Questions
Matthew's shower took a lot longer than usual. It took him a whole 20 minutes of deep scrubbing just to feel somewhat clean. Following a thorough rinse, Matthew finally felt like he had rid his body of the intense stench.
Thankfully, even though the house didn't have any occupants, it was still fully functional with water and plumbing. Matthew wouldn't know what he would've done if he couldn't shower after unclogging his meridians.
After grabbing a towel to dry himself, Matthew changed into an extra set of clothes he had brought with him.
But before he walked out of the bathroom, Matthew wanted to check his physical change.
Looking in the mirror, Matthew saw that his face had taken on almost a white, jade-like tone. The blackheads he had struggled with all throughout high school were gone, and the eye bangs he constantly sported were also gone.
His looks hadn't changed much, though. Instead, they were enhanced to their peak potential. With his previous foundation, Matthew was now a potential model for any fashion company with his looks alone.
If Matthew was an 8.5/10 before, he is definitely a 10/100 now. Even if he wasn't able to cultivate, there was no question he could become a boy toy for a female Divine Lord with his looks.
Curious if he looked any different elsewhere, Matthew quickly changed back into his clothes to find he had.
Before, as John joked, Matthew had only just started working out at the late age of 23, and while he was not scrawny with his build, he had next to no muscle on his body. And with his height of 5'10, he also sported a slightly below-average weight of around 150.
But after he unclogged his meridians, Matthew now had a visible four-pack on his abs, with another pair somewhat noticeable. His lower body muscles were now just as defined, with his quads and thighs being the highlights. Even the known hardest muscle to work out, the calves, looked full of power on Matthew.
And the longer Matthew looked at his now-streamlined physique, the more he liked it. He could now tell why women loved to look at their bodies for hours.
However, before he became a narcissist, Matthew calmed himself down and put back on the clothes he had taken off. He needed to warn his siblings of the impending future.
Exiting the bathroom, Matthew was about to go to the backyard, but on the way there, he found the two relaxing on the couch on their phones.
"Mat, you're back! Good! Now you can tell us what the heck was in that rock." John spoke excitedly.
He heard footsteps, looked up from his phone, and saw his brother wetting a damp head of hair. And just as he was going to run over, Joanne also spoke up. But instead of excitement, her voice was full of astonishment.
"Mat, what the hell happened to your skin?! You look so handsome now! Oh my god!" Joanne screamed in curiosity and excitement.
As she screamed, she also ran over to Matthew, almost knocking down John in the process.
Seeing John look so expectant and Joanne prod his face like a science experiment, Matthew was all smiles. Simple familial things like this were something he missed in his previous life. Even if these two idiots were slightly annoying, having them around was worth any trouble that came along with it.
"Alright, you two, you can calm down first. I'll explain your questions one at a time." Matthew spoke calmly.
After saying so, he forced Joanne away from him and sat her down on the couch. Sitting down on the coffee table in front of them, Matthew spoke once more, "Since I let Joanne ask questions first, this time, it's John's turn."
Matthew's arraignment was fair and met with no opposition, so after John gathered his thoughts, he asked his first question.
"I remember earlier in the day. You asked us what we would do if we had superpowers. Did that gas you inhaled give you superpowers?" John asked.
Though John had more logical and simple questions in mind after Joanne broke his stable mind, he kept recalling the cryptic words Matthew had spoken throughout the day, and out of all of them, the superpower question was the one that he kept remembering most.
Even if it was the simplest and least likely to have a hidden meaning, something in John's mind kept telling him otherwise.
On the other hand, Matthew was shocked to hear John's first question. The John he knew was a logical man who tried to think everything through with science. John didn't even believe in ghosts at his age. Instead, John claimed them to be 'coincidences' and would always argue with Joanne over their existence.
"John, what brought you to ask that?" Matthew couldn't help but ask.
John heard his older brother's question and explained his thought process behind it while also mentioning Joanne's influential words.
"Well, I can tell you that you are both right and wrong with your guess," Matthew answered mysteriously.
