Hard Work

Next day, late afternoon...

Cui Feng hummed a cheery tune as she skipped up the steps to Caelus's villa. She held a lidded clay pot in her arms, which she hugged tightly to her chest.

'Hmhm, with the combination of my beauty and this tasty stew from the kitchens, I'll have Sir Ryker falling for me in no time!'

Although it was originally a request from the sect leader to get close to him, Ryker really ticked all the boxes when it came to her type.

And there was no way he would be able to resist her, today! Her nanny even praised her makeup, this morning, telling her she was 'very mature and beautiful'!

Of course, an impartial observer would point out that she still looked rather young for her age, and deem her a cute child, at best.

'I wonder if he's doing okay, after all...'

She had actually meant to visit yesterday, but she met Hu Long on the way up, who had told her that it would be 'dangerous to visit right now'. When she'd asked if Ryker's condition was really that serious, he only replied:

'I meant dangerous for you, not them.'

It still wasn't clear what danger he'd been talking about, but since she knew Hu Long wasn't the type to joke around, she decided to postpone her visit.

However, it was surely fine to visit now, right?

As she arrived at the villa's large doors, she cleared her throat and smoothed out her robes, before knocking with a few light raps on the wood.

"Hello! It's Disciple Cui Feng, I've come to visit!"

She waited for a moment, fiddling with her hair, before the doors slowly opened to reveal an expressionless young man who stared at her, impassively. At least, she assumed he was looking at her; she could never tell since his bangs were always hiding his eyes.

"You're here to see Ryker, I presume?" he asked curtly, to which she gave a timid nod.

"Um, is now a good time, Sir Caelus?"

She smiled at him, although it was somewhat forced. Why did she have to deal with this intimidating guy? Now all the confidence she had been building up to seduce Ryker was gone down the drain!

Nevermind that this was originally Caelus's villa, to begin with...

Caelus just nodded without a word, stepping aside to let her in. As Cui Feng entered, however, a biting chill caused her to suddenly shiver, almost dropping the clay pot in her arms.

"Wh-why is it so cold, in here?" she wondered aloud. Soon enough, though, she saw the source of the chill: a blue-faced, shivering Hu Long.

He was planted in a horse stance in the middle of the hall, his feet submerged in a basin of water that was steaming hot. It didn't seem to have much effect, however, as waves of cold qi continued to emanate from his body, filling the room.

"Junior Brother? What are you doing?"

"C-c-cultivating..."

Hu Long's teeth chattered incessantly as he spoke, though he revealed a hint of a smirk as he continued.

"And you'll have to start calling me S-Senior Brother, from now on!"

Cui Feng tilted her head to the side, eyebrow raised, before she let out a gasp as she sensed her 'Junior' Brother's cultivation.

Peak of Qi Gathering!

"H... How?!"

Just yesterday, he was still at the second level! How could he jump up almost a major realm in the span of a day?

"Hehe, surprised? Hu Long's been working pretty hard this morning, you know!"

She turned in the direction of Ryker's voice, towards the back corner of the hall. There, she saw Ryker in a handstand with a jug balanced on his feet, sweating what looked like drops of blood as he did some pushups.

"Phew!"

With one last breath of exertion, he pushed himself up off the ground, flipping upright before catching the jug which had been launched into the air.

"So, what's up?" Ryker asked, tucking the jug under his arms. Cui Feng could only look away bashfully. This guy... why wasn't he wearing a shirt!

"Um, I was visiting to see if you were alright..." she said, a faint blush rising on her face as she pointedly stared up at the ceiling. However, she quickly shook her head and got a hold of her self when she remembered that he was covered in blood.

"Wait, that's not important! Are you bleeding? Why is there so much blood?!"

"Haha, don't worry. That's just part of my cultivation method, or something."

Cui Feng was speechless. Wasn't cultivation supposed to be about quietly meditating and striving for epiphanies? What was with all of this literal blood and sweat? What happened to her elegant mental image of cultivators?

At that moment, she decided to check on Ryker's cultivation.

Although it was usually impossible to gauge the cultivation of those in a much higher realm than oneself, that was only because most cultivators were actively hiding their realm; Ryker seemed to either not care if others saw or not know how to hide it.

... If she were to be honest, she would bet on the latter.

"Sir Ryker... you've broken through to the seventh level of Foundation Establishment?" she asked incredulously. The young man in question just grinned and gave her a thumbs up, as if the feat of breaking through three minor realms in one morning were no big deal.

Just what have these two been doing, to get such exaggerated results...?

--

Earlier that morning...

"... And what about the side effects?"

