don't aim for your limits, on the battlefield, you will only become fodder for the Abominations."
Qi Zhimu forced his attitude to be cold and hard, ignoring his disciple's pitiful and aggrieved little face.
When he was a child, watching his sister's training was far more miserable than Jingliu's now.
Their father would stand by with a whip, never leaving. If any movement was not standard or the speed slowed down, a single whip strike would leave his sister's skin torn and flesh gaping.
On countless nights, his sister didn't even dare to bathe before sleeping, only willing to soak her body in water the next day once the wounds had mostly healed.
Qi Zhimu still couldn't find the heart to treat Jingliu that way.
She had lost her home and family at such a young age; she was already miserable enough.
"You begged me to teach you how to kill Abominations and to grant you skills, so I shall teach you."
"But I also said that this path is more painful than death. Once you set foot on it, I will not give you the chance to retreat."
Jingliu lowered her eyes and said softly, "Your disciple understands..."
Qi Zhimu: "The same words as before: control your breathing rhythm, try to master the energy surging from your elixir organ, and allocate it to where it's needed."
"As for where it's needed, your body won't lie. Only by getting used to freely dispatching your physical energy under high pressure can one maintain a peak state for a long time."
"...I will remember Master's teachings."
Once the five minutes were up, Jingliu took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and stepped onto the track again, enduring the pain throughout her body to chase the finish line.