Han Yu leaned back against the courtyard wall, a half-eaten lotus bun in hand and his expression relaxed for the first ti in weeks.
The air was filled with the sweet scent of tea, laughter, and the faint rustle of wind through the plum blossoms. Kui One and Kui Two sat nearby on woven mats, both comfortably stuffed with buns and talking with the lively abandon of people who hadn’t seen each other in far too long.
"Man, I can’t believe you’re already eighteen," Kui Two said, patting his own round belly. "Feels like just yesterday you were sweeping the outer sect latrines with ."
"I still have nightmares about that," Han Yu muttered with a grimace.
They all laughed, the sound warm and unforced. But as the buns disappeared and the tea cooled, their conversation gradually turned from jokes to the more serious matters of cultivation and the ti Han Yu had been away.
"Not much changed while you were gone," Kui One said, brushing crumbs off his robes. "The sect’s been stable. No major events. No mass demon attacks. Just regular drills, patrols, and the usual back-breaking training."
"I made so progress though," Kui One added, puffing his chest out proudly. "My master says I should be ready to start my official body cultivation path within the year."
"Oh?" Han Yu raised an eyebrow. "You’re really going for body cultivation?"
"Yup!" Kui One grinned. "Turns out my body constitution’s pretty unique. My master ran a bunch of tests and everything. Said I have sothing called the Spiritual Gluttony Physique."
"I rember you ntioning about that... It wasn’t a joke?" Han Yu blinked.
He had totally thought Fatty Kui was just giving an excuse.
"Of course not!" Fatty Kui said with a look of bewildernt.
"Why does that... sound dangerous?" Han Yu said with a little concern.
"Dangerously aweso," Kui One corrected. "I can absorb qi and vitality more efficiently from food. So instead of just ditating all day and absorbing spirit qi from the air, I can actually eat my way to power."
Kui Two snorted. "Which explains why you’ve eaten four buns more than either of us."
"Exactly!" Kui One bead. "Each bite is a step toward enlightennt!"
Han Yu chuckled. "And here I thought you were just greedy."
"Greed is a path to greatness," Kui One said solemnly, only to burst out laughing again. "Anyway, my master hasn’t told what specific body cultivation technique I’ll be learning yet. He’s been hyping it up like crazy though. Says it’s perfect for my physique and that once I start, my gains will be explosive."
"Sounds like it’ll be interesting," Han Yu nodded. "What about you, Kui Two?"
"I already started," Kui Two said, sitting up a bit straighter. "My technique is called the Flesh Mold Refining Technique. It doesn’t rely on having a special physique, so it’s more universally applicable. I’ve only just reached the initial mastery phase, though."
Han Yu tilted his head. "Flesh Mold? That sounds... unsettling."
"Oh, it is," Kui Two said with a smirk. "The technique literally reshapes the flesh to harden it and align it with elental energies. It’s slow, painful, and very physical. I’ve been punching stone pillars for weeks. But my punches do leave dents now."
Han Yu whistled. "That’s impressive. So what’s the goal with that technique? Is it also part of so cultivation path?"
"Yeah," Kui Two replied. "It ties into the Five Treasures Realm, which is the main realm of body cultivation. We’re both aiming toward that."
Han Yu blinked. "Never heard of it before. What’s that about?"
Kui One eagerly sat up and rubbed his hands together like he was about to recite a bedti story. "Okay, so the Five Treasures Realm is based on refining the five major organs in the body. Each organ corresponds to one of the five elents—Liver is Wood, Heart is Fire, Spleen is Earth, Kidneys are Water, and Lungs are tal."
"You have to refine them one by one?" Han Yu asked.
"Exactly," Kui One nodded. "Each ti you fully refine one organ, you reach a new stage. They call them the Treasured Organs. The more you refine, the stronger your body becos. The stages are insane, man. Just the First Treasured Organ is already equivalent to the peak of the Core Condensation Realm."
Han Yu leaned forward slightly, interest piqued. "That Strong!?" He almost couldn’t believe it.
’It seems to be a bit similar to the growth of my Soul Cultivation stages.’ He thought to himself.
"You already know about the qi cultivation stages, right?" Fatty Kui one asked first.
"Yeah. Han Yu nodded. Qi refining realm, Core Condensation Elam, Nascent Soul realm, Dao Shell Realm, Dao Treading Realm and the Immortal Ascension realm at the end." Han Yu answered.
When he had first co to the Twin Leaf Peak Sect, he barely knew about the stages till the Nascent Soul realm. But having spend almost two years here, Han Yu now knew about the rest.
Of course, he didn’t know the specific details or how they worked, he at least knew the na.
"Then it’ll be easy." Kui One raised a chubby finger. "Here, let break it down. The Five Treasured Organs go like this:
1. First Treasured Organ: Liver refined. Equivalent to peak Core Condensation Realm.
2. Second Treasured Organ: Heart refined. Equivalent to peak Nascent Soul Realm.
3. Third Treasured Organ: Spleen refined. Equivalent to peak Dao Shell Realm Realm.
4. Fourth Treasured Organ: Kidneys refined. Equivalent to peak Dao Treading Realm.
5. Fifth Treasured Organ: Lungs refined. Equivalent to peak Immortal Ascension Realm."
"Also we don’t necessarily have to refine the organs in that order. This is just the one that’s followed most often. It depends on the body cultivation technique soone is using." Fatty Kui one added.
Han Yu’s jaw slackened slightly. "Wait, body cultivators can actually reach Immortal Ascension through just physical refinent?"
"Yup," Kui One said, proud. "It’s just harder. Each organ requires insane amounts of energy, special resources, and sotis unique tempering thods. It’s not like absorbing qi through ditation. This is about raw grit and forcing your body through trials."
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