Chapter Twenty-Six: Senior Sister, Please Be Gentle...

The next day.

In the early morning, warm sunlight streamed gently into the Only Me Sect, heralding the start of a brand-new day.

On the southern bank, disciples atop various peaks continued their cultivation, streaks of light occasionally crossing the sky, and the sect gradually grew lively.

On the Third Mountain, Wang Ran yawned, stretching lazily as he rose from bed. He retrieved a damp handkerchief from his system pack to wipe his face, feeling much more refreshed. While limbering up, he glanced at the adjacent bed. The figure in white still hadn’t rested, remaining seated in meditation. Sensing Wang Ran was awake, she opened her eyes and said, "Within the time it takes for an incense stick to burn, wash up, dress, and tidy your bed."

"Ah?" Wang Ran was taken aback.

Looking again, Yao Jianjia had already resumed her meditative posture, energy sinking to her dantian, silent and focused.

Wang Ran scratched the back of his head, turned to neatly fold his bedding, and ambled out to wash up.

It was about one and a half incense sticks later that Wang Ran, a blade of grass between his teeth, wandered back into the courtyard. Yao Jianjia stood coldly at the door, raising her eyelids to cast him a glance.

"Why weren’t you on time?"

"Uh, I didn’t notice..." Wang Ran replied awkwardly, offering a sheepish smile.

Yao Jianjia’s expression betrayed no emotion as she spoke calmly: "Run ten laps around the Third Mountain."

Wang Ran was initially worried, but hearing this, he breathed a sigh of relief. For a Foundation Establishment cultivator, running laps was a trivial task.

He laughed brightly, brimming with confidence, "No problem! Not just ten laps—I’ll run a hundred to make up for it, Senior Sister."

Yao Jianjia turned and went inside, tossing a streak of light behind her: "Be sure to take this."

The streak landed in Wang Ran’s hand, morphing into a dark, ancient-looking piece of iron, etched with strange, cryptic patterns.

"This is... a Spirit Binding Meteor?" Wang Ran stared in shock.

The Spirit Binding Meteor was a fragment from a divine meteor from beyond the heavens, exceedingly rare and incredibly heavy. Its function was to bind the user’s spiritual power, compressing it to the utmost, with its effect determined by size.

The piece in Wang Ran’s hand was the size of a palm; if he wore it with his level-one Foundation Establishment cultivation, it would suppress him back to the state of a mortal.

Realizing this, Wang Ran inhaled sharply. The Third Mountain was vast; running a hundred laps as a mere mortal was nearly impossible.

Though his body had some cultivation, the Spirit Binding Meteor’s suppression was equally effective, and he had only just begun his training.

After a moment’s hesitation, he gritted his teeth and strapped the meteor to his leg, his body instantly weighed down, leaving a deep imprint on the earth with each step.

Wang Ran tried walking a few paces, feeling utterly unaccustomed, as if someone were dragging him, each movement arduous.

"Senior Sister, you really don’t hold back..."

He took a deep breath, summoned all his strength, and pushed forward.

One hundred laps—almost impossible to complete. After just one lap, Wang Ran’s calves were already trembling.

Many disciples passing by were puzzled, pointing and whispering.

"What’s Senior Brother Wang doing?"

"No idea, he looks exhausted."

"Maybe he’s still tired from last night?"

"I heard there’s only one room at Senior Sister Yao’s residence on the Third Mountain. Do you think..."

"Hiss—surely not!"

"Hard to say, she’s the eldest disciple, a true heir!"

"But look, Senior Brother Wang’s limbs are weak today, he’s shaking as he walks..."

"My heavens, if this is true, Senior Brother Wang is truly a role model for us all. To conquer even the icy Senior Sister—no ordinary man could do that!"

With nothing better to do, the disciples indulged in gossip, faces flushed as they speculated, growing ever more impressed with Wang Ran.

"Ding—congratulations to Host Wang Ran for causing a slight mental impact among inner sect disciples. Awarded two Dao Points."

