Qi Gathering Realm

Wu Long spent the next week with a certain routine, as he continued his old morning routine with Ye Ling and Hua Ziyan, he added in teaching Yu Huan.

In truth, alchemy was too profound to improve one's skills as quickly as days or even weeks, but Wu Long did not raise Yu Huan's overall alchemy skill level by that much, what he raised was the skills that were required to produce two specific pills. This intense focus allowed her to make tremendous progress in relation to those two pills in a short timespan.

She understood that her use to him was only if he could get the benefits, so she did not protest prioritizing two pills that he needed, and it was not like her overall skills did not benefit from this at all. Quite the contrary, she made tremendous progress compared to how she learned and understood the Alchemy Dao before.

After a week, Yu Huan concocted the first of those pills, a pill he required to breakthrough to the Qi Gathering Realm.

After making preparations, he took the pill and circulated the Chaos Refining Body Tempering Art at his room in Ye family manor, as he felt the tyrannical power of the pill wreak havoc in his body. The pill Yu Huan made was designed by himself and required a few trials and errors, it contained a mixture of Yin and Yang attribute medicinal ingredients that were combined using the principles behind the Yin Yang Conversion Cauldron Body technique with a few twists on the original concepts, as well as stabilizing ingredients and methods.

In truth, creation of a new pill required not only an incredibly deep understanding of the Alchemy Dao, experience and insight, but also an exceptional talent and ingenuity, much like creation of new cultivation techniques or skills, or any innovation in cultivation, really.

After a whole day of meditation, a sound of something breaking could be heard out of his body and a profound ripple spread from Wu Long. He opened his eyes, and there was a relieved look in his eyes as well as some excitement. The medicine was experimental, and there was a slight chance that even with all of his calculations something might go wrong and he would not break through, in fact, the medicinal effect lasted just enough for him to pass through, and if he did not succeed in a few dozen more minutes, he would have required to try again. After each unsuccessful attempt, a bottleneck solidified, so he would need to create an even more powerful medicine and exert even more effort then.

He washed off the grime of impurities that covered his whole body like a second skin, but thicker, harder and exuding a nauseating foul smell, and felt refreshed and vastly more powerful.

His body completed the transformation by Spiritual Qi, and was now officially the body of a mortal cultivator. He could now store Spiritual Qi in his Dantian, and use it at will throughout his body. This gave him much more flexibility in controlling his strength, as well as allowing him to use various techniques he was not able to before. And although he could not yet manifest Spiritual Qi outside his body, he could perfectly control it within.

Usually, after stepping into this realm, cultivators would have to adjust to the feeling of having Spiritual Qi in the Dantian, learning how to control it and improving their control quality. But for Wu Long, he could minutely and thoroughly control the Spiritual Qi inside him to an astonishing degree of precision.

Ascending minor realms in the Qi Gathering Realm meant improving the capacity of the Dantian to hold larger quantities of Spiritual Qi, improving the speed the Dantian can gather Spiritual Qi at, as well as improving the body slightly to withstand the use of Spiritual Qi throughout.

He is currently 17 years old. In order to tailor the pill to his needs he had to measure his bone age with a spiritual tool, and it turned out he was 17. He was certain that he was 16 at the moment of his entrance to the Yin Yang Unity Palace almost 8 months ago as his age was measured in the sect at the time of his arrival, 5 months prior to his awakening. But he did not know his own birth date, so he could have turned 17 at any point in these 8 months.

He was way ahead of himself in his previous life on cultivation, which was a good start.

He took out nearly all Yang attribute medicinal herbs he had left and consumed them one after another, finally circulating his auxiliary cultivation technique, one of his proudest creations, the Golden Yang Dragon Body, enhancing his endurance, stamina, Yang Qi and Yang Root, and tempering his overall body.

As a dual cultivator, most of the cultivation techniques he used himself were body related, as for dual cultivators their body was their everything. It did not mean his knowledge was limited to these types of cultivation, he was known to be studious and research almost any knowledge pertaining to cultivation whenever he had a chance. He could not be compared, of course, to the renowned God of Knowledge, another 'God' title holder, but he was still known as a highly learned and knowledgeable expert.

When he next arrived at the Peacock Feather Trading Company, he noticed that the atmosphere here had imperceptibly changed. The workers seemed to become more energetic, and the business was busier.

