Chapter 6: Bingyan Art

"Is there really any difference? You don't need to be shy, Young Master, Xiaoxue doesn't mind." Xiaoxue increased her strength a little more.

Junior Brother Bai Ming's arm felt sore, but he still held on tightly. "I mind."

"Alright, then Young Master must be careful, otherwise Miss will blame this servant."

Junior Brother Bai Ming took the towel and began to wipe. "Um, Xiaoxue, could you please not stare at me like that?"

Xiaoxue puffed out her cheeks. "That won't do. What if the treatment isn't thorough enough?"

How awkward.

Junior Brother Bai Ming suppressed his discomfort and finally finished applying the medicine under Xiaoxue's watchful eyes.

Xiaoxue packed up the medicine bucket and prepared to leave.

Junior Brother Bai Ming reached out and tugged at the hem of her clothes. "Xiaoxue, how is Canglan City?"

Xiaoxue turned her head. "It's quite nice, there are many interesting things."

Junior Brother Bai Ming wore a pleading expression. "Could you tell me about them next time?"

A smile appeared on the corners of Xiaoxue's mouth. "Since Young Master wants to know, this servant will tell you next time."

This will have to do for now.

Junior Brother Bai Ming wanted to know the specific layout of Canglan City and information about its factions, so he could plan an escape route after getting out of the iron door.

Watching Xiaoxue open the iron door, Junior Brother Bai Ming felt a sense of longing, but he currently possessed spiritual power he couldn't use; he couldn't even open the iron bars in front of him.

There will be an opportunity.

Junior Brother Bai Ming sat cross-legged and attempted to break through the seal set by Song Wanqing.

After a strenuous attempt, Junior Brother Bai Ming exhaled a few puffs of white vapor.

The seal had not been broken, and Junior Brother Bai Ming's spiritual power was nearly exhausted, yet a faint smile remained on his face.

"Although I can't break it for now, I can still cultivate; it's not without hope."

In the process of exhausting all his spiritual power to impact the seal, Junior Brother Bai Ming discovered that he could absorb external spiritual energy and convert it into his own spiritual power.

Furthermore, his spiritual root would also be nourished during this process.

Only after having a spiritual root did Junior Brother Bai Ming realize that the spiritual energy in this prison was terrifyingly dense; even with him absorbing it with all his might, there was no sign of it diminishing.

What was even more valuable was that this seal was not unbreakable or indestructible.

At first, it really was like an unbreakable wall; no matter how much spiritual power he used to wash over it, he couldn't leave even a single mark.

Thinking about being trapped here forever, suffering unimaginable torture every day, Junior Brother Bai Ming felt a sudden sense of despair.

When he reached the lowest point of despair, the spiritual root in his lower abdomen slowly began to heat up, responding to his intense emotions.

The spiritual power produced etched an extremely tiny crack into the seemingly unbreakable seal.

This gave Junior Brother Bai Ming a glimpse of hope for escape.

He could have continued to damage the seal to a certain extent, but he stopped halfway on his own.

The loosening of the seal might arouse Song Wanqing's suspicion if it reached a certain level, so he planned to improve his cultivation first and wait for the right moment to break through the seal in one go.

Thinking of this, Junior Brother Bai Ming dared not waste any more time; he seized the opportunity to inhale and exhale spiritual energy, enhancing his spiritual root.

Wisps of pure spiritual energy entered his body, transforming into pure spiritual power that nourished the spiritual root within him.

The dim prison cell was silent; a handsome young man sat cross-legged with his eyes closed, like a statue, untainted by the mundane world, untouched by worldly affairs.

The surrounding spiritual energy formed a vortex, and the young man was at the center of this whirlpool, enjoying the nourishment of the spiritual energy.

The young man's meridians were further improved under the nourishment of the spiritual energy, and the waste in his body was expelled along with a few breaths of turbid air.

Traces of ethereal aura climbed onto the young man's face, adding a touch of otherworldly tranquility.

Time in the prison seemed to have stopped, and the objects within it were frozen in time along with the young man.

Qi Condensation Stage One.

Junior Brother Bai Ming opened his eyes and began to think about how to deceive Song Wanqing, or rather, whether it was even possible to deceive her.

After thinking for a long time, Junior Brother Bai Ming reached a conclusion.

It was impossible to deceive her; it was even possible that she had done this on purpose.

