Evening.

The Shell Lady wrinkled her nose as if drinking bitter medicine, licked a bit of honey, and then looked over at Chen Shouyi nearby, sullenly asking, "Giant, when are we going to the small island?"

She's been terribly bored these past few days, spending most of her time sleeping in a briefcase, only able to get some fresh air at night.

No matter how much she likes to sleep, she can't sleep for this long!

Beside her, Chen Shouyi finished a complete set of the thirty-six styles of body cultivation, feeling the itchiness in his body fading, replaced by a deep numbness, he exhaled and casually replied:

"Let's talk in a few days."

If the Shell Lady knew there would be no going anymore, she would definitely cause a scene.

All her treasure is still hidden there!

He continued practicing; compared to the mysterious power-rich alternate world, exercising on Earth is far less effective, so he decided to practice more rounds each day to make up in quantity what was lacking in quality.

But the Shell Lady was not easy to fool now, earnestly questioning:

"Is it after one sunrise and sunset, or another sunrise and sunset, or yet another sunrise and sunset?"

After finishing another round, gasping for breath, Chen Shouyi said:

"At least ten days!"

Creatures from the alternate world naturally have the ability to understand languages, giving them this advantage. Even though Chen Shouyi's way of speaking differed from hers, the Shell Lady could still understand.

The Shell Lady counted on her fingers, earnestly counting several times to finally realize how big the number ten was. She sighed dispiritedly, "Giant, can't you go a little earlier? There's plenty of the golden sand you wanted there, so much of it."

Oh, can she even entice me now?

Chen Shouyi nearly lost his composure upon hearing that but managed to finish another round, saying, "Not recently, but we will definitely go in the future."

"#@# giant, you're a liar!

"You #@%!"

"You said before that it was prepared, but after so many sunrises and sunsets, I haven't seen anything."

"Give me back my gemstones! Give me back my preparation! I want to go back to the small island!"

The Shell Lady finally erupted in anger, standing up with hands on her hips, stomping her feet hard on the desk with a thudding sound. Then she looked at the unpleasant honey and felt fed up, kicking the spoon away with her foot.

Seeing the Shell Lady's outburst, Chen Shouyi immediately felt a headache and also felt somewhat guilty.

It was then he recalled that during the new bedroom set up a few days ago, there was a small bowl-sized crystal ball in the drawer, presumably left by the previous owner.

He quickly opened the drawer and took out this crystal ball, intentionally tossing it in front of the Shell Lady.

As soon as she saw it, the Shell Lady's eyes widened as she closely followed the crystal ball's movement.

"Now can you be quiet?" Chen Shouyi asked.

The Shell Lady vigorously nodded, like a chicken pecking at grains.

"Can this large gemstone compare to all your gemstones?" Chen Shouyi asked again.

The Shell Lady thought for a while and nodded again.

Though this time, she nodded with some hesitation.

"Then don't make any more noise!" Chen Shouyi generously smacked the crystal ball on the table.

Chen Shouyi originally thought that the Shell Lady would rush over joyfully and laugh out loud.

But to his complete surprise, when the Shell Lady saw the crystal ball clearly, she screamed out in fright, shrinking behind the teacup like a startled rabbit, trembling slightly all over.

Uh, what's going on?

He wondered as he picked up the crystal ball, not feeling anything scary about it.

Isn't it quite pretty?

There's even a Snow White figure inside; aren't little girls especially fond of such things?

Hold on...

He then looked at the Snow White inside.

Could she think it's a creature sealed inside like that?

He looked at the Snow White inside and then back at the Shell Lady, finally realizing his mistake.

"Don't be afraid, it's not a real person in there; it's fake, all fake," Chen Shouyi amusingly comforted the Shell Lady, who didn't dare to look at him.

"Come on, come out already, stop hiding."

After calling her several times, perhaps realizing she had nowhere to escape, the Shell Lady timidly emerged, her legs still trembling, no longer having that earlier wild and chaotic energy.

"Gr-great giant, can I dance for you?" she forced a smile onto her pale face and said.

Looking at the Shell Lady's expression, fearful like a mouse seeing a cat, and her cautiously flattering demeanor, Chen Shouyi couldn't help but feel a bit heartbroken amidst his amusement:

"No need to dance; I already said it was fake! Fake! Don't be scared!"

