The most painful thing for a steamed bun is being turned into a plump, white steamed bun; this is its eternal pain!
Baozi was silent for a moment, then bravely spoke up: "Hehe, Master, if a man cultivates the Nine Heavens World-Shaking Technique, he will indeed become neither male nor female, just like that Fourth Prince! But, Master, you are a woman! You will only become more beautiful..."
"Bang!" Stone, wielding a large hammer, smashed it down hard on Baozi: "Is this pretty? This is clearly a submissive character, and a tsundere one at that!"
Chapter 173 Dior's Implementation Plan
Despite feeling extremely uncomfortable with her arrogant and submissive appearance, Stone had no choice but to accept it.
Although Baozi had some things to hide, after personally experiencing the effects of the Nine Heavens Shocking Technique, Shi Tou felt that even if she were given another chance to choose, she would still choose to cultivate this technique.
With a sigh, Shi Tou had no choice but to take out some cosmetics that Huo Xiaoxiao had given her before. No matter the world, women love beauty. Shi Tou had never worn makeup before, relying on her youth, but now she had no choice.
"Huh? Master drew such an ugly picture! Oh my god, so that thing is used to disfigure people!" Baozi was afraid that Stone would turn it into a meat patty again, so it simply remained in the form of a black diamond. Anyway, black diamonds are hard enough that even if Stone had a big hammer, it wouldn't be able to hurt it at all.
Stone stared at himself in the mirror, then scooped a huge dollop of face oil from his makeup box. In reality, this otherworldly face oil was essentially the same as BB cream from Stone's previous life. It could be used to conceal blemishes and make the skin appear smoother.
However, similarly, applying a large amount of BB cream would absolutely ruin one's appearance. Moreover, Shi Tou's skin was already quite fair, and after cultivating the Nine Heavens Astounding Technique, it became even more translucent and radiant. This application made Shi Tou appear darker and more yellowish.
"Not bad, not bad." Stone was very confident in his makeup skills. Putting everything else aside, making oneself look good is quite difficult, but isn't it easy to turn oneself into an ugly monster?
After finishing her makeup, Shi Tou changed into the uniform of the Imperial Capital Academy. To be honest, she had a lot of complaints about this uniform.
Imperial Capital Academy has two types of uniforms. One is for students of the Magic Department, and the other is for students of the Martial Arts Department. The design concepts of the two uniforms are completely different.
The Magic Department's uniform is silver-white, made of a smooth, white fabric that is spacious and comfortable, with all the seams embroidered with silver thread. The upper part of the uniform is also embroidered with an exquisitely beautiful school emblem. The emblem of the Magic Department is a magic wand, shrouded in swirling smoke, giving the entire uniform an exceptionally elegant air.
The Martial Arts Branch, however, was in a much worse situation. Stone stared at his dark, drab uniform, filled with resentment. First, the uniform was black; second, the fabric was rough. The texture felt somewhat like the denim from Stone's previous life. In short, it was dirt-resistant and durable. The uniform also had a badge, but the Martial Arts Branch's badge was rather pathetic—a sword and a knife that, at first glance, looked like a large X crossed out on the chest.
"Why do I feel like everything's going wrong ever since I transmigrated?" Shi Tou straightened his academy uniform and resignedly put on his leather boots. These were also issued by the Martial Arts Department. Compared to the soft and delicate cloth shoes of the Magic Department, all the students in the Martial Arts Department could only wear these smelly and stiff leather boots.
Picking the bun up from the ground, Stone decisively pressed it onto the ring holder on his hand, muttering to himself, "I wonder if Little Milk missed me?"
The weather looked fine. Stone couldn't wait to go to school tomorrow, so he immediately told the steward to prepare the carriage and excitedly headed to the Imperial Academy.
On the training field, Dio looked at the little rascals who had been training for two months and finally smiled: "Hmm, it seems we need to increase the intensity of the training from now on."
Upon hearing this, the idiots collectively broke down.
What Shi Tou didn't know was that the first few days of school were just a warm-up. The real training officially began a month later. However, by then, Shi Tou had already gone into seclusion to cultivate.
The formal training was quite simple: a run every morning, not far, only about 10,000 meters. After the run, there was a short rest, then lunch, followed by a two-hour lunch break at the Qi Clan Academy. But after the lunch break, the real torture began.
Punch on a scarecrow with your fists. Don't mistake it for a real scarecrow; it's equipped with a protective shield, guaranteeing your hands will swell after an hour of pounding. What to do when they're swollen? No problem, you can start practicing frog jumps and horse stance, since neither of these requires your hands.
After dinner, even more exciting activities awaited the little ones. PK, that's right, PK! There are solo, duo, team, and free-for-all games. If you can imagine it, Dior can make it.
When Stone arrived at the training field, the little rascals were just starting their practice of beating the scarecrow. Dio had already told them that the training intensity would increase starting tomorrow. The morning 10,000-meter run had been changed to 12,000 meters, and if they didn't finish, they wouldn't have to eat or rest at noon. The afternoon scarecrow beating exercise had its protective shield strengthened; the next training session would only begin when the scarecrow was knocked down.
