"Brother, just wait for me here. I'll get some water for you," Christina thoughtfully said to David.
"Mm..." David listlessly responded.
Still chained with 100 kg of iron weights per the coach's orders, he had no desire to move a muscle.
Christina went to the riverside where many people had gathered, leaning over the bank cupping water to drink, making loud gulping noises.
The air was filled with the smell of mud mixed with sweat. The sun blistered down on the open riverbank.
After the 10 km weighted run, everyone was drenched in sweat, clothes soaked through.
Christina frowned, not going straight into the river for water, but looking around for a cleaner source.
"You're Christina? David's sister?" a voice suddenly called out from upstream.
Lawrence emerged from the woods, eyes fixed intensely on Christina. He had clearly followed her here.
"Can I help you?" Christina had noticed him already, tossing the cold question over her shoulder without turning.
"Nothing really. Just looking for cleaner water like you," Lawrence casually replied.
Christina said nothing more, but went to the creek, kneeling to cup water in her hands and drink.
Suddenly, Lawrence crept up silently behind her.
"Hm?" Christina halted her actions, glancing back with her peripheral vision.
"You were running so fast earlier. You must have cheated," Lawrence blurted out inexplicably.
"How else could someone your age outrun me!"
"Let me examine your gear!"
Lawrence's eyes turned cold as he lunged at Christina, grabbing the iron chains she wore as weights.
Clang!
The chains rang out crisply, feeling heavy in his hand. Just that slight lift let him gauge the weight as approximately the same as what he carried.
"Impossible. You're only ten. How could you bear chains this heavy and still outrun me!"
Sensing the truth, Lawrence's pupils contracted violently, teeth gnashing as his face twisted in distortion.
"I've never lost before. Never. Tell me how you cheated!"
"Hey, you spilled the water I got for my brother," Christina said coolly, displeased.
"I don't care about your brother. Cheaters deserve to die. Come on, let me expose your lies!" Lawrence's eyes showed madness as he still gripped Christina's chains and violently shoved her into the water.
Splash!
Caught off guard, Christina's head was submerged, bubbles surfacing around her.
"Go on, fight back. Prove you really have the strength to best me physically!" Lawrence cackled manically, eyes bulging as he held Christina underwater.
"If you can't resist me, it just shows you're nothing special. You must have cheated to beat me. Killing you would be justified!"
Yet Christina did not struggle, her body relaxed as she allowed him to keep her head submerged, long silver-white hair fanning out in the river like rich milk.
Lost in his madness, Lawrence reveled in his violence.
But after some time, he noticed the girl below had gone silent.
Christina lay limp at the river's edge, unmoving. Lawrence's pressing hand no longer needed much force.
"Dead?" Lawrence's eyes narrowed slightly, "That quickly?"
"Hahaha, pathetic. I knew it, you're a despicable cheater, hahahaha..." Lawrence cackled to the sky.
"Your brother must be a cheater like you too, right? I hate useless trash like you the most, winning through cheating!" He leaned in and whispered lightly.
However, just then--
Hiss!
Christina, who was submerged in the water, suddenly erupted upwards, breaking free of restraints. Her body spun mid-air, wet silver hair swirling in a vortex as water sprayed everywhere.
In a flash, her hand shot out, swinging back to strike Lawrence.
"You!!" Taken aback, Lawrence reflexively raised his right arm to block.
But Christina moved with extreme speed, fingers aligned as she used her sharp nails to attack three times in succession.
Hiss, hiss, hiss!
Like a wild beast, she tore through the air leaving afterimages. Where her strikes landed on Lawrence's elbow, they left gash after gash.
The final blow was especially vicious. Taking advantage of Lawrence's pained block, Christina leapt forward right up against him and clawed his face.
"Ahhh!" Lawrence screamed as his face was shredded, horrible wounds appearing.
"Damn you, bitch! How dare you scratch my face!" Lawrence cursed, enduring the pain as he charged to counterattack.
With his 1.7 meter height facing a 10-year-old girl, it should have been easy.
But Christina was nimbler, simply sidestepping away.
As she dodged, she slapped Lawrence's back, changing her arm's attack form mid-swing to wrap around his neck.
Crack!
With just a slight exertion of strength from Christina, Lawrence's face flushed red as he collapsed powerlessly to his knees.
"You really are weak," she said coldly.
"But since you threatened my brother, be more careful in your next life."
Christina's amber eyes slowly widened, revealing feral madness. A flush of excitement suddenly colored her young face as she steeled herself to kill this man here!
"Mercy..." Lawrence finally realized she was serious but his body was already powerless, unable to resist at all. He couldn't even vocalize his pleas.
With just a bit more force from Christina, Lawrence would undoubtedly die.
But just then, footsteps sounded from the woods.
"Ugh, downstream is so dirty from those rude people. Let's get some clean water to drink too!"
Christina's senses were sharp. Realizing people were coming, she slowly loosened her stranglehold and ultimately chose to release Lawrence.
"Cough, cough, cough!" Lawrence knelt on the ground hacking violently.
Christina paid him no more attention, simply washing her hands carefully before scooping up some clean water and heading back alone.
...
"You washed your hair?" David asked in surprise after drinking the water, seeing Christina's wet head.
By now, he had regained some strength and was seated under a tree.
"I guess so," Christina didn't explain what had happened.
Before long, the 20 minute break ended and people continued trickling in at the finish line.
"Time's up, everyone gather around here!" the coach yelled loudly from the front.
