Mili woke up around the evening, just as Alex had predicted, and was confused as to why everyone cried and hugged her. It wasn’t long before she learned that she had been cursed and how Alex had saved her.
The mere fact that she had been cursed was terrifying to her. She started crying in fear that she would be cursed again. After all, all who were cursed in their village were destined to die.
It took a long time before she could understand that she was okay.
“Chief, can you gather the people tomorrow morning?” Alex asked.
“It might still be raining tomorrow morning. Why?” the chief asked.
“Then whenever the rain stops. I want to teach them about cultivation,” Alex said.
“Cultivation?” the chief asked. “Is that what you were talking to Tara about yesterday?”
Alex nodded. “It is something that will help your people never be cursed again, even if they don’t go to the sea.”
The chief became curious. “Alright, let me see what I can do.”
“Mili, eat everything you are fed. You need the energy,” Alex told her. “Once you’re done, I will teach you all how to cultivate.”
Soko had to return home with her kids, and Tara had to go back to his home with his wife. So all that remained in the hut were the chief, his wife, and Mili, and they were the only ones who would learn how to cultivate for the time being.
With the three in one place, Alex easily taught them how to cultivate.
Easy as it was, however, it still took three hours for them all to get it right.
The first one to break through was surprisingly Mili. Compared to her parents, she hadn’t consumed enough Qi in her lifetime to be at a higher cultivation base and thus ended up requiring less Qi to break through.
Both the chief and his wife were at the 3rd Skin Tempering Realm after years of taking in Qi, so they took a while longer to reach a point where they could break through.
“I… I feel a strange sense of rejuvenation,” the chief said. “Is this cultivation?”
“It is,” Alex said. “I think that is enough for today for the two of you. Mili, continue until you feel tired or bored. Then go to sleep. Your body still needs rest.”
Mili nodded.
Alex left the place and went back to his room. The storm outside had settled for now, but the sky still rumbled with light flashing through the corners of the roof in his room.
It had been a long day, but Alex wasn’t done just yet. Before the day ended, he had to attack the Storm God’s seal once again.
He took a deep breath, prepared himself for the pain, and attacked the seal.
As he forced his way into the seal, the pain slowly increased more and more until he could no longer continue, forcing Alex to stop. He was breathless at the end, but he had to continue.
He tried again, going even harder this time. After a while, he had to stop again.
Finally, after going at it for the third time, Alex was too mentally tired to continue and fell asleep.
The next morning, it rained, making it difficult for the chief to gather the tribespeople. But it did appear as though the rain would stop during the afternoon, so he promised that he would gather them if it did.
Alex was more or less free during the morning, but Soko came by later, asking to learn more about the herbs, so Alex taught her. Mumu came to visit her sister as well, and all three sisters began learning about the herbs.
Alex had a fun time teaching them about it. They seemed especially interested in learning about the pastes after he told them of their uses.
Pills would be a much better thing to teach them, but Alex simply didn’t have a way to make them just yet. Not that these people had cauldrons either. The only metal they had was the chief’s large knife, after all.
After teaching all that he could in the morning, Alex left to train on his own.
The biggest thing stopping him from getting rid of the Storm God’s seal was his own Intent. If his Intent was strong enough, he could easily have it destroyed. So, he decided that it was time he seriously began training for it.
He walked back to his room with three small pebbles and placed them a short distance away from him. Keeping in all of his Qi and senses, he focused on one of the pebbles, trying to lift it into the air.
Without anything to aid him, the impossibility of lifting something into the air was very high, so it required a lot of Intent on Alex’s end to make it happen.
He could feel his mind strain at the action. He didn’t feel pain like he did with the Storm God’s seal—that seal had been employed in a way that it hurt anyone who tried to get rid of it. Instead, he felt a weight on his mind, weighing him down mentally as he tried to do it.
The mere action of moving a small pebble from just two meters away from him made him feel as if a mountain had landed on his mind.
Alex kept it afloat in the air for a mere few seconds before letting it fall to the ground. When he stopped, the weight in his mind released, giving him a big relief.
He tried once again, keeping the stone afloat. This time, he went for a second longer before stopping. He had pushed himself just a step further with it.
His mind strained much harder this time, probably because it hadn’t fully recovered from the first time. Relief washed over him again, but only for so long.
Once he was able to, Alex tried it again.
He would continue doing this until he was strong enough to keep the stone afloat for more than just a few seconds.