Of course, the training will continue as usual. If you don't have enough time, you can choose to sleep a little less...
"Hi everyone, I'm back! Little Milk, did you miss me?" Stone jumped right in front of the little rascals, and walked straight to Issa Terunsu's side, giving the poor child a bright smile.
Issa Terunsu was pounding the scarecrow with all his might when he saw the stone and froze.
"Huh? What's this? Aren't you running or fighting anymore? Oh, are you trying to knock down the scarecrow? No problem, I'll help you!" Stone swung his fist and slammed it hard into the scarecrow's lower abdomen.
Well, it's not that Shi Tou is creepy, it's just that she's short. You see, the scarecrows used in the training are all standardized, meaning they're the height of an adult. Shi Tou is already quite short, and considering she's only 11 years old, a flat punch from her...
Issa Terunsu's legs suddenly tightened, feeling a chill run from his feet straight to his head. Why, after pounding on it for over half an hour, had the protective shield only thinned slightly? But with one punch from Shi Tou, the shield cracked instantly. Even worse, that girl had hit that very spot…
"Huo Yi!" Dio's voice rang out from nearby: "Come here, you're in charge of knocking down this scarecrow!"
Stone turned around at the sound, smiled, and walked to the scarecrow Dio had pointed to. Without saying a word, he circled it once. Of course, the spot remained the same.
Faced with the collective gasps of her classmates, Stone looked completely bewildered. She had no idea, of course, that the scarecrow she was using was different from the others. The one in front of her was the one Dio had specially brought that afternoon to scare the little rascals. With its two layers of protective shield, the little rascals, given their current strength, would absolutely not be able to break through it in less than two hours.
However, even with such a powerful protective shield, the stone managed to...
Although he was a bit sneaky, he was incredibly strong!
This is the collective sentiment of the slackers in Class 6 of the freshmen. Luckily, Stone doesn't know what they're thinking, otherwise she'd definitely go crazy. Um, where is she being creepy? Being short has absolutely nothing to do with being creepy!
"Huo Yi, you've taken two months off, wasting a lot of time. But I think your attack power is quite good. How about this, you run ten laps around the training ground, and I'll time it for you." Dio looked at Shi Tou, pondered for a while, and finally gave Shi Tou a test.
Stone didn't care and started running without saying a word.
One lap around the training track is exactly one kilometer, so running ten laps is ten thousand meters. This event, which could kill countless people in her past life, is a very common sport in this world. In her past life, Shi Tou clearly remembers that her physical education final exam in college involved running one kilometer, and back then she would have been completely exhausted. But now?
After easily completing a lap, Shi Tou began to slowly regulate her breathing. There was no way around it; in her previous life, her long-distance running performance had always been at the bottom. To help her pass the exams, her physical education teacher had spent a lot of time teaching her how to run. The most important aspect of that was breathing.
Dio frowned, but his gaze remained fixed on the stone's figure. This little girl had truly given him a profound shock.
Dio knew very well that he was teaching the infamous "garbage class" this year. The students in the Qi Academy weren't particularly talented to begin with, and since he was teaching a "garbage class," he absolutely looked down on them from the bottom of his heart.
And Stone was the lowest of the low among the scum he looked down on.
There was nothing he could do; after all, Stone hadn't gotten in based on her own merit. Although family background and luck were both factors of ability, Dio, who had been born into poverty, looked down on aristocratic young ladies like Stone the most.
However, even Dio, who always considered himself to have a discerning eye, hadn't expected that the second young lady of the Huo family, the girl who was always called a good-for-nothing, would have such good physical abilities. For example, during the first lesson, the seemingly delicate Stone was able to swing a heavy iron sledgehammer weighing at least several dozen kilograms. From that moment on, Dio's opinion of Stone changed.
But this didn't last long. Not long after, Dio received news that the Huo family had asked for Stone to take leave. At that moment, Dio truly sighed deeply. He thought that young ladies from aristocratic families ultimately couldn't endure hardship. In fact, he hadn't taken the Huo family's explanation of Stone's leave for secluded cultivation seriously at all. However, he hadn't expected that Stone would make such great progress in just two months.
He blasted through two layers of protective shields with a single punch.
Dio sighed silently. Stone now had at least the strength of a two-star battle qi master. It seemed that he could finally carry out that plan.
☆, Chapter 174: Becoming a Master - The Wolf Fang Club
Stone didn't know what had happened; she only knew one thing: it seemed that Dio's attitude towards her had clearly changed since she came out of seclusion.
Putting everything else aside, while other students were desperately trying all sorts of ridiculous methods to train their bodies, Dior had already given her special instruction.
Indeed, the Nine Heavens Astounding Technique is extremely powerful, but don't forget, it's an internal energy cultivation technique. Its main function is to temper the body, exponentially increasing its resistance to impact. Additionally, it enhances flexibility and improves coordination.
However, this illustrates that while the physical body is extremely important for a martial arts master, techniques are equally crucial. It's like a cannon; what good is a powerful cannon shaft alone? It still needs cannonballs, doesn't it?
