Chapter 255: Tear Up The Train Ticket, Train Arrives! Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound! No One Can Take My Shangshan Jun!
Since what followed was an exchange and guidance on cultivation matters, something serious, Shangshan Che didn’t mince words either.
In just a few moves, he stripped off his thin short-sleeved shirt, revealing a body with flesh as full and robust as if forged from fine steel, yet not overly muscular to the point of hindering explosiveness and speed—a lean and agile physique.
The next moment, cool, icy fingers climbed up from behind.
Fingertips glided over, probing and pinching each muscle with the precision of a scalpel.
While groping around, Teacher Lili Zi marveled, “Weird, this skin, this flesh, and this complex Qi circulation… impressive, impressive.”
Just as Shangshan Che was about to speak, Teacher Lili Zi’s face popped out from the side, nodding pleasantly at him,
“Both good-looking and practical.”
“So can you stop playing…”
“I’m not playing, this is me feeling Shangshan Jun’s body strength… Hmm, even though my progress in the Corona Breathing Technique is ahead of yours, in terms of pure physical power, I’m completely outmatched.
At least, it feels like it’s off by two or three times.”
As she spoke, the fingertips that had been brushing like a gentle breeze pressed down, and Teacher Lili Zi’s two palms were fully pressed against the sides of Shangshan Che’s ribs.
The sudden softness and chill made Shangshan Che’s breathing hitch slightly, then he heard Teacher Lili Zi’s calm voice from behind,
“Don’t move, next I need to feel your other powers.”
She closed her eyes, her tone gentle and slow: “I need a concrete understanding of all your powers before I can start teaching you this Core Embracing Technique, right?”
That was a fact.
Shangshan Che thus retracted his Qi circulation, dropped all his guards, and let Teacher Lili Zi do as she pleased.
Soon, he felt an extremely faint but exceedingly pure “Qi” flow from Teacher Lili Zi’s palm, casually following his Cosmic Cycle Circulation into his body.
A trace of admiration rose in Shangshan Che’s heart.
—Even though he had dropped his defenses, his current Cosmic Cycle Circulation contained not only Qi Barrier, but also spiritual energy and faint lightning.
For Teacher Lili Zi to probe in so quickly was indeed impressive.
But even more shocked than him was Teacher Lili Zi, who was using her inner force to explore Shangshan Che’s body.
First, she encountered the Qi Barrier overflowing in every part of Shangshan Che’s body.
—Due to the Void Qi Sea constantly producing Qi at every moment, and not much being released on a normal day, the Qi Barrier naturally filled every crevice it could find.
“Hey hey… isn’t this amount of Qi Barrier a bit abnormal?”
A trace of doubt rose in Teacher Lili Zi’s heart.
Slightly higher purity is one thing, that’s just hard labor for brute strength.
But she clearly cultivated the same breathing technique as Shangshan Che—why did he have several times more Qi Barrier in his body than her?
Why?
Teacher Lili Zi naturally didn’t know that, beyond his Sea of Qi, Shangshan Che had the Spirit Control Technique · Qi, a method of manipulating Qi that he had already cultivated to a profound level.
But these thoughts flashed by, and Teacher Lili Zi’s inner force continued probing deeper.
Hmm… similarly massive spiritual energy, and even lightning coursing through the body. Weird, this lightning even automatically counterattacks, numbing my fingertips a bit.
After a round of sensing, Teacher Lili Zi only felt that Shangshan Che crushed her completely in every numerical aspect without any blind spots.
Whether physical power, Qi Barrier, spiritual power, or Qi and Blood, Shangshan Che far surpassed her.
If her power was a lake, then Shangshan Che’s power was a great river formed from waters converging from different sources.
But precisely because of this, the difficulty of Shangshan Che Embracing the Core was more than just one-and-a-half stars higher than hers.
The greater this power, the harder it was to gather it all and unify it, not to mention the additional spiritual energy in his body—a power from a different source that was equally unignorable.
