A life of leisure is worse than a life of flowers and splendour

Du Shuangshuang abandoned her previous life of self-indulgence and began diligently practicing swordsmanship. She spent the entire morning hacking and slashing, rehearsing thousands of sword strokes. By the afternoon, she was exhausted. Her hand was shaking even while she was eating lunch, and she had to rely on her maid to feed her. This was thanks to Xiaozhu's guidance in constantly using her spiritual energy to soothe her pain; otherwise, her arm would have been crippled.

For the sake of her arm, Du Shuangshuang had to stop and do something else in the afternoon. After dinner, she took a short rest and began to study the formation. This did not require physical effort, only the brain could do it.

The formation formula was very simple, and Du Shuangshuang memorized it quickly.

"Eastern Jia and Yi Wood pair up with Mao, and the Shang Gate pairs up with Zhen Four Azure Dragons; Western Geng and Xin Metal pair up with You, and the Jing Gate pairs up with Dui Two White Tigers; Southern Bing and Ding Fire pair up with Wu, and the Jing Gate pairs up with Li Three Vermillion Birds; Northern Ren and Gui Water pair up with Zi, and the Xiu Gate pairs up with Kan Six Black Tortoises; Southeastern Five Xun Du Gate pairs up with Chen and Si; Northeastern Seven Gen Sheng Gate pairs up with Yin and Chou; Southwestern Eight Kun Si Gate pairs up with Wei and Shen; Northwestern One Qian Kai Gate pairs up with Wu and Hai."

The formations progressed from simple to complex, one link after another. Du Shuangshuang said that as a science student, she was very good at this.

Formations are usually used for defense, attack, support, training, and rituals. In swordsmanship, they are used for defense, attack, and support, enhancing attack while also serving as a defensive function, while also providing the illusion of a formation.

The records in the jade slips were very vivid and specific, making them much easier to learn. In just one afternoon, Du Shuangshuang had mastered the basics of the Three Talents Formation. Any formation could be modified at any time, but her former math, physics, and chemistry teachers had always said that even with a variety of variations, the core remained the same. This principle also applied to formations, and Du Shuangshuang mastered it with ease.

After finishing the work, Du Shuangshuang specially found a jade slip that explained the formation and prepared to study it carefully.

That night, the remaining spiritual spring water was all used up, and Du Shuangshuang successfully broke through to the fourth level of Qi Refining. Du Shuangshuang tried to feel it, and found that there was almost no spiritual energy in the air here. Only when the first rays of sunlight shone down in the early morning, there would be one or two spots of light in the courtyard, so there was really almost no spiritual energy.

Du Shuangshuang needed the spiritual energy of the spiritual spring, so she changed into men's clothes and rode out early in the morning after breakfast. Where to go? Of course, to the hunting grounds to find the cave. This time, she brought her own equipment, a rope over 30 meters long, which was definitely high enough to reach the cave.

Unfortunately, the hunting grounds were guarded by soldiers, so Du Shuangshuang couldn't get in. Was she going to Pingyao City? She could only go back and make a long-term plan.

Seeing her master's distraught look, the bracelet reminded her, "Master, you can actually rely on elixirs to improve your cultivation. However, taking too many elixirs will cause a buildup of elixir poison in your body, which will be detrimental to your future cultivation. Therefore, long-term use of elixirs is not recommended." Furthermore, there are books on physical techniques in the space. Just for revenge alone, as long as you practice your sword skills well and combine them with physical techniques, you should be able to move freely in the palace." Upon hearing this, Du Shuangshuang instantly became interested. She decided to practice her sword skills and physical techniques first, and then talk about other things after she'd avenged herself.

It was already noon when Du Shuangshuang returned to the General's Mansion. After lunch, she continued practicing swordsmanship. She stopped practicing at night, instead spending most of the night practicing body movements, learning formations, and a few minor spells. These included the more common Dust Purification Technique, Object Control Technique, and several Five Elements spells. Since she wasn't sure what her spiritual roots were, she was still trying them out. She would practice for a while in the mornings, taking advantage of the slightest bit of spiritual energy, then wait for breakfast to enjoy her life as a young lady for a while before returning to swordsmanship. In the afternoon, she would focus on body movement training.

After a few days, her spiritual energy hadn't increased at all. Instead, it had been completely depleted from practicing spells. Little Bracelet found Du Shuangshuang some spiritual energy replenishing pills. Her mother had generously prepared her, with five bottles of ten first-grade spiritual energy replenishing pills each, all of them top-grade. For her now, even if all her spiritual energy was depleted, she only needed one pill to replenish it. She still had plenty left over, which could even help improve her cultivation a bit.

