After settling into his majestic residence; Fang Hao tackled the highest priority task first. It was obviously attempting to master the Tantric Yang Codex. He spent almost a month thoroughly learning it by heart. While his memory capacity and learning speed had increased drastically with his cultivation level, he wasn't at the point of photographic memory yet. Also the jade slip containing a copy of the Tantric Yang Codex had a humongous amount of information.

Fang Hao skipped comprehending the parts dealing with the mutually beneficial yin-yang dual cultivation and heavily focused on the self defense portions. While there were plenty of horrifying and twisted descriptions about how a male's lust could be used against himself, the essence of the defense techniques could be summarized in one word.

Awareness.

Most charm and illusion techniques leveraged the absence of awareness in a target cultivator. For example, if a certain subtle scent made a prospective victim horny and comfortable; it was basically priming him up to be on the receiving end of a charm technique without his knowledge. The subtle scent would get the target in mood, and insidiously lower his mental defenses against successive charm and illusion techniques.

Of course with vast differences in cultivation base, an accomplished illusion master could drive a fully aware and vigilant target into insanity with a casual glance. With a similar cultivation base and spiritual prowess; the success of a charm / illusion spell could vary drastically if the target was vigilant and aware compared to an ignorant and relaxed target.

The defensive technique of the Tantric Yang Codex focused on two sets of seals. A set of four seals made of Qi had to be placed just between the genitals and dantian. This first set of Qi seals were a defensive mechanism against charming, and to a lesser extent illusory/mind control techniques which targeted to incite the primal energy of the victim. A second set of six seals, made of condensed spiritual sense, had to be placed just outside the upper dantian (aka. Pituitary Gland). This second set of spiritual sense seals were a defensive mechanism against charming, to a lesser extent illusory/mind control techniques which directly targeted the soul.

The second set of spiritual sense seals were far more difficult to complete than the first set of Qi seals. Furthermore, each set of seals could be layered for better defense and forewarning. Of course, the difficulty of each successive layer was exponentially higher. Supposedly, both the First set of Qi Seals and Second set of Spiritual Sense Seals, could be layered to a maximum of hundred and eight layers each.

Whenever a practitioner of the Tantric Yang Codex was targeted with a charm/illusion/mind-control spell/technique, the relevant seals would respond depending on the magnitude of the attack. Best case scenario, for the practitioner of the Tantric Yang Codex that is and not the insidious attacker, the seals would agitate slightly and the attacker would face a backlash. And in the worst case scenario, the seals would shatter, jolting the defender and giving him a moment of clarity before the insidious technique took root.

At best; the defender would be unfazed and the attacker would face a backlash. At worst; the defender would gain a moment of clarity before becoming a victim of the insidious technique. Of course the outcome would heavily depend on the cultivation base, spiritual prowess, state of mind of both the attacker and defender; along with potency/mastery of the illusory technique of the attacker and the number of layers of seals the defender had in place.

Once Fang Hao was done with the preliminary preparations, he started condensing the Qi seals of the Tantric Yang Codex. After a few days of failure, which mainly involved trial and error, Fang Hao was successful in condensing the first set of the Four Qi Seals. He dissipated the seals and tried again. It took a total of 20 minutes to recreate the first set of Four Qi Seals. He tried condensing a second set of the Four Qi Seals, but the seals dissipated before they formed. Fang Hao assumed that he had to complete at least a single set of the Six Spiritual Sense Seals, before he could attempt another layer.

The set of six spiritual sense seals were far more difficult than the four qi seals. It took him around three weeks before he could condense a set of the six spiritual sense seals. Fang Hao wanted to make sure that his success wasn't the result of a fluke, but actual progress with the techniques of the Codex. He dicisively dissipated the six spiritual sense seals and attempted to create them again. His next attempt wasn't successful, and he had to try multiple times for a whole day before he could condense the six spiritual seals from scratch within an hour.

Fang Hao had heard again and again that a solid foundation was one of the most important things to a cultivator. He assumed that this aspect of a sturdy foundation was even more important on the layered seals of the Tantric yang Codex. If he wasn't very proficient with the first layer of the seals, how could he hope to build up on a shaky foundation? With a firm heart, Fang Hao again dissipated both the Four Qi Seals and the Six Spiritual Sense Seals. He created, dissipated and recreated the first set of both the Four Qi Seals and the Six Spiritual Sense Seals.

After a total four months of practice, Fang Hao's proficiency with the forming both the Qi and Spiritual Sense seals increased drastically. He also felt that his command over Qi and Spiritual Sense had become much sharper. After another one and half years of creating, dissipating and recreating the seals. He could create nine sets of both the Four Qi Seals and the Six Spiritual Sense Seals within a couple of hours from scratch with virtually no failures. While it didn't seem a short amount of time, when he just started creating the seals; Attempting to form the first set of Four Qi Seals and Six Spiritual seals took him almost an hour and a half from scratch; and success wasn't guaranteed.

He was so obsessed with safeguarding himself from charm/illusion/mind-control techniques that he devoted almost all his time the past two years to condense the seals of the Tantric Yang Codex. He would periodically go to the communal dining hall and fill one of his spare storage pouches with all the food he could carry. This wasn't exactly polite behavior, and many frowned at it; but it wasn't exactly unacceptable either, specially considering Fang Hao's status.

After a few visits, the pleading janitorial disciples managing the catering and Fang Hao came to an agreement. His food would be delivered to him periodically in a storage pouch. All the cooked food would stay fresh in the pouch so there wasn't any issue with it. If he did finish his rations before the due date, he just had to send a talisman informing them; and fresh food would be delivered to him within a couple of days. Fang Hao found it very convenient; but such convenience wasn't available even to most Junior Core Disciples in the sect.

After successfully condensing 9 sets of the Four Qi seals and Six Spiritual Sense Seals, Fang Hao checked his status after a long time.

STATUS SCREEN Name: Fang Hao Race: Human Gender: Male Age: 28 years Titles: Lord Lard, Priviledged Glutton Class: Cultivator Unused Skill Points: 615 Realm: Foundation Establishment Level