Ri Guang felt the Spiritual power surging in his dantian, making him feel a bit of pain.
But he immediately used the Sun-Moon Co-Illumination cultivation technique. The pain vanished at once, and then the Spiritual power began to spread throughout his body.
His strength rose, his organs and entire body seeming to be renewed, making his physique more and more perfect.
Of course, he still kept his honey-colored skin, feeling it looked better that way. After all, he was a man. Skin that was too fair looked a bit effeminate. He wanted a strong body, one that could help him shelter his woman.
Muscles gradually appeared as well, but not too bulky. Instead, they became taut and neat, giving anyone who looked at him the sense that his body was a Greek work of art.
"Breakthrough!" Ri Guang murmured.
Body Refinement, Stage 1.
Body Refinement, Stage 2.
...
Qi Refining, Stage 5.
Qi Refining, Stage 6.
Only then did the breakthrough process stop. Ri Guang let out a long breath, feeling power flood his body, and along with that, a stream of memories appeared in his mind.
"Moonlit Ripple Sword Art!" Ri Guang was startled, realizing that those memories were entirely related to the cultivation technique LanYue was cultivating.
He said with delight, "How miraculous. Not only does it Rebates Cultivation, this Rebate function can also Rebates my Cultivation Partner's cultivation experience to me. However..."
Ri Guang suddenly sighed, feeling that his aptitude truly was too poor.
LanYue cultivated for three years, starting over from the beginning, yet she had reached Qi Refining, Stage 9, about to Breakthrough to Foundation Establishment.
He received LanYue's Cultivation, x100 times, reaching 300 years, yet he could only Breakthrough to Qi Refining, Stage 6. This gap was truly so huge that even he felt disappointed.
But thinking of LanYue's Emperor Grade aptitude, he felt a bit happy inside.
The higher his Cultivation Partner's aptitude and Cultivation, the more he benefited. Because of that, he was not jealous. Instead, he felt far happier.
"Emperor Grade aptitude... it seems... LanYue's status back then in the Jade Moon Sect must have been very high."
That's right. Aptitude and the grades of cultivation techniques in this world were divided into 8 levels. From low to high, they were: Mortal Grade → Earth Grade → Mystic Grade → Heaven Grade → King Grade → Emperor Grade → Saint Grade → Divine Grade.
Divine Grade had never appeared. Saint Grade existed only among a few people, and as for Emperor Grade, even scouring the entire continent, there were probably fewer than fifty.
Because of that, LanYue's aptitude could be said to be extremely terrifying. In the future, she would surely have the achievement of Ascension, becoming a divine being.
LanYue's Moonlit Ripple Sword Art was King Grade. Although he had obtained 300 years of cultivation experience in this technique, his aptitude truly was too foolish, and he could only absorb about 20% of this technique.
However, even that was enough to make Ri Guang thrilled. He clenched his fists and laughed. "I've finally stepped onto the path of cultivation."
"Huck!" Suddenly, Ri Guang felt as if his heart was being squeezed tightly by an invisible hand, the pain so intense it twisted his face.
"What the hell is this?" Ri Guang murmured. That pain was so terrifying it felt like his heart was about to explode.
Right then, at the location of his dantian, a mark shaped like a diamond appeared. In its center was an opened eye, and around it were interwoven arms.
"AGH!!!" Ri Guang screamed from the pain. The mark in his dantian released a bizarre black light.
The eye in the center of that mark seemed to be staring into his soul, making him tremble with fear.
At this moment, there was a voice calling to him from far away. He couldn't hear it clearly, nor did he know whose voice it was.
He only had the feeling that he needed to go, go to the north. There would be answers for him there.
But right at this moment, black smoke from that bizarre mark began to spread out. After it occupied a region in his dantian, it stopped.
"Ha... ha... ha..." Ri Guang opened his eyes wide, realizing he was still lying on the bed with LanYue, but his body was drenched in sweat, his breathing rapid, his heart pounding nonstop as if it were about to leap out of his chest.
'What the hell just happened?' Ri Guang asked inwardly.
Right then, the System suddenly issued a notification.
[Warning! Detected a Human Pill Slave Brand within your body. Find a way to remove it immediately.]
"Human Pill Slave Brand?" Ri Guang was startled and immediately asked inwardly, "System, what exactly is that?"
