I'm caught in the cycle of endless competition, you're waiting for me in the apocalypse.

Back in her dorm room, An Xin summoned Di Ting and said, "Xiao Jiu, it hurts so much today. If it weren't for the spiritual liquid, I really would have fainted... My skin is peeling off and new skin is growing... but I still feel like something is missing."

"Let me listen." Xiao Jiu closed her eyes and pricked up her little ears. After a short while, she said, "It's definitely lacking a bit. Why don't you try drinking a bottle of spiritual liquid?"

"Okay!" An Xin drank a bottle of spiritual liquid, sat cross-legged, and began to circulate her spiritual power. After nine cycles, a halo appeared on An Xin's skin, similar to the light of her own light-type ability, the warm glow of the sun.

"It's done!" An Xin felt the change in her skin, a complete transformation from quantitative to qualitative change. "I feel that my skin has merged with my light energy. Let me try it out."

She found a small knife and slashed at her finger. The cool metal grazed it, but left no mark. An Xin's eyes widened, suppressing her excitement, and she slashed hard at her wrist... leaving only a faint pink mark.

"Xiao Jiu, look, it really worked! From now on, you don't need to temporarily cast a light-based shield anymore. You can activate it directly when you encounter danger! You've gained a passive trigger skill."

Look how happy this little girl is; Di Ting is spinning around with her too.

................................................

3:

On the training platform, the wind still howled through the blade, and he was still alone, practicing basic sword techniques. His "One Slash to Slay the Thief" was already quite impressive.

After practicing her swordsmanship, An Xin began to move nimbly and agilely, flying towards the Yin-Yang Spring. Having finished her bath and feeling refreshed, An Xin prepared to return to the training platform.

The mountain breeze lifted her, making it easier for her to soar through the air. Carefully sensing the direction of the wind, her body swayed with it, and she grew increasingly fond of this feeling of freely controlling her body and dancing with nature. She needed to rely on the wind less and less; Anxin felt like a young eagle, loving the sky, loving soaring, loving the speed and freedom that flight brought.

With a blush on her face, she closed her eyes and sensed her surroundings as she "flew" toward the training platform.

Just as she was about to land, she suddenly bumped into a warm embrace, and the force of her dive, which had not yet subsided, slammed her into the person who was holding her.

Qi Mingxuan arrived at the training platform in the dark, intending to practice the Heavenly Ladder technique. He hadn't been up long when he heard a whooshing sound, and before he could see clearly, he was knocked to the ground by something. He barely managed to steady himself, sitting on the ground and bracing himself with his hands to prevent himself from falling backward. Then, the little creature that had jumped into his arms bumped headfirst into his chest.

—Damn, whose chest is that? It almost knocked my nose out of shape.

An Xin was still thinking that his pectoral muscles weren't developed enough, a bit thin, otherwise he wouldn't have bumped into her nose so hard. Meanwhile, Qi Mingxuan, beneath her, blushed deeply when he saw the girl kneeling on his lap, her head just off him. An Xin looked up at Qi Mingxuan and saw his deep, clear eyes filled with tenderness. She was startled at first, then belatedly realized she was kneeling on him, her face very close, the action quite intimate.

With a "whoosh," she sprang away from Qi Mingxuan, stammering, "Um... I'm sorry, I didn't see you... I bumped into you, please... please get up." Her face grew redder as she spoke, and An Xin tried to cool her face by pressing the back of her hand against her cheek, while extending her other hand to Qi Mingxuan, gesturing for her to help him up.

Qi Mingxuan curled one corner of his lips and reached out to touch the girl's soft hand. An Xin tried to pull him up, but because she underestimated her strength, she pulled Qi Mingxuan up and pressed him close to her. This second instance of "throwing herself into his arms" left An Xin speechless, looking pitifully at the tall man, wondering if she looked like a female hooligan.

The faint scent of pine and cypress emanating from the man wafted into An Xin's nostrils, giving her a sense of calm and reliability. An Xin quietly stepped back a little, trying to divert their attention, and said, "You're here so early today... Did you sleep well last night?... Your health..."

After rambling on and on, Qi Mingxuan's smile grew wider, and he even chuckled softly. An Xin felt a pang of annoyance: He must be laughing at me! What should she do, feeling even more embarrassed and awkward...?

Seeing her shyness, Qi Mingxuan's magnetic voice rang out: "I drank energy water last night as you suggested, and slept very well. I'm also very energetic, so I woke up early this morning, thinking I'd come here early to practice climbing the Heavenly Ladder."

“You’re really working hard. I’m here for extra practice too. Before Master Zheng arrives, I’ll practice climbing the Heavenly Ladder with you.”

"it is good."

