3 Return to Form

"Alright, let's start with getting my cultivation back," Issei stated as he plopped down onto his bed. The red gauntlet on his arm vanished, but his connection with Ddraig remained.

"Good luck, partner." The heavenly dragon encouraged his host. "The faster you reach the Soul Formation realm, the sooner I can start my own cultivation."

Issei chuckled at Ddraig's rather blatant statement.

Due to the fact that he was currently still bounded to the Boosted Gear, Ddraig was unable to cultivate. The system behind the Sacred Gears prevented him from doing so.

While in the Immortal World, the duo had discovered a failsafe implanted into the Boosted Gear. The failsafe was there in order to prevent Ddraig from escaping. Unfortunately, this also prevented Ddraig from strengthening himself. Without a suitable power base, bypassing the failsafe was all but impossible. Even in a world of Immortals, the power of the Biblical God was not to be underestimated.

In order for Ddraig to begin his own cultivation journey, Issei first needed to reach the Soul Formation realm. It was only at that realm would Issei possess the necessary power needed to isolate Ddraig from the Boosted Gear's fail-safe.

"Have you decided what technique to cultivate?" The red dragon asked.

"Well, I was originally going to just stick to my old cultivation technique, but maybe it's time to try something new."

In the past, Issei mainly cultivated a technique called the Burning Tempest Divine Art. It was a void-ranked technique that centered around the dual elements of fire and lightning. The technique gave its practitioner unrivaled speed and destructive power.

Issei had stumbled upon the divine art during his early years in the Immortal World. Calling it a fortuitous encounter would not be inaccurate. With it as his foundation, Issei was pretty much unrivaled within his own realm. He was even strong enough to fight guys a realm or two above him. The number of death threats he received from those envious of his technique was also not small.

It was certainly a great technique for any cultivator to practice, but truth be told, Issei had accumulated quite a few techniques that were of comparable quality to the Burning Tempest Divine Art.

As it turns out, the foundations of the Immortal World ran deep. It was filled with several hidden realms and trial grounds, each containing their own unique fortuitous encounters. Issei had robbed most of those places blind. The number of void-ranked techniques that he had accumulated over the years would have made any Sect Master green with envy.

Unfortunately, despite all of his success, Issei was but one man. Even if he had wanted to, it was simply impossible for one man to cultivate so many void-ranked techniques at the same time. That's why he stuck to the Burning Tempest Divine Art. In a sense, he had settled for the technique.

With his cultivation base reduced back down to zero, Issei could start fresh with a new technique. Out of all the techniques that he possessed, there was one in particular that interested him.

It was a cultivation technique that Issei himself had created.

During his ascension into the Nihility Realm, Issei had been fortunate enough to enter a state of Enlightenment.

Enlightenment was something very rare and very beneficial to cultivators. Few could achieve it, but those that did were usually praised by the world over as peerless, era-defining geniuses.

The reversal of life and death, the consecutive ascension of multiple realms, the overnight comprehension of cryptic long-lost techniques... these were but a few of the many miracles attributed to Enlightenment.

One of the most famous legends in the Immortal World told of how a non-cultivator entered a sudden state of Enlightenment. After meditating underneath a Bodhi tree for seven days and seven nights, the man awoke as a cultivator. Not only that, but he had jumped all the way up to the Saint Sovereign realm, becoming a peerless powerhouse that few could hope to rival.

Issei's own form of Enlightenment did not really benefit his cultivation level. Instead, it was as if his mind had been pried open. At the time, it seriously felt as if no knowledge was beyond his reach and no secret was impossible for him to uncover.

He used the opportunity to create new cultivation techniques and martial skills.

The greatest of his new techniques was the one that Issei currently wanted to practice.

The transmigrator firmly believed that the new technique that he had created surpassed the rank of Void. This was a bit crazy to think about, considering the fact that within the Immortal World, it was a firmly held belief that the highest rank a cultivation method could achieve was Void.

It was a cultivation technique that seamlessly combined several dozen different techniques into one.

Of the many techniques that went into its creation, there were six in particular that stood out. These six acted as the core, the foundational tenants to which the rest of the technique was supported on. They included: the Burning Tempest Divine Art, the Boundless Gluttony Scripture, the Asura Path of Domination, the Draconic Calamity Demonic Manual, the Nine Wives Extreme Bliss Sutra, and the Undying Heretical God Sutra.

The Burning Tempest Divine Art was Issei's original cultivation method. It was a reliable technique that gave one unparalleled speed and destructive power.

The Boundless Gluttony Scripture was a void-ranked technique that allowed one to 'consume' virtually anything for the benefit of their cultivation. From Pure Yang Qi to literal human feces, nothing was off-limits for this technique. A practitioner could theoretically still cultivate even in a world devoid of Qi by simply consuming the very matter around him.

The Asura Path of Domination was an overbearing technique that primarily focused on the art of war. It was probably one of the most powerful offensive cultivation techniques within Issei's entire collection.

The Draconic Calamity Demonic Manual was a demonic cultivation technique that could apparently transform its practitioner into an avatar of calamity. It also had a dragon motif, so Ddraig liked it.

The Nine Wives Extreme Bliss Sutra was the technique that Issei almost destroyed his cultivation base for.

