Aaron spent the next two months following nearly the same schedule every day. He would wake from sleeping on a backup cot he kept in his spatial ring, then dress and eat. Then spend ten hours cultivating, eat lunch, then spend six hours on martial training. This was followed by dinner, then two hours of practicing his current Essence Arts, and two hours testing other auxiliary uses for his Outer Spiral technique. He would then sleep for exactly four hours before starting the whole cycle over again. The end of the third week saw him swimming back out into the underground river. There he found that the spiders were still watching the river. However, he also found several fish living in the river, which supplemented his food stores, giving him around another two weeks. This exacting schedule was surprisingly easy to maintain, as he now had a precise internal clock, and his food and sleep needs were greatly reduced.
Figuring out the method for cultivation in Organ Reinforcement was relatively simple. He followed his master’s instructions from the previous two stages to start. His focus started on the individual cells that made up his various organs, before shifting to a holistic view of the organs themselves. This gave him a general sense of the functions of each individual organ.
He infused his essence into his organs, which not only made them more durable, but also more efficient. His lungs pulled in more air, his heart pumped more powerfully, his liver removed toxins quicker, and so on. At the end of the first month, he broke through, raising his organ durability and efficiency to fifteen times earth standard thanks to his lightning essence. One interesting side effect was that after the breakthrough, his digestive tract could process food with perfect efficiency. This meant that his body had no waste to remove; all food, liquid, and processed toxins were converted to essence.
His testing for auxiliary uses for his Outer Spiral technique also bore fruit. His first discovery was quite interesting, as by focusing the spiral at the bottom of one of his feet, he could drive himself up into a spin. This allowed him to perform martial arts that typically required jumping and spinning directly from a standing position. The spiral was nearly invisible under the sole of his foot, and he spun about twice as fast as if he had jumped and spun.
His second discovery was equally interesting, but had less immediately obvious combat applications. By rotating the essence on his fingers and palm in a specific fashion, he could draw air out of the space in his palm. This created an almost vacuum effect born of the pressure difference. He could press his hand to a surface and the artificial vacuum would cause his hand to stick to the surface. The ability to do the same under the arches of his feet allowed him an exceptional climbing ability.
Cultivating through Blood Clearing proved to be a bit more complicated. His circulatory system had gained durability, including his arteries, veins, and capillaries. This increased durability came with a widening of the blood vessels, which caused a drop in blood pressure. This left Aaron feeling woozy and weak at all times. He now understood why his master had stated that Blood Clearing was the most dangerous stage of Body Tempering.
It took three hours of attempts, but he eventually figured out the method of cultivation. He could not track all of the individual blood cells. The constant motion meant that his mind could not comprehend them as a single whole. He ended up infusing blood through his already saturated heart and into the blood currently in the chambers. The fact that only some of his blood was essence infused created an imbalance that his body attempted to rectify. His bone marrow produced more blood, which fixed the blood pressure issue. Once over half of his blood was infused, his marrow stopped producing more blood. It took several weeks, but his blood was fully replaced with cleared infused liquid. His marrow had produced enough blood to restore his blood pressure. The fact that his marrow had not yet been infused meant that he had to spend half an hour each day infusing new blood.
It took the full six weeks after his breakthrough to Blood Clearing to break through again. His blood not only became thicker, but carried greater amounts of oxygen and nutrients, making full use of his improved lungs and stomach. He also noticed that his blood now carried an indescribable vitality. His internal sight gave him an absolute surety that his wounds would now heal fifteen times faster, even without pills. He also noted that his resting body temperature had risen by about six degrees. He felt that his body now ran at around one hundred and four degrees.
Aaron awoke the “morning” of his attempted escape and immediately set about his few tasks. He ate what little remained of his food, changed, and stored the few odds and ends he had retrieved for his convenience.
Aaron swam out through the submerged exit tunnel, finding the effort far easier with his improved lung capacity. Surfacing in the river cavern, he saw that there were no spiders present. Using his new Spiral Vacuum technique allowed him to climb easily to a cave opening around forty feet downstream. Moving as slowly and carefully as possible through the tunnels, which appeared brighter since his eyes were improved in Organ Reinforcement. He was extremely careful with his movements, given that the spiders were known to trap their lairs when threatened. These traps were made with the razor wed which gave them their name. These specialized webs were thin, almost invisible, and razor sharp.
