After the time travel, my cheat program disappeared.

"There's no reason to admit defeat right away!" Ming Zhongle was furious.

A "red quality" manual is not cheap, especially a popular swordsmanship manual.

He almost wanted to bend down and shake the girl's head vigorously to see what she was thinking. "Shi Yan is only at the Body Tempering Realm. If he tries to force himself to comprehend the Qi Refining Realm's mental techniques, it will only be more difficult."

"Little sister..."

"Even if you were classmates, you can't just give up like this."

“I haven’t given up.” Ming Zhongqing shook her head, her right hand lightly touching the edge of the manual.

Ming Zhongle then noticed...

The words and images on the cover of that dark red "Lotus Separation Technique" are gradually disappearing like water dissolving.

That is a symbol of someone successfully learning the secret techniques.

“I am…” Ming Zhongqing lowered his head.

She said, almost unwillingly, "We really lost."

Part 21. How can a girl like another girl? [Second Update]

Ming Zhongqing pulled his hand away from the cover of "The Great Method of Leaving the Lotus," and looked at his master, who was still meditating with his eyes closed, with a complicated expression.

I lost.

And...they lost miserably.

The beauty and youth that ordinary girls value most, the natural talent and understanding that she had traded for, and the confidence she had worked so hard to build... were all so easily crushed.

Yes.

Not defeat, but crush.

Ming Zhongqing felt as if everything he had was being trampled on.

She looked at Shi Yan and felt a bitter taste in her mouth.

Just as Ming Zhongle said, the "Lotus Separation Technique" is almost the highest quality mental cultivation manual.

Even if it's just a simplified version specifically designed for Qi Refining stage cultivators, it would still take an ordinary person at least several hours to learn it successfully.

Even for Ming Zhongqing, who possesses both the extraordinary fortune of being "a genius envied by heaven" and "exceptionally intelligent," it would take at least an hour or two to even begin to grasp the basics of the art.

Even the owner of Langya Pavilion had gone downstairs to prepare melon seeds, watermelons, and small stools.

Can...

Ming Zhongqing gently bit his lip.

Less than a quarter of an hour had passed, and Shi Yan had already begun to grasp the basics.

The feeling of being forcibly interrupted while practicing martial arts was unpleasant. Even now, Ming Zhongqing felt as if his heart was empty.

She recalled the scene she had just witnessed on Shi Yan...

If a normal person's kendo aptitude is a sword—

Some people's swords are rusty, while others' swords gleam with a cold light.

Like the woman with frost-blue eyes standing behind Shi Yan at this moment. Her swordsmanship talent is like a peerless sword that constantly exudes a chilling aura.

But Master's words... are like a sword tomb.

On the boundless wilderness, all sorts of swords were stuck crookedly in the ground.

It was so absurd it was terrifying, so absurd that Ming Zhongqing refused to believe it.

She looked at Shi Yan's tightly closed eyes and recalled how Shi Yan had resolutely refused to cultivate all these years, and his cultivation level had remained at the first stage of Body Tempering.

Ah, this—

Ming Zhongqing suddenly understood.

It turns out that 'he' had been hiding the sword all along.

I had long heard that the supreme swordsmanship sect, the Azure Lotus Sword Sect, had a technique called "Hidden Sword Technique," which must be something like this.

Ten years of sharpening a sword.

A single sword strike can chill nineteen provinces.

Recalling his own mockery of Shi Yan, Ming Zhongqing suddenly felt as if he himself was a "jester".

With his hands supporting his knees, Ming Zhongqing swayed as he tried to get up.

Suddenly, she staggered and was about to fall forward.

Shi Yan, who was sitting in front of her, suddenly opened his eyes, stood up and helped Ming Zhongqing up.

The girl's body was very light, excessively light.

That's a side effect of being "jealous of talent".

In the game, the effect of "Heaven Jealous of Talent" is simply a reduction of twenty years in lifespan, and the character's maximum health is permanently reduced by twenty percent.

