"Join me, I will take you home," Nyssa offered and pointed at her ride. She had a silver-colored Teo J-3 car, perhaps aiming to match her hair color. If that was the goal it missed by a landslide; her hair could easily make one obsessed with it.
It featured a sleek exterior with a sporty edge, highlighted by its smooth curves and distinctive front grille. The cabin's layout was straightforward, focusing on functionality while maintaining a touch of elegance.
Overall, it was a car that normal people would be unable to purchase for their children, but it was not the type of car wealthy young masters would buy either. Somewhere in-between, not too much luxury but not too few of it.
"Thanks, I will take you up on it," I agreed without hesitation. I did not plan to leech on her or anything, but I wouldn't shy away from getting help from my girl. I think one should differentiate between pride and useless pride. Rejecting the care of someone you love only to look cool or independent stems from useless pride.
I took the seat next to her, which was also the most lethal one, as Merry liked to remind me with a pout every time I took it when we went somewhere with Dad. Inside, the leather seats were designed for comfort, making the ride enjoyable. It felt quite luxurious compared to Dad's huge truck and its weird mix of scents.
"How strong am I now compared to you?" I asked as I clenched and unclenched my fist. I needed a measurement. She seemed prepared for this question, and her answer sounded contemplative.
"You could say very close, or you could say very far away," she gave a very vague response.
"Huh, you are majoring in Psychology with me, why are you pretending to be a philosopher instead?" Nobody gives such weird answers and expects others to understand.
"It's not what I meant. My real power is too immense for the Mortal Realm, so my power is sealed to the first stage. Since you are also in the first stage, then you are not that far away from me," she explained.
A blank stare was all she got for that answer. No matter how you look at it, it was a true eighth-grade syndrome. Her power is sealed? That sounds too convenient to be true! Or inconvenient, depending on how you look at it.
"Why are you staring at me like that?" She asked shyly as she peeked at my face before returning her eyes to the road. I guess she's still conscious enough to understand that a car accident might kill me even if it can't harm "Miss I'm Too Powerful".
"It's nothing, I just thought I was lucky to meet you," I smiled and stroked her white hair. Forget it, I will believe her. I also doubted her story about cultivation yet it's true, so she's probably not hallucinating stuff.
"It doesn't mean you have a chance against me as you and I are now. I might be in the Qi Condensation Stage, but I'm at the higher substage of it. Furthermore, my mastery of Qi and martial arts is far superior to yours."
Nyssa's point about martial arts was valid. Even if we were in the same stage, we wouldn't be equal without some intensive training on my side. 'Hmm, I'd need to work hard if I truly want to achieve immortal life,' I mused. It was hard to imagine life as an immortal, life with endless years. Without the limitation of death, one might forget to live.
"Wait, should I focus on my martial arts, or on my cultivation? Will learning martial arts be easier for me if I break through to the peak of the Qi Condensation Stage first?" When the goal is getting as strong as possible within a hundred years, there should be some prioritizing done.
"Yes, I also thought about it." Yup, she gets me. "It'd be easier to learn martial arts later on, but there will be a point where you must learn martial arts. Technique complements cultivation, and you cannot have one without the other."
Indeed, cultivation was about the development of the body, mind, and soul, while martial arts were about the control of those three. There'd be a limit to the development without sufficient control and knowledge, like an artist who learned the theory in class but never held a brush in his hand.
She hit the gas gently, surprisingly obeying the traffic laws of the mortal world to the last detail. Who would have guessed immortals were such goody two shoes?
"So my immediate goal will be to improve my cultivation. How do I get to the peak of the first stage?"
We stopped at a red light, waiting for it to change. It was a few minutes past midnight, and the road was relatively empty aside from a few cars of young people returning home from parties and occasional adult corporate slaves who slowly and miserably kill themselves by drowning in a sea of work bigger than the Pacific Ocean.
To be honest I feared ending up like them one day, given my subpar scores and weak background. Gladly, I could look down on them now safely, knowing I have a beauty like Nyssa by my side and a very, very long life ahead. I'm joking, everyone has their luck, and one should not forget his past when seeing those to whom Lady Luck did not give one of her shiny smiles.
"The Qi Condensation stage ends once you can freely manipulate the Qi in your body. For now, you can only circulate it to keep your body empowered, which makes you at least as strong as a pro wrestler twice your size. If you keep training, you could easily surpass normal mortal wrestlers, but it's better to just keep up your cultivation and do the training later when your instincts will be enhanced."
This plan aimed to minimize training time and I liked it. Since I was not in a hurry to fight any cultivator, I did not need to learn martial arts right away. She continued to elaborate on my question after that short introduction.
"Right now your meridians are open. With the technique I taught you and my special Qi, you managed to open them all up in one big swoop, I hope you will learn to appreciate how impressive it is when you meet other cultivators," she bragged a little and I gave her a quick peck on her cheek.
"Anyway, you should be able to rush through the stages now. To enter the second substage you need to learn how to absorb Qi from the air and be proficient enough in it to make your body absorb it unconsciously like breathing. The difference will be like between someone replenishing their air and someone who doesn't – the one not breathing can only fight back for a few seconds before running out of steam."
"Mhm," I muttered at the explanation. It made sense and did sound like a big difference. I did not have much Qi left in my body. Boosting my body with it would consume the remaining Qi quickly.
"The third stage normally follows really quickly once a cultivator enters the second stage as it is just a quantitative upgrade. You enter it once your dantian is filled to the brim with Qi. You should expand your dantian as much as you can by slowly overfilling it with Qi until you reach your limit. This should keep you busy for at least another month," she said.
'Month?' I thought to myself with a slight frown. She just talked about rushing through the stages. Ah, if only life could be easier and the third stage could be attained within a few days.
"What are you mumbling there? You do realize that each substage takes on average half a year in the immortal world, and probably twice that time for half the results in the mortal realm. Right?"
Nope, that flew over my head. The grasp of time is probably very different in the Mortal Realm and the Immortal Realm. Oh well, one year of boring meditation does make a month for two stages sound like rushing it.
"Hold on, how do you know where I live?" I burrowed my eyes in suspicion. Was she my stalker or something even before today? Was I so blessed and I never noticed? Such an angel was thirsty for a taste of me?
"Oh, um," she coughed awkwardly, "I know Merry lives here and you two are twins," I had the feeling she was improvising, "I'm friends with Merry after all," this time her voice sounded more sure, like she noticed it was indeed logical.
"Hmm, weird, I would notice someone so beautiful paying us a visit, even if just for a minute."
As if I would give up so easily the dream that Nyssa did comprehensive research about me earlier in her obsession with me.
"I- I just picked her up, I never entered the house physically."
She parked the car in front of our building. We lived on the second floor of an old building that merged well with the surroundings. She unfastened the seatbelt, clearly expecting me to shower her with some affection before I get off the car.
"Hmm, okay. Thanks for today, Nyssa. I will see you tomorrow."
I faked reaching out to the door with my hand, but my heart couldn't tease her more than that when her cheekbones raised a little as she squinted her eyes. We pounced on each other, and a lot of kissing and fondling went on for a few minutes before the two of us were satisfied enough to let go.