After putting their luggage away, Chu Liuxiang and Meixiu changed out of their pajamas before making their way to the restaurant for breakfast.
Once breakfast was done, Chu Liuxiang asked, "Brother Yuan, what are you going to do today?"
"I am going to practice with my sword at the training building. Honestly, that's pretty much all we do here. I am sorry if it's a little boring," he said.
"It's fine. I don't mind it."
After they rested a little after breakfast, they began making their way to the training building.
"I will see you later," Meixiu said to Yuan before making her way to the fourth floor.
Meanwhile, Yuan entered the gymnasium on the first floor and did some warmup with the sword..
"Can I see that sword?" Chu Liuxiang asked him.
Yuan handed the wooden sword to her.
"Oh, it's much heavier than it looks."
"There's metal in the center, so it feels like a real sword."
Chu Liuxiang began swinging the sword around effortlessly, but her technique wasn't the best. In fact, one could even call them choppy and amateurish, and anyone watching could tell that she was a complete beginner with the sword.
"What kind of training do you do?" Yuan asked her out of curiosity.
"Mostly how to control my spiritual energy. Like this."
Chu Liuxiang held the sword in front of her for a moment before letting the handle go.
However, to Yuan's surprise, the sword didn't fall to the ground and hovered in the air.
"T-This is… Qi Manipulation?" Yuan could tell that Chu Liuxiang was controlling the sword with her spiritual energy so that it wouldn't fall, and this technique greatly resembled Qi Manipulation that can only be used by Spirit Grandmasters in Cultivation Online.
"Qi Manipulation? It's a technique from my family, but they call it Spiritual Control." Chu Liuxiang said.
"Does that mean you also know how to fly?" Yuan couldn't help but ask.
"Fly? That's impossible," she said.
"Really? In Cultivation Online, if you know Qi Manipulation, then you can control the spiritual energy around your body, allowing you to fly."
"Hmm… I'm not sure, but I cannot control the spiritual energy around me— only my own spiritual energy. I can use it to move things from a distance, and it can even deal significant damage, but that's pretty much all it can do. Flying is out of the question," she said.
"Then it's not Qi Manipulation?" Yuan mumbled to himself.
Of course, there is also the chance that it's actually Qi Manipulation, but Chu Liuxiang hasn't reached that level yet.
"Brother Yuan, you're quite strong, right? Do you want to experience for yourself the technique's might? Don't worry, I will hold back."
"Sure." Yuan eagerly nodded.
He then stood a few meters away from Chu Liuxiang like she'd instructed him before putting the sword in front of him in a defensive position.
"Are you ready?" Chu Liuxiang asked him.
"I am."
Hearing such words, Chu Liuxiang took a deep breath and gathered the spiritual energy in her body at her fists.
Once she was ready, she threw a punch at Yuan, but her fist was nowhere near touching Yuan, as they were still a few meters away from each other.
However, Yuan could feel something powerful and heavy slamming into his sword the next second, pushing him back many inches, nearly knocking him off his feet.
"Wow… And that was 'holding back'?" Yuan asked her afterward.
"Yes, I can destroy a boulder the size of a car if I used all of my strength— enough to kill someone," she said.
"Heavens… That's a terrifying technique…" Yuan muttered in a dazed voice.
"It's very powerful, but it also consumes a lot of my spiritual energy, so I can only use it a couple of times before I exhaust my energy," she said.
A few minutes later, Wang Ming entered the gymnasium, and the first thing he did was look for Yuan's figure.
Once he found Yuan, who was speaking with Chu Liuxiang, he approached them.
"Hey, Yuan, you ready for another spar today?" Wang Ming asked him.
"Yes." Yuan nodded.
Wang Ming then glanced at Chu Liuxiang for a moment, almost like he had something to say, but he didn't say anything to her in the end and returned his focus on Yuan.
The two of them began their spar shortly after, and Chu Liuxiang would watch them fight each other a few meters away.
Meanwhile, on the fourth floor, Meixiu was warming up at the still targets.
"Are you okay, Feng?" The instructor approached her and asked her in a concerned voice.
"You haven't hit the red a single time after shooting a dozen arrows, and you even missed a couple of shots. Even if you're just warming up, this isn't like you. If you're not feeling well, you should take the day off, maybe even get checked by a doctor."
"I am fine, instructor. My mind is just occupied by a few things and can't really focus, that's all." Meixiu said, as she would keep thinking about her conversation with Chu Liuxiang this morning.
"If you cannot focus, you should put the bow down and meditate until you can clear your mind." The instructor advised her.
"I shall do that then. Thank you." Meixiu placed her bow down and began meditating near the wall so that she doesn't obstruct the others.
However, when she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind, Chu Liuxiang's words would continue to resound inside her head.
'What do you think of Brother Yuan?'
'I love Brother Yuan, and I wish to stay with him forever as his wife.'
'I want two children with Brother Yuan— one of them before I have to return to the family.'
'There will be many competitors in the future.'
'I love Brother Yuan… I really love him…'
"Why did you have to show up now?" Meixiu sighed in a low voice when she couldn't get rid of Chu Liuxiang's voice inside her head.