Chapter 196: The Daoist Cycle of Heaven

The first attempt at advancement failed.

It was entirely within expectations.

After taking the Restoration Pill provided by the Spirit Sect and sleeping next to Qingqing for a night, he was nearly back to full health.

This time, aside from the unconsciousness, there were no major side effects, only that upon waking, he felt something strange on his cheeks, as if someone had pinched and pulled them many times, and at the same time, his slightly grown-out hair had been tied into a "sky-pointing cannon"—that is, those little tufts that stand straight up—and his mouth had been painted with lipstick.

He didn't know how long this woman had toyed with him while he lay unconscious.

Truly boring.

Chen Shu set the second attempt for the seventeenth of July.

He used a week to adjust his state, continue routine and tentative strikes against the Spirit Lock, and keep polishing, while simultaneously organizing the gains from this failure—Chen Shu judged that his success rate for the next time was very high; he had a relatively clear understanding of his own situation, just as he knew he would fail last time.

Failure is the mother of success; it paves the way for success.

The seventeenth of July arrived in the blink of an eye.

Chen Shu brought the second dose of medicine to Qingqing's home.

Qingqing was in loose loungewear, a pair of long legs with a jade-like luster extending from her soft, wide shorts; rarely, she was not reading a book, but instead holding her Mobile Phone, seemingly watching short videos, the sound echoing in the living room.

Chen Shu leaned over.

"Buzz, buzz..."

A buzzing sound came from the Mobile Phone.

A tattooed barber was cutting a handsome young man's hair, explaining as he cut.

Qingqing was watching very intently.

"..."

Chen Shu suddenly had an ominous feeling; he reached out to touch his hair and asked seriously, "What are you doing?"

Qingqing stared at the Mobile Phone without even lifting her head:

"Studying."

"Studying what?"

"A common life skill." Qingqing continued to stare at the Mobile Phone.

"What do you want to do?"

"Want to learn."

"... What are you learning it for?"

"Having more skills is never a burden."

"Speak quickly!"

Only then did Qingqing press pause, move her gaze from the Mobile Phone, glance at his hair, and say indifferently, "Your hair is a bit long, you can even tie it into a tuft; you'll have to get it cut before school starts anyway."

"What do you want to do!?"

"A small favor."

"No!"

"Rest assured, I cut my own hair, and I cut Xiaoxiao's too."

"No!!"

"It's not up to you."

"..."

Qingqing continued to lower her head, tapped the screen, and the tutorial played again; she said, "If I were you, I'd take this chance to pick a hairstyle I like."

"..."

At this moment, Qingqing finished playing the video and handed the Mobile Phone to him: "What do you think of this hairstyle?"

"..." Chen Shu said aggrievedly, "A bit old-fashioned."

"How about this one?"

"A bit too ruffian-like."

"How about this one?"

"Doesn't match this handsome face of mine."

"How about this one?"

"This one is passable..."

"That's good."

Ning Qing took back the Mobile Phone and gestured for him to start, saying, "You can begin; while you're making your attempt, I'll study some more."

Chen Shu:...

Aside from resigning himself to his fate, there was no other way.

At least the hairstyle looked decent enough, and it didn't seem very difficult to cut.

"Sigh..."

Chen Shu let out a long sigh and said, "Don't cut it too short; what I mean is, leave it a bit longer."

If it doesn't look good, I can still go outside and find a professional to cut it again.

Ning Qing pursed her lips slightly and ignored him.

Chen Shu had no choice but to sit down again, sitting right next to Qingqing, back against the sofa, sitting cross-legged on the floor, and incidentally stroking her calf—so smooth—before clearing his heart and spirit and taking the medicine.

"Boom!"

The Spirit Sea boiled once more.

Today, the total Spirit Power and quality in the Spirit Sea were an imperceptibly tiny bit higher than last week, and this tiny bit would become the key to a successful advancement.

Chen Shu consciously controlled the Spirit Power, suppressing the boiling of the Spirit Sea and letting it concentrate to erupt with even greater force.

Time passed slowly.

Sweat poured off Chen Shu like rain.

The little maid was called over again, holding a tissue to wipe his sweat, occasionally casting a look of extreme dissatisfaction at her ill-tempered sister.

Ning Qing was still studying diligently.

She even ignored the messages Zhang Suannai sent her.

Until night fell.

"Clang..."

It sounded like metal shattering.

The Spirit Sea wall was broken through; the Spirit Sea shattered and then rapidly reappeared, the space becoming larger than before. Under the influence of the Cultivation Spiritual Method, after the Spirit Sea upgraded, the residual Spirit Power naturally flowed back, acting upon his body; under the effect of the Spirit Field, the hair all over his body emitted a faint glow.

The breakthrough was successful.

Chen Shu let out a long breath and opened his eyes, feeling exhausted all over, his Spirit Soul throbbing with pain, and extremely thirsty.

A slender, fair little hand held a water glass and presented it before him.

"Brother-in-law, water."

"Thank you, Xiaoxiao."

Chen Shu took the water glass and drank it in one gulp.

What came into view were two faces: one with a calm and composed expression, the other with a small, straight face, looking as if she were very serious.

"Why are you looking at me?"

"Brother-in-law, did you succeed?"

"I succeeded."

"Great!"

"Go take a shower, the water is ready for you," Qingqing said in a low voice. "Also, the moisturizer is on the shelf."

"..."

"Don't fall asleep."

"..."

Chen Shu twitched the corner of his mouth, not wanting to say a word to her, and got up to head upstairs.

About an hour later.

