"Considering there are the four cardinal legends, then I guessed my next trial would be to fight either Suzaku or Seiryuu?" Jin stood up to stretch as he tried to imagine how the Vermillion Bird of the South and Azure Dragon of the East looked like. "Probably Suzaku I think… Given how the Dragons are always the last to be fought."
"You are one thousand years too soon to even fight them." Genbu bellowed under his shell.
"One thousand years is a little too far-fetched." Ming chuckled and beckoned Jin to enter his cabin. "But you are not the right grade to start the trial."
"From what I know from the previous trials, I need to hit at least a multiple of five milestones before I could clear the tests…So I am guessing once I reach Grade 15 or 16?" Jin said as he relaxed his muscles and went into the room with Ming.
"Technically, you could say that." Ming shrugged his shoulders but Jin deduced based on his grandfather's expression that he was more or less correct.
"How did you even know these cardinal legends? From their conversation, they needed your permission in some way or another." Jin changed the topic as Ming brought out a frying wok from the cabinet.
"I like to say you are not ready for the truth and you would probably press me for more information. However, it is the fact I cannot tell you anything else. In return, shall I reward the passing of this arduous trial with a plate of fried rice?" Ming commented and Jin's eyes perked up.
"I would love to. It's been far too long." Jin said solemnly and Ming smiled softly.
"It's not even a year in and you said it's too long?" Ming remarked and it baffled Jin.
"Considering all that time dilation…" Jin did not complete his sentence but Ming sneered.
"Fine, you win this time. Go cultivate a little more, and adjust your circuits while I cook you the fried rice."
"If you can add-"
"Yes I know, fried chicken skin and bacon bits, right? Do not worry, I have the ingredients here too." Ming said as he opened the refrigerator and showed Jin his favourite add ons before shoo-ing him away.
But they both knew that what Jin was going to eat was somewhat fake. Everything within the subconscious realm was constructed. Yet, this small request of selfish indulgence made Jin reminiscent of the days where he enjoyed a quiet evening with his grandfather. There was no need for small talk since all they wanted was each other's company.
Ming might have been strict in his ways of raising his grandson but he continued to pamper Jin in whatever ways he could when the opportunity arose. And this current act of small love was no doubt something Jin relished.
The fried rice did not take long to make and Jin could barely concentrate when the cooking was done. However, he was already doing what Ming asked him to do.
The Astral Panda Cultivator did not fully understand the meaning behind adjusting his circuits until he went into cultivation mode. Previously when Jin consolidated his circuits, he was just making sure they did not suddenly erupt. So, the moment he entered this time around, he found out that the circuits were all in a mess, something similar to the entanglement of wires behind a cabinet full of computer server hardware. But since he could finally feel the fibre of every single 'wire' going through his body, he decided to allocate them properly.
As weird as that sounds, his body did physically untangle any possible knots and placed the circuits alongside his blood vessels. At first, Jin had no idea how to approach this problem but when he recalled the scene of Orochi's serpent moving its muscles internally to squeeze him to death, the Panda Cultivator tried to do the same.
Slowly but surely, he sought to move his muscles with chi and they slowly moved the circuits into 'place'. The entanglement did make him squirm in discomfort since he was moving his muscles and blood vessels to accommodate for a smoother transition of chi and mana flow.
"Jin, the fried rice is ready, you can come eat whenever you are ready to- Ah, I see… While I did request you to perform adjustment of your chi circuits, I did not expect you were able to achieve such a degree." Ming said as he walked towards Jin and saw the flow of the Maqi coming out of him to be more fluid. He honestly only wanted Jin to clear any remaining sludge within his body but it seems he was going the extra mile without knowing.
"However, Jin. Moving your muscles internally would not be sufficient in the long run because the circuits would slowly return to the very same spots." Ming remarked as he went behind his grandson and placed his palms on his shoulders. The Astral Panda Cultivator was already way beyond what he expected in terms of adjustment, so Ming believed it was best to get it done properly.
"You need an external force to keep them in place." The Grandfather immediately pumped out a massive force of chi into Jin's body which suddenly caused him to vomit blood instantly. Not only that, his entire body was oozing with blood especially where the joints were supposed to be.
"Tolerate it. I am barely done. You still have your mana circuits which I need to fix in place too." Ming said as he released his palms and sat right behind Jin. This time around, he drew a magical circle in the air and slowly pushed it into Jin's body. The magic circle immersed itself into the body and suddenly Jin released a very loud and long fart. Not long after, Jin instinctively burped as well, removing as much waste gas from his body.
"Heh!" Ming chuckled as he let go of the circle and repeated his hand movements to garner some chi within his palms before placing them behind Jin. This old method of transferring chi was indeed an iconic scene like any old wuxia drama shows but the most important thing was that it works perfectly well.
In the meantime… A white hungry tiger was already staring at the huge plate of fried rice that was left on the table.
