With the newfound inspiration Leo fully focused on the lightning bolts within and tried to slowly push all of them towards the dantian. He finally understood that the spot below the navel in fact was the trash can of the consciousness – obviously it was the reason why it was located in the bottom half of the body. Trough it he could dispose of all the impurities, obstacles and the irrelevant stuff and then finally be able to cultivate for real.
No wonder he had a hard time of finding the fire spark for so long! His consciousness was constantly being soiled! It all began with the terrifying lightning storm after which the purple lightning first showed up to continuously pester him even in his dreams and because he didn’t timely dispose of it, it continued to grow and multiply within. And when the amazing once in the lifetime opportunity occurred to cultivate at the magic spot where the chicken and cat grew big and strong, he wasted it by swimming in the lake with the lightning and even drank its waters thus polluting his consciousness even more.
And just why did he have to eat those fruits from both trees that constantly kept emitting lighting? The curiosity and greed were what probably costed him months of cultivation time! He had so much to make up for. Of course, the Renaud family men never wasted time pitying themselves or regretting things that couldn’t be changed. All he had to do now was to work hard!
Fully focused Leo sat in the tub and did his best to force the hateful lighting towards the dantian. Now and then his mind wandered off reminding of the lack of the Firewater and Firepaste and the things he should regret, but each time he stubbornly forced himself to focus on the task at hand again.
Bimpo and Onataka had other things to worry about. When they saw Leo had no reaction at first, they used the time to quickly do their regular chores and washed the tubs, but when they were done they sat near the tube Leo was in and began to carefully observe him.
It was clear the fatty was struggling. His expression was solemn and forehead covered in perspiration. From time to time he frowned, pursed his lips and even gritted teeth. Fortunately he didn’t cry or scream in pain otherwise it would be hard to explain what they were doing if an elder suddenly stepped by.
After Leo sat in the tub longer that it takes for an incense stick to burn, the guys finally became worried.
“He’s holding in there alright, but shouldn’t the impurities finally start seeping out? For some reason there is only perspiration, but no sign of black colored toxins.” Onataka asked while scratching the back of his head.
“No idea. Maybe he’s too young and has no impurities?” Bimpo tried to think of something.
“You know as well as I do that’s impossible.” Onataka said, “Every being is already born with impurities and accumulates even more toxins during their lifetime. Part of the cultivation is to get rid of all the crap, but neither of us could properly do it and now we’re stuck at the Qi gathering stage forever. Even the young master Mumasa, a genius that is born once in ten thousand years, secreted a thick layer of toxins when he went through the body refinement stage at the age of nine and even more the next year during the bone reforging. Do you think he had too much of bad food or dirty water, or breathed the wrong air?”
“I’m just trying to think of something.” Bimpo defended.
What Onataka said was the common knowledge and during the years they had assisted hundreds of sect members by organizing cleansing, strengthening and revitalizing baths. While their expertise might be lacking, they had plenty of experience and knew how the cleansing process should go. The only explanation for them to not see Leo’s toxin discharge was for it to be invisible.
“Listen! We are complete idiots!” When the east was beginning to turn bright red, Bimpo’s sudden shout woke up Onataka who had long dozed off, “That damn Lidibu probably absorbed the whole medicinal effect before we threw the fatty in there! Maybe he’s even absorbing Lidibu’s impurities – that’s why he’s in pain!”
It took a moment for Onataka to register what his friend said, but then he jumped on on his feet in distress, “Oh god! What have we done?!”
They both grabbed the confused Leo by armpits and a moment later the boy found himself being thrown in the ocean and getting scrubbed all over by the two young men. Not only this was embarrassing, but painful as well. Unfortunately his futile resistance was taken as agony caused by the bad bath and the two intensified the washing increasing Leo’s suffering even more.
A short while later the two geniuses were forced to realize their actions had indeed been harmful. They ignored the fact that the kid was bruised all over, but focused on the ‘main’ problem – he completely refused to talk to them and even look their way!