After a few days of experiments, Du Shuangshuang also knew her own spiritual roots. It turned out that she had dual spiritual roots of fire and wood.

I heard from Xiaozhuo that the dual spiritual roots of fire and wood are very suitable for alchemy. If I have the idea, I can develop in the direction of alchemy. Alchemy is a very lucrative profession. However, I don't have the conditions to learn it now, but I can study formations.

In addition to the magic spells of dust purification and object control, he also learned the magic of fireball, vine and rejuvenation.

But my level was too low. While I had no problem with the Dust Purification Technique, I could only control a teacup with the Object Control Technique, and only at close range. Beyond two meters, I couldn't control it. The Fireball Technique was quite powerful. I went to the hills behind the General's Mansion to test it out, and it snapped a tree as thick as my wrist. If it hit a person, it should be deadly. As for the Vine Technique, the vines were still a bit fragile, and I could easily break free. I hadn't tried the Rejuvenation Technique yet; it was a healing technique. I had wanted to catch a rabbit to test its effects, but I couldn't catch one, so I couldn't test it.

He has already mastered the basics of body movement. Although he does not have the ability to fly over eaves and walls, he has been able to improve his speed again and again. After eating the fruits called Biling Fruits on the small bracelet, which are the two fruits in the ring space that his mother left for him, his speed has increased a lot compared to before he fell into the water, comparable to the speed of ordinary warriors. After successfully breaking through the Qi Refining Stage, there has been a slight improvement, and each breakthrough has also led to an improvement. Now with the bonus of body movement, his speed is definitely not comparable to that of ordinary warriors. When it is improved to the extreme, I am afraid that no one in the Great Xia Kingdom can catch him.

Over the past few days, I've almost mastered the basic sword techniques and have also figured out a few basic formations, but I'm still a long way from truly mastering them. So, I need to continue practicing in the coming days.

Time flew by, and the month passed in a flash. Throughout this long and arduous journey of cultivation, Du Shuangshuang remained relentless and diligent. She rose at dawn each day and would not rest until midnight, devoting herself wholeheartedly to the various practices.

After countless failures and setbacks, Du Shuangshuang gradually grasped the essence of the art. Every swing of the sword felt like a dialogue with nature; every movement held an endless mystical meaning. Finally, on a quiet night, with the moon high in the sky, Du Shuangshuang had the opportunity for a breakthrough.

She held her breath, her longsword in hand, her movements as lithe as a swallow. As her internal energy surged, a faint glow emanated from the blade. Then, Du Shuangshuang let out a soft cry, flicked her wrist, and the sword unleashed with rainbow-like force. In an instant, the air around them seemed to freeze, leaving only the vibrant, multicolored sword light flickering in the air.

Gradually, the sword light transformed into delicate, alluring blossoms. These blossoms, like spirits, were agile and beautiful, emitting an enchanting aura. They were red like the sunset glow, pink like clouds, and white like snowflakes, a riot of color and beauty. While the sword moves were beautiful, they were also deadly, with false and real moves, capable of attack or defense.

"Bloom!" Du Shuangshuang silently chanted. At that moment, she felt an unprecedented sense of joy and satisfaction. After countless hardships, she had finally successfully performed the first move of the Flourishing Flower Sword Technique—Blooming Flower. This not only marked a significant improvement in her strength, but also symbolized a solid step forward in her swordsmanship.

My own moves weren't yet so familiar, sometimes flowers would appear, sometimes not, so the flowers weren't connected. Once I'd mastered them, I'd be able to connect them, so that they wouldn't end up in a continuous stream, with many flowers appearing simultaneously. It was like a profusion of flowers in bloom, blossoming and falling, clusters of flowers forming, and beneath the blossoms, every step was filled with murderous intent.

At this moment, his agility had advanced tremendously, to an astonishing degree! Now, not only could he catch a nimble rabbit, but even a swift bird. Du Shuangshuang, on the other hand, delightedly used these rabbits to practice her long-cherished rejuvenation experiment. The results showed that this miraculous spell had an immediate effect on minor injuries, rapidly healing them. It was also effective even for serious injuries like disembowelment—while it couldn't completely save lives, it could at least slow their demise. However, the only drawback was that successfully saving rabbits severely injured by disembowelment with rejuvenation alone seemed unattainable at this point. Fortunately, for any injury less than fatal, rejuvenation significantly increased the rate of wound recovery.