Ye Ming was feeling a bit... privileged? Here he was naked, only a blanket hiding his balls, and before him were four girls... four very beautiful girls.
’I am sure there was one more... or am I seeing things?’
Anyway, he looked at them; his eyes stayed on the prideful one. She was the one who brought the space ring to him.
"I have no doubt that I will be learning all about you girls, so I will continue with the one I already had a conversation with." His eyes stayed on Liu Li.
"I will be keeping this one. What is your name?" He motioned to the proud girl as he asked.
"...It’s Liu Li, Master Ming." The Fallen Princess slightly bowed to him. Her pride flared a bit that he had chosen her!
Ye Ming smiled at her; he saw a bit of that haughty character that is underneath that fragile poker face. Clearly, this girl’s background is not simple.
"Great, Liu Li will keep you company. Ask her if you need anything." Jiang Mengxue spoke from behind her girls. She smiled at him, then left his house.
If she ends up cuddling with him, she might not be able to leave; that is why she did a hasty retreat, and her girls followed after her. They were not happy that Liu Li was chosen and not them.
Still, they will have their chance.
The Fallen Princess watched them leave. Once they were gone, she looked at her new Master.
"Is there anything you desire of me, Master Ming?" She asked him in a somewhat hopeful tone.
"Anything?" He asked with a raised eyebrow. His little brother would wake up if he were not beaten down over hours-long sessions.
"Anything."
"Even if I tell you to strip naked and come into my bed?"
Instead of answering, she began to undress; there was a bit of excitement in her movement.
"Hold, hold it. It was just a question." He asked with a bit of worry; he really needed to start cultivating because there is ’a lot’ to do.
Liu Li looked dissapointed when she heard it was a simple question, not an order.
"...as I said, Master Ming, anything." She reaffirmed what she meant.
He sighed when he heard that.
"I see. Then let’s keep that in mind for evenings." At the end of the day, he can’t say no to a beauty like this.
Unlike the others, this one had thigh-length stockings, highlighting her long and sexy legs, accompanied by braids. Her left-side bangs were braided with a small blue ribbon; her hair had several of those as well.
She stood out from the rest in her own way.
’It reminds me of the main character cast... but hell, this sect is full of people who could be part of it.’
Ye Ming’s values are from his old world... what he means by that is that ’gorgeous and beautiful’ girls are the main cast. Like all those movie stars, but here...
He hasn’t seen a mediocre girl, looks-wise, before... sure, there are the ones who have characters as plain as cardboard or are bimbos, but he doesn’t mind having his way with those.
So it is a bit hard to tell who can be the main cast and who can’t.
Those six...five? Jiang Mengxue’s girls all have a story to tell.
"As you wish, Master Ming. What are your plans for the day?" She asked him, hoping to see some alchemy.
"...Cultivate... last night proved to me that I need a stronger body."
As he said that, he finally left the bed.
Liu Li’s eyes widened as she immediately looked away, and a deep blush appeared on her cheeks.
Ye Ming picked up his clothes from the ground and dressed.
Moments later, she could look at him once more. Her shock returned with force when she saw him pop a Qi Gathering pill like it was a snack.
’O-Only an Alchemist would treat pills like an afternoon snack!’
All of a sudden, he dropped to the floor and began to refine all of the new energy.
"Phew... much better."
He declared after finishing the refinement.
Liu Li looked at him patiently as he finished.
"Are you going to cultivate the whole day?" She asked him. The girl was thinking of joining him.
"...Hmm, there is something that you can help me with."
The Fallen Princess perked up; this was her moment.
"What do you want me to do?" She asked him.
"Well, there are a couple of things." Ye Ming pondered while stroking his chin. He wanted to test something out.
His cultivation has doubled, and he wants to see if it will affect his martial arts.
"...What specifically?" Liu Li asked curiously.
"You know Cloud Sword Style?"
"Of course."
Cloud Sword Style is the only Martial Art in Cloud Sword Sect that is a Houtian Rank. The rest of them are simple Mortal arts.
"Then teach me."
Ye Ming never had a chance to learn; no Outer Sect Members can learn it. They are simply not worth learning the core techniques.
"If this is what you want, I shall teach you then... but... do know that I do not understand all of the routines yet." Liu Li accepted his request, but he could see she wasn’t confident in her skills.
From what Ye Ming understands, Mortal Arts are very basic, simple routines synchronised with Qi, whereas Houtian Rank Techniques have ’meanings’ behind them.
Then, the fabled Xiantian Techniques, which, according to the elders, have glimpses of Martial Intent. What comes after that, Ye Ming can only guess from all the books he read in his previous world and draw some sort of conclusion...
Immortal? Divine? Some Martial Lord? Could be one, or could be all of them... or none, and something entirely different.
"It’s fine. All I want to see is if I can draw some insights into how my Martial Talent is after cleansing my meridians."
Liu Li perked up when she heard that.
"Of course, let’s go outside and see for ourselves."
"Indeed."
Ye Ming took his standard-issue training sword that was gathering dust and followed after the eager Fallen Princess.
~~~
Cloud Sword Style is considered a flowing sword technique.
