Li Kai was a sadist. Not even allowing me the time to change out of my pajamas, the training started immediately. The soil and gravel of the training yard bit into my bare pampered feet. But that wasn't the worst part, Li Kai demanded double the exercises that the system recommended. I was up to 18 recommended reps for each exercise but Li Kai wanted 36. I was still running 10 km, but Li Kai wanted 20. My muscles were no longer burning towards the end of a set. There was just pain. It felt as if my muscles had been ripped out and the exercises were being completed by my skeleton alone. My heart was thumping rapidly, my breathing was ragged, my vision swam, my ears rang, and I was sweating in places I didn't know were possible. Still, Li Kai demanded more.
By the end of my normal routine, my once pretty pajamas looked like dirty, sweaty rags. I had open blisters on my feet. But Li Kai wasn't done. After the routine, he began instructing me in various martial arts techniques and a few gymnastics. I struggled to maintain proper form. Not just because these forms were new to me, but also because my body was far too sore and fatigued to comply.
Li Kai was a wicked taskmaster. How dare he treat the great me like this! I haven't worked a day in my life, he should've eased me into this. I wanted to cry, but there was not enough water left in my body to supply tears. I quickly grew to resent my new master and forgot that I had asked for this.
It's easy to make the determination to work hard before you've experienced the pain. I remembered the descriptions in all the books I had read about how painful the practice of cultivation was, I thought I was prepared. And this was just normal exercise turned up to eleven. What about when I try to refine my body, and my skin and muscles literally dissolve and reform, how will I endure that pain?
As I repeated the martial arts again and again my form gradually improved. With my muscles completely spent, it felt as if my muscles were being directed along a very specific path. They were being told to grow according to the arts I was performing. Step by step the muscles built for leisure were being erased. Seeds for the muscles of a warrior were being sown, the roots were growing deep. Each repeated move was etching the memory of battle deep into my muscles. Never again would they grow for leisure, even if they completely atrophied.
As dusk rapidly approached I forgot time, I forgot myself, I even forgot the arts I was performing, but my body remembered. Inhale, exhale, punch, inhale, exhale, kick, inhale, exhale, swish, inhale, exhale. The only thing in the world was my breathing. There was no world, no villa, no master, no body. The only thing that existed was the breath, inhale, exhale.
Before long I had slipped into meditation while my body continued to move according to the basic martial arts I was taught. While in this state, my breathing gradually changed. Normally this should not occur, but my breaths felt naturally attracted to the new rhythm. It was only the slightest of changes. And as the breath changed so did my fists, palms, kicks, and strikes. Each carried far more power than before, and only with the slightest of adjustments. If before I was a feisty kitten, I was now an adult wild cat. I had been enlightened.
Enlightenment is a rare meditative state. You put forth your effort, blood, sweat, and tears and with enough talent, heaven will help you. Most individuals will go their entire lives without ever experiencing enlightenment. Talented cultivators will typically experience it once or twice. Here I was, a young mortal tempering myself for cultivation and I gained enlightenment during a basic martial arts routine.
As my form was perfected, I gradually exited my meditative state and ended my practice. The first thing I noticed was that the sky was dark and it was getting cold. Last I remembered the sun was still about an hour from setting and that felt like seconds ago.
"I wanted to end your practice at sunset, but you were so in the zone I couldn't bring myself to interrupt you." Li Kai jested. Then he flicked a small pill at me. My fatigued arms just barely managed to catch it, after fumbling it initially. "This is a recovery pill, it will help you recover to your peak state and gain the maximum benefits from today's activities. Place the pill in your bath before you enter, make sure to soak for at least 5 minutes."
I was going to soak a lot more than 5 minutes, hours maybe. If the servants could keep the bathwater warm I may even sleep in the bath. I wanted to climb in and never move again. At least the mystery of why he was pushing me so hard was explained. Without the pill, the extreme exercises would be harmful instead of helpful. Honestly, I was still worried about it being harmful. I knew for a fact that I had pulled, twisted, and tweaked several muscles today.
As Li Kai and I approached the back door to the villa, we could see a furious demon standing in front of the door. No wait, it was my sister.
