Chương 48: The Second Stage

As dawn broke, Paike trudged through the roads, the paths back towards his home. He was exhausted, not so much in pain, just exceedingly tired. He hadn't worked so hard since he had awakened his cultivation. Despite all his training, he hadn't even been aware that cultivators could become tired in this way. Not that he needed to sleep, but he just needed to let his body rest and recover. Even the qi he was pouring through his qi channels into his physical cultivation was only helping so much.

He and Li Feng had sparred for hours, neither using qi techniques, just pure martial prowess. There had been no clear victor; instead, each had gotten the upper hand in several exchanges as the others experimented with variations on techniques. Other than a solid practice session, Paike wasn't exactly sure what he had gained from it. Still, he felt there was something intangible, not just a good practice session, but something that helped him balance his mindset better.

It would be something he would have to meditate on. But he was going to have a very busy few days ahead of him. Paike noticed that his damaged house had been patched up, and when he entered, Guan Li stepped from the room, a dagger held ready. When he saw Paike, he let it drop to his side. Paike examined his friend. Guan Li looked far worse than he did. There was heavy bruising under one eye, and his left arm was in a sling. His clothes were slightly tattered, rumpled as if he'd slept in them as well.

"Guan Li!" Paike exclaimed with a worried tone.

"What happened to you?" Guan Li huffed and slouched as he walked forward and leaned against the back of one of their kitchen chairs.

"What hasn't happened to me?" he said.

"Well, how did you get that bruise?" Paike said, indicating his own face. Guan Li grimaced.

"I have been challenging up like you suggested. Things are a lot harder when I don't have you around to point out the people I can beat." Paike shrugged.

"Well, hopefully you're learning something."

"Slowly," Guan Li said with a half smirk as he shuffled around the chair, leaning against it before he sat down.

"That and the physical cultivation class have been brutal without you." Paike raised his eyebrow.

"Oh?" Guan Li nodded.

"Yes. Elder Ji didn't change the teams. The course without you is doable now that we know some more tricks, but it's much harder to do with a team of four. I'm sure if we had lost one of our weaker members, it would be better. But man, we miss you. We'll be glad to have you back, though." Paike shook his head.

"I don't think I can come back quite yet. Liming said that Elder Ji said I was welcome to join once my cultivation was better than it had been before." Guan Li frowned.

"You're missed… Is that what Elder Ji said? I'm glad to hear you'll be back eventually."

"Yeah, I was under the impression that if we missed a class, we wouldn't be allowed back. But apparently that's not the case."

"That's probably the case if we intentionally miss the class," Guan Li nodded.

"A few other people have had to miss a single class here and there as they were breaking through, but that hasn't been a big deal."

"There've been a lot of people breaking through in the physical class?" Paike was a bit worried to hear that. He knew he would have fallen behind with how much he had missed, but that fast?

"Well, yes. Most people have advanced at least to the second stage of physical cultivation. However, a few people have advanced to the third." Paike's eyes widened.

"Really? That's fast." Guan Li nodded.

"I take it you're at the second?" Paike asked, and the former street rat nodded.

"Well. First thing I'm going to do after I get a little rest is break through as well. Is the cultivation chamber available?" This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Guan Li nodded.

"Yes. I made sure that it wasn't damaged."

"Good. Well, I probably won't be able to come tomorrow, but if you want, you can tell elder Ji that I should be there the day after, or the day after that, after I consolidate my breakthrough and cultivate a little bit." Guan Li nodded, and Paike hesitated.

"Do you need funds to buy a healing pill? Liming informed me that my family has increased our stipend. I can lend you something." Guan Li grimaced and nodded slowly.

"I would appreciate that." Paike fished some stones out of his robe and placed them on the table. It wasn't much, but it should be enough to get Guan Li back on his feet, or steadier on his feet, before the next class.

"Don't mention it. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to go sleep for a few hours before I attempt my breakthrough."

