Severe condiction

Without realizing it, the sun made raised two more times on the horizon.

Although Ryu wished to stop a long time ago because of hunger and pain in his legs, Feng Po only granted him a couple of minutes from time to time.

In the meantime, there weren't more lashes for Ryu, but his vigilance diminished just a little bit, as the pain in his back still ached. As an effect of this, the flow of qi improved a little bit.

But then, when Ryu was starting to get proficient in keeping focused, using the black room technique, his jaw began to shake, and, next, his body followed.

Ryu opened his eyes to see what was happening and faced an astonishing scene. Around the boulder he was in, spreading to 100 meters, the wind revolved, and the ice crystals formed on the ground.

As he looked to the side, Feng Po stared back at him with the same indifferent gaze he had in the last three days, that gaze that says 'don't stop now, continue cultivating.'.

However, the intense cold pierced Ryu's flesh, making even his bones hurt, and he couldn't concentrate in that harsh environment.

"A cultivator should keep focused despite the cold or the heat. Now we start our second part of your training. Let the qi flow into your body and protect you." Feng Po said.

But, the task wasn't as easy as Feng Po make it sound. With his whole body trembling, his mind refused to work. No matter how hard Ryu tried to think in that black room, cold prevailed, making his mind blank.

It took two more suns for Ryu to achieve meditation for the first time in that freezing environment, and he thought many times that he was going to die from hypothermia. But every time he started to pass out, the heat increased until he improved. But the heat remained only for a few minutes, and the cold returned, making Ryu wish he had fainted.

Four suns later, Ryu was getting used to the cold as the qi returned to flow into his body. However, responding to his achievement, the wheater changed again.

This time it was getting hot, and at first, Ryu tried to resist, but when the heat increased and he felt his skin almost burning, he opened his eyes. And the scene he saw wasn't less impressive than the previous, as the whole landscape was on fire, the trees were burning, and the air was oscillating.

Just the single act of opening his eyes was enough for Ryu to feel the tears in his eyes evaporating, forcing him to close them immediately.

Since Ryu knew that Feng Po would not release him, he put meditation into practice, hoping to get out of this place the sooner possible.

How long it took to get used to the heat was uncertain, as the flames forbade Ryu to keep control of the light and evaluate the passage of the days. But he was sure that it wasn't less than three days.

After intense heat, Feng Po stopped messing with the temperature, and for some time, Ryu entered meditated calmy. Soon, he felt a connection with the qi, and the thin layer that covered his body expanded beyond his body.

Reacting to his conscience, several tiny threads of qi formed, connected to his body. These threads were the qi, flowing to his body, creating a visual effect of lines attached to Ryu due to quantity.

When Ryu started to relax to focus on the qi *BANG*, a loud explosion occurred just a couple of meters, broking his concentration. As he looked to see what could be the cause, he found a hole in a rock.

"Don't get distracted. Something like this should not attract your attention." Feng Po said.

"But if I keep meditating in the middle of an explosion, I will die." Ryu retorted.

"With your current meditation expertise, yes." Feng Po said.

"But, that's not a bad thing? I mean... " Ryu asked, worried.

"Don't get things wrong. If someone wants to kill you while you are meditating, then your killer will not come exploding things or kicking doors. That's why you will have to choose carefully where you meditate." Feng Po said.

"But when you improve, you will start to feel ill intent directed towards you, and this is how you will avoid someone sneaking to kill you." Feng Po continued.

"And how will I know when I feel ill intent directed to me?" Ryu asked.

"Aahh, you will know, believe. You don't even know how many times I almost lashed you in the past days when you kept getting distracted. If you had any survival instinct, you would have felt." Feng Po said.

With those words, Ryu closed his eyes and returned back to cultivate since he only got one lash, he thought the first would be the only one, but apparently, there would be more if he messed something.

Thus, Ryu resumed meditation, but, surprisingly, this explosion test proved as hard as the others. Though the explosions did not represent a physical threat, every explosion woke his attention, and even with the passing of two days, he couldn't get used to it.

This situation affected his ability to focus in a different way, in his mind, he kept expecting for the next explosion to occur and couldn't enter that deep state of mind he entered for a fraction of a second.

But then, when he was expecting to achieve some progress, Feng Po's hand shook his shoulder, drawing his attention.

"We are done here. Let's go, kid." Feng Po said with a sad face.

"Did I concluded your training? I felt I can still make some progress with those explosions." Ryu asked, confused.

"No, you still need to master that part, but..." Feng Po said, leaving the last sentence unspoken.

"But, what? Don't speak half things." Ryu insisted.

"My wine is over. You see." Feng Po said.

"This is the reason for stopping the training?" Ryu asked, indignant.

"I thought you wished to stop." Feng Po said.

"I did, but..." Ryu said, conflicted, "And what do we do now?"

"Hmmm, you go to the sect. With that amount of qi you gathered, you should be fine to level up for a while. You come back here to continue your training after completing some mission and get some level." Feng Po.

"This is it? And what about the training to not reveal my immortal-grade skill and getting more skill?" Ryu asked.

"Level up is just as important. It's better if you get some levels before we resume your training." Feng Po said.

"You say this only because you are out of wine. What are you going to do while I am out?" Ryu asked.

"I will travel south to take more wine." Feng Po said, jumping down the boulder and walking to the cave.

This outcome left Ryu utterly rejected from all people possible he found the worst master.

But, as he declared the training over, Ryu had no other option, he went out of the boulder and prepared to leave.