Back in the guest quarters, my thoughts turned to my recent conversation with Wei Lin, and I let out a heavy sigh.
The original plan had been pretty simple: get the wind essence and leave the next day. But now Wei Lin wanted to stay longer. He was convinced that his father was finally warming up to the idea of him and Lin Mei being together.
If only he knew the truth; that Wei Ye was far more interested in me than his son’s relationship.
Not that I could even tell him that.
Like, how do you explain to your friend that his father, a man who supposedly had no cultivation base, could somehow track high paced qi movements like an expert cultivator? But what was more concerning was how he seemed to recognise something about the combination of the two suns’ energy.
No, it was probably better to keep those suspicions to myself for now.
Besides, with everything Wei Lin had done and gone through to help me acquire the wind essence, the least I could do was support his desire to stay a few more days.
“Master,” Azure called out, pulling me away from my thoughts. “Will you be attempting the breakthrough now?”
Feeling uneasy, I glanced around the guest room.
Wei Ye’s strange interest in me was concerning, and attempting a breakthrough in his compound might not be the wisest choice, but we couldn’t exactly leave now.
"I've checked for surveillance formations," Azure assured me. "I detect nothing unusual in either the room or the training ground."
As much as I trusted Azure, I knew that there were likely things in this world that even he couldn't sense. Formations could be incredibly subtle, especially advanced ones. And Wei Ye had already demonstrated capabilities beyond what his mortal merchant status would suggest.
But we’d already carved runes and had one breakthrough here. Another breakthrough wouldn’t reveal anything new. From the outside, it would simply look like I was meditating.
“There’s no point in delaying it,” I said finally, running my fingers over the jade box. “Who knows what will happen on our way back to the sect, walking around with a fifteen-foot stone guardian tends to make you a target.”
“But Master, won’t the others be suspicious of two breakthroughs in such a short time span?”
“Yeah,” I admitted. “Wei Lin and Lin Mei will probably worry I’m rushing things, and that my cultivation base isn’t stable enough.” My thoughts then turned to Wei Ye and the look in his eyes. “As for Wei Ye, he’s probably expecting a breakthrough. Everyone knows I needed the wind essence for my cultivation method, so it’s not unrealistic when I come out making another breakthrough.”
“Very well,” Azure replied. “Shall we begin.”
I nodded, making my way to private training ground. The surrounding plants immediately reacted to my presence. The vines curled protectively around me, leaves rustled without any wind, and flowers turned to face the little corner I had picked for the breakthrough.
Seeing their reactions brought a smile to my face, though it faltered when the memory of my vine from the Two Suns world came to mind.
“It’s okay, Master,” Azure consoled me, “you’ll see it again.”
“Yeah, I know…”
I shook my head to get rid of the depressing thoughts, then taking a deep breath, I opened the jade box.
Inside, the wind essence was barely visible. Rather than anything substantial, it looked similar to heat waves rippling through the air. Yet, I could still feel its power. It was wild and free. Eager to escape the confines of its container.
“Wind essence is different from the other elements,” Azure reminded me. “It doesn’t want to be controlled; it needs to be coaxed into following your intent. Think of it like…,” he paused, searching for the right analogy, “like trying to redirect a breeze without blocking it entirely.”
I nodded, reaching out with my qi to form the appropriate formation.
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When I had manipulated water essence, it had required flowing curves. While earth essence needed solid angles. As for wind essence, the lines kept trying to drift away and disperse, it was like trying to sketch smoke.
After some effort, I managed to create something that felt right. The new pattern before me somehow captured the essence of wind whilst also maintain its freedom of movement.
With a satisfied smile, I shifted my awareness to my inner world. As usual, the Genesis Seed floated in the centre, while the red and blue suns occupied opposite corners.
Their behavior brought a smile to my face.
Neither sun would look directly at the other, but they kept sneaking what they clearly thought were subtle glances. The red sun would show off by pulsing slightly brighter, only for the blue sun to release a wave of righteous energy that just happened to wash over its rival. Both would quickly look away whenever the Genesis Seed stirred, like children pretending they hadn't been fighting whenever a parent walked in.
When the wind essence entered through my formation, the Genesis Seed’s surface rippled. Clearly, its previous experiences with the other elements had taught it to be more discerning, but instead of immediately absorbing the essence, it looked like it was tasting it first, as though testing its properties.
