At this very moment, with her focus at one hundred percent, Li Xingyao’s Wanxiang Spirit Sarcophagus Eye awakened once again.
A dark red glow surged deep within her pupils. Now, Lin Ci’s cultivation technique no longer overwhelmed her with dazzling confusion; instead, it appeared before her in a profound and orderly form.
Every change, every detail, was fully visible to her…
Two hours later, a small cycle was complete.
Lin Ci stopped circulating the cultivation technique and then opened his eyes to look at Li Xingyao.
“How is it? Did you find any mistakes?”
“Hmm, just a moment…”
Li Xingyao said as she went to fetch paper and a brush. Spreading them out on the desk, she closed her eyes to recall the process. After a moment, she bent over and began writing as she spoke.
“There are actually three real mistakes…”
“First, there is a stream of spiritual energy running to the Stone Pass Acupoint that could actually fold back along the Ren Meridian to Yindu, where it would merge with the spiritual energy from Zhongruan. But you didn’t do that.”
“Second, there is a congestion of spiritual energy between the Liangmen Acupoint and the Taiyi Acupoint. If it were scattered from the Guanmen Acupoint, this problem wouldn’t arise.”
“Third, and the least noticeable, near the Lianquan Acupoint there is a gathering of swirling spiritual energy, seemingly prepared for breaking through to the next realm. But its position should actually be at Xuanji, serving as a manifestation of the Power of Heavenly Dao.”
“Teacher, am I right?”
She looked at Lin Ci with unprecedented seriousness.
Lin Ci’s expression confirmed her correctness. After giving her an approving glance, he slowly nodded.
Yes, he didn’t understand any of it.
In fact, the cultivation technique he just circulated was the Nine Revolutions Heaven-Burning Technique in its original form, without any alterations.
He had not, as he said, deliberately made any mistakes.
Since this technique was his own creation, it naturally had many flaws compared to normal cultivation manuals. And as the Sect Leader’s Daughter, Li Xingyao’s understanding of cultivation techniques was beyond question.
That was why he used this method—to have her help find the shortcomings of his original technique.
This way, he both fulfilled his duty to guide her cultivation and improved his own technique—a true two birds with one stone!
The only unexpected thing was Li Xingyao’s mention of Stone Pass, Yindu, Zhongruan… Lin Ci knew these were names for acupoints used by cultivators, but where exactly were they?
Still, no big deal. He had the Heavenly Book; once he got back, he would find a Secret Manual recording these acupoints and figure it out.
“I’ll take this assignment back with me.”
Lin Ci gathered the papers on the desk.
“So, I found the mistakes?”
Li Xingyao wasn’t really concerned about the assignment. She asked again.
“Yeah, you’re very smart. These three places were exactly the intentional mistakes I made.”
Hearing this, Li Xingyao’s eyes brightened, revealing a pleased surprise. She quietly clenched her palm, then quickly lowered her head, pursing her lips tightly while the corners of her mouth curved slightly upward.
He just said I’m smart…
“Do you like this way of training?”
Lin Ci asked.
“Hmph~ I don’t like it at all!”
Li Xingyao lifted her head defiantly.
But, well, she didn’t hate it either…
“Fine, then I won’t teach you like this anymore.”
Lin Ci put on his clothes.
“Don’t!”
Li Xingyao immediately panicked. “Do it again! This time hide ten mistakes. I’m sure I can find them all!”
You… you’re playing a spot-the-difference game now?
“I’m not strong enough to keep cultivating with ten mistakes in the technique.”
“Uh…”
Li Xingyao was momentarily speechless. She almost forgot how dangerous this technique was. Three mistakes were already the limit. Ten mistakes? She’d probably be coughing up blood on the spot…
“What about swordplay or other cultivation arts? I can find mistakes in those too!”
She quickly changed tactics.
She had a feeling her pupil technique was very good at this kind of thing.