It was clear that the last night’s experiment had a damaging effect on Leo and they could only blame themselves for that. Who in the world uses a cleansing bath after someone else? Obviously the water is full of toxins and nothing good can come of it!
Fortunately it didn’t take long for Onataka to come up with a new plan. Today they would reduce the amount of medicinal ingredients they put in other people’s tubs and with the spare make a brand new bath for Leo in the evening and Bimpo gladly agreed to the idea. It wouldn’t be the first time they stole some stuff, but they stopped doing so after realizing they weren’t meant to cross into the Foundation establishment threshold in their lifetime. The ingredients to them simply became worthless work materials back then and they used just them like carpenters use wood or mason – stones, but now, on the other hand, plants, alchemy pills and essences had never been more important.
Leo was pleasantly surprised with the results of the last nights cultivation. Not only he felt completely energized even though he hadn’t slept, he also made a considerable progress towards cleaning up his consciousness. Of course, it was still a mess with the lightning flashing all over the place, but he felt like he was getting a hang of managing it, even if it was a little bit.
Unfortunately the two bullies intervened at what he thought was a crucial moment. Apparently they were frustrated by their mom not coming home the whole night although judging from her lecherous character most likely she was busy with someone humping her somewhere in the tribe.
The worst part about the disturbance was the fact that either because of the medicine in the bath or it was just the water from the ocean, Leo’s bruises kept itching so hard he wished he could simply take of his own skin until it heals. Be as it may, it was clear that he suffered because of the two mother tuckers and there was no way he would help them out with chores from now on, even if it was passing towels to the pretty female tribe members.
Being upset with both guys had also its perks. During the day they almost never spoke to him and focused on serving the sect members while from time to time brought over fruits and snacks. In the evening though they washed the tubs first, but to Leo’s great surprise filled up another one and without asking anything put him in.
Clearly the two were feeling guilty, because the moment Leo entered the tub he felt its quality was on a completely different level. The medicinal aroma clearly pointed at many expensive ingredients that were used and the water was clean and pleasantly cool. Leo even had the urge to taste it as if it was a fancy herbal tea, but quickly regained his focus and concentrated on the cultivation. He didn’t know for how long the guys will keep feeling guilty and generously suck up to him, therefore he couldn’t waste a single moment.
“Alright, let’s focus and watch him closely.” Onataka said while sitting down next to Leo’s tub.
Then he pulled out a small sack and passed it to Bimpo who quickly rolled up a couple of tubes from leaves filled with what Leo called ‘Firegrass’.
“Now he should feel pretty hot. In the time it’ll take for us to finish these he should start sweating out toxins.” Bimpo said and passed one of his creations to Onataka.
“Let’s hope this works. If not – I’m out of ideas.” The latter said with a sigh, “We have around ten days left and I really hope he’ll be capable of saying more than ‘I like banana’.”
“Seems like that bitch also bailed on us.” Bimpo said after inhaling lungs full of the flavorful fume that made him dizzy for a split moment, “It might’ve been that her sh*t was too strong for the fatty so she wants us to take the blame.”
“Mhm.” Onataka nodded in agreement, “Women are not trustworthy at all. I tell you what – if she comes over, let’s do her so hard she won’t be able to walk for a week.”
Bimpo looked back at him with a wide grin and the two slapped their palms together sealing the deal.
The two youths sat and quietly chatted while keeping a close eye on Leo. Unfortunately no matter how they stared, the only reaction fatty had was a change in expression now and then. Strangely enough after the initial effect he didn’t even perspire although the two were absolutely confident that the intense bath he took had to forcefully propel a beginner through the body refinement stage.
It was highly unlikely or rather – impossible that the boy had his Qi channels formed at his current age, therefore by soaking in this bath they should’ve been opened forcefully in a crippled form while during the process erasing his future prospects of becoming a real cultivator and giving him a short boost of physical and intellectual prowess in return.
