With the glorious morning of the Demon Sect, Abhay was sitting comfortably in the garden. Tamash hadn't given him any work today; instead, because it had been exactly 2 months since he arrived in this sect, Tamash had given Abhay a special day off.
Abhay lay carefree under a small tree in the garden, watching the leaves swaying in the wind. After a while, his eyes grew heavy and he fell asleep.
Tamash came into the backyard garden and saw Abhay sleeping under the small tree in front of her. He was snoring in a very deep sleep. She slowly walked closer to Abhay. With a gesture of one hand, she pulled water from the nearby fountain, made a ball of water dance on her finger, and threw it right at Abhay's face.
Splash!!
After taking the water ball to the face, Abhay's whole face got wet and his sleep was broken. He suddenly got up and shouted, "WHO IS IT... WHO IS IT? WHO THREW WATER ON ME?" Abhay then looked at Tamash standing right in front of him, who had been staring at him for a while.
Feeling a bit nervous, Abhay tried to stand up using his hands for support on the ground and said, "What work is it now, Head Maid?"
Tamash folded her arms across her chest and said, "Don't worry, you are not getting any work today."
Abhay dusted the grass off his clothes and asked, "So do you want to say something?"
"Yeah, consider it something like that," Tamash said, pointing a finger at Abhay. "Today, I am going to teach you something."
Abhay looked shocked. "To me...?"
Tamash pointed firmly at him and said loudly, "Yes, yes, to you. Because you are 7 to 8 years behind the cultivators of your age, that's why."
Hearing this, Abhay didn't say anything out loud but got irritated in his mind and muttered, 'Yeah... yeah, of course I'd be behind, because I've only been in this world for 2 months. And since I am in this body, I don't know what this guy's life was like, so how would I know???'
Tamash snapped her fingers once and said to Abhay, "Where are you lost?"
"No... nothing, Head Maid," Abhay replied hastily.
Tamash turned around, gesturing for him to follow her, and said, "Come on Abhay, now I will teach you how real cultivators get their power, so hurry up and follow me."
Tamash took Abhay to the library room near the stairs on the ground floor of the palace, and they went to the very end of the third aisle of bookshelves.
Abhay got confused. 'Is she going to make me read for the rest of my life to become a cultivator?' Just then, Tamash slightly pulled a book from the top of the bookshelf, and the loud sound of gears turning started coming from it. Right before his eyes, that section of the bookshelf sank into the wall and slid sideways to the right. It was as if a secret room had been hidden in the corner of this library. Abhay was excited seeing this. It was the first time he had seen a working secret door, which was as cool as an elevator door.
Excitedly looking at the stairs of that lower basement, Abhay said, "Is this what I think it is?"
Tamash gave a slight smile and, walking down the basement stairs, said, "Yes... yes, it is exactly what you are thinking."
While Abhay was enjoying thoughts about that gate, Tamash poured cold water on his happiness and said in a creepy tone, "In this place, I will squeeze you so hard that you will beg me to let you out of this secret chamber."
Hearing this, Abhay got a bit scared. But Tamash was in a good mood today, so removing his fear, she said, "Oh, I'm just joking. I will only teach you the basics, and that too in my own style."
"Really, you scared me for a second?" Abhay scratched his head and asked, "What exactly are you going to do, Head Maid?"
Pausing slightly in front of the door ahead of them, Tamash said, "Just wait a little and watch."
Looking at the door next to Tamash, Abhay asked, "How many years has it been since the door to this secret chamber was opened?"
Tamash wiped the cobwebs from the door handle and said, "Who knows? I think it's been a solid 10 years."
Abhay suddenly wiped a cobweb off his own head and said, "What, 10 years? Then who showed you this secret chamber, Head Maid?"
Pushing open the rusted door, Tamash said, "The previous Head Maid of our palace showed it to me when I was just a newbie maid here."
The basement door opened with a screeching sound like sliding rusted iron, and both Abhay and Tamash entered the basement. As the door to the closed chamber opened, a light breeze brushed past their faces, as if the room had been sealed for many years.
Abhay and Tamash both entered and saw several pieces of furniture in the room, gathering dust in their places, bearing the brunt of time. The room didn't look very big, but it was certainly capable of hiding a lot. It was built with stone bricks, and its floor seemed to be made of expensive marble. Several chairs and tables there were covered with cloths to protect them from dust.
Tamash said excitedly, "Wow, this room has really changed a lot after 10 years." Giving an order to Abhay, she said, "Come on Abhay, let's start cleaning and make this room look just like it did 10 years ago."
After a few hours of cleaning, Abhay and Tamash went back into that secret room. Tamash placed a chair right in the middle of the room and made Abhay sit on it. Sitting on that chair, Abhay looked at Tamash in front of him, who was staring at him while holding a small bamboo stick from the garden in her hands.
Sweating nervously, Abhay looked at the bamboo stick and said, "Head Maid, this bamboo stick?... isn't this a bit too much?"
Stroking the stick in her hand, Tamash said, "I told you, Abhay, you won't be able to leave this room until I give you permission."
Abhay smiled slightly and said in a joking manner, "Are you still joking?"
Pointing the bamboo stick towards Abhay, Tamash said, "Yeah... that part was a lie." Giving a scary smile on her lips, Tamash added, "But I did tell the truth about one thing: I will teach you something entirely new today, and in my own style."