Difficult! Difficult! Difficult!
Yet facing such a challenging problem, Teacher Lili Zi didn’t sigh; instead, her delicate, fragile cheeks revealed an even more intrigued expression.
The tougher the obstacle, the more fun it is to conquer!
“Eh?”
After pushing her inner force a bit deeper, Teacher Lili Zi unconsciously let out a strange tone.
Because the jade bone she had forged was uniformly jade-white throughout.
But in her perception, the bones in Shangshan Che’s body were a pure cold white, even continuously giving her a stinging sensation.
So Teacher Lili Zi asked, “Shangshan Jun, your bones seem a bit different from mine.”
“You can even tell that? Expert.” Shangshan Che first praised her, then explained, “This is ‘Thunder Bone’ forged after being tempered by heavenly thunder thousands of times.”
Thunder Bone.
In Teacher Lili Zi’s mind instantly appeared the image of Shangshan Che sitting cross-legged in a stormy rain, struck by lightning dragons until his hair stood on end and his body was charred black like coke.
She couldn’t help but chuckle, then sighed aloud, “Shangshan Jun, you really have guts—not afraid of being struck dead.”
Unfortunately, she had already completed forging her whole-body jade bone and could no longer temper them with lightning.
“I already knew Lightning Magic, that’s why I thought of it and dared to do it.”
As Shangshan Che spoke, he felt Teacher Lili Zi’s inner force and spirit gradually roam over his entire body, fully grasping everything about him except the Void Qi Sea.
After all, without one yourself, you couldn’t even imagine its existence, let alone find its location.
“Shangshan Jun, your essence and foundation are way too strong—practically monstrous.”
Teacher Lili Zi lifted her hands, which had become scorching hot in just a few minutes, rubbed them together, and spoke,
“Next, I’ll teach you a simple body tempering method first—it can accelerate the progress of breathing technique cultivation.”
Shangshan Che was stunned: “Weren’t you going to teach the Method of Embracing the Core?”
Teacher Lili Zi behind him rolled her eyes: “You take one step at a time, eat one bite at a time. You think Embracing the Core is like embracing me—something you can just do?”
The girl huffed lightly,
“Even with my slender arms and legs, Embracing the Core nearly sent me to heaven. With your massive power trying it like I did before… you’d probably die a hundred times over at least.”
Shangshan Che thought to himself that a hundred times he could actually die once, but that number was a bit too much—dying too often would slow down progress in exploring new maps.
Better to obediently learn from Teacher Lili Zi.
Seeing Shangshan Che fall silent, Teacher Lili Zi placed her hands on his shoulders, squeezed the soft and full trapezius when relaxed, thought the feel was nice,
“Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound.”
“Once mastered, it vibrates the bones throughout the body at a special frequency, achieving body tempering to further accelerate breathing technique cultivation progress.
At the same time, it lets you practice gathering power into the bones first, starting to narrow the scope from the whole body.”
She smiled and said, “This method should be pretty simple for you—after all, with your whole body of Thunder Bone, you might even produce real thunder sounds.”
“Plus, for those of us who’ve already truly tempered our entire skeletons, this is like eating grass from the same field again.”
Teacher Lili Zi took a deep breath, pressing her hands firmly onto Shangshan Che’s shoulders,
“Come, I’ll try channeling this frequency and sensation with my inner force—feel it, Shangshan Jun.”
After a silent acknowledgment, incomparably pure inner force enveloped the bones on both sides of Shangshan Che’s shoulder blades, starting a subtle frequency that transmitted toward his spine and bones throughout the body.
Crackle, crackle!
Fragmented crackles like exploding lightning burst from within Shangshan Che’s body, making Teacher Lili Zi open her eyes in surprise.
When she practiced, it was deep “hmm” and “hah” sounds like the low roar of a king of beasts, but on Shangshan Che, it really turned into rolling heavenly thunder.
