Chapter 73 - Bubble Bath

"*huff* *huff* *huff*"

Kotone is lying on her back on the grass, exhausted after a ten-minute spar with Red. 

"Well done, Kotone." Red stands over her.

"Thanks, Kichirou-san." Kotone rolls her eyes.

"Really. Of course, you're a long way off in landing a hit on me, but you really did well." Red assures her and Kotone is consoled.

"Now just work on what I've taught you today."

With that, Red is done guiding Kotone for the day.

"My turn." Fumio excitedly joins Red, to prepare for a spar.

"We won't be sparring. Come with me.." Red gestures as he starts to lead the way to leave.

"Kichirou-san. May I come with and watch?" Kotone asks in a hurry as she sits up.

"It's Fumio's call. He's gonna get need to get naked." Red says.

"I-what?" Fumio is dumbfounded.

"I won't go then." Kotone drops her curiosity. 

<>

"So uh… what brings us here, boss?" Fumio asks as he looks around.

Red just brought him to the peak of a mountain neighboring Red's garden hill.

The peak, being a difficult place to access due to its terrain and not having a path leading to it, probably has never been visited in years, possibly even decades.

"Isn't it good to share the nice early morning breeze breathed by wild birds and boars?" Red asks as he takes a good satisfying deep breath.

Fumio cannot help but feel peaceful looking at Red's graceful figure being shined on by the sun.

Soon however, he smirks and shakes his head. He knows that Red has other intentions.

"Okay. At first, I was gonna let you train painlessly and at your own pace. But I think you need some boosts." Red starts.

He originally wanted Fumio to train aware of each and every improvement. After all, cultivators who grew stronger relying on alchemic assistances, all have weak resolve and would rarely reach their potential.

Many of his contemporaries might disagree, but he has seen that cultivators who put unproportionate effort and struggle to acquire their strength, are weak-minded. And weak-mindedness is a huge obstacle in reaching immortality.

"Wait, wait a minute, boss. You said painlessly? Having Kotone continuously swing her sword down at me is painless?" Fumio asks.

"Bah. That's routine. And for conditioning. Something similar to what professional fighters do." Red explains.

"Ah… makes sense." Fumio accepts it.

"Before, you told me to slow down, and be careful. But now, I feel like you want to help me speed up my training. Is it because of the demons?" He asks.

"Yes. After I learned about all this demons and hell debacle, it got me thinking. Why do you have to grow organically at this situation? Growing organically only works when there's no incoming threat. Besides the threat of death and demise will offset whatever risk I fear in me assisting your cultivation." Red nods.

"Wait, what?" Fumio's head spins at Red's rambling, but he gets goosebumps at the mention of death and demise.

"I'll tell you more in the future." Red shrugs.

"Okay. But it seems like I'll be in a world of pain, huh." Fumio smiles bitterly.

"Yeah." Red confirms with a not.

"But for now." He then pulls out a wooden bathtub. 

"Hah. Brings back memories." Fumio chuckles, seeing the familiar bathtub he used in the shop.

"So, another medicinal bath?" He asks as Red starts to fill the tub with clear water conjured out of spiritual energy.

"Uhuh. Been a while, huh?" Red confirms.

"Been a while indeed. But why does it have to be done here? In this isolated place?" Fumio cannot understand.

"What? Having a nice bath within nature? Are you kidding me? It's the dream!" Red says as he pulls out a glass flask containing an emerald green, crystal clear substance.

"Damn… That.. What the hell is that?" Fumio hisses in awe, noticing that the substance is also glowing.

"It's brimming with spiritual energy." He walks closer to Red.

Before he can take a closer look at the solution, Red dumps it to the water in the tub.

"Skin gotten tough lately?" Red asks as he continues to prepare the medicinal bath.

"Yeah! But you should have at least given me a heads up." Fumio's eyes shine.

"That reminds me. That lotion you gave me. That's it right? That's what made my skin tougher?" He asks, referring to the Skin Cleansing Solution disguised as lotion, given to him by Red.

"That's just one aspect of it. The second one is the punishment and stress your skin went through under Kotone's sword practice on you. The third one, and most importantly, is spiritual energy you infuse in your body while training." Red explains.

"I see." Fumio nods, his curiosity satisfied about his skin.

"So. Spiritual energy. No wonder it didn't work." He utters.

"What do you mean?" Red raises his brows.

"Look boss. I don't know if it's just me and Kotone, but I think I have better skin than even celebrities." Fumio says.

"Uhuh. That's a side effect of the lotion." Red nods.

"I knew it. Kotone saw me apply lotion on my self a couple of times. So she asked me if the lotion made my skin look better than hers." Fumio reports.

"And you said yes, then shared some to her?" Red smirks.

"Yes. You gave me plenty of the thing. More than I can use. And she's a student just like me, so I shared. Was it a mistake?" Fumio nervously asks.

"Not really. It was just a waste." Red shrugs.

"So. That's what you meant when you said it didn't work? The lotion didn't work on Kotone?"

"Yes. She was rather annoyed and envious of my skin. Aside from the skin on her palms getting thicker, the beauty benefits she was hoping for didn't come." Fumio chuckles.

"Ah. Well. She's not too far away from harnessing spiritual energy." Red reveals.

