Early the next morning, after breakfast and a short rest, Chu Chengzhou dragged Xiao Wu to the back of the wooden building to practice a body-tempering martial art.
At this moment, "Scroll Sis" Zhu Zhuqing had already started cultivating her soul skills.
As for Ning Rongrong? She was trailing behind them, trying to secretly learn the body-tempering martial art Chu had promised to teach her the night before.
Well, it couldn't really be called "stealing" since Chu had already agreed to let her watch.
"Xiao Wu, I noticed your form yesterday wasn't quite perfect. Try a few more times, and I'll help correct your mistakes."
Chu glanced at Ning Rongrong behind them, who was clearly eavesdropping while pretending to be casual. He smiled to himself but turned serious as he spoke to Xiao Wu.
"Mm-hmm!"
Xiao Wu didn't suspect anything and immediately began practicing the body-tempering form.
Of course, Ning Rongrong couldn't see the internal soul power circulation — all she could see was Xiao Wu throwing punches.
After a few rounds, Chu pointed out some of Xiao Wu's weaknesses.
Even though Xiao Wu had good comprehension and executed the moves well, in Chu's eyes — who had fully mastered this art — her technique still had flaws.
But then again, considering every body is different, as long as one grasped the sequence of the movements, perfect mimicry wasn't necessary. If not for other reasons, Chu wouldn't have bothered pointing out such details.
After all, the real core of this martial art lies in the internal flow of soul power.
Suddenly, Xiao Wu noticed Ning Rongrong staring at them with a slightly bitter look.
Why the gloomy face? Ning Rongrong couldn't understand Chu's fragmented instructions. She wasn't some peerless genius with freakish comprehension, so of course she struggled.
Seeing the frustration in her friend's eyes, Xiao Wu started thinking.
Could it be… Rongrong wants to learn this body-tempering martial art that Chu created?
Anonymous God-King: You're asking for death!
"Bro, Rongrong is giving us a weird look~"
Xiao Wu used soul power to transmit a message to Chu. Normally, soul power voice transmission is a high-level skill, but both Xiao Wu and Chu had long mastered it thanks to their deep knowledge.
"Don't worry. She just wants to learn the form. Let her watch."
"But didn't you say this technique shouldn't be taught to outsiders?"
Xiao Wu blinked in confusion.
"The core of the art isn't in the form. Even if she picks it up, it's no big deal. Honestly, the movements are easy to imitate — someone probably already learned it just by watching."
"Wait, someone already learned it?"
Xiao Wu's eyes widened.
No way!
She hadn't really appreciated the value of Chu's self-created martial arts before. But now, with her broader perspective, she understood how rare and valuable they truly were.
She frowned. How could such a precious technique be leaked? Did they get permission from the future lady of the house — her?
"Did you forget our academy still has teachers? With their strength and insight, picking up this form is child's play."
"Oh… I guess that's true~"
Xiao Wu had a moment of realization.
The moves weren't complicated. Even she could replicate them after watching a few times. Let alone the academy's powerful teachers.
"Bro, why don't you just teach Rongrong properly?
She told me the running exercises were exhausting and barely helped her.
And what about Zhuqing? They're both only two-ring soul masters. Even without mastering the internal flow, the form alone should still be helpful."
Xiao Wu glanced at her two besties and suggested it to Chu.
"You really want to teach them?"
Chu pretended to be surprised.
"Why not?"
Xiao Wu felt a bit disappointed. Her own strength was rapidly improving, but her best friends — despite their efforts — didn't see much progress. It didn't sit right with her.
They were close friends. Good things should be shared.
Before, she thought the technique was a family secret known only to her grandparents and Chu, so she kept quiet. But now that others had already learned parts of it, there was no need to keep it hidden — at least not from her besties.
"Alright, fine! Only because they're your best friends. But I'm only teaching them the form!"
Chu nodded after a brief "hesitation."
"Hehe, thanks, bro!"
Xiao Wu hugged Chu happily and bumped her head against his chest.
"Rongrong, Zhuqing — come here!"
After letting go, she waved her friends over.
