Practise & Yin and Yang

Five days of intense 'Cultivation' with Chu Yueli was needed to get to that [Emperor Profound].

After acquiring the required strength to cast Domain, I started practising my sealing techniques in earnest..

My gaze was on Fifth Elder who was standing in front of me several meters away.

Profound constructs of gates symbolise pathways, the ability to walk or in reverse, which symbolizes the ability not to have the ability to leave, dropped around the old man.

Once this was done, I clapped my hands. This indicated the activation of the seal. 

At that moment, the gates glowed and the hexagonal array manifested around the elder, sealing him inside.

"All Done."

Fifth Elder nodded and then casually motioned with his hand and tried to break out.

The whole sealing array formation shook, from the very foundations, it was a powerful blow.

The old man's expression was pure shock. The Monarch then tried harder, his cultivation roared to life and with another smack, everything was shattered.

"Impressive, Young Master. This formation has enough strength to make an Overlord reconsider trying to harm you." The Third Elder praised me as he was standing not far from the action.

"Hmm…that if he or she decides not to move and allow me to cast an array on them," I said with an eye roll.

This means one thing, I need actual combat practice…

My gaze went to Xiao Lingxi.

"Call all of my Phoenix Maids. We are going to spar."

"Understood."

A few short minutes later all ten maids were in front of me.

"The plan is simple, I will try to cast arrays while you ten are going to interrupt me."

"As you wish, Young Master."

"Good now let's begin."

The girls spread out and proceeded to attack me from different angles, but my ability to impact my surroundings via my domain easily allowed me to create walls around myself to cancel them.

'This is too easy…'

My gaze went to Chu Yuechan.

"Okay stop, you girls need more power. Yuechan, you will be these maids' heavy hitter. Now come over. You girls have 10 minutes to come up with a few tactics."

As they were planning I sat down on the ground and proceeded to recover whatever Profound Energy I lost.

Ten minutes later, it was time.

"...and it's time."

As I said that I got back up on my feet and looked at eleven girls in front of me.

"Let's begin."

They nodded and proceeded to split up, the Phoenix maids flanking me while Chu Yuechan was at the front. The Frozen Beauty proceeded to throw ice spikes at me.

"Starting with sharp objects from the very beginning?" I said with a snort and several walls appeared in the path of the spikes. 

Her attacks were intercepted while the Phoenix maids started throwing their flames at me.

'It appears Chu Yuechan told them not to hold back…'

I summoned more translucent walls in front of them which absorbed the fire but they were working as a group so they overcame those walls with sheer force and numbers.

'In that case…'

I started to separate them. But my progress was cut short as I needed to start moving. 

Dodging ice and fire, while trying to separate them.

'Hmm…they don't pay attention to my legs… that could work…'

I used my Profound energy to feel how we are positioned in the field.

The tactics they use are very simple, Chu Yuechan is at the front and the main hitter while the girls are the nuisance and distraction. 

With the idea in mind, I landed on the left side of the field and proceeded to draw on the ground with my foot. 

While using walls made from Profound energy to intercept attacks and disband the group. 

Though eventually, I was able to isolate a few of them, Chu Yuechan tried to help but I made her attack get intercepted as well.

Once I was done with the left side of the field I moved to the right, played along, then returned south and eventually went to face Chu Yuechan who by that point only had two maids left.

"This is your game over~"

I teased them and clapped my hands. At that moment four gates dropped from the sky and landed on four corners.

"Four Directions Sealing Formation."

The girls who were inside it looked around. They were locked up in a rectangular formation. 

"...Fine, you win…" Chu Yuechan said while rolling her eyes. She was quite bitter about this, though she is trying to hide it.

I just smirked and removed the formation.

"I guess, but you girls helped me to adapt during a battle and how to use arrays and formations. Regardless, we will be doing this more often."

"As you wish, Young Master, though… should we increase our cultivation before trying to spar?" 

The Phoenix maids nodded at one of the girl's words. They started to move their heads like ducks.

They all had a single idea in mind…

"I guess, I could help with evening out your cultivation realms," I said thoughtfully. It's kind of what a Young Master does… he needs to have maids and ladies with similar cultivation levels. His reputation is at stake after all.