As expected of Thunder Bone.
Meanwhile, Shangshan Che, who had first taken Soul Incense Ash and fully immersed himself in sensing this frequency, memorized it completely with his body after one go and saw the new prompt that popped up.
【”Tokugawa Ririko” is teaching you the Technique · Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound…】
【You have learned the Technique · Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound!】
【Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound】
【Effect: Condense inner force, accelerate breathing technique cultivation progress.】
【—Bones and tendons resonate, thunder sounds roll.】
Feeling the continuous friction and vibration of all 206 bones in his body, listening to the thunderous roars by his ears, Shangshan Che couldn’t help but exhale.
—Not only did it make the bone connections tighter, but in just these short ten-plus seconds, his muscles all over warmed up.
Achieving the progress he could only reach after ten minutes of previous muscle refining attempts.
This Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound was truly profound.
And Teacher Lili Zi’s inner force— just now, Shangshan Che even felt like her hands had shrunk dozens of times, extending into his flesh to directly touch his bones before the vibration started.
In truth, this was merely Teacher Lili Zi’s compression and manipulation of her power.
Something even Shangshan Che, with his Spirit Control Technique, found extremely difficult to achieve.
Core Embracing powerhouse, terrifying indeed.
“How much did you memorize?”
Patting his shoulders, which were flushed red and steaming straight up, Teacher Lili Zi asked curiously.
Shangshan Che was still savoring the earlier sensation and only replied after a moment, “If it’s Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound, I’ve got it.”
“Impressive, as expected of the man I chose!”
Teacher Lili Zi clapped in praise.
Hearing this, Shangshan Che instinctively turned back and met the eyes of the happily smiling girl.
Teacher Lili Zi raised an eyebrow,
“What, is there a problem?”
In Shangshan Che’s view, the girl’s Sword Heart was utterly transparent.
Without a doubt, this was Teacher Lili Zi’s honest truth, spoken without much thought.
So Shangshan Che shook his head,
“Let’s continue anyway… Can Embracing the Core be taught like this too?”
Teacher Lili Zi didn’t mind these details and nodded, “It can, but the effect is weak because the gap in our powers is too big.”
“Anyway, feel it first.”
With those words, Teacher Lili Zi interlaced her ten fingers and forcefully hugged Shangshan Che’s chest and abdomen from behind.
Just as Shangshan Che was about to speak, he heard two resounding, deafening words from behind,
“Calm the mind!”
He stopped thinking, quickly closed his eyes, and emptied his thoughts.
Sinking all his attention into his body, feeling the flow of Qi power guided by Teacher Lili Zi.
In this process, their breathing and heartbeats gradually synchronized, even their blood flow speeds becoming the same.
After several dozen minutes, an extremely slow and complete great Cosmic Cycle finished running.
Teacher Lili Zi’s fingers immediately loosened powerlessly, drooping to the ground.
—Guiding another’s inner force with one’s own was already mentally taxing, let alone when Shangshan Che’s body had unknown multiples more Qi power than hers.
Like a pony pulling a huge cart—exhausting, right?
Her face pale, she swayed, finally leaning against Shangshan Che’s sweat-drenched, scorching hot back for support so she wouldn’t fall to the ground.
The girl asked in a mosquito-like whisper, “How much did you comprehend? Tell me…”
Shangshan Che only felt it had passed like a brief, almost imperceptible instant, and exhaled a breath of scorching Qi Barrier,
“When you were guiding it, there was some sense to it, but once it ended, I feel like I don’t get it much.”
【”Tokugawa Ririko” is teaching you the Technique · Core Embracing Hip Sitting…】
【Your understanding of “Core Embracing Hip Sitting” has slightly deepened.】
【Core Embracing Hip Sitting（1/100）】
He stared at this line of golden prompt and answered helplessly,
“If I had to say, maybe one percent.”
