Yin-Yang Balancing Pill

<<<Shin Akagawa>>>

After walking Xiao Ning'er back to the gate of the training grounds Shin wanted to offer to walk her back to her dorm but he knew that if someone saw them it would spell disaster for the girl so he simply waved at her and promised to see her the next day at the same hour and place.

'Or I guess it's later tonight…'

Seeing small rays of sunshine starting to appear in the sky he knew he took way too much time in this, even his previous objective of getting to 2-Star Bronze rank was delayed but he didn't feel angry or frustrated.

Lifting his hand he saw some small azure energy dance in his palm giving him an ice cold sensation, using a special technique that was normally used during the creation of a pill he was able to safely take the yin energy from Xiao Ning'er body without giving her too much pain but most importantly he now could store this yin energy inside his soul realm as for what changes it would bring even he didn't know.

His soul realm initially had the attributes of Fire, Water and Blood. Discarding the Blood attribute, he was born with a rare body capable of holding two contrasting energies inside. The Fire attribute filling him of Yang Energy and the Water attribute filling him of Yin energy had established themself in his soul realm without ever causing damage to it or him something that normally would be impossible.

Bringing his hand close to his chest he let the cold Yin energy enter his body before it was swept away by the soul energy moving from the Blood River Cultivation Technique.

Entering his Soul realm he saw the cold Yin energy move first toward the Water Yin energy but was immediately kicked away by the Fire Yang energy so it could only move aimlessly for some time until it got in contact with the small air current that circled Shin's soul realm.

The Wind and the cold Yin energy met as they immediately fuse together, under Shin's eyes the two energy became one while still holding onto their two different attributes creating a small wind-storm in the 'sky' of the soul realm.

Exiting his soul realm Shin took out his soul crystal as he checked for his soul attribute and to his surprise along with the Fire, Water, Blood and Wind attribute he now had even a little of Ice attribute as small as that may be.

'I guess we both benefited from this… No, maybe I gained a lot more.'

Thinking on what he should give to Xiao Ning'er as thanks for this he returned to his dorm, thankfully as he was already a 1-Star Bronze rank he didn't need much sleep so he didn't hurry back still basking in the feeling this encounter gave him.

<<<Apprentice Class, Shin Akagawa>>>

Getting to class he went to sit down in the back, fortunately Shien Xiu wasn't their only teacher so didn't have to stand in the back all day long.

Hearing the voices of the student rise in volume he looked at the door to see what was happening, there at the entrance he saw Xiao Ning'er enter calmly with an expressionless face.

Taking a couple of steps she immediately started to look around as if searching for something and as her eyes met Shin's she let out a surprised "Ah" realizing he saw her clearly searching for him as the first thing she did as she entered.

Shin was about to wave but stopped, he didn't mind if other people knew about their relationship but he didn't know whenever she was okay with it, after all it could lead to a lot of trouble with her family or the Sacred family.

Yesterday night while they were walking back she told him all about her situation and from his own information he already knew what the Sacred family did to her, after all she wasn't even the only one she just was the only one that came from a noble family.

Thinking that nodded his head toward her trying to not catch too much attention but to his surprise she waved happily toward him before starting to climb the steps that lead to his seat.

Ignoring the murmurs of the other students he concentrated more on the girl that was already halfway to reach his seat, looking at her he noticed some difference from yesterday.

Unlike her blue training dress from yesterday she was wearing a laced pink dress with some red accents with a gold cloth tied around her stomach and bust giving off a more delicate and warm feeling instead of the ice cold beauty she gave off normally.

Reaching his place she took out a small box from her spatial ring.

"Good morning Shin! This is the breakfast that I've made. I didn't know what you liked so I made a few sets."

The classroom went silent as everyone looked on at the two with big wide eyes even Shin was no exception as he simply looked between her and the small box covered in a cloth that was now resting on the table in front of him emitting a delicious smell reminding him that he hasn't eaten anything since yesterday lunch.

"Sure, here take a seat."

Moving a little to the left he left a seat for Ning'er who happily sat down with him before she started to open the box.

The two ignore the looks that were sent their way, especially the glare coming from a blue haired boy, Shen Yue, one of the seven direct descendants of the Sacred family.

'How could she go and sit down with that guy when she is betrothed to Elder Brother?'

Thinking that he kept glancing toward the two as they ate their breakfast in peace while thinking whenever he should go tell this fact to his elder brother or not.

On the other side of a classroom instead a girl was also looking at the two but her eyes didn't contain any negative emotion. Instead she looked at the two with a distant look as only she understood what she was thinking at that moment.

"This is really delicious… I don't know what I'll pay to eat this kind of food every morning."

As Shin took another piece of food into his mouth he said so sighing in his mind, since he became the patriarch he developed a bad habit of skipping meals as he would always be occupied with something else and the rare time he actually ate something it would be a fasting pill that would get him all nutrients necessaries in a mouthful so he was not exaggerate when he said that.

