My room wasn't big at all, after all, I didn't have any importance in the sect, and until now my contributions were just cleaning and some minor chores, maybe in the future if things go right, I could move to one of the cabins for important disciples, but for now, it is what it is. I sat down on the floor and opened the old book, it looked like the pages will get ruined on their own, and crumble to dust at any time.
"I hope I didn't make a mistake..." I said out loud, my confidence was low, if that weren't the case I wouldn't have trusted a mysterious window that came out of nowhere. The words of the librarian elder were stuck in my mind, if I ended up as a criple, what would happen to me? Its not like a common sect that they would send you home ashamed, probably they will kill me, or something worst "Ah! Crap!" I cried out loud and begin to search the content...
As I read, I immediately understood why the librarian said those things. This book was like torture! Usually, cultivation methods advance in one direction, using the fundament of one element, but this book's bases were three elements, wind, water, and lightning, for starters that would make the cultivation really really slowly. And not only that, it seemed painful. As I read I felt a lump on my throat, I wanted to cry, it seemed like I signed my own death sentence.
"I should have read it before picking it!" I said realizing my stupid mistake, I shouldn't have deposited all my faith in some stupid random window that came out of nowhere, all my hard work to survive, my courage resisting those beatings, seemed for nothing right now.
To put it simply, the base of this book was pain, pain for gain. It put your body to the limit and forced you go beyond, no sane person would pick something like this when there are other methods that rewarded you easily for doing less.
After lamenting for a couple of minutes, I finally mustered my courage back to start cultivating, I didn't like this, but I dug my own grave, now I have to endure it. Again the strange floating window appeared in front of me...
"Quest!" It read and flashed in colors "If you complete the next quest you will be rewarded!"
"What the..:" I Said as new text began to form.
"Do the basic meditation of The Demon that stole the storm for 30 minutes each day for the next week and you will receive the reward!" Then another text with an eerie glow appeared under that "Fail and face consequences... Begin!"
Consequences? It seemed like I didn't have any choice in the matter, it didn't allow me to decline, I still don't trust the window thing completely, but I don't want to risk the consequences, that's a thing I have learned in this place since the second day I arrived.
I read the meditation method and crossed my legs to begin. The next 30 minutes were the most painful 30 minutes of my entire life. Every fiber of my body was in pain, my flesh, my muscles, my bones, my organs, everything hurt at the same time, and it wasn't a unified pain, it was like if every single piece of my body was in a different kind of pain. Like if thousand of needles pierced every part of my being, I felt a mysterious energy flow through me. It was that energy the one that caused the pain, it was violent, but I couldn't stop, even If I wanted my body didn't obey me at all, it was a major struggle between my self-control and the energy. And since the world is such a gentle place, the time felt like an eternity too.
The moment the 30 minutes ended I dropped to the ground heavy breathing and sobbing, it was torture, but I only managed to react to crawl in the ground to the outside and throw up violently. It wasn't normal puke tho. It was an oozing black substance that didn't have any smell at all, with tears in my eyes I watched that thing and I knew what it was... those were the impurities in my body. It seemed like the meditation cleansed my body, but it wasn't a gentle cleansing, it was a violent purge.
"Fuck it all..:"
I struggled to stand up, walked back into my room, and fell into my bed, getting sleep on the spot, I was too tired for anything.