Ning Rongrong immediately ran over, beaming. Time to get her hands on that secret body-training technique!
"I gave away my first kiss and… wait, no! Totally worth it! ...Kinda."
"What's up?"
Zhu Zhuqing, who had been practicing her soul skills nearby, looked over curiously.
"Humph~ In light of the fact that you two are my beautiful, kind, and generous besties, Big Sis Xiao Wu has decided to teach you a body-tempering martial art!"
Xiao Wu stood tall, hands on hips, full of pride.
"A body-tempering martial art?"
Zhu Zhuqing blinked.
Coming from the Hell Civet family, Zhu Zhuqing knew well the importance of physical strength for a soul master.
But as far as she knew, aside from upgrading soul rings and absorbing soul bones, there weren't many ways to improve one's body. Training and soul bone refinement were pretty much it.
She had never heard of a body-tempering technique.
Given Xiao Wu's normal-looking soul ring setup, could this really be effective?
"You'll see once you try it!"
Xiao Wu waved off the skepticism. She was ready to let results speak for themselves.
Naturally, the task of teaching the form fell to Chu.
After all, he created the technique. Nobody knew it better.
And while Xiao Wu could perform it, she didn't fully grasp the theory, so she wasn't suited to teach it.
"Rongrong, lift your arm higher!"
"Zhuqing, keep your chest up and abs tight…"
Now in full "Teacher Chu" mode, he began giving hands-on instruction — literally.
And of course, that meant plenty of physical contact.
Like now, Chu stood behind Zhu Zhuqing, hands on her arms, guiding her movements directly.
"So soft… no, so white… wait — soft and white!"
His gaze was fixed on the deep valley of snowy skin before him.
Confirmed! That cleavage is way too deep — Dai Mubai can't handle it. This job's for Chu Chengzhou!
Xiao Wu was focused on her training, and Zhu Zhuqing had no eyes on the back of her head. But Ning Rongrong saw everything.
And she clearly noticed where Chu's eyes were.
"Tch~ Scumbag confirmed!"
Rongrong rolled her eyes at him with disdain — though when she looked at Zhu Zhuqing, there was a flicker of jealousy.
"So big… I want that too!"
"Zhuqing, keep practicing. Rongrong — focus!"
Seeing Rongrong spacing out, Chu walked over and took her delicate hand to guide her moves.
"…"
Pervert! Chu the scumbag is taking advantage of me again!
Time flew, and two weeks passed.
One morning, while meditating in his room, Chu suddenly experienced a powerful epiphany — a surge of understanding about forging.
Once he absorbed the insight, he opened his external system.
[Attribute Panel][Host: Chu Chengzhou]
Soul Power: Level 35 Soul Elder
Martial Soul: True Spirit Banner
Soul Rings: Purple (1,000) / Purple (3,588) / Black (10,000)
Soul Skills:
1st: Spirit Summon — Sky Azure Tree
2nd: Spirit Summon — Light Lion
3rd: Spirit Summon — Fire Phoenix
Skills:
Nine Breaths Energy Technique (Red)
Body Training (Black)
Spirit Refining (Black)
Archery (Black)
Movement (Black)
Control (Black)
Defense (Black)
Forging (Black)
Hypnosis (Gray)
AFK Queue:
Body Training (Black)
Mind Training (Black)
Forging (Black)
2nd Soul Ring (Purple)
As expected — after reaching Level 35 Soul Elder two days ago, he'd upgraded his Defense skill in the auto-cultivation slot to black-grade and replaced it with Spirit Refining. Now, Forging had also reached black-grade.
Black-grade forging corresponded to the spirit-forging level of craftsmanship in future times.
Right now, if he were in the mecha era full of battle armor warriors, your average soul master would respectfully address him as "Master Chu!"
"Perfect. Time to forge spirit-forged armor and a powerful spirit bow!"
The forging materials were already prepared. Today was the day.
He swapped out the black-grade Forging skill from the queue and inserted the gray-grade Hypnosis skill.
