99 An Unfunny Joke...

Knowing Sun had made up his mind, Elizabeth nodded and explained to Sun how he could enter the path of extreme Physicality. Though he understood that indescribable pain would soon come for him, Sun steeled his heart and gave Elizabeth the go-ahead to begin the procedure. Elizabeth returned a nod as she started piercing his skin and drawing yet another diagram on his body with her acupoint needles.

Upon completing the diagram, Elizabeth took a deep breath before she began furiously devouring the entirety of Sun's reserves. Fortunately for Elizabeth, the very first step in granting Sun the chance to enter the path of extreme Physicality was exactly the same should he be attempting to enter the path of Perfection or extreme Spirituality. His Dantian had to be emptied of all its current Qi, else the sudden elimination of his current Qi Connection might cause him to implode.

Naturally, this energy had to go somewhere, and the ever-efficient Elizabeth wouldn't stand for losing out on this opportunity. Nevermind the fact that Sun's Qi was akin to the natural treasure for her, even if the person receiving her treatment offered up the worst, most pitiful Qi imaginable, Elizabeth wouldn't let even a speck of that, go to waste. In any case, the next couple minutes were less of Sun taking than giving, as Elizabeth's Chaos Requiem used the Qi he offered up to rise her maximum cultivable hidden potential up to 33%.

Once Sun was completely devoid of Qi, Elizabeth warned him once more of the imminent pain the procedure would bring him, before she started rearranging the needles embedded on his body. Soon enough, the new formation was complete and then activated. Like a soap bubble being popped, Sun's Qi Connection was gone in an instant, and in the next, his body felt like it had suddenly been teleported into the core of an active volcano.

Even from outside his body, Elizabeth could see steam rise as his body start glowing and turning a light shade of red. Seeing Sun unresponsive and giving off a blank stare, Elizabeth shook her head and with both her hands, she slapped the cheeks on his face. Not bothering with the mild burning sensation touching Sun gave off, Elizabeth kept her hands on his face as she said, "Ay! Focus! Focus!!! Remember, the longer you take the more of your lifeforce you burn. I won't matter if you form the appropriate Pure Yang Qi Connection, but you actually need to complete the reformation else you'll die!"

Elizabeth cold hands jolted Sun awake, while her words caused him to fight off the suicidal feelings his current state couldn't help but inspire. He didn't even nod his head, as succeeding in creating the Pure Yang Qi Connection was the only thing present in his mind. Slowly, he drowned out the burning sensation afflicting his body; that or the numbness of the intensifying heat achieved the same effect.

Gradually, Sun started using the Neutral Magic Elizabeth passed on to him through her Magic Connection to recycle into his own personal Inner Strength, and thereafter fuse with the uncontrollable Pure Yang burning his lifeforce emminated. A Magic Connection only required five hundred units of Inner Strength to form, yet because of the overwhelming pain paralyzing both his senses and control, Sun took a lengthy twenty minutes to even surpass creating a Qi Connection greater than the one he previously possessed.

Thirty minutes into the start of the Qi Connection reformation, the ever-increasing rate of Sun's burning lifeforce started causing the hair all over his body to literally scorch off. Yet, he had only surpassed the 92% mark at that point. At the forty-five minute mark, Elizabeth started getting concerned as Sun crossed another threshold, leading his skin to start combusting. Only after a full hour passed did Sun manage to finally reform his Qi Connection in the sought after Pure Yang-type. Sadly, he had been reduced to a less-than-human state, with skin all but gone, muscles half-melted and bones almost soft enough for a regular person to easily bend.

Strangely, Elizabeth couldn't stand to see Sun in his current state, so when the reformation process was complete, she quickly changed the orientation of needles back to the general healing formation and closed her eyes as she restored him back to normal. While she healed him, in an arbitrary thought of reflection, Elizabeth felt the world stop. The simple thought, "Why?" caused her to enter a rabbit hole of self-analysis and the result of doing so, left Elizabeth both angry and helpless…

'Why am I bothered by the image of Sun injured? I shouldn't be weak to human suffering. After attaching and healing a half-dead Carlos, with not a sign of flinching, I've all but confirmed that healing people in dire cases doesn't affect me. I saw Jhan kill that one guy, and not an itch appeared in my heart. Yet a slightly wounded Sun does this to me? Just a peak and I get nauseous. I… I want to cry? Why? Mhmm...'

As her train of thought charged forth, Elizabeth opened her eyes, and sure enough, even if she knew Sun would make it through the procedure A-ok, she couldn't help but turn her head as a cry from the depths of her soul cause her to feel actual pain. 'What the fuck is going on? What is wrong with me? Ever since I came into contact with this idiot, my emotions have been all out of whack. What did this guy do to me?'

