Inside her tub, Zhi Rui sighed as the last cut on her arm healed completely. This time, it only took ten minutes for all the wounds heal.

Form the time she started her training, her healing process went from three hours to ten minutes. That in itself was absurd. Only some rare or really strong beats had that kind of vitality.

(Your skin evolved into the toughest state it can be at the third level. blunt, bruising, cutting, etc... All damages that hit your skin first will have it damage reduced by half.

The only thing you still have to worry about is the inner organs, your skin will minimize vibrations and shocks that travels inside but a lot but that's still too much, repetitive damage will put you down slowly but surely.)

"I see." Zhi Rui said.

After laying her preparations to the underworld. Zhi Rui spent one whole week training inside the pocket dimension. Two days for blunt damage, then two for cutting. She completed the first phase of preparations for the actual training.

"For the muscles, I can just take the maximum capacity pill right?"

(Wrong, you're transforming your body into your shell, your shield, your doll. Don't be casual with it. Those pills are only good for immediate result, but those who trained solid foundations eventually outmatched them in my time alive. What you need is that firm base. From now on you'll strain your muscles at least three times a day. Since you're training muscles, you'll need to eat a lot of protein. Beast meat is best.)

Through the next week, Zhi Rui simulated exercises strain by directly shocking her muscles with the inner energy, which would take three hours to do was done in half. Albeit, with more soreness and pain since all the whole body was working at once.

Zhi Rui would do it in the morning, pass out unmoving on the floor, wake up by noon and repeat until nighttime.

She did this, without breaks, trying to reach the mind training soon.

On the third and last time of the day. Zhi Rui stopped and tilted her head thinking.

"'The body, is a disposable shell for the mind.' I understand the benefit of having a strong body, but am I doing this only so I can possess another body? What am I training my mind for?"

(The method of Saloman the eternal is to make the mind, independent of the body. Like you did before, you'll integrate the ethereal energy onto your conscience, and when both become one, your core's nature will change and become formless with the consciousness and physical with the body.

if your body is compromised, you can simply let go of it. you'll not be a soul nor a living person, outside the physical realm you'll be able to use any skill, ability or technique that only your energy. When you master it.

It's said you'll be naturally invisible for those of the same level as you, you could live indefinitely until you find fitting to possess. When fighting, Saloman would sperate body and mind. Some say he did this to think without the stress of the body while viewing as outsider some say it was a despairing last resort. But the only certainty is that his enemies struggled and often had to retreat, even when in two or three against one. )

"Ohh."

'Now that I know his motives, I don't know if that's true or just bullshit to keep me motivated and unguarded."

Zhi Rui got up form the tub the warm water she liked to relax her strained muscles dripped to the floor.

A wide silver plate with tangerine slices and sweetened orange sauce floated in front of her. The tangerine was cool and the sauce warm. Zhi Rui smiled gently.

"Thank you, sweety." she gently soaked half-slice in the sauce and threw in her mouth.

The explosion of cold citric acid with the warm sweet orange flavor made Zhi Rui close her eyes and squeal with delight.

Her cheeks blushed.

"This is so good! You're really the best sweety!"

'Positive feedback so he keeps doing it!' She thought.

[Hehe, I found this dish on one of the books. it taught how to have a royal class restaurant.]

"I do feel like an empress right now."

A white robe enveloped Zhi Rui's soaking body and she relaxed back on the sofa.

(Now you must build resistance against the natural elements, and temperature changes)

Zhi Rui nodded while dozing off. To master anything with high quality, you must first meet the requirement to start it. The high-quality set of moves she learned in the barbarian lands won't be able to get near the one she's about to learn.

With this basic training she reached about fifty percent in her cultivation, a little more and she'll be on the bottleneck to the fourth level. But she didn't need to fear it. She has the remnant spirit of every soldier that died, from the moment she entered the barbarian to the war between the countries. They were all at least in the second level. That alone would push her over the bottleneck, but with the fourth level spirit of Cheng Feng She'll enter the fourth level and go beyond.

Thinking of those spirits, Suddenly a thought struck Zhi Rui's mind.

'How come I never thought about it?'

She closed her eyes and sent her mind to her core.

The glob of condensed remnant spirit was right in front of her, with a finger, Zhi Rui took one from the mound.

The phenomenon from before happened again, and she could feel everything about the person whose remnant spirit belonged to, his abilities last minutes emotions.

