[Ding~] [Quest: Hunt a Mud Boar.] [Status: Completed] [Rewards: 30 EXP and the Skin Tempering – Medicinal Cauldron Recipe.] [Hidden Condition: Capture and domesticate the Mud Boar.] [Status: Completed] [Rewards: 10 Skin Tempering – Medicinal Cauldrons.] [EXP: 70/100] “It is best to leave the 10 cauldrons in the System’s storage for now,” Zani mused, rubbing his chin in the quiet solitude of his room.
“Let’s examine the recipe.” With a mere thought, a thin, ancient-looking booklet materialized in his hands.
[Medicinal Cauldron Recipe: Skin Tempering] [Summary: Accelerates the internal mending process required after external physical destruction.
The primary active ingredient is the saturated mud coating naturally secreted by a Mud Boar.] Flipping through the coarse pages, Zani scanned the profound knowledge in a matter of minutes.
“It is surprisingly simple.
It can be brewed over a regular fire,” A thrill of realization lit up his eyes as he reached the final passages.
“The manual even details a safe, non-lethal method to scrape the outer mud coating off the boar without harming it.
Perfect.” However, his excitement soon faded as an immense wave of exhaustion crashed over him.
YAWN.
The night before had been incredibly taxing.
They had celebrated the capture of the beast until midnight, eating and laughing without a single care in the world.
Now, the entire Gym was deeply asleep.
Thankfully, there was no booze involved in the feast, or this morning would have been far worse.
Standing up to stretch his sore muscles, Zani suddenly froze as a stray, terrifying thought crossed his exhausted mind.
That fleeting memory rapidly snowballed into dread; last night, to ensure the drugged beasts do not cause havoc after waking up, Bai and Elisi had volunteered to guard the pen.
“Oh, crap.” They had slept out there.
Together.
“Bai!
She is a fourteen-year-old!
Damn you!” Shouting in sheer panic, Zani sprinted from his master quarters.
He was still dressed in the same rumpled robes he wore yesterday, having been too exhausted to change before collapsing onto his bed.
Currently, it is well into the morning.
If Zani had not posted a notice calling off the morning session, the outer disciples would already be sweating in the courtyard.
THWACK!
Zani violently kicked open the wooden door of the newly acquired courtyard.
The living quarters supposed to be built here were still in pending construction, leaving only the hastily completed mud boar pen.
The only place to rest was on a makeshift wooden bed placed right beside the iron fences, out in the open air.
As Zani approached with heavy, furious steps, fully prepared to beat the rugged instructor half to death if need be, he saw something that made him freeze entirely in his tracks.
“Bai…
Brother Bai…?” The fierce, towering Bai stood rigidly beside the bed.
However, his broad chest and torso were completely split open from inside out, all the way from chest to the knees.
He looked exactly like the hollow, mechanical armor suits Zani had seen in movies back on Earth.
Peering into the cavity, Zani could see strings and complex formation arrays woven seamlessly into, what appear to be puppet’s interior.
And on the bed, where the burly man should have been sleeping, two little girls were curled up together under a thin blanket.
One was his Eldest disciple, Elisi.
But Zani did not recognize the other girl at all.
“Hey!
Hey, Elisi!” Zani remained rooted to the spot while shouting, fighting the dizzying confusion in his head.
“Wake up!
Tell me what is happening here!” Instead of Elisi, the mysterious little girl stirred first.
“Mmmm…” Rubbing her eyes and seeing Zani standing before her, the girl instinctively sat up straight.
“Hey, Elisi, wake up,” the little girl grumbled, annoyed at the disturbance.
and hearing her, Zani’s jaw dropped to the dirt.
He could only watch in absolute, mind-shattering horror as the delicate little girl sitting before him spoke in Bai’s deep voice.
Huh.
Huh?
HUUUUHH?!
The next hour dissolved into an incredibly chaotic interrogation, with Zani desperately trying to untangle the truth.
His mind struggled to process the surreal sight of a delicate, pouting twelve-year-old answering his frantic questions in Bai’s deep, rugged baritone.
Yet, as her explanations piled up and her temper flared, the girl impatiently reached up and tapped a faintly glowing jade pendant resting against her collarbone.