When he arrived at Sui Luxiao's office she greeted him standing before her desk with crossed arms and slightly leaning her buttocks on the edge of the table, still with her haughty demeanor, but there seemed to be a slight change in her too.

Her husband stood beside her, as they seemingly were discussing some matters prior to his arrival.

"Here are your ingredients" she said, tossing him a spatial ring.

"Dear! He has not even told us what this 'treatment' of his is! We should…" her husband immediately cried out, but she shut him up with a wave of her hand.

Wu Long caught the spatial ring, and as he looked through the contents, he was slightly surprised as there were not only more than he asked for, but there were also many cheaper auxiliary ingredients for alchemy that are often paired with these ingredients.

"Very generous, you are not going to wait for the treatment to work?" he asked, slightly surprised.

"It is advanced payment, in any case, I already received more from you than you had from me" she said with a prideful look, as she did not require anyone's charity before, nor will she start doing so now.

"Hmm, and your son?" he asked, sparking immediate reaction from her husband as hatred and anger flashed through his eyes.

"Have been sent to a distant mountain villa. He will not be allowed outside and all people around him are my loyal subordinates, so they do not answer to his orders that are not related to his living in the villa" she said without batting an eye, staring at him with a dignified expression.

He nodded with understanding.

"The conditions have been met, so we should discuss the treatment. I will ask outsiders to leave now then" he announced.

"Hmph! Nonsense! This is related to my wife's health and well being! I have the right to be here for this discussion!" her husband immediately reacted.

Wu Long did not say anything further, still just looking at Sui Luxiao.

"...Suuu…haaa .... Huanzhan, leave us"

She stared at Wu Long for some time, before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, with both the inhale and exhale being long and audible, there seemed to be an effort to calm down, as the matter at hand was too important for her not to be nervous, and also preparation for a decision. She then gave out her answer to Wu Long's request while opening her eyes and looking intensely at Wu Long.

"But! But dear! Wh-What if he has some ulterior motives and harms you? You really are going to trust this bastard to…"

"Leave" she said with an icy tone that now contained some irritation.

"Dear…" he still tried to persuade her, and at this point she finally looked at him. This was not a gaze of a wife looking at a husband but a gaze an employer gave to a worker. Seeing this gaze, he dejectedly left, not forgetting to give another 'killing' look to Wu Long.

When he closed the door behind him, the anti-spying security formations activated again with a wave of Sui Luxiao's hand over the array on her desk and the room became soundproof and peeping-proof again.

"I would also recommend locking the door, that is, if you do not want to be interrupted mid-treatment", Wu Long said, causing her to raise a brow.

"You are going to do the treatment here? Now?" she asked, as she expected that they would only discuss the treatment, and would use another place, as well as there being needed special preparations.

When he nodded, she, although surprised and somewhat reluctant, waved her hand over the array on her desk again and a locking formation appeared over the door. She also touched a communication jade near the array to relay orders that she should not be disturbed.

After this was done, Wu Long nodded and started very slowly walking toward her.

"Your condition is actually quite common with women of power, you are accumulating too much Yin Qi, and not releasing it. With 'that' as a husband, I get it, but your condition is so severe because of two major reasons, one of which being that you do not view yourself as a woman anymore, more as a part of this" he said as he slowly closed their distance, while gesturing to the windows overseeing the hall below when he emphasized the word 'this'.

"Yin Qi? Nonsense! Why did so many renowned doctors not find anything wrong with me then, are you telling me they cannot even see such a simple problem despite being doctors in the cultivation world?" she rebuked, feeling somewhat betrayed as she, while being suspicious of him, did not really expect that he was lying to her about knowing what was wrong with her, as she was hoping he really had a cure for her. But now she felt that she was simply fed false hope.

"I already told you, your problem is more severe than the norm, usually this condition does not lead to such severe consequences, thus most of the time it does not require treatment, and therefore doctors simply do not get to encounter this problem.

You see, most of those who suffer this condition still view themselves as women, they may pleasure themselves sometime, or find temporary partners to alleviate their lust. You did not even consider yourself a woman since you started viewing the company as part of yourself, you instead melted into it, becoming albeit a crucial one, a cog in a giant machine that turns on and on without end.

But normally even if one did not relieve themselves this problem would only manifest itself in this severe form after many hundreds of years, but the average lifespan of cultivators in this world is just not that high for the problem to be widespread." he explained as he continued to approach her.

