Douluo Continent: A Thousand Miles of Cultivation

"I finally understand what he meant by being bored and having nothing to do. He even said 'there's nothing to do besides cultivating'! That's ridiculous!" Feng Jingyi pouted. Even with the special training she'd been doing for the competition lately, she felt like she couldn't keep going.

"I'm really worried about his health. He doesn't rest at night and cultivates alone on the Soul Fighting Platform every day." Chen Sha had experienced the period of Qian Shui's self-harming cultivation, and she shared the same concerns as Hu Liena.

"Worried about him? This guy is a complete beast! Didn't you see he could fight Yu Zhou hand-to-hand?!" Yin Jin pointed exaggeratedly at the people on the fighting stage.

Everyone was taken aback; it seemed to be true.

But it didn't look like it at all, since Qian Shui on the stage wasn't even touched, while it was Teacher Hun Di who took a lot of punches and kicks.

……

At the end of Douluo Calendar 2630, this eventful year finally came to an end, and the students of Martial Soul Academy were given their only holiday of the year. As usual, some chose to go home, while others chose to stay.

Most of the selected team members are commoners. In previous years, Chen Sha and Yu Zhou would stay in Wuhun City to work, while Feng Jingyi and Yin Jin, two members of large families, would return to their hometowns to visit relatives. Ruo You and Ling Yunzhi would choose to stay at the academy to accelerate their soul power cultivation through the simulated training ground.

It's been only a year since Qian Shui returned from the Star Dou Great Forest. Back then, Qian Renxue was still around, and the two of them got along very well. But now, everything has changed.

Living in the primeval forest, there's no concept of days; every day is the same. But returning to human society is different; there are always anniversaries. Although he didn't like it before, he would still participate when those around him were involved.

Now all that's left is the mechanical practice, day after day.

But not everyone is like him; others have their own lives, like his teammates.

The six of them spent many days discussing during their free time. Yin Jin was the one who most strongly requested a vacation, followed by Feng Jingyi. The other four could only say that they had no choice.

The reason for discussing this matter is that Qian Shui has the authority to decide their leave, but Qian Shui has no intention of doing so.

Since being selected, they've really suffered. They've been subjected to all sorts of torture, including being hit by full-body sandbags, gravity control, and incredibly mentally exhausting coursework and exams. Being able to sleep every day is a luxury.

Just as Feng Jingyi and Yin Jin were passing the buck about who should go find Qian Shui, he himself mysteriously appeared among the crowd.

"Does this matter really require my approval?" Qian Shui stroked his chin. He had actually been listening to this for quite a while, but he had never really considered it at all.

In his worldview, leaving get off work on time and taking holidays on time is perfectly normal. He's not a crazy boss who issued an overtime order.

Everyone was startled, and Yin Jin jumped up immediately, "Hey!! Brother Shui Shui...! When did you get here, sir!"

After all, the first two soul skills both had the attribute of concealment, and he had almost mastered this move. However, this was the first time he had suddenly appeared among the crowd like this, given his unsociable nature.

"There's no need to mention it to me. A balance between work and rest is the right thing to do. Just follow the academy's rules." He said that and left without looking back.

Feng Jingyi seemed to remember something and chased after them.

The importance of balancing work and rest is certainly true, and Qian Shui herself practices this principle.

It used to be the internet, now it's the cultivation method. Cultivation and rest are almost perfectly combined. And because the primordial spirit is transformed into a martial soul, the things that appear beyond the realm are like a dimensional reduction attack for Qi cultivation.

The entire essence, energy, and spirit are projected out in the form of an energy body. It can be observed from both the inside and outside, and can even be partially disassembled for observation. All the logic of the soul power operation within the body has almost no secrets to Qian Shui. Recently, he has even been thinking about developing a new way of operating the meridians.

So for Qian Shui, this was no big deal, but for others it was not. In terms of martial arts, they were still in the stage of tempering their muscles and bones, which was very difficult. Fortunately, there were special rules such as soul power and martial soul.

