It was the next day, and the two were preparing breakfast.
'Damn it! Rice for breakfast? This is so weird! At the inn, I had to specifically ask them not to bring any,' Aotian observed Rihai preparing the rice with an uncomfortable expression.
"Why that strange look?" Rihai asked, noticing his discomfort.
She still felt a bit embarrassed since seeing Aotian naked, but she was trying hard to act normally.
"It may sound silly, but I'm not used to eating rice for breakfast… It feels kind of strange to me," Aotian admitted, scratching his head, a bit embarrassed.
"Huh? Well, what I'm making isn't ordinary rice, it's spiritual rice. So you better get used to it," Rihai answered bluntly.
"Spiritual rice?" Aotian raised an eyebrow. "Doesn't that contain spiritual energy? I don't have spiritual veins, if I eat it, I might explode from the inside."
Rihai looked at him as if he were an idiot.
"What are you talking about? The best thing about spiritual rice is that anyone can eat it. It's good for mortals, and for Qi Refining cultivators, it's excellent because it doesn't have the impurities of regular food, which can disrupt cultivation."
"Really? I only knew that mortals without spiritual roots can't absorb external spiritual energy," Aotian scratched his chin, reflecting.
"Of course, but spiritual rice is special. It's not exactly a spiritual plant, but it can absorb a small amount of energy from the environment and purify it, transforming it into something edible. As a martial artist, it's even more important for you."
"Huh? What does this have to do with martial arts?" Aotian frowned, but he already had a faint suspicion.
"Without spiritual rice to assist, martial artists rarely reach Bone Refining before old age. But with it, the speed increases drastically."
It seemed like Aotian had guessed it right.
"Oh! So let's see how this works," Aotian accepted willingly and was soon served with a bowl of rice and a pair of chopsticks.
Without further hesitation, he took a portion and brought it to his mouth.
'Thanks to sushi lessons for teaching me how to use these,' Aotian thought.
As soon as he swallowed, he felt a gentle energy spreading through his body. However, it quickly began to dissipate. Despite that, the amount was huge compared to what he usually refined on his own during training.
"You felt that, right? The energy is pretty smooth, isn't it? Without spiritual veins, most of it dissipates quickly. Those with spiritual veins can absorb it instantly, but in your case, if you refine this energy before it disappears, it can speed up your training," Rihai explained, enjoying watching him try something new.
Aotian's eyes widened.
For a regular martial artist, the waste was enormous. Most would absorb at most 0.1% of the energy before it dissipated. But with his super exercises, he could absorb at least 10%! This was ridiculous!
Without hesitation, he tossed his shirt aside and began working out. Whenever he felt the energy was gone, he took another scoop of rice and returned to his training.
He was so focused that he didn't notice Rihai watching him with her face growing redder by the second. Her gaze fell on Aotian's defined abdomen, and before she realized it, her face was burning like a pepper. The memory of the previous night resurfaced, and she quickly turned her gaze away.
'I had estimated five more months… but now, maybe I can finish Blood Refining in just one!' Aotian thought, excited.
...
Thus, breakfast passed quickly, and Aotian finished his morning training.
Despite being exhausted, he felt much better than on normal days. Besides boosting the exercises, the spiritual rice also helped in recovering energy.
The best part was that, unlike auxiliary cultivation pills, the spiritual rice was extremely pure and didn't cause pill poisoning, a common problem among cultivators who ingested too many pills at once.
On the other hand, its effect was too weak for cultivators to make significant progress. For them, it was more beneficial to spend time cultivating than wasting it on spiritual rice. But Qi Refining cultivators still needed to eat, so the demand for spiritual rice was always high, especially because, despite not aiding cultivation, it didn't interfere like regular food full of impurities.
For martial artists, spiritual rice was a true blessing. Without spiritual roots, they couldn't absorb energy directly from the environment, but the purified energy of the spiritual rice provided them with a valuable shortcut to strengthen their bodies and save precious time in cultivation.
Especially for Blood Refiners, who waste so much time recovering from wounds caused by trying to calm spiritual energy through their own skin.
Wiping the sweat with his own shirt, Aotian looked at Rihai. She had already managed to control the blush on her face but went unnoticed by him as she furtively stole several shy glances in his direction.
