The short version? I was stuck. It was a vicious circle. In four months, I'd gained only one level. That was genius speed. My milf was more than satisfied. But I was still progressing more slowly than Xia Qingyue. Yun Che wasn't even worth mentioning.
Here was the vicious circle. To speed up, I needed to raise my understanding of the Frozen Cloud manual. To understand the manual and advance to a higher stage, I needed control. And practitioners only gained even minimal control in the True Profound Realm.
Where did my guesses about control come from, and what conclusions did I eventually reach? Simple. The fourth stage of Frozen Cloud was lotuses. Ice lotuses. At the fifth stage, however, a disciple learned to control cold energy more precisely.
What did they do here to train that? Sent the disciples hunting. While hunting, the disciples would naturally use their strongest attack—in other words, Ice Lotuses. Meaning, whether you wanted to or not, you'd practice that skill. And that was precisely the trick.
What was the simplest lotus? Four crooked ellipses you could just about mistake for petals. And after that, your soul wouldn't let you stop there. The senior disciples' lotuses had dozens of carefully worked petals. Beautiful, no denying it.
In reality? It was control training. The simplest kind, using a single example, but still control training. Preparation for the fifth stage, when you could make a lotus or an elephant out of your ice, whatever you wanted. But first—lotuses. Clever!
But that didn't help me at all. I still had no control, same as before. I thought about this direction for a long time too, and honestly, you didn't need to be a genius to understand it. Development in this world stood on three pillars: energy, body, and soul. The Elementary Realm trained the body specifically. The Nascent Realm trained energy—in other words, the profound veins. Guess which pillar got leveled next?
So the soul was responsible for control. And profound energy at the True Profound Realm somehow nourished the soul, making it... denser? Stronger? Bigger? Question: how do you level up the soul? I had an answer: the Udumbara flower. Except there was no fucking way to reach those flowers. So I had to work backward. If the soul improves control, then control should logically improve the soul, right?
And I'd wanted so badly to refuse all these lotuses. Nothing to be done. I had to sit down and make them. At first, mine really were those same four crooked ellipses. Granted, considering how much energy I pumped into it, that half-assed little flower could easily wound an Earth Profound Realm practitioner. So, my goal was to make the flower prettier. All that remained was the small matter of not murdering anyone out of rage, because absolutely nothing worked. At first. But patience and hard work helped me. I abandoned ordinary cultivation and focused on little flowers. Doesn't sound great, but it is what it is.
For hours, I created one lotus after another, focusing as hard as I possibly could each time. My head split with pain, but the work slowly moved forward. A month later, I had eight petals. That even had some symbolism to it. Qianhui told me about that. Turns out a lotus wasn't considered even remotely complete until it had at least five petals. Four didn't count. My milf had already resigned herself to my quirks and understood that I'd do whatever I thought necessary, and that I did get results, even if through... Well, you get it.
I also went hunting with the other disciples. The senior disciples quickly reported to the fairies that although my realm was low, my combat power wasn't weak. Well, yes. Profound energy might not come easily to me, but when it came to body tempering, I was a genius among geniuses. The third stage of the Great Way of the Buddha is very respectable, believe me. That's the combat power of an Earth Profound Realm practitioner. So they started sending me hunting with the senior disciples, now under the fairies' supervision.
There was only one complaint: they didn't like that I wasn't using the little flower in battle. Without that, there would be no development. Skills are honed in combat. Fair enough—adrenaline can do a lot. The only problem was, I had no adrenaline. Earth Profound beasts couldn't even scratch me. I was too fast. Even without skills. The Rage God's inheritance had given me a lot in that regard.
So I preferred sitting in my room and churning out flowers. And pestering my milf, or flirting with the twins. I didn't get along particularly well with the other fairies. More precisely, they tried not to pay attention to me. As for the Palace Mistress, I kept my distance from her because she clearly didn't like me. Really, really didn't like me. Nothing to be done about that.
Good news: after eight petals, my cultivation speed shot up by around forty percent, which showed just how right I'd been. Bad news: nine petals became my limit. Apparently, my soul simply couldn't cope with a greater load. My vision darkened; once I even lost consciousness. And a strong body couldn't help with that at all.
The solution was right in front of me, but:
"Absolutely not."
"Qianhui, this is very important."
"Not up for discussion until you at least reach the Spirit Profound Realm."
"I won't reach it if things keep going exactly like this. And you know I'm not an idiot. If I say I need to take the trial, that means it's the optimal choice."
"Can't you wait a couple of years? You're already moving too fast. And all of us are getting stronger too. I don't have that long left until my breakthrough."
"That's true. But after that it'll be harder. The Tyrant Profound Realm isn't something you can just skip through easily. And even if you manage the unthinkable and race through the entire realm in a few years and reach the Sovereign Profound Realm, that still won't help us. Our enemies have practitioners at the peak of the Sovereign Profound Realm."
"But your scheme is insane. That inheritance won't accept you. You're too weak."
"Now that I'd argue with. The Primordial Azure Dragon values physical power more than profound energy."
"Fine. Very well. With you, at least, everything is more or less clear. But you want to drag the girl along with you. Why?"
"Because it'll benefit her too. She'll be able to progress faster. And it'll bind her to us more strongly."
Naturally, we were talking about Xia Qingyue. I wanted her to enter the trial with me, the way it happened with Yun Che, so the trial would be harder. After all, I wanted the dragon's full inheritance, including its soul.
"It's too dangerous."
