Early the next morning, the first thing Su Ming did was use the Misfortune Talisman!
"System, will this Misfortune Talisman endanger someone's life?"
[Ding! No, Host. It will only cause some unfortunate events. Hehehe!]
Su Ming: System, how many Spirit Hall elders have you eaten to become like this?
"System, use the Misfortune Talisman on Yu Xiaogang!"
[Ding! The Misfortune Talisman has been used on Yu Xiaogang!]
Meanwhile, Yu Xiaogang, who was helping Tang San find a suitable spirit beast in the Soul Hunting Forest, suddenly felt a chill down his spine, as if something bad was about to happen.
Having used the Misfortune Talisman, Su Ming didn't concern himself with what would happen next. Based on his assumption, Yu Xiaogang would only experience a series of unfortunate events, nothing life-threatening.
Later that morning, Su Ming took Xiao Wu out, but she had no idea what he had planned.
When they arrived at a hotel, Xiao Wu was shocked, thinking, What is Su Ming trying to do!?
Seeing her stunned expression, Su Ming grinned and said, "Xiao Wu, come with me. I have a big surprise for you that'll help with your cultivation!"
"Big surprise?"
Xiao Wu was now utterly confused. Her heart was racing. Should she agree right away or hesitate a little first?
While Xiao Wu was still caught up in her thoughts, Su Ming brought her into a room, placed a large wooden tub inside, and gave the hotel staff a tip to fill it with water.
After filling the tub, the staff gave Su Ming a wink and said, "Enjoy, kid. Don't worry, our rooms are soundproof," before leaving and even closing the door behind him.
(Soul Land is too precocious…)
Su Ming felt embarrassed. What was that guy implying? We're just kids, only six years old! What could we possibly do?
Xiao Wu's face turned bright red, even though she didn't want to jump to conclusions. But after reading Su Ming's diary, she couldn't help but let her imagination run wild.
"Ouch!"
Xiao Wu covered her forehead and looked at Su Ming with a pout. "Why did you hit me?"
Su Ming teased, "What were you thinking? We're just kids! Did you really think I'd do something inappropriate?"
"Small? If it weren't for your weird diary calling me your wife, would I have these thoughts?" Xiao Wu fumed internally.
Su Ming then spoke more seriously, "Xiao Wu, this surprise will help with your cultivation, but you can't tell anyone about it."
Xiao Wu nodded, her eyes wide with curiosity.
Seeing this, Su Ming couldn't help but think Xiao Wu looked adorable.
He then pulled out one of the bottles of body-tempering liquid from his soul tool and poured it into the wooden tub.
Yes, the "big surprise" was none other than the body-tempering liquid. Since the remaining bottles no longer had an effect on him, Su Ming figured he might as well use them to gain some favor with Xiao Wu. And no, he wasn't up to anything inappropriate.
"This is body-tempering liquid. It'll strengthen your body. Don't worry about where it came from," Su Ming explained.
Xiao Wu was surprised. She hadn't expected the "big surprise" to be this, and now she felt a wave of gratitude.
"Why are you being so kind to me?"
Su Ming smiled, "You don't need to know right now. Just know that there are conditions, and you'll understand later!"
"Hehe, once you use this body-tempering liquid, you'll be mine! Consider this an investment." Su Ming thought slyly.
Xiao Wu nodded, though she didn't fully understand what he meant.
Su Ming then said, "Now, take off your clothes and get in. Also, be prepared. It's your first time, so it might hurt a little, but once you get used to it, it'll feel comfortable with a slight tingling sensation."
Su Ming then stepped aside, giving Xiao Wu privacy to prepare and get into the tub.
There was a divider between them, of course.
Plus, Xiao Wu hadn't even started developing yet. She was still just a kid, nothing to see.
Even though there was a divider, Xiao Wu still felt shy as she undressed. Thanks to Su Ming's constant teasing through his diary, she was no longer as naive as before. She was now well aware of the differences between boys and girls.
She lowered herself into the tub of milky liquid. At first, the warm water felt pleasant, with just a slight stickiness to it.
But after a few seconds, something felt off!
"Ah! Owwww!"
Xiao Wu couldn't help but cry out in pain.
Hearing her, Su Ming called out, "Xiao Wu, bear with it! Once your body absorbs the medicinal properties, you'll be able to absorb higher-quality spirit rings in the future!"
"I-I understand!" Xiao Wu groaned through gritted teeth.
Although she didn't need to absorb spirit rings, improving her body's ability to handle them would increase the quality of the rings she could form naturally.
While Xiao Wu endured the pain of the body-tempering process, Su Ming wasn't just sitting idly by.
He began cultivating the spiritual power technique he had received, Chaos Divine Mill Visualization Technique (Douluo Edition).
In his spiritual sea, a circular grinding mill materialized, the Spirit Mill!
Taking a deep breath, Su Ming braced himself and sent his spirit into the mill. Instantly, he experienced the excruciating pain of having his spirit ground and reformed.
"Ahhhh!"
Su Ming, overwhelmed by the mental agony, couldn't help but scream out loud. It was unbearable!
"Su Ming, are you okay?" Xiao Wu called out.
Through gritted teeth and cold sweat, Su Ming replied, "I-I'm fine! Just cultivating!"
Xiao Wu then remembered that Su Ming had received a spiritual cultivation technique the day before. Hearing his pained screams, she realized it was as torturous as it sounded.
Mental pain like this was far worse than the physical pain of body-tempering!
Two and a half hours later...
The once-milky liquid in the tub had become murky from the impurities expelled from Xiao Wu's body.
After rinsing herself with clean water, Xiao Wu stepped out of the tub feeling refreshed and energized.
Su Ming, meanwhile, had long since ended his cultivation. It was too torturous—he had only lasted ten minutes!
Based on his assessment, his current spiritual strength wasn't enough to endure daily cultivation. He would need to wait for his spiritual energy to recover before attempting again, as overdoing it could damage his mind. The last thing Su Ming wanted was to become a lunatic.
As his spiritual power increased, the time he could spend cultivating would extend, and the intervals between sessions would shorten.