Chen Shu, holding a Restoration Pill in his hand, came to the room.

Ning Qing was sitting by the window reading a book, her profile beautiful beyond compare, yet Chen Shu saw the electric clippers and several different pairs of scissors she had placed to the side.

"Can't you let me off?" Chen Shu asked.

"The night is very boring."

"You could sleep," Chen Shu twitched the corner of his mouth. "Can't you foresee whether I will have problems, and when I will have them?"

"I can't sleep."

"Has your Night Person bloodline been activated?"

"Because you are lying next to me."

"..."

"Don't worry," Ning Qing turned her head to look at him. "Eat the Restoration Pill, close your eyes, and it will be over soon."

"... Then remember to be gentle with me."

"I'll try."

"..."

Chen Shu was completely speechless.

Not wanting to say anything more, he lay on the bed and took the Restoration Pill directly.

His eyes gradually closed.

A patch of darkness.

When he opened his eyes again, it was already eighteen hours later.

It was afternoon by now.

The curtains were drawn tightly, with only a faint light seeping in.

Chen Shu's brain felt dizzy and muddled; seeing Qingqing and Xiaoxiao sitting on either side, he felt a bit bewildered.

"Brother-in-law, you're awake?"

"You two..."

"My sister and I were watching over you."

"Why..."

Chen Shu wanted to ask something, but couldn't get it out; his mind was far too chaotic, so he simply shut his mouth and pondered quietly.

Finally, he remembered, and reached up to touch his own head.

A patch of prickly, short stubble.

"This..."

Chen Shu looked at Qingqing in astonishment.

Qingqing kept her eyes on her nose and her nose on her heart.

Chen Shu looked at the little girl again.

The little girl also avoided his gaze.

"What do you mean?" Chen Shu couldn't help but be stunned, "You participated too??"

"..."

"Speak!"

"Brother-in-law, I'm sorry!"

"What is going on here? Explain it to me!" Chen Shu propped up his upper body, constantly feeling the top of his head with his hand; he was now absolutely certain that it was a buzz cut, "Is this the hairstyle I chose yesterday? Or did the medicinal effects of the Restoration Pill make me remember wrong?"

"It's all Sister's fault!" the young girl said, "While Sister was cutting it, a problem occurred, and she said a buzz cut looked quite good too, so she shaved it all off!"

"It was your problem," Ning Qing said from the side, "You were the one who cut it unevenly."

"Blame you!"

"You..."

"You, you, you!"

"Can't be bothered with you..."

Chen Shu's face revealed a look of distress.

It was hard to imagine what exactly had happened while he was unconscious.

Forcing himself to sit up, he walked into the bathroom and looked at himself in the mirror; his hair was a buzz cut, but it was kept quite neat and looked very spirited, so he had to accept the fact.

He then began to examine the changes in himself.

"Fifth Stage..."

After reaching the Intermediate Stage, the improvement at each stage was greater than in the early stages, and besides the Spirit Sea, there were qualitative changes to the inside and outside of the body and the Spirit Soul.

However, as a Spirit Cultivator, although he practiced martial arts, he did not deliberately refine his body like a Martial Cultivator; no matter how much the body was strengthened, it was always secondary, and for him, what would always be important were the Spirit Sea, Spirit Power, and Spirit Soul.

"Whoosh..."

A slight vibration of Spirit Power.

Chen Shu's body hovered into the air.

This was the Flight Technique based on the Ling Chi Principle.

It was just that Chen Shu could not yet achieve "flight"; it could only be called hovering and moving.

In ancient times, to achieve flight, depending on the system, one needed at least the Sixth Stage, and generally, one had to enter the High-Tier to possess this ability. However, in modern times, with the optimization and popularization of Cultivation Spiritual Methods, the overall quality of Cultivators is higher than in ancient times, and coupled with the optimization of the Flight Technique using the Ling Chi Principle, most people can master the ability to fly at the Sixth Stage without the aid of external objects; it is only a matter of speed and endurance.

"Hoo..."

Chen Shu's body slowly descended again.

The Spirit Sea after the promotion was too large, and the Restoration Pill had not repaired it completely, so he dared not experiment for too long, but he could already imagine the power of the Fifth Stage.

"Small Blazing Sun Art..."

Chen Shu muttered to himself, touched his hair again, and then placed his hand in front of his nose and sniffed twice.

These two sisters had even washed his hair for him.

Chen Shu couldn't help but smile, but the moment he opened the door to walk out, his face stiffened again, and he said to the two of them, "I am very angry about what you did! For a period of time after this, I will not cook for you again!"

"No," Ning Qing said.

"That's not up to you," Chen Shu reacted quickly.

"..." Ning Qing rolled her eyes, not caring at all, and only said, "I want to eat fish-flavored eggplant tonight."

"Eat my shorts!"

"..."

Ning Qing silently reached into her bag, took out a piece of paper, unfolded it, and showed it to him.

At the top of the paper were the three large characters: Agreement.

"What?"

Chen Shu wanted to reach out and take it, but she dodged, and he only vaguely saw words like "Because Ning Qing and Ning Ji took meticulous care of me," "... express understanding for all actions," "cook fish-flavored eggplant for Ning Qing in the evening," and "cook spicy potato slices for Ning Ji," with his own handprint at the bottom.

"..."

This method felt so familiar!

What made it even harder for him to accept was that his sister-in-law, whom he had always doted on, had actually participated in it too.

Chen Shu looked at the young girl.

The young girl weakly avoided his gaze.

Chen Shu felt deeply pained.