As the Genesis Seed began to absorb the essence, the two suns watched with poorly concealed envy. For the moment, their rivalry was forgotten, and now united in their jealousy of the attention being given to another energy source, they drifted closer together.
The wind essence continued to integrate with my inner world, causing it to expand rapidly, but unlike previous expansions, where water had created currents and earth had tried to form terrain, the wind essence seemed to be everywhere at one. The void felt more alive as subtle currents and eddies formed.
The branches of the Genesis Seed swayed in winds that shouldn’t exist in the vacuum of my inner world, even the two suns were affected. Their coronas stretched and streamed in the ethereal breeze.
As the wind essence settled into place, my cultivation base strengthened, and when I opened my eyes, the status screen immediately appeared:
Cultivation: Qi Condensation Stage 5
Inner World: Radius of 40 meters
Soul Essence: 104
Spiritual Essence: 55
Physical Essence: 27
“If we take into account the rune enhancements, you should now be able to compete with a 6th stage Qi Condensation cultivator.”
I smiled at Azure’s analysis, but it was tinged with resignation. “But it’s still not enough to deal with Wu Kangming…”
Pushing those thoughts aside, I turned my focus to the next step.
“Okay,” I said to Azure. “Now that all the elements have been gathered, how do I create the terrain?”
“First, enter your inner world.”
“Enter?” I blinked in confusion. “I didn’t think I was anywhere near the cultivation level needed to physically enter my inner world.”
“Erm, why didn’t you tell me I could do this sooner?”
“Because there was no need before now.”
He did have a point.
“Fair enough.”
Closing my eyes, I focused on my inner world again, but this time, instead of just observing, I tried to condense my spiritual sense into a form that resembled my body. It wasn’t easy; the energy kept wanting to dissipate.
“Master, think of it like wearing clothes,” Azure suggested. “Your spiritual sense is the fabric, now shape it into something you can wear.”
With a nod, I imagined my spiritual sense wrapping around me in the same way as the familiar sensation of putting on my outer disciple robes.
After a few tries, I finally managed to create a stable form.
The change in perspective was incredible. Instead of looking down at my inner world, I was floating inside it, feeling tiny as the Genesis Seed towered over me like a mountain. The two suns couldn’t really be called miniature, they now looked like giant orbs, they regarded my spiritual form with obvious curiosity.
“What should we start with?”
“Let’s begin by talking about how the elements interact in world creation,” Azure replied. “Each one has a specific role, but without certain fundamental forces, they won’t behave like what you’re used to in the material world.”
He then began to break down the info into manageable chunks.
“The easiest element to work with is earth since it doesn’t rely much on other forces. We can use it to provide the foundation.”
“With water we can create rivers, lakes, and oceans, but it relies heavily on gravity, without it, it won’t flow naturally so we’ll need to manually define its behavior for now.”
“The same applies to fire, without gravity and proper atmospheric pressure, it won’t behave like normal fire. But we could probably use it as an energy source for volcanos and thermal systems.”
“As for air, it adds atmosphere, but without gravity, it won’t form natural wind patterns or pressure systems, so we’ll have to explicitly define air currents.”
“And finally, there’s Ether. This acts as the binding source, think of it like spiritual glue, it prevents the elements from dispersing into the void by helping hold everything together.”
“If gravity is the problem, why don’t we just get gravity first?” I asked, then answered my own question before Azure could respond. “Wait, let me guess, it requires understanding the Dao of Gravity?”
“Yes,” Azure agreed. “And at your level, trying to comprehend concepts like gravity would be a waste of time. It’ll be much easier when you reach higher realms of cultivation.”
True, better to consider which terrain to start with. Mountains would be impressive, but they'd need proper foundations. A lake might be nice, but without gravity, it would just be a floating sphere of water. Volcanos would be interesting, but again, they needed other systems in place to function properly.
No, I should start with the basics, something like a simple, flat ground. That would give me a foundation to build on. As for hills, valleys, and other types of terrain, that could wait until I understood how to properly manipulate earth essence.
“Ready?” Azure asked.
“Let’s build a world,” I smiled, feeling the earth essence stir in response.
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