22. Back to cultivation 2.

With the newfound inspiration Leo fully focused on the lightning bolts within and tried to slowly push all of them towards the dantian. He finally understood that the spot below the navel in fact was the trash can of the consciousness – obviously it was the reason why it was located in the bottom half of the body. Trough it he could dispose of all the impurities, obstacles and the irrelevant stuff and then finally be able to cultivate for real.

No wonder he had a hard time of finding the fire spark for so long! His consciousness was constantly being soiled! It all began with the terrifying lightning storm after which the purple lightning first showed up to continuously pester him even in his dreams and because he didn't timely dispose of it, it continued to grow and multiply within. And when the amazing once in the lifetime opportunity occurred to cultivate at the magic spot where the chicken and cat grew big and strong, he wasted it by swimming in the lake with the lightning and even drank its waters thus polluting his consciousness even more.

And just why did he have to eat those fruits from both trees that constantly kept emitting lighting? The curiosity and greed were what probably costed him months of cultivation time! He had so much to make up for. Of course, the Renaud family men never wasted time pitying themselves or regretting things that couldn't be changed. All he had to do now was to work hard!

Fully focused Leo sat in the tub and did his best to force the hateful lighting towards the dantian. Now and then his mind wandered off reminding of the lack of the Firewater and Firepaste and the things he should regret, but each time he stubbornly forced himself to focus on the task at hand again.

Bimpo and Onataka had other things to worry about. When they saw Leo had no reaction at first, they used the time to quickly do their regular chores and washed the tubs, but when they were done they sat near the tube Leo was in and began to carefully observe him.

It was clear the fatty was struggling. His expression was solemn and forehead covered in perspiration. From time to time he frowned, pursed his lips and even gritted teeth. Fortunately he didn't cry or scream in pain otherwise it would be hard to explain what they were doing if an elder suddenly stepped by.

After Leo sat in the tub longer that it takes for an incense stick to burn, the guys finally became worried.

"He's holding in there alright, but shouldn't the impurities finally start seeping out? For some reason there is only perspiration, but no sign of black colored toxins." Onataka asked while scratching the back of his head.

"No idea. Maybe he's too young and has no impurities?" Bimpo tried to think of something.

"You know as well as I do that's impossible." Onataka said, "Every being is already born with impurities and accumulates even more toxins during their lifetime. Part of the cultivation is to get rid of all the crap, but neither of us could properly do it and now we're stuck at the Qi gathering stage forever. Even the young master Mumasa, a genius that is born once in ten thousand years, secreted a thick layer of toxins when he went through the body refinement stage at the age of nine and even more the next year during the bone reforging. Do you think he had too much of bad food or dirty water, or breathed the wrong air?"

"I'm just trying to think of something." Bimpo defended.

What Onataka said was the common knowledge and during the years they had assisted hundreds of sect members by organizing cleansing, strengthening and revitalizing baths. While their expertise might be lacking, they had plenty of experience and knew how the cleansing process should go. The only explanation for them to not see Leo's toxin discharge was for it to be invisible.

"Listen! We are complete idiots!" When the east was beginning to turn bright red, Bimpo's sudden shout woke up Onataka who had long dozed off, "That damn Lidibu probably absorbed the whole medicinal effect before we threw the fatty in there! Maybe he's even absorbing Lidibu's impurities – that's why he's in pain!"

It took a moment for Onataka to register what his friend said, but then he jumped on on his feet in distress, "Oh god! What have we done?!"

They both grabbed the confused Leo by armpits and a moment later the boy found himself being thrown in the ocean and getting scrubbed all over by the two young men. Not only this was embarrassing, but painful as well. Unfortunately his futile resistance was taken as agony caused by the bad bath and the two intensified the washing increasing Leo's suffering even more.

A short while later the two geniuses were forced to realize their actions had indeed been harmful. They ignored the fact that the kid was bruised all over, but focused on the 'main' problem – he completely refused to talk to them and even look their way!

It was clear that the last night's experiment had a damaging effect on Leo and they could only blame themselves for that. Who in the world uses a cleansing bath after someone else? Obviously the water is full of toxins and nothing good can come of it!

Fortunately it didn't take long for Onataka to come up with a new plan. Today they would reduce the amount of medicinal ingredients they put in other people's tubs and with the spare make a brand new bath for Leo in the evening and Bimpo gladly agreed to the idea. It wouldn't be the first time they stole some stuff, but they stopped doing so after realizing they weren't meant to cross into the Foundation establishment threshold in their lifetime. The ingredients to them simply became worthless work materials back then and they used just them like carpenters use wood or mason – stones, but now, on the other hand, plants, alchemy pills and essences had never been more important.