Wang Ran, teeth clenched as he trudged along the mountain’s edge, heard the prompt in his mind and was momentarily bewildered. He looked up, confused.

What was happening?

How had he earned Dao Points so randomly?

He hadn’t done anything!

Dao Points in this world were truly bizarre.

Wang Ran shook his head, ignoring the increasingly animated disciples, and began his second lap.

After two hours, with the sun high overhead, it was noon before Wang Ran finished the ten-lap punishment.

Panting heavily, he returned to the mountain courtyard. From afar, he saw Yao Jianjia leisurely brewing tea beneath the shade of a tree. She glanced at him and tossed out three golden fruits.

"Your lunch."

Wang Ran was stunned, looking down with curiosity. "What are these?"

"Spirit Fruits," Yao Jianjia replied coolly.

But those two words struck Wang Ran like thunder.

Spirit Fruits—gathered from the essence of heaven and earth, invaluable for improving cultivation, only grown on Spirit Trees that flower every fifty years and bear fruit every fifty years, exceedingly rare.

Wang Ran was deeply moved, pocketing the fruit as he protested, "I can’t possibly accept these, Senior Sister—they’re far too precious."

Yao Jianjia didn’t even lift her eyelids. "Master grew them. Eat without worry."

"Oh, well, in that case, I must thank Master personally," Wang Ran said, taking a bite and speaking with his mouth full.

A hint of helplessness flashed in Yao Jianjia’s eyes. She turned and said, "Follow me."

With that, hands clasped behind her back, she headed toward the nearby bamboo grove. Wang Ran followed, munching on the fruit, entranced by her swaying silhouette.

As they walked, Yao Jianjia suddenly stopped. Wang Ran, caught off guard, collided into her.

Yao Jianjia, of course, didn’t budge, and Wang Ran ended up pressed tightly against her back, his chin resting perfectly on her shoulder.

A breeze stirred, lifting the ends of their hair.

Soft, fragrant.

Wang Ran was lost for a moment, but before he could savor it, the beauty moved away.

"Go in and undress."

Yao Jianjia’s cool voice rang out ahead. Wang Ran was taken aback, his cheeks reddening slightly as he stammered, "Senior Sister, that’s a bit direct..."

Yao Jianjia glanced at him, pointing at the waterfall ahead. "I mean, go inside to cultivate."

"Ah?" Wang Ran looked in her direction, spotting a majestic mountain waterfall not far away, hundreds of feet high and awe-inspiring.

Yao Jianjia said, "Take the Spirit Binding Meteor and cultivate within, until the moon rises."

With that, she paid him no further mind, her figure flickering as she flew away.

Wang Ran sighed in disappointment, obediently settling beneath the waterfall, sitting cross-legged. The Spirit Binding Meteor made it difficult at first, his back bending under the weight.

Yet in this mode of meditation, his mind grew peaceful; the empty valley undisturbed by others, his spirit unified.

Only the sound of flowing water echoed in his ears, and gradually, Wang Ran slipped into a state of cultivating the Longevity Technique.

His spiritual power increased bit by bit; he had just entered the first stage of Foundation Establishment, his cultivation unstable.

But now, in quiet reflection, he realized the morning’s running had not been in vain—it had made his cultivation more solid and explosive.

The Spirit Fruits he had eaten were now digesting, releasing spiritual energy within, which Wang Ran, blessed with a once-in-a-century genius physique, absorbed completely, his cultivation speed soaring.

Night fell, the moon rose, and his day of training came to an end.

For some time thereafter, Wang Ran trained daily under the Spirit Binding Meteor, and as he adapted and grew stronger, the meteor grew heavier and larger.

After a month, his training intensified further, incorporating new tools.

In the rear mountain, beneath the waterfall.

Wang Ran stood shirtless, gazing pitifully at Yao Jianjia, complaining, "Senior Sister, please be gentle—it’s my first time, I’m really scared..."

Opposite him, Yao Jianjia stood atop a massive boulder, holding a red rope in her left hand and a candle in her right, looking down at him from above.