Once you understand these things, taking a holiday will come naturally.

"Xiao Shui, wait a minute..." Feng Jingyi caught up.

"What's wrong? I agreed!"

"How about we go see the sea during the holiday? How about I take you to Hanhai City this year? I know it well~ You'll be satisfied!" Feng Jingyi hadn't forgotten about this, and since the holiday was mentioned, she decided to confirm it as well.

"Sorry, class monitor, I still have some research to do, so I won't be going to Hanhai City. Oh, and remember to do the year-end summary before you leave, and tell everyone to write a report."

Qian Shui is currently preoccupied with developing techniques and applying various forces. He has made great progress in Qi cultivation, and the expansion of his meridians seems to have reached the limit of this level. When viewed internally, they appear somewhat hazy. He is likely to encounter the threshold of the Foundation Establishment stage in his cultivation method.

"Alright, but you need to take care of yourself. I'm afraid you might suddenly collapse one day and I'll have to collect your corpse." Feng Jingyi glared at the junior with the strange hairstyle. She naturally knew that this person's personality was extremely unconventional in Douluo Continent.

"No, someone like me is extremely afraid of death." 'Homebodies are most afraid of dying, no doubt about it!'

This time, Feng Jingyi didn't reply to him either, since his behavior had already made his words unreliable.

Chapter 4 Transition

Spring came and autumn went, year after year, and the year arrived in Douluo Calendar 2631. This year was incredibly boring, and even Ghost Douluo gave up following Qian Shui every day.

After all, it's the same day after day, every single day, even for the other regular players—it's eerily calm and predictable.

Aside from Qian Shui, who is a psychopath, almost everyone has some psychological issues. Fortunately, Qian Shui completed a series of technological developments in time and moved on to the next stage.

The key is that the leaders come to inspect the work; they don't usually have time to bother you.

Bibi Dong didn't hesitate to give Qian Shui a sound beating and ordered him to rectify the situation. After all, it was the end of the year, and after almost a year and a half, he was only level 38, unable to even level up once every two months. Even Bibi Dong considered it a complete waste of talent; even if he developed his skills to the extreme, it would be useless!

Fortunately, Hu Liena comes here often and has become familiar with the older brothers and sisters here. This is an extra fun for them in their spare time besides going to the Great Soul Arena, especially for girls.

Before you know it, it's the end of the year again. Qian Shui, which was ordered to rectify, has made some changes. They didn't require any written reports and directly put people on the Soul Battle Platform for assessment.

First, Feng Jingyi's soul power level reached level 43. Thanks to Qian Shui's development of sword skills, through teaching and constant sparring, Feng Jingyi was able to fight back and forth with Qian Shui in pure sword skills competition, and received the evaluation of great progress.

Chen Sha reached level 39. On Qian Shui's recommendation, she learned a set of rapier swords and developed her personal protection abilities in her spare time. Her assessment showed that she could fight against strong attack-type soul masters who were more than ten levels high. She fought back and forth with Hu Liena and the others who were more than ten levels high, so it can be said that she has the initial combat ability.

Her boyfriend, Yu Zhou, had lost weight from Qian Shui's torment, but fortunately, learning made him progress. With his soul power increasing by 2 levels, he was able to fight a low-level, high-attack soul king to a draw before his soul power was exhausted.

The strongest among them is Ling Yunzhi, who seems to have unlocked the protagonist's template. Not only has his soul power reached level 44, but he is already capable of defeating Soul Kings. The overall improvement in his stats is terrifying, allowing him, who is already a control-type Soul Master, to achieve near-absolute control of the battlefield. At the same time, the hit rate of his four skills has also been greatly improved, and the terrifying power of his ice attribute abilities has begun to truly manifest.