They all instantly smiled at him, while Chu Yuechan frowned.

~~~

After finishing with the sparring, my trip to get that Fire Seed is going to start soon. But before I leave, I need to set up and start the arrays needed to gather Profound Energy.

Over the past five days, I have done the majority of the setup.

The main array below the mountain was set, and the support arrays at the corners were added as well. 

It was safe to say that this was one of the biggest works I have done so far.

All five arrays are connected by Profound energy 'highways'. It's an experimental… kinda technique. To accelerate the flow I used Wind Profound Energy. So you could say there are wind tunnels inside the soon-to-be Floating Island.

Apart from this, I expanded the Profound Energy Gathering Array radius to the entirety of the area where the Floating island will be.

So far, two days have passed since it was active and the density of Profound Energy has already increased by a few levels.

'Don't get excited people, that density will fall soon…'

As I thought about it, I flew to the main array site under the mountain and landed in the centre.

At that moment, I pulled out my stashed storage ring and pulled out 1 Kilogram of the purple crystals that I had stashed away years ago.

Time to kickstart the main array.

Once I got comfortable on the ground, I put the 1kg crystals on my lap and started to make the Profound energy flow, syphoning from the crystal and guiding it to the array.

Slowly, bit by bit, the array on the ground started to glow. At first, the glow was dull, then it started to get more and more visible.

Eventually, the crystal was empty and the array was partially on. Though this was enough to kick start the gathering function.

"...This should do it."

As I said that, I got up from the ground.

I looked around at the active energy. I could see the 'highways' carrying the energy into the main array.

It will take a while, but the rest is automatic.

Five arrays in one, linked with a large gathering array outside, helped improve my array-making by a level and a half.

[Array Creation] (7/10) {65.12%}

While impressive, I already have ideas on how to improve this by adding those Profound Shields I stumbled upon in Frozen Cloud.

Even an absorbing shield could absorb the attacking Profound energy and then reroute it into an attack back to the attacker. 

The higher the level, the more things start to look feasible. 

Apart from that, my energy manipulation line-up is looking quite good.

[Profound Energy Control] (10/10) {100%}

—[Profound Energy Manipulation] (9/10) {58.12%}

[Fire Profound Energy] (10/10) {100%}

[Wind Profound Energy] (7/10) {12.21%}

[Purifying Profound Energy] (10/10) {100%}

—[Purifying Flames] (10/10) {100%}

—[Purifying Water] (8/10) {13.57%}

[Water Profound Energy] (8/10) {4.98%}

[Lightning Profound Energy] (3/10) {71.54%}

[Earth Profound Energy] (6/10) {41.36%}

Although Lightning is the lowest, its uses are quite limited and mostly related to fighting.

'I guess... I could use some time here, and cultivate for a bit... as this is the very centre of the whole profound energy gathering array.,

'And I am close to the cap of Profound Energy Manipulation'

Getting back on the ground, I proceeded to start cultivating and activating my long not used art of:

[River Current Style Profound Energy Absorption] (8/10) {10.61%}

It's close to the cap as well… so why not max this out as well?

…

…

…

*Ding*

{[Profound Energy Manipulation] Art Mastered}

With the first one to reach the cap, the next one was the river current style.

It took around a few hours but it was maxed out as well.

The excess Profound energy in this place did its job.

*Ding*

{[River Current Style Profound Energy Absorption] Art Mastered}

*Phew*

'Not bad, but this whole session barely increased my cultivation.

It appears it's no longer that easy… or I just need to increase the amount of 'cultivation' I do.'

[Yin & Yang Dual Cultivation] (5/10) {4.12%}

The whole session with Chu Yueli gave me another level. Though…

I started to use my Hyperfocus and proceeded to sense my Yang. The thing is, my Profound Energy is starting to take the attribute of Yang because of the constant sessions of Dual Cultivation.

This much was inevitable, the downside is that it's getting harder to transform my Profound Energy into Yin based energy, like Water.

That doesn't mean I am going to stop using Water elements.

'There should be a way to get that equilibrium from before…'

Thinking for a bit more I proceeded to start practising… Yang Profound Energy.

Since my body is so full of that energy, I proceeded to try to harness it properly. I never expelled it from my body before or used it in any other way apart from the Dual Cultivation art and the refinement of Yin energy.

After a few very long minutes I finally picked it up. 

*Ding* 

{You have created [Yang Profound Energy] art!}

*Phew*

'That was intense…is this what it means to grasp 'higher' energy?'

As I thought about it, I lifted my hand and channelled some of the energy.

I could see a layer of crimson around my hand.

For a moment, I narrowed my eyes and tried to 'ignite' it…

…

…

…

After a few pointless tries, I finally had a spark…

Which soon turned into a crimson fire… 

'Intense… very hot…'

Honestly…this felt…very destructive… like the amount of control there is very little and the fire itself is very rigid. 

Still…after learning this, now I need to learn Yin Profound Energy.

With that one on board, I should be able to establish some sort of equilibrium.

~~~~~~Same Day, Evening~~~~~~

After returning to my manor, I could feel coldness radiating from one of the rooms. After picking up Yang as energy, my sensitivity to Yin has improved.

Or at least I think it did. 

I walked through the corridor and I saw that the room doors have a layer of frost.

'Qingyue… it has been over 8 days… she is still learning it…'

I counted the days mentally. 

If she continues with this the room will be destroyed.

So I opened the doors and I saw my wife glowing icy blue, a blast of coldness slammed into me. I easily pushed it aside and looked at the living room.

This was one of our favourite rooms… Now the furniture is useless.

Seeing all this made me sigh. 

I casually summoned a multitude of profound walls and created a protective layer. This way my wife can reuse that ice to improve her mastery. 

To improve its stability, I added a few arrays which will keep these walls in place.

Once this was done, the coldness stopped radiating and I proceeded to absorb all the ice she had emitted into the room.

"Lingxi… make sure there is no water remnant on the walls, ceiling and floor."