[Human Pill Slave Brand: This is a brand placed on someone raised into a Human Pill. When you absorb Spiritual energy or circulate Spiritual power, the brand will awaken, eroding your soul and dantian little by little. The higher your Cultivation, the stronger its activity, and the harder it is to suppress.]
After reading that, Ri Guang took a deep breath. A chill ran straight up his spine.
He had just been overjoyed that his path of cultivation had finally opened, yet now he was entangled with this bastardly thing. What the hell was going on?
Ri Guang closed his eyes and inspected his dantian internally. Sure enough, a diamond-shaped mark lay motionless there. Around it, those black-smoke "hands" were waving as if trying to grab something.
At the very center, that black eye had closed, yet the sensation of being stared at remained unchanged.
Around the mark was a thick layer of black mist. Ri Guang was just about to probe it with his spiritual sense when his instincts immediately screamed a warning. If he touched that mist, he might die on the spot.
Ri Guang let out a sigh and looked up at the ceiling, feeling both uncomfortable and utterly despairing.
Right now, the Human Pill Slave Brand was not doing anything to him, but Ri Guang understood clearly: this was a ticking time bomb. If he did not dismantle it soon, the day it fully awakened would also be the day he had no way to survive.
Ri Guang recalled the feeling from just now. He vaguely realized something: to dismantle this bomb, he could only head north. There lay the Huang Long Empire, a place that very likely hid the answer, or was even the origin of the brand itself.
'But...' he thought to himself, 'This world is so vast. If I just go aimlessly, how long will it take before I can find the place I need?'
That's right, this world was very vast. Just the continent he lived on was so enormous that even high-level Experts, flying a thousand li a day, still could not explore it all.
Even if he knew the direction was toward the Huang Long Empire, that place was also unimaginably vast. As a Qi Refining, Stage 6 like him, how long would it take to find the place he needed?
"System, open my personal status panel!"
At that moment, a status panel appeared before him.
[Name: Ri Guang.]
[Age: 18]
[Aptitude: Mortal Grade (Human Pill)]
[Curse: Human Pill Slave Brand – 15%.]
[Cultivation: Qi Refining, Stage 6]
[Current cultivation techniques: Sun-Moon Co-Illumination (Mortal Grade); Moonlit Ripple Sword Art (King Grade)]
[Cultivation Partner: LanYue | Tier 2: Deep Affection – x 50 Rebate.]
"The Human Pill Slave Brand progress is 15%." Ri Guang murmured, feeling even more exhausted inside.
He had just opened the path of cultivation, and he had an unbelievably beautiful woman, with aptitude so high it was hard to believe, as his Cultivation Partner.
But immediately after that, he received a ticking time bomb stuck tightly to his body. How could he possibly accept this?
[Do you want to conceal your Cultivation?]
Seeing the System's prompt, Ri Guang immediately chose 'accept'. After all, he was only Senior Brother Lee's servant. If others discovered that he had suddenly reached Qi Refining, Stage 6, he would likely be in danger.
Besides, he had another identity: [Human Pill]. If that was exposed, he would likely be turned into a pill by those elders so they could absorb him.
While he was thinking, another System notification appeared.
[The Sun-Moon Co-Illumination cultivation technique has been activated, Rebating 20% of the Cultivation you obtained to LanYue, equivalent to 30 years of cultivation.]
"Wait! 20% of 300 years should be 60 years, right?" Ri Guang asked hurriedly.
[You received 300 years of cultivation, but the portion 'rebated' to your Cultivation Partner is calculated using 150 years as the base, then 20% is taken.]
Ri Guang nodded upon hearing that. He was not disappointed at all. Instead, he felt his cultivation technique was truly miraculous. Dual Cultivation, not only one person benefited, both benefited.
Ri Guang thought to himself that if LanYue absorbed these thirty years of cultivation fully, it might be enough for her to touch the next bottleneck. At the very least, he wanted what he received to not become power for him alone.
Right then, LanYue suddenly opened her eyes and sprang up. She clearly sensed a warm stream of Spiritual power just flowing into her meridians, as if someone had quietly "pushed" Cultivation over to her.
The aura within her body fluctuated strongly for a beat, leaving her both shocked and flustered. Her gaze immediately locked straight onto Ri Guang.
Ri Guang smiled, about to say, "It's fine," but LanYue's eyes had already turned red.
Tears spilled out before she could stop them, as if she felt wronged and heartbroken at the same time. She clutched the blanket tightly, covering that perfect body, her trembling voice reproaching him. "Why did you do that?"