He wandered the tunnels for half an hour, dodging hundreds of web threads, before he spotted a relatively small cluster of spiders in the tunnel ahead. They were scattered across both the walls and floor of the tunnel, almost completely still. One would move only every five minutes or so. He counted eight spiders and prepared himself for battle. Knowing he would need to strike fast and hard, hoping the shock would prevent the group from calling for reinforcements. He noted only one thread strand, stretched horizontally at roughly waist height.
He activated his Arc Barrier before Bolt Rushing towards the spiders, allowing his legs to collapse, falling below the razor web. He slid on his back for several seconds before slamming his feet into the ground and sitting up. This drove him into a forward roll, still moving at speed as he came back to his feet. He drove his fist down in the first spider just as it began to stand, driving a Shocking strike into its head. The beast thrashed as its internal fluid rapidly evaporated, while Aaron spun to the right and moved past it. The remaining spider on the floor lunged low, so he jumped before stomping down with both legs onto the beast's abdomen. The beast’s organs pulped as its chitin crumpled, electricity flowing into it.
He then jumped toward the right hand wall, spinning partway to land feet first. Extending his left foot as he spun, he activated his Spiral Vacuum, sticking to the wall for a moment in between the three spiders on this side. His momentarily stable footing gave as he continued his spin striking each spider in turn. First the spider before him, whose front right leg cracked before his Shocking Strike met its head. Suctioning to the wall for only a split second to maintain stability, he did the same to the spider below him. The spider once behind him, now to his left, lunged as he crouched, driving his left elbow in between the beast’s eyes.
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The spiders collapsed to the ground, their brains fried, as Aaron prepared a Spiral jump. His bones creaked threateningly as his technique drove him towards the opposite wall. He spun forward and to the left, keeping all of his limbs tucked in as the force of his Spiral Jump carried him. Driven by a need to strike the beast’s down as fast as possible, Aaron tried something he never had before. He drove both knees into the abdomen of the lowest spider, keeping himself horizontal. The two higher spiders leaps missed him, and he struck all the beast’s simultaneously. Lightning flowed from all four limbs, one fist where their sections connected on the flying spiders. His meridians ached as he pushed slightly on the abdomen of the spider, flowing into a partial backflip before landing on his feet.
While this took time to describe, the entire battle had taken only twenty seconds. Aaron’s meridians burned, his dantian was almost empty, and every bone in his body ached. He stumbled around collecting the corpses before slumping against the right hand wall. He rested and refilled his dantian for a full fifteen minutes, his bones feeling better with each passing moment. His meridians still ached when a weak breeze drove him to stand. He spent the next two hours moving slowly and carefully towards the strengthening air current. He had to fight only once more, a smaller group of only four spiders. He finally stumbled out of the cave and into the midafternoon sunlight streaming through the trees. It took him three hours to make his way back to his campsite. The sun was setting as he settled into his mattress, deeply exhausted from the hours of constant tension.
Aaron woke the next morning ravenously hungry, hastily butchering one of the weaker Ember Wolves. He examined his inner state as he cooked the meat, using some of the seasoning herbs to improve the flavor. His meridians appeared to have mostly recovered overnight, so he set off after his meal. His first two days of travel went by undisturbed, but midday of the third he was set upon by a flock of avian beasts. He identified the small beasts as Breezy Starlings. These beasts moved in large flocks and were known for their great speed and low level. Each was only between the first and second stage of the Bestial Power realm.
Aaron rolled to the side to avoid the flock’s first charge, receiving only a few scratches from the beast on the trailing edge. He immediately activated his Arc Barrier. He thought that the beasts were small enough for the arcs to kill them. Avoiding their attacks would be the difficult part of this battle. He pushed his Drifting Leaf Step to the utmost, ducking, rolling, and sidestepping to avoid the flock’s attacks. While he still suffered the occasional wound, his arcs killed off roughly half a dozen birds with each pass. Despite this, it still took fully half an hour to slay the whole flock.
Aaron decided that the wounds were few and shallow enough to let them heal them naturally. He moved about collecting the avian bodies, counting one hundred and twenty three in total. This was his last fight in the day and a half it took him to reach the city. He slept only a hundred feet beyond the forest's edge the fourth night. He reached the city midmorning the next day, heading immediately for the beast butcher. Moving around the back, he entered the sale floor. This time he moved to an unoccupied butcher roughly in the middle of the counter. This butcher was a man, short , tanned, and densely muscled, with ink black hair and eyes to match.
