Qin Ran didn't do anything to Li Shiyin, he just criticized and educated her. But for a veteran like Li Shiyin who was only focused on her job, criticism and education were like wind that went in one ear and out the other.
So after dinner, Qin Ran went to the bamboo forest in the back mountain, dug up a bamboo root, and sat by the river to draw river water to temper it.
When Li Shiyin saw it, she felt itchy all over her body, and she keenly realized that the bamboo whip that was about to transform might have a close relationship with her skin.
She swallowed, walked over, and tried to ask: "Master, what is this used for?"
"Oh, this?" Qin Ran asked, "Remember I studied death and pain some time ago?"
Li Shiyin remembered that her master had studied death in order to make the elixir of life. What did he say? If you want to be a graduate student, you must first study death.
Of course she didn't understand either, but she was impressed because the master was particularly irritable during that period.
"Remember, what does that have to do with it?" she asked again, praying in her heart that it had nothing to do with her.
"This bamboo whip, in my opinion, will not hurt people's bones and muscles when it hits them, but it will bring endless pain to people." Qin Ran explained to Li Shiyin while tempering the bamboo whip.
"In my hometown, many people believe that a good son is born under the stick. Children are naughty and they cannot be treated without beating.
“But children’s skin is tender and their bones are soft, so if they are beaten with sticks or something like that, they will be broken.
"So someone came up with a brilliant plan: spanking with bamboo sticks. Bamboo sticks are thin and soft, so they don't hurt bones. But the buttocks are thick and have rich pain nerves, so spanking hurts.
"When they beat them, the bamboo sticks would whip down like a whip, making a 'swoosh' sound that broke through the air, which had a strong deterrent effect. The whip would hit the buttocks through the clothes, leaving marks one after another. The marks were painful and stuck to the buttocks for a long time..."
Li Shiyin listened and felt pain in her buttocks. She covered her buttocks with both hands and quietly slipped away.
"Stop!" Qin Ran suddenly shouted.
Li Shiyin was startled, but still stood still as he was told.
"Come here." Qin Ran said again.
Li Shiyin didn't dare to move.
"I asked you to come over!" Qin Ran turned around and looked at her.
Li Shiyin then walked slowly to Qin Ran's side.
"Why are you standing so high?" Qin Ran was sitting on the river bank, and Li Shiyin was tall. If she stood over, he would have to look up at her, which was very undignified.
Li Shiyin followed his instructions, found a stone slab and sat down.
"This bamboo whip will be your punishment whip from now on!" Qin Ran said, "If you make a mistake in the future, you will have to test its power."
"Huh?" Long Qiqi, who was studying how to climb a tree under the old locust tree, was confused when he heard this. "What does it have to do with me?"
"Yes!" Li Shiyin had always been naughty and had a lot of experience in being beaten, so she lowered her head and responded in time.
"What else?" Qin Ran said, "Today I will teach you how to refine your natal sword."
"Refine my natal sword?!" Li Shiyin's eyes lit up.
Qin Ran nodded: "It should have started a long time ago. The original plan was to start after I got married. I didn't expect to be out for so long this time. I thought a few days would be enough, but I didn't expect it to take so long.
"That incident is about to break out, and I don't know if you have enough time."
"That thing?" Li Shiyin was puzzled. "Master, what did you do when you went out this time? You were gone for seven or eight days, and as soon as you came back, you asked me to refine my natal sword."
Qin Ran glanced at Li Shiyin and wanted to tell her everything in detail, but then he thought that with her intelligence, it would be useless for her to know, so he put it aside and said, "Don't worry about these things, I will take care of them. Just focus on your cultivation."
"Oh." Li Shiyin nodded obediently.
“Take out Mu… your natal sword.” Qin Ran said.
Li Shiyin then took out her natal sword from her Qiankun bag.
"The natal sword, to some extent, is an extension of the sword cultivator's body, or in other words, a part of the sword cultivator's body." Qin Ran explained the basics of the natal sword to Li Shiyin, "So, to make it a part of the body, you need to sacrifice blood to refine it, so that it can grow muscles and veins, and the blood of the sword cultivator flows in the body, and it truly becomes a part of the body.