But...it seems much more serious in reality.

"Let go of me..." Ming Zhongqing gently pushed, and Shi Yan released his grip.

She stopped and whispered a thank you.

Behind Ming Zhongqing, Ming Zhongle's expression turned from pale to flushed, becoming quite a sight to behold.

A formidable enemy.

Ming Zhongle looked at Shi Yan, who had a calm and collected expression.

This guy... will definitely be a formidable enemy.

The better his talent, the greater the threat he poses to me, and the lower the probability that I can marry Xia Meimei.

blah blah-

Just then, footsteps suddenly came from outside the room.

"Peanuts, melon seeds, and little stools are here~~~" The owner of Langya Pavilion, carrying a large pile of things, pushed open the door, and then... he stared blankly at Shi Yan and Ming Zhongqing, who had already stood up.

What's wrong? He's only been downstairs for a little while, why are these two all all puffed up?

"This means...they're not going to compete anymore?"

No one answered his question.

"You won." Unable to resist, Ming Zhongqing gently bit his lip and lowered his head.

The dark red booklet lay quietly on the low table.

But at this moment... all the words and patterns drawn with divine sense on the booklet have completely disappeared.

slam-la-

The snack bag in the arms of the Langya Pavilion owner fell to the ground. He slid down to his knees by the low table and picked up the secret manual.

The manual of inner cultivation techniques has completely become a wordless book.

Ming Zhongle stared at the completely blank mental cultivation manual, his eyelids twitching wildly.

He was already cursing under his breath.

But in front of Shi Xia, Ming Zhongle still had to pretend to be a refined young nobleman who regarded money as dirt.

He wanted to make a good impression on Shi Xia.

But Ming Zhongle didn't know... In Xia Xia's eyes, who had a "till death do us part" level of affection for Shi Yan, everyone else except her beloved older sister was scum.

Ming Zhongle was at best a paper doll. He didn't even have facial features; he just had a name written on the head of the paper doll with a large black brush.

“A bet is a bet.” Ming Zhongqing gently clenched his fist. “I’ll pay for this cultivation manual.”

Shi Yan looked down at the girl.

Ming Zhongqing was just a little shorter than her.

Because of Ming Zhongqing's habitual downward head movement, Shi Yan could see the girl's hairline, which seemed to be receding at an increasingly dangerous rate.

Actually, she never really liked the way Ming Zhongqing looked when he bowed his head.

Because that would always make Shi Yan feel like Ming Zhongqing was poking her with his forehead.

Upon hearing Ming Zhongqing's words, Shi Yan tried to wave his hand magnanimously and say that it was alright, and that his brother should pay for it.

Or... you could just grit your teeth and pay the money yourself.

The teacher said he didn't want to take advantage of the girl.

Before Shi Yan could speak, Ming Zhongqing had already turned his head to look at the owner of Langya Pavilion, who was flipping through the 'wordless book' with a horrified expression.

"Shopkeeper, how much is this copy of the 'Lotus Separation Technique'?"

The shopkeeper seemed to only understand what Ming Zhongqing had said after a long while. He looked up and said, "Four thousand eight hundred spirit stones."

"..." Shi Yan's smile suddenly froze, and he put his hand back down after reaching for Shi Chen Jie.

How many!?

Four thousand eight hundred spirit stones?

I might as well just sell myself.

He only had seven or eight hundred spirit stones in his ring, and he didn't even know how long it had taken him to save up his secret stash of money.

I can't afford it.

You all saw it.

I'm not a gigolo.

Can winning money through a bet be considered being a kept man?

In his heart, Shi Yan had stabbed Ming Zhongle again and again.

She had never seen such a cowardly and bizarre guy. Not only did he make his sister stand up for him, but his sister even paid for the bets.

If it were Ming Zhongle who paid for it, Shi Yan wouldn't feel any guilt at all.