Chapter 61
Yaoqing, just before daybreak.
The thin mist had not yet completely dissipated.
Unlike the once-prosperous Cangcheng, the air on the Yaoqing always carried a chilling sense of slaughter.
When Jingliu woke up, she stretched her limbs and felt surprisingly refreshed.
The days of high-intensity sword-swinging training had already lasted a full half month.
She had little memory of what happened after each session ended, but every morning when she woke, her spirit was clear and her fatigue completely gone.
There was no smell of sweat, nor any sticky discomfort.
Jingliu knew her Master was taking care of her. After all, there was no third person in this remote residence.
At first she had felt a bit bashful. The shyness came from the reserve her mother had taught her since childhood, and the embarrassment came from fainting at the end of every training session while her Master had to clean everything up for her.
But as it happened more often, Jingliu gradually became desensitized.
Although the training was painful and grueling, she felt she was slowly adapting to the rhythm.
Swinging a sword three thousand times consecutively while maintaining perfect posture and rhythm was not impossible, as long as she gritted her teeth and persevered.
Last night, she had finally succeeded.
From noon until nightfall, she had swung her sword no fewer than a hundred thousand times. Setting aside yesterday's experience, Jingliu cheered herself on and pushed open the door to welcome a brand-new day.
At this moment, she did not realize that what she called "adapting" and "completing" was, in Kanzaki's eyes, merely the stepping stone to the next level of suffering.
Training Grounds.
Kanzaki was already there, holding a horse stance with several cylindrical heavy steel bars resting on his shoulders.
Each one weighed no less than ten jun.
"Master."
Jingliu stepped forward quickly and paid her respects.
Kanzaki did not speak. With a slight jolt of his shoulders, he shed the weights. The ground trembled, revealing their true mass.
"Starting today, wear these for your morning run."
When Kanzaki pulled out a pair of bracers and greaves, Jingliu's gaze went blank for a moment.
The instant she took them, her hands sank heavily and her waist nearly buckled.
So heavy!
Jingliu's eyes widened as she looked down. The material was pitch black, as if it absorbed even the light reflecting off its surface.
Kanzaki's voice sounded above her head.
"They are cast from star-iron sand. Total weight is two hundred catties."
Two hundred catties was nothing to a regular Cloud Knight.
But for Jingliu, who was still growing and had never undergone professional weight training, it was several times her own body weight. A trace of hesitation flashed across her eyes.
Yet facing Kanzaki's expressionless face, she silently buckled the cold, heavy equipment onto her limbs.
Her hands and feet felt as if they were filled with lead, dragging her downward.
"Master… how far do I have to run while wearing these?" Jingliu asked softly.
"Unchanged."
Those two simple words made Jingliu swallow hard.
Unchanged?
For the past ten-plus days, her morning runs had been eighty li without stopping, and her speed could not drop below forty li per hour.
If she stopped midway or fell below the required speed, the distance would be recalculated, just like the sword-swinging practice.
Her daily training consisted of only these two items, yet they were enough to make her suffer from morning till night.
Running eighty li while carrying more than seven jun of weight… I'll die, won't I?
Jingliu looked up at Kanzaki, her small face showing a hint of pleading.
Kanzaki remained unmoved. He tossed her an object and pointed toward the outer ring of the training grounds.
"There are only three hydration pills. If you do not finish the run, you are not allowed to eat, and you are certainly not allowed to practice with the sword."
"…"
One lap around the outer ring was half a li, so she had to run one hundred and sixty laps. Jingliu bit her lip and tried to move her legs, only to discover that her usually light steps had vanished completely.
She felt as if she were dragging two heavy logs, and every step required all the strength in her core.
For the first lap, she could barely maintain a running posture.
By the fifth lap, sweat had soaked her clothes and her leg muscles began to cramp.
By the tenth lap, her throat felt blocked and every breath was incredibly difficult.
On the fourteenth lap, she failed and had to restart the distance.
The sun gradually rose, its light shifting from warm to scorching.
Kanzaki did not sit in the shade with cold tea like a conventional master, leisurely watching his disciple struggle. Instead, he stood in the center of the training grounds, tirelessly practicing his fist techniques.
Jingliu could clearly hear the sharp sounds stirred by his punches.
She was in terrible condition. Her speed grew slower and slower, and she could barely maintain the minimum required pace.
The heavy greaves constantly rubbed against her ankles, and she could feel the skin breaking even through the fabric.
"Lift your feet higher."
Kanzaki's voice came coldly.
"When Cloud Knights pursue abominations, they must charge forward even if their legs are broken. Are you taking a stroll? How can you speed up with that posture?"
Jingliu bit her lower lip hard, forced out a breath, and compelled her numb feet to lift higher again.
She could not stop. If she stopped, she would have to start over. Master would not show pity, let alone feel sorry for her.
Time passed, and the fierce sun began to tilt.
Jingliu fell to her knees on the track with a heavy thud. Her chest heaved violently as she gasped for air, instinctively looking toward the figure in the center of the training grounds.
"Get up."
Kanzaki's command was unrelenting.
She gritted her teeth, but in the end her body collapsed completely. Her vision blurred rapidly.
Sensing his disciple's exhaustion, Kanzaki delivered a sharp sideways elbow strike that tore a terrifying gale through the air before he withdrew and steadied his breathing.
As he exhaled, he glanced at where Jingliu had fallen. A flicker of pity passed through the depths of his eyes.
The hardship Jingliu was enduring now was no less than what he had suffered as a child.
In fact, his own training volume had been far higher, so he knew exactly how brutal it was.
The Xianzhou people possessed the blessing of abundance, and their constitution and recovery power were formidable.
But training to the death like this was still too cruel for an ordinary girl who had not even reached adulthood.
However—
If a Cloud Knight was not ruthless to themselves, it was kindness to the enemy.
When Jingliu woke up, she felt pain all over her body, as if her bones were about to fall apart.
Her arms and calves especially felt as if a thousand ants were biting them, making her want to chop them off.
"Awake? I will give you five minutes to adjust your state, then we continue today's training."
Her Master's devilish urging sounded in her ear.
"Master, the jump in difficulty is too great. I…"
"If you do not aim for your limits, on the battlefield you will only become fodder for the abominations."
Kanzaki forced his attitude to remain cold and hard, ignoring his disciple's pitiful and aggrieved little face.
When he was a child, watching his sister's training had been far more miserable than what Jingliu was going through now.
Their father would stand by with a whip that never left his hand. If any movement was not standard or the speed slowed, a single lash would tear open his sister's skin and flesh.
On countless nights, his sister had not even dared to bathe before sleeping, only soaking her body in water the next day once the wounds had mostly healed.
Kanzaki still could not bring himself to treat Jingliu that way.
She had already lost her home and family at such a young age. She was miserable enough.
"You begged me to teach you how to kill abominations and grant you the skills to do so, so I shall teach you."
"But I also said that this path is more painful than death. Once you set foot on it, I will not give you the chance to retreat."
Jingliu lowered her eyes and said softly, "Your disciple understands…"
Kanzaki continued, "The same words as before: control your breathing rhythm, try to master the energy surging from your inner organ, and allocate it where it is needed."
"As for where it is needed, your body will not lie. Only by growing accustomed to freely directing your physical energy under high pressure can you maintain peak condition for a long time."
"…I will remember Master's teachings."
Once the five minutes were up, Jingliu took a deep breath, gritted her teeth, and stepped onto the track again, enduring the pain throughout her body as she chased the finish line.