Xiao Ning'er at his side could barely hide he blush as he held her chopstick near her face to use the sleeve as cover, she didn't remember the last time she ate with someone else let alone if she ever had cooked for someone else so she felt like in cloud nine seeing Shin happily eat all the food she made as she sang praise to her, so in a moment of boldness she replied in a low voice.

"If it's for you then you don't need to pay anything…"

Hearing her Shin gulped the food before smiling a little toward her.

"Oh? Then what do I have to do to have you cook for me everyday?"

Seeing the blush that she wasn't able to hide, Shin 's smile widened a little as he resumed eating.

'She's extremely bold sometimes but as soon as one counterattack she gets all embarrassed..'

Thinking that he couldn't help but find her amusing the more he got to know her.

After finishing the food Ning'er put everything in the spatial ring as she started to prepare to leave for her seat, she was extremely satisfied about this morning as the work that went into making these breakfast boxes wasn't wasted, but as she was about to stood up she stopped feeling an hand held her sleeve.

"Just stay here if you want, there's no reason for you to walk all the way back."

At first she planned to leave for her seat because she didn't want to come out as pushy but if he asked why would she refuse? Sitting down she took the opportunity to sit a little closer to him as she happily sighed, fortunately for her Shin didn't hear it as he saw another group of people enter the classroom.

Nie Li and his entire group arrived but stopped as they looked up toward the end of the classroom, there seeing Shin and Xiao Ning'er sitting closely together they stood there frozen for a moment, Nie Li and Shin gazing at each other's eyes.

The two seemed to have a silent conversation as Nie Li smiled with a big smirk on his face before he brought his group to sit down a little closer to the podium than normal.

Ignoring the smirking Lu Piao Shin turned to Xiao Ning'er as he was still sitting a little bashful while looking at her hands.

"Are you free this afternoon? I'll be preparing your pill later on so you can come with me so I can directly give them to you."

Hearing that Ning'er came out of her embarrassed state as she looked at Shin, just like he told her he took one of the pills he left her the other night and right now she couldn't even feel a little bit of pain so she already forgot that those were supposed to be temporary pill.

"Ah if that's the case I can also pay for them!"

Saying that she smiled, since he was treating her for free she was still feeling guilty over the fact that he would still pay for the pills because of that as she saw an opportunity to decrease that debt she took it without hesitation.

Shin looked at her with an amused smile as he agreed to her, surprising her at how easily he agreed.

"Alright then let's go after the lessons. Ah also can you inject some of your soul force in here?"

Taking out a soul crystal from his spatial ring he passed it to Ning'er who took it curiously, tilting her head she did as he told her as she saw the familiar azure light come out of it as she thought nothing of it.

'Winged Dragon form? Isn't this the same soul realm as the first patriarch of the Thunderbird clan?'

Seeing his surprised look as he looked at the crystal Ning'er couldn't help but be more confused and as he saw her looks he decided to not keep her in the dark.

"I'll fully explain it later when we are not in the classroom, for now just know that this is important to choose your cultivation technique."

"I'm going to change my cultivation technique?"

Nodding his head he pointed towards the bruise on her side.

"That bruise couldn't have gotten that big just from cultivating in the middle of the night for a couple of months, that is also a result of an incomplete and incompatible cultivation technique so we are going to get one that is more suited for you and from your soul form I already have one in mind."

'Even though I will have to ask for Eiko approval…'

What he had in mind was one of the secret cultivation techniques of the Thunderbird clan, the same cultivation technique that was used by the first patriarch and the same that was given as a gift from the founder of Fire Lotus City, each of the main clans has at least one of those but they normally spend their time hidden in some safe vaults waiting for the day that someone with the right soul forms and attribute would come to claim them.

The lesson continued calmly as nothing of note happened, Shin found it surprisingly comforting to have someone to speak to relieve the boredom during the small breaks they were given but even that wasn't able to make the lesson bearable.

'From tomorrow I'm skipping most lessons…'

Shin main objective was to make some connection with the future patriarchs or elder of the nobles families in Glory city but after seeing the class he really found anyone else worth the time, Other than Ye Ziyun, Xiao Ning'er and Shen Yue the other unfortunately would not even reach the gold rank in their life so he planned to cut his losses and proceed with another plan.

Leaving the classroom with Ning'er at his side did have the result of not having a small amount of eyes on them but Shin didn't care, since Ning'er didn't try to hide it. Why should he?

"Where are we going first? The market or the Alchemy Trade Hall?"

Hearing her question he turned away trying to show his face, when she asked to pay for the ingredients and pills he immediately agreed since he already had all the ingredients.

"Ah I have to go take something from my dorm, do you want to come with me or do you want to meet in the same place as yesterday?"