……

At the top of the giant stone steps, the two were captivated by the magnificent spectacle of dawn breaking, as the orange sunrise gently draped the world in a golden hue. The rolling mountains and forests, shrouded in morning mist, were imbued with a mesmerizing aura, like the call of elves, radiating the vitality of nature.

As the two admired and marveled at the magnificent scenery, they also became a beautiful memory in the eyes of others.

One after another, the disciples of the temple arrived at the training platform, hoping to practice more. Unexpectedly, quite a few of the senior disciples shared this idea. Meanwhile, those even more eager than them were already enjoying the beautiful scenery at the top of the stone steps.

That's really tragic. It's one thing for ordinary people like yourself to be so competitive, but it's another for those who are already very talented and gifted to be even more competitive than you.

And so, the young masters and ladies arrived at the training platform earlier and earlier every morning. The senior disciples in the temple, driven by their masters' praise of the "outer disciples," unknowingly sparked a rare wave of mutual competition within the Green Mountain Temple. Of course, that's another story.

On this day, An Xin finally saw her Uncle Du Linyuan. She also finally witnessed just how long the reaction time of this so-called Taoist priest was.

In Master Du's laboratory at the Five Elements Building, he earnestly explained the mutual restraint and generation of the Five Elements to everyone, and used physical and chemical experiments to illustrate the mutual restraint and generation of the Five Elements.

Finally, An Xin asked a question: "Uncle Du, your explanation was excellent, giving me a deep understanding of the Five Elements and their evolution. But I have a question: what about light? Which of the Five Elements does it belong to? Is it fire? But why does fire kill plants? Plants can grow without fire, but not without light. With light, plants have good photosynthesis, converting and releasing oxygen. This doesn't have much in common with fire."

"Greetings, junior disciple! This is my first time teaching you!" Master Du walked up to An Xin, looked her over carefully, closed his eyes, and remained silent, seemingly deep in thought. Everyone waited quietly for Master Du's reply.

"Ah, get out of class is over! Everyone, let's go eat!" This sudden remark left the group completely bewildered. They could only leave get out of class, but as soon as they turned around, they saw Master Du and An Xin waving. Just when everyone thought he was going to answer An Xin's question, he said, "Thank you for your kind words, junior disciple! I hope you'll come back to class soon!"

“……”Everyone was speechless.

That evening, on my way to the medicinal bathhouse, I saw Master Du hurrying towards me: "Ah, I've found you, junior disciple. Didn't you ask me which of the Five Elements light belongs to? It's fire, because the characteristics of fire include light, heat, and growth, which corresponds to the functions of light in illuminating and transmitting information. Many times, people can't see the Five Elements as concrete images. It's not just five elements, but also includes the generating and restraining relationships between the five elements, and their operating modes. Just like Yin and Yang, it's an image, a mutual interaction, a movement."

"Thank you so much, Uncle Du. What you said has enlightened me. I'll think about it some more and try to understand it." An Xin bowed deeply to Daoist Du. "Uncle, this is very important to me. I have a feeling that if I can truly understand the principles behind this, I will make progress. Thank you again."

Master Du scratched his head, looking at his eager-to-learn and thoughtful junior apprentice with great satisfaction. He waved and watched her run into the medicinal bath.

....................................

Master Chen made some adjustments to today's medicinal bath, generally enhancing the medicinal properties.

Now, An Xin sat in the bathtub, completely absorbed in thinking about Master Du's words, ignoring the pain all over her body.

—It turns out my thinking was too narrow. I was always relating it to specific substances I'd seen, but the Five Elements and Yin-Yang aren't single substances or relationships; they change under different conditions. I was always fixated on the matter itself, without considering its inherent connections. These connections constantly interact and change. All things arise from causes and conditions, and are constantly changing; therefore, change is the only constant. Everything arises from the coming together of causes and conditions. That's why it's said that all phenomena are empty, but cause and effect are not.

Seemingly understanding, yet not quite, An Xin continued to ponder. Time slowly passed, and she entered a profound and mysterious state. A faint warm glow gradually emanated from her skin, soothing the pain caused by the changing of her skin and flesh.

When Master Chen finally entered the medicinal bath to awaken everyone, An Xin opened her eyes, and golden light emanated from them, startling everyone. The golden light expanded and filled the entire medicinal bath. Those bathed in this golden light felt their physical pain gradually healed and soothed, and even their minds became unusually clear.

As the light faded, An Xin regained consciousness. Seeing everyone staring at her with adoring and joyful eyes, a wave of speechless frustration washed over her: "Are you kidding me? I'm still in the bathtub! Why are you all staring at me? How embarrassing... Don't I have any dignity?"