The worst off was Yin Jin. Because he was the most reckless, he was the focus of attention, and his escape speed was almost on par with that of a typical agility-type Soul Master. Under this pressure, his Soul Power level also increased by two levels, reaching level 39. It was generally believed that support-type Douluo were slow to level up, which changed others' impressions of him, even earning praise from Ghost Douluo.

The most troublesome one is Ruoyou, who originally had the highest soul power level. This is one of the reasons why Bibi Dong beat Qianshui up. This seemingly weak agility-type soul master is actually strong-willed. However, because of Qianshui's performance, she focused solely on developing things outside of soul power, trying to create her own soul skills, but only leveled up by one level.

As the saying goes, too much of a good thing is bad, and he was rated the lowest. Every time Qian Shui defeated him, he would shake his head and exclaim that he had switched from the Qi Sect to the Sword Sect. In cultivation, being black and white is the worst thing to do; it's better to stick to one path to the end. But such people are also the most stubborn, and simply reminding them is useless; the only option is to slowly and subtly adjust their state.

Qian Shui himself possessed the aura of a top-tier martial arts master. While he hadn't yet reached the level of the Nine Swords, his broad knowledge allowed him to scientifically verify many techniques he'd heard about in his previous life. By extracting the essence and discarding the dross, he could defeat his teammates purely through swordsmanship, without resorting to his primordial spirit, martial soul, or soul attacks.

Of course, this consumes a lot of time for practice and verification, and the cultivation of soul power falls behind. Even without sleep and rest, it is impossible to catch up, because one is too engrossed in it.

Nothing changed that year. Qian Shui still didn't go to Han Hai City. Bibi Dong's order was for him to plan the next step, otherwise he would be beaten again next year.

……

On the last day of the year, the Spirit Hall holds a banquet in the Papal Palace as is customary. Qian Shui did not attend last year, since Qian Renxue had only brought him a few times before his Spirit Awakening.

However, Hu Liena didn't let him off the hook this year. "Senior brother~ you don't want to get beaten up by the teacher again, do you!"

Her senior brother was a complete eccentric. His usual behavior made him seem very boring, but he became particularly interesting when he was away from low-level activities like cultivation.

For example, her friend Yan, relying on his high soul power, was bullying other students when Qian Shui caught him. He was hung up and beaten, and left to swing outside all night. A sign was also hung around his neck that read, "I am a bad kid, don't play with me."

Therefore, Hu Liena's impression of Qian Shui changed from a senior brother with whom she got along quite well to a senior brother who was a bit dim-witted, not boring, but needed some help in social interactions.

Moreover, the older brothers and sisters on the regular team are all good people, speak nicely, and have particularly interesting cultivation methods, all developed by her eccentric senior brother, who is said to have good effects.

The key is that this person is easy to deal with; as long as you don't bother him, he won't refuse reasonable requests.

"Let's go, we can go get some food."

Since she had nothing better to do, Qian Shui didn't refuse. She figured she might as well go, even though the food at the banquet wasn't very good. She could just be a nobody and that would be the end of it.

Qian Shui glanced at Yan and asked, "Has this kid caused any more trouble?"

The Xie Yue siblings exchanged a glance and secretly smiled. Yan himself was as uncomfortable as a mouse seeing a cat, his face flushed red and he couldn't say a word.

At least the Spirit Hall people are under my nose, they haven't grown up yet, and some things haven't happened. It's good to educate them more, so I don't have to cripple them myself.

"You bunch of kids better behave yourselves~ If you act recklessly and follow those inhuman nobles, I don't mind taking action myself." While he's under pressure from above at the Spirit Hall, the worst thing is if Bibi Dong goes berserk, but that's a story for later. In this place, with status and power, a threat is more effective than anything else. He turned to look at Hu Liena, "Including you."

The little fox stuck out its tongue, clearly not daring to guarantee that it wouldn't do anything bad.

"Nana... Nana won't do that!"

'I didn't realize this kid was so mature for his age. No wonder it's Douluo Continent!'

