Chapter 76: Sweat More in Daily Training… Or Is It Just Sweating?

“You look like a controller!”

“Bang!”

Amid the rapidly dispersing smoke, Feng Xue picked up the armoured equipment formed by Liu Yunxi, fiddled with it a few times, then shook his head; seeing his expression, Liu Yunxi—whose eyes were nowhere to be seen—immediately let out an annoyed voice:

“You wanted me to change, and now you’re unhappy again—what exactly do you want?”

“Some things are hard to explain to you.” Feng Xue scratched his head, wearing the expression of “your intelligence can’t possibly grasp my thinking,” and, as Liu Yunxi retreated into another bout of sullen silence, he took out paper and pen to begin studying.

Although Liu Yunxi’s shape-shifting was influenced by his thoughts—like turning into a cup that became a different kind of narrow-mouthed soft vessel based on his idea—this influence had its limits; for instance, Feng Xue could not precisely determine whether it should be a six-pulse pattern or a red-string knot, at most affecting whether it was slow or intense—that was the limit.

But Feng Xue was not satisfied, because yesterday’s battle had made him acutely aware of his combat flaws.

His weak soul control greatly hampered his combat ability; although the Jade-Refining Method could train soul precision, this training, like physical cultivation enhancing the body, was a gradual process, and even though his progress was already extremely rapid, his ever-decreasing lifespan still urged him to accelerate.

The artifact-based combat strategy was clearly correct, but how to use artifacts more efficiently—instead of turning into a clown last night who used spiritual energy to give people baths—was a problem he had to solve.

He had also considered using the Spirit-Subjugation Charm’s effect to have Mo Ying carry offensive spiritual energy to ram into opponents; this was indeed feasible, and the Spirit-Subjugation Charm did contain such techniques.

But even though Mo Ying was exceptionally gifted and could carry Feng Xue’s vast spiritual energy, she could only barely compensate for the offensive side, turning an Xuan cultivator with diverse techniques into nothing more than a sorcerer who only threw fireballs.

So he turned his attention to Liu Yunxi.

Although Liu Yunxi’s current cultivation was limited, she was a legitimate demon cultivator who had practiced for over forty years, and unlike Xuan cultivators, demons needed to train their demon qi control; in other words, if he could use Liu Yunxi’s control to manage his own spiritual energy, wouldn’t that achieve more than the sum of its parts?

But ideals were plump, reality was skeletal; unlike Mo Ying, who was bound by a spirit pact, Feng Xue and Liu Yunxi could not achieve mind-meld, meaning that even if Liu Yunxi could truly control his spiritual energy, their lack of synergy would cause all kinds of problems.

So he considered using the [Grant Mouth Seal] method to turn Liu Yunxi into a device directly linked to his spirit, but according to current experimental results, there was still a long way to go.

Yet Feng Xue was not the type to obsess over one thing; if the Jade-Nourishing Method could still provide training even if he couldn’t master it, fine—but this kind of research, which yielded nothing if unsuccessful, he wouldn’t waste his precious time on entirely; beyond his fixed cultivation schedule, he began simultaneously spirit-infusing and researching spell derivations—

This wasn’t arrogance; mainly, the materials he brought included many Daoist scriptures, and as of now, the Yin-Yang Five Elements theory underlying this world’s Xuan cultivation system was nearly identical to that of his previous world, so Feng Xue naturally considered drawing from Daoist ritual manuals, spell theories, traditional Chinese medicine’s qi-blood principles, and even some novels and manga from before his transmigration that had dabbled in Daoist theory, to see if he could develop any useful spells.

“Ding dong!”

A clear bronze bell sound traveled through the voice-transmission device into the room; Feng Xue picked up Liu Yunxi in one hand, checked his lifespan lock, then walked toward the door and spoke to the copper pipe outside:

“Who is it?”

“Mr. Feng, it’s me—your order has been delivered!” came the muffled voice of the middleman; Feng Xue was somewhat surprised, opened the door, and saw the middleman standing outside the courtyard gate.

The only downside of a large mansion was that the main gate and courtyard gate were separated by ten meters; even though Feng Xue had left the courtyard gate open, the middleman strictly adhered to etiquette and didn’t step inside.

Feng Xue didn’t bother to urge him, simply said:

“So fast? Don’t cut corners just to hurry!”

“How could I? I had the best master in the guild make it—inspect it all you want, if there’s a problem, tear me apart!” the middleman said with full confidence; Feng Xue reached out to take the item he offered, but didn’t lower his guard because of his words.

