Jie returned to her private residence on the school grounds and stepped into a steaming hot bath, controlled by stone plates with runes carved into them. Like large, magical buttons.
As Jie slipped into the hot water, she let out a relieved sigh. The hot water stripped the sweat off her body and began to soothe her muscles. She took long, slow breaths and reached down into her lower dantian.
There, a chaotic storm of dragon lightning qi swirled, snapped, and crackled. But, despite how much she'd just advanced, it didn't seem unbalanced. Chaotic and wild, but not dangerous to her in any way. Just as perfect as usual. Still, she'd have to make sure to have some good sparring tomorrow to make absolutely certain it was as stable as could be. According to Elder Shi, most people's qi rested gently in their lower dantian, rotating slowly if at all.
But Jie's was different. There were many strange cultivation methods that did weird things to qi, but dragon lightning qi was apparently the strangest Elder Shi had ever seen. Its power was great though. And Jie knew she'd need a lot of that.
To think she needed to be stronger than gods. It seemed most people didn't even think to aim for the height of a god, and she had to go way beyond that.
She smiled and sank back in the tub. Who was she kidding? She couldn't complain. Even if some other hero killed all the bad guys tomorrow, she'd still want to cultivate to heights others didn't even dare to dream of. How could she resist such a dream? Nothing felt better than cultivating and growing her strength. Not to mention when she broke through into the next star... it was like eating a billion chocolate bars, riding a roller coaster at light speed, and reading a good book all at the same time. Only without feeling sick.
Jie stayed in the bath for a while, resting her body and her mind as she relaxed in the steaming water, but soon she washed up and returned to the room with Ming. Even if he was unresponsive, it was comforting to check on him from time to time. And, if he happened to sense her, she wanted him to know she hadn't forgotten him.
Occasionally, she brought trays of food from the academy's cafeteria, and sometimes she came back to find the food and drink had vanished. So, at least he was still somewhat aware.
But she also made sure not to distract him from his work. He had to get healthy... he had to...
Having made sure that Ming was still breathing, Jie went into the private garden just behind her private residence. She sat in the lotus position on the soft grass, surrounded by the alien, yet familiar, trees, and activated the storage ring Ming had given her.
The stone she'd taken as her prize from the entry trial appeared in her hand. Streaks of gleaming silver ran through it and shifted as she moved it. Each time she looked at it, she loved it even more. Surely it was dangerous, Ming had said as much... but she couldn't deny that she treasured it above almost anything.
She treasured it so much it scared her, but it wasn't whispering dark thoughts into her mind or anything so where was the harm?
She studied it in the moonlight. If this was some powerful treasure, there had to be a way to use it. Surely its power wasn't just to make everyone but her hate it for some reason? Would it try to seduce people other than her for that matter?
She didn't want to believe that it would, but she cordoned off part of her mind to think as rationally as possible. She'd only seen two other people react to it. It could be that it would choose other people...
Not that she was going to test that theory. It was too precious to risk just to find out. But, how to use it? And, what would it even do? Did she want to use it? What if it was some kind of magical bomb and she activated it and killed herself? That would be profoundly stupid.
Unfortunately, the stone gave no indication of how to use it. Jie frowned. What if it was activated with qi?
She watched it closely and sent a sliver of qi into it. It glowed with a dim silver light from deep inside the gem-like stone. Jie's eyes brightened. Of course! How could she be so stupid? Qi must be the way to use this thing. But, it wasn't doing anything other than emitting a paltry glow. Maybe it needed more energy?
What if it blew up though? That thought flew out of her head the second she thought it. It would never hurt her. Ever. She knew that... somehow.
Maybe it was messing with her mind. Making her think it was safe when it wasn't... but if this was powerful enough to affect Ming, it could probably just take over her entire mind... but was rationalizing that part of its control over her and too subtle for her to even notice?
"Argh!" Jie said, "This stuff could drive a person insane."
Still, she increased the amount of qi she poured into the stone. It brightened slightly, but nothing else happened.
Jie increased the amount of qi more... then more again... and more again until she gritted her teeth from the strain and lightning played over her body and the stone. It glowed brightly, but still, nothing happened. Jie kept up the amount of qi she poured into it for as long as she could until, finally, she slumped and her qi came to a sputtering stop.
