Eric Xing walked to the bathhouse while still donning his labor uniform from a few hours prior and carrying a cloth bag that contained a change of clothes, cleaning products, his collection of unused cultivation pills and the Thunder Emperor's Body technique scrolls that he had received from Qianggong Zhufu Feng previously.
There was a layer of dust on his back from when he had fallen over from the backlash. His hair even had a stray leaf sticking out here and there.
'I'll have to request a cleaning for my bedding.'
The usual gawkers couldn't resist their calling as they saw the tall and dark Outsider's sorry figure, their mouths appropriately agape and their "whispers" barely fitting their namesake.
If Eric were fully cognizant, he would easily be able to hear their mindless drivel. However, he was currently walking with his head down, his face drooping forward as he stroked his chin with his free hand as if pulling on a nonexistent beard. His posture only serving to add fuel to the gossiper's fires.
'I can't believe it was such a short period of time. The moon hasn't even reached it's zenith. I swear Pen Yushui said I would need a couple days to recover.'
He entered the men's bathing house listlessly, washed in the shower stall and found himself in the tub before realizing the lack of fatigue on his body.
'It's more than a lack of fatigue, I feel like my body broke through some type of barrier...'
Eric flexed his fingers while staring at his palm and confirmed that he clearly hadn't advanced to Flesh Training. What he felt was similar to the sensation of the veins that channeled primordial energy through his body widening. What was once a stream was now more akin to a small river.
'I can also feel a source of primordial energy being fed back to me from within. It's the same area that always ends up absorbing any excess energy I take in...'
Eric had not been too concerned about this inner void in recent days. Partially since it didn't take more than his excess energy, but mainly because those looming presences had discouraged his urge to advance in his cultivation. It had also kept him from consuming the dorm-provided cultivation pills he received weekly. The feeling of the boost of energy disappearing into nothingness was not one he was keen on experiencing again.
Now, however, it seemed the accumulated leftover primordial energy was being fed back to his body. Seemingly to help compensate for the larger consumption of primordial energy his body was experiencing.
'I still can't sense where it's coming from though.'
Eric placed a warm towel over his eyes and sunk futher into the hot water until only the back of his head rested on the edge of the bath.
One of the perks of being an outcast was that people tended to avoid him in places like this, which allowed such poor etiquette on his part. If they were going to give him the place, why would he stand on ceremony?
Eric allowed his mind to wonder as his body relaxed. He was certain that the void existed in the exact same spot as where his dantain was supposed to be. A few ideas of possible explanations crossed his mind, but Eric didn't dwell on any of them, instead allowing them to come and go as they were. Thoughts of his recent vivid dream-memory, of cultivation, of his current assignment of cutting ironwood trees, of Ying Yue... on and on they twirled.
...
Some unknown time after, Eric emerged from the bathhouse to a small crowd of fellow male cultivators, all of which were holding bundles of clothes.
Realizing the fact that these people would rather inconvenience themselves than be in the same room as him, Eric chuckled inwardly while not giving away any sign of emotion as he walked through the newly parted crowd.
'It's so ignorant, it's almost cute.'
These people had never seen anyone like him, so their ideas of rules of engagement were collectively skewed.
Eric decided not to let it get to him. It was too much to expect the commonfolk of an age-old society to adapt to an abstract concept, such as race, within such a small window of time. Either they adapted and accepted him, or they would eventually cast him out. There was little he could do to influence things in either direction.
He approached the service desk near the entrance of the dormitory and placed a cleaning request for his sheets and blankets before departing.
'I may have to make messes more often, that old lady's expressions are priceless.'
Eric stretched languidly after exiting the front of the dormitory. His body felt lighter than normal as he strolled to the woods and arrived at his secluded training spot.
He stood in the exact center of his man-made circle with his eyes closed, his chin lifted and his arms tucked firmly behind his back. He was a perfect image of someone at peace.
'Seems they finally tired of observing me...'
The final presence that had been observing him from the shadows was now truly gone.
Eric breathed in the cold midnight air as the planet's violet moon reached it's peek above the impossibly tall mountain. As it crept futher over to the other side, the woods slowly became more and more dark.
There was a point every night on Mount Qixuan where the luminescence from the moon was still indirectly strong enough to interfere with the light of the stars, yet was no longer casting light on the Eastern side of the mountain. This brief moment of time was almost imperceivable, but it was in this moment that the entire Eastern side of Mount Qixuan would be cast in absolute darkness.
It was at this very moment that the only light in the forest seemed to be from the cold glint of Eric's freshly opened eyes.
'Now that the last nuisance is gone, how shall I proceed?'
...