The steak was cooked just right, incredibly tender.
The sauce on top was thick and rich, making her want to lick the bowl clean.
The fried egg was perfectly runny, and the few green vegetables were refreshing, so Qu Weichen didn’t feel overwhelmed by the meal.
Qu Weichen was a little surprised when she finished eating: Had her appetite really grown this much?
When Qu Weichen finished, Constance glanced at her pocket watch.
“This is the first day.
From now on, meet me in the training room at six every morning.”
“I’ll prepare special meals for you.
After training, you’ll have half an hour to eat or take care of any needs.
Every day at one in the afternoon, you’ll nap, then start afternoon training at two, and keep going until nine at night.”
“I really admire your willpower.
Since such a promising student has landed in my hands, I’ll give it my all to teach you.
You’ve got a long way to go in strength, speed, reflexes, control, and endurance.
Can you feel the qi inside you? Every night, circulate it through your body, let it flow everywhere, and keep making it stronger.”
“So am I a first-rank martial artist now?” Qu Weichen asked.
The girl stood tall, dressed in a clean, sharp uniform.
She looked up as she asked, her eyes shining like stars.
Constance laughed.
“Once you can control your qi and break a wooden dummy with a slap, then you’ll be one.”
Qu Weichen nodded.
Looking at the giant’s muscles in front of her, she couldn’t help but think: Some races are just born strong— even if they’re not martial artists, they could break a wooden dummy with a slap.
So, those people who have the strength of a first-rank martial artist but haven’t awakened yet… are they martial artists? [They’re ordinary people,] Number Nine said, [Ordinary people with incredible strength! There are also ordinary people as fast as the wind, clever ordinary people, and tough-skinned ordinary people.] [Martial artists and mages are both professional talents! You have to awaken to be one!] As soon as Number Nine said that, Qu Weichen understood.
“So do I still need to learn magic?” Even though she was a necromancer and couldn’t learn magic, she still had to ask.
Qu Weichen thought, a fourteen-year-old girl who’s never been to the city should be full of fantasies about the magical world, right? She didn’t want to give anything away.
Constance paused, remembering what the temple master wanted her to ask.
She said, “Let me test you.
Do you know how many ranks there are for mages, how many magic elements there are in Fuyu, who the most powerful archmage is right now, and what the academy in Uvino is called?” “I don’t know.” Qu Weichen answered carefully.
It made sense for a refugee from a remote village to know nothing.
“There’s no association in our village, and no mages have ever been there.”
“Oh, right.” Constance quickly thought of another question.
“Can you read?” “Yes.” Qu Weichen answered honestly.
“My mother taught me.”
“Good, then don’t worry, you’ll learn everything later.” Constance patted Qu Weichen’s shoulder, satisfied.
“Come on, let’s go to the training ground.
Run five laps around the courtyard outside the training room.
We’ll start training after that.”
Five laps?! Qu Weichen wasn’t sure if her body could handle it— oh, but she’d survived nine rounds of body tempering, so her constitution should be much better.
Five laps shouldn’t be a problem.
“It’s your first day, so it’s better to take it step by step.
After a few more days of eating magic beast meat, you’ll be able to run ten laps a day.” Constance didn’t think there was anything wrong with her plan.
She pressed Qu Weichen’s shoulder and pushed her ahead, leading her straight to the training ground.
Once Qu Weichen started running, Constance took out her notebook and carefully wrote down the Q&A session and Qu Weichen’s performance.
“Refugee… she really does look like a refugee, the way she ate those two pieces of magic beast meat like she’d never had meat before.” Constance remembered how Qu Weichen’s eyes lit up while eating and wrote that down too.
She wasn’t stupid— she could tell the temple master seemed to be testing Qu Weichen, or maybe wanted to find out some secret from her? But Constance thought that was normal.
Anyone who recruited a martial artist who’d awakened after nine rounds of body tempering would want to investigate every detail of their life from birth until now.
Five laps.
For the first time, Qu Weichen felt her body was so light and powerful.
She adjusted her breathing and kept a steady pace, only starting to feel tired on the third lap.
After five laps, she didn’t feel as out of breath as she’d expected.
She could still stand, talk, and even felt like she could run two more laps.
Was this the result of body tempering? The process of surviving nine rounds was painful, but if it brought this kind of improvement… Qu Weichen was satisfied.
She hadn’t noticed any extra muscle when she bathed earlier, so she thought the improvement wasn’t obvious.
She didn’t expect the changes to show up exactly where she needed them.
Catching her breath, Qu Weichen stood in front of Constance again.
The giant nodded at her.
“Come on, throw a few punches at the wooden dummy.
I’ll correct your force and posture.”
Qu Weichen had never had any training.
As for hunting… she was used to climbing trees for bird eggs, catching wild chickens in the fields, or finding rabbit holes, but she’d never fought a large magic beast.