"Come on, darling. Stop being jealous. You know you're the only one I love. And the girl needs progress."
"Shut up. Why don't I enter the trial instead?"
"Because then we'll all die. The level of the trial will depend on the level of our profound energy. In fact, the weaker my energy is, the better."
"Even so, it's too dangerous."
"I know. Of course I know. But even if I die, the girl will definitely get out. Even the dragon won't dare harm her. An ancient entity like that will see her fate and behave itself. Either way, the palace comes out ahead."
"It won't. You're far more valuable."
"Because you love me? Don't be selfish, darling."
"No, idiot. Because you can heal us."
"But that won't help you if we don't become stronger fast enough. Come on, Qianhui, just trust me. You've been told my combat power is at the Earth Profound level, haven't you?"
"Which is unbelievable. But even so, it's too dangerous. What if you encounter Sky Profound Realm opponents in the trial?"
"Then I'll have to tear every vein in my body and beat them. That would be even better."
"But you won't be able to protect the girl."
"I will. Don't even doubt it."
"I can't talk you out of this?"
"Not this time."
"Losing you would be an enormous blow to the palace."
"I know. And don't think I don't care about your home. Believe it or not, this palace has become home to me too."
"Especially my fairies, isn't that right?"
"Slander."
"Oh, really? So you aren't constantly flirting shamelessly with the twins?"
"I just say hello to them from time to time. Don't make things up. By the way, why are they so different from everyone else?"
"My theory is loneliness. They've never been lonely. They have each other, and that's all they need. They simply love each other too much."
"Now I feel sorry for the other fairies. Poor lonely girls."
"Of course, bastard. Why don't you go dispel their loneliness?"
"Can't. Such a pity, but I'm incapable of doing that. My heart is already occupied. One Great Mistress has taken up all the space in my poor little heart."
"When are you going to stop spouting this nonsense?"
"Never. Just accept it. Now give your permission and escort us. We won't get through on our own."
"Yes, yes, the flood dragons. I remember."
"And you should also remember that flood-dragon meat will be useful to your fairies. They have a good water attribute."
"When do you want to go?"
"Right now, for all I care. I can't get any stronger here."
"What if you focus on body tempering?"
"You've beaten me half to death yourself. It doesn't give the same results anymore."
Of course, I hadn't abandoned my main trump card. Every day, my milf or one of the fairies pierced me with icicles so I could activate the Great Way of the Buddha and develop it further. Unfortunately, reaching the fourth stage wasn't so easy.
"The Chu sisters will escort you."
"They might not be able to handle it."
"They might not have been able to before. I remember what you told me about Yuechan. But your treatment helped them. They became stronger and advanced in the Frozen Cloud technique. And Yuechan was alone back then."
"The risk isn't worth it. If fate repeats itself and one of the sisters is wounded, you do remember the only working treatment?"
"And you're against it?"
"Actually, yes. Strange as it sounds."
"Explain."
"The Azure Dragon's virgin seed doesn't just heal the body. It gives an enormous increase in strength, opens the acupoints, cleanses and widens the channels. And restores vitality. In short, I haven't been saving all of it for you for nothing. And this isn't a joke. It would actually benefit you enormously, especially if you're in the Tyrant Profound Realm."
"I understand. That really is very tempting, but if you ask me, I think fate should repeat itself."
"Excuse me?"
"If we don't count that girl, Xia Qingyue, then Yuechan is the most talented among us. A boost like that would be extremely useful to her, and she'd reach the Emperor Profound Realm very quickly, and then the Tyrant Realm."
"Yes, that would be perfect if we had time for it. But right now, we need to make you stronger specifically. You're the strongest in the palace."
"You're right about some things. But sometimes quality alone won't take you far. You need quantity too. Yuxian is talented, but she won't reach my level anytime soon. Yuechan, on the other hand, has the potential to catch up to me and even surpass me, especially if you help her."
"Does Fairy Chu herself even know about your plans?"
"Actually, yes. We discussed it. Yuxian was furious. But the sisters themselves took it calmly, just like all the other fairies. It's necessary for the survival of our palace."
"It isn't necessary. I know this sounds arrogant, but Qianhui, trust me: I'll keep you safe. This is my home too."
"I believe you. And yet the decision has been made."
"Did you find something out?"
"Yueli found that mine. It's enormous. If people learn about it—or rather, when they learn about it—neither the Blue Wind Empire nor our palace will survive. It's a terrible treasure. It doesn't matter whether it's the Divine Phoenix Empire or one of the Sacred Grounds. They won't leave witnesses. And far too many people would want to take my sect for themselves."
"So you decided to find an alternative solution?"
"Yes. I decided to look for another solution. Look." She dumped a stack of parchments onto the table.
And this was intriguing. Dozens of dual-cultivation techniques, ranging from trash to very respectable ones.
"You didn't buy all this yourself, did you?"
"No. We used intermediaries who died. And all of it was purchased in other empires. You'll be able to study it all and create something better."
And I started thinking. I understood the concept itself. Before, I'd wondered why this shit worked. Where did the extra energy come from? But after studying the technique I already had, I understood. Cultivation speed increases during the process. Very roughly: imagine a practitioner is an antenna that only catches certain frequencies. I can't absorb all qi, can I? But two antennas don't just catch twice as many frequencies—they catch far more. That's how it works. Study a pile of techniques in this direction and compile something decent? I thought I could handle that. Not easily, not instantly, but it was possible.