Zhi Rui brought it closer and tried to link her parasitic thread on it. It touched, but when it neared it became ethereal like the spirit. When It connected, Zhi Rui mind went reeling.

A sudden rush of memories invaded her mind. Suddenly she was a Barbarian man. From infant to the day he died with an imperial arrow on the neck.

As his eyes closed Zhi Rui opened her eyes wide. She immediately held her head. As if holding it would stop the scrutiating pain that came over her brain. She couldn't see anything. Blood streamed down her nose, eyes, and ears.

'PAIN PAIN PAIN PAIN!'

She vomited everything that was on her stomach and coughed nonstop. slowly she curled herself on the ground while holding her temples, and suffered through the pain.

Her convulsions eased up on the course of one hours.

[Are you alright?] Sweet asked.

Zhi Rui raised herself and sat on the ground.

She chuckled menacingly with a vermilion glow on her eyes.

"Yes, sweety, I'm completely fine."

She got up slowly from the ground and took a deep breath.

The slightly cool air from the place entered her lungs, giving her small pleasure in spite of the blood on her skin.

She closed her eyes and sent her consciousness to her core.

The density of her energy thinned out due to the horrendous pain, but it came back to normal as soon as the pain faded.

'Receiving a lifetime of memories in an instant. If I was a mortal, no. If I was a first level cultivator I would've died in a second.

Zhi Rui focused on the thread she linked with him. Instead of passively sucking his inner energy. His very essence was being stolen, a kind of spiritual energy, it was different form ethereal, but similar.

Zhi Rui just presenced living his life until now, his skills, thoughts desires. failures, accomplishments, she lived through them all.

She closed her eyes and tested going into specific memories. Trying to remember specifics parts of his life, but t was hard. She narrowed the scope and focused on the time he learned a simple skill of forging swords, and suddenly she was reliving that day. She beat the metal with the hammer quenched it in water and tempered the thing. She worked on it the way he did then until it was complete.

When she was herself again, she couldn't feel the muscle memory but she only need to start doing it and it'll come naturally.

'A heaving defying treasure.' Zhi Rui smiled. 'Experience is the most important thing in a person's life, it takes years and exhausting training to master anything. and I just shrunk that, into almost instant knowledge.'

Zhi Rui started to chuckle soon she was laughing out loud holding her stomach. 'Oh my, heavens really rewards the hardworking.'

With the last chuckle, Zhi Rui jumped on the tub, that one trip to another's life had exaushted her mind.

Zhi Rui though about continuing wiht the test. but a sudden thought occurred to her and her eye widened.

She could feel the remnant spirit's emotions it was scared and confused trying to make sense of the situation, very real emotions... almost, as if it were... alive?

She went deep into her own core, soon a small glob of remnant spirit appeared. Zhi Rui smiled.

She extended her hand and linked with the small thing.

In the same way, a gush of memories started to flood but this time, Zhi Rui managed stopped it halfway.

The smile never leaving her mouth, she willed it and looked ahead.

A two meter Blackie, the panther she first tamed.

It was confused too, but seeing Zhi Rui, it behaved like a house cat and started brushing her head on Zhi Rui's chest.

She embraced the animal. even though they didn't spend much time together it was enough for Zhi Rui. It was the first thing she could completely trust.

Now she could feel its inner emotions, and through the link, she could learn how to understand her ways of communication. Zhi Rui only needed a host to put this remnant spirit in.

The notion was almost absurd but Zhi Rui didn't mind. Blackie could with her mind Zhi Rui projected a terrain full of trees and a river.

"For you to pass the time." Zhi Rui said and retreated her mind.

(What did you do to overwhelm your mind so much?)

Zhi Rui had done everything out of the old man's eyes so she just smiled.

"Personal issues." She said.

(...Just try to avoid overtaxing your mind.)

*knock* *knock*

"Sweety?"

[It's that pretty lady, Zhun Xuing.]

"Let her in."

Zhun Xuying entered with locked eyebrows.

She saw glanced a Zhi Rui's on the tub and slowly opened her mouth.

"Ren Zu, the woman you picked up, was she a high-quality talent?"

Zhi Rui shook her head. "No. I told her she was average, but she didn't have any talent whatsoever."

Zhun Xuying nodded and frowned deeper.

"...In these two weeks, she found a cave and managed to cultivate, she's now halfway through towards the third level."