Chapter 451: The Final Condition

“You should fulfill your promise now,” Jiang Ke’er said, hands on her hips.

“Come on, step onto the flying sword first. This is the first condition.”

Pei Min had a bad feeling about this.

Whoosh Whoosh

The flying sword slowly ascended.

Soon it reached about five stories high.

Under Pei Min’s terrified gaze, Jiang Ke’er smiled sweetly as she lifted her foot, the sole aimed at his stomach. “Dear disciple, this is the first condition~”

The sole landed mercilessly on his belly.

Pei Min flailed his arms and legs in despair, trying to keep his balance, but in the end, he couldn’t escape his fate of falling.

“AAAHHHHH——”

Thud!

After a heart-wrenching scream came the sound of flesh hitting the stone ground.

Pei Min lay spread-eagled on the solid floor, feeling like every bone in his body had shattered.

Pain was everywhere. He couldn’t move a muscle.

Just then, Jiang Ke’er descended leisurely beside him and said, “First condition: you have to let me keep kicking you off until I say stop.”

[Acquired…]

“What… what kind of… devil are you!” Pei Min wailed.

But Jiang Ke’er seemed not to hear his cries. She forcibly dragged him up and hauled him back onto the flying sword.

This time, Pei Min hadn’t broken any bones. After all, he had the protection of a Dual Polarity Stage cultivation base. It wasn’t high, but it wasn’t easy to injure him either.

Still, it hurt a lot. Super a lot!

“AAAHHHHH——”

Thud!

Spread-eagled again.

Pei Min felt like he was dying—slowly tortured to death.

But the devil showed no sign of letting him go.

“Again~”

“AAAH——”

Pei Min thought he was like a walnut.

Though he hadn’t cracked yet, if Jiang Ke’er kept at it persistently, he would eventually have his brains smashed out.

“Meow——”

A sudden scream rang out beside him. Pei Min looked up and happened to see a cat lose its footing and fall from a roof beam.

He had no time to wonder why such an agile cat had slipped. He noticed the cat’s body twist in a strange way midair, like a splash of water being poured out.

These changes not only slowed its falling speed but also adjusted its body to the most comfortable landing posture in an instant!

In the end, its body landed with the same orderly flow as water.

It scurried away in panic, ran to a corner to lick its paws, completely unharmed!

Pei Min felt as if he’d been enlightened. All his pain was forgotten.

When Jiang Ke’er kicked him off again, he didn’t scream. He gathered all his focus to sense his own body state and tried to adjust his landing posture.

Thud!

Unfortunately, before he could sense it clearly, he hit the ground.

“Again!”

He suddenly jumped onto the flying sword on his own.

Thud!

Another painful fall.

But he hadn’t gained nothing. At least, he realized the first step was to adjust his balance.

However, Jiang Ke’er kicked him in different spots each time, causing him to fly off in different directions, so the initial balance state he needed was completely different each time.

The situation became extremely complex. He had to rethink how to adjust his balance every single time.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

By the time the sun was high overhead, Pei Min had lost count of how many times he’d fallen.

But when Jiang Ke’er planted her sole on his face once more, he didn’t resist. Instead, he rolled and used the momentum, flipping gracefully in the air.

Finally, his feet pointed downward, his body gave a light shake, and he landed safely.

“Looks like you’ve gotten the hang of it,” Jiang Ke’er said with a dissatisfied pout. “Boring. Fine, let’s move on to the next condition.”

Pei Min snapped back to reality, looking at Jiang Ke’er with mixed feelings. He couldn’t read her attitude.

In that “condition,” with countless falls, his body balance had improved dozens of times over!

Most importantly, he had found the method to adjust his balance when there was nothing to push against.

Most cultivators didn’t pay attention to such things, but Pei Min understood this was a precious combat skill not even found in swordsmanship manuals!

Was it really because he had performed well that he had achieved this?

Or… was it…

“Get on,” Jiang Ke’er said, dragging Pei Min onto the flying sword again.

But this time, she didn’t kick him. Instead, she took him to a small lake.

Pei Min recognized this lake. It was a famous deep pool, its waters unfathomably deep, leading to who knows where.

Jiang Ke’er pulled a Magic Crystal from her robe, shook it in front of Pei Min, curled her lips, and flashed an evil grin. “Second condition.”

Plop~

With that, she tossed the Magic Crystal into the deep pool.

Pei Min looked at her in confusion. “Even if you’re rich, you don’t burn money like that. What are you trying to say?”

“Don’t rush… 7… 6… 5…”

Pei Min’s face showed terror again. He seemed to know what was coming.

“…2…1… Go!” Jiang Ke’er kicked Pei Min in the butt, sending him into the deep pool. “Go fetch the Magic Crystal I threw. If you don’t get it back, you owe me! Until I say stop!”

Pei Min felt like crying.

The first condition just hurt. This condition was going to kill him!

Fifteen minutes later, Pei Min surfaced, gasping for air. His face was purple, and he coughed violently, expelling gallons of lake water from his lungs.

He came up empty-handed—he hadn’t been able to catch up to that Magic Crystal.