It was just to let him improve his cultivation on his own, so he could endure even more vicious beatings.

But Song Wanqing shouldn't know that he could damage the seal; this was a special effect of his spiritual root, and it was impossible for her to have calculated even this.

The iron door creaked, and Junior Brother Bai Ming hurriedly stood up, a trace of worry on his face.

That familiar, pretty face of the beauty entered his field of vision, and Junior Brother Bai Ming's heart tightened, afraid of being seen through.

Song Wanqing approached slowly, holding a whip. "Qi Condensation Stage One, it seems your aptitude is not bad."

Indeed, he couldn't deceive her.

Junior Brother Bai Ming was secretly vigilant, his body involuntarily assuming a defensive stance.

A wave of pressure emanated from Song Wanqing, pressing Junior Brother Bai Ming toward the floor. He tried to support himself with his hands with great difficulty, but it was ultimately futile.

Song Wanqing arrived in front of Junior Brother Bai Ming, examining his body after he had channeled Qi into his body.

Song Wanqing leaned down. "It seems I can increase the intensity a little more. And with you looking like this right now, this mistress wants to toy with you even more."

Junior Brother Bai Ming said with some difficulty, "You really are a lunatic."

"Ah."

The spiritual whip struck Junior Brother Bai Ming's back.

"It seems Young Master still hasn't thought it through."

Junior Brother Bai Ming withstood the pressure and looked up. "Ah… Song Wanqing, you are just a demon with only an outward appearance, your heart is extremely impoverished, which is why you need this kind of perverted game to satisfy your empty… Ah."

Song Wanqing covered her mouth with her sleeve. "Oh, Young Master Bai has discovered it. So there really is someone who understands this mistress so well."

The corners of Song Wanqing's mouth pursed slightly. "Then let's see if Young Master Bai's rich heart can withstand my impoverished whip. Surely it's a trivial matter for Young Master Bai."

The tip of the whip carried a bit of spiritual power and force, its power even greater than before.

"Ah, you vicious woman."

The sound of firecrackers crackled on Junior Brother Bai Ming's back; every lash made him scream in pain, as if he were accompanying the firecrackers.

I don't know how long it had been, but this one-sided torture ended amidst Song Wanqing's crazed laughter.

Song Wanqing's slender figure bent down, and her soft, white jade-like hand mockingly patted Junior Brother Bai Ming's face.

"It seems my impoverished heart is superior, my Young Master Bai."

Song Wanqing wore a look of sudden realization. "You wouldn't be cooperating with me on purpose, would you? Do you enjoy the pleasure of being whipped by me?"

Junior Brother Bai Ming's eyes were unfocused. "You… you, what did you say?"

Song Wanqing chuckled a few times and took out a jade slip from her pocket.

"Don't you want to cultivate? Then I will give you an opportunity to cultivate."

A jade slip was placed on top of Junior Brother Bai Ming's head.

Song Wanqing shook her head and turned to leave. "Only an outward appearance, huh?" A trace of a coquettish smile appeared on her face.

Junior Brother Bai Ming didn't understand how much strength this crazy woman had; even he, at the Qi Condensation stage, was almost whipped into unconsciousness.

It seems she had indeed been holding back her strength when she hit him before.

The feeling of a foreign object on his head made him somewhat curious.

"A cultivation technique. This woman actually dared to give me a cultivation technique."

Junior Brother Bai Ming endured the excruciating pain all over his body and managed to roll over with difficulty. He leaned weakly against the wall, using his remaining spiritual sense to explore the information inside.

[Bingyan Art]

A fire-element Qi cultivation technique. Besides basic cultivation and conditioning, it also contained a special technique—it could cultivate a Heart Fire within the body.

When attacking an enemy, one could summon a Heart Fire from their mouth, which would burn on the enemy for a long time and could not be extinguished; it was like fire, yet not fire.

It fed on the cultivator's will; the more they thought, the deeper it burned.

A cultivator struck by this move could not avoid this fire using conventional methods; instead, they had to calm their heart and achieve a state of having no distracting thoughts in order to extinguish this Heart Fire.

But battles changed in an instant, and there was simply too much to consider; a slight carelessness could lead to death. Under such circumstances, how could one talk about having a heart like still water?

Moreover, could one really calm down after being hit by this move?