Chapter 1 Soaking

White mist curled in the hot spring.

Zheng Fan sat in the pool with a towel draped over his shoulders, only his neck and head above the water.

Of course, this pool wasn't filled with genuine hot spring water; Hutou City wasn't exactly brimming with accessible hot springs. But after Si Niang's special concoction, soaking in it was still incredibly comfortable, and even after a long soak, his skin wouldn't turn pruney.

In front of Zheng Fan, a stone floated on the water's surface, also draped with a small towel.

One man, one stone,

Soaking quietly like this, it was hard to tell who was soaking who.

It had been quite a while since Zheng Fan awoke, but the magic orb remained a stone.

Zheng Fan felt rather helpless about this. He didn't know if it completely looked down on him, its "dad," or if it was just plain lazy.

Probably, it was just too lazy to move.

Yeah,

That must be it.

Tomorrow, he'd officially begin cultivating. For a moment, Zheng Fan felt both anticipation and trepidation.

He anticipated, in somewhat melodramatic terms, that he was about to embark on a path of cultivation, that one day he'd be able to move mountains and drain seas, shatter the sky with a single punch, and split the earth with a single kick!

A peerless martial artist, terrifyingly so!

But he'd probably read too many similar literary works in the past. It seemed the protagonist always started as a good-for-nothing.

Zheng Fan feared he was also a good-for-nothing. After all, he wasn't holed up in some mountain gully cultivating alone; there were so many people watching him.

When people were watching, there was a sense of shame.

Zheng Fan lowered his head, looking at the stone floating in front of him. If you called it a stone, it could actually float on water, heh.

I dare you not to come out!

Zheng Fan reached out and pressed the stone down.

Before long,

The stone floated back up again, and even put the white towel back on its "body."

I dare you to ignore me!

Zheng Fan reached out again and pressed the stone down hard, all the way to the bottom.

"Glug."

"Glug."

Bubbles emerged,

The stone floated up again,

Wearing the white towel,

Leisurely soaking in the hot spring.

"Damn it!"

Zheng Fan picked up his towel and vigorously wiped his face.

Actually,

He didn't need to worry so much, or be so annoyed;

Because out there, six of his classmates had already begun their intense preparatory work, all for the sake of "accompanying the prince in his studies."

…………

"So, it's like this?"

Si Niang watched the lines embroidered on A Ming's body while adjusting her own breathing.

She excelled at controlling silk threads, a very subtle form of manipulation, and now she was starting to control the qi and blood within her body, beginning to circulate it according to that standard.

Veins became her targets of manipulation, and within her body, they began to be stimulated.

Shortly,

In less than half a minute,

Si Niang suddenly opened her eyes,

A pinkish glow flashed across her body and disappeared.

Success,

Half-step Ninth Rank!

Ding Hao, who was beside her, continued to stand with his mouth open.

Because he knew, and could see, that these people had never cultivated martial arts before; they were complete outsiders to the martial world.

But he just said it, and they just practiced it,

And then…

Ding Hao couldn't help but think,

His subordinates,

Were already this freakishly exaggerated,

Then,

Their master,

How terrifying must his talent be?

Ding Hao didn't believe they had been hiding their skills or trying to trick him. First, they hadn't shown any flashes of light when they rescued him, and second, they didn't need to deliberately deceive him.

Was it possible they'd all agreed to show off in front of a cripple like him?

"Girly pink, not bad, I quite like it."

Si Niang was very satisfied with her color.

Young women wanted to appear mature, while mature women hoped to always be young.

"It doesn't match your age," A Ming teased.

He was a living specimen right now, and couldn't have the stitches removed today, because he still had to show Zheng Fan tomorrow. He really was a walking textbook.

Si Niang glared at A Ming, and said:

"It's still better than your Aunt Flo red."

A Ming shrugged and was about to put on his clothes.

"Wait, I'll try it too."

Saying that,

Blind Man Bei reached out and tugged on A Ming's half-dressed clothes.

"Blind Man, what's the difference to your 'eyes' whether I'm wearing clothes or not?"

"Life needs a sense of ritual."

A Ming smiled helplessly, took off his clothes again, and deliberately showed a fatherly kind of doting in his eyes.

"Tsk tsk, even the girls in my red tents weren't visited as often as you are."

A Ming shook his head and said, "That's a heartless thing to say. You have to see my dedication."

Blind Man Bei closed his eyes, which looked no different whether they were open or closed,

And used his mental power to manipulate some of the weak power within his body.

In fact,

Everyone's body had a bit of qi.

Ordinary people, if they exercised regularly, could also feel it in the dark. The most extreme method was to clench your right fist tightly for ten seconds and then suddenly open it; you'd be able to feel it.

Of course, that feeling was still too vague and unreal.

Blind Man Bei's spiritual power was responsible for searching, and his mental power was responsible for manipulating, treating his body like a machine.

Add fuel, add oil, start…operating.

Blind Man Bei took a little longer, but he was very steady, like a student. He wasn't satisfied with just solving the problem in front of him and getting the right answer; he wanted to thoroughly understand the definitions and formulas.

Others learned martial arts with emphasis on opportunity and talent. Blind Man was playing at scientific martial arts.

He slowly opened his eyes, which still looked no different whether they were open or closed,

And a wisp of gray light flashed across his body.

