Chapter 73: Bathe

"Eh..." Enzo was surprised when he stepped outside and found the blonde, middle-aged woman who was Eva’s mother, Gracie Torres, standing in front of Miya’s residence alongside Eva, who looked rather displeased with her.

How could she be here now?

What had happened during the short time he spent cultivating?

He walked toward the mother and daughter.

Eva immediately assumed a serious posture, while Gracie smiled at him.

"Muller, we meet again," she said gently.

"Lady, why are you here? Are you visiting your daughter?" Enzo asked in response.

"No, of course not. I’m here on Lady Stanley’s orders because I’ve received power from her," the woman replied.

A moment later, she released an incredibly formidable aura.

It was only released for an instant, yet it could be felt throughout the entire mountain, startling the servants.

For a moment, even the hair on Enzo’s body stood on end.

He stared at the woman in disbelief.

This aura was clearly the aura of a Giant.

She had indeed been a Cultivator from the beginning, but she had been weak and untalented among Cultivators, only at Level 5.

"The Lady gave me this power. Of course, she can take it back whenever she wants. However, I told her that I would work for her as long as I could continue to possess this power," the woman explained.

Enzo became curious. Was Miya also capable of giving someone cultivation?

He wondered if this was related to the Puppet Technique she had mentioned before.

"This requires a treasure to stabilize it, and that treasure has been implanted into my body," the woman continued. "Without it, I might also fall apart like the zombies in the city. Of course, that can still be avoided because they couldn’t release the power implanted in their bodies, whereas Lady Stanley can extract the power from my body. I’m free to activate and use it."

"Looks like you’re very lucky," Enzo said after hearing everything.

"Hehehe, it really is luck because the Lady is very kind," the woman chuckled.

Enzo said nothing else and entered the house.

He walked up the stairs and entered the bedroom.

He soon found Miya sitting there, holding a small mirror while applying lipstick to her lips.

She wasn’t wearing a dress, but instead a pair of long pants and a tight white shirt layered beneath a dark blue cardigan. Her hair was tied up in a slightly messy bun.

She stopped when she saw Enzo.

"We’ll be leaving for City X soon. The helicopter carrying us will arrive shortly, so you should take a shower," she said.

"We’re taking a helicopter?" Enzo was quite surprised.

"Aaron will be coming too, as will the two women outside. I can’t carry that many people," Miya replied.

"Alright!" Enzo nodded after hearing that.

He returned to the door, deciding to use the bathroom outside since Miya was here.

But the woman suddenly spoke.

"Where are you going? I’ve already prepared a special warm bath for you here."

Enzo’s steps immediately stopped.

"A special warm bath?"

"Something that will open new pores in your body, creating a second pathway for Spiritual Energy."

Hearing that, Enzo’s eyes couldn’t help but light up.

He knew what this was for.

With these new pores, the body could store more Spiritual Energy at its current level.

Of course, this energy couldn’t be used directly at first. Instead, it became reserve Spiritual Energy, allowing someone to release more energy during battle.

Essentially, they can be more wasteful with energy because there are reserves to make up for it.

It was said that this reserve could even be larger than one’s main Spiritual Energy, depending on how the body was developed.

There were even special techniques that could help expand this energy reserve.

Enzo nodded lightly and went to the bathroom in this room.

When he entered, he found the bathtub filled with transparent red water, emitting thick red steam with a pleasant jasmine fragrance.

Enzo touched it and found that it was very warm.

Even that slight touch gave him a sensation as if something soft were passing through his skin.

He stopped thinking about it and began removing his clothes until nothing remained before stepping into the bath, sitting down so that only his head remained above the water.

As the sensation spread throughout his body, he felt extremely relaxed and comfortable.

He didn’t have to do anything.

The water worked on its own to open his pores. He only needed to wait for the result.

He assumed it would be finished once the warmth of the water disappeared.

His thoughts weren’t focused on that.

Knowing that Miya was outside, he couldn’t suppress his nervousness.

Part of him was worried about being seen, while another part of him desperately wanted to be alone with her in this bathtub, without anything separating their bodies.