Dodging Ning'er question, he turned to her having already schooled his expression to his usual one. Ning'er on the other hand was in conflict with herself, she knew Shin didn't mean anything by asking her to go to his dorm but she couldn't help but start to imagine things that shouldn't be said out loud.

Shaking those thoughts out of her mind she gave her answer while suppressing the blush that was threatening to come out.

"No, I'll accompany you to your room."

So the two walked all the way to Shin dorm, he still had a couple of hours before the arranged meeting with Nie Li and his group because of that he wasn't in any hurry.

Reaching his dorm he opened the door of the small house, for the students who were part of the nobles families they were given a small house to stay along with an even smaller courtyard but even that was a lot better than the accommodations of normal commoners as some of them even had to share a single room.

Looking to his left and right he saw the other houses as they were all built in the same area only dividing the boys' residence separated to the girls.

The house had four rooms in total, a kitchen, a bathroom, a bedroom and a single empty room normally used to cultivate.

"Get comfortable, I'll start making the pills."

Ning'er, who was looking around in curiosity, perked up at his statement.

"Making?"

Instead of answering Shin took a small cauldron from his closet, the cauldron was dark grey in color and about the size of a big pot used in cooking.

"Wait… You're an alchemist!?"

Ning'er gasped as he started to take out various herbs from his spatial ring as he sat down in the middle of the empty room with the small pot right in front of him almost between his legs.

"Yes, I'll be making your pills first, then I have to make some more, so please be patient for a moment."

Instead of starting immediately like Ning'er thought he would do he instead closed his eyes and took a deep breath, while he has been studying alchemy from when he was young he only recently started making pills because of that he still had to first stabilize and calm his soul force before doing anything as he didn't want to waste his own materials.

Opening his eyes he first looked at a small black herb reminding him of the dark black sky during the night. This herb was called Midnight Herb and was one of the main ingredients for most of the recipes in the Fire Lotus City thanks to its healing effects.

Picking it up he started by dropping it inside the pot before adding some water, his soul force moved to surround the bottom of the pot as the water started to boil while the herb itself was rapidly dissolving inside the water changing its color.

Moving his hands quickly he took two other ingredients, one was a bottle containing a bright azure liquid while the other was a red flower, the pill he was trying to make was called Yin-Yang Balancing pill and was perfect to help Ning'er stabilize her soul realm without causing too much damage.

Dropping the azure liquid inside the pot he moved his soul force to surround the flower and with a bright light the flow lit on fire as the stem was burned away in a second.

Putting away the now empty bottle he concentrated on the flower, stopping it from completely burning away before he gently placed it on top of the water inside the pot.

Shin soul force started moving in a circle motion as the flower who was floating on top of the water started spinning changing the water color as it was half azure half red.

Putting the lid on the pot he closed his eyes as he started the final step, his soul force retracted inside his soul realm for a second before coming out even more violently than before. Ning'er, who till now observed with bated breath saw the normal azure soul energy come out in a deep crimson, the room heating up quickly as the pot trembled.

This scene continued for some time before the pot stopped trembling, Shin stayed for a couple more seconds with his eyes closed before he opened them exhaling a breath he didn't know he was keeping.

"Is it done?"

At Ning'er question he turned to her before giving a positive smile, opening the lid a fragrant smell spread out covering the room, not resisting her curiosity she walked closer to see what was inside the pot.

There inside she could see at least eight to ten pills, all of them were a beautiful violet color, even she could see that these weren't low grade pills.

Taking them out Shin placed all but one in a small box before closing it and giving it to her.

"Make sure to take one before going to sleep…"

Once again emotion overcame her as she barely held up, she never knew she missed having someone care for her until this moment. Lightly biting her lip she nodded gratefully as she placed the box inside her spatial ring.

"Now, for what I told you before. We are going to change your cultivation technique but will that be alright? Your clan won't make it difficult for you because of that right?"

He mostly asked that because he knew of some families that would let their members only practice curtain technique or use only certain weapons. He didn't want to cause her much trouble just for this.

"No it's fine, they won't even notice it since they never checked much about what technique I practiced."

Shin didn't like how she said that but continued, explaining to her what Soul forms and attributes. Shin admitted that it was extremely amusing how she reacted to the news but not as amusing as when he explained what type of soul form she had and what type of cultivation he planned to have her practice.

"...That's why for now I'll have to wait for an answer from a clan member but for now you can train with this, as for this other book… It's your choice whether you want to train in it or not."

The first book he gave her was the Seizing Moon Cultivation Technique, He was actually surprised at how little he was against giving her this sort of cultivation technique, he didn't know whenever he was trusting her this much just because he fancied her or for some other motive but he didn't plan on back down.

'If she causes trouble later on I'll deal with it.'

Maybe it was something that one day would lead him to a dangerous situation but he didn't mind trusting some people as long as he had a positive assessment of them.

