Reincarnation Girl Becomes Immortal

"Oh?" This was the first time Hong Miao had heard this question from an apprentice. She chuckled and replied, "Of course. We martial artists have coordinated bodies and are immune to all diseases. It is said that we can live to be over a hundred years old."

"But in reality, the vast majority of people don't live to that age." She shook her head and explained, "When a martial artist is over fifty, their qi and blood will gradually decline, and within the same realm, the young and strong will have an advantage."

If a frail, elderly martial arts master lacks a sufficiently strong disciple to protect their sect, their skills and resources will quickly become coveted. Even if they wish to retire from the martial world, they will face numerous obstacles.

She concluded, "The vast majority of martial artists do not die of old age."

Upon learning this news, Xi Heng felt relieved.

There are no ancient monsters among martial artists who are hundreds of years old, but she has a mental age of over nine hundred years.

Each time someone reaches the end of their life, they can reload their save file, and perhaps gradually become the strongest person in the world.

If a method can be found to further extend lifespan and psychological age, even longer-term immortality can be achieved.

"Above martial artists, are there any beings even stronger?" Xi Heng suddenly asked again.

"I'm afraid only legendary immortals possess power surpassing that of martial artists. Don't be too ambitious." Hong Miao understood that the other party was just talking about some youthful fantasies, so she didn't blame her too much, only offering a word of advice.

Do immortals exist?

"No one has ever seen it," the other person said.

"If there were truly immortals in this world, we martial artists would have flocked to seek them out long ago, but that is nothing more than a legend."

“Oh…” Xi Heng lowered his head and fell into deep thought.

The eldest disciple put down the bamboo tube filled with water, returned to the new apprentices, and continued her sermon:

"Since none of you have yet reached the level of martial arts mastery, don't think about anything else. Focus on what's in front of you and be down-to-earth."

"It's time to practice!" she said softly, drawing everyone's attention back to the present.

Xi Heng regained his composure and returned to the attentive state he had been in when listening to the lecture.

Hong Miao brandished her long sword at the group and said, "The martial arts practiced by the Red Thread Sword Academy are naturally the 'Red Thread Sword.' This sword is neither a gentleman's sword nor a sword for display, but a sword for killing—every move of the sword is aimed at taking a life, and every move is full of hidden killing intent."

"Our sect was originally named Bloodline Sword Sect, meaning that with a single sword strike, blood would be drawn to injure and kill. Later, due to the decline of the sect, we returned to the city to open a martial arts school. The word 'blood' was too sinister, so we borrowed the title of a female knight-errant from the previous dynasty and renamed it Redline Sword Academy."

"But the divine meaning should still be guided by the blood-written words, and should not be mistaken for a red thread related to marriage..."

After explaining the martial arts techniques, Hong Miao slowly demonstrated each move in front of everyone.

She stepped forward with her left foot, pointing her sword forward. As she moved, she explained the two variations of this move: one could use the sword to strike the enemy's face, or the other could use it to slash at the body...

After practicing the basic sword techniques once, Xi Heng tried hard to remember his opponent's movements, but when he tried to recall them, he found that he had only remembered about 70-80%.

If only I could save my game before my senior sister demonstrated her sword techniques, and then reload the save file to watch it repeatedly at will... she thought to herself.

Unfortunately, the system text states that you can only save your game once when your cultivation level increases.

Xi Heng still doesn't understand what exactly constitutes an advancement in one's cultivation level.

Does mastering qi and blood to become a martial artist at the entry level count? Or perhaps, this kind of martial art doesn't even count as a realm...

"Now, everyone practice on your own. Let's get these skills up to par first." After the demonstration, Hong Miao yawned without any attempt to hide it, and went to the other side to supervise the other apprentices' sword practice.

Xi Heng held the wooden sword in his hand, exchanged a glance with another classmate beside him, and saw the blankness in the other's eyes.

"Let's practice." She recalled Hong Miao's moves from earlier and was about to raise her sword to practice.

But a sound of sword wind came from the right first.

Xi Heng looked over and saw that it was the black-clad, hair-disheveled woman named Lin Ying who immediately drew her sword and began to wield it with each move.

