บท 116: Chapter 116
Hei continued his explanation as if none of that had happened.
"And so, maybe the cause for the increase in the severity of your outbursts is your unwillingness to utilise your qi."
"I see. Then you're telling me that I should fight more?"
"You may find it helpful. Though, it's probably best if your opponent is your enemy. If they're your ally, they should be strong enough that you can't harm them."
"I see. I'll think about it."
Auntie Yimin thought the idea was an interesting one. To think it could have simply been that she was born to fight. All her life, she had been told that she was a bit too violent and that it was unladylike, so she tried to suppress her urges, but if all she needed to do was have a few sparring matches from time to time in order to satisfy them, then that was for the best.
Auntie Yimin turned to the desk, which was oddly enough, exactly the same as it had been when she came in. There wasn't a sheet of paper out of place, even after all of that disruption.
She walked over to it and took a look at the technique which was written down on the paper in front of the chair.
"Is this the technique you were practising? It's really done through holding hands?"
"Any kind of physical contact is sufficient. Though, it seems there are still some major issues to iron out."
"I'll say."
Auntie Yimin turned to Xiaoli who had just finished straightening herself up.
"Now that everything is calm, I can see that you look a little different."
"Oh?"
Xiaoli extended her arms and twisted her upper body as she inspected her exterior.
"How so?"
"Hmm."
Auntie Yimin lowered her glasses and gave Xiaoli a once-over.
"Xiaoli… Were you at the fourth layer when you came in today?"
"Hm? What are you talking about? You checked for yourself. I'm still in the third layer."
Auntie Yimin shook her head.
"Look again."
Xiaoli did as she said and was surprised by the results.
"I've broken through? How?"
Both Auntie Yimin and Xiaoli turned to Hei. Auntie Yimin looked down at the sheet of paper once more.
"Are these the results of this technique?"
"It should be so."
Auntie Yimin let out a bright smile.
"Then why don't the two of you keep at it?"
"W-wait. Auntie Yimin. Don't you remember what just happened? If we try again-"
"Nonsense. I'm sure our guest here can make the appropriate adjustments. He did say he was in the fine-tuning phase, didn't he? It's only to be expected that there were a few minor issues."
"Minor issues? But he said they were major-"
"Then I'll leave you to it."
Before Xiaoli could say anything else, Auntie Yimin had already closed the door. She was excited to see the chance of one of the young ladies finally rising up.
It was a shame that she was being pulled up by a boy though. But beggars couldn't be choosers.
Back in the study, Hei looked at Xiaoli, who had her hand extended to the door and her mouth open.
He went to sit back on his chair and rested his head on his hand as he tapped his pen on the paper.
"We will only continue if you are willing. You don't need to mind your Auntie Yimin's wishes when it comes to your wellbeing."
After speaking, Hei's focus returned to the technique, but it wasn't long before he heard Yuying's voice.
[Who would have thought that a trip to the library would result in a fight? And that part where things went crazy was cool too. Keep it up.]
[It isn't as if I was looking for any of that to occur.]
[Whether you were looking for it or not, it was really interesting. I'm just wondering how it will fit into the movie.]
[I'll leave it to you.]
[Mm. So, what was the cause of that just now?]
[I'm thinking it was because the synchronisation took place too quickly. I should have slowed the circulation of the mixed essences as the circulation paths became more similar.]
[I see. But why was it one-sided? Only Xiaoli seemed to suffer the backlash while you were perfectly fine. Or were you just able to bear with it?]
[I didn't suffer any backlash. It is likely due to the technique I cultivate.]
[And what would that be? Maybe I've heard of it.]
[You haven't. To say it's a technique I created myself wouldn't be completely erroneous, so the chances of you knowing anything about it are remote.]
[You made your own cultivation technique? What were you practising before?]
[I've only ever practised this technique.]
[… I'm not going to ask any more questions about that.]
[That's probably for the best.]
[So, what are you going to do if she doesn't want to continue? Will you ask Auntie Yimin?]
[That also works. Though, she may suffer another one of those episodes if it were to be done right now.]
[You know, if I were there, I would offer to help.]