The light dimmed, and the rugged baritone instantly vanished, replaced by the haughty, crisp voice of a twelve-year-old girl.
No wonder Brother Bai acted so sisterly towards Elisi.
No wonder the servant ‘Das’ and the rugged instructor ‘Bai’ both possessed the [Talented] tag.
It all made perfect sense now.
Master Cuby Leo, the servant Das, and the instructor Bai were all the exact same person!
And that person was currently sitting across from him, pouting under his stunned, unblinking gaze.
As Zani remained frozen in absolute silence, the tension in the air grew suffocating.
That heavy quiet proved too much for the girl.
“Master Zani, please do not blame Sister Leo!
Waaahh!” Elisi suddenly sobbed, heavy tears streaming down her face.
She genuinely thought that Zani’s silence meant he was about to ruthlessly kick Leo out of the Gym.
This sudden outburst caught both Zani and Leo by surprise.
Watching the only person in the world who treated her like a true friend break down, Little Leo’s aura flared up.
Her eyes narrowed with defensive, explosive anger.
Thankfully, before the supreme daughter of an Immortal clan could do something that might obliterate Zani’s entire domain, he spoke first.
“No, no, don’t cry!” Zani said hastily, waving his hands.
“I…
I just need a moment to process everything you said.” Taking a deep breath, Zani looked closely at the twelve-year-old girl sitting before him.
Across her small face was a horrific, jagged scar that cut from one cheek to the other.
Although the wound itself was old, the skin around it was severely burned, as if by some potent acid.
It did not look good, but having lived a long, arduous life on Earth, Zani had seen far worse; it did not disgust him in the slightest.
Instead, looking at the scar made him reflect on the cruel reality that governs this world The daughter of an Immortal, forced to run away and hide inside artifact puppets just to escape the judgment of her looks.
Because Cultivators possess something called ‘Spiritual sense’ she could not even stay in their vicinity.
It was a tragic existence, which perfectly explained why she had instantly bonded with Elisi, the only person to accidentally see her true face and accept her anyway.
As Zani continued staring in quiet sympathy, Leo stared right back, her delicate brows furrowing in suspicion.
Weird.
Why is this mortal peasant looking at me as if I am some kind of treasure?
Little Leo thought, feeling a sudden chill.
My mother told me to ring the emergency bell if any man looks at me like that.
But…
I think this is a different kind of look.
Directly above Leo’s head, the translucent system tag was shining brilliantly.
[Talented] The glowing tag mesmerized Zani.
His heart was beating like a war drum seeing it.
“Leo, have you started Skin Tempering?” Zani asked smoothly, his voice dropping to a soft, accommodating tone, as if he were afraid of scaring away a golden goose.
“No,” she replied haughtily, crossing her small arms.
“How much can you lift currently without the puppet?” “I think…
almost 300 kilograms.” Hearing this, Zani shot up from his chair, his eyes practically shining with starlight.
“Excellent!” “I have decided,” Zani declared, slamming his hand on the wooden bedpost with absolute authority.
“You can no longer work as ‘Bai’ in this Gym.” “What?!” Leo gasped, deeply offended by the sudden dismissal.
“WAAAHH!” Elisi immediately started bawling again, thoroughly convinced her best friend was being banished.
“What are you crying for?!” Zani sighed, aggressively massaging his temples.
“I mean she must join the Gym as an official disciple!” Huh?
Both girls froze, Elisi’s tears stopping instantly as they blinked at him in utter bewilderment.
Capitalizing on their stunned silence, Zani spent the next incense stick of time thoroughly explaining his logic.
He assured them he was speaking the truth; he wants both of them to be fellow disciples so they could openly enjoy their friendship and train side by side.
Since there is no issue of Spiritual Sense here, Leo can simply cover her face with a physical veil or a mask while training with other disciples, completely eliminating the need to remain trapped inside that stuffy puppet all day.
She would only need to make casual rounds inside the ‘Bai’ puppet once a day to maintain the illusion for the public.
After all, an artifact puppet capable of exerting 500 kilograms of kinetic force was far too valuable to abandon, and harboring a true Immortal heir requires the utmost secrecy.
_________________________________________________ [Author Note: The story has updated to Chapter 30.