The first three Major realms of Body Transformation, QI Gathering and Qi Condensation actually did not have much effect on a person's lifespan, cultivators in this realm might live longer than common mortals but only because their cultivation makes them overall healthier and more fit.

Qi Manifestation Realm practitioners experience a massive jump of longevity since their physique receives a massive qualitative change. They are also the first ones to receive partial alleviation of mortal needs such as hunger, thirst and sleep. The maximum natural lifespan of Qi Manifestation Realm practitioners is around 500 years. With every consecutive realm in the Great Realm of Nine Mortal Realms adding on about 30% to the maximum natural lifespan.

Though natural appearance change could be halted with pills and a person could remain youthful looking until the last few decades of their natural lifespan as long as their root of longevity, something that forms in Qi Manifestation Realm and allows for a longer lifespan, is not damaged. There are also cultivation techniques that naturally halt one's appearance at a certain age. If one's appearance is halted either with pills or influenced by cultivation technique or other means, it is usually at the age one reaches Qi Manifestation Realm and forms their root of longevity.

So, if a normal woman did not relieve herself of Yin Qi, she would need to be in at least Foundation Building Realm, one major realm higher than Revolving Qi Realm to notice the effects before her natural lifespan ends, and it would appear towards the very end of her lifespan so she would not even notice as her condition would start deteriorating along with her aging restarting. There simply were not enough women who did not relieve their Yin Qi in realms above Foundation Building in this world for this problem to be even noticed, let alone known.

"Your case is special because your body also has a variant physique, one that produces a high quality of Yin Qi, that drastically exacerbates the problem. Even then it would not have been so bad, but your cultivation method also focuses on Yin Qi enhancement, as it is widely known, you were a disciple at the Frozen Garden Palace in your youth. You probably have also consumed Yin type medicine in your search for the cure when you just noticed the problem so it got even worse" he said to her questioning expression.

"You asked why those doctors didn't notice, why is this unknown? The answers to those are actually very simple" he still closed in to her step by step as he spoke, he then stood right in front of her, looking her right in the eyes.

"They are not experts in the field"

"Hmph, if they are not experts, who is, you?" she spoke, still not convinced, but also looking at him with wide eyes, unsure of what he was doing so close to her, and even slightly nervous, but unwilling to move in order not to lose in the contest of nerves, looking him straight in the eyes.

"Me?" he smiled charmingly and somewhat seductively, sending shivers down her spine, and then leaned in, placing his lips near her ears, as he whispered "I am the best expert in this field"

A strange weakness spread through her body with the shivers. He straightened back up and said in a soft and gentle voice, looking in her eyes.

"I am not lying to you, nor am I joking with you. To improve your condition is quite simple, you should release your Yin Qi, and I happen to specialize in that.

Don't worry, I will not do it if you don't want me to, I am merely offering my services. I will also not take advantage and dual cultivate with you, I cannot do it at the moment anyway as my instrument is not working properly, which is why I was looking for those ingredients.

If you despise getting my help in this, I suggest you find a call man or a lover very soon to start venting the frustration your body feels. You also will need to start at least relieving yourself. I will also prescribe medicine that you should start taking from now on in regular fashion until your condition improves, but it will only be effective if your Yin Qi is released regularly."

She looked at him with wide eyes, as he had a sincere expression and serious eyes that also seemed kind, as if he wanted to help. She was also surprised at his revelation, as most men would not reveal such a secret and if they did, they certainly would not be so calm and confident while doing so. That gave her some sense of trust.

Her heart beat wildly in her chest for the first time in decades, her throat slightly dried up from nervousness and indecision.

"Will it… will it really work?"

She asked, still struggling with her decision.

"It will. You will feel the effects after the first session, but I recommend having multiple sessions, at least 10, distanced from each other by a few days of course, as your body will need time to adjust and rest after each session" he said with absolute confidence that was fatal to the current indecisive her.

She was silent for a long time, looking him in the eyes, while he stood there in the same position and posture and silently waited for her decision.

"Alright, I… I will trouble you then" she finally nodded, still a bit reluctant, and nervous.

"Thank you for entrusting yourself to me. I will be gentle, relax and do not be afraid. And, if you need to call me, you can call me Wu Long" he said in a soothing voice, still looking her directly in the eyes.

"Wu Long…" she repeated, realizing that she did not even know his name before this.

"I will start now" Wu Long warned her as he raised his right hand towards her.