She stopped what she was doing and looked at the other person; the stiffness in her movements was palpable.

But at least on the surface, it looks pretty much the same as the moves that Hong Miaofang had just practiced.

Furthermore, although there were occasional pauses between movements, the movements were actually reproduced and practiced completely.

Xi Heng silently watched the other party complete the rehearsal, and then clapped his hands.

"To be able to do this after only watching it once is truly genius."

Lin Ying remained silent, but after a moment of silence, she did react to Xi Heng by nodding... which could be considered some progress.

Seeing that the other party was going to practice again, Xi Heng also raised his sword and practiced the sword moves step by step with Lin Ying.

After the first round, her frail body was already panting heavily, and her right arm holding the sword was extremely sore.

Before he could even rest for a moment, the man picked up his wooden sword again and began his third sword dance.

"Eh?"

Exhausted, Xi Heng was troubled for a moment, but then forced himself to keep up with the other person's movements and pace.

Finally, I managed to finish the second take.

Xi Heng's arms and all the muscles in his body began to tremble and sting.

"Maybe I should rest for a bit first..." Xi Heng thought, catching his breath.

But before she could stop for more than ten seconds, Lin Ying silently raised her sword again and continued to practice her moves.

His muscles were trembling, reminding Xi Heng that he should rest for a while... otherwise his body might not be able to take it.

After hesitating for a moment, Xi Heng gritted his teeth.

"It's okay if you can't take it, keep practicing!" She forced herself to sit up.

Compared to the pain she felt now, the feeling of weakness she had when she was frail was more unbearable for her.

The intense pain she felt while practicing swordsmanship at least gave her a real sense of life.

The fourth time...

The fifth time...

By the sixth time, Xi Heng could no longer maintain his balance, and his sword stance began to sway, as if he would collapse to the ground at any moment.

Her arms, along with the wooden sword, trembled. Her gaze was fixed on the girl with loose black hair beside her. She tried to move her stiff body, mimicking the girl's movements, feeling her limbs becoming increasingly uncontrollable.

As Lin Ying unleashed her Plundering Four-Way Stance, Xi Heng also stepped forward with his left foot, raising his wooden sword high to slash downwards.

Suddenly, she lost her footing, and her whole body was pulled forward by the inertia of the sword.

With a loud crash, and in his dazed state, Xi Heng landed hard on the yellow earth.

When she fell to the ground, the pain was not as severe as the muscle ache, so much so that she didn't realize she had fallen at first. When she opened her eyes and saw the world turned upside down, she thought she was hallucinating again.

……

Chapter Five, A Pure Heart

The sword fell to the ground with two thuds.

Xi Heng was still somewhat conscious when he fell. After a while, he realized that the upheaval in front of him was not an illusion, but that he had lost his balance and fallen to the ground. He then struggled to get up.

But at this moment, his limbs were full of stinging pain, and he was powerless even to lift his fingertips. His muscles were twitching as if they were squeezing out acidic fluid, and even his tendons and joints seemed to be out of control.

Amidst the rough breathing, Xi Heng also heard a sharp ringing in his ears growing stronger, drowning out a shout from the person beside him.

My heart was pounding so hard that my chest felt heavy and suffocating, as if it were overflowing with water.

Xi Heng tried to open his eyes again, but felt the soreness in his muscles extend to his eye sockets, making his vision blurry and tinged with red.

"I hope I won't have to reload the save file again so soon..." Xi Heng thought to himself.

This body is too weak.

In the only part of his mind that was still somewhat clear, Xi Heng took a moment to make a self-deprecating joke.

At the same time, things in front of us are getting slower and slower.

She felt her weak body being moved, followed by a chill on her cheek.

The coolness seeped into her lips, and she swallowed instinctively.

The coolness soothed his pounding heartbeat, and his overly rough breathing paused for half a second.

A feeling of suffocation followed, triggering a primal bodily reaction. Xi Heng's throat spasmed, and he coughed.

Immediately afterwards, she lost consciousness and completely fainted.