A Ming stood up beside him, raised a hand to cover his mouth,

And whispered:

"Heh, old schemer's exclusive color scheme."

Ding Hao, who was beside them, was already numb.

In his heart, deep doubts had already arisen. He had spent years refining his body since childhood, and it had taken him a full five years to reach the half-step Ninth Rank, which was already fast for the army; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to get ahead.

But this, one, two, three…

In just a little while,

They succeeded?

What on earth was happening to this world?

A Ming started putting his clothes back on.

Blind Man Bei reached out again, stopping him.

"Don't put them on, Liang Cheng and the others are already here."

A Ming's expression was helpless.

Si Niang, on the other hand, reached out and stroked A Ming's somewhat pale face, clicking her tongue and saying gently:

"Tsk tsk tsk, this little sister is really having a hard time. You guys don't know how to cherish her."

"…………" A Ming.

Liang Cheng, Xue San, and Fan Li did indeed enter quickly.

Although Blind Man Bei was blind, wherever he was, it was like a radar had been placed there. He could naturally detect any disturbances within a hundred-meter radius.

A Ming continued to act as a textbook, naked,

Liang Cheng came first,

He closed his eyes,

He opened his eyes,

And then,

A purple light flashed across his body.

Si Niang stood next to A Ming, and after seeing the light flashing on Liang Cheng's body, she and A Ming said almost in unison:

"Prison purple." (Referring to male prison inmates)

Si Niang reached out and punched A Ming's shoulder, scolding:

"And you still have the nerve to talk about other people."

"Hey, is this joke never going to end?"

A Ming said helplessly.

Actually,

It wasn't that A Ming hadn't considered why the soap in his bag had slipped out so coincidentally that day,

And even more coincidentally, had slipped under Liang Cheng's feet.

Then, Blind Man Bei had appeared so coincidentally, and when he thought of Blind Man's ability…heh.

"We only have a few people, we have to find something interesting to talk about, right?" Si Niang said with a smile.

When friends were together, friends' embarrassing moments were often topics that would be repeatedly brought up at every gathering.

"Then we can change it to, for example, a certain number one assassin ambushing a prey from behind, only to have the prey spray a face full of shit."

"Pfft!"

"Damn, ruthless!"

Xue San, who was circulating his qi next to him, swayed and almost suffered a qi deviation.

But fortunately, he quickly stabilized his mind and continued to run his qi and blood.

Before long,

A green color appeared on his body.

Si Niang said:

"Congratulations, it's the color of nature, which will help you hide when you ambush others in the wild."

Xue San didn't really like this color, and looked at Ding Hao, asking:

"Hey, can this color be changed? Can it be dyed?"

Ding Hao shook his head and said, "I've never heard of it being able to change color. This color is related to your essence."

"…………" Xue San.

"Ahhh!"

"Ahhh!"

"Ahhh!"

Next to them,

Fan Li started doing a horse stance,

Constantly letting out low roars from his throat.

"A Li, don't force yourself," Xue San teased. "Be careful you don't shake out your shit."

A Ming said, "Then you should move further away."

"…………" Xue San.

Finally,

After about ten minutes,

A yellow light appeared on Fan Li's body.

From then on,

Except for one lazy slacker who was still soaking in the hot spring with his master,

The other six,

All gloriously advanced to half-step Ninth Rank martial artists.

Ding Hao's jaw was a little dislocated,

The others, however, didn't feel much surprise.

"Si Niang, arrange for someone to take good care of Mr. Ding. Tomorrow, let the master come over to listen to Mr. Ding's lecture."

"Okay."

Blind Man Bei led everyone out,

After leaving the house and arriving in the courtyard, Blind Man Bei stopped first.

In fact, they really didn't have much to be happy about, because for them, whether they could emit light, especially this fleeting light, didn't mean much to them.

They each had their own paths, and just now, it was just a matter of glancing at extracurricular reading while studying their own research projects.

It was like an original high-level mage or high-level assassin, stealing time from their busy schedules to learn a martial artist's initial stage.

"Do you feel it?" Blind Man Bei said.

Everyone nodded silently almost at the same time.

Blind Man Bei raised his head, facing the sunset, and said slowly:

"We can only be stuck in the half-step Ninth Rank position. That layer of separation, that layer of understanding, isn't actually difficult for us, but we just can't break through it!

There's an invisible barrier suppressing us."

The slowest, A Li, had only spent ten minutes to complete it.

Then,

What about the master?

Unfortunately,

Other teams gave scores by removing the lowest score and the highest score, and then taking an average.

But here, everyone before the last place was removed, leaving only the last place…

Blind Man Bei sighed at the sunset,

And said:

"Next, we must help the master enter the ranks at all costs!"

At that time,

The bottom one, who didn't know he was being placed great hope on,

Was still soaking in the hot spring with the stone,

When two maids came over and added hot water, raising the temperature of the pool again,

The bottom one seemed to give up the idea of continuing to compete with the stone,

And instead, breathed a long sigh,

And said with emotion:

"So comfortable……"

Next to him, the stone draped in a towel also emitted a few strings of bubbles:

"Glug glug ah……"

——————

Thank you, Typhoon Restaurant's three silvers, for becoming "The Descent of Magic's" chief alliance leader.