Annoyed, John asked, "Then can you explain which is right and which is wrong?"
"That's going to cost you another question. And it's not your turn, so no. Joanne! Your turn now." Matthew said, pissing John off.
Not letting her brother complain anymore, Joanne said, "You know my question."
"Dude, It's obviously because of the gas. Are you really going to waste your question on that?" John spoke, stunned.
However, Joanne nodded at that and doubled down, saying, "Mat's skin is so flawless right now. And he looks better than before. Look, even his bags are gone."
After hearing her point it out, John also noticed that Mat looked easily twice as good as he did before they arrived at the house. Though his changes were very subtle, John and Joanne had lived with Matthew their entire lives. How could they not notice the changes Matthew underwent?
"Joanne, he is right. Do you have another question? I honestly feel kinda bad." Matthew spoke wryly.
But Joanne shook her head. She was rather curious about the answers to John's question, so even if she wasted hers, it didn't matter much to her.
"Well, back to John's question. The gas didn't give me superpowers but instead unlocked the superpowers within my body." Matthew spoke as he stood up from the coffee table.
And going to the side of it, Matthew first circulated a few wisps of Spiritual Qi through his now unclogged meridians and picked up the coffee table with one hand.
"Humans are supposed to be strong. Much stronger than we currently assume is our limit. But that gas, Spiritual Qi, is now unavailable in our solar system. So we have become this weak, deformed version of ourselves." Matthew explained while flexing his new strength to his siblings.
"So that gas that came out of the rock is 'Spiritual Qi'? Like from those cultivation stories!" Joanne spoke as she became increasingly excited.
"Wait, what? I'm lost. What the heck is a cultivation story?" John interrupted.
John and Joanne were polar opposites at home. John usually spent his days either studying or playing video games. In contrast, Joanne was either playing with friends or reading random novels online.
Of all the genres of novels that Joanne had read online, her favorite was definitely the cultivation genre.
The stories of becoming an Immortal Goddess who controlled an entire universe always seemed so cool to the young girl. But since Earth didn't have the mysterious and powerful Spiritual Qi from them, she hid her chuuni nature.
But after hearing her brother say that Earth did have it, it was completely exposed. And even though she covered her mouth almost instantly, John still heard her blurt it out.
Even Matthew was slightly curious. Though he knew that ancient cultivators had left secret inheritances all over Earth, they were utterly useless, as without Spiritual Qi, no one could cultivate, no matter how advanced their technique was.
Seeing both of her brothers look at her with curious expressions, Joanne had no choice but to give a rough explanation of cultivation novels.
John was only slightly interested, as even though it sounded interesting, there were many genres similar to it. But Matthew, on the other hand, had a serious expression.
The things Joanne had spoken of were way too accurate for a guess. Even the ways that chosen cultivators acted. Whether it was their arrogance that didn't bow to the heavens or their heaven-defying luck, they were too similar to how the chosen acted in his previous life.
Hell, even he was like that sometimes.
"Joanne, when we get home, show me as many cultivation stories as you can. But only the most popular ones. The underground or bad ones aren't needed." Matthew spoke seriously.
Joanne, unaware of the seriousness behind Matthew's words, nodded simply.
The two twins continued to ask questions for around 10 minutes until Matthew said, "Alright, only one more question. We have two more spots to hit before the day ends, and it's already almost 4 p.m. But think of a question together since it's the last one."
Oddly, the twins didn't take long to conjure up their question, and after deciding the speaker would be Joanne this time, John backed away and gave his sister the limelight.
"Mat, earlier, you said that we couldn't tell anyone about this for a week. But with how serious this looks, should we ever tell anyone about it? This seems like something we should keep to ourselves. So what is going to happen in a week?" Joanne asked with a tentative expression.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Every little thing helps - https://ko-fi.com/slarbi123.
There is now a discord for this novel. However, be warned. It is rather bare bones. I suck at Discord. The link is in the synopsis.
Also, if you like this novel, you can check out my others!