[That's good to know. How much would you charge?]
[Evil Slaying.]
[Perhaps your prices are a bit too high…]
[Don't be like that.]
[You know, any woman will do, it doesn't matter which one. And Miss Xiaoli had volunteered to do it for free. Why then, would your assistance be worth the exchange of Evil Slaying?]
[But you already gave them Evil Slaying. It's like you paid them in advance.]
[I suppose one could look at it that way.]
[Anyway, it seems she's made up her mind.]
Hei noticed Xiaoli walking over in his spiritual perception.
"What will it be?"
"Let's continue."
"Are you sure?"
"Mm."
"Very well."
Hei held his hand out, and Xiaoli placed hers on top.
He began the process once more, this time paying more attention to the changes in Xiaoli's circulation paths. As they became closer to his, he slowed the circulation of the mixed essences, and as expected, the rate at which Xiaoli's circulation paths were shifting decreased.
At the point at which Xiaoli's circulation paths were almost perfectly matched with his own, he stopped the technique and observed in more detail.
"Are you experiencing any discomfort?"
"No. Just the warmth and tingling."
"I see. Then, I'll continue."
"Mm."
Hei moved the mixed essences very slowly, stopping at even the slightest shift in Xiaoli's circulation paths and checking that her state was still within acceptable parameters.
In that way, Hei proceeded cautiously.
"There! I'm feeling something different now."
Hei paused the technique and focused on the contact area between their hands. At this point, Xiaoli's circulation paths were extremely close to his own, a little more movement and they would connect.
"What are you feeling?"
"It's like lightning. The tingling has become a lot stronger."
"I see. Is it unbearable?"
"No. I can endure it."
"Then let's maintain this state. Tell me if you experience any changes."
"Mm."
The two remained still for a while.
"The tingling is back to normal now."
Hei resumed the technique, but not long later, Xiaoli had more feedback.
"It's back again."
This kind of cycle continued until the circulation paths were one step away from connecting.
"It's back to normal now. We can continue."
"At this point, our circulation paths are about to fully synchronise. You may experience the same thing again."
"I'm prepared for it this time. I won't jump again."
"Are you sure?"
"Mm."
"Very well."
Hei cycled the technique one last time and their circulation paths joined together, creating a single system.
"!"
Xiaoli's body tensed. It felt like she was being struck by tribulation lightning. Her mental preparations almost rendered useless.
Hei moved his hand back to break their connection, aiming to separate their essences in the process, but Xiaoli clasped it with her own.
"Don't… let go."
"But-"
"I… can… handle… it."
"Are you sure?"
Xiaoli was getting tired of this. He was too attentive. Even speaking was becoming difficult, so she didn't want the conversation to continue.
"Mm."
"Very well."
Hei watched as Xiaoli's face transition from pale to red then back again, all while keeping a close eye on her overall condition and making sure to avoid contaminating either of their pure cores.
Sweat began to bead up on her forehead, and her veins revealed themselves.
"Are you sure you want to continue? I can make some more adjustments and we can try again."
Xiaoli shook her head. She couldn't even speak any more as she tried to cope with this situation.
"…"
Hei turned to the jade floating beside him.
[Is she being unreasonable?]
[No idea.]
[I see.]
Hei continued to monitor the situation for a while.
"Fwoo. It's getting better now."
Xiaoli was now able to speak again, but her body was still experiencing a lot of stress.
Fortunately for her, it wasn't too long before her condition returned to normal.
She wiped the sweat off of her forehead.
"Okay, the lightning's gone. There isn't even tingling any more, only warmth."
"I see."
There was a long silence of them holding hands and looking at each other.
Xiaoli decided to speak.
"What now?"
"I'm not sure. This has already gone beyond my expectations. The technique shouldn't have caused any of these occurrences."
"So, are you going to adjust it then?"
"That's the only way."
Hei turned back to the technique and pulled his hand back to rest his head on it, but Xiaoli didn't let go.
He turned to her and tilted his head.
"I'm afraid if we break the connection, I'll have to go through all that again, and I'd rather not. Please bear with me for a while."