Of course, this analogy is somewhat brutal, but it truly captures the essence of the matter. Even though the stone possesses a perfect body, it will achieve nothing if it doesn't learn the correct methods for using its fighting spirit.
“Normally, freshmen classes in the Battle Qi Academy don’t teach how to use Battle Qi. Of course, you’re an exception, because I’ve discovered that high-intensity training is no longer effective for you.” Dio led Stone to an indoor training room.
"Are you going to teach me something new?" Curiously looking around, Shi Tou was surprised to find that there was an extremely hard protective shield inside this indoor training room. After quietly calculating, Shi Tou felt that with her current strength, she definitely couldn't break through it within an hour.
What Stone didn't know was that this protective shield existed since ancient times. Unlike ordinary protective shields, this one automatically replenished its energy. Given Stone's current attack power, without the shield replenishing its energy, it would take about an hour and a half to break. However, if the shield started replenishing its energy, unfortunately, even a nine-star Dou Qi master would likely have to put in some effort to break it.
Dio gave the stone a deep look: "Huo Yi, would you be willing to be my disciple?"
What?!
Stone was shocked. What on earth was this? Stone felt a deep sense of déjà vu between himself and this guy: "Heh, Professor Dior, aren't I your student?"
“A student is a student. A disciple is a disciple.” Dio stared intently at the stone. “Just answer whether you are willing or not.”
Stone scratched her head, really wanting to brush it off. But when she looked up and saw Dior's deep eyes, for some reason, she inexplicably nodded and agreed: "Well... okay."
"Kneel down!" Dio shouted.
Stone paused for a moment, then sighed, "So be it, I'm not a real man anyway, I don't have any gold on my knees." He said, "Master, please accept my bow!" Since he was already kneeling, Stone didn't mind performing a full salute.
"What nonsense is this?" Dio looked at the stone speechlessly. "Kneel properly. Don't move!"
Stone knelt obediently, his eyes fixed on Dio. *Damn it, if you don't give me a red envelope later, this princess will definitely blast you to pieces with one cannon!*
"drink!"
Just as Stone was lost in thought, Dio shouted. Stone's vision went black.
The endless darkness instantly shut down Stone's brain. What?! She'd transmigrated again? Good heavens, please don't be so dramatic!
Wait, wasn't she just with Dio? What did they talk about? Taking on a disciple? Damn it, that bastard wouldn't have tried to poison me, would he?
Suddenly, Stone noticed a glimmer of light in the darkness. Her eyes widened as she stared at the source of the light. The light slowly approached Stone, growing closer and brighter…
"Ah!" Stone suddenly cried out, her head throbbing. She felt like her brain was a complete mess, as if something was desperately trying to stuff it inside. That's right, this feeling was so familiar, as if she had experienced it before.
He gritted his teeth and persevered, while still trying to recall the events in his mind. Soon after, Stone finally remembered.
"You damned bun, come out here for me!" Even Stone didn't know if he actually said those words or just squeezed them out of his head.
"Giggle, Master! This time it's not Baozi, it's that guy named Dio! But Master, he doesn't mean you any harm. You just need to obediently accept the memories!"
Baozi's voice still echoed in Shitou's mind, but Shitou vaguely felt that Baozi's voice sounded very strange today, as if his neck was being squeezed.
But it just said it accepted memories... Yes, this clearly means someone forcibly stuffed memories into her brain.
Damn it! She doesn't want those random memories!
"Huff..." She didn't know how much time had passed before Shi Tou finally woke up from the darkness. Before she could even see her surroundings clearly, she collapsed to the ground, panting like a dead dog.
"Hehe, not bad, I thought you were going to faint right away! It seems that, just like the rumors say, the descendants of the six great families of the East are protected by the gods." Dio's voice rang out above the stone's head.
Shi Tou really wanted to jump up and beat him up, but she couldn't. She had no strength left at all. She didn't even have the strength to curse at him, let alone beat him up.
"Huo Yi, you must remember, you are my disciple, Dio's only disciple. Although our lineage does not have the power of the six great families of the East, I can tell you that our lineage has been passed down for ten thousand years. It is absolutely incomparable to the nouveau riche families of the East who have only been around for a few hundred years."
Get the hell out of here, you're the nouveau riche!
Shi Tou was furious. In her past life, whenever her country introduced itself to the outside world, it would always begin with: "Our country has a history and culture of five thousand years..."
Although at the time, Shi Tou didn't think it was a big deal to constantly talk about her ancestors, now she was furious! So what if you have a ten-thousand-year history? Who's even heard of your family now?
"Hehe, Huo Yi, you don't need to be angry. You don't fully understand the history of our lineage yet. When you fully comprehend the memories in your mind, you will know that everything I said is true, without the slightest falsehood." Dio naturally saw the dissatisfaction on Stone's face and explained.
After lying on the ground for a while, Stone finally got up weakly: "Teacher Dior..."
"No, you can't call me teacher anymore, you have to call me Master," Dio corrected decisively.
Damn master, what do you have that deserves our respect?!
Although he was inwardly complaining, Stone still called out, "Master, where's the red envelope?" He did call out, but his tone and the content of his message were anything but polite.