Of course, it was not because the medicine was in some way damaging – the recipe was meant to stimulate young cultivators so they could pass the Body refinement stage by removing toxins from their bodies. Unfortunately unprepared people would draw the power from within significantly weakening their life force in the process.
Strangely enough the fatty in the tub didn’t feel pain nor discomfort. From the looks of it he actually was trying hard to concentrate as if actually cultivating.
“Could … could it be he already is at the Body refinement stage?” When it was well past midnight Bimpo asked in disbelief.
“I … have no clue.” Onataka honestly said, “But trying anything stronger is too risky. He might die.”
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“F*ck it! Let’s go and find Runamata tomorrow morning. She has to have a suggestion. It’s her fault after all!” Bimpo got angry.
“Agreed. We don’t have any other choice.” Onataka nodded, “If he doesn’t start producing results we’ll do as you said.”
Since the medicinal effect had ran out, the boy was fished out yet again despite his strong protests. He could not understand why he was not allowed to continue to cultivate since everyone went to sleep right after anyway and because of that gave the ‘silent treatment’ to the two in the morning.
Of course, Leo gladly accepted the breakfast, but ignored everyone when he was urged to exchange few sentences and write a couple of words. He had an inkling that if he kept up this attitude, in the evening he might get another medicinal bath, but if he didn’t – he wasn’t loosing anything anyway.
23. Back to cultivation 3.
“It’s definitely all your fault!” After fruitlessly wasting half day Onataka finally managed to find Runamata and immediately accused her.
He caught her next to the main warehouse and there were quite a few people around to witness their argument.
“I don’t know what are you talking about!” She calmly replied, “I gave you all the teaching materials you need! What else do you want from me?”
“You think you’re so clever, huh?” Onataka grinned and Runamata instinctively took few steps back, “Don’t worry, I won’t hurt you! But it’s not like I can’t get to elder Faluno and tell about everything that happened. He might not believe me straight away, but I’m pretty sure I can ruin your life since you are trying to ruin ours!”
Initially Runamata thought that the two boys will desperately try their hardest and in case of a failure present the results they had while obediently accept the punishment. It was not like the kid couldn’t say a word – one could speak with him about simple things like food, for example. The only problem was that he stopped learning the new stuff.
Unfortunately Onataka showing up and making a scene in a broad daylight was not according to her plans, therefore after a bit of hesitation she hissed back, “Fine, we’ll try to think of something in the evening! And don’t you dare to come over here ever again!”
That was all Onataka wanted to achieve. Either they will actually ‘fix’ the kid or both would have their way with her to relieve the stress. In any case it’ll be some kind of a solution.
When the evening came, Leo was already impatiently waiting. He followed all the necessary procedures – kept silent, tried to pout as much as he could as well ignored everyone throughout the day. When the other sect members left and the two guys began to prepare another bath for him everything was still fine, but then Runamata showed up.
Either she was simply angry or it was her female intuition that told something was off, the first thing she did after arrival was to tear off Leo’s skirt, put him over her knee and spank until his butt turned red. When Leo bit her other hand so hard he almost chipped his teeth, she kicked him in the face and the boy fell over unconscious.
Meanwhile Bimpo and Onataka stared at them in disbelief and only regained their senses when she shouted, “What? You also want some?”
“You do realize he won’t speak to you anymore?” Bimpo asked with a sigh to what Runamata snorted in return.
“We’ll see about that!”
She kept her angry appearance up until Leo woke up. Actually, she wasn’t confident at all, but she got this advice directly from elder Faluno and because she was out of ideas there was no other way than to follow it.
The old man heard her out and said, “Children need to be taught how the behave obediently. I usually like to use my cane. How about you?”
Runamata was not ready to hit a child with a stick, but she figured a nice spanking with the palm should suffice. Of course, she didn’t expect for the damned kid to bite her, but no one could know he had lived with wild apes for months and picked up some of their habits.
