Chapter 29: Body like Stone Cubed

Over the next few days, Master Lee watches over them as she leads them through the process of cultivating their bodies. They have been practicing Body Cultivation for months now, but not to the extent they will be during this trip. The first day they work within the formation of power that Master Lee had set up without any kind of pill or other concoction to assist them. The second day, Master Lee adds to it by slowly heating the ground under them. It isn’t comfortable, but they place their full and unwavering trust in her and endure it.

The third day is much the same, but this time she gives them a pill that is worth over 100 gold to each of them. To her, gold is a means to an end, nothing worth holding onto as she could earn more with ease. She also has them all strip down to bare skin before entering the formation and taking their places. Each of them wears a loincloth, to preserve some level of modesty. At this point, they are all familiar with one another in various states of undress. So, it wasn’t a problem. Once they are in position, she begins heating up the floor underneath them again. It goes from the natural coolness of the cave to warm. From warm, it increases to hot. And from hot, Master Lee ratchets it up to scorching.

All through this, Ki Jung watches over her precious students. She regulated the temperature as needed, pushing them to their bodies’ limits. She makes use of her own Qi to observe what was going on in their bodies. It is nearly midnight when the changes finally hit them, and their screams filled the cave in a deafening roar.

Having been through it herself, Ki Jung can only watch over them and wait for it to end. She knows the pain they are experiencing. It is nearly unbearable. Roughly two hours later their trial has come to an end.

Master Lee picks up the formation plates and stores them away. Then, she places large pitchers of water next to each of them with washcloths and towels. Once they are all cleaned up, Ki Jung wraps them in clean robes and helps them to their beds. She then burns the soiled loincloths, washcloths, and towels. The stink would never come out of them through washing.

The next morning, Master Lee cooks them a hearty breakfast, which they eat as if they are starved. This is expected as their bodies have used up a lot of energy. The process of body cultivation always uses up a lot of energy.

As they enjoy Ki Jung’s cooking, they discuss their experiences. Min Joon even tells about the night he watched over Master Lee when she reached Body like Copper. All of them were both excited about further advancing their body cultivation and wary of it. The benefits are profound, but the pain is devastating. This was why so few go past Body like Stone here in the First Realm. But, as Master Lee has told them, she has prepared everything to help them advance to Body like Copper and to get herself to Body like Iron during this outing.