"I see."
Hei still moved his elbow back to the table and rested his head on his hand.
Well, it wasn't exactly his hand that he was resting his head on, it was Xiaoli's, which was on top of his.
"…"
Xiaoli watched in silence as he tapped his pen on the paper and continued as if nothing was strange about the situation.
After a few cycles of writing things down and tapping his pen on the paper, Hei came up with a suitable adjustment to his original technique, which took into consideration what he had learned in this trial with Xiaoli.
"Are you ready to continue?"
"Hm? We're going to stay like this?"
"Yes. I would like to jot down your feedback as we go, so please bear with me for a little while."
"Okay… Then, let's continue."
"Alright. I'm going to give you a little more of my yang essence and take a little more of your yin. Don't worry about your pure core, I'll be sure not to corrupt it."
"Mm."
"Tell me your experiences as we go."
"Mm."
Hei then started to slowly increase the rate of mixture between their yin and yang essences.
"It's getting warmer."
"Mm."
"It's still getting warmer."
"Mm."
"It's hot."
"Then let's pause here."
Even after a while, Xiaoli still felt it was hot.
"Then perhaps this is the maximum rate possible between us."
There was still some unmixed essence left within both of their bodies, but over 50 percent was successfully mixed.
"Then I'll start increasing the speed of circulation."
"Mm."
As Hei started moving the mixed essences faster throughout their bodies, Xiaoli noticed several things.
"The natural qi seems to be leaking into my spirit roots on its own. This is so strange. Oh, and it's not as hot as before, so I think you can increase the amount of mixed essence."
"Then I'll do that."
This continued until all of the essences in both of their bodies had been mixed successfully, and what was more important was that there were no signs of the pure cores being at risk of contamination. The essences flowed cleanly around them without much effort on Hei's part.
At this point, natural qi was flowing into Xiaoli as if she were intentionally cultivating, but she was doing absolutely nothing. It was a very interesting sensation.
"Then I think this can be considered a success."
Hei marked down his findings on a new sheet of paper. There were still some details to iron out, but the technique was in a functional state.
He was about to let go of Xiaoli's hand when she proposed an idea.
"What if we increased the speed even more?"
บท 117: Chapter 117
"Increase the speed? I'm afraid that'll increase the risk of corrupting our cores."
"But didn't you say the essences were avoiding the cores by themselves?"
"That may be the case for now, but it's not guaranteed to remain that way. I don't think the risks are worth the potential gains. Especially for you."
Hei learned of some of the customs of this world from Jingfei. Apparently, maintaining the purity of one's essence was extremely important, especially for women who wanted to find stability in marriage.
For him, or more specifically, the other soul in his body, they had Mei already, who would understand the situation once it was described to her, so there wasn't much to be concerned about even if the pure core were to be corrupted.
But for Xiaoli, a young lady, her future husband's family would frown upon the fact that her core was corrupted, no matter how it was described. Inevitably, her life wouldn't be as comfortable as it could be.
That being said, it was only a concern if she did want to find a good husband, but there were a few women who would rather gain the strength to protect themselves and didn't care for marriage. Perhaps to them, a corrupted core wouldn't be much of a problem.
Either way, it wouldn't do her any good if her core were to be corrupted. At best, her situation would stay the same, and on the negative side, her future would definitely be adversely affected.
Xiaoli also thought of these things and came up with a safer way to proceed.
"I think it's worth a try. Let's do it like this. I'll move the essences, and you make sure our cores don't get contaminated. Wouldn't that work?"
"Are you capable of doing that?"
Xiaoli puffed her cheeks out.
"I may not look like it, but I'm still a transcendent realm cultivator, you know?"
"I see. Then we can give it a try."
Hei stopped moving the essences and put his focus on the pure cores.
Xiaoli took over the essences and started moving them around.
Now that she was the one who was doing so, she could see just how different her circulation paths had become. Before, the warm sensation was influencing her internal representation herself, but now, she could see things clearly.
"What kind of cultivation technique do you practice? These circulation paths are so complex. No wonder you caused all that to happen."