At his command, people started moving, automatically forming a large circle centered around the coach.
"Are you tired?" the coach stood in the middle of the crowd, hands on hips, asking severely.
Some students nodded below.
"Damn right I'm tired!" a burly man scratched his sweaty head and answered loudly, eliciting laughter.
The coach also laughed, "Being tired is good, that's the path of cultivation!"
He put his hands behind his back, pacing back and forth:
"All of you here are at the Initiation level of cultivators, already outstanding among ordinary people. But do you really understand what Initiation means?"
"It means we'll become stronger and more agile. Our physical fitness is about 5 times that of normal people!" a female student in purple cultivator robes raised her voice to answer.
The coach nodded, "Correct. You're far superior to ordinary people, but that's just the surface. We need to understand what power drives us!"
"Spiritual energy!"
"Magic!"
"Life force..."
The students below guessed back and forth.
The coach raised his hand to pause them and summarized, "Whatever it is, it makes us stronger!"
"Initiation signifies foundational utilization of this power. Our bodies absorb spiritual energy, digest it into usable strength, integrating it into our five viscera and six bowels, enhancing our physique!"
"So what we must do is repeatedly temper this body!" He slapped his chest.
"When we're extremely tired, our bodies enter a relaxed and hungry state."
"That's when it's time to guide the spiritual energy to flush through our bodies!"
The coach simply lectured on the principles of Initiation, broadening many disciples' horizons.
Next he put his palms together and calmly said, "Now I'll teach you all a 'breathing technique'!"
"First close your eyes, feel your true self through your breath, observe the flow of spiritual energy within, and find its focal point in your body..."
The students listened and sat cross-legged, closing their eyes and breathing hard, trying to find the sensation the coach described.
After a while, a young man with a goatee suddenly exclaimed, "Ah, I found it! Is it below the navel? I feel it's hot there!"
The coach nodded approvingly, "Very good, you have some talent!"
But a student nearby with dark skin anxiously asked, "What spiritual energy? I don't feel anything!"
Another burly man also said frantically, "I can't even breathe right. How are you all doing this?"
Many who already had some prior knowledge easily located the "origin point" of spiritual energy within, entering a deep meditative state of cultivation upon brief guidance, feeling the growth that came after fatigue.
"Doesn't seem that hard," David didn't close his eyes or consciously feel his breath.
With just a thought, the "origin point" below his navel churned wildly. The spiritual energy even formed a tree-like chart flowing through his whole body.
Beside him, Christina performed similarly. The two looked at each other boredly and smiled knowingly.
"Hey you two kids, what are you doing!" At this time, the coach noticed them and yelled severely.
The two looked at him puzzled.
"If you're just fooling around, I suggest you get out of here now!" the coach said angrily.
David looked up and said sincerely, "We found the 'origin point', it's right here."
He pointed below his navel.
But the coach still glared at him fiercely, even more furious, "Are you joking with me, kid!"
"Not only did you not close your eyes, you didn't even consciously feel your breath. You're just mimicking others!"
The coach wanted to continue scolding them, but seeing their calm, indifferent expressions, he just shook his head with disappointment.
"You two shouldn't stay here. Carrying on like this will just waste time."
"There's a fire burning here that spreads countless branches throughout my body. I can feel this power flowing through my limbs," David didn't bother explaining more, just described his true feelings.
"Hm?" The coach had given up on them and didn't want to pay more attention.
But David's words made him halt his steps.
"What did you say?" He rushed over, eyes wide questioning.
"The spiritual energy is like a 'tree chart', the power branching throughout my body," David said truthfully.
"You, you can sense the 'tree chart'?" Hearing this, the coach was even more shocked.
He hadn't even started lecturing about this yet. Could someone really comprehend it without guidance?
"Without using the 'breathing technique', you can still sense the 'tree chart'?" The coach was baffled, never having seen this before.
In fact, even masters who studied this way could only vaguely sense the tree-like chart formed by the spiritual energy's flow in rare moments of enlightenment.
Let alone two 10-year-old kids who hadn't even done the "breathing technique". It defied common sense!
"Let me see!" The coach hurried to his side, reaching out to him directly.
Buzz!
A wave of magical energy vibrated the air. A glow emitted from the coach's rough hand as it adhered to David's body.
Soon, his expression showed shock.
"How did you do this? Impossible. Why does your body harbor such a torrent of spiritual power? Like a slumbering behemoth!"
Even witnessing the truth firsthand, he still couldn't believe it.
Next he placed his hand on Christina, but reached the exact same conclusion.
Their situations were the same.
"Could you two really have... 'Elven Physiques'? I've encountered unparalleled prodigies!" the coach murmured tremblingly, cold sweat flowing.
Legend said some people's physiques were outstanding and innately extraordinary, advancing rapidly on the path of cultivation.
Those with 'Elven Physiques' had an extremely strong innate affinity for spiritual energy. Their comprehension was superb, cultivation speed faster than normal. At the same level, they could also exhibit greater power!
"Hm..." David smiled helplessly. He didn't reply, just wanting to keep a low profile.
He was still too weak now. If targeted by ill-intentioned people, even the greatest genius would be damaged.
But the coach was mistaken. While the "Elven Physique" did have outstanding privileges in this aspect, innate potential surpassing normal people, upon maturation they would have more maximum magical power...
David and his sister didn't have this physique.
If they had to be classified, it could only be - "Chaotic Physiques".
This meant they integrated all the strongest physiques, naturally including the "Elven Physique" as well.