Abhay immediately started sweating and cursed internally, 'What method is this crazy girl going to try? Is she going to throw me into boiling oil, or tie me in chains and beat me with that bamboo stick?'
Tamash then used her stick to gesture for Abhay to stand up from the chair and said, "Alright, enough resting. Now get up from this chair, put it in the corner over there, and come back to the middle of this room. Sit in a comfortable posture like Siddhasana."
Confused, Abhay got up from his chair, placed it in the corner of the wall, and came back to the center, sitting on the floor like a normal person.
Swinging her stick, Tamash said, "Oh come on, Siddhasana... don't you even know how to do Siddhasana?"
Abhay shook his head side to side, answering no. Tamash got annoyed and said to herself, "For a moment, I completely forgot that he has lost his memory. Whatever." Tamash then instructed Abhay, "Alright, since you are already sitting, bend your left knee and place your left heel firmly against your perineum. Now bend your right knee and place your right foot right above your left ankle. Keep your hands resting on your knees, touch your thumb with your index finger, and keep your posture completely straight, especially your spine."
For Abhay, who had never even done a single yoga pose in his past life, these words flew right over his head, and he just kept looking at Tamash in utter confusion.
Tamash slapped her own forehead, sat down in front of Abhay, and said, "Yeah, teaching is really a very difficult job. Now I know why my Guru ji (master) used to stay so irritable and angry when he taught all the kids."
Tamash then repeated the instructions and physically showed Abhay how to sit in Siddhasana. Abhay finally learned how to sit in the posture.
Tamash then got up from her place and ordered Abhay to stay seated there, saying, "You stay sitting right there, I'll go get something interesting for you right now."
Abhay felt happy in his mind and thought, 'Is she going to make me sit here and feed me something now?'
Right then, Tamash put out all the lights in the room, causing complete darkness to take over the chamber. Tamash then lit a single candle and placed it right in front of Abhay.
Worried in his mind, Abhay said to himself, 'Has this girl gone crazy, making the whole room dark and placing a candle in the middle?' Getting sweat on his forehead, Abhay asked nervously, "Are you going to do some black magic or something?"
In the darkness, Tamash said, "Look carefully at the burning flame of this candle. You just have to stare at this burning candle, and perform 'Kumbhaka', meaning take a deep breath, hold it for a few moments as long as your lungs can take it, and then release it."
Confused, Abhay raised one eyebrow and said, "I have to stare at this and maintain my breathing, but why?"
Tapping her stick lightly against a nearby pillar, Tamash said, "Because you are far too behind in cultivation, so we have to make do with this method."
"Really?" Abhay said, sitting in his posture.
Stepping closer to Abhay, Tamash said, "You just have to remember one thing: you have to look at this candle without blinking your eyes until your eyes get tired."
Abhay panicked in tension and said, "Are you going to leave me completely blind? Does anyone even do this?"
Hitting the stick on the floor, Tamash warned him, "Come on, start now. Just keep one thing in mind: don't blink, breathe in and hold it for a few moments, and lastly, don't break this posture. If your posture wavers even a little, then just remember my stick and your back. Understood?"
Abhay then started looking at that candle sitting in Siddhasana without blinking his eyes. In the beginning, Abhay didn't face any problems, until his eyes slowly started shedding tears, his back got stiff, and his mind was screaming out loud that he didn't want to do this anymore. Sometimes Abhay's posture would waver slightly, but then Tamash would hit him once on the back with her stick.
Smack... smack...
The sound of the stick started echoing in the room. Within some 30 minutes, a waterfall was flowing from Abhay's eyes, and on top of that, his eyes were burning like fire.
After staying in Siddhasana for about 1 hour, Abhay's legs and knees had gone numb. It felt as if many needles were being poked into him all at once. His back felt completely stiffened. Abhay tried to reduce the pain, but the moment he was about to move even 1 inch, Tamash's bamboo stick rained down on his shoulders.
About 2 hours later, Abhay reached the verge of giving up. His body and mind were screaming that it was enough, but Abhay stayed in that posture, pulling in his breath, holding it for a long time, and exhaling. His eyes remained fixed on that candle even though they were burning terribly.
Abhay had reached his limit. After about 2.5 hours, his eyes started getting heavy. It felt like several kilos of weight had been put on both his eyelids. He forcefully tried to keep his eyes open, but that was also of no use.
Just then, his eyes shut down out of sheer exhaustion. He could feel blue light flowing all around him. Tamash was waiting for exactly this moment, knowing that when he reached this state, the origin energy would become visible to him.
Tamash then said to Abhay, "Come on Abhay, feel the natural energy visible in front of you and let it absorb inside your body. If you succeed in absorbing this energy, it will only benefit you."
Abhay's body started absorbing the origin energy scattered around him. This process lasted for about 30 minutes. Abhay was still absorbing that energy. Tamash was also shocked to see Abhay absorbing so much energy and said, "Isn't he taking 3 times more energy than normally required to breakthrough one stage?"
A slight stir happened inside Abhay's body, and then all the energy present in that room was absorbed. Abhay slowly opened his eyes and noticed slight and small changes in his body. He raised one hand and felt the origin energy around it, which was completely new to him.
Just then, clapping her hands, Tamash said, "Congratulations Abhay, you are now at the middle stage of Body Refinement."