I will eventually become a god through sheer hard work.

Upon hearing the sound, Xue Jing immediately dove into the water and disappeared beneath it.

He touched the ground with both feet, bent his knees to gather strength, and then pushed off forcefully.

"boom!"

The water surface exploded like a bomb had been dropped, splashing countless droplets, and a figure leaped out of the water, jumping directly from the center of the pool to the shore.

Wearing only a pair of swim trunks, his perfect body proportions were on full display under the bright indoor sunlight.

The shape of each muscle is the ultimate expression of human beauty, and countless water droplets flow slowly down the skin, shimmering and radiant, exuding an indescribable sensuality.

When Takeyama Ei saw this scene of 'beauty emerging from the bath', he was completely stunned and couldn't take his eyes off her.

Xue Jing shook his head, reached out and swept his medium-length hair, which couldn't cover his eyes, back into a slicked-back style. Then he looked up at Zhu Shanying with a smile in his eyes.

"Senior Sister Zhu".

He greeted them softly.

Takeyama Ei's eyes were somewhat dazed. He only came back to his senses when he heard the greeting. He quickly looked away, and a blush appeared on his cheeks.

"Hmm... Hmm, junior brother, it's lunchtime, let's go eat."

She said it in a somewhat dry tone.

Xue Jing nodded, his whole body surging with energy.

"Crack-"

The water droplets on his body instantly scattered, leaving only a little moisture, as if he had been wiped with a towel.

"The control of force is still not precise enough... If one can shake off all moisture and dry the body instantly, that would be the realm of 'not a feather can be added, not a fly can land'."

As Xue Jing changed his clothes, he thought to himself.

The lunch arranged by Takeyama Ei was not some rare delicacy, but rather a medicinal meal similar to that at the Hidden Dragon Dojo, only slightly better.

Ordinary food is unlikely to meet the nutritional needs of martial artists.

After finishing their meal, Zhushan Ying led Xue Jing out of the main house and to the stables on the left side of the manor.

"Miss."

An elderly man wearing a cowboy hat, who looked to be around fifty years old, stood at the entrance of the stables and spoke respectfully to Takeyama Hide.

"Uncle Bao~" Takeyama Eiya greeted him with a smile.

She glanced at the stables, thought for a moment, and said, "Uncle Bao, could you please put 'Sixty-Six' and 'Wind Eater' on their saddles and lead them out?"

The old man named Uncle Bao nodded and walked into the stable.

After a while, he came over leading two tall horses.

One was brownish-red, with its four hooves treading on snow.

One was pure black, with only a tuft of white hair on its forehead.

"Thank you, Uncle Bao!"

Zhushan Ying sweetly thanked the old man, then took the reins of the two horses from him and led them to Xue Jing.

"Xilulu——"

A pure black horse with white hair came up to Xue Jing, snorted, and sniffed at him, as if it were smelling him.

Then...

[A creature has developed feelings for you; Charm skill experience points +28]

Ok?

Xue Jing looked at the black horse, which was almost as tall as him, with a strange expression, and reached out to touch its mane.

The latter nuzzled Xue Jing with his head, seemingly in response.

"Oh? 'Shifeng' seems to like you a lot, junior brother."

Takeyama Ei laughed from the side, then stroked the mane of the brown-red horse.

"Like this 'Sixty-Six', it is a retired racehorse."

As Takeyama Ei spoke, he stepped into the stirrup of the '66' horse and gracefully mounted the horse.

Then, she shifted her position on the saddle, leaned back a little, reached out her hand towards Xue Jing, and raised an eyebrow, saying:

"Come on, junior brother, get on, I'll teach you how to ride a horse."

Xue Jing glanced at her outstretched hand, shook his head, and declined her invitation to ride with him.

"No need, although I've never ridden one before..."

Xue Jing patted 'Shifeng' on the head, then grabbed its reins, stepped into the stirrups, and mounted the horse.

"But it's not difficult to imitate a cat."

He sat on horseback, holding the reins, and laughed.

Takeyama Ei pouted, her pretty face showing dissatisfaction: "Hey, riding a horse requires a lot of skill. Let your senior sister teach you step by step so you can learn faster."

Xue Jing ignored her and instead tentatively flicked the reins, gently squeezing the horse's belly with his legs.

Having received the signal, Shi Feng snorted and began to move forward.

"This is pretty easy," Xue Jing said, somewhat pleased.

Zhu Shanying rolled his eyes, pulled on the reins, kicked the horse's belly, and followed Xue Jing.

“It’s not like this for ordinary people to learn to ride a horse. It’s very dangerous to give signals before you’ve learned anything.”

She pouted.

Xue Jing nodded: "I understand."

The reason he dared to mount the horse directly was because he was confident that with his strength, he could easily solve any problems that might arise.

Although Takeyama Ei was a little disappointed that he couldn't personally teach his junior brother how to ride a horse, he still offered his guidance from the sidelines:

"Keep your hands on the rope, don't let go..."

"When turning, sway gently from side to side, don't use too much force..."

As they talked, the two rode their horses out of the back gate of the manor and arrived at the back mountain of the North District.

There is a fairly large meadow here, which is perfect for horseback riding.

Under Zhushan Ying's tutelage, Xue Jing's learning ability at this time, coupled with the confidence brought by his strong strength, allowed him to try all sorts of bold operations. He quickly became familiar with horseback riding and rode the wind, galloping across the grassland.

Takeyama Eiya rode alongside on his 'Sixty-Six'.

Xue Jing was immersed in the joy of horseback riding when he turned to look at Senior Sister Zhu and felt inexplicably that the scene was somewhat familiar.

You are the wind, I am the sand...

Xue Jing shook his head, dispelling the background music that had suddenly started playing in his head.

Half an hour later, as Xue Jing became more and more proficient, a prompt suddenly popped up on the skill panel.

[Conditions met, skill activated: Riding]

【Riding Lv1 (0/300)】

Xue Jing pulled the reins back, and Shi Feng immediately raised its front legs and stopped with a hiss.

"It's activated after all..."

He stroked the mane of the wind-eating beast between his legs and nodded.

As he expected, 'riding' was clearly a skill.

Xue Jing carefully experienced the bonuses brought to him by the newly activated skill.

"Hmm... a sense of balance?"

Xue Jing said somewhat uncertainly.

He sat on horseback, feeling a sense of ease that was as if he were sitting on flat ground, a feeling he had experienced before.

"And... a sense of direction."

He looked to his left, and without a second thought, he instantly realized that this was the 'northwest direction'.

"That's interesting. This shouldn't be all... it's just the changes that can be clearly felt for now."

Xue Jing pinched his chin with one hand, just about to flick the reins to change the direction of Shi Feng.

But before he could make a move, Shi Feng automatically turned its head in the direction he wanted.

Xue Jing was taken aback.

"Xilulu——"

The wind emitted a soft chirping sound.

Xue Jing inexplicably sensed a bit of its emotions.

I feel a little tired and thirsty...

"Huh? What's this? Human-horse unity? Telepathy?"

Xue Jing blinked.

"Junior Brother—"

In the distance, Zhushan Ying rode his horse, number sixty-six, towards him. When he got close, he pulled on the reins and stopped the horse.

"Why did you stop?"

she asked.

Xue Jing thought for a moment and then smiled, “Senior Sister, I think Shi Feng and Liu Shiliu must be tired. Let’s go back.”

"Huh? You're not going to ride it anymore?" Takeyama Ei asked, somewhat disappointed.

Few people can ride horses with her, and she's having a great time right now, so she doesn't really want to go back.

"Let's ride again tomorrow. I think horseback riding is quite fun. If you'd like, I'll accompany you often."