Yeah, if she had, she probably wouldn’t even have a box of five pounds left of herself.
Looking at the wooden dummy in front of her, Constance told her to throw a few punches.
Qu Weichen honestly didn’t know how to start.
She hesitated for a moment, then could only punch the way she’d lunged at the weak skeleton that night— no technique, just all her strength.
“Stop, your angle’s wrong.” Constance called out, and Qu Weichen stopped.
The giant woman patiently adjusted her posture, then demonstrated herself, casually throwing a punch that made the air whistle.
“See? Your stance needs to be stable, use your waist, get your whole body into it, and go for that instant burst of power— not just throw your fist straight out.”
“Like this, pull back a little, then punch.”
“Stability doesn’t mean you stand still in a fight, you need to move too.
Watch my footwork.”
…
Qu Weichen learned quickly and remembered well.
As soon as Constance spoke, she’d stop and adjust, and wouldn’t make the same mistake again.
When Constance stopped correcting her, she threw a few hard punches with the new technique, stepping back every two punches, dodging left and right, trying to absorb everything.
“Good, I’ll give you two books later.
Read them carefully when you get back.” Constance crossed her arms, watching Qu Weichen practice.
Practicing on a wooden dummy wasn’t as good as sparring with a real person, but Qu Weichen was still too weak.
Constance was afraid she wouldn’t be able to hold back if she sparred with her.
If she hurt Qu Weichen, she’d have to pay for the treatment herself— even as captain of the guards, her money didn’t grow on trees.
She frowned, thinking if there were any new recruits in the guard close to Qu Weichen’s age and strength, but then realized the Prison Temple’s guard hadn’t expanded in ages.
As for the prison army? She couldn’t order them around.
Relatives… they were far away.
So maybe a friend or a friend’s kid? Constance seriously thought about her social network, pondering as she watched Qu Weichen practice.
“Raise your arms! If you’re tired, rest a bit, but don’t slack off.”
“With those soft punches, what could you possibly hit?” A slightly tired Qu Weichen blushed at the scolding, gritted her teeth, and threw a hard punch, making the wooden post tremble.
Clearly, this wooden dummy wasn’t made of ordinary wood— it was so sturdy… [Well, it’s a fantasy world,] Number Nine said, [This wood is called stone-iron wood, famous for its toughness.
You can even build houses with it.] A first-rank martial artist could knock down a house with one punch? Qu Weichen was a little stunned.
[Ordinary houses, sure, but it depends on the material.
Didn’t your village have regular wooden huts?] Fine.
Qu Weichen pulled herself together, stopped, and shook out her sore arms. Her knuckles were red, but at least the skin wasn’t broken.
After about five minutes, Qu Weichen started punching again.
Getting to practice here, with Constance even coaching her on the side— who would waste such a good opportunity by slacking off?
She wanted to get stronger!
Only by getting stronger could she protect herself, take revenge, and rip off those damned undead knights’ heads and snuff out their soul flames.
…
Dragging her exhausted body back to her room, Qu Weichen rested at the training ground door for a long time— otherwise, she might have had to crawl back… no, she didn’t even have the strength to crawl.
Hot water poured over her in the shower.
If she hadn’t bumped into the cold tile and woken up, Qu Weichen would have fallen asleep right there.
She was just too tired.
She’d never trained like this before, and suddenly doing so much at once… it was brutal.
But did she regret it? Not at all.
Qu Weichen only hated that she wasn’t tough enough, that she couldn’t train even harder.
For some reason, even though she was exhausted, she couldn’t fall asleep once she lay down.
She’d only come to Uvino to buy an awakening potion, but ended up running into the opening of the Gates of Hell again.
Then she was chased by a centaur skeleton, summoned a skeleton to save her life at the last second, and just before being caught, was rescued by people from the Prison Temple.
And the temple master was a young, beautiful, gentle woman?
It was impossible not to be afraid of the temple master— Qu Weichen felt she was suspicious of her.
She couldn’t be sure what the temple master had seen or sensed, but after all the tests, her necromancer class hadn’t been exposed.
No, thinking about it differently, the temple master’s attitude toward her was odd.
If she really suspected Qu Weichen was a necromancer, she wouldn’t bother with all these tests— she’d just kill her outright, right?
A fourteen-year-old refugee from a remote village, orphaned? The temple master of the Prison Temple had no reason to go to all this trouble.
The more she thought about it, the stranger it seemed… but this strangeness was in Qu Weichen’s favor.
“Nine rounds of body tempering and awakening… I’ve already shown my potential and value.” That’s what Qu Weichen thought.
The temple master hadn’t come to see her, but judging by Constance’s attitude, she seemed satisfied with her too.
“I need to master ‘qi’ quickly and reach true first rank.”
