Volume 1, Chapter 19 – A Distinguished Guest Comes Calling

After finishing a full set of Vajra Divine Fist, Shi Lan was drenched in sweat, and every inch of her muscles and bones had been tempered once more.

This feeling of her strength growing was a bit addictive for Shi Lan.

She opened her status panel, and sure enough, there were quite a few changes.

Host: Shi Lan

Cultivation: first stage of the Body Tempering Realm

Aptitude: 7 (one in ten thousand)

Cultivation Arts: Vajra Divine Fist (entry), Jade Tempering Art (first stage)

Divine Ability: Heaven’s Eye Qi-Sight (three-star)

Strength Evaluation: Just entered the martial path

A new “Divine Ability” bar had appeared on the status panel, with Heaven’s Eye Qi-Sight listed under it.

“What does divine ability mean?”

【A special skill that does not fall under cultivation arts. They are divided into two types: acquired divine abilities and innate divine abilities.】

Seeing that it was already late, Shi Lan took a bath, changed into fresh clothes, then lay down on her bed and once again sank her consciousness into the system’s virtual space.

Sensing Shi Lan’s soul fluctuations vanish from her body again, the silhouette in her mind grew even more solemn.

As the system backend drifting beyond the All-Heavens and myriad worlds, his understanding of spatial power had already reached a level close to the laws themselves.

To silently take his Host’s soul, right in front of him, and send it into some unknown space without him sensing the slightest fluctuation of space—this was far too terrifying.

Shi Lan once again returned to that vast white expanse.

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“Environment simulation: Shi Residence training ground.”

“Mirror creation: Vajra Divine Fist, entry level.”

She issued two commands. Because of the shadow left behind by her previous exchange with “Shi Feng,” she didn’t set the mirror’s cultivation too high.

The surroundings once again turned into the Shi family’s training ground, and a mirror image whose appearance was identical to Shi Lan’s was already standing in front of her.

【Mirror generated. Environment simulation complete. Begin battle?】

“Begin!”

Shi Lan tensed up completely, staring seriously at the mirror before her.

Fortunately, this mirror’s strength hadn’t exceeded her expectations. She could still see its movements clearly.

The moment she gave the order to start, the mirror suddenly charged toward her.

The distance between them was less than five zhang. After just two breaths, the mirror had already reached Shi Lan and sent a plain, straightforward punch straight at her face!

Feeling the force of the blow rushing at her, Shi Lan’s expression changed slightly. She lifted both arms to guard in front of her.

“Thud!”

With a dull boom, Shi Lan staggered back four or five steps before barely steadying herself. Both arms dropped weakly to her sides, tingling and throbbing with swelling pain.

Shi Lan sucked in a sharp breath. This was just Vajra Divine Fist at minor attainment, and it hadn’t even counted Jade Tempering Art—how could it be this strong?

Before she could think too much, the mirror had rushed up again. Its fist turned to a claw—one of the moves from Vajra Divine Fist, “Vajra Seizes the Dragon”—and grabbed toward Shi Lan’s shoulders!

Shi Lan quickly pulled back, retreating in a flash, and under the effect of Jade Tempering Art, the swelling pain in her arms began rapidly fading.

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However, the mirror was much faster than she was. In just two steps, it caught up to her and clamped its hands down on her shoulders.

Shi Lan felt as if her shoulders were caught in an iron vise. The strength that had just barely returned to her arms vanished again, leaving them hanging limp at her sides.

Shi Lan silently cursed that this was bad.

The mirror had no emotional fluctuations whatsoever, only the instincts of battle. After pinning Shi Lan in place, it unhesitatingly drove its knee up, smashing into Shi Lan’s abdomen.

Shi Lan’s waist bowed as she gagged out a mouthful of sour bile, her stomach cramping violently.

Before she could recover, the mirror had already lifted its arm and drove an elbow down onto the back of her head.

“Crack…”

……

“System, that mirror from just now wasn’t only at the first stage of the Body Tempering Realm, was it?”

Shi Lan gently rubbed the back of her head, still rattled. That elbow strike had failed to kill her outright, so the mirror had followed up with another three or four blows.

She had now personally experienced exactly what it felt like to have someone crack your skull open.

Dying twice in one day left Shi Lan feeling thoroughly miserable.

【The mirror’s cultivation was at the third stage of the Body Tempering Realm. To bring Vajra Divine Fist to minor attainment, the minimum required cultivation is the third stage of the Body Tempering Realm.】

After steadying her mood a bit, a complicated look flashed through Shi Lan’s eyes. If she had a choice, she truly didn’t want to experience death again.

But the fact that a mere third-stage Body Tempering mirror could kill her so easily showed just how weak her strength and combat experience really were.

The Lingyang Realm was vast, and the Body Tempering Realm was nothing more than the bottom of the bottom rung. Her journey had only just begun.

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Shi Lan’s gaze gradually grew resolute. Dying in the system’s virtual space was still better than losing her life outside.

“Generate a mirror. Vajra Divine Fist: not yet at entry level.”

【Mirror generated. Please set the mirror’s specific cultivation.】

“First stage of the Body Tempering Realm.”

……

The night passed in a flash.

Just as the sky was beginning to lighten, Shi Lan withdrew from the system’s virtual space.

Over the course of the night, she hadn’t “died” again. With their strength about the same, her advantage in recovery due to Jade Tempering Art naturally showed.

After a night of brutal fighting, Shi Lan had gone from passively taking hits to roughly being on par with the mirror, only occasionally falling into a disadvantage. She had made huge strides in terms of combat experience.

After a quick wash, Shi Lan went out into the courtyard and finished another set of Vajra Divine Fist.

Just as she was about to return to her room to finish off the remaining half of the blood ginseng—

Shi Feng walked into the courtyard.

Seeing Shi Lan covered in sweat, Shi Feng paused for a moment. Despite only a night apart, Shi Lan’s spirit and presence felt completely different.

There was a powerful vitality about her.

“Something up?” Shi Lan asked in puzzlement.

Shi Feng came back to himself and cupped his hands. “Eldest Young Master, a distinguished guest has come to the residence. The Patriarch requests your presence.”

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“A distinguished guest? What guest? Do I know them?” Shi Lan was a bit curious.

“You don’t, but they have a deep connection to you.” Shi Feng’s expression turned a little strange.

“A connection? What kind of connection?”

“You’ll know when you see them.”

“Got it. Wait here for me.”

Shi Lan turned back into her room, took a bath, changed clothes again, then followed Shi Feng out of the courtyard.

Shi Feng led Shi Lan all the way toward the front courtyard, finally stopping before a rather grand hall.

Before he could knock, Shi Tianlu’s voice sounded from inside.

“Come in.”

Shi Feng stepped to the side and gestured her in with a raised hand.

Shi Lan stepped forward and pushed the door open, with Shi Feng following behind her as they walked into the hall.

Shi Tianlu was seated on the main seat at the top, with Su Lanyue at his side.

On the seats to the left sat many familiar faces: Shen Mingqiu, the brothers Shi Yiming and Shi Qinghu, and a few of Shi Tianlu’s friends—uncles and elder relatives to Shi Lan.

Everyone of status in the Shi Residence was here. Seeing such a lineup, Shi Lan couldn’t help but feel a little surprised. Just what kind of distinguished guest had arrived that required such a big reception?

Shifting her gaze to the right, she saw that side was much emptier in comparison. Only three people were seated there, one old and two young. One of the young men was glaring straight at her, anger faintly visible in his eyes.