A month on Righteous Peak had transformed Alex into a qi-soaked, herb-covered wreck, his body aching but stronger under Senior Sister Shui Bing's relentless training. Her strictness, backed by her terrifying Shui Clan background, pushed him through the Heaven Attraction Art with a mix of threats and subtle kindness, turning his cursed dantian from a sluggish rock to a humming core at Qi Condensation Stage 6. The sect's disciples, from outer to inner, treated him like a chaotic hero, their chatter and pranks filling his days with laughter. Despite his exhaustion, Alex felt at home in the sect's righteous madness.
Each morning, Shui Bing dragged him to the stone pavilion, where he ground spirit herbs—Starleaf, Moonpetal, Firethorn—under her icy glare. "Faster," she snapped, her water whip hovering like a guillotine. Alex, clumsy as ever, spilled Moonpetal, triggering an illusion of dancing fairies that twirled around the pavilion. Disciples nearby, including Mei and Fang, burst out laughing. "He's hallucinating now?" Fang chuckled, tossing Alex a spirit lotus. Mei grinned, starting a mock "fairy dance" that had everyone giggling. "Keep it up, Chaos Boy," she said, dodging a stray fairy illusion. Alex groaned, his pestle slipping again, but the disciples' laughter made the embarrassment bearable.
Shui Bing's exercises were a comedy of errors. She had Alex run laps while carrying qi-infused buckets, which he dropped, flooding the pavilion with glowing water. "Again!" she roared, her whip cracking. "Your chaos is your Dao!" Alex, soaked and bruised, tripped during a lunge, rolling into a hidden cache of Spirit Stones embedded in the pavilion's floor. The disciples gaped, and Liang muttered, "I need to trip more." Mei tossed Alex a spirit apple, laughing. "You're a treasure magnet!" Elder Lin, observing, scribbled furiously. "His curse defies logic," he muttered, while Shui Bing nodded, her eyes proud. "Chaos reveals truth," she said, handing Alex a fresh bucket.
The pavilion became a social hub, with disciples dropping by to gossip, share snacks, and watch Alex's disasters. During a break, Alex sat with Mei, Fang, and Bao under a jade tree, sharing qi-infused tea and stories. "My village had a spirit goat that stole my laundry," Mei said, making Alex laugh. "Mine had a cow that ate my shoes," he replied, earning cheers. The peaceful moment, with the peak's qi humming and the scent of tea in the air, felt like a family gathering. Bao, munching candy, begged for Chaos Duo stories, and Alex reluctantly shared how he'd tripped into the Spirit Heart Crystal. "You're a legend!" Bao squealed, tossing him more candy, which Alex fumbled, triggering a rune that sprayed sparkles. The disciples roared, and even Shui Bing's lips twitched.
The medical baths were torture. Shui Bing concocted vats of bubbling, herb-filled sludge that smelled like death and stung like fire. "Soak for two hours," she ordered, her face cold. "Or I'll bury you in ice." Alex, red from the heat, groaned, "This is worse than lightning!" But the baths pushed him to Stage 4, then 5, his dantian thriving. One evening, as he soaked, Jin Hao visited, his gold robes stained with potion soot. "Shui Qing's got me brewing elixirs that explode if you blink!" he bragged, tossing Alex a healing pill. "You look like a boiled turnip, brother!" They laughed, starting a mock splashing contest that soaked the pavilion, earning a whip crack from Shui Bing. "Focus!" she snapped, but she tossed Jin Hao a drying talisman, her warm heart clear.
Shui Bing's training grew odder. She had Alex meditate on a qi-fueled spinning disk, which he fell off, crashing into a rune that boosted his qi to Stage 6. "Your chaos is your Dao," she said, her voice stern but her eyes proud, handing him a sword manual. "Study this. You'll wield a righteous blade." During a rare evening off, Alex joined disciples at a sect bonfire, where they roasted spirit yams and shared stories of their hometowns. Mei teased, "Your curse is gonna save the continent one trip at a time." Fang started a prank, hiding Alex's turnip basket, only for Alex to trip and find it in a qi-infused bush, earning cheers. The peaceful night, with stars overhead and laughter echoing, made Alex feel like he belonged.
By month's end, Alex was exhausted, his body aching but his qi soaring. Shui Bing's threats kept him going, but her quiet kindness—slipping him qi pills, rebuilding his buckets—made him push harder. Jin Hao, thriving in Medicine Valley, visited one last time, tossing Alex a glowing elixir. "We'll shake the heavens, brother!" he said, grinning. Alex, gripping his new sword manual, nodded. With Shui Bing's guidance, Jin Hao's friendship, and the sect's chaotic embrace, he was ready to face the heavens' next prank, his heart lighter than ever.
Alex's life on Righteous Peak had become a whirlwind of righteous chaos, his days filled with the grinding of spirit herbs, torturous medical baths, and bizarre exercises under the icy gaze of Senior Sister Shui Bing, the youngest Valley Master of Flood Redemption Valley. Her strictness, backed by her terrifying Shui Clan background with rumored ties to the Immortal Realms, was matched only by her subtle kindness—slipping Alex protective talismans or rebuilding his training tools after his cursed bad luck destroyed them. In just one month, she'd pushed his sluggish dantian from Qi Condensation Stage 1 to Stage 6, turning his curse into a paradoxical strength. But as Alex stood in the jade pavilion overlooking Righteous Peak's glowing cliffs, panting from another round of qi-infused lunges, he had no idea that Shui Bing was about to make his life even more miserable—and muscular.
The morning sun bathed the peak in silver light, the air humming with righteous qi and the faint scent of scorched earth from past "training accidents." Alex, his black hair plastered with sweat and his green eyes bleary, clutched his bamboo basket of spirit turnips, now a soggy relic of his pre-sect life. His rusty dagger hung uselessly at his side, and the Spirit Heart Crystal from the outer sect examination pulsed faintly in his pocket, a reminder of his chaotic journey. Nearby, disciples from other valleys—Thunder Salvation, Inferno Redemption, and Flood Redemption—lounged under a jade tree, sharing qi-infused snacks and gossiping about the "Chaos Duo," Alex and his best friend Jin Hao, whose antics had made them sect celebrities.
"Chaos Boy's still alive?" Mei, the scarred outer disciple from Thunder Salvation Valley, called out, tossing Alex a spirit apple. Her grin crinkled her scar, and her eyes sparkled with mischief. "Thought Shui Bing would've drowned you by now!" Liang, the lanky boy who'd envied Alex's examination luck, munched a spirit plum, muttering, "I'd rather face a beast wave than train with her." Fang, a drenched disciple from Shui Bing's Flood Redemption Valley, laughed, splashing Alex with qi-infused water. "Heard you flooded her pavilion yesterday! You're practically her disciple already!"
Alex fumbled the apple, nearly tripping into a rune that sparked harmlessly, drawing laughs. "It's not a talent," he groaned, brushing turnip bits off his robe. "It's a curse." But the disciples' chatter, filled with teasing and warmth, felt like a family gathering, easing his exhaustion. The peaceful moment was shattered when Shui Bing appeared, her silver robes shimmering like frost, her Nascent Soul Early Stage aura chilling the air. The disciples scattered, Mei whispering, "Good luck, Chaos Boy!" as Liang dropped his plum in panic.
"Alex," Shui Bing said, her voice sharp as a blade, her cold face betraying no emotion. "Your Heaven Attraction Art has strengthened your qi, but your fighting skills are pathetic. You swing a sword like a drunk ox." Her words stung, but her eyes held a flicker of warmth, as if she saw potential beneath his clumsiness. "Meet your new sparring partner."