"Side effects include a rapid decrease in body temperature, as well as a large influx of yin qi. Possibly resulting in cardiac arrest if the yin qi isn't expelled quickly enough."

"..."

Hu Long looked at the pill he was holding without a word. After deliberating through the night, he had finally decided to take Ryker up on his offer, coming to the villa early in the morning to submit to Caelus's testing.

However, the freezing pill in his hand was making him reconsider once more. Was he really up for this?

"Not that I'm doubting your creation, Sir Caelus, but what ingredients were used in the forming of this pill?" he asked, cautiously.

"The main ingredient used was the Netherworld Ghost Flower. The other ingredients were of the standard variety used in most other pill recipes, with ratios adjusted and some fillers added to produce a slow-release effect."

Hu Long sucked in a sharp breath after hearing Caelus's explanation.

Netherworld Ghost Flower!

This was a heavenly-grade treasure that could even be used in pill recipes at the Nascent Soul level. And it was being used here for a measly Foundation Establishment Pill?!

How... luxurious!

"That sounds somewhat... wasteful."

"Indeed, the slow-release limits the pill to about 50% of the total true qi contained in the Ghost Flower, but some level of waste is to be expected when experimenting," Caelus replied, leaving Hu Long dumbfounded.

So they were not only using a Nascent Soul grade ingredient for a Foundation Establishment Pill, but they could only utilize 50% of its true qi? The Ghost Flower wasn't even his, but be felt his heart bleeding!

"On the bright side, that means even you can use this pill, buddy! Without exploding, that is."

Hu Long closed his eyes to calm himself as Ryker leaned an arm on his shoulder. He had to remind himself that this was free resources, no matter how wasteful they were being.

"And you're sure there are no other major side effects?" he asked, trying to psych himself up one last time before he dove in.

"Of course! Right C?"

However, Caelus only averted his gaze, not saying a word, which left Ryker to scratch his head with an awkward smile.

"... Well, you won't die, at least?" he said, shrugging, though it sounded more like a question than an answer.

Hu Long could only grimace. That wasn't exactly the answer he was hoping to hear, but... he'd already resolved himself before he came. Nothing to do but suck it up and follow through.

He quickly popped the pill into his mouth and swallowed, gritting his teeth in preparation for what was to come.

The name Hu Long would eventually ring throughout the Nine Heavens as a fabled expert, one who rose to godhood despite a humble upbringing.

He was said to have overcome many life and death situations on his journey to ascension, some barely by the skin of his teeth.

But if one were to ever ask him about them, he would involuntarily shiver, as if remembering a time he almost froze to death...

--

"Okay, that explains why Junior Brother is a popsicle, but why are you bleeding so much?!"

"Ah, that's just a side effect of one of the experimental pills. It probably doesn't help that I'm doing body refining at the same time, haha!"

Ryker wiped the mixture of sweat and blood off of his face, grinning merrily as he did. The 'body refining' he was referring to was actually his old technique, just tweaked to be more efficient and incorporate many of the methods from qi-based body refining.

It hurt less, eliminated his chances of dying, and the best part: his mother wasn't here to stop him!

As the two of them chat, however, a crisp new wave of freezing qi rolled over them, causing them to recoil as they turned to see Hu Long collapsing onto the ground.

"That's about the limit of what your body can take," Caelus, who was beside him with his tablet, said, "Expel the rest of the true qi and let the yin qi gradually dissipate..."

"N-no, there's still so much of it l-left...!"

Hu Long's shaky words came out through blue lips, his fingers shaking as he struggled to reign in the rampant yin qi inside his body.

But before he could try to break through to the Foundation Establishment realm, Caelus put a hand on his back, and a gentle blue glow spread from Caelus's hand into his body before his head hit the floor, unconscious.

"Sir Caelus! What's wrong with Hu Long?"

Cui Feng hurriedly rushed over and knelt beside the fallen young man, but Caelus simply shook his head.

"His body was about to collapse from qi oversaturation. I had to knock him out so I can expel the excess qi," he said, letting out a steady breath as he worked.

Ryker just crouched down to observe the unconscious Hu Long, a thoughtful look on his face. It seemed he was rather stubborn about getting stronger, despite his earlier reluctance.

As long as Caelus was supervising, he wasn't too worried, but it could be a problem if he was like this with his own cultivation. Was it related to that revenge the system was talking about?

'How would I bring it up with him, though...?'

It wasn't exactly something he could just ask about (without looking like a weirdo). Still, he should probably find out more about it if he really wanted to help.

All the while, Hu Long's face contorted fiercely, as if he were fighting some inner demon in his sleep...