Arran opened his eyes slowly and stared at the white wooden ceiling above him. He wondered where he was and, more importantly, how he had come there.
When he tried to sit up and look around, he felt sharp stabs of pain in several parts of his body, and he realized he still had some injuries.
"Easy, young man," a woman's voice sounded from the back of the room. "You've only just returned from death's doorstep. It'll be a while before you're up again."
Hearing the voice, Arran ignoring the pain and forced himself to sit up. When he finally succeeded, he saw a small gray-haired woman sitting on a wooden chair in the back of the room.
"Not much for listening to advice, are you?" She sighed. "Very well then. I would have suggested you rest some more, but now that you're awake, there are some people who should know about it."
The woman stood up and walked out the door, leaving Arran be
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"It tastes like dead rat," Arran said, face twisted in disgust at the bitter taste of the potion.The gray-haired woman scowled. Arran had learned that her name was Doctor Zhang and that she was Lord Jiang's personal healer. Lord Jiang had put her in charge of treating Arran, but to Arran's dismay, her treatments mostly consisted of vile-tasting potions."You're a man. Act like one," she said bluntly.Arran sighed. The woman was right, of course — however foul-tasting her potions might be, he had to admit that they worked extremely well. Between her potions and the technique Lord Jiang had given him, it had taken him just a week to recover from most of his injuries. Without them, he thought, it would have taken months — if he would have recovered at all.He took a deep breath, then swallowed the potion. The taste made him gag, but he managed to keep it down."Good," D
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Thud!Arran groaned as he opened his eyes. Through the window, he could see that the first light of dawn was only just starting to appear. Only half-awake, he dully wondered what had just interrupted his sleep.Thud! Thud!This time, he realized that the sound came from the door. Someone was knocking."Who is it?!" he called out."Time to get up!"Hearing that the voice was Lord Jiang's, Arran hurriedly got out of bed. It had been over two weeks since he had last seen any sign of his host, but after all the man had done for him, the last thing he wanted was to offend him.When he opened the door, he saw Lord Jiang standing outside, dressed in simple brown clothes. Once more he marveled at the sheer size of the man — he resembled a living mountain."Today, we begin your training," Lord Jiang said, smiling brightl
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Arran found Jiang Fei in the flower patch next to her cottage, sitting on a small spot of grass and studying a thick book.She turned her head as she heard him approach, and when she saw him, a frown instantly appeared on her face."Shouldn't you be resting?" she asked. Raising an eyebrow, she added, "And why are your clothes wet?"Arran flushed with embarrassment. His training with Lord Jiang had left him soaked with sweat, and in his rush to tell Jiang Fei the news, he had not thought to change his clothes."I've been training with Lord Jiang," he said, deciding to divert her attention right away."You've been training? But you haven't fully recovered yet! You should be—" Suddenly, her face went pale. "You've been training with Uncle Bear?!"Arran nodded. "He's teaching me a Body Refinement technique."Jiang Fei looked like she ha
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Arran looked at Jiang Fei. Her eyes were closed, and she sat on the grass with a look of utter concentration on her face.It had been nearly a week since Lord Jiang had given her the scroll containing the circulation technique, but so far, she had not yet succeeded in mastering it.At first, Arran had been somewhat relieved that she had trouble learning the technique. He had feared that with her skill in magic, she would surpass him in a matter of days. He knew it was petty, but still, it felt nice to be better at something than her for a change.Now, however, he was beginning to feel bad for her. She worked day and night, but somehow, the technique still eluded her. Apparently, magical talent alone was not enough to learn Body Refinement.Arran, on the other hand, had made great strides in mastering the circulation technique. Using it while running had been difficult at first, but with the instructi
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After Lord Jiang's feast, Arran noticed an immediate change in his abilities. Even without using the circulation technique, he could feel that he was stronger and faster than he used to be. The difference wasn't a small one, either — it was as if he had achieved the results of years of training in a single night.When he did use the technique, he found that it was easier to maintain and control than before. Using it still wasn't exactly simple, but as the weeks passed he progressed rapidly, learning to use the technique to increase his strength when needed.Although there were no more feasts like the first one, Lord Jiang served them rare medicinal foods every day, and Arran could feel that they were helping his body grow stronger. Sometimes, Doctor Zhang would bring Arran and Jiang Fei potions as well, and even if their taste was always vile, they seemed to further increase Arran's strength.A few weeks after the
Forbidden Sphere Chapter 39
"Is that what you're wearing?" Jiang Fei looked at Arran with a raised eyebrow."What's wrong with it?" Arran asked.He was wearing a simple brown linen robe, and although it was nothing like the crimson silk dress Jiang Fei was wearing, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it. It was comfortable and clean, and it was something that would attract no unwanted attention."Nothing," Jiang Fei said with a frown, "if you're planning to spend the day on a farm."Arran sighed, then went back inside. Some moments later he emerged from the cottage once more, this time wearing a black silk robe with red embroidery. It was one of the finer robes Master Zhao had left him in the void bag, and wearing it made Arran feel like a monkey in a wedding dress."Much better," Jiang Fei said, smiling brightly. "Dressed like this, you could almost trick me into thinking you're handsome."