Teacher Lili Zi, sprawled on his back, laughed out loud, with a hint of pride,
“That’s actually quite a lot.”
“One step at a time, safety first.” The girl said slowly, adjusting her breathing rhythm, “Completing this requires deep comprehension—we’ll continue tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Shangshan Che replied briefly, then asked, “I’ve already talked to Sister Nanjo. Can you do the preliminaries tomorrow, Lili Zi?”
“Okay.”
Teacher Lili Zi replied with a single word as well.
Moonlight poured into the room from the half-open window, floating on their shoulders.
After a long silence, the adjusted Teacher Lili Zi let out a long breath,
“Shangshan Jun…”
Still comprehending Tiger Leopard Thunder Sound and the Core Embracing method, Shangshan Che turned back and met those bright, clear eyes.
Waiting for her to continue.
But Teacher Lili Zi didn’t speak.
Because she suddenly realized—in this moment, on this ordinary night, whatever she said would be meaningless.
Even if she went all-out with a straight ball home run right then, she wouldn’t get a clear, straightforward response from Shangshan Che.
Having spent so much time together, she knew exactly what kind of person Shangshan Che was.
So if she wanted to win him over, she had to be stronger than him!
Force it! Make him yield—whether he wants to or not!
And right now, she was far too weak, too weak! Completely unable to make Shangshan Che follow her ideas.
Better not to say it.
Teacher Lili Zi sneered inwardly—without real acknowledgment, an ambiguous relationship was better off nonexistent.
It would only entangle things unclearly and distract her cultivation, affecting progress.
So, facing Shangshan Che’s calm inquiring gaze, Teacher Lili Zi grinned pleasantly,
“The second half of that sentence, I’ll tell you later.”
Damn, cliffhanger, huh?
Shangshan Che was speechless, feeling like a kitten was scratching at his heart.
Utterly curious.
Stopping halfway through—damn it.
Teacher Lili Zi naturally sensed it clearly and laughed even happier.
—Though she wouldn’t make a move now, Shangshan Jun was hers, now and in the future.
No one could take him.
No one could take him away.
Thinking of this, Teacher Lili Zi recalled that girl who said she liked Shangshan Che.
Seemed like her name was Chisa.
Teacher Lili Zi knew the girl’s “like” was a child’s admiration and idolization, so she was somewhat concerned for Chisa,
“Right, what to do about Chisa?”
Teacher Lili Zi propped her cheek: “If she figures it out and comes to apprentice under you, you’ll just take her as a disciple?”
The girl gazed at the moonlight, sighing faintly,
“I’ve seen it—she really has no talent for breathing techniques or sword technique, almost like me. To advance, she’d need unimaginable effort; probably the same for Onmyōdō.”
“Isn’t that perfect?”
Shangshan Che shrugged: “Chisa doesn’t have much ambition either—just wants to cultivate enough to be the family hero.”
“I’ll show her the path and give her all the help I can.” Shangshan Che answered without thinking, “What she does after, and how much, is up to her.”
Give help, then respect choice.
Hearing the answer, Teacher Lili Zi’s eyes widened slightly, then her lips curved: “Not bad.”
“—If you need help, come find me.”
“Just don’t teach the kid to stay up all night… won’t grow tall.”
“Alright!”
The girl stood up, rubbing her sleepy eyes,
“Exhausted me, time for a big sleep!”
…
Having fought in the preliminaries, stolen the Factory Core, and learned so many new skills, Shangshan Che was naturally fatigued too.
So after sleeping a full five hours, he entered the Eternal World.
In front of the ruins of Kisaragi Station, Shangshan Che, in his altered appearance, tore off the anti-counterfeit mark at the far right of the 【Train’s Round-Trip Ticket】.
Then, he silently recited “Karuta III Factory” three times in his mind.
After several minutes of waiting, the clanging of wheels on the railroad track sounded, and the vintage headlight of the train engine lit up in the thick fog.
The Eternal World Train had arrived.
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