Even though a Dual Polarity Stage cultivator had some breath-holding ability, fifteen minutes was still too long for him. Moreover, as he went deeper, the water pressure increased, draining his strength.

At the depths, he could only watch helplessly as the Magic Crystal slowly sank. It was right there, inches away, yet it felt like an entire world apart.

“Whoosh——”

When he finally caught his breath and recovered enough, he was horrified to discover that Jiang Ke’er had somehow already picked up another Magic Crystal.

Looking down at Pei Min, Jiang Ke’er’s lips curled upward.

Plop~

The Magic Crystal arced beautifully into the pool, sending up a small spray.

“Start chasing after I finish counting. 10… 9… 8…”

What kind of demon are you now!

Pei Min was so mad he cried again.

If Jiang Ke’er hadn’t counted those ten seconds, he could have caught that Magic Crystal in a flash.

But that ten-second head start was just at his limit, keeping the crystal forever out of reach.

Seventeen minutes later.

Pei Min surfaced, his hands still empty.

This time, he had deliberately controlled his breathing, not sprinting the moment he dived. As a result, he lasted two minutes longer and got a little closer to the crystal.

“Wait!”

As soon as Pei Min recovered, he saw Jiang Ke’er pull out another Magic Crystal.

With a tearful face, he begged, “Can you use Spirit Stones instead? I can’t afford to pay back Magic Crystals!”

Jiang Ke’er had said that every Magic Crystal he failed to retrieve would be counted as a debt.

His entire day’s work earned him only a few Spirit Stones. At this rate, how many lifetimes would he have to slave away to repay those Magic Crystals?

“No.”

Plop~

Jiang Ke’er snuffed out his hope without hesitation and skipped another Magic Crystal.

Pei Min swore she was the most vicious woman he had ever met.

“…7… I only throw them. How you handle it is your own business. Figure it out yourself… 5… 4…”

Jiang Ke’er’s words made Pei Min pause.

Figure it out?

Right. Was there a way, like with the fall, to reduce his suffering?

In the previous falling condition, the key to solving his problem was “balance”—a coordinated agreement between his body and gravity.

Wait… balance?

That previous condition could be called outer balance.

So was there a way to stabilize his excessively drained spiritual power while sinking, maintaining an inner balance of spiritual power against the external pressure?

With this question, Pei Min dived.

This time, he only lasted ten minutes—worse than the previous two—but he showed no sign of defeat. Instead, he looked at Jiang Ke’er expectantly.

During that dive, he had been testing his balance theory. There had been many problems at first, and he almost went berserk.

But this time, he was confident he could do better!

Plop~ Plop~ Plop~

The sound of Magic Crystals sinking into the deep pool was unceasing.

Finally, after who knows how many dives, Pei Min burst out of the deep pool!

“Here you go!”

He jumped proudly onto the shore and tossed a Magic Crystal to Jiang Ke’er.

After countless failures, he had finally found the knack of inner balance. At that moment, he felt like his entire spiritual power circulation system had changed.

It became effortless and efficient!

“Fine,” Jiang Ke’er said disappointedly, pocketing the Magic Crystal.

“You’re not throwing anymore?” Pei Min looked at the pool, eager to try again.

“Nope,” Jiang Ke’er pouted, her face full of displeasure. “You didn’t die! How boring!”

“Heh~” Pei Min made a silly face at Jiang Ke’er.

The feeling of enlightenment at the brink of life and death was amazing. He was soaring with euphoria.

He could confidently say that if he faced last night’s opponents now, he could thrash those three Three Talents Stage cultivators!

Everything he had experienced today, though painful, had brought earth-shattering changes!

It was completely bitter sweet!

All the pain vanished in an instant after his breakthrough, leaving only boundless satisfaction and joy.

“What a shame,” Jiang Ke’er sighed longingly, looking up at the sky. “There’s only one chance left. I can’t let you off easy this time…”

Ha! Bring it on!

The last condition—meaning… freedom was close!

The last…

The last…

For some reason, hearing those two words, Pei Min felt a twinge of loss.

He was about to escape this devil’s grasp.

But a question that had been lingering in his heart suddenly surfaced.

A devil…

Was she really a devil?

All these coincidences started from meeting this devil.

Although she had indirectly cut off his path as a sword cultivator, although she had a terrible personality and blatantly extorted him…

She had also brought many incredible changes to his life.

And then there were today’s two conditions.

The devil seemed to be torturing him as usual.

But he had gained priceless skills from them.

Just like those seemingly absurd training methods that had somehow enabled him to win against three opponents despite being at a lower level.

Was it still a coincidence?

A brief silence hung in the air.

“Shifu.”

Suddenly, Pei Min knelt heavily on the ground.

Unlike his plea at the Medical Hall, this kneeling was filled with gratitude and respect.

“Huh? You’re actually calling me Shifu? Did you take the wrong medicine?” Jiang Ke’er said in surprise.

“If I’ve been through all this and still believe it’s all coincidence…”

Pei Min let out a bitter smile and bowed his head deeply, knocking it three times hard against the ground.

“…then I guess I’m truly beyond saving.”

“So?” Jiang Ke’er asked with a half-smile.

Pei Min looked up and grinned. “For the third condition, please give me ‘another thirty thousand conditions’!”