"DO YOU KNOW HOW LATE IT IS?! LOOK AT HER, HER ARMS ARE SKINS AND BONES. IS THIS TRAINING OR TORTURE. SHE HASN'T EVEN HAD DINNER!" Vivian laid into Li Kai like he wasn't an honored immortal. If I wasn't mistaken, I think I even saw him shrink back from her frightful aura like a cheating husband who had gotten caught. Odd why would I make that comparison? I couldn't remember. I tried to run interference for him.
"Vivi, it's not that bad. Look this pill will make me right as rain. It's my fault we were out this late anyway. Besides I'm not even hung ..."
*GURGLE*
Just as I tried to claim I wasn't even hungry, my stomach made the most unholy of roars. It sounded like the roar of a dracolich when it was raised from the dead. Apparently, that was too much insult for my stomach to take! The previously tense situation dispersed instantly and both Vivian and Li Kai roared with laughter.
Soon I found myself in the kitchen while a sleepy-eyed cook in a nightgown made me dinner. The system recalculated dinner for me and demanded 4 times as much protein. It was so much food, I wasn't even sure my small stomach could eat it all. Vivian seemed to think the same and teased me that I wouldn't finish my plate. Even Li Kai seemed to doubt I would finish it. Wait why was he still hanging around? My day's training was complete.
"Hey Li Kai, I'm deeply appreciative of the training I have received under your guidance, but umm, how do I put this? Why are you still here?" I asked.
Li Kai seemed embarrassed, he sheepishly replied, "Well, I uh, just now realized that there are 2 Seeker daughters, and one of them is of the appropriate age to cultivate. And if one daughter is talented, usually the other is as well. So, um, Vivian, would you mind if I tested your talent?"
Ah, it was clear to me. Initially, he had come in domineering. Dad had to make an unfavorable deal just to secure the meeting. And he had maintained the air of doing a favor and of it being hard to get into the sect. But now after finding one talent and even gaining a technique, he was greedy to find another talent.
Vivian agreed, "I was always curious if I had any talent, and I became more so when Zoey revealed herself as talented. Let's give it a go."
Soon the scene of a Seeker daughter standing before Li Kai and placing a palm on a rough-hewn crystalline orb repeated itself. Except this time it was Vivian. A familiar set of wisps appeared. Vivian had the exact same roots as me. Not too surprising, roots are often inherited. The image within was different though. A domineering fairy queen appeared in the orb as a winter storm raged around her.
I had no idea what Vivian's physique was, but it looked impressive. From Li Kai's trembling hands he seemed to think the same.
"Su-Supreme grade physique!" He stammered, "Vivian you must come with me to the sect, you'll be a genius cultivator within the sect!"
"No." Vivian calmly stated and visibly deflated Li Kai's excitement.
Li Kai seemed shocked that anyone would turn down the offer, "D-don't rush to say no. You'll be showered with resources, we'll make sure you grow up properly. No other sect in the region can compare." He continued his sales pitch.
"I said no. I was merely curious. I have no interest in cultivating. I've got far too much on my plate to bother with it." Vivian calmly rebuked.
Li Kai seemed to think Vivian was holding out for another sect, he didn't know how to handle a rejection of cultivation itself. In the end, he accepted it reluctantly, "Very well, but if you ever change your mind ..."
"You'll be the first person I contact," Vivian responded with a charming smile.
Soon after, my dinner was prepared, and I inhaled it all. In fact, it felt like there was still room for another whole roast chicken in there. Li Kai and Vivian stared at my stomach in horror as if expecting it to burst any moment now. I belched loudly causing them both to flinch.
After seeing that I wasn't about to explode, Li Kai finally left the estate. I convinced Vivian to give me a piggyback ride to my room so I could take my bath. Just as instructed, I plopped the pill in after it had been filled with hot water, then jumped in myself.
Soon I felt my pores rapidly sucking in the substance contained in the pill. An icy feeling began to take over my muscles and numb the pain. Combined with the hot water, I was reminded of the icy-hot pain relief gel on Earth.
I fully submerged myself as the wonderful numbness took over. The muscles that felt deflated started to feel full again. Curious I took a peak at my arms. My baby fat had receded by a great amount, being replaced by lean, toned muscles. The same was true for my legs and muscles. My body was transformed in just one day. Even my blistered feet had healed, replaced with calluses instead.
I pulled up my system to check for changes there. My strength and constitution had both increased by one. The training was certainly effective. I submerged myself back in the water and let my consciousness go. It had been a very, very long day.