Lighting Up 171 Inner Array Nodes

This shameless girl!

To take advantage of me like this when I was clearly implying that she should kiss me on the cheek—wait, is she using her tongue as well!?

Honestly… I'm impressed.

To think that this girl could be so brazen in broad daylight and in a man's room, no less!

Wow, just wow.

She found a loophole in my words and used it as her chance to freely do whatever she wanted. Her shamelessness was nearly at my level—nearly.

After a couple of minutes of having my mouth violated by the she-devil, I caught my breath and pulled away. There was some resistance from her as a pout formed, but even if not explicitly stated, there was a limit to everything.

"Time's up," I said while cutting the string of saliva that connected us. "You naughty girl. To think you'd do something like this when you're already engaged to what's-his-face… You're not even listening to me, are you?"

"Guhehe~"

Cela had her index finger pressed against her lips, humming creepy giggles. Her heart-shaped eyes listlessly stared into nothing, seemingly in a trance.

"Damn," I said. "This chick really is a lost case."

"But at least she knows how to pay for the goods," I continued as I easily plucked the |Mystical Body Tempering Pill| out of her hands. "I've heard of these before. The stewards talked about them being among the very best pills you could get while in the Body Refinement Realm. Their price was… I believe it's even more than I can afford."

The pill in my grasp was, after all, not only capable of tremendously improving one's cultivation while in the Body Refinement Realm, but it also had the unique effect of expunging the impurities within one's body.

It was primarily because of the latter reason that this silvery pill could go for thousands of Mid-grade Spirit Stones on the market. This meant the pill was worth more than the majority of Nascent Soul Realm pills.

As for why the pill had such an astronomical price, the impurity expunging aspect did more than just that. It perfected one's cultivation in the Body Refinement Realm, paving the way for a perfect foundation in the following Major Realms.

'If I remember correctly,' I thought, glancing at the star-struck girl. 'Cela herself hadn't taken this pill.'

Looking at it this way, it became profusely clear to me that she had gone through great troubles to get this pill for me.

Two weeks of continuous kneeling… Did she really do something like that?

"Haiz…" I muttered, hating what it felt like to know, without a doubt, that she had done such a ridiculous thing. "Although I'm planning to be the most shameless and unreasonable Young Master this world has ever seen, I know how to repay debts."

Patting the girl on the head before walking out of my room, I stuck my hand up and waved.

"You can consider your future set," I reassured her. "Once I ascend to realms beyond the scope of the Elemental Nations, I'll make sure you get your dues."

As if I was wholeheartedly sure that my words would come to fruition, I confidently smirked and blurred.

FWIP!

When I reappeared, I was outside the mansion—a few thousand meters away, to be exact. I was still within the bounds of the Main Household's Territory, but I was in one of the quieter areas.

After finding myself a quaint tree erected atop a hill, I sat down beneath it. As a cool spring breeze blew the leaves on the tree and the blades of grass around me, I entered a deep state of cultivation.

In my right hand was the silver |Mystical Body Tempering Pill|, which I put in my mouth without hesitation.

At first, nothing happened.

However, as soon as the pill began to dissolve, I felt wave after wave of Innate Energy bombard my body. It seeped into all my pores and my Innate Energy Sea, improving every current aspect of my cultivation.

From my skin and flesh to my organs and marrow—it was all refined to a degree far superior to what I could manage on my own. Furthermore, with me guiding the process, I used some of the pill's energy to light up the Inner Array Nodes I was missing.

My Inner Array Nodes lit up at a similar rate to what my marrow was being refined at.

148… 156… 159… 163… 169…

171!

All 171 Inner Array Nodes had been lit up, with my entire body appearing like some kind of Christmas tree. The pain was on a level that exceeded my expectations, but it was still something I could handle.

"B-Being melted alive in a pit of stomach acid was still a bit worse than this," I said with a deep grimace. "S… Still, I doubt anyone who hasn't experienced something at least at that level of pain would be able to handle this. Ha…"

To stop the pain, I had to successfully break through into the Qi Condensation Realm. But seeing as black gunk was still oozing out of my pores, I had no choice but to endure and wait for all my impurities to leave my body.

Fortunately, my body was quite exceptional at getting rid of impurities. In a mere 15 minutes, I was free of all impurities.

My Charisma increased by 51 points because of this, and though one couldn't tell from my grime-covered appearance, I had definitely become more handsome.

My facial features were sharper, my eyebrows more sword-like, and my jaw had just the right amount of chisel.

"W-We…ll, damn," I murmured, short of breath. "T-The pain has increased by another notch, but it has still yet to reach my tolerance limit. Far from it…"

Holding 171 Inner Array Nodes in a lit-up state for so long should've been impossible for any sane person. But luckily, that adjective did not exist in my dictionary!