"My siblings practice the same technique, but their's isn't so exaggerated. It's primarily due to my affinity with natural qi."
"Oh right, you did mention that. Alright, I'm going to increase the speed now. Are you ready?"
She had now gotten the hang of controlling the mixed essences. Earlier, she talked a big game, but even as a transcendent realm cultivator, she still hadn't ever experienced manipulating yin and yang essence. After all, for her, there was no benefit in practising dual cultivation techniques. It would only ruin her future.
Hei affirmed that he was prepared by nodding his head and humming.
"Are you sure?"
"Mm."
Xiaoli smiled.
"Very well."
She ramped up the speed of the essences and immediately noticed that her cultivation speed had surpassed her previous limits.
Excited, she continued to increase the speed more and more.
"Hold on a minute. You don't want to go that fast. Something unexpected may happen."
Xiaoli was caught up in this amazing feeling of cultivating so effortlessly. This must have been how Jing'er felt all the time, otherwise, he wouldn't spend so much of it cultivating, right?
She increased the speed without restraint, soaking up all the natural qi she could ever want.
"…"
Hei was going to speak, but there was no instability in the movement of the essences around the pure cores, and thus, no significant cause for concern.
Interestingly enough, he wasn't benefiting from this very much. His cultivation was only slightly faster than the usual passive form. He speculated that the increase in ability to absorb natural qi that other cultivators experienced through dual cultivation was only bringing them up to his level. He was always in such a state.
The small increase probably came from the movement of the essences itself and him absorbing some of the surplus qi Xiaoli was bringing in that her own body couldn't handle.
"Alright. I've reached my limit. I can't speed it up anymore."
Xiaoli had her eyes closed as she took in the feeling of being one with the world. It was truly something special. She only thought it was a shame that she couldn't sink even deeper into it.
But then she had an idea.
"You too. Help me."
"I don't think that's a good-"
"It'll be fine. Nothing has gone wrong so far, has it?"
She pulled at his hand, pleading with him to acquiesce once more.
"… Very well."
Hei was also curious to see what would happen if this was pushed to its limits.
He stood up and Xiaoli led him to the centre of the study where there was space enough to move.
Feeling light as air, she started skipping around in circles while smiling cheerfully, forcing Hei to turn around where he stood.
After a few rounds, she stopped and looked down at the mask.
"Let's do this."
"Are you ready?"
She rolled her eyes.
"Yes. Are you sure? Yes. Very well."
She smiled after saying that.
"…"
Hei split his focus from the pure cores and used some of it to increase the speed of the essences.
In the room, which was closed off from all sides, a breeze swept in. The ground also began to move with slight tremors.
"I've never felt like this before. It's amazing! Don't you agree?"
"I feel like this most of the time, so I can't really say."
"Aw. No fair."
Xiaoli was feeling resentful. This was unfair. If she could feel this way all the time, wouldn't she have become the number one expert on the lower continent by now?
At the very least, she would have become the fourth foundation establishment realm cultivator and be known the continent over as Fairy Xiaoli.
She didn't know why, but she felt he was holding back a little. And knowing how concerned he was that something would go wrong, it was probably true.
"You're not giving it everything you have, are you? You're still thinking about our pure cores?"
"… You're correct."
"Just let go. Live this moment to it's fullest. We can worry about the consequences later."
"That's one of the most foolish things I've ever heard."
Xiaoli puffed her cheeks out.
"Just this once. Let's give it everything we have."
"… Very well."
Looking at the stable flow, Hei decided that the risk of contamination was low enough to ignore. So he put all of his attention on the essences and moved them as fast as he could.
-Boom.
A muffled booming sound came from Xiaoli's body and the breeze twisted around the two, forming a small cyclone in the room.
"This is the most-"
The wind was too loud for one to hear properly, so Xiaoli started shouting.
"I've never-"
Hei tried to listen to what she was saying, but it was cut off by the sounds of the wind.
"This short time I've spent with you- You made me realise that- I've decided to- And that's all thanks to you. After you leave- If there's anything- Remember that I- Really, I mean it!"