As a marksman and the main attacker of his team, Chu's three spirits were:
Xiao Qing: Healer (Sky Azure Tree)
Xiao Bai: Support (Light Lion)
Xiao Hong: Damage Dealer (Fire Phoenix)
The biggest weakness? Lack of control.
He didn't have the means for binding or restriction-based control like Tang San's Blue Silver Emperor, or Tianshui Academy's Ice Phoenix soul master, Shui Bing'er.
But he did have strong spiritual power — far beyond his peers. So Chu planned to develop a hypnosis-based illusion technique.
If the Hypnosis skill could evolve into a true illusion technique, it would fill that gap perfectly.
As a marksman, accuracy was key. No matter how strong your arrows were, if you couldn't hit your target, it meant nothing.
With illusion control, even a split-second daze would be enough to land a deadly headshot.
Now, with the improved efficiency of the auto-cultivation system, gray → white took 3 days, white → yellow took 10, yellow → purple 30, and purple → black 100.
That meant in 143 days, the gray Hypnosis skill would be upgraded to black-grade — right in line with the rest of his top-tier techniques.
Later that morning, Xiao Wu, Ning Rongrong, and Zhu Zhuqing were in the backyard practicing the martial form.
Inside the main hall, Chu sat at a table, sketching on paper.
Zhu Zhuqing had picked up the form in just three days. Ning Rongrong, on the other hand, took a full week — maybe due to her lower talent or poor focus.
At first, they didn't notice much improvement and started having doubts — for different reasons.
Zhu Zhuqing doubted the technique's legitimacy. Ning Rongrong suspected Chu was holding out on them.
But over time, they both saw results.
For low-level soul masters like them — especially a support and an agility-type — even a small boost to their physical strength was significant.
Since they were still early in cultivation and not yet hitting bottlenecks, daily practice brought steady improvement. They were full of enthusiasm, even more so than Xiao Wu.
Ironically, seeing lazy Ning Rongrong so diligent made Xiao Wu put in more effort too. Not by much, but enough to make Chu proud.
Later, the girls took a break.
"Eh? Bro, is that drawing of me?"
Xiao Wu spotted the paper on the table. It showed her wearing an elegant blue-gold full-body armor. She asked excitedly.
"Take a closer look. Let me know if there's anything you'd change."
He handed it over, having just finished the final detail — her iconic scorpion braid.
"Mm-hmm!"
Xiao Wu eagerly took the drawing and studied it.
"Senior Chu, is this one of you?"
Zhu Zhuqing pointed at another drawing on the table.
Ning Rongrong leaned in too.
This sketch showed Chu himself, also in blue-gold armor — but holding a crimson-gold longbow adorned with flame patterns.
"How's it look? Cool, right?"
Chu grinned proudly.
Zhu Zhuqing rolled her eyes.
In the past, Zhu Zhuqing had always seemed cold and distant, with a lifeless gaze. But ever since she became close with Xiao Wu and Ning Rongrong, things had changed quite a bit—she'd become a little more like a regular girl.
Still, she only showed that girlish side around her two close friends. She was slightly nicer to Chu Chengzhou, but only out of politeness. As for anyone else? Same old icy attitude—basically a walking glacier.
But ever since Chu Chengzhou's hands-on guidance before, her relationship with him had improved quite a lot. At the very least, she didn't get annoyed at his jokes anymore.
"Such a narcissist~!"
Looking at the super-handsome version of Chu Chengzhou in and out of the picture, Ning Rongrong couldn't help but mumble.
"Oh come on, are you saying I'm not handsome?"
Chu Chengzhou raised an eyebrow and winked at her.
Ning Rongrong didn't respond. She just raised her middle finger.
Still... she had to admit—Chu the scumbag was actually kind of hot.
"There is a bit of Xiao Wu's heroic style in that! But... bro, why is she wearing armor? I don't usually like wearing armor."
At this moment, Xiao Wu, who had been admiring the drawing of herself, nodded in satisfaction. Then she tilted her head curiously.
Seeing Xiao Wu was happy with the spiritual-forged armor design he made for her, Chu Chengzhou explained, "That's not ordinary armor. It's spirit-forged armor—it can be stored in your body and materialize instantly during battle."
