174: Physical Training

Su Hongling sat down with complete disregard for weight.

Su Lin felt as if a great mountain had been pressed onto his stomach, crushing his internal organs together.

But this girl was clearly oblivious. She sat cross-legged on Su Lin's abdomen, arms crossed over her chest, looking down to admire the bite mark that was still oozing blood.

"Old Man, does it hurt?" she asked, tilting her head.

"It hurts," Su Lin said truthfully.

"It's supposed to hurt," Su Hongling grinned, revealing a small canine tooth stained with blood, and reached out to press firmly on the bite mark.

"Hiss!" Su Lin gasped in pain again.

"Only if it hurts will you remember."

Her fingers didn't move away, but instead circled around the wound.

"For these past one hundred years, every time I thought of you, my body would hurt."

The smile on her face slowly faded, replaced by a stubborn seriousness.

"Sometimes it was from being bitten by a Yao Beast, sometimes it was from a Qi deviation during training, and sometimes..." She pointed to her own chest.

"It was here that hurt."

"I couldn't find you, and I thought you were dead. That kind of pain was worse than having my bones broken."

She leaned down, her dirty little face almost touching the tip of Su Lin's nose, her breath carrying a scorching, bloody aura.

"So, I want to make you hurt too."

"Only when it hurts is it real. Only when it hurts will you stop treating me like that little girl who only knew how to follow behind you begging for candy."

Su Lin looked at her. His heart softened, and he was just about to say a few comforting words.

"But!" Su Hongling's demeanor shifted abruptly. She sat up straight and angrily slapped Su Lin's thigh.

"You are too weak right now! Your body is as fragile as paper! I didn't even dare to use my full strength just now, for fear of biting your neck off!"

She pinched Su Lin's arm with disdain.

"No muscle, just soft and squishy. How will this do? If I take you out later, others will think I, Su Hongling, found myself a pretty boy!"

"..." Su Lin swallowed the words of being moved that had just reached his lips.

"So, I've decided!" Su Hongling clenched her fists, flames of determination igniting in her eyes.

"Starting today, I'm going to give you special training!"

"Special training?" Su Lin had a bad premonition.

"Yes! Body Cultivator special training!"

Su Hongling gestured excitedly, "Every day you'll collide with me three thousand times, use your Physical Body to crash into mountains, and take baths in lava! Don't worry, I'll control my strength and guarantee I'll train you to be just like me—with skin of bronze and bones of iron, impervious to blades and spears!"

Su Lin looked at her enthusiastic appearance and felt his vision go dark.

Colliding with a Mahayana Stage Body Cultivator?

That wasn't called special training; that was called suicide-by-collision.

"Hong Ling, your master cultivates the Dao of Law, not the Physical Body..."

"Law, my foot! You can barely even protect yourself right now!"

Su Hongling wouldn't listen to any explanations and domineeringly cut Su Lin off.

"Besides, this lousy ribbon on you..."

She looked down at the entanglement ribbon that was still tightly binding Su Lin's hands, a flash of irritation in her eyes.

"Things from that insidious woman, the third one, are just annoying to look at!"

"Break for me!"

She didn't use her hands to untie it, nor did she use her great sword to cut it.

She simply lowered her head, opened her mouth, and bit down on the moon-white ribbon that shimmered with flowing light.

"Clang!" Her teeth collided with the Magic Treasure, producing the sound of metal striking metal.

This entanglement ribbon was a Lifebound Treasure refined by Chu Weiwei using ten-thousand-year ice silkworm silk mixed with her own blood essence. It was incredibly tough, impervious to water and fire, and even an Integration Stage Cultivator would find it difficult to break free if bound by it.

But in front of Su Hongling's pearly whites, which were capable of biting through the Void Realm, it still appeared somewhat fragile.

"Mmph... mmmph..." A low growl, like a beast tearing at its prey, emanated from Su Hongling's throat. Her cheeks puffed out, and the veins on her neck stood out.

The Law of Strength erupted between her teeth.

"Snap!!!" A crisp sound rang out.

That incredibly tough ribbon had actually been bitten in two by her!

The moment it snapped, the spiritual energy attached to the ribbon exploded, bruising the corners of Su Hongling's mouth, but she didn't care at all.

"Ptui!" She spat out the remnants of the ribbon from her mouth and looked at Su Lin with a triumphant expression.

"Does this kind of trash think it can trap my person?"

Su Lin regained his freedom and flexed his somewhat stiff wrists.

Before he could even sit up, Su Hongling pressed down on him again.

This time, she wasn't sitting; she lay her entire body down.

Like a heavy, scalding hot iron plate, she covered Su Lin seamlessly.

"Cold," she said, her voice muffled as she buried her face in the crook of Su Lin's neck, pressing right against the fresh bite mark.

"This is a snowy mountain; it's too cold. And you, Old Man, have no warmth in your body."

"So, I'm going to warm you up."

As she spoke, the Qi and blood within her body began to circulate wildly.

"Boom!" Su Lin felt as if he wasn't holding a person, but an erupting active volcano.

Scalding! This heat wasn't the burning of flames, but the high temperature emitted by pure, extremely vigorous life essence.

The surrounding cold air was instantly distorted, and the ice rock beneath them began to sizzle and actually started to melt.

Steam rose up, enveloping the two of them in a white mist.

"Hong Ling... it's too hot..." Su Lin's forehead broke out in a sweat, and he tried to push her away, but her arms were like they had been welded onto him, not moving an inch.

"It's not hot! It's just right!"

Su Hongling stubbornly tightened her arms, and her legs wrapped tightly around Su Lin's legs like vines.

"Back in the winter, you used to hold me like this to keep warm too."

"That was when you were a child! And that was when we were camping outside in the winter!"

"It's winter now too! And we're camping outside!"

Su Hongling raised her head, her flushed little face full of righteous indignation, with a hint of undetectable craftiness.

"Besides, I'm grown up now; my internal heat is stronger, and I'm even better at warming the bed!"

"Old Man, you are not allowed to move."

She flashed her small canine teeth threateningly and lightly tapped Su Lin's chin.

"If you dare to push me away, I will..."

Her eyes darted, and her gaze landed on Su Lin's bitten Adam's apple.

"I'll bite you again, on the left side this time, to make a pair!"

Su Lin's hand froze in mid-air, and finally, he helplessly lowered it, placing it on her scalding back.

"...Suit yourself."

Having received his tacit approval, Su Hongling let out a satisfied purr.

She nuzzled against Su Lin's neck like a big cat that had found the most comfortable nest. The arrogant and domineering air from before slowly faded away, and her eyelids began to droop.

After the previous great battle and the consumption from repairing the boundary wall, even a Mahayana Stage Body Cultivator was truly exhausted.

"Old Man..." Her voice became slurred, heavy with sleepiness.

"Hmm?"

"In the future... you are not allowed to self-detonate again..."

"If you dare to leave me behind again... I will smash the sky to pieces... I will overturn the Underworld... I will drag you back... lock you in a cage... and feed you braised pork every single day..."

"..." Su Lin listened to this "confession" filled with violent aesthetics, but his heart was filled with softness.

He gently patted her back, feeling the earth-shattering power contained within that petite body, which was now entrusted to him without any defenses.

"Okay," he replied softly.

"I won't self-detonate again."

The breathing in his arms gradually became even and long.

Su Hongling had fallen asleep.

But even in her sleep, her hands still gripped Su Lin's lapels tightly, as if she feared that if she let go, the person before her would turn into light and disappear, just like a hundred years ago.