At this point, there was obviously something wrong. These effects were far too strong, so Hei decided to take back his yang essence and returned Xiaoli's yin essence to her.
Hearing the disturbance, Auntie Yimin opened the door, but neither Hei nor Xiaoli noticed. When she did, she saw a cyclone spinning crazily in the middle of the room.
Before she could do anything, she heard a boom, and something came flying out of the cyclone, coming directly towards her. It was Xiaoli.
Auntie Yimin prepared one of her techniques to catch Xiaoli, but before she could, the boy appeared in front of her and caught Xiaoli instead.
At this point, the cyclone had already dissipated and the ground stopped shaking, returning the room to normal.
Hei sensed Auntie Yimin's presence, and after giving Xiaoli a quick inspection, he handed her over to Auntie Yimin.
Receiving Xiaoli from the boy, Auntie Yimin looked down at her face, which was red, and gave her a quick checkup. At least she was still awake this time.
"Xiaoli, what happened just now?"
"Heehee. The best thing ever."
"Oh?"
"Mm."
Xiaoli was momentarily weak, but she swiftly regained her strength and was able to stand on her own.
Hei decided to get her feedback about her own state.
"How are you feeling? Are there any problems?"
She straightened herself up and looked towards the masked one, though she was slightly wobbly.
"Problems? Hik. There aren't… any… problems… at all. In fact, I feel… better than ever."
Xiaoli was swaying from side to side as she spoke quite slowly and with slurred words. She was still revelling in the earlier experience.
Auntie Yimin supported her.
"Haaa. Auntie Yimin…. You're always… there for me."
She turned back to Hei.
"Everything's a-okay. Though… I think… the tingling… came back."
At this moment, Hei and Auntie Yimin raised their brows. It was Auntie Yimin who spoke.
"That isn't tingling, Xiaoli. You triggered a spark warning."
Xiaoli looked at her hands and could see bolts of electricity sparking sporadically, jumping from one finger to another in a playful dance. Though, there was something intimidating about it. Almost as if a hungry beast were deciding whether or not to take a bite out of her. That was especially so when she realised that this was happening all over her body.
"A spark warning? But isn't… that for people… who are about to break through… to a new realm?"
She raised her unstable head to Auntie Yimin, her confusion clearly written on her face.
"Not quite. It means you have the necessary accumulation, but you still need the corresponding comprehension if you want to break through. I had my own spark warning a few years ago."
At this moment, Auntie Yimin noticed something.
"Wait… Xiaoli, you're at the peak of the transcendent realm?!"
Somehow, all of the redness on Xiaoli's face disappeared and her complexion returned to normal.
"What? Can you say that again?"
"You're as strong as me now, Xiaoli. The heavens really like to play tricks on this lady."
She turned to Hei.
"Jeez. What kinds of techniques are you making? To raise someone from the third layer to the fourth was already surprising enough, but you weren't content with that, huh? You just had to bring her to the peak?"
Auntie Yimin spoke as if she were discontent, but the smile on her face revealed her true feelings.
"I also didn't expect such results. This can be said to be the fruit of a risk Miss Xiaoli was willing to take."
"Darn. Where were you twenty years ago? Maybe I would've already been in the minute realm by now."
She shook her head when a nonsensical idea came to her mind.
"You wouldn't happen to know a way to help this lady, would you?"
"To break through to the minute realm?"
"I know it's silly, but with what I've seen so far, I thought it was maybe possible. But to help someone comprehend is a different matter than to have them practice a technique."
Xiaoli spoke up.
"Actually, he already said he was going to help someone else, so it shouldn't be too much."
She turned to Hei.
"Isn't that right?"
"If you wish, you may sit in while I work. I'll try to think out loud as I gain understandings, and maybe that will provide some small benefit for you."
Auntie Yimin's eyes shone.
She had been afraid of trying to break through to the minute realm because of her unique physique, but if this boy was there, he could stop her rampages.
And even if she couldn't break through with his words, they would surely be beneficial to the younger generation.
สถานะพลังงานรายสัปดาห์
200+ การจัดอันดับด้วยพลัง 
0 หินพลัง 
ความคิดเห็นย่อย