“ What do you have for me?” The man’s speech was short, clipped, and no nonsense.
“First are thirteen Ember Wolves” Aaron matched the man, moving directly to business. He placed the wolves' bodies onto the counter.
“Hmm; minimal bone damage, pristine hide, and only the slightest internal burns from what appear to be lightning arts” The man seemed pleased with the bodies, his mouth drifting up into the barest of smiles “ Five marks per body.”
Aaron nodded in acceptance of the price.” Next is a Mighty Iron Bull” He said before placing the beast's immense body onto the counter.
The butcher’s small smile grew to cover his whole face as he examined the corpse. “Similar condition, save for greater lightning burns and no bone damage. I can do sixteen marks.”
The man’s smile remained for the remainder of the transaction. The spiders with the crushed abdomens, three in total each went for six marks, while the remainder got a full ten marks each. The starlings went for only 2 squares each, given their low stage. Their meat had also been almost totally ruined by his lightning.
“Two hundred and thirteen marks and six squares, then. One plate, ninety marks, two hundred squares, and three hundred and sixty chips.”
Aaron confirmed his payout, received his coins, and left the butcher. He then set about selling the goods from his earth collection that did not intend to use. The herbs and ores earned him another fifteen marks. The two pills earned him twenty five marks for the Creeping Permafrost Pill and one full plate for the Yin Yang Reversal Pill. The weapons earned him forty marks in total, leaving him with only the Yumi. He may still find a use for it, and he admittedly still had an attachment to the weapon. It was the single most recognizable item in his old collection. He kept the robes, the remaining pills, the books, the bell, the boat, and the various essence crystals.
He moved through the city to his masters home, knocking and waiting. He wanted to inform his master of his return before returning to the weeping crane for the night.
“Enter, disciple.” His master’s voice was crystal clear, even though she was likely over a hundred feet away, with a wall between them. He entered, finding his master in the center of the courtyard, sitting behind her low table. There was already a teapot releasing a streamer of steam sitting in the table's center. He moved to the table and seated himself, waiting as she carefully examined him.
“Your foray into the wilds has borne great fruit, disciple. Two stages in less than three months is yet another mark of your great talent. Though the higher essence density in the Great Eastern Woods no doubt helped.” His master smiled as she spoke, pouring them both tea.
“I believe that you now see how mortal danger can assist with cultivation. The battle with the Ember Wolves forced you to develop a combat technique based off of your Outer Spiral. Being trapped with a time limit and enemies you could not yet overcome sharpened your motivation. You slept only as much as was necessary, and spent every spare moment making yourself more powerful in some way.” His master met his gaze as she spoke, ensuring that he understood the point she was making.
They sat and spoke for several hours, speaking of his martial training, his new techniques, and his performance in combat. He set out for the weeping crane as the sun descended towards the horizon. Hou Jiayi and Deng Fang both looked up as Aaron entered the inn.
“My friend, it is good to see you. I heard you left for the Great Eastern Woods over a month past. No one had seen you since, and I was beginning to grow worried.” The relief was clear in Deng Fang’s eyes as a wide smile split his face. “Come and have a drink with me once you get your room sorted.” Nodding to his still-new friend, Aaron moved to the counter to speak to the innkeeper.
”I would like to purchase a room for three months.” Aaron decided to buy a longer period given his new funds.
“Sure, I’ll give you a discounted price of five marks per month, since you're renting for so long.” Hou Jiayi smiled as Aaron handed over the coin and then ordered a drink.
Aaron grabbed his drink and went to sit across the table from Deng Fang where the two sat, beginning to drink and talk. Aaron told the harrowing tales of his recent trip to the Great Eastern Woods. Fang met each story with one from his own decades-long career as a hunter. The hard bitten men and women at the surrounding tables soon began throwing their own tales. The impromptu party lasted a full three hours. Aaron felt an immediate and surprising comradery with these people. They had all faced the same sort of danger that he had in the woods. They now understood him in a way the people back home never could. That thought warmed his heart as he stumbled upstairs and into his bed.