When I woke up again, what I saw when I opened my eyes was not a strange or familiar ceiling, but Yan Hongji's face.

"You're awake." The young lady squatted down next to Xi Heng, picked up the bamboo tube filled with spring water, and tried to feed him.

"..." Xi Heng remained silent for a long time.

This scene is somewhat similar to my previous life, when I fainted behind the counter and was woken up by the other person touching my breasts.

Recalling that time, Xi Heng's face darkened again.

"Who are you calling flat-chested..." Her voice was weak and feeble.

"What?" Yan Hongji naturally didn't hear clearly.

"It's nothing, you don't need to feed me." Xi Heng raised his right hand, which was no longer so difficult to control, grabbed the bamboo tube in the other person's hand, propped himself up with one hand, and gulped down a few mouthfuls.

"Don't push yourself too hard." Seeing that she was alright, Yan Hongji naturally stood up and walked to the side, picking up her sword again to practice her moves.

"This is the cry from my heart." Xi Heng finished drinking the entire bamboo tube of spring water, wiped his mouth, and stood up, supporting his aching body.

"Huh?" The other person didn't understand.

"It's nothing." Xi Heng just casually replied, not intending to say anything more to the other party.

She looked around, found the wooden sword she had dropped on the ground, walked over, bent down, and picked it up.

"In any case, fainting from time to time is not good for martial arts practice," the other party reminded them as a final reminder.

"I'll be careful." After saying that, Xi Heng dragged his body, which had barely recovered, back to Lin Ying's side, who was still practicing her sword.

After the opponent finished their sword dance and began to dance again, Xi Heng practiced along with them, just as he had before he fainted.

This time, Lin Ying's movements were noticeably more refined and fluid.

Xi Heng had only been unconscious for less than five minutes when his opponent made further progress.

The girl sighed inwardly, "I'm not as talented as others."

But whatever, her current goal is not to compete with others for first place, but to fight against the stubborn illness in her body.

Xi Heng took a deep breath and continued to swing his sword and pull back his arm in unison with his opponent, then thrust his longsword forward horizontally with his left elbow back.

This is followed by the right-stepping stance, the sweeping stance, the shield-breaking stance, the flag-cutting stance...

After that, every time Xi Heng practiced the basic sword techniques of the Red Thread Sword three times, he would go to the side to rest for a while and silently watch others practice.

This process was repeated, gradually depleting the body's strength.

Whether it was the twentieth or the twenty-first time, when Xi Heng could no longer persevere, a voice called out from afar:

"Morning exercise and warm-up are over! Everyone, please take your meal cards to the canteen for your meals and medication!"

The one shouting was a girl in a blue dress who looked no more than eleven or twelve years old. She was not tall, but her voice was quite loud.

"Warm-up?" Feeling utterly exhausted, Xi Heng lowered his sword, standing there bewildered, muttering to himself:

"This is just a warm-up?"

The people around her were all heading to the cafeteria and obviously wouldn't give her any response.

Xi Heng sighed deeply, put the wooden sword back at his waist, took out his little meal card, and followed the others.

This one-hour warm-up almost killed her; the formal training afterwards will definitely be even more arduous.

Just like what the senior sister said yesterday, she believes she might die from shock while practicing martial arts.

"So what if I die? I can just reload and try again." Xi Heng silently made up his mind.

……

The canteen was filled with the aroma of meat and soy sauce, drawing people inside.

Since transmigrating, Xi Heng has rarely eaten meat and is now starving. Despite being exhausted, he couldn't help but quicken his pace.

Before even seeing any meat or vegetables, I was greeted by a strong, bitter medicinal smell as I entered the canteen.

She was quite familiar with the smell of the medicine, and turning her head, she saw an old man scooping bowl after bowl of black water from a large medicine pot and placing them on a wooden table.

This man had a pale face and white hair, and looked like a pharmacist or doctor.

"Take the blood-inducing soup before meals, one bowl per person," the medicine dispenser called out in a hoarse voice when he saw several new faces among the people who came.

The senior female students walking in front did not say a word, picked up the bitter medicine on the table, closed their eyes and quickly drank it down.