"Spirit-forged? Bro, your forging skills leveled up again?"
Xiao Wu's eyes widened. She still remembered a little about the rankings of metal forging—Chu Chengzhou had explained it to her before.
What puzzled her, though, was how his forging had improved again.
He wasn't exactly swinging a hammer all the time. Did this guy's skills level up automatically or something?
"Yeah, I broke through. Come on, Xiao Wu, I'll take your measurements."
As he spoke, Chu Chengzhou pulled out a measuring tape, getting ready to size her up.
"Measurements?"
Hearing that, Xiao Wu blushed.
"Well, it is armor. Gotta make sure it fits. If it doesn't, might as well not wear it at all."
Chu Chengzhou said that with a totally serious face.
Armor needed to fit perfectly. If not, reshaping it later would be a hassle.
"How about... let Rongrong or the others take my measurements instead~"
Xiao Wu said, a little embarrassed.
This whole "taking measurements" thing felt a little fishy!
"No can do. I'm the one forging the armor. I need to know every inch of your size, down to the last detail."
Chu Chengzhou flatly refused.
You kidding me? How could he let someone else have all the fun?
Hmm... later he'd have to take Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing's measurements too. Gotta make them each a set of spirit-forged armor.
Taking advantage? How is that "taking advantage"?
When you live the martial life, danger is around every corner. As a soul master, battle is inevitable. His girlfriend's besties weren't that strong yet—this was all for their safety!
"Okay then, bro... let's go to the room to do it~"
Blushing, Xiao Wu whispered softly.
Something that awkward really wasn't something to do in front of her two close friends.
"Mm."
Chu Chengzhou nodded.
Just what I wanted! If someone else were around, it'd be harder to sneak a little hand action!
Of course, in reality, Chu Chengzhou didn't actually touch Xiao Wu inappropriately. After all, she was basically his childhood fiancée—no way she'd run off. As for a certain mischievous little witch later on... heh.
After noting down all of Xiao Wu's body measurements, Chu Chengzhou headed into the forge.
The three girls, full of curiosity, followed him in.
But instead of crafting the spirit-forged armor or the large bow right away, Chu Chengzhou first pulled out his Thousand-Forged Heavy Silver Hammer.
Now that his forging had reached a new level, it was time to upgrade his primary tools.
After thinking for a moment, Chu Chengzhou also pulled out his Thousand-Forged Heavy Silver Bow.
That bow was basically obsolete now—not gonna be useful anymore. He figured he'd melt it down and use it to boost the weight of his twin silver hammers.
Heavier hammers would let him use his miracle-producing brute-force forging style even better.
Of course, they couldn't be too heavy—too much weight would make them unusable. After melting down the 100-plus-jin bow, the twin silver hammers would weigh in at around 700 jin combined, which was just right.
"Xiao Wu, doesn't your brother use coal for forging?"
Looking around the forge and not seeing any coal or other fuel, Ning Rongrong asked curiously.
Though she wasn't a blacksmith herself, she at least knew that forging required coal to heat the metal.
"My brother stopped using coal ages ago. Last time he made his hammer and silver bow, it was Fatty who provided the fire. This time, I think he's planning to have Little Red handle it?"
Xiao Wu replied uncertainly.
"Fatty provided the fire?"
Ning Rongrong and Zhu Zhuqing glanced at each other, baffled.
Damn, most blacksmiths use coal. But Chu Chengzhou? He uses Ma Hongjun as a living furnace?
Then again, Ma Hongjun's Phoenix Flame did burn way hotter than regular fire.
But to the trio's surprise, Chu Chengzhou didn't summon his Fire Phoenix spirit at all.
He removed the bowstring from the Thousand-Forged Silver Bow. Then, red spirit power flared up around his right hand—the one holding the hammer.
He tapped the body of the silver bow on the forging table with the hammer, pouring in his spirit power.
As the fire-element spirit power continued to flow in, the originally dull-gray silver bow began to shift color before their eyes—slowly turning a deep crimson.