Chapter Twenty-Nine: Bitter Cultivation

"Martial Arts at the River Lantern Festival?"

Staring at the small, palm-sized invitation in his hand, its black-gold border embroidered with fine golden thread, Liu Ji turned to Xiaoya. "What is this supposed to be?"

Xiaoya looked at him with helpless resignation. "Young Master, you really keep your ears shut to the world and only care about brothel girls. The Martial Arts at the River Lantern Festival is an event organized spontaneously by the younger generation of Nanwang City on the eve of the festival. To put it plainly, it's just an exchange of martial arts experience. The initiators are the well-known young master Zhang Yihan and Sun Hao, the eldest son of the Sun family."

Liu Ji nodded. "Does it matter?"

Xiaoya tilted her head in thought. "Well... it's both important and not, but I think it's better if you accept. After all, everyone attending is the cream of the crop among Nanwang City's youth. They're the future leaders across all fields in the city. If you go, it'll be good to build relationships with them, so you won't get excluded by them down the road, right?"

Liu Ji considered this and found her reasoning sound. He gave Xiaoya a light tap on the head. "What a clever little girl for your age."

Clutching her head, Xiaoya looked at him plaintively. "Then why do you hit me?"

"I'll make it up to you," Liu Ji said, rubbing her head till her hair was a tangled bird's nest, then strode away toward the training grounds, still laughing at the increasingly resentful glare she gave him.

"Your Highness."

"Good morning, Your Highness."

"Greetings, Your Highness."

Amidst the chorus of greetings, Liu Ji spotted Liu Ming.

Seeing Liu Ji looking so refreshed, Liu Ming was surprised. This fellow had muscle injuries just yesterday, yet today he seemed fully recovered? That was astoundingly fast!

Liu Ming said, "Given your situation, I think you should now put your main focus on your movement skills. So, for the days to come, you'll be spending most of your time with the Seventy-Two Pillars Formation."

He turned and manipulated something on a black stone pillar.

A rumbling sound echoed from below, as heavy mechanisms deep in the earth began to turn, and the ground beneath Liu Ji's feet trembled slightly.

He watched in surprise as the Seventy-Two Pillars Formation began to move, slowly shifting toward the center of three massive black stone blocks arranged in a triangle. The black stones glinted coldly, each more than three meters on a side.

He looked at Liu Ming. "What are those?"

Liu Ming explained, "It's a simple mechanism. Inside each of those three black iron blocks, there are jade pillars embedded—sixty-four in each one."

"Sixty-four..." Liu Ji couldn't help clutching his chest. Each black iron block contained sixty-four jade pillars—three blocks made a total of 192. Add in the seventy-two from the Seventy-Two Pillars Formation, and each jade pillar was worth ten million coins. That was... how much money was that?!

This was extravagance beyond belief!

Seeing Liu Ji's heartbroken face, Liu Ming said, "You needn't worry. All the money you've squandered over the years isn't enough to buy even one of those black iron blocks. Your uncle and your father—well, they've got more than enough!"

Ah, the blessings of wealth!

Liu Ji sighed inwardly, then asked, "So what is all this for?"

Liu Ming smiled faintly and manipulated the black stone pillar once more.

From within the three black iron blocks, jade pillars as thick as a man's arm and two meters long suddenly shot in and out at astonishing speed. At the same time, the jade pillars of the Seventy-Two Pillars Formation rose and fell rapidly from the ground.

Liu Ji had assumed that such a design would inevitably lead to crashes and broken pillars, but to his surprise, the jade pillars never so much as grazed each other. The precision of the gaps between them was astonishing.

Each time the pillars brushed past one another with a hair's breadth to spare, Liu Ji's heart skipped a beat. Every single jade pillar was worth ten million coins—if one broke, that much money was gone!

He was truly stunned.

Liu Ming said, "When your uncle designed this incredibly complex formation, he considered every possible problem, including the risk of the jade pillars colliding. He worked for a long time with the empire's finest craftsmen to create this rare formation!"

Gazing at the monstrous, interlocking pillars, Liu Ji swallowed hard. "You don't get impaled to death in there, do you?"

This was pure hellish training!

Was this even possible for a human?

"Your uncle considered that, too." Liu Ming shook his head. "The speed of the jade pillars can be adjusted. If you can't endure it, someone outside can hit the stop button."

"What if something goes wrong?" Liu Ji pressed.

"The formation is embedded with Bloodsucking Stones," Liu Ming explained. "They absorb blood energy in their vicinity, but once the limit is reached, the stone shatters, which disrupts the mechanism and brings all the pillars to a halt. So you needn't worry about your life. This formation is for training, not for killing."

Liu Ji let out a sigh of relief. If this formation posed any real threat to his life, he wouldn't set foot inside it no matter what. If something went wrong, the person inside would die a horrible death.

But he was intrigued by the existence of Bloodsucking Stones—strange objects similar to the sensors of his previous life.

He asked, "Are the Bloodsucking Stones safe?"

"Perfectly safe."

"Let me check." Liu Ji was still suspicious.

"Here, have a look."

"Good."

After confirming the Bloodsucking Stones were safe, Liu Ji took a deep breath and stepped into the formation. He closed his eyes, clearing his mind of distractions.

Once his mind and spirit were in harmony and he was fully prepared, he opened his eyes and called out resolutely to Liu Ming, "Give me the beginner level!"

Liu Ming nodded and pressed the controls.

Swish!

In an instant, a jade pillar shot out of the right-side black iron block, aimed straight for Liu Ji's head. He sensed it just in time.

He ducked low, and the pillar grazed his hair. Then one shot from the block in front, aiming for his face. He pushed off the ground and leapt back.

Bang!

Before he landed, several pillars from both sides shot at him at once. His expression changed; he slapped both hands against two pillars, using the momentum to leap away like a great roc, landing at another spot.

He narrowly avoided the barrage.

Swish, swish, swish!

Jade pillars as thick as his arm shot at him from three directions—left, right, and front—in rapid succession. There were so many of them.

Fortunately, their speed was still slow, so Liu Ji dodged between them with ease, his body weaving and shifting nimbly through the pillars, as if dancing among enemy arms.

He said, "Too easy—make it harder!"

"All right!" Liu Ming called back, adjusting the controls.

Swish, swish, swish!

As expected, the pillars sped up, shooting at him from all three sides. One came at his waist from a tricky angle; he stuck out his rear and dodged.

Swish!

Before he could catch his breath, a pillar shot from the front, growing rapidly in his vision. Startled, he twisted aside and barely avoided being struck in the chest, but another pillar slammed into his back with a heavy thud, sending pain shooting through him and pitching him forward.

Swish!

Immediately, three more pillars shot at him from the front. His expression changed; he instinctively blocked two with his hands.

But the third pillar struck him square in the chest, knocking him back. Pain flared—just like being hit by a sledgehammer.

Before he could recover, pillars rushed at him simultaneously from the front, left, and rear, almost impossible to dodge.

Bang, bang, bang!

From that point on, Liu Ji could no longer maintain his earlier composure. The pillars coming at him from three directions left him scrambling to cope.

"Ouch! Damn it!"

A cry of pain rang out.

...

...

P.S. I recommend two books by friends: "Accidentally Became a Creator" by Dashuaibi and "Didn't Really Want to Be the Demon King" by Miss Jiejie.