Re-birth: The Beginning after the End - Chapter 120

Chapter 120: THE REAL TRAINING BEGINS PART 3

“Come now, a warm bath will help your muscles recover,” Li Hua called over her shoulder as she headed toward her room. Despite their exhaustion, both brothers perked up at the mention of a bath.

Li Wei was the first to follow, his curiosity winning out over his aching muscles. Though he’d seen similar mechanisms in the kitchen, the bath’s more complex system still fascinated him – particularly how it produced not just flowing water, but heated it without any traceable spiritual essence or formation arrays. The kitchen spout was mysterious enough, but this was an entirely different level of sophistication.

“Sister,” he called after her, quickening his pace despite protesting limbs, “I understand the basic principle from the kitchen, but how does this one heat the water without fire essence? And the pressure seems much stronger than the kitchen spout – there must be some form of water manipulation array hidden somewhere.”

Li Hao dragged himself behind them, groaning dramatically with every step. “Brother, you’ve been poking at these mysteries since we arrived. Can we just accept that sister has collected some interesting toys and focus on the promise of hot water for our poor, abused muscles?”

Li Hua’s lips curved into that mysterious smile they’d been seeing more often lately – the one that suggested she knew far more than she was telling. “The principles are the same as the kitchen,” she said, reaching for one of the gleaming handles, “just applied on a grander scale.”

The soaking tub was certainly spacious enough for both brothers. After a brief discussion, they decided to bathe together as they often had in the mountain springs, allowing their sister to prepare dinner while they soaked their aching muscles.

Li Hua left them to their bath and made her way to the kitchen, hiding a smile as she heard Li Wei still theorizing about the water system to Li Hao. The familiar routine of meal preparation centered her thoughts as she began selecting ingredients with practiced care. She added extra spirit water and spirit herbs to the soup, knowing her brothers would need the healing properties after their first day of training. The aromatic steam rising from the pot carried hints of ginger and other medicinal herbs chosen specifically to ease muscle fatigue.

By the time her brothers finished their bath, their faces glowing and their bodies visibly at ease, Li Hua had already set the table for dinner. They ate with cheerful energy, Li Hao voicing his hearty approval while Li Wei offered quieter, thoughtful praise.

While her brothers cleared away the dishes, Li Hua took her turn in the bath, allowing the warm water to soothe away the day’s exertions. When she finished, she found them waiting in the training room, their earlier exhaustion replaced by quiet determination.

The siblings settled into their cultivation positions without a need for discussion, the air around them beginning to hum with spiritual essence. Their synchronized focus became second nature, a rhythm they had perfected over years of shared training. Each breath drawn was purposeful, each exhale a release of tension that tethered them to the physical world. Slowly, their surroundings seemed to blur, the passage of time bending to the will of their cultivation.

Days flowed into weeks, weeks into months, years unfolding within Li Hua’s inner space while the outside world marked only a quarter cycle around the sun. Their daily routines evolved alongside their growing strength. The morning runs, once mundane, transformed into dynamic challenges. Circuits became intricate obstacle courses, darting through Bai Ying’s frost fields and testing their agility against Feng Yi’s wind streams. Their weighted vests, once a mere five kilos of stone, now carried burdens that would have impressed even their father.

Time moved differently in their sanctuary – each hour in the outside world granting them twenty-four days of training. At first, they marked their progress through simple measures: the increasing weight of their stone vests, the number of forms they could complete before exhaustion, the distance they could run while maintaining steady breath.

But as months passed, the changes became more profound. Li Wei, once scholarly slim, developed the lean, corded muscles of a sword cultivator, his movements gaining a dangerous precision. Li Hao’s already athletic frame transformed into something approaching legendary martial ancestors, his every gesture containing carefully leashed power. Even their spiritual essence began taking physical form during cultivation, creating patterns of light that danced around their bodies like living constellations.

Alongside their physical training, the siblings devoted themselves to perfecting the concealment arts their mother had taught them in childhood. Each day, they practiced shaping their features into new faces, the discipline becoming as automatic as breathing. Even during their most strenuous exercises, through sparring and cultivation, they maintained these altered appearances without wavering. On top of the concealment, Li Hua had also mastered the thousand veils technique, wrapping her soul in layers of protection that no immortal could penetrate.

The spirit beasts became constant companions in their journey. Bai Ying, a sixth Rank frost tiger – powerful enough to challenge most inner disciples of major sects – grew even more formidable as her frost abilities gained deadly precision. Feng Yi, the fifth Rank wind fox, refined his techniques until his wind blades became sharp enough to slice through thick trees. The twin thunder bunnies, Lei Lei and Dian Dian, advanced from third Rank to fourth, their playful sparks evolving into impressive arcs of lightning that danced through their training sessions.

In the world of spirit beasts, each rank from one to nine marked a significant leap in power – a sixth Rank beast like Bai Ying could easily overcome a dozen fourth Rank creatures, while a single ninth Rank beast could level entire mountains. The spirit beasts’ growth alongside the siblings transformed the inner space into a training ground of frost, wind, and lightning.

Their shared meals transformed from simple recovery breaks into cherished moments of connection, six years of daily gatherings strengthening bonds that had already survived separation and trauma. Li Hua’s mysterious smile gradually gave way to open pride as her brothers mastered techniques that had once seemed impossible. Li Wei’s nature found purpose in analyzing and refining their methods, while Li Hao’s boundless energy finally met its match in the endless challenges Li Hua designed.

After six years of constant cultivation – the change in them was profound. Li Hua had broken through to Martial Rank 6 High Tier, a realm where few cultivators ever reached, while her brothers advanced steadily to Martial Rank 5 High Tier – an achievement that would have taken decades through normal cultivation methods. Their movements now carried the fluid grace born of thousands of repetitions.

But perhaps the most significant change was in their unity – no longer just siblings training together, but a seamless team forged through years of shared purpose. They had spent an almost equal amount of time together in this sanctuary as their childhood, their bond deepening beyond blood into something approaching the fabled cultivation partnerships of legend.

As Li Hua watched her brothers spar on what would be their final day in the sanctuary – their movements a dance of power and precision – she felt satisfaction settle deep in her heart. They had grown far beyond what she’d initially hoped, ready not just for what was to come, but for challenges she hadn’t imagined when they began.