13 Recovery (3)
Leto's recent display of power doubtlessly coated his persona with a layer of mystery.
After his miraculous revival from the deathbed, there were already rumors going around about him, like how his survival was attributed to divine hands, how his personality grew and so on, but rumors were merely rumors in the end, not credible.
His 'growth' heard from the rumors was not enough to convince the family. Technically, Leto didn't need their approval, as only family head, Gile's words mattered. If Gile throned him his heir, then so he was. Of course, some people were discontent about it, as they had better candidates.
Rudolph was definitely the brightest candidate for heir's position. As he was defeated convincingly, at least 80% of opposition in the family was swept away.
Most of all, Leto's knowledge about internal energy, his calm demeanor displayed, and unfathomable killing intent revealed, puzzled and silenced everyone.
If his display of mystery and power made the family wary of him, his closeness with his siblings and sharing the secret of training internal energy with them, the younger generation of the family convinced the most people, so he received a lot of approval.
In truth, even some family's older generation was interested in internal energy, but they weren't thick skinned enough to ask junior for guidance.
A few days later, Leto announced, he would be shutting himself off in his private garden for the closed-door training. Nobody was to disturb him.
The gardeners were fired, while his place was guarded by loyal subordinates, so Leto didn't have to worry about anyone bothering him. As his position was already more or less acknowledged in the family, his words carried significantly more power.
Days passed. Currently, his garden couldn't be recognized anymore, as it had undergone an astonishing transformation.
Sitting at the stone table, Leto was enjoying his meal, slowly biting into the pink tender flesh of the fish he had caught and mutated in the lake of his garden with vitality essence.
Every bite diffused with a warm stream of energy, spreading around in his body and slightly enhancing his body and spirit.
Inhaling a breath of fresh air and surveying his beautiful garden, Leto felt satisfied. He spent quite a bit of vitality essence to transform the lifeforms of his garden to the next level, but this bit of expenditure wasn't enough to bestow spirituality upon them.
Still, this overall enhancement brought to this small piece of land and its nature turned the heaven and earth energy in this area richer.
The purer energy generated in the garden couldn't be completely contained. The territory encompassing the garden would also receive slight benefits. Crops would grow healthier. The environment would become slightly more refreshing and so on...
Evidently, cultivating in his garden would increase one's cultivation speed by 30-40% compared to the outside world.
Unfortunately, this didn't have an effect on body tempering realm warriors, who hadn't even established the foundation and strengthened their vessel to the level where they could take in heaven and earth energy and refine their bodies with it.
Leto planned to gift this place to his father, who was already at Qi gathering realm. It would be a great help to him.
Meanwhile, this place wasn't useless to him even though he hadn't reached the Qi gathering realm yet.
In this environment, his spirit was recovering at a stable rate. Also, the consumable meat, fruits or lake water from here were all great supplements to his sickly body.
Once again checking his Strength, Leto revealed a thoughtful expression.
''52...it should be enough. I guess it's time for a complete purge!'' His eyes shone determinedly as he undressed and entered the small lake.
It was time to completely remove the decaying worms from his body! The small amount of internal energy he had cultivated and the body condition he had reached were all essential for his plan.
Closing his eyes and eliminating unnecessary thoughts, the image of his soul appeared in his consciousness.
Generally, people couldn't access to their souls and check their spirit until a certain realm, but his soul-bound treasure permitted it.
This was why he wasn't afraid of sharing some crystal berries with his family at an earlier time. They would only feel it's really good, but wouldn't know its true value.
The blurred image of his soul became clearer. He focused on the engravings in his strange soul, which displayed his personal information.
[ Leto Lockhart
Cultivation: None
Bloodline: None
Skills: None
Vitality Essence: 607
Attributes:
Strength: 52;
Spirit: 102;
Internal: 16;
Qi: 0 ]
''Sigh, if I had some Qi, it would be so much easier. No problem, internal energy will make do. I have more than enough vitality essence too. As long as I don't pass out and see it to the end, I'll be fine.''
Internal energy was hard to control, but nevertheless, it could be 'shaped' and 'guided.'
With his unique soul, he was capable of using weak soul sense, hence all the worms were long since located. He also remembered each and everyone's position from the time he sealed them right after descending.
There were 37 worms in total. There could be no mistakes. If even 1 was left, it would quickly reproduce.
There was no problem with energy, only perseverance. If he failed to hold on, the consequences would be dire. The method of the purge was breaking the seal one by one and focusing all the internal energy on the worm to eliminate it.
For such precise control, high enough spirit was required. Fortunately, his spirit surpassed 100 points, which was slightly better than normal human's.
As to how to 'shape' the formless the internal energy, he had his method.
The red lights converged into a crystalized drop of blood, which shimmered with a garnet hue and vibrated slightly with a certain sequence, like a beating heart.
Leto gulped down the drop of blood. His mind cut off the connection with the outside world, as he reached the condition of full concentration.
Right above his Dantian, there was a faint dull white energy floating. It was the internal energy!
The internal energy was undying. Even if one's body was destroyed beyond fixation, as long as one had and was capable of using internal energy and had enough willpower, they could still move.
The amount of internal energy one was able to cultivate was limited, unlike strength, qi or spirit, but this didn't downplay its role in any way.
With his weak soul sense, Leto detected another type of energy, which originated from the drop of blood he had consumed. It diffused around his body's blood vessels, muscles and flesh like tree roots.
He guided the etherial internal energy and coated it with the blood energy, which made it much more violent and destructive. It was hence, successfully shaped and could be guided with more precision.
One by one, he removed the seal from the decaying worms and ambushed it swiftly with now violent internal energy.
He sweated profusely, while his body constantly trembled. The lake water around him was sizzling and evaporating into a mist.
Three minutes later, he opened his exhausted eyes, which had a hint of happiness in them.
''I succeeded!''
It wasn't as painful as he expected, but it was challenging nonetheless.
He checked his reddened skin, which also had a black sticky layer stuck on it. After washing away the filth, he came out from the lake and dressed up.
His weighted down heart was finally free, which brought a natural smile to surface on his face.
After 3 more days of spending in a healthy environment, he completely recovered!
His strength reached 61 points, which might already be better than original.
''I can finally start cultivating!'' Leto thought excitedly and looked at the door. It was time to exit his closed-door cultivation.
''Young master.'' The guard slightly bowed, seeing him come out.
Leto nodded at him.
''Young master, the Lord wishes to see you.''
''Okay.'' He replied to another guard happily. He also wanted to see his father.
He proceeded to Gile's room, while completely oblivious about the chain of events, that occurred in his absence.
