Severing Time & Space

Perfect Physique

Sweat drenched Wu Jian's back, chest, face, arms, and legs as he balanced most of his body on his arms, which were bent at a forty-five-degree angle. Meanwhile, he had tightened his core and spread his legs wide to form a triangle as he pressed his feet flat against the ground. This had the effect of working both his triceps, chest, and core muscles. Every time he lowered his body, his arms and chest felt like they were on fire, and the constant need to keep his stomach muscles tight caused an intense burning sensation to spread through his torso.

"Eighty-nine... ninety... ninety-one..."

One month had passed since Elder Wu Wei tried to force Wu Meiying into using her power. While the snake had been able to use his silver tongue and authority to get out of trouble, Father and Mother were wary of his antics and told Wu Meiying that she could refuse anyone's request if they did not bear the family head's official seal.

Wu Jian was also on the lookout for Wu Fei. Since he was the grandson of Elder Wu Wei, there was a good chance he was in collusion with the elder. Thinking on it, Wu Jian had always thought it odd that his half-brother had become so cruel toward him. It had not started until after he began spending time with Wu Fei. Perhaps it was a coincidence, but he believed that his half-brother had changed because of something Wu Fei might have done or said.

Of course, Wu Fei had not acted any differently since the elder tried to corner Wu Meiying, so perhaps he was just being paranoid.

"... One hundred."

After doing one hundred of this kind of push-up, Wu Jian lifted his legs above his head, doing a complete handstand, and began doing push-ups again.

"Hah!"

"Hup!"

"Hyaaa!"

While he was doing handstand push-ups, Wu Jian was able to watch Wu Meiying and Hou Jingshu spar, albeit, upside down. It was something they had only begun recently.

After she got the hang of falling and taking hits, Hou Jingshu had tackled actual combat with the kind of enthusiasm he never would have expected from a princess before meeting her. Even now, she wasn't giving ground against Wu Meiying despite being clearly outmatched.

"Four. Five. Six..." Wu Jian grunted as he counted out loud. At the same time, he heard Wu Meiying talking as she sparred with Hou Jingshu.

"You'll have to do more than just defend yourself if you want to defeat me!"

Wu Meiying threw another punch. It seemed like a simple straight, but as her first thunked against Hou Jingshu's forearm, she grabbed the surprised girl and pulled her into a shoulder throw. Hou Jingshu screamed in surprise as she went down. Her scream was soon swallowed up, however, when her back hit the ground and all the air rushed from her lungs.

"Huff... huff..."

Despite the harsh fall, Hou Jingshu proved she had truly learned her lessons by managing to roll across the ground and land on her forearms and feet. She still had trouble standing up, however, and ended up sitting down on her rump when she tried, body slouching forward.

"Twenty-two. Twenty-three. Twenty-four," Wu Jian continued to count.

Straightening as Hou Jingshu breathed heavily, Wu Meiying smiled and waited for the other girl to get her breath back under control. She extended a hand as her partner leaned back and closed her eyes.

"Are you okay? Think you can keep going?"

Hou Jingshu looked up at the hand, then at the face beyond it. With a wince and a wry smile, she took the hand, allowing Wu Meiying to pull her up.