“So the first step to refining the natal sword is to water it with your heart and blood!”
He pointed his finger at the junction of the sword body and the sword barrier, and continued, "In the world of immortal cultivation, there are various methods of sacrifice and cultivation, such as watering with blood every day for 49 days, 81 days, and so on. In fact, in the final analysis, there is only one requirement, that is, the blood needs to cover the entire sword from the sword barrier to the tip.
"Some people are fast and need forty-nine days, some are slow and need eighty-one days, and some are extremely gifted and can refine it in an instant. But there is no need to worry about these, because this is the natal sword, it will grow with the sword cultivator, and the speed of refining is meaningless...
"You will start the formal practice today. Use your heart and blood first. Don't be anxious. Make sure your body is not damaged after practicing every day. Otherwise, the gain will outweigh the loss."
After hearing what Qin Ran said, Li Shiyin said she understood. She bit her finger and let the blood drip onto Muran's sword. Then she tilted her head to Qin Ran and asked, "Shall we start now?"
The girl moved too quickly. Qin Ran had no way of reacting to stop her. He could only look at her and ask, "Does it hurt?"
Li Shiyin nodded: "Of course it hurts."
"Then why are you biting?!"
"Isn't that what's always in novels and storybooks?"
Qin Ran patted his forehead and raised the bamboo whip in his hand, wanting to hit this stupid disciple. He said helplessly: "You are a cultivator, you can use many methods to refine your heart and blood..."
He took out some medicine and healed Li Shiyin's wounds.
"Then, I haven't finished speaking yet. Refining the sword is not as simple as that!" He continued to explain, "In addition to refining with flesh and blood, it also requires mana and star power. I have been telling you that refining the natal sword is a long process that will accompany the sword cultivator throughout his life. Don't be impatient!
“Finally, before you start the ritual, you have to get to know your own natal sword.
"The reason why the natal sword is called the natal sword is because the way it is cast is fundamentally different from other flying swords."
He looked into Li Shiyin's eyes and pointed at the location of the sword with a serious expression.
"This is called the Sword Heart. It is similar to the heart of a living being. It is the source of blood nutrients. The heart of the sword is the source of mana. From now on, your mana will flow in from here when needed.
"The location of the sword's heart is different for each sword. Generally speaking, only the sword cultivator himself knows it. You are so talented in fighting, you should know the reason... The location of the sword's heart will be your deepest secret."
"Put your hand here," he said.
Li Shiyin then placed her hand on his finger that was pointing at Kenshin.
Qin Ran panicked and looked into Li Shiyin's eyes again: "Why are you pressing my hand?"
"Didn't you ask me to hold it over here?" Li Shiyin blinked her big eyes with an innocent expression.
"I told you to press the sword!"
Li Shiyin put her hand on the sword again.
"Throw your spiritual consciousness in, from the center of the sword."
Li Shiyin then invested her spiritual consciousness into the heart of the sword.
"I will show you the veins in your natal sword. This is related to human..."
Qin Ran also cast his consciousness in, but he didn't notice that his consciousness touched Li Shiyin's consciousness at the center of the sword... The feeling of the consciousness touching each other was very strange, as if the soul was being caressed by the spring breeze, which made his voice tremble. It took a while for him to return to normal and continued,
"It's the same as the direction of human meridians..."
With great courage, he led Li Shiyin to identify all the structures of the natal sword, and finally quickly withdrew his consciousness from the sword. He was short of oxygen as if he had just come out of the sea after a deep dive, and hurriedly turned his back to breathe deeply.
In an attempt to hide his true intentions, he asked in a trembling voice, "Have you ever seen the method of refining the natal sword in the Nine-transformation Star Sword Technique?"
Li Shiyin's face had already turned red like an apple. She was sweating all over. After listening to Qin Ran's question, she replied after a while: "Yes... I have seen it."
"Then I'll just give you a brief explanation..."
Long Qiqi climbed up the old locust tree and sat on a branch, looking at the two people by the river. She was still too young to understand whether the two people were studying how to refine their natal swords or were they in love.
“Tsk tsk!” But it didn’t stop her from enjoying the melon, “The man has feelings, and I have intentions. I just don’t know when it will happen… hehehe…”