Il sat on the small meditation mat in his room, eyes closed as he tried to steady his breathing after finishing his daily training session with his cousins. The air in his room was slightly heavy, filled with the lingering scent of sweat on his skin—as if every particle in the place reminded him of the long hours of "training" torture he had endured under Asher during the past weeks.
His body was still trembling from exhaustion. This exhaustion had become familiar, so familiar that his muscles reacted to it even before his mind did. And yet… inside him was a strange feeling of resignation mixed with familiarity. Ever since Asher appeared, pain was no longer just pain… it had become part of his daily life, part of his very existence.
He took a deep breath:
Hooooh…
The sound was faint, as if the air itself was trying to escape from his chest to flee the pain. With every exhale, Il mentally prepared himself to hear Asher's voice breaking into his thoughts to announce the start of another training round—training that his mind could no longer believe deserved to be called "training."
But Asher's voice this time was different… calm, clear, and firm:
"There will be no evening training from today onward."
Il's eyes snapped open instantly, as if lightning struck beneath him.
"What? Really? Are… are we done with this madness?!"
His voice cracked from shock, and his body trembled between overwhelming relief and fear that this might be another trap. Memories of screams tearing through his muscles every night, tendons nearly snapping, bones silently protesting—all of it rushed back at once.
Asher didn't wait for his reaction. Instead, he dropped an even heavier sentence:
"It's time to temper the bones of your skull, since they haven't been tempered yet, along with some bones in dangerous areas. Obviously, we can't just jump and smash them on the ground. We'd die instantly. Also, the spirit stones your father gives you every day are no longer enough."
Asher said simply.
"So I'll adjust our training schedule to avoid raising suspicion within the family, and also to balance our daily consumption with training speed. In addition, we need Bone-Melting Pills. We'll continue training before dawn as usual, but there will be no evening training for the next three months before we begin organ tempering. And we'll consume a Bone-Melting Pill every three days—I've calculated the timing precisely."
Il didn't move… he didn't even breathe.
His skull?
Dangerous bones?
Bone… what? Bone-Melting Pills?
His limbs grew colder, and a bead of cold sweat slid from his temple to his chin.
"Asher… did… did you hear yourself? Bone-Melting? Are you insane?!"
Asher's voice remained steady, as if everything he said was merely a tiny, logical step in a well-prepared plan:
"No. It's logical."
"For who?!"
"For anyone who wants to reach the stage of forming the perfect body before breaking through to the Spirit Energy Realm."
Il swallowed hard. Oh no… he wasn't speaking like an expert—he was speaking like someone stating an inevitable fact. And although Asher had known nothing about cultivation weeks ago, his ability to analyze made his conclusions closer to truths learned by seasoned cultivators after years.
But Bone-Melting Pills… those were no joke. They weren't just medicine—they were something that caused agony on a level a fourteen-year-old couldn't even imagine.
Il touched his arm, imagining his bones "melting" from the inside… a shiver crawled down his spine.
He asked with a trembling voice:
"Where… where will we even get those pills? My father will kill me if he finds out I'm trying to get them…"
Asher didn't have a ready answer—something that always set him apart. He never pretended to know; he analyzed.
"We'll look. They must be sold somewhere in the city. The eastern market, the inner market, old shops… we'll find them."
Il sighed and stared at the ceiling. Life was hard enough already… he didn't need "melting" his bones added to the list. Yet ever since Asher came… he had become stronger, faster, more aware of his body.
And now… no evening training… maybe he would actually survive three more months without dying of exhaustion. That was a huge blessing.
---
That night, Il sat by his window, looking at the Cloudy Jade City as it prepared to dim its lights. The lower districts were sinking into the faint fog rising from the nearby forest. Small spirit stones placed on the street pillars flickered weakly, as if the city itself was growing tired from the chaos of the day.
A calm scene… but calm did not mean safe.
"Il." Asher's voice came again, quieter than before.
"This pause is not mercy. It's just preparation for something harder. The stage that determines whether your body can survive… or collapse."
Il closed his eyes… and he felt that all the pain he'd known so far had been nothing but a small introduction.
---
The next day, after Il finished his evening training:
"Don't worry," Asher said. "I'll choose the right pills. You won't die."
"That… does not comfort me at all."
Asher ignored Il's comment and said firmly:
"Prepare to go out."
---
Il left his room, trying to hide the remaining bruises. He walked through the halls of the Ren family home, a family renowned for their mastery of spiritual formations—rare techniques used to build defensive and offensive arrays and spirit-guiding circles. The house was filled with carved symbols, some glowing faintly, others dormant but pulsing with unseen power.