Leo was pleasantly surprised with the results of the last nights cultivation. Not only he felt completely energized even though he hadn't slept, he also made a considerable progress towards cleaning up his consciousness. Of course, it was still a mess with the lightning flashing all over the place, but he felt like he was getting a hang of managing it, even if it was a little bit.

Unfortunately the two bullies intervened at what he thought was a crucial moment. Apparently they were frustrated by their mom not coming home the whole night although judging from her lecherous character most likely she was busy with someone humping her somewhere in the tribe.

The worst part about the disturbance was the fact that either because of the medicine in the bath or it was just the water from the ocean, Leo's bruises kept itching so hard he wished he could simply take of his own skin until it heals. Be as it may, it was clear that he suffered because of the two mother tuckers and there was no way he would help them out with chores from now on, even if it was passing towels to the pretty female tribe members.

Being upset with both guys had also its perks. During the day they almost never spoke to him and focused on serving the sect members while from time to time brought over fruits and snacks. In the evening though they washed the tubs first, but to Leo's great surprise filled up another one and without asking anything put him in.

Clearly the two were feeling guilty, because the moment Leo entered the tub he felt its quality was on a completely different level. The medicinal aroma clearly pointed at many expensive ingredients that were used and the water was clean and pleasantly cool. Leo even had the urge to taste it as if it was a fancy herbal tea, but quickly regained his focus and concentrated on the cultivation. He didn't know for how long the guys will keep feeling guilty and generously suck up to him, therefore he couldn't waste a single moment.

"Alright, let's focus and watch him closely." Onataka said while sitting down next to Leo's tub.

Then he pulled out a small sack and passed it to Bimpo who quickly rolled up a couple of tubes from leaves filled with what Leo called 'Firegrass'.

"Now he should feel pretty hot. In the time it'll take for us to finish these he should start sweating out toxins." Bimpo said and passed one of his creations to Onataka.

"Let's hope this works. If not – I'm out of ideas." The latter said with a sigh, "We have around ten days left and I really hope he'll be capable of saying more than 'I like banana'."

"Seems like that bitch also bailed on us." Bimpo said after inhaling lungs full of the flavorful fume that made him dizzy for a split moment, "It might've been that her sh*t was too strong for the fatty so she wants us to take the blame."

"Mhm." Onataka nodded in agreement, "Women are not trustworthy at all. I tell you what – if she comes over, let's do her so hard she won't be able to walk for a week."

Bimpo looked back at him with a wide grin and the two slapped their palms together sealing the deal.

The two youths sat and quietly chatted while keeping a close eye on Leo. Unfortunately no matter how they stared, the only reaction fatty had was a change in expression now and then. Strangely enough after the initial effect he didn't even perspire although the two were absolutely confident that the intense bath he took had to forcefully propel a beginner through the body refinement stage.

It was highly unlikely or rather – impossible that the boy had his Qi channels formed at his current age, therefore by soaking in this bath they should've been opened forcefully in a crippled form while during the process erasing his future prospects of becoming a real cultivator and giving him a short boost of physical and intellectual prowess in return.

Of course, it was not because the medicine was in some way damaging – the recipe was meant to stimulate young cultivators so they could pass the Body refinement stage by removing toxins from their bodies. Unfortunately unprepared people would draw the power from within significantly weakening their life force in the process.

Strangely enough the fatty in the tub didn't feel pain nor discomfort. From the looks of it he actually was trying hard to concentrate as if actually cultivating.

"Could … could it be he already is at the Body refinement stage?" When it was well past midnight Bimpo asked in disbelief.

"I … have no clue." Onataka honestly said, "But trying anything stronger is too risky. He might die."

"F*ck it! Let's go and find Runamata tomorrow morning. She has to have a suggestion. It's her fault after all!" Bimpo got angry.

"Agreed. We don't have any other choice." Onataka nodded, "If he doesn't start producing results we'll do as you said."

Since the medicinal effect had ran out, the boy was fished out yet again despite his strong protests. He could not understand why he was not allowed to continue to cultivate since everyone went to sleep right after anyway and because of that gave the 'silent treatment' to the two in the morning.

Of course, Leo gladly accepted the breakfast, but ignored everyone when he was urged to exchange few sentences and write a couple of words. He had an inkling that if he kept up this attitude, in the evening he might get another medicinal bath, but if he didn't – he wasn't loosing anything anyway.