"Already? It's only been two months?!" Fumio is shocked. It took him three months to master the breathing technique.

"She captured the trick faster than you did. Who would have thought?" Red says dismissively.

"Damn." Fumio is itching to train again, not wanting to close the gap.

"Alright. It's done." Red is finally done mixing up the bath water.

"Strip and go in." He then orders Fumio.

.

As soon as Fumio settles himself in the bath tub, covering his entire body with the bath water, "hiSsssss…." he takes a deep breath through his teeth.

"AHHHHH…. what the FUCK!" Soon, he cannot help but curse out, trying his best not to scream from the pain.

The painful tingling and stinging feeling he has gotten used to from the herbal lotion he has used in the past two months, is nothing compared to what he is feeling currently.

The lotion, which helped toughen his skin, only works on his skin. The medicinal bath on the other hand, is digging in his muscles.

"…aRe You Sure this is SAFE, bOSs?!" Fumio asks through gritted teeth.

"Yes. Yes." Red assures dismissively.

"What does this exactly do, boss? Is it even worth the pain?" Fumio asks.

"Oh, it is. Come on. Just apply spiritual energy to your muscles and stop whining." Red instructs.

Fumio acts on the instruction and immediately, he feels its effects.

"Okay.. now this feels weird." He then feels something else.

While the pain has gone down, he feels a strange sensation and spasming in his muscles.

A few minutes later, he notices that the emerald-green bathwater is starting to change colors to brown. The crystal-like clarity is also starting to get cloudy, as if slowly being infused with mud.

"W-what is happening?" Fumio nervously asks.

"That, buddy, is the solution sucking out the impurities from your muscles that accumulated there since you were a baby. And your newly tough skin, is strong enough to be the passageway of the impurities in your muscles." Red explains the effect of his Basic Muscle Cleansing Blend in simple terms.

"The lotion you gave me. It was white in color upon application, but after leaving it on for a few minutes, it turns honey-colored. That also works the same way as this bath, then." Fumio compares.

"Precisely." Red nods, satisfied with Fumio being able to come up with ideas from the limited information that Red provided.

A few minutes later, Fumio still feels the teeth clenching pain, but he has already gotten used to it.

"Good. I think the juice is gone." Red nods. Then, with his spiritual energy, he envelopes the bathwater, lifts in the air, before tossing it to a nearby grass patch.

"Phew... Thank goodness, it's over." Fumio is no longer shy being fully exposed in front of Red.

"Uhhh.. Boss. Do I still have to bath in this solution in the future?" He asks as he looks at where his bathwater landed.

Before Red can reply however, Fumio notices that the grass patch where his bathwater landed, starts to wither as if being cooked.

"W-what the fuck was that?!" He asks Red in panic.

"Toxic shit." Red smirks.

"Wait a minute boss. That's how dirty my muscles are?" Fumio asks, getting goosebumps, assuming that he has lived with poisonous impurities in his body his whole life.

"Nah." Red gets Fumio's concern.

"Your impurities are not poisonous on their own. Only when it is mixed with the solution, does it get toxic."

He then sees Fumio's face twitch.

"And yes, had you not been coating your skin with spiritual energy, it would have burnt you." He adds with a smirk.

"What the fuck…" Fumio sighs in relief.

"Yeah. And to answer your question earlier; you will soak yourself in this solution every couple of days." Red instructs.

"O-oh…" Fumio feels great hesitance in bathing in such dangerous thing again.

"Don't worry. You did it just fine today, right? And, there are still impurities in your muscles." Red assures him.

"Alright then." Fumio easily accepts after the thought of toxins in his muscles is forced to him by Red.   

"Next up." Red brings out a bucket-sized glass container that contains a creamy white substance.

"Is that milk?" Fumio asks.

"Or our nutritious milkshake?" He adds, referring to Red's special milkshake that is loaded with condensed carbohydrate and protein he and Kotone drink for sustenance in place of loads and loads of regular food.

"Something similar, but more protein loaded than the one you regularly eat… You need this. You're looking rather skinny." Red says as he stares at Fumio's body.

Fumio, getting self-conscious from the stare, looks at his own body. The next moment, his eyes widen in shock.

"WHAT THE HELL?!" He notices that his body has gotten skinnier than before.

"HAHAHAH!" Red is amused at Fumio's reaction.

"It's not funny, boss! What's happening?!" Fumio asks frantically.

"You're just dehydrated. And your muscles are starving after getting cleaned." Red then hands the container to Fumio.

Fumio, receiving the container, suddenly feels that his limbs have become weaker.

"I-I'm starving…" He notices. After all, it has been two months since he started eating Red's milkshake, and he has not felt hunger in a while.

Fumio is about to start drinking when Red suddenly stops him. "Infuse spiritual energy to your muscles, your stomach, and your small intestine." Red then orders.

"Like when I'm eating regular food?" Fumio asks.

Fumio once asked Red what to do if he does not have access to Red's special milkshake to eat. Fumio's concern was it takes a lot of time to eat regular food, and Red's special milkshake saves time.

So, Red taught Fumio a method to digest mountains of food easier, and that is by infusing spiritual energy to the meridians on the stomach and the small intestine. 

"After you're done eating.. I'll start teaching you how to make the massage solutions for the shop."