When Paike awoke, it was only a little while longer, but already he could feel his body crying out for relief from the pressure. As he pushed himself up and walked out of his room, he felt strange. Bloated. As if he had eaten way too much. But the feeling wasn't just in his stomach, but in every cell of his body. His dantian was half-empty, and every tiny fraction of his body was so saturated with qi that he was actually beginning to worry if he was going to injure himself.

He didn't even have a chance to say hello or get well wishes from Guan Li as he stumbled through the room to the cultivation chamber. Fumbling at the wall, he pressed an activation symbol before sinking cross-legged in the center and closing his eyes. After a deep breath, Paike let go of the willpower that was preventing his breakthrough. A dam burst, as if it had been holding back a landslide instead of a gentle river. Paike was violently thrown to the ground as every muscle he had contracted and spasmed.

His skin itched, and it felt like he was shedding all of his hair. He kept his eyes closed as he flushed his remaining qi through his body, hammering it into every strand of qi reinforcement that he had managed to layer into his body when he first awakened. The pain was unimaginable, but still, he didn't attempt to rush the breakthrough. Instead, he poured more qi in, fueling the transformation for longer.

Something in his mouth cracked, and he tasted blood, as well as a black, tarry gunk that he spat out along with what felt like a handful of gravel. His toes curled and unclenched as the pain began to recede, starting from his utmost extremities, his toes and fingers. The pain grew as it localized. It slowly shrank and contracted until his limbs were completely fine. He couldn't tell where it was centered.

At first, he thought it might be his core, but the pain started to slowly crawl up his torso until eventually only his head ached. And then, all of a sudden, it was gone. It was done. And he was now at the second minor stage of his physical cultivation. Paike attempted to open his eyes but found them glued shut. Lifting his arm from where it was plastered against the stone floor was an effort of will. He had to roll with some momentum to rip it off of whatever it was encased in and feel at his eyes.

Almost half a finger-width of something was covering his face, and he dug his fingers into it, feeling it squish as he pulled it away. He was doing his best to avoid breathing, as the smell was pungent. Finally getting his eyes open, he could see that a strange black tar was streaked with bright yellow stripes and was running in the channels. With great effort, he forced himself to his feet and staggered to the wall, activating the cleaning function before standing under the blasts of seawater.

Qi fueled the water that hosed him down and began to wash all the impurities away. This was not normal. Far more gunk had been ejected than the first time, and much, much more than he would expect, as he had expunged many impurities throughout the improvements he had made already. After the third time he ran the cleaning cycle, Paike felt relatively normal again.

He ran his tongue through his mouth, looking to find a chipped tooth or something, as he remembered spitting hard things out, and what he felt was shocking. The outside of his teeth seemed normal as he dashed to the washroom to check his smile, but slightly behind his teeth, there was something. Something sharp enough that he knew better than to cut his tongue on. But opening his mouth, he could see that the inside of his teeth was like rocky spines.

Though they were hidden, he could only imagine that if he bit something, it would tear off easily in his mouth. It disturbed him, frankly. Not that he wanted to incorporate biting into his combat repertoire, not only was it undignified, but it would reflect poorly on his family. His eyes were still normal, which was a mild surprise. Eyes were one of the most common body parts to change. They were extra malleable to qi and often changed color at the very least.

He ran his hand over his bald scalp; his eyebrows were gone, too. He grimaced, knowing that this was always a possibility, but still not enjoying it. The tiles under his skin were less pronounced visually, but pressing his finger into his forearm or chest, he felt more resistance, and the hardness was greatly increased. Paike couldn't help but smile as he left to put on his robes. He would be very curious to see how much improved his physical cultivation was.

But before he went to classes, he liked to test that out for himself. Perhaps a little exploring off the mountain might do him some good. Maybe he'd find some treasure. Or maybe he'd make a stop at the cave with the ancient spirit who had so generously donated this aspect to him. Maybe being even nearby it, he might be able to get some sort of insight. He left his house, finding the time was well past noon. Countless young cultivators were walking around the compound, though none met his eye or stood in his way.

They could feel something was different about him. Paike held his head high as he strode through the throng of people. Something felt different with the way he looked at them, but he couldn't quite tell what.