25: Health

Night fell, and the only light in the village came from the stars. There wasn't even a moon that day.

Hyesi's mother, Bellini, had moved out of the house and was sitting in the darkness outside, continuing to make her ornaments.

She would first take a stone, roughen its edges with her hands, and then pierce it with a thin fishbone sharper than a needle.

It took her a long time to shape the stone to her liking, so she hadn't finished yet.

Ning shifted his gaze from her to the village. Everything was still the same. Pitch black.

"Is cultivation really that good, that you can see without even needing light?" he wondered. He had asked the system, and it only said it was thanks to cultivation.

Hyesi finally returned home, easily finding his way in the darkness. "I want Night Vision too," Ning began to complain, seeing everyone else doing well in the dark.

He had asked the system, and the price it quoted was exorbitant. Now that he was collecting bodies, he decided not to waste energy on other things.

"Son, have you finished your work for today?" Bellini asked Hyesi.

"Yes, Mother. I've finished eating," he replied.

Ning was surprised at how formal their conversation was. "Or maybe it's just because my language skills are still basic, so I can't understand any internal nuances," he wondered.

"Alright, go to sleep. After a day's work, a good sleep is necessary for growth," Bellini said.

Ning felt he seemed to see Hyesi nodding to his mother and going back. "Don't they eat? I didn't see them eating?" he wondered.

It was quite surprising to Ning that there were whole fish in the next room, yet they went to sleep on empty stomachs.

Bellini finally finished the ornament. It was a necklace, which she made from a stone and some very durable thread. She placed the necklace on the table, lay down on the floor outside the house, and fell asleep using one of the stones as a pillow.

"These people are simply monsters. Are their bodies so strong that they don't need a proper bed? And what if it rains?" Looking at the daily lives of these tribesmen, he found it increasingly incredible.

Ning also wanted to sleep, so he ordered the system to wake him up when his mother woke up or when the sun rose tomorrow. He had to say "tomorrow" because the system liked to twist his words and make him sleep forever.

In the early morning, Ning woke up and looked at the sky. It was just dawn. "Has Mother woken up?"

He looked around and found his mother already standing, making some interesting movements. It looked like exercise, but also like dancing.

As the sun gradually rose, he found that almost everyone in the village was doing the same thing. Even Hyesi, who was a little further away from him, was doing the same thing.

"What are they doing so early? Exercising or dancing?" He was indeed very confused.

<They are cultivating their bodies>

"Is this how you get fit? Dancing?" He was surprised.

<There are many ways to cultivate one's body and mind>

<The Clavians use this particular method>

Slowly, everyone doing these movements began to glow a little. Their skin began to emit some white light.

"Did they succeed?" He was surprised. He looked around and found that everyone was glowing now. The higher the sun rose, the more they glowed.

Everyone was the same except for a boy named Hyesi. He was still dark, without any light.

The sun rose higher and higher in the sky, and the light emitted from everyone reached its peak when it had just risen above the horizon. As the sun rose higher, the light on their bodies began to diminish until the sun had completely risen into the sky from its hiding place.

Everyone, including Hyesi, faced the sun, knelt on both knees, touched their foreheads to the ground, and screamed in unison.

"Thank you for your blessing, Bright Inikaka."

Everyone stood up and returned to their places. "Come here," Bellini said, calling Hyesi over.

She picked up the necklace Ning was wearing and put it on Hyesi. "This is what I made for you. Son, congratulations on turning thirteen."

Hyesi looked at the dark blue gem hanging around his neck and said, "Thank you, Mother, thank you for giving birth to me."

"Come here," Bellini said, hugging Hyesi tightly. "Ow, ow, ow. Mother, you're hurting me," Hyesi screamed.

"Shadow boy of Inikaka, go train again, you are too weak," Bellini said, leaving Hyesi to train.

Hyesi left to train in the palm grove. Ning was curious about what this training was and was looking forward to it. But when he saw the content of the training, he was greatly disappointed.

All Hyesi did was climb a tree and then jump down on his back. Once he stood up, he would climb the tree again and jump down on his back.

Ning sighed when he saw this. He had originally thought that this young boy would do some fitness exercises, push-ups, sit-ups, squats, running, but all he did was climb a tree and fall down.

Hyesi stood up from the ground, about to stand up and climb the tree again, when a voice suddenly came to his ear.

"Hey, boy, do you want my help to become stronger?"