As if reality couldn't confuse her anymore, at this precarious time, P decided she wanted to mess around with Elizabeth. In the most over-the-top manner conceivable, the unseen goddess said, 'Huuuuuh? What do you MEAN? Can't you see…. You've fallen for him! Hahahaha.'

"..." Elizabeth was speechless… Fall for him? What does that even… 'WHAT?!?! The fuck did you just say? You trying to pick a fight, or what?' Never, not even in her subconscious, had even a single neuron within Elizabeth nervous system even considered imagining her falling in love; especially not with a guy…

'Huuuuuh? Why are you so defensive? It was just a jok… Wait… Could you actually have fallen for him? OHHHHH?!!!!' The sarcasm in P's voice left Elizabeth wishing she could transcend to divinity right there and then. A mixture of seething anger and utter confusion left her unable to properly react and there was only one thing she could do to soothe the uncertainty P's words had sowed.

Snapping out of her thoughts, Elizabeth stared Sun's still broken body down, as she candidly thought, 'Could I possibly love him?' She held the stare for a solid five seconds, before a peal of unhealthy and disturbed laughter caused the area around her to quake with the fluctuation of her various Magics. Space rippled, and time slowed down — albeit barely — as flames spilled out of Elizabeth in a form reminiscent of lily petals and ice materialized on the floor, walls, and ceiling.

"Hahaha… Get the fuck outta here." Another trademark curse escaped her lips before she ranted the rest of her grievances out as thoughts, 'Me? And him? What a fucking stupid thing to think! I barely know him for more than a week! Not to mention… he's a fucking guy! Braindead goddess, you think I'd entertain the thought of turning gay, just 'cause you turned me into a fucking girl? Ha! FAT. FUCKING. CHANCE.'

'...' P didn't respond, but to this obvious outburst, she couldn't help but think her offhanded comment might be onto something. She elected to ignore the name-calling her "foolish" little chosen had thrown at her, as it was her antagonizing actions that caused Elizabeth to flare so fiercely. But, in all seriousness, a part of her wished she had kept the comment to herself, as this tantrum Elizabeth threw, caused several variables she'd previously not accounted for, now start influencing her divinations. Ignoring Elizabeth, in an alternate dimension, P shook her head as she started gathering materials to conduct a rather "expensive" ritual.

Back on Earth, after Elizabeth calmed back down, she continued healing Sun. Only now, she no longer felt much of anything while looking at his slowly recuperating body. There was a faint coldness in her eyes as she stared at his unconscious body and, whether consciously or subconsciously, Elizabeth adopted a distinct inclination towards the defensive as she focused on finishing her business with Sun.

A couple dozen minutes later, a perfectly healthy Sun laid peacefully before Elizabeth. While she became somewhat hesitant to deal with Sun after P's words successfully managed to rile her up, Elizabeth wasn't bothered to the extent that she'd neglect to use Acupoint to regenerate Sun's lost hair. The process didn't take much time and she'd rather not have to stare at his baby-faced mug if she could avoid it… However, before she moved to carry him back to her room, Elizabeth did a status check to make sure she hadn't missed anything.

[Status Updating…

Status

Name: Sun

Level: 18

Rank: Mid-Phase Warrior [Pure Yang Martial Warrior]

Affection Rating: Forever Loyal

Sex: Male

Strength 192

Endurance 205

Speed 200

Defense 195

Intelligence 129

Luck 9

Inner Strength: 305,000

Innate Skills

Space Affinity

*New) Tier: Good

*New) Yang Affinity

Tier: Mediocre

Description: A natural result of passing the tribulation to entering the path of extreme Physicality. Now being a cultivator of that aforementioned path, the energy Sun majors in has changed to Yang by default; his cultivation breakthroughs are tied to its Tier.

*New) Pure Yang Qi Connection

Grade: Mortal

Description: A special Qi Connection that allows entry into the path of extreme Physicality. As cultivation progress and the Sun becomes gradually transformed by Yang energies, increasingly powerful abilities will be granted.

Current Effect(s): Hyper Regeneration: At the Mortal level, the user's body regenerates skin almost instantaneously, muscle at a rate hundreds of times faster than before, and bones dozens of times faster as well. As a Martial Practitioner, even without entering the Spirit Realm, the user's lifeforce blazes forth with the strength to last several centuries. Compared to those outside the user's path, the user shall always possess a natural lifespan several times longer.]