So, They *Were* Engaged

The trip to the Dabang Sect would take around half a day for Ryker if he went flat out the whole way, but since he wasn't in a particular hurry and was traveling with Hu Long, as well, the trip would take about a week going at a moderate pace. This would also serve to give Ryker enough time to teach the body refining technique, so it worked out in their favor.

For the sake of caution, it was decided that Ryker would 'teach' Hu Long by relaying Mini C's teachings in in real time, thus avoiding having to reveal the existence of Mini C and Bestie. Of course, in practice, there were a few setbacks...

[Let's move on to the focus exercises. Start with the countdown from 100.]

"Uh, start counting backwards from 100, and when you reach zero, start over again, but this time you'll skip 99, 66, and 33..."

"Huh? Why?"

Ryker and Hu Long were seated around a campfire after walking for most of the day, the sun just starting to dip below the horizon. They were 2 days into their week-long journey, and tonight Ryker was once again in the middle of imparting the mana body refining technique to Hu Long.

[This is to improve his concentration and get him in a mental state suitable for feeling the surrounding mana.]

"To... you know, improve your concentration, and stuff, and, uh... your mental state to feel mana."

"... You're not just playing a prank on me, are you?"

Ryker just grinned sheepishly, shrugging his shoulders. Since he was an intuitive learner of the mana manipulation technique, he'd never had to go through the mental concentration exercises most people would have practiced, so conveying those exercises to Hu Long was a lengthy process, even with Mini C's help.

"Uh, well, I kinda just learned it by doing it, so I never had to go through this kind of stuff," he said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly, "But most people back home had to do it like this, you know?"

Hu Long just sighed, hanging his head in resignation. He had thought that this would be a good opportunity to become stronger, but there were some unexpected difficulties in learning the technique... mainly the fact that Ryker was a horrible teacher.

In fact, if he hadn't seen Ryker take down that Great Winged Tiger (as strong as a cultivator at the peak of Golden Core) with his bare hands, he would have thought his master was just playing tricks on him when she said he was a Soul Wandering powerhouse.

As it now stood, he just felt that Ryker was a scatterbrain.

"Isn't there a faster method to learn? We only have 5 more days left on our journey, you know," Hu Long said with trace of impatience.

"Hm, I guess we could just go for the 'intensive mana training'," Ryker said, rubbing his chin. After he had broken through to the Foundation Establishment realm with his hybrid qi/mana cultivation, he discovered a side benefit where he was now able to control mana more finely by circulating it in a similar pattern to the Cosmic Unity Scripture's qi circulation pattern.

It wasn't much use to him, at the moment, since he was still unable to handle the delicate mana manipulation needed to cast spells, but it should be useful for something like... injecting Hu Long with mana, to force him to acclimate with it, perhaps?

"It's gonna hurt like hell, though. You still wanna try it?"

Ryker crossed his arms with one last warning, to which Hu Long nodded eagerly, looking at him with determined eyes.

"Yes! It doesn't matter how painful it is, I want to give it a try!"

His reasoning for being so determined was simple: body refining techniques didn't need any resources to practice.

Although the same could be said about regular cultivation, and you could use treasures and pills to practice body refining , as well, it was more efficient to focus on one or the other if resources weren't an issue.

However, if resources are what's lacking, why not cultivate both paths to maximize the gain?

Most cultivators ignored body refining since it was only a small increase in efficiency, when compared to regular cultivation. But if he could procure a strong technique like the one Ryker seemed to be using...

"Hehe! Just remember, you're the one who said it!"

The sight of Ryker's broad grin, however, cause Hu Long to involuntarily gulp. Was he making a mistake, here?

--

The next day, Ryker was walking along the northeastern road carrying Hu Long over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes, with Hu Long being unable to move because of the 'intensive mana training', last night.

"Ugh..."

Hu Long groaned as the jostling from Ryker's steps sent shocks of pain throughout his sore muscles, further sending his muscles into spasms. What bullshit body refining technique was this!?

"Haha, told ya it would hurt! But at least you should be able to do it on your own, from now on," Ryker said, grinning. Hu Long could only curse him in his head, seeing as his body was too sore to even speak.

Still, it was true that he was now acutely aware of this energy called 'mana' that was surrounding them. The method Ryker had used to manipulate mana was now deeply ingrained in his body, and he found that, as long as he concentrated hard enough, he could move a little bit of mana, as well.

'Looks like you learned something quite interesting, young one.'

Hu Long's master materialized alongside him as Ryker carried him, hiding herself from his senses so that only Hu Long could see her.

'Did the body refinement succeed, at least, master?' Hu Long asked her with his spiritual sense, unable to turn to face her.

'Yes, and quite a jump in power, it was... good, good, you'll get there, yet.'

The old crone nodded her head appreciatively, a glint of excitement flashing in her eyes. With this one session of body refining, his strength had jumped to be effectively in the Foundation Establishment realm, if one also considered the powerful battle techniques she had taught him.

This strange young man named Ryker held many mysteries, it seemed...

After half a day of walking, they broke for camp, once more, and Hu Long had recovered enough by this point to at least regain his mobility. He was currently sitting in a meditative pose by the campfire, while Ryker roasted some skewered meat on the fire.

"So? You know it's legit now, yeah?" Ryker suddenly asked him while he was practicing the mana body refining technique on his own.

"Hm? What do you mean?"

"The body refining technique! It's legit, so you gotta hold up your end of the deal, now, right?"

Hu Long grimaced, looking away reluctantly. Still, a promise was a promise...

"Well, there's not much to tell, so don't get your hopes up," he started, leaning back as he recounted his relationship with Fu Ling.

"It's a common enough story; Fu Ling and I were engaged when we were children, but we eventually called it off, seeing as I had no talent for cultivation. Around that time, she started acting disdainful towards me, and things only got worse when my family fell out of favor."

Ryker bit into the juicy meat skewer he was cooking while he listened to Hu Long's story, an inquisitive look on his face.

"So, she wasn't always bitchy like that, hm?" he asked, chewing intently.

"No. We could even be said to have had quite a good relationship when we were younger... but, as her cultivation steadily grew while mine remained stagnant, she began to look down on me. It wasn't too bad, at first, but having to deal with her constant gloating and insults... I'm ashamed to admit, but I couldn't stand any more and called off the engagement."

Hu Long sighed, recalling the few good memories he'd had with Fu Ling. They used to play in the courtyard of his family's estate until the sun went down, but as they grew older, Fu Ling seemed to enjoy rubbing her achievements in his face. He felt ashamed that just that was enough to anger him, to the point where he cancelled the engagement, but what's done is done.

In retrospect, maybe Fu Ling was right to be angry with him, nowadays...

"Hey, getting out of a toxic relationship is nothing to be ashamed of, my dude," Ryker said, finishing up his skewer and passing another that was cooking over the fire to Hu Long, "That chick seemed like bad news, anyway. So, you're going to go join the Dabang Sect to get stronger and show her who's boss, right?"

Hu Long took the offered skewer with a smile, huffing softly. As annoying as he was, Ryker was easy to talk to, at least. He couldn't remember the last time he had spoken with anyone about his troubles, not even his master.

"... Well, it certainly is to get stronger, but not because of Fu Ling. Speaking of, I forgot to ask why you were heading to the Dabang Sect."

"Ah, I'm just goin' to meet a friend, over there."

"I see... didn't you say you came over here from the Zhou Empire? How did you come to know someone from the Eastern Region?"

"Er, well, it's a long story..."

The two of them passed the night chatting by the warmth of the fire, the bright moonlight blanketing their surroundings in a gentle glow.