The First Smile

When Mayton opened his eyes, he found himself inside Leyzhen's room, lying down on the crystal bed again. The room made Mayton wonder if they returned to the Flaming Heart City, because the room he was in right now, from the size to the furniture, was exactly the same with the one back in the city.

''I hope this will be a lesson to you. Do you think I imparted the Fire Manipulation Art to you as a means of attack only? Practice it more and increase your control over the fire qi. That way, you can stop using qi before you pass the threshold of losing consciousness.''

Seeing Mayton awaken, first thing Leyzhen did was lecturing Mayton. Even though she was confident in her ability to keep him alive in a sealed world* under normal circumstances, there was Yeqin stalking in the dark, who knows hatching what kind of sinister plot. Since she already decided to help Mayton get stronger, she thought that getting him ready for facing dangers alone should the need arise would be the best course of action.

Mayton's face reddened slightly after hearing Leyzhen. He was like a child getting scolded by his mother because he was naughty. The problem was, he was already about forty years old mentally while the 'mother' scolding him was a little girl less than thirteen years old.

''Well I am not much better than a kid when it comes to things related to cultivation'' Mayton muttered as a way to lessen his shame, attracting a weird look from Leyzhen.

''Oh you are right, I will definitely try to control myself next time.''

Mayton said with a sickeningly sweet voice after a cough. This was a habit he gained while living in the village. Whenever he said something not fitting his supposed he age, he used an exaggeratedly childish voice in the following sentences as a way to keep up his facade and it worked on the villagers everytime. But this time he got a different response.

''You do know that I am aware of your reincarnation, right?''

Leyzhen said, amused. There was even a slight smile on her usually frosty face, like a snowdrop laying bare all its beauty despite the snow.

''You! Of course, you know! Wait, why are you acting like you are my elder then? Did no one teach you to respect your elders?''

Unable to bear with the shame anymore, Mayton suddenly bursted. He realized what he said was extremely offensive for someone who grew up without parents as soon as he finished the sentence, but it was already too late as the hint of a smile on Leyzhen's face immediately disappeared, replaced by her usual expressionless face.

'' I- I apologize. I will keep your advice in mind.''

Mayton stuttered as he left the room in a hurry, clearly flustered. He really had no idea what to do other than apologizing so he decided to run away, forgetting to say even a simple goodbye.

As soon as he left the room, he saw the crude huts they made for themselves and the shallow stream glittering under the sun. Which meant that they were still at the edge of the Demonic Forest. He went directly to his hut and once inside, sat down cross legged to check out his body's condition, hoping to calm down in the process.

Mayton heaved a sigh of relief after briefly checking his condition. He didn't know how but apparently Leyzhen healed him perfectly without leaving any sequela from his severe injuries before he woke up.

''Wait, for how long was I unconscious?''

Mayton realized that he forgot to ask about it as he went back out to find Ghorzhang. Unfortunately, Ghorzhang was nowhere to be found. Since it was daytime Zgar was probably cultivating at the village thus wasn't around too, and he didn't want to ask Leyzhen.

Disappointed, he decided to cultivate the Fire Manipulation Art the way Leyzhen told him to while waiting for Zgar or Ghorzhang to show up. Until now, he only used the Fire Manipulation Art as a way to increase the concentration of the fire qi in one part of his body, while temporarily boosting and reversing the function of the incorporeal wall of fire keeping the qi inside his body to prevent the qi from harming his body.**

This time, he was trying to do the exact opposite. Dispersing his qi to keep its side effect under control. He was practicing this because he wanted to be able to snap out of the berserk state that came with his over usage of the qi by dispersing his qi as soon as he realized he was losing control. After a few tries, he found out that it was much easier to disperse the qi than forcefully concentrating it in one area. It was also quite effective in regaining his cool.

Unfortunately, this method had a glaring flaw. He was completely reliant on his cultivation to fight against strong opponents so dispersing his qi was almost tantamount to leaving himself at the mercy of his opponent.

He set two new objectives for himself to eliminate this weakness. In the short term, he decided to get more proficient with weapons to decrease his reliance on qi. After all his body's strength came from the cleansing of his body with the qi, not the qi itself, thus it was not affected by the dispersion of the qi.

''If only I had a weapon like the spears used by the ambushers.''

Mayton sighed as he remembered the strange spears with silvery crescents on their tips. He wasn't after their effect of slowing the qi flow, he was only interested in their sturdiness. His crude daggers weren't even able to survive a single hit from a relatively weaker opponent like the green snake in the forest let alone being any help against stronger ones.

As for his long term goal, it was to find a way to bypass the side effects of using the qi. While he wasn't particularly concerned about transforming into a demon, possible changes to his character were starting to frighten him after his latest trouble.

He was at the beginning of his cultivation journey, and already the fire qi was affecting him enough to make him lose his life. If his character continued to change at this speed, he was afraid of losing himself eventually.

Unfortunately, this was an ancient problem faced by all the demonic cultivators without any known solution. Trying to find a way out of this predicament was almost certainly doomed to fail, especially someone inexperienced in the matters related to cultivation like Mayton.

''Hmm, maybe she knows of a way...''

Mayton thought of asking Leyzhen as he stroked his chin in a daze. But after a moment, he shook his head to get rid of his thoughts and continued on with his cultivation.

Even though he was sympathizing with Leyzhen more than ever after seeing her smile fading into indifference because of his gaffe, he refused to be dependent on her any more than he already was. He still didn't forget how she helped him by putting a seal on his soul. He knew that there was a cost to pay for everything and he was afraid of the fetters that came with her help.

He was seeking strength for being free. What was the point of cultivation if he was to be dependent on someone? How could he achieve his freedom that way?

With a renewed zeal, he continued his cultivation.