"Watch me crush it later?"

As he spoke, he squeezed with force.

The crystal ball shattered easily, after all, it wasn't real crystal.

Outside, it was a layer of glass, and inside, it was solidified gel.

As the crystal ball crumbled, a plastic Snow White figurine quickly fell out.

He picked up the figurine from the ground and placed it in front of the Shell Lady, gesturing to her.

"Look, it's all fake."

The Shell Lady covered her eyes tightly with both hands, too scared to look.

After a long time, her hands slowly parted to reveal a thin slit through which she cautiously examined the much smaller-than-her figurine in front.

Only then did she realize, it wasn't any kind of creature.

At first glance, it felt false.

The anxiety in her heart finally eased, she released her hands from her eyes and exhaled a long sigh of relief.

Suddenly, she looked at the shattered crystal fragments and burst into tears:

"You #@#, you... you ruined my gemstone!"

...

At the cost of a large crystal ball, he was finally able to console the Shell Lady.

Then, he picked up the broom, swept up the shards on the ground, and tossed them into the trash bin in the living room.

If he didn't throw them away, he was somewhat worried the Shell Lady would sneak up and retrieve them at night.

...

Returning, as he passed his sister's bedroom, he heard deep breathing sounds coming from inside.

Lately, she seemed almost obsessed, desperately practicing martial arts, her demeanor turning colder day by day, as if harboring heavy thoughts.

Evidently, the last incident left a shadow that she still hadn't overcome.

Chen Shouyi's steps hesitated, he pondered for a moment before walking up to knock on the door.

After a short while, the door opened:

"Brother, what's up?"

She wore a loose short-sleeved T-shirt, drenched in sweat, her clothes nearly soaked, faintly revealing the pale skin underneath.

However, between siblings, there was no need to be reserved.

"I wanted to talk about something," Chen Shouyi said.

Once Chen Xingyue stepped aside, he walked in; compared to her former bedroom adorned with figurines all over, it now appeared rather sparse, without a trace of a girl's private sanctuary.

Since the last incident, she seemed to have matured greatly all of a sudden.

"What are you practicing?" Chen Shouyi quickly retracted his gaze, asking.

"Body Refining Thirty-Six Forms, I feel my strength is too feeble, I can't really contribute," Chen Xingyue replied with a hint of melancholy.

"Actually, no one needs you to assist, don't put too much pressure on yourself! By the way, have you practiced the 'Entering Silence Refining Self' technique I taught you last time?"

"No, I tried several times but really can't control my subconscious, now I'm practicing the previous one," Chen Xingyue admitted with some embarrassment.

"They're about the same, one is hard before easy, the other easy before hard, not much difference. I have a set of Body Refining Thirty-Six Forms here that should boost your practice better. Have a look."

Without waiting for Chen Xingyue's confusion.

Chen Shouyi demonstrated it from beginning to end.

The version he taught was a once-optimized edition, easy to start, with few alterations in actions from the original one, and those with original Body Refining Thirty-Six Forms experience could quickly pick it up.

While the twice-optimized version was incredibly difficult, not only physically taxing but demanding staying conscious in deep silence; without the embedded dream memories from optimization and his own deep proficiency, it would be impossible to practice.

Instead of like last time teaching 'Entering Silence Refining Self,' which his sister couldn't practice, it was better to teach the simpler ones first.

After demonstrating, he began teaching the first form.

"Brother?"

"Don't ask, just focus on learning, watch my first form, there are some changes here, the arm should swing backward vigorously until there's a tingling sensation at the joints."

Chen Xingyue set aside her doubts and promptly followed along.

...

An hour later, as Chen Shouyi exited the room, he turned and cautioned, "This set of movements is modified based on my own insights, practice well, and don't tell anyone about it, remember to keep it secret."

"Brother, I understand," Chen Xingyue nodded forcefully.

If it were before, she wouldn't have believed her brother could modify the Body Refining Thirty-Six Forms, but since he demonstrated martial artist prowess, she began trusting him blindly.

With a martial artist's understanding and experience of their body, isn't it just natural to modify the Body Refining Thirty-Six Forms a bit?

Not realizing, if it were so simple to modify, the Great Xia Martial Arts Bureau and countries around the world wouldn't release a new version only every few years.

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