"Understood. What about the destroyed furniture?"

"Hmm, I will ask Grandpa for a replacement."

She nodded at me before walking into the room and inspecting everything.

While I went back to the living room. Over there, I saw all of my maids waiting for me. They all had looks of expectation on their faces.

"Young Master~ I think we should start with 'training'. After all, we want to be good maids and help you with your training." 

I snorted internally. They all saw how Chu Yueli reached [Emperor Profound] and now they all want to cultivate as quickly as they can.

"Sure, I do want to balance out your cultivation realms. So, Lingxi, Dongling and the rest will be joining."

"..."

"..."

"Master… can…you even keep up with this many girls?" Xiao Lingxi asked with disbelief.

"Do You want to test me, Lingxi?" I asked with a 'bright' smile.

*Gulp*

"N-No I just… care about your well-being…"

"And I do the same by giving you all more breathing space," I said, turning around and pulling Lingxi closer. Both of my hands were on her shoulders while I looked at her.

"Now then…time for you girls to 'cultivate'."

~~~~~~Next Day~~~~~~

Instead of refining the Yin Profound Energy I acquired from the full night of cultivation, I tried to get some control over it. 

The issue was that this was hard… like there is no response from Yin Profound Energy. But I am not going to stop, since it's possible to control. I have that Nine Profound Exquisite Body. So my affinity for ALL elements is off the charts. 

After trying several methods, I eventually decided to try to re-create Yin with Water Profound Energy and Ice according to the Ice Phoenix God Investiture Canon.

With Hyperfocus the imitation slowly came to fruition.

*Ding* 

{You have created [Yin Profound Energy] art!}

"Well, well there it is…"

I looked at a layer of dark blue energy around my hand.

"It feels strange…"

I said to myself, as it was the opposite of the dominant element of my body.

Though with this new control over Yin and my general mastery over Profound energy, time to get that equilibrium.

With one hand, I summoned Yin and with the other Yang. 

Creating equal sizes of both before starting to bring them closer. My Hyperfocus was working at max trying to grasp how these two opposing elements can coexist.

Unlike the general elements, I am going to grasp higher elements first before descending on lower ones.

This way it will be easier for me to grasp and mix lower ones.

After several failed attempts, the merger had begun. It was slow and tiring but what I needed was the beginning point.

Once such a thing was grasped, the rest was just progress. 

Since it was important and I needed to pay attention, I ignored the notification.

Eventually, I had a ball of crimson and dark blue in the shape of Yin and Yang.

*Tired Sigh*

"Damn… this was tiring…"

Before I realised, every single girl who was sleeping before now was looking at what I have been doing.

"...wow…"

"Young Master is amazing!"

"Un! Big Brother is amazing!"

…

…

…

…

~~~~~~Later, the Same Day~~~~~~

[Yin & Yang Equilibrium]

[Balance Art]

[An art which establishes boundaries and equalises energies, one can't be higher than another]

~~~

[Yin & Yang Equalizing Physique]

[Body Constitution Art]

[An Art which stabilises energies in one's body, this technique allows one to cultivate all energies, but none of them can be higher than another.]

~~~

[Yin & Yang Twin Explosion]

[Energy Art]

[Yin and Yang's energies are released from both hands respectively, upon collision a twin explosion follows after. The energies will always collide with each other as they are pulled towards each other.]

I looked at three new images with Yin and Yang on the Profound Arts window.

The arts were something I came up with on my own after experimenting.

The most important part for me was that I needed to stabilise my body, and what I got was a goddamn Constitution…

Now… I can easily use all elements…

Not what I wanted, but I will accept gifts like this, one of the reasons why I used to go to parties in my previous life! Free food is always appreciated. 

Well, Anyway! The more versatility the better!

Although I might have gotten new stuff, my cultivation didn't improve at all. I spent all of that Yin energy in developing the Yin and Yang Equalizing Physique.

After the tests, I returned to my workshop. Time to prepare for that battle against the Fire Dragon.

My eyes wandered towards a long and exquisite box.

I opened it, and inside of it was a red sword that looked like it was on fire.

This was [Emperor Profound] sword given to me by the Divine Phoenix Empire.

As I picked it up, I did several swings with it.

The force behind it was impressive, and it was quite heavy.

Most importantly, the craftsmanship looked quite new. Either the Empire never used it before or they made this for me?

Well, seeing how they love my pills, they most likely went that extra mile.

"Young Master. Who will be coming with you?" Chu Yuechan asked me as she joined me on the trip to my workshop.

Although, I can see that her walls are crumbling. She might not have seen herself, but she is less… annoyed and more desperate now…

'Most likely has sensed how I made ALL of my maids have breakthroughs through the night…'

 "Most likely, I will take only my Bodyguards. There is no need for my maids to experience needless dangers from opponents beyond their level."

"I understand…"

"Hmm? You look disappointed. Do you want to come with me, Yuechan?"

My question got her thinking. Is she having an inner battle with what to say?

Such a curious and proud female, it's always amusing to watch them change. 

~~~

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