Looking at the fine stitching and sturdy material of the leg wrappings and sleeve guards, Feng Xue tugged and swung them hard, confirmed there were no issues, then tied them on and moved around; satisfied they were sturdy yet didn’t hinder movement, he nodded approvingly:

“How much?”

“Not much…” the middleman was about to say it was free, but seeing Feng Xue’s serious expression, he gave a discounted price:

“Just give me a hundred cash (Note ①)!”

“That’s better—charge what it’s worth!” Feng Xue nodded in satisfaction, pulled out the smallest bill from his wallet, and handed it to the middleman—

“The extra is for the rush fee!”

“Thank you, Mr. Feng! If you need anything, just say the word—I’ll make it perfect!” the middleman, feeling he had “figured out” Feng Xue’s nature, accepted the bill without protest, bowed and swore solemnly, then turned to leave.

Feng Xue didn’t care; he turned back into the room and began selecting suitable spirit-infused jade plaques from his newly carved ones to equip himself.

The leg wrappings needed no consideration—they’d definitely hold the [Divine Step Charm]; but for the sleeve guards, Feng Xue had choices: offensive damage had the [Demon-Slaying Charm], defense had the [Golden Body Charm] and [Jade Transformation Charm], energy attacks had the [Lightning-Call Charm] and [Fire-Call Charm], and there were also the [Spirit-Subjugation Charm] and [Curse-Prayer Charm], both requiring spirits to function.

But this kind of thing couldn’t be decided on paper; fortunately, he was now a man with a mansion; he went to the second-floor room, presumably used for banquets, and tossed out Liu Yunxi:

“You look like a person!”

“Oh, hungry? Planning to use the kitchen upstairs?” Liu Yunxi glanced around and confirmed her location; Feng Xue shook his head, secured the leg wrappings and sleeve guards, then took out jade plaque after plaque and inserted them into the small pockets with button loops, and picked up two wooden sticks:

“I want to adjust my spell setup—fight me.”

“You’re serious?” Liu Yunxi caught the sticks, eyeing Feng Xue suspiciously; seeing this, he checked his lifespan lock and confirmed Liu Yunxi’s [Grant Mouth Seal], then nodded: “Of course I’m serious, but this is mainly to test spell combinations—just a normal sparring match.”

“Got it! I’ll hold back!” Liu Yunxi’s face lit up with a bright smile; in the past, Feng Xue would have immediately stood at attention out of respect, but now he couldn’t help feeling this serpent spirit seemed a bit…

Eager?

“Don’t zone out—I’m attacking!” Liu Yunxi swung her wooden stick like a whip, the whooshing wind making Feng Xue doubt she truly intended to hold back.

But Feng Xue wasn’t delicate; he understood the principle: sweat more in training, bleed less in battle; he gritted his teeth and channeled spiritual energy into his artifacts.

Spiritual light flared—the sparring began!

Note ①: This clothing price isn’t exaggerated or overly upscale; clothing prices in the Ming Dynasty were absurdly high compared to grain prices. Even ready-made clothes were expensive, and if you bought cloth to make your own, one bolt cost two or three silver dollars (even in the early period), barely enough for three or four garments—roughly one garment equaled twenty catties of rice… and that was Ming Dynasty grain prices!

If you insist on comparing to today’s prices, think of it this way: a simple fabric garment you make yourself would cost one to two thousand yuan, a ready-made one four to five thousand; though considering the style, one might mean a full set, but it’s still ridiculous. Remember, many modern farmers earn less than four to five thousand yuan a year.

That’s why elders often said back then the whole family had just one outfit, and whoever went out wore it (some even reportedly went bare-skinned to the fields at night to save clothes).

From this perspective, the protagonist’s sleeve guards and leg wrappings, made of fine materials and expert tailoring, at 100 cash (purchasing power roughly equivalent to one silver dollar), are indeed cost price.

PS: Sometimes I genuinely worry about modern readers’ reading ability, especially their comprehension of long sentences—once a sentence gets long, they only read half, and when they sense something’s off, their first reaction isn’t to reread, but to yell, “You wrote this wrong!”… How do you interpret “endure under… conditions” as ongoing suffering?

I think carefully reading it once is less trouble than posting a comment saying it’s wrong. Then again, thinking about the state of internet idiots, I suddenly understand why Warhammer tech declined—apparently the imperial skin is teaching people to be Steam customer service?

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(End of Chapter)