Stepping on the Demoness to become the strongest

Chapter 350: 46: The Last Bus for Fasting

Chapter 350: Chapter 46: The Last Bus for Fasting
 

Anna, Ye Jun, and Li Minghu, that should be the end of it here.

No, there’s still Zhou Hongyu.

Before, if you sent her a message, she’d ignore it and not reply; now she’ll reply to the messages, which shows a significant leap in her favorability towards you, isn’t this the perfect time to contact her more and solidify the relationship?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Are you there?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Missin’ you, Zhou.

It took almost twenty seconds before the other side grudgingly replied.

[Zao La]: Itching for a beating?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Got a question for you.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: How many in your team have cleansed their marrow?

[Zao La]: None of your damn business.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Come on, just asking.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: It’s not like it’s some top-secret matter, our team’s just missing Chen Lingyun before we’re all at the Marrow Cleansing Stage.

[Zao La]: 4.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: So, it’s just Meng Qingxi who’s left out, right?

[Zao La]: Tang Xiaolian.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: What?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: That’s not right, Tang Xiaolian’s aptitude for cultivation is pretty good, isn’t it?

[Zao La]: And you know this how?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: I have a secret technique that can tell.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Her aptitude must be better than Chen Lingyun’s, and Lingyun is almost at the point of full Qi Refinement by now, so what’s her status?

[Zao La]: Can’t resist her piggy cravings, keeps breaking her fast during the Fasting period by sneaking snacks.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: …Joy, I’m getting déjà vu.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: So why haven’t you thought about locking her up where she can’t get to food?

[Zao La]: Brain damaged?

[Zao La]: It’s her own cultivation practice. If I rashly intervene and something goes wrong, will you take responsibility?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: You have a point there.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: But you could mention my suggestion to her, let her decide herself whether to go into seclusion to cultivate Fasting.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: If she’s determined enough to force herself, that’s her choice, not your responsibility.

[Zao La]: Got it.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Don’t dump all team affairs on Little Zhang; you as captain have to take responsibility too.

[Zao La]: Why the hell do you talk so much?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Because I just want to see the look of utter regret on your face, to see you know I’m right but stubbornly refuse to do it, and end up bitterly reaping the consequences.

[Zao La]: I ought to crack open your skull and see if flies laid eggs in there.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Haha, getting angry again.

Yan Yu closed the chat window with Zhou Hongyu, thinking isn’t she refusing to block me up to this extent?

Who exactly is the one with a brain problem?

After playing with the phone for a while, suddenly a new friend request came in.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling].

This nickname is… Tang Xiaolian?

Yan Yu clicked accept, and the other side sent a “Hello Captain Yan,” then started typing questions right away.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: Captain Yan, Captain Zhou told me you suggested that I find a place where I can’t touch food and go into seclusion to practice Fasting?

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: Will it really be helpful?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: The purpose of doing that is to help you reduce the distractions of external temptations.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: If you can’t rid yourself of the need for food and water from both a physical and psychological perspective, you’ll never be able to master the Fasting technique.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: But

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: Sigh, I might as well just tell you directly.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: It’s not because I couldn’t resist the temptation that I broke my fast.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: Mainly, I’m afraid of dying.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Ah?

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: You mustn’t tell anyone about this. I believe in Yan Yu’s reputation as the Longcheng Flying General; he wouldn’t gossip about me.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: Here’s the thing, my family runs a guesthouse on the grasslands near the border of Sangchuan Prefecture. When I was little, my parents went on a long trip and asked a relative to come over to take care of me, to cook for me.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: But that relative, on the way over that morning, unfortunately suffered a stroke and ended up in the hospital in a coma.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: I was very young at the time and was left at home hungry for several days, nearly starved to death… so I understand hunger better than anyone, and I’m afraid of it too.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: So, what you’re saying is, the reason you haven’t mastered the fasting practice isn’t because you can’t control your cravings, but simply because you have a childhood trauma and can’t stand hunger.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Whenever you reach a critical moment in your cultivation, the memories of nearly starving to death as a child come flooding back, causing you tremendous fear and disrupting your spiritual focus.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: Yes, exactly.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: Each time I get far into my cultivation, I start to feel an overwhelming fear, as if I’m struggling on the brink of death.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: The feeling gets stronger and stronger until I can no longer restrain myself, lose all reason, and rush out to find something to eat.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: With your extensive experience, Yan Yu, do you have any good suggestions for my situation?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: I suggest you go home.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: Huh?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Go back to the place that caused your childhood trauma, have your parents leave and stay away for a bit, and take away all the food from home, cut off the water and electricity.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Stay at home by yourself, just like when you were little, embracing the resolve that “if I don’t master fasting, I’ll starve to death,” and challenge the fear of death deep inside you once more.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: Okay, I’m still a bit lacking in confidence.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: If you want a better chance of success, use a Runescript to seal your Dantian.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Then you won’t be able to use spells and will be more like a normal person, which should yield better results.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: Mhm, I understand. It’s about having the courage to burn the boats.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Yes. Look at me, I was one of the first in the country to master the art of fasting. Before that, no one knew how to train for it. What if I trained the wrong way and starved to death before succeeding in fasting? What then?

[Yi De Fu Ren]: Speaking of confidence, Lord Master and I had even less confidence than you at the time. We were completely walking a path no one had ever taken before. For us cultivators, courage is far more important than confidence.

[Miaojiang Maiden Tang Lingling]: I’ll remember that, thank you, Yan Yu.

[Yi De Fu Ren]: I’ll be waiting for your good news.

Yan Yu silently closed the chat window, thinking that Tang Xiaolian’s situation was indeed troublesome.

If cultivation were compared to climbing a mountain, and fasting were the sheer cliff that must be scaled, then her problem would be akin to suffering from acrophobia. For her, this step was naturally much more difficult to overcome than for others.

Moreover, with Zhou Hongyu being such an incompetent team captain, the only person she could probably turn to for help would be the vice-captain, Zhang Huaide.

Ah, you should disillusion yourself about that Captain Zhou sooner, young lady. Being strong inside is stronger than anything.

Yan Yu left the room, planning to go downstairs to watch some TV, when he saw Chen Lingyun also coming out the door.

“I’ve finally reached the pinnacle of the Qi Refinement Stage,” she said with a blooming smile.

“That’s great!” Yan Yu also showed a surprised and delighted expression, “You finally have a chance to stop dragging our team down! Before we officially start practicing fasting, let’s have a little celebration to congratulate you on reaching the pinnacle of the Qi Refinement Stage, how about that?”

“Hehe.” Chen Lingyun smiled, “As long as the speed of the Spiritual Energy Resurgence stays at this level, even if you guys run faster than me, you’ll still have to wait for me to catch up at the limit.”

“That’s true for now, not necessarily later,” Yan Yu replied nonchalantly, “Wait until after reaching the Golden Core Realm, then you’ll know the troubles of lacking in potential.”

“So, is there a way to improve one’s cultivation potential?” Chen Lingyun leaned in close.

“No, don’t know, get lost,” Yan Yu immediately fired off the boyfriend’s triple response, trying to shut down any further questions.

But Chen Lingyun was not deceived. She just gazed at Yan Yu’s eyes, as if trying to see right through his pupils into his soul.

Suddenly, with a sweet voice, she asked:

“Yan Yu, your cultivation potential is actually worse than mine, isn’t it?”

“No comment,” Yan Yu said, keeping a straight face.

“What gave you the ability to cultivate?” Chen Lingyun placed a finger on her lips, showing a charming and seductive smile, “Let me guess…”

“Is it her?”