Marina no longer held back and used her considerable skills to push Raul to his absolute limits.

Running using the Basic Steps Technique while his body kept trying to turn into a statue, enduring in the middle of a pressurizing formation with the Solid Body Technique while electric currents kept traveling withing him, catching leaves with the grasping hand technique while it felt like ants were trying to eat him inside, Raul endured all sorts of unique torture every day, sometimes twice a day.

He'd even lost the respite of Marina’s massage and acupuncture therapy, as he was always passed out whenever she did it. Every day was an absolute nightmare, and he couldn’t be happier.

Every day he changed and grew stronger, every day he came upon his limits and smashed through them. The feeling of betting his life, of improving every second through giving it his all, all the pain in the world couldn’t take away from the rush and sense of achievement he felt.

Like this, the thirty days quickly passed.

‘? Is this it?’ Raul couldn’t help wondering upon seeing only one plate on the table. Then it suddenly dawned on him that when the training got intense the food also lessened. So maybe this one plate was a challenge greater than anything he’d ever faced before.

“It’s just regular food.” Marina commented upon seeing his expression that was akin to a hardened veteran facing his greatest foe.

“Your training finished yesterday.” She elaborated upon seeing his disbelief.

“It did?” He was startled. He’d long lost track of the days. It was unavoidable, given that he could spend anywhere from six to eighteen hours unconscious after a training session.

“Wait, so that means we can breakthrough now?” Excitement started to bubble inside him as the news started to sink in. He’d finally be a cultivator! This was what he’d always worked towards for years.

“What are we waiting for then? Let’s get started!” He started taking off his shirt then and there before a cold gaze made him freeze.

“Are you going to waste the food I made?” She tilted her head cutely, but Raul couldn’t help shivering.

He quickly shook his head and started eating to show his seriousness. His eyes lit up in happiness as the food touched his tongue.

No matter how many times he ate it, her cooking was truly delicious. Though she called it regular food, it was still immortal cooking.

“Good. Although we will be cultivating later today, we can’t yet anyway, we still need to get the okay from Ephemeral Mask.” Raul almost laughed upon hearing that name again, but he didn’t want to waste the food.

“Why do we need his permission?” He asked once he swallowed.

“He wants to make sure your base is strong before it’s too late.”

“Sigh, it’s tough to have such a meddlesome older brother.” Raul complained, but he was actually happy for Tai’s care at heart. He had no choice but to restrain his excitement and hope Tai came soon.

After he finished eating the two sat in the living room and talked for a while. It wasn’t anything deep, just Marina telling him about some things she read recently while he’d tell some funny stories from his nights in the city, clean ones of course.

Over the past three months they’d grown used to these kinds of talks, so the conversations flowed naturally.

They didn’t have to wait long as Tai rushed over early. The Vault clan immortal chefs and alchemists hadn’t uncovered anything special about the ingredients requested so far, so he was quite anxious to see the results.

It was only natural they hadn’t uncovered anything, the dishes Marina used were no big secret, it was the knowledge and technique that paired them up with suitable dishes that truly provided their powerful effect.

He grinned the moment he saw Raul well on the couch. It’d been three months since he’d seen his best friend. While that wasn’t the longest time they’d spent separated, this time was much more stressful than usual. So his relief upon seeing him in a good mood and uninjured was evident. That all came to a crashing halt when Raul opened his mouth.

“Hey Ephemeral Mask, glad you could make it.” Raul barely contained his laughter to get the words out. Tai tripped on open air and barely caught himself before faceplanting. Raul finally burst out laughing after watching his acrobatics.

Tai glared at Marina, who ignored them both and continued drinking her tea, before turning back to Raul.

“You picking a fight?” He glared in embarrassment.

“I ain’t picking one, but if you want one I don’t mind taking this out back Ephemeral Mask.” Raul gestured provokingly while still laughing mockingly.

“Hmph, we don’t need to go out back for me to deal with your scrawny ass.” The two then started duking it out right there in the living room under Marina’s disbelieving gaze.

Tai never used his qi or his full physical strength when they fought, but that didn’t change the results. Tai had him pinned down with his knee in his back within thirty seconds.

The difference in strength between them was as vast as the distance between the earth and the moon, not that that ever stopped Raul from trying.

“D-damn it.” Raul struggled and cursed in pain as his new bruises ached. He thought it might go a little different this time, but he still got his ass beat. He didn’t know that Tai was currently in shock over how much he’d improved.

“Hold still, I’m checking your foundation.” Tai said hastily while putting his hand on Raul’s head. These words caused Raul to lay completely still.

He still hadn’t forgotten his goal, cultivation! This check was blocking him from becoming a real cultivator, he’d naturally comply with it, then… ‘two-hundred and twenty-six times, I’ll get revenge for every last one of them eventually.’ His eyes shone with evil intent.

Tai frowned as he suddenly felt a chill down his back. He glanced at Marina, but she hadn’t moved from beginning to end. He shook his head, ‘Even if she made a move she has no cultivation, I can easi-.’ He did a double take and looked at her again. She really had no cultivation!

Naturally he knew that she’d abandoned her cultivation, he was there after all, but he’d already received reports of her making formations, and now that he was in the house he could clearly smell immortal cooking and pill residue specific to alchemy.

Immortal professions were immortal professions because they required qi to do. He’d thought that she’d recultivated to the qi refining realm already, but that was obviously not the case.

The refining period was not a true cultivator stage and the essence qi held during it was extremely limited in both amount and usage. If she could still effectively execute three different professions, even if just to a basic level, in that condition, then she wasn’t just an asset, she was a full-blown production monster!

“Oi.” Tai turned to the sound to see Raul looking up at him with an ill-humored face. “That’s my wife you’re gawking at.” Even if their marriage was a sham, it still didn’t exactly feel pleasant to be held down while another guy eyeballed his wife.  

Tai’s face twitched, realizing he’d been staring. “Bah, how dare you accuse your older brother of such a thing. She’s not my type anyway.” He snorted disdainfully while starting to check his base.

“This…” Tai muttered in shock as his qi inspected Raul’s body.

“What? Is there something wrong?” Raul asked nervously.

Tai stayed silent for a moment before saying, “No, nothings wrong. I’m not sensing any issues, and your foundation is incredibly strong even.” He smiled at Raul and let him up. ‘Stronger than mine even’ He glanced at Marina again in shock.

“So does that mean I can cultivate?” Raul bounced off the ground in excitement.

Tai smiled and nodded. “Yes, honestly your foundation is already so stacked that the effort to improve it would already be more than it’s worth.”

Raul let out a loud cheer and grabbed Marina’s hand to pull her into a happy dance. He regretted this pretty quickly as Marina started squeezing the pressure points on his hands.

“Ow! Sto, gah, I’m sorry, ah, please stop.” He begged as pain burned through his hands. ‘This woman can always find unique ways to hurt.’ He rubbed his hands mournfully after she let go. It was now Tai’s turn to have a good laugh.

“Let’s take this outside.” Raul said menacingly at Tai, causing Marina to look at him as if he were insane.

“I keep telling you, I don’t need to step out to take care of your sorry ass.” Tai gestured at the room that was perfectly intact despite their earlier scuffle.

“Ha! I just didn’t want to shock you too much with my growth, this time I won’t hold back! Eat this, ripple punch!” Raul fearlessly charged at Tai.