The second book was actually the Prime Titan Body Technique, while powerful, if one wanted to train with it they would also need to consume some special type of pills or they would only be able to train it up to the first stage.

"The first one is important that you completed the first stage before reaching bronze rank as for the other one… That's a body cultivation technique you can train on it or not, it's your choice but if you do tell me as you will need some other pill to reach the later stages."

As Shin expected this was too much seeing her trying to keep up brought a strangely familiar feeling in him but shaking his head he simply took the single pill he kept outside as he handed it out to her.

"Take your time to think about it, you can even give them back later on if you think they are too much, for now take this pill I'll take the opportunity to help you with the bruises right now as I will be busy tonight."

She was about to say something to him but stopped as Shin simply pushed the pill on her lips to stop whatever complaint she was about to say.

"I'll hear you out later and I'm sorry but I just realized I'm a little pressed for time right now."

Giving up she took the pill, embarrassed at the action, before she started to take out her clothes as her embarrassment reached a new high level never recorded before.

It was only as she was dripping down her dress that she realized what sort of action she was doing in a man's room, she didn't even notice when they moved to his bed.

Covering most of her stomach and font part of her body with the dress she turned around giving plenty of space to Shin so that he could start his treatment on her bruise but as she didn't feel him move for a couple of seconds, turning around curiously she saw a sight that would be remembered to her for the rest of her life, standing with wide open eyes Shin covered half of face as he tried, but failed miserably, to hide his blush as he didn't know where to look.

"..:Sorry, I didn't think that far ahead when I told you we will be doing the treatment here…"

Ning'er couldn't believe her eyes as she saw him flushed for the first time since they met but then she thought back at how he, just like her, was also a fourteen/fifteen year old kid.

Moving a hand in front of her hand, she tried to suppress a giggle but failed miserably as she went from giggling to a heartful laugh.

Seeing her laugh so happily Shin pouted before with a smirk he pinched lightly her side, making sure to not hurt her as she stopped with a 'eek' before turning to Shin with a pout.

"Sure sure laugh all you want but don't blame me for retaliating."

Seeing look at her with a joking smirk made her feel strange, for the first time in months or years she truly felt happy and relaxed, she didn't even know him for much but she already knew he became an important part of her life, a beacon of light in the dark path she has been walking as she always prepared to fight for her freedom against her own family and the Sacred family.

The room fell into a comfortable silence as Shin started treating her, none of the two said a word and they didn't even need to as just the presence of the other was enough to calm them.

<<<Library, Shin Akagawa>>>

After finishing his treatment, the two separated as Shin sent Ning'er to rest and calm her soul force even under the light protest of the girl.

Entering the library he walked directly to the place of yesterday as he saw the group silently cultivating, to his surprise he could feel a lot of improvement from before as their soul force was rapidly reaching the bronze rank.

Opening his eyes, Nie Li looked at Shin with a surprised expression before smiling at him.

"Yo Shin! You still came to the library?"

Hearing his voice the others also stopped cultivating as they greeted him.

"I was for sure you would be spending some more time with the goddess."

As he saw Lu Piao teasing smirk he couldn't help but roll his eyes, before giving him a small smack on the back of his head.

"I promised that I would come today and I always try to honor my promises."

Ignoring Lu Piao who kneeled in pain Shin took out a small box similar to the one he gave Ning'er, inside there was one of the specialties of the Akagawa Clan.

"Here are some Soul Gathering Pills, I would give you the better version but you even I am too weak to take one at this moment."

The Soul Gathering Pill was a type of Soul Enhancing Pill that increased the cultivation speed by gathering soul force, it was the lowest level of its type making it also the cheapest and the most used for people that were or were about to enter the Bronze rank.

"I don't have many with me so for the moment take this, when you finish them tell me and I'll give you more."

After seeing their improvement he was even more willing to give these pills as investment, none of the guys seemed like the type that would not repay favors the stunt they pulled the first day was already proof of that.

'They all are the type of person that would swim to hell and back for their friends and family.'

And he was immediately proven correct as Du Ze bowed to him before he looked him straight in the eyes.

"Shin, this favors you gave us today, I will not forget it. In the future if you ask me to lay my life for you I'll do it without hesitation!"

Sure they may have been just words to please him but Shin was satisfied anyway.

"Don't worry I'll never ask you that, as long as you help protect Glory city and don't betray us Humans then you will be fine."

After talking with them for a little longer he left the library, seeing their progress brought back the feeling of urgency he almost forgotten since he met Ning'er, entering the training ground he directly walked to an empty spot before using a barrier type inscription scroll to protect the place, after all he was here just for one reason.

"Today I'll finally reach the 2-Star of the Bronze rank!"

Closing his eyes he sat down in the middle as he started cultivating under the moonlight.