If Lin Ci knew what she was thinking, he might understand why she was so persistent—
It’s like having wallhack on in a game, insanely fun…
“I won’t teach you cultivation anymore today.”
Lin Ci said flatly. Before Li Xingyao could respond, he continued,
“I’ll teach you to play chess.”
“Play chess?”
Li Xingyao paused. “Playing chess is just a pastime for mortals. What kind of cultivation method is this?”
“It’s not cultivation—just pure play.”
Lin Ci’s words confused Li Xingyao even more.
He tapped the table with his finger:
“This is your second lesson. When you play, you play fully.”
Though she didn’t quite understand, Li Xingyao reluctantly accepted it. “Alright… but I’ve never played chess before.”
“No problem. I’ll teach you a simple one called Five-in-a-Row…”
“Five-in-a-Row?”
Li Xingyao was puzzled; she’d never heard that name.
But after Lin Ci explained the rules in a few sentences, she laughed:
“Ha, that’s so simple! Watch me beat you!”
Lin Ci said nothing and silently took the Chess Set out of his storage pouch.
The game quickly ended.
“You lost,” Lin Ci said.
“This… this doesn’t count! It’s my first time playing, do it again!”
“Alright.”
……
“You lost again.”
“Damn it! One more time!”
“Okay.”
……
“Alright, now it’s my turn.”
“Wait… what are you doing? Don’t put it there!”
“There’s no such thing as an illegal move. Five stones in a row, I win!”
“Waaahhh—!”
……
“Thirteen rounds already. Can you even win?”
Lin Ci calmly placed the fifth connected stone on the board, speaking like the victor.
“This is annoying. I don’t want to play anymore!”
Li Xingyao angrily slapped the table. It was so simple to get five stones in a row, yet she just couldn’t do it.
“Oh, then no more playing…”
“No! Again!”
“Fine.”
They played several more rounds until—
“…”
“…”
The two silently exchanged a glance. Lin Ci threw the Chess Set back into the Chess Box.
“You won this round.”
“Yay!”
Li Xingyao raised her hands triumphantly, her tone exuberant, as if she were venting all the frustration of her losing streak.
“It’s late; I should be going now.”
Lin Ci stood up.
“No way! You’re running away after losing once? Loser!”
Li Xingyao looked disappointed, then suddenly realized this was the first time she had ever tried to keep her teacher from leaving the room.
“Xiao Chan is still waiting for me.”
Lin Ci nodded casually.
Hearing that name, Li Xingyao suddenly became awkward. “Xia Xiaochan… does she usually play chess with you like this too?”
“Yeah, of course.”
Lin Ci answered truthfully, unsure why she asked.
In fact, besides Five-in-a-Row, Lin Ci and Xiao Chan had played many other games—far more than Li Xingyao could imagine.
“I see…”
Li Xingyao lowered her gaze briefly, then lifted her chin defiantly, planting her hands on her hips.
“Hmph~ Go on, then! If Mother hadn’t asked you to teach me, this Miss wouldn’t want you to at all!”
“But today, you had fun, didn’t you?”
“I…”
Li Xingyao’s expression changed. She was about to deny it, but when she met his gentle gaze, the words couldn’t come out.
At first, she had wanted to prove she was stronger than Lin Ci for some reason and had developed a deep hostility toward him.
After losing to Xia Xiaochan, she realized clearly the gap between herself and a true genius…
But was it only about talent?
Li Xingyao didn’t know. She wanted to find out, which was why she asked Mother to have Lin Ci teach her for a day.
Yet now, she realized she had long since forgotten what answer she was seeking, and maybe that answer wasn’t even worth digging into.
Why had she become like this?
Li Xingyao still didn’t understand. She just looked at Lin Ci, who was about to leave, and involuntarily spoke up.
“Lin… Teacher, just asking—will you come again?”
Lin Ci didn’t answer. He waved his hand and left behind a steady silhouette.
“Today, I had a good time too.”