The stone continued to glow for a bit, then dimmed once more and did nothing.
Jie sighed. Was she missing something? Had she activated it somehow and just not seen what it did? Maybe it was some kind of super-powered dim light. Or, maybe it required some of those higher energies she didn't have or something.
She put the stone away as frustration gnawed at her. She closed her eyes to cultivate once more but fell right asleep instead.
She dreamed of Ming dying in front of her while she rested in her old hospital bed, unable to move, speak, or help. And, of annoying stones that she loved despite the aggravation they caused her.
Even so, she woke feeling rested and stiff and promptly headed for the cafeteria. She brought back a massive tray laden with enough food for an army and placed it beside Ming. She ate some of it but quickly reached her fill. As her cultivation grew, she found herself needing less and less food. But Ming still ate a lot. Probably because he was healing.
Still, as the days passed, he didn't seem to be getting better... there had to be a way to help him. How could there not be anything she could do in this world of miracles?
Ming had given her a lot of those coins that these people regarded as shockingly valuable, perhaps there was a medicine she could buy with them? But, if so, why hadn't Ming done that? Were medicines of that level truly that rare? Or... had he given up on life?
***
The next day, Elder Shi had Jie spar with older students. Many of whom were inner court disciples of the Crimson Academy and the direct disciples of elders. The weakest of those Elder Shi brought were at the third star of the Expert rank. They were largely kept separate from the younger students and as such Jie usually only saw them when Elder Shi brought them in for sparring.
They served as yet another reminder to Jie that she had a long way to go and that despite winning the tournament, she still wasn't the strongest student within the Crimson Academy... not yet at least.
The training was grueling and Jie lost several of the matches, but it helped her increase her skill. It was far more challenging than the tournament had been.
Jie panted after another grueling sparring session and sat in the lotus position as she cultivated. When she'd replenished her qi, she found that there wasn't another Expert ranked fighter for her to spar against.
"I think that's enough of that for today," Elder Shi said, "How are your studies of your new martial skills coming along?"
Jie blushed. "I haven't actually had a look at them yet," she said.
Elder Shi raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Why not? Most students would struggle to resist the urge to look at them instantly!" she said.
Jie shrugged. "There just isn't a rush, I don't think. I had other things to focus on yesterday and I came here for sparring before I'd had a chance to study them. I also wouldn't want to use them until I'd had a bit more time to test them out first anyway," she said.
Elder Shi nodded. "Even so, I think you should have a look at them. If they're any good, you'll want to incorporate them into your fighting style as soon as possible," she said, "but before that... it's time to train your physical body."
Jie nodded as she strapped on the specially enchanted runed vest in preparation for their run. Despite breaking through, the vest hadn't grown easier to wear as Elder Shi had increased the resistance it provided significantly.
"Did you find anything out about something that could heal a god?" Jie asked.
Elder Shi hesitated. "You're still asking about that?" she said.
"It's important," Jie said.
Elder Shi narrowed her eyes at Jie. "One of these days I'll get an answer out of you," she said.
"I could say the same," Jie said dryly.
"My, my... isn't someone touchy today?" Elder Shi said, "I asked around, but I just heard rumors. It's not exactly something people know much about. Who would need such healing power, after all? I heard of a mysterious city beyond the Cursed Lands a few times, but again... there's no guarantee. They say a powerful healer lives there, but rumors are easily exaggerated, and I have no idea if this mysterious healer could do what it is you want. And, if they could, you know you'd need a way to persuade them don't you?"
Jie nodded. "I understand," she said, "I need to do it though."
Elder Shi tapped one perfect fingernail against her lip. "I think the only one who might have a good idea of whether the rumors are true or not is Headmaster Siluvius," she said, "He's rumored to come from the lands beyond the Cursed Lands. I'm sorry that I can't tell you anything new about that. It isn't easy to find anything for a god. I'd be careful about who you ask too, people might think you have some kind of godly treasure or something."
"How would healing help a treasure?" Jie asked.
"You'd be surprised," Elder Shi said, "But, in truth, people are greedy idiots. They'll just hear 'god rank' and wonder how to rob you."
Jie shook her head. "Why am I even surprised?" she muttered.
Elder Shi smiled. "Now workout time!" she said.