"Rihai, I need to buy a bed. Sleeping on a stone isn't comfortable at all. Ugh! Can you lend me some spiritual stones for that? I'll be consuming your spiritual rice frequently now, so we need to stock up more. Don't worry, I won't eat soft rice, I've already found a way to get more spiritual stones. Oh, and can you also lend me some for paper, ink, and brush?" Aotian said, feeling awkward asking favors from the girl he liked.
And on top of that, he was already living in her house for free.
"Sure!" Rihai smiled, amused but not bothered. Low-level spiritual stones were not hard to come by for her. What made her curious was how Aotian planned to obtain the spiritual stones he had just promised, especially since he was a mortal. Could he really do it, or was he just boasting?
She decided that this would be her little "secret test" to assess whether Aotian was truly a good match for her.
If Aotian knew what she was thinking, he would probably laugh and say:
"This bet is already won! Why? Because I've already seen the treasure land!"
Before his avatars, a giant dome of spiritual energy appeared, enveloping a city located at the top of a massive mountain.
...
Tian Zhu observed the enormous dome with a mischievous smile.
But Elder Lie, with his fierce face, watched the scene and frowned. In an instant, the expression of the sect leader returned to its usual impassive demeanor.
'Damn it, I need to maintain composure when using the sect leader's avatar. I can't act like myself. I need to establish a distinct personality for each avatar and follow it strictly from now on!' Aotian thought, determined.
'Tian Zhu, the sect leader, must be disciplined, cold, and distant. Lie Zheng, the elder of the punishment pavilion, must be fierce and just, without concessions. And Bao Hui, the elder of the treasure pavilion, must be cunning, with a treacherous smile and behavior that suggests betrayal. From now on, even when I'm alone, I'll make them behave like real people, not just avatars.'
With that decided, Aotian began his transformation.
The expressions of the three, which had previously been slightly synchronized, changed drastically.
Tian Zhu, now imposing, appeared distant and untouchable. Lie Zheng took on a dark appearance, one that tolerated no failure. Bao Hui, in turn, was filled with treacherous intentions, with a malicious smile and fox-like eyes.
Bao Hui approached Tian Zhu, rubbing his hands with a sly grin. "Leader, do you want me to go?"
He resembled a sly rat, always ready to deceive someone. His dragon's whisker mustache only amplified the impression of cunning.
Tian Zhu raised a hand indifferently, as if in no hurry. Bao Hui immediately fell silent.
"It's not necessary," Tian Zhu said slowly, pointing at a well-dressed young master descending the mountain. His cultivation appeared to be in the early stage of Qi Refining.
"Lie Zheng!" Tian Zhu spoke indifferently, pointing.
"Mm!" The elder simply nodded, disappearing like a shadow.
Some time later, he returned, shaking his hands and making drops of blood splatter on the surrounding leaves.
He approached Tian Zhu, who remained with his back turned, staring fixedly at the horizon. His hands behind his back gave his figure a majestic impression.
"Leader, that young man said the mountain is a city of independent cultivators. It is governed by a cultivator in the early stage of Foundation Establishment. The spiritual energy vein beneath the city is of perfect first level, and on the mountain peak, a second-level early environment has formed. This young man also caused great harm as the son of a perfect-level Qi Refining cultivator. Therefore, I decided to punish him," Lie Zheng said, his gaze reflecting deep anger, the vertical scar on his right eye becoming even more threatening when mentioning the harm the young man had caused.
He seemed to completely despise evil.
"This is his storage pouch." Lie Zheng handed a storage pouch to the sect leader.
Tian Zhu took the pouch and examined it disinterestedly. With a click, he destroyed the magical restrictions holding it and, without a second glance, tossed the pouch to Bao Hui, who caught it with an expression of pure greed.
'Damn it! I had to be an actor! I'm amazing! And damn, I wanted to play with the storage pouch, but that doesn't fit with any of their personalities!' Aotian thought, a mix of excitement and frustration.
Of course, he could easily stop worrying about the details and play with the pouch, but he was having too much fun with the performance.
Tian Zhu stopped observing the horizon and gave an order in a cold voice.
"Bao Hui, go!"