Chapter 24: Secret Teachings

The training room contained only a low table and two straw mats.

Lin Ci and Li Xingyao sat opposite each other.

As soon as they settled, he took out the vine whip.

Li Xingyao visibly flinched.

Noticing this, Lin Ci softened his tone and asked, “The master who taught you before, did they use this to hit you?”

“No, they didn’t. After all, I’m the Sect Leader’s daughter… Besides, Mother never gave them the Disciplinary Whip.”

So this treasure was called the Disciplinary Whip, Lin Ci thought.

“She always used it herself.”

Li Xingyao said casually, rolling up her sleeve to reveal faint scars on her tender arm.

Lin Ci raised an eyebrow.

“Then why did she give this to me?”

“Maybe Mother thinks you’re also a junior, someone she probably can’t control me with, so she gave the whip to you to feel more at ease.”

“Do you get hit often?”

“…It’s the only way to become accomplished; Mother has always said this.”

Li Xingyao didn’t answer directly but instead said with a calm expression, “But this… isn’t right.”

Lin Ci rubbed his chin, thought for a moment, then firmly repeated, “Yeah, this isn’t right.”

“…”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing… just some grit in my eye.”

Li Xingyao rubbed the corner of her eye, her voice a little hoarse.

“Then keep the whip yourself.”

Lin Ci tossed the Disciplinary Whip to her.

She froze, about to ask why, but before she could, Lin Ci started taking off his outer robe and inner layers…

“Lin Ci! What are you doing?”

“Call me teacher.”

“…Teacher, what are you doing?”

If at first she was completely unwilling, now it was with nine parts reluctance that Li Xingyao bit her lip awkwardly.

This guy was only four years older than her…

Lin Ci stripped off all his upper garments, revealing a well-proportioned, muscular torso, and said calmly, “I’m doing my job—guiding your cultivation.”

“When?”

“Right now.”

“…”

Li Xingyao fell silent.

Before she could even voice her doubt, Lin Ci began meditating and circulating his breath.

Soon, mysterious patterns of spiritual energy appeared on the surface of his body.

Li Xingyao blinked, “What’s that?”

“What you’re seeing now is the circulation path of my heart method, called the Nine Revolutions Heaven-Burning Technique.”

“Next, while circulating the heart method, I will intentionally leave some small mistakes. Your task is to observe the route and point out where I’m wrong.”

“So that’s how it is…”

Li Xingyao understood and relaxed slightly.

Perceiving another’s spiritual energy flow and spotting subtle errors was indeed a novel way of instruction.

It could sharpen insight, sensitivity, and understanding of the Heavenly Dao Laws all at once.

As for why he took off his shirt, of course, it was to show the circulation paths more clearly.

Good thing she hadn’t been startled—she almost thought he was about to teach her some Dual Cultivation Method…

Li Xingyao banished distracting thoughts and straightened her posture.

Lin Ci was using a new way to guide her. Though she wasn’t sure how effective it would be, she’d give it a try.

Her gaze fixed on Lin Ci’s body, trying to grasp the circulation of the Nine Revolutions Heaven-Burning Technique to find his intentional mistakes.

But soon…

Li Xingyao felt her cheeks flush.

No, that’s not right!

Damn it, where am I looking?

Why is my gaze unconsciously locked onto his abs…

It’s definitely his fault for using such a complicated heart method and distracting me!

Yeah, that’s it.

It’s not that I think he has a nice figure!

Taking a deep breath, Li Xingyao silently recited the Purifying Heart Mantra to dispel her distracting thoughts, then opened her clear eyes again and focused.

This time, a faint red glow flickered deep within her pupils, and her attention finally sharpened.

As she gradually understood the heart method, a sudden shock hit her.

This heart method was no ordinary technique!

It was… too bold—no, downright extreme!

What he was cultivating was a powerful, kill-oriented heart method!

Even Devil Cultivators, who delighted in harming others and themselves, might hesitate to try it…

In short, once the heart method circulated, nearly every meridian’s spiritual energy advanced in a bizarre, extraordinary way, cutting through obstacles.

And the tolerance for errors during cultivation was extremely low—any slip would ripple through the entire system!

At best, it would lead to internal chaos; at worst… instant corruption.

Just watching now made Li Xingyao’s chest feel tight, her mouth dry…

She couldn’t imagine how much faith Lin Ci had in himself to resolutely choose to cultivate this method, and at such a fast pace too!

Was Xia Xiaochan training like this as well? No wonder she couldn’t win…

Also, the Nine Revolutions Heaven-Burning Technique bore no trace of any sect’s style.

Who was the divine being who created it? What unspeakable torment must they have endured to write such a heart method? Did they just crawl out from the Underworld?

After the shock, Li Xingyao forced herself to calm down.

Now was not the time for surprise. She still had to follow Lin Ci’s instructions and find the errors in the heart method’s circulation.

Though at a glance, it all looked like mistakes…

But since the heart method could circulate, those “errors” she saw weren’t truly mistakes—just different standards.

She only thought them wrong because she viewed them through a mundane lens.

With this in mind,

Li Xingyao suddenly let out a soft laugh.

Right, mistakes defined by others… aren’t I the same?

At this moment, she seemed to understand the purpose behind Lin Ci’s teaching method.

Next,

She would find the real errors!

She once again banished distractions, focusing with unprecedented concentration to observe carefully.

Soon, she seemed to enter a selfless state, and a dark red glow hidden deep within her soul quietly spread over her eyes…

No one knew the secret of Li Xingyao’s eyes, not even Sect Leader’s Lady Meng Yunlan.

On her twelfth birthday, after waking up, she suddenly felt discomfort in her eyes, as if they were bloodshot and blurred.

Everything before her seemed overlaid with a red filter.

After initial panic, she slowly discovered the condition was controllable and not a disease, but more like a unique ability.

Under the dark red tint, all things appeared as strange characters—she could see the rules governing their operations!

Li Xingyao wanted to tell her mother, but due to a trivial matter, Meng Yunlan struck her hard with the Disciplinary Whip.

Yes, on her birthday…

That secret was never spoken to anyone again.

To this day,

She still didn’t fully understand what this dark red eye power could do or how to use it.

The only thing she knew was the rare name she occasionally found in books.

The texts said this extremely rare ocular technique, appearing once in a millennium, was called—

All-Form Spirit Coffin Eye!