Leo woke up with his butt sore and pride badly hurt. Even his father had never laid a hand on him, to not speak about strangers. He stared angrily at his abuser trying to think of the most painful way he could get back at her when she spoke first.
“Here is the deal! You’ll start learning properly once again or I’ll spank you till you won’t know your name anymore!” She said with a calm smile.
Leo stared at her for a moment then looked around, picked up a knife he used to peel fruits for dinner and said back with similar smile, “Good.”
He had no clue how to properly say ‘come at me, bitch, if you dare’ or something similar, but everyone should understand the idea especially because he waved the knife few times in front of him as if checking out if it was good enough to cut her.
Seeing the two had reached an impasse, Onataka suddenly had an idea.
“Leo, listen! We very much want you to learn to speak.” He tried to phrase as simple as possible, “What do you want?”
Leo didn’t need to think for too long. He pointed at the tub the two were preparing just now and said, “Cultivate.”
“Ok, so you’ll learn if we let you cultivate there?” Bimpo verified.
“Cultivate at night, learn – day.” Leo seriously said.
He had clearly reached some breaking point and their mom was not willing to go through with supporting his advancement. On the other hand he didn’t want to simply learn a useless language free of charge.
Fortunately the conditions were acceptable for both parties and a moment later Leo was inside a tub.
To the great disappointment of the two youths, Runamata disappeared right after Leo got in the tub so they were left to smoke alone while keeping an eye on the annoying kid.
She came back early next morning, passed over a sack with herbs to Bimpo and said, “My friend gave me these. It’ll have a stronger effect, but just watch the dosage. This should suffice for seven nights and afterwards we’ll be done with the lessons.”
“What if he needs to learn more?” Bimpo asked furrowing brows.
“The next seven days have to be sufficient. Afterwards the little f*cker will run out of juice.” She said with a cruel grin, “But if he becomes forgetful again, we’ll knock some sense into him.”
After yesterday’s performance it was clear the boy was playing them. Especially after he bit her, her pride was injured almost as much as her hand and she went over to Nara to ask for help. Fortunately her friend didn’t let her down. The medicine she got should fully deplete the physical potential Leo had while for a while strengthening him intellectually. In a month or two he’ll probably die, but he was their responsibility for ten days, maybe fifteen at most.
The only downside was that she had to make sure he kept learning thus she had to continue to come here every morning. The nice bonus was to watch the kid get thinner by day while his main dialect continued to improve. Nara’s recipe turned out to be miraculous.
Meanwhile Leo was delighted he managed to hoodwink the clueless aborigines in providing him with free cultivation resources. While he could not step into the real cultivation stages yet, he was making proper preparations.
He noticed how by day, or rather – by night, the amount of the lightning bolts within his consciousness one after another got directed towards the dantian and he finally felt like a master of his own self. Of course, there was still a lot of work to do, but Lyam always said that the cultivation was a long and hard road to walk therefore Leo never expected quick results.
The fact that he was loosing weight at disturbing speed didn’t worry Leo one bit. First of all as a child he didn’t care for his own looks and secondly – he already slimmed down once and this time the process was exactly the same, albeit much faster. Obviously he attributed that to his diligent cultivation and took it as another sign he was doing everything correctly.
Leo had almost forgotten, but Runamata, Bimpo and Onataka could never guess that the kid they were teaching and taking care of actually had feasted on the meat of the rank seven nightfeather griffin for almost half a year, beforehand having its egg for an appetizer and seven fruits of Divine tribulation trees as a garnish. His tiny body couldn’t process the enormous amount of energy hidden within these treasures and a large part of it was stored on him in a form of a thick layer of fat.
Now, when the three people from the Voodoo sect intended to increase his intellectual potential while directly dipping into his life force and killing him in the process, all they did was to provide Leo with enough boost and proper conditions to finally absorb everything he had previously stored.