It was originally a Xiantian Rank martial art created by the Founder Jian Xuan. The Founder was never able to produce another Xiantian; thus, after his death more than two thousand years ago, the technique degraded due to infighting and the destruction of the original jade slip containing it.
After the infighting ended, the sect could only recreate the technique to Houtian Rank, with the core piece of the Intent behind it missing, since they had never grasped it.
’At least this is the story they told us.’
Ye Ming stroked his chin as he watched Liu Li demonstrate it.
"..."
"..."
"..."
’I don’t understand jack shit... all I see is moves...’
The Fallen Princess stopped several times as she looked at her Master Ming.
His expression made her embarrassed; he seemed confused and aimless, clearly not knowing what was going on.
"...I-I am sorry... I am not talented enough, Master Ming!" She exclaimed, then looked away in shame.
"Hmm? No, it’s not you; I was stupid to believe I could learn something just from watching." He shook his head while walking over to her.
"Liu Li, you will guide, while I will do the swings."
"Y-Yes, as you wish." She swiftly nodded as she waited for him to walk over.
He then tried to copy her; this was where she tried to repeat what the Instructors taught her.
Sure enough, Ye Ming was going through the motions with Liu Li as she showed the style.
...
...
...
"This is where you channel your Qi midswing, building up the momentum." The Fallen Princess instructed him.
Mid-swing, the Alchemist realised something. All of the motions, the way he uses the blade, reminded him of the way wind moves.
He has seen wind gusts many times in his past life and here too. But that’s not it; he has seen extremes as well.
Like a tornado...
’The wind influences clouds; there wouldn’t be moving clouds if not for the wind.’
Liu Li stopped in her tracks as she realised that Ye Ming didn’t need guidance anymore. They only went through the motions a couple of times, and she showed Qi flow a couple of times, where to release and where to build up...
’His Qi is surging... wait... isn’t this... Technique Manifestation?’
Technique manifestation happens when one understands the technique to its core! It’s one of the prerequisites to achieve the Xiantian Realm of the Art.
Techniques are not ’set’; they can improve or degrade. Martial artists can add their understanding, passing it down as a legacy.
The Fallen Princess was speechless. He picked it up from her with just a few demonstrations!?
Before long, she saw ghostly images of clouds building up around him. It was barely visible, but she saw Qi around him reacting to his intentions.
"...Amazing..."
’His understanding of the technique is far greater than mine, but...’
The girl couldn’t understand how this happened. She has been practising this art for a few years, yet he achieved more in a couple of minutes than she did in years...
"Huh... so that’s how it works..." Ye Ming stopped as he looked around. He noticed the clouds and his Qi...
’It’s stimulated... like a pressure cooker or a volcano?’
’If I use Qi in a specific manner, utilise my memories and knowledge...
So my knowledge is similar to intent and the laws...
If I utilise it properly, the only issues I will ever have are Qi circulation.’
The Alchemist concluded, but this was too early; he needed to practise more to get a definitive answer.
Eventually, he looked at Liu Li, who was gawking at him with a slightly open mouth.
He walked over and used his hand to close her mouth. That snapped her out.
"H-How... this is... unheard of!"
"You could say that my comprehension is not bad."
"No bad!? You learned what I couldn’t in years! I learned the first moves when I was twelve, and that was six years ago!" The proud girl complained a bit. She was annoyed by the lack of progress in her martial arts!
"Well, it’s that you haven’t had a great teacher who can guide you." He gently took her hand.
"Let me show you a bit what each move means." The Alchemist whispered to her.
The close proximity to him caused her to blush, but she tried to focus.
"This is Cloud Sword Style. It’s all about how the wind is moving the cloud. The gusts of wind."
He explained how each swing represents a specific ’wind’ that moves the ’clouds’.
Midway, Liu Li forgot he was close and got sucked into the art she had been practising for years.
This time around, all of those swings, swirls, uppercuts, and down cuts made... sense.
Before long, she just stopped, and something inside of her got unravelled.
"...I... just broke through." There was a look of pure surprise on her face as she looked at her hands.
"... I see... stimulation is an answer as well. Even if meridians are not cleansed." Ye Ming commented on his observations.
"Amazing! Master Ming! You are simply amazing!" The girl ignored the circumstances and jumped into his hands. Though she didn’t slam into him as she had with her sword, she tried to lean the best she could.
"... Yes..." He needed to watch his sword, as this girl had just started acting silly.
But then she quickly realised how she was acting and swiftly pulled back.
"...M-My apologies..." The Fallen Princess used her free hand to play with her hair as she looked away.
"I don’t mind that, just don’t do that with a weapon in your hand." He shook his head for a second. It’s not that he minds the contact, but the contact with a weapon is a bit different.
"R-Right... w-we can return to practising, right? It helps your cultivation as well!" Liu Li suggested continuing
"Yes, you are right." Ye Ming nodded, but then they got interrupted by a bubbly voice.
"M-Master Ming! Liu Li! Something major happened!" The pair looked toward the source of the voice; a girl had just popped up not far from their location, clearly having rushed to see them.
"...Yunyan?" Liu Li looked confused. What happened?