Fuhhhhh!

His breath became hot, making his head feel as if it were boiling.

All kinds of fantasies continued appearing in his mind, impossible to push away.

Click!

Suddenly, the bathroom door opened, causing his eyes to widen.

Who else could have opened it except his wife?

The woman smiled faintly as she looked at his clothes scattered across the bathroom floor.

"I forgot something. Swallow this fruit. It will immediately fill your Spiritual Energy reserve," she said, tossing him a small transparent apple.

Enzo’s hand instinctively moved to catch the apple as it reached him.

It turned out to be soft and springy, almost like jelly.

He saw Miya smile again before closing the door.

Smack!

He slapped his own forehead while pressing his lips together.

’What’s so embarrassing about this?’ he thought, suppressing his embarrassment and awkwardness.

Only his head was visible, after all.

He could simply think of the bathtub walls as his clothes, and the person who saw him was his own wife. So what was there to be embarrassed about?

"Mm..."

Only a moment later, he felt something different within his body, as if something that had been tightly sealed suddenly opened, becoming a new pathway for something invisible.

DING!

(Your stats have been updated with a cultivation evolution that allows your body to store Reserve Energy!)

[Level: 4]

[Spiritual Energy: 5,999]

[Reserve Energy: 0/1,000]

The change in his stats occurred immediately.

Enzo could feel a new energy space spreading throughout his body.

It was still completely empty.

Filling it for the first time wasn’t easy either, much like cultivating from Level 1 to Level 3. There were two challenges: expanding the space and filling it with energy.

Of course, when advancing to a higher level, the space would expand and the energy would be filled automatically.

Its presentation would remain the same.

The real challenge was increasing that capacity.

Enzo looked at the transparent apple.

It was too small. He didn’t even need to take a bite. He could simply put the whole thing into his mouth, and the moment it entered, it melted and merged with his saliva.

When he swallowed, it flowed into his stomach.

Buzz!

A sound like a gust of air echoed from his stomach as a massive amount of energy spread from his stomach throughout his body, with some of it merging into his body while the rest radiated outward.

[Reserve Energy: 100/1,000]

[Reserve Energy: 200/1,000]

[Reserve Energy: 500/1,000]

[Reserve Energy: 1,000/1,000]

The numbers changed rapidly, reaching one thousand in less than a minute.

Then, the remaining energy was completely released.

The amount left over might even have been greater than what he had absorbed.

Unfortunately, he couldn’t absorb all of it.

’If it’s only 1,000, it doesn’t seem very useful,’ he thought.

Its capacity was too small. If he released half of his Spiritual Energy directly, which was 3,000, quickly replenishing only 1,000 wasn’t particularly meaningful.

’But this truly has no limit to its growth.’

He realized that it wasn’t limited by the amount of his Main Energy. It could even become twice or three times as large, or perhaps even ten times larger.

Of course, the higher it grew, the more difficult it would become to develop.

There probably wasn’t anyone whose Reserve Energy was three times greater than their Main Energy.

And the role of Reserve Energy still couldn’t compare to the techniques someone possessed.

A stronger, higher-quality technique could produce a deadlier attack while consuming less energy.

The red water had already turned cold, and its color had faded drastically.

Enzo stepped out of the bathtub and continued showering, using plenty of soap to make his body smell fresh.

At this moment, he suddenly heard the sound of a helicopter.

He immediately rinsed the soap from his body.

After finishing, he dried himself with a towel in the bathroom.

Miya was clearly still outside, so he could only get dressed inside the bathroom.

Miya wasn’t dressed formally despite them going to an official’s party, so he chose a casual outfit as well: long pants and a shirt with dark stripes.

He didn’t bother styling his hair and left the bathroom after getting dressed.

Just as he expected, Miya was still in the bedroom.

She appeared to be choosing between earrings.

"Honey, which one do you think looks better, this one or this one?" she asked Enzo as he stepped out of the bathroom, showing him a pair of gold earrings with purple diamonds hanging beneath them and another pair of long gold earrings shaped like thin chains.