He stepped into the southern courtyard, passed the stone gate, and reached the main street.
Cloudy Jade City opened before him, wrapped in its ever-present mist. The streets were wide, the buildings stone-built, and its famous market bustling as always. Thin white fog rose between the alleys, giving the city its name.
"Why is there fog even though there's no river nearby?" Il asked.
"You really should pay attention in your lessons. It's Jade Fog. Some rare plants here release a faint spiritual vapor. It's harmless, but it increases the density of spiritual energy in the air."
"That's… amazing."
"That's why traders come from everywhere."
They walked through the main street. People moved quickly—cultivators in simple clothing, merchants displaying spiritual herbs, young trainees carrying wooden or metal swords, and even guards in heavy armor with stern faces.
"Don't stare like that… you look like a kid leaving his village for the first time."
"I am a kid leaving his village for the first time."
"I know… and that's a problem."
"Why do you think everything is a problem?"
"Because the world is like that. Everything is a problem… unless you have enough strength to crush it."
Il walked silently. Asher's words carried more weight than they should have—maybe because Asher had lived an entire life before.
"Was…" Il hesitated.
"Was your first city like this?"
Asher didn't answer immediately.
"No. My first city was… miserable. Crime everywhere, no order. But here… despite its simplicity, there's balance. There's order. Maybe if I had been born in a place like this in my first life… everything would've been different."
Il felt a strange sincerity in his words. For the first time, he felt that Asher wasn't just a powerful mind… but a person carrying his own scars.
"Asher…"
"Don't sympathize with me. It won't help you. We're striving for ascension… not tears."
"I didn't say I'd cry—"
"Yes, but your face says it."
"What's wrong with my face?!"
"Focus."
The city was ruled by three major families:
– The Ren Family: specialists in spiritual formations—the oldest family, controlling small array-making workshops.
– The Lin Family: specialists in herbs and spiritual medicine—they grew medicinal plants and owned most healing shops.
– The Hao Family: specialists in spiritual smithing—their weapons were famous across four neighboring cities.
Above them all stood the city lord—usually the strongest man in town. In a medium-sized city like Cloudy Jade City, the lord was typically in the Core Condensation Stage… a level of power beyond the imagination of common folk.
Il walked deeper into the market as Asher guided him:
"First… we mustn't look like we're looking for something specific. If anyone notices we're trying to buy something dangerous… we'll face trouble."
Il wandered through the city's alleys toward the market.
It was lively and full of motion—crowded with merchants and buyers wanting either to purchase or barter items.
People displayed their goods in shops, stalls, or even on sheets spread on the ground.
Weapons, clothes, armor, pills, spiritual herbs—everything was on display.
"Let me handle this," Asher said as he observed the bustling market.
"Fine," Il agreed, shrugging his shoulders.
Il entered the market. It was alive, noisy, packed with stalls and…
Asher took control. He felt the breeze on the skin, the market's noise filling his ears.
"We need pill shops. Reliable, but not luxurious."
He headed toward one of the Lin family's shops. He pulled up his hood to hide his distinctive purple hair.
Buzz—buzz—
"Hello, how can I help you?" an old man asked.
"Hello, sir," Asher replied politely.
The old man chuckled.
"Oh? What's a little boy like you doing here alone?"
Asher leaned in and said seriously:
"I'm here to buy Bone-Melting Pills, sir."
The old man raised an eyebrow, examining him from head to toe.
"Boy… you're still in the skin-and-muscle refinement stage. Taking these pills now will melt your bones literally, and you'll suffer pain that will make you wish for death. My advice? Wait a year or two."
Asher smiled gently.
"Don't worry, sir. I won't take them now. How much do they cost?"
The old man sighed.
"A bottle is three spirit stones."
"Alright, I'll take one. Here are three stones."
Asher handed him the stones with a calm smile.
The old man returned with a small bottle and handed it over carefully.
"Thank you, sir. Sorry for the trouble."
Then Asher left quickly, heading home before sunset, weaving through alleys to avoid anyone tailing them.
Once home, he went straight to his room.
"Hoooh… that went smoothly," Asher breathed a sigh of relief as he sat on the bed.
"By the way, why were you weaving through alleys?" Il asked in confusion.
"Just a trivial attempt to shake off anyone who might follow us," Asher replied.
"Alright… take control for the rest of the night," Il said as he sank back into his chair, lost in thought.