Of course, if it lasted long enough they would’ve actually killed the boy, but the luck was on Leo’s side and there were only at most twelve days left until the one month limit set by elder Sigfried was up. And since Runamata had no clue what their sect leader had agreed upon, she pressed the deadline to be at least six days earlier and tried her hardest to teach as much as possible during the last days.
As the result Leo got the unique opportunity to process the accumulated Qi and was even rewarded with free lessons of the main dialect that was spoken throughout the immortal realm and in the highest echelons of mortal realms as well.
There was another thing neither Leo nor Runamata suspected.
No one could guess that the boy had forcefully gone through the body refinement stage long ago. When he was caught in the Omar’s tribulation storm, only because of series of lucky coincidences and the fact that he was a helpless child he managed to survive it. His luck was bad enough he got tortured by lightning throughout the night, but the blessing in disguise was that the pure Qi the tribulation lightning carried cleansed his flesh, forcefully pushing out all toxins and filth.
Another process that inevitably occurred during that event was the forceful formation of the Qi pathways in Leo’s body. Any cultivator would prefer for the Qi pathways to be formed naturally at a slow and steady pace, but while dangling in the rigging of the main mast and being washed with streams of tribulation lightning Leo had no freedom of choice.
The Qi pathways were formed without asking if he wanted it or not, but even though they were a bit peculiar, they were slightly strengthened in the process and fortunately didn’t start deteriorate right after. Of course, the Qi pathways were thin and brittle and if nothing was done in few years they would collapse along with him inevitably dying.
Leo’s misfortunes with the lightning continued during his stay on the island with the two Divine tribulation trees. As the name implies, these trees naturally emit lightning energy that closely resembles the actual Heavenly tribulation.
Advanced runemasters form the Golden Hand society in the immortal realm tens of millennia ago developed rune formations that allowed the cultivators to familiarize themselves with the Heavenly tribulation and increase the chance of stepping into the Nascent soul stage by forming their Nascent souls after cultivating in such formations from three to five centuries. Obviously the time required was way too long for regular humans, but the lucky few rank seven beasts who managed to make a deal with the owners of these formations gladly used such opportunity.
As a part of manipulation of the lightning energy, around the Divine tribulation trees naturally formed bodies of water in the form of lakes, in one of which Leo thoughtlessly fell in and on purpose at that. The goldenglow tiger who witnessed the scene was correct to assume the human child would die right after, but it couldn’t have known that he already had a fateful event that forced him to experience the Heavenly tribulation lightning and his Qi pathways were formed in a way that allowed the lightning Qi to naturally flow through.
Not only these circumstances allowed Leo to survive the electrocution in the water, but after tempering his flesh and bones for a whole day it forced out the remaining impurities both from the muscle tissue and organs, and even from bones and bone marrow. As the result Leo once again unknowingly stepped further in the road of cultivation and cluelessly became a Qi gathering stage cultivator way earlier than he was supposed to.
It all might sound great, but there were incredible risks and even after surviving electrocutions of the Heavenly tribulation lightning or the lightning from the Divine tribulation tree Leo was unlikely to get away unscathed. Rapidly stepping through the early cultivation stages was already damaging enough and might have serious implications in the future, but what was even more important – forcefully forming Qi pathways left them brittle and unstable and even though they got tempered over and over again by Leo swimming daily in the waters of the Divine tribulation tree, they actually were on a brink of collapsing.
This is where Runamata, Bimpo and Onataka did Leo a favor he would never be able to repay. The baths they let him enjoy allowed to transform the previously accumulated Qi and if not for them, his Qi pathways would’ve completely collapsed in a year or two.
Neither the ‘mother’ nor her two ‘tuckers’ could ever guess that they helped the little fatty immensely and as the result he actually stabilized his cultivation at the same realm as them. Of course, he was physically incomparably weaker, but that was expected by the age difference and because at this stage the bodily prowess still decided everything.