It was a long time before Meng Guo was able to leave the forest. The sun had started to set as he returned to the city, and he looked back over his shoulder one more time before making his way back to the Li family to report.
His face was pale as he walked. Making this report just might be the death of him, but the qi seal over his heart was certain death, if he didn't.
Luo Shuchang simply watched him from the top of the city gates, staring off into the distance as if lost in thought.
It seemed like his taller counterpart was rather strong, being able to defeat a mid-level Golden Core expert. Of course, he was stronger, but that wasn't saying much considering how many opportunities he'd snatched over the past year thanks to his knowledge of the future.
From what he gathered during the few days he'd been observing him, they were about the same age. If Ryker was still stronger than he was, at the moment, he should just quit cultivating, now!
"Phew. Well, at least things are still going according to plan," he said to himself.
He was still making moves to prevent his future heart devil while he was observing the effects Ryker was having on this timeline.
Luckily, things were still broadly proceeding as they had before, with perhaps the only major difference being Long Meiling avoiding Li Daoming's plot to entrap her by causing a ruckus a few days ago.
From what he recalled, there was a big fuss about Long Meiling's most trusted guard severely injuring Li Daoming in the ensuing scuffle.
The Li family demanded reparations, though Luo Shuchang knew it was just Li Daoming throwing around the weight of his family's name. They had apparently settled accounts, privately.
He didn't know the exact details of the agreement, but knowing what a scumbag Li Daoming was, he didn't have to try very hard to guess...
When he first returned to the past, he had debated for a while whether or not to stop the whole thing from happening, this time around. He didn't particularly like Long Meiling, but to just let it happen while he knew he could prevent it didn't sit very well with him, either.
Luckily, Ryker had taken care of things quite handily, freeing him from having to make the choice.
"I'd better get moving. So many plans, so little time..."
Luo Shuchang disappeared in a gust of wind, heading towards the northern border of the Empire. There were still many things he had to do before he could safely say he'd reached his goal...
To prevent the death of his father, and the fall of the Luo family!
--
Meanwhile, a short ways before the forest exit...
"It's a good thing we found that spiky root so fast, huh?" Ryker said cheerfully, strolling along the path with his hands resting behind his head.
"Er, yes. I'm sure the young miss will be very pleased that we found it so quickly!" Cheng Hui said with an awkward smile.
Who would be pleased?! He hadn't planned on finding anything, at all!
But, he supposed he *had* learned some of what he needed to, at least.
Thanks to Ryker's one-sided beat down of Meng Guo, the captain was able to carefully observe his technique, and noticed that the strange energy Ryker manipulated during battle was actually just spiritual energy.
He'd even been able to ask him about it, and learned that Ryker called it 'mana' and used it to cause a distracting pain to his opponents. It also seemed to disrupt their qi control.
The reason why he couldn't recognize it as spiritual energy, before, was because he'd never seen it utilized in the way Ryker had. Manipulating spiritual energy as if it were the qi inside your body... Cheng Hui didn't know of any technique that could do such a thing.
Other than the basic cultivation method of using the dantian to pull it inside of the body and refine it into qi, there weren't any techniques to simply move spiritual energy around, at least not that he'd heard of.
But from what he saw, it seemed to be rather effective.
It could be just the thing the young miss needed to prove her strength to the family!
"So, uh, Sir Ryker," Cheng Hui started, "About your 'mana' control technique... Could you tell me a little more about how it's done?"
"Oh, yeah, sure," Ryker said, looking up as he thought about how best to explain.
"First you, like, feel it. And then you gotta... kinda... It's like a 'fwoosh', and then you just gotta, like, throw it. Or, no, it's more like you... push it?"
He rubbed his chin, trying to look for the right word.
"Ah, no, you squeeze it, like 'psshhh'! You know?" he finished, grinning.
"No, I... don't, no," Cheng Hui said, his confusion plain on his face.
"Sorry, I don't really know how to explain," Ryker said, scratching his head, "I just kinda... felt it once, and then I knew how to do it?"
Suddenly, however, he brought a fist down on his palm, struck with an idea.
"Oh, I know! I could teach you some of my mana workouts!" he exclaimed, smiling widely.
"Mana workouts?"
"Yeah, it's like a regular workout, but you inject yourself with mana while you're doing it. Your body gets stronger a lot quicker, but it really hurts," Ryker explained, without the unnecessary sound effects, this time.
"Actually, it's a lot like that Body Tempering Pill I took, now that I think about it..."
Cheng Hui's ears perked up at that. Body Tempering Pill! So he really was a body refining expert!
"It would be great if you could guide me, Sir Ryker!" he said, saluting him respectfully.
It was normally taboo to ask for another cultivator's methods unless they were very close with one's self, but Ryker seemed like a friendly person. He at least wouldn't reject him, outright.
And hadn't they gotten a little closer, today?
"Sure, just sit down and get comfortable, I'll guide you through a basic one!" Ryker said.
"Eh? Are we doing it here?"
"Well, no time like the present, right? And maybe this way, you can practice on the walk back!"
Ryker grinned and motioned for Cheng Hui to sit down. The captain considered for a moment before nodding, sitting cross-legged in a meditating pose.
"Alright, so first, I'm gonna infuse a bit of mana through all your muscles. I'll keep it light so you can get used to it, but it might still hurt a little, alright?"
"Uh, yes, I'm ready," Cheng Hui said, closing his eyes and bracing himself.
Ryker put his hands on Cheng Hui's shoulders and started to pull in mana from the surroundings, the faint red wisps of light slowly moving down his arms into the captain's body.
"Suuu..." Cheng Hui exhaled slowly, focusing on the feeling of mana.
It was similar to the feeling of cultivation, but instead of flowing into his dantian, the mana pervaded his body, like it was filling his veins.
"Okay, that should be good. Try and stand up now?"
Cheng Hui did as he asked. Or, he tried to, but as soon as he went to move his body, a searing pain tore through his muscles, causing him to spasm and collapse on his side.
"Gaaah--!" he cried out involuntarily. Was this supposed to hurt 'a little'?!
"Whoops," Ryker said, flinching.
"Maaaybe that was a bit too much?"