Like many youths of n.o.ble birth, Sun had cultivated from a young age and had access to a good cultivation method. He was especially pampered once it was found that he had spiritual roots, even though wind was considered a minor root. Clear spiritual pills of good quality were given to him to speed up his cultivation, basic purifying potions were given to him to detoxify impurities within his body that might harm his meridians and herbal baths were made for him to focus his mind and stabilise his cultivation. He had tutors teach him common knowledge, maths and history as well as a master teach him basic martial arts.The only bitter note to his privileged upbringing was that he was unable to reveal brilliance and break through to secondary stage cultivation before enrolling in the Ascending Mountain Inst.i.tute. In fact, he had been stuck within its bottle neck for nearly three years!
As alchemists are well aware, this is a common side effect of clear spiritual pills and those who rely on them too much. Not that Sun could say he did rely on them, but he could admit that he never placed aside those brought to him. He simply tried not to worry about it nor think too much on it. He was only just seventeen, the average age of a cultivator breaking though to secondary was nineteen. Only those who failed to break through before their twenty fifth birthday would never be able to consider themselves anything more than mortals. There was still time!
So no matter how frustrated he became as cultivating his usual method seemed to do nothing to improve his situation, he always placed these thoughts to the back of his mind for the rest of the day and focused on the positives! Such as how his martial arts was developing in leaps and bounds since training with Jin Li! How Jin Li had finally consented to doing a mission with him (even though it was really unpleasant)! How he had double the points he should have from just that one mission! And how he could finally soak in a hot bath now the water had been heated!
He cooled the fire burning in the pit beneath the now empty pot next to the metal tub and searched for the sand soap; even that common servant boy should have some right? For all his cheap appearance, he at least was usually clean! On locating the earthen pot, he opened it to find its contents seemed strange. The sand was of white crystals rather than the yellow specks he was used to and there were herbs and dried petals in amongst it. Was it some sort of mix of soap and cultivating herb, like what he had used to stabilise his cultivation after taking pills?
Confused, he stripped his garments from his body anyway, tossing the mess into a heap and sliding into the hot water with a handful of soap. But it was too gritty for his skin, felt like rubbing against old tree bark than the oily softness he was used to and the flower petals made the bath water smell girly. He grumbled to himself, as he settled to clean himself as best he could in the now cloudy waters, before noticing that his innersea felt a little turbulent.
What now? He inwardly wailed, but closed his eyes to focus upon his churning innersea. As it swirled insanely, he instinctively sought to calm it, control it. The herbal bath should help with this right? Gritting his teeth, he found it was not so simple but chanted the words taught to him and the hand signs he knew by heart and managed to tighten this spiralling energy until it could flow strongly and freely through his meridians without error. And so, he began to circulate the spiritual energies, once, twice and then his innersea began to solidify for a moment, before imploding.
He gasped as his innersea seemed to empty one heart beat then fill with vigour the next! Opening his eyes and standing up, he eyed the herbal bath water and "sand soap". This was a coincidence right? As he thought this, Jin Li burst into the rickety shed with the half-blind Leon upon his arm and he could not help but question; "What sort of sand soap is this?!"
"Ah n-not sand soap," Leon admitted, lifting up the earthen pot he still held. "I m-m-made b-bath salts. Thought g-girls m-might like them."
"What are you trying to please girls for?" Jin Li teased. "They won"t look at the small you in any better light."
"Why w-would I want them t-too?" Leon asked, confused. He liked men after all. Well, he supposed Jin Li did not know that, otherwise he would most likely stay far away! "M-made them to m-maybe sell." He admitted, quietly. It had probably been a foolish thought anyway.
Sun was still standing there in all his birth suit glory in cooling water and without being given face, what was with this two? He shook the notion away and asked if there was something he could wear while he cleaned his clothes. He mourned for his old servants who would have done that ch.o.r.e for him. Leon indicated that spare robes should be on the hook, which they were, Sun had thought them rags. He accepted them anyway, better than being naked.
"Oh," Jin Li said as he pa.s.sed them over. "Congratulations on breaking through." Sun felt giddy as he smiled beneath his room mates praise, the bath, herbs and sand soap forgotten.
"Thank you very much, Jin Li!"