Hi-Ah and Jung-Hee arrived by the gate and were a little surprised. Hi-Ah took her phone and was about to call Ning, but before she did, the gate opened and a voice spoke through a speaker.
"Come in!"
Hearing Ning's voice, they drove in.
The two siblings were immediately surprised to see the massive trees on either side of the freshly paved road that led to the mansion at the end of the pathway.
Hi-Ah parked the card towards the left and the two of them walked out with awe on their face.
Ning hadn't explained properly where they had to go, so she wasn't expecting much. However, even if she would have expected something, this would not have been it.
The door opened and Ning walked out. "You're finally here. So late," he said.
"Sorry, the dungeon run took a bit longer than we planned," Jung-Hee said with an absent look on his face. "Brother… is this a hotel or something? Or maybe a place you rented?"
"No, it's neither of those things," Ning said as he turned around. "I own this place."
The two siblings looked at each other and back at Ning.
"No way!"
"You're kidding, right?"
Ning chuckled. "Do you think I can't own such a place?" he asked.
"Wait, seriously?" Jung-Hee asked. "You come back one day and you own such a massive mansion?"
"Why not?" Ning asked. "What's the use of having so much money if I can't even do such a thing."
"That's right," Jung-Hee said. "Let's go in! I want to see the house."
Ning let in the excited siblings and gave them a tour of the house. Their voice echoes through the hallways and rooms as they made their way everywhere.
"You need to buy some furniture, brother. It's too… empty without it," Jung-Hee said.
"No need to hurry," Ning said. "We only just got the house. Everything else will come in due time."
Ely walked out of the kitchen with a ladle in her hands. "Ah, you two are here," she said. "You must be hungry. Come, I've created an excellent meal for you two."
"Oh, yes. I'm very hungry, sister-in-law," Jung-Hee said and went on ahead.
Hi-Ah walked with Ning and walked into the kitchen as well. She smelled the food that was being cooked and couldn't help but think that this was the best smell she had ever smelled in her life.
"What… exactly are you cooking, sister-in-law?" she asked.
Ely thought of answering but decided not to. "It's a sort of curry," she said. "A curry of what exactly? That you will have to find on your own."
The two siblings fortunately weren't weirded out by the lack of information and waited for the food to be served.
Ely handed them a hefty serving of the curry she was cooking and put some for herself and Ning as well.
They sat down to eat and both she and Ning kept a close eye on the two siblings.
Jung-Hee was the first one to dig his spoon into the food and take a bite of it. He was a little hesitant when the food entered his mouth, but when the taste settled in, his eyes went wide.
"Holy Shit! This is good!" he shouted all of a sudden. The curry had a burst of flavor that he had never experienced before. The bits in the curry had practically melted on his tongue so all he tasted was the smooth texture and flavor, and that was amazing.
He dug in once more and seeing that Hi-Ah got curious as well. She too took a spoonful of curry and ate it. As soon as she did, her eyes went wide with surprise as well. "Holy crap, he wasn't lying," she said softly. After that, the two of them didn't stop for a single second as they ate everything.
Ning and Ely smiled as they watched the two eat. While they did, the two of them ate as well.
Jung-Hee finished in record time as well. "Sister-in-law, can I get some more?" he asked.
Ely smiled, however, she shook her head. "You shouldn't eat any more than that," she said.
Jung-Hee was surprised. He wasn't expecting to be refused for seconds.
"Listen to your sister-in-law, Jung-Hee. This is not a food you can eat too much of," Ning said. 'At least, not yet.'
"Aww, but this tastes so good," he said.
Ning smiled. "Just wait a few minutes, you will feel awful soon," he said.
"Huh?" Jung-Hee was surprised. "What… do you mean?"
Ely quickly finished her meal and placed her bowl in the sink. He walked by Hi-Ah who was just sitting there with a confused look on her face and tapped her on the shoulders.
"Come on, you don't want to be here when it starts," Ely said.
Hi-Ah was confused. "Uhh... when what starts?" she asked.
Ely gave her a wide smile. "Your breakthrough."
Ning took his younger cousin to one of the bathrooms on the upper floor and made it sit in the bathtub while he filled it with water.
"You will start feeling a bit of pain soon, prickly pain. Endure it," Ning said. "At the same time, your body will also produce a lot of filth. It's normal, so don't get scared."
"What is happening, brother?" Jung-Hee asked. He couldn't help but be worried. Everyone was being so suspicious after all.
"Don't worry, your body is accepting Qi, so this is normal," Ning said.
In the end, Jung-Hee got into the bathtub as told. Soon, he started grunting in pain and complaining, but it wasn't as bad as Ning was expecting it to be.
"I see," he thought. "Their body is already enhanced with mana, so this bit of Qi won't really hurt them much at all."
Jung-Hee was surprised when the black, gooey filth fell out of his body and made the water murky. However, the slight pain he did feel wasn't enough to make him cry out.
It took exactly 30 minutes for it all to be over, and when it was, both Jung-Hee and Hi-Ah had now become cultivators.