Seeing Yan blushing and speaking up for Hu Liena, Qian Shui was speechless. He hadn't even argued back, yet he was already helping others. He was quite something.

"You do what others can't? I'll beat you every time I see you doing it!"

Ignoring the group of kids, he walked straight into the Papal Palace.

This place didn't give him a good feeling at all. He had been to similar places in his previous life, but those places had all become public property. Now, these kinds of spectacular things were all real private property.

Moreover, Qian Xunji, a typical scum of the medieval European papacy, who knows what kind of filth and depravity he might have hidden inside? It's not surprising that such a pervert would do anything.

Since Bibi Dong entered the Rakshasa Secret Realm, it has started sucking people away, making this place even more disgusting. But he is powerless to do anything about it now, so he should stop being so sentimental; it's a matter of survival.

Although he originally just wanted to remain a nobody and listen to the latest news, his change in status made things much more complicated, and several titled elders came to "get to know" him.

Even Bibi Dong gave a few words of nonsense, such as urging people to focus on cultivating their soul power and asking if they had good food and lodging, subtly hinting at the need to build their own team.

He maintains the fine tradition of admitting his mistakes but never changing them. Qian Shui does a good job of putting on a show, but he is a human from Earth whose integrity can be adjusted at any time, so he doesn't buy into this.

None of the people from the Hall of Offerings came, but everyone tacitly ignored this.

Chapter 55, Phase Two Begins

After the spring break, when everyone gathered again, they were informed that they would not be training at the Elite Tournament training camp this year. They were asked to take the necessary luggage and head to a certain place in the Star Dou Great Forest, where Qian Shui was already waiting for them.

Referring to Tang Hao's special training of Tang San with the Chaotic Cloak Hammer Technique, and the memory of a certain one-armed hero being trained by the Divine Condor, Qian Shui also recalled a beautiful place in the Star Dou Great Forest with clear waters, waterfalls, and lakes. Moreover, its location was relatively remote, making it quite a good place.

When the group of teenagers thought they were going on a vacation, they were dumbfounded when they arrived. It was a primeval forest, and they were attacked by many wild animals along the way, leaving them in quite a mess.

What's most infuriating is that Qian Shui didn't prepare anything. After all, he's very comfortable in this environment. With his current strength, there's no longer any survival problem in the outer areas. Besides, he has a storage soul tool.

So when they were questioning the meaning of life, a naked man wearing only underwear appeared in front of them.

"Six people, everyone's here." Qian Shui glanced at the group carrying large and small bags.

Yin Jin was the most incredulous: "Brother Shui, we're not really going to train in a place like this, are we?"

As he spoke, he casually waved the insect that was flying fire above his head—it was unclear whether it was a mosquito or not.

"Yes."

"Huh?! No way~"

"No discussion. If you don't want to come with me, just like last year, go back to Wuhun City. I'll have my teacher arrange things for you personally. Who else can come with you besides him?"

Everyone either waved their hands or shook their heads in refusal, saying that even being a beggar might be better than the monotonous torment they had endured before.

"Then let's prepare. First, ensure survival, prioritizing food and lodging. In short, start by making a fire and cooking, then worry about daily life. Don't eat the food you brought yourself, because from today onwards, there will be no more supplies from the Spirit Hall; you'll have to rely entirely on yourself."

However, all the supplies you are entitled to this year will be converted into cash. Regardless of whether you win the elite competition, they will all be given to you. There will be a detailed list for you to check at that time.

"The only food source is hunting and gathering, but indiscriminate killing is not allowed. Soul beasts are a scarce resource, so you can only eat as many as you hunt. Otherwise, Uncle Ghost will take you to a more central area to see the true law of the jungle." The naked man finished speaking and was about to leave.

"Hey, Shui-ge, what are we practicing..."

"Let's make sure we can live here well and have a good quality of life before we talk about these things." With that, he darted away.