It was a dual cultivation technique fit for any aspiring Harem King. Maximum efficiency with the technique could only be achieved through the gathering of nine females and one male. What's more, it was extremely compatible with other cultivation techniques. A woman could practice even the most garbage of cultivation techniques and even then, both her and her partner would still achieve amazing results.

Such was the power of this godly technique.

The last technique was the Undying Heretical God Sutra. It made you unkillable or something.

Issei's new technique incorporated all the good bits, skimmed off some of the fluff, and got rid of the drawbacks. In his eyes, the technique was quite literally perfect.

He called it… the Harem King Divine Art.

"Issei, I swear to God— you are not calling it that!" Ddraig frustrated voice snapped him out of his reverie.

"What, why not!?" Issei complained. "I made it myself, I should have the right to name it whatever I want."

"No, Issei, just no. I refuse to be associated with someone who practices a technique with such a ridiculous name."

"You're just being small-minded. It's the perfect name for such a perfect technique. It represents my beliefs, it encapsulates my ideals. It is my essence distilled into one compact package. My very Dao is that of the Harem!"

"No such Dao exists, you idiot! We've already talked about this. Just call it by the other name that we agreed to."

"I did not agree to that name! Besides, that one's no good."

"What's wrong with the name?" Ddraig sounded indignant, like Issei had just sacrificed his firstborn to the Devil-levels of indignant. "I think that the Ultimate Conquering Draconic Inferno Devil Dragon Divine God Art is a perfectly acceptable name."

Issei rolled his eyes. "It's childish and far too long-winded."

"Most of the names in the Immortal World were like that!"

"No, they really weren't, Ddraig." Issei shook his head. "Just drop it. This technique is called the Harem King Divine Art, and nothing you say will change that! Now quit bothering me, I have to cultivate."

He shooed the old dragon away. For his part, Ddraig let out one final huff before his consciousness vanished back into the Boosted Gear.

With that out of the way, Issei prepared himself. He sat cross-legged atop his bed and steadied his breathing.

This was it.

It was time for him to take the first step towards the path of cultivation (for the second time). Hopefully, with a lot fewer assholes this time. He would show the world the might of the Harem King Divine Art! And with it, he would finally become a Harem King!

Issei wasted no time following the method described in the technique.

The first step was to open up the body. This was a relatively easy step thanks to Issei's previous experience as an expert cultivator. The moment he completed the step, he instantly felt the richness of the air. It was like sucking raw honey from a straw.

Earth was practically saturated in energy. The energy was a bit different from the Qi that circulated the Immortal World, but it was a marginal difference. Comparing the two would be like comparing waffles to pancakes.

What really surprised him was the sheer amount of energy in the air. The energy here on Earth was even greater than that of the Immortal World.

Then again, the Supernatural did exist here. Ddraig had even explained how Earth itself was connected to multiple smaller dimensions. That might have contributed to the mana-rich environment of the planet. Regardless, Issei was quite satisfied with this development. It meant that regaining his old cultivation level would not be as difficult as he initially expected.

After a brief pause to readjust himself, Issei quickly began absorbing the energy into himself.

He let out a surprised grunt as the energy practically rushed into his body. Issei abruptly cut off the connection. His lips twisted into a small frown.

Absorbing too much energy too soon wasn't really a problem for him. The Harem King Divine Art was flexible enough to absorb an obscene amount of energy with little-to-no trouble. Rather, he was afraid that absorbing too much energy all at once might attract the attention of the various supernatural forces within Japan.

He did not know how sensitive the supernatural forces of this world were, but it was best to err on the side of caution. The last thing he wanted was for someone to wonder why all the energy within Kuoh was suddenly being funneled into his bedroom.

That was just asking for trouble.

Issei tried again, this time, he managed to regulate the flow of energy into a steady stream. Despite the self-imposed restriction, the speed at which he gathered and converted energy into true Qi was still ridiculously fast. It was even faster than his previous cultivation speed in the Immortal World.

'As expected, the Harem King Divine Art truly is peerless.' Issei inwardly thought to himself in smug satisfaction.

After only fifteen minutes of cultivation, Issei broke through to the first stage of Qi Condensation!

When he opened his eyes again, he quickly noticed the black sludge-like substance that coated his body and stained his bed. In addition, a foul odor permeated his bedroom. Issei was not shocked by this development, although he was a bit surprised by the amount.

The black sludge was actually the impurities that his body had discharged during the cultivation process.

While he hadn't been grossly unhealthy prior to cultivating, his mortal body was not exactly in the best physical condition. It wasn't much of a surprise. After all, he spent most of his free time jacking off and watching porn.

'Still, for there to be so much…'

Issei let out a sigh. He should have cultivated in the bathroom or something. Now, he had to change his beddings and clean his room.

After that short interruption, Issei returned to cultivating. He could worry about the aftermath later.

The more he cultivated, the more of that sludge-like substance appeared all over his body. It leaked out from the pores of his skin and spilled out onto the fabric of his bed.

This was the key feature of the Qi Condensation realm. It was a cultivation realm that focused primarily on purifying the mortal body. Through cultivation, Issei was essentially cleansing himself of worldly pollution. The better the cultivation technique, the more thorough the cleansing.

And of course, there was no better technique than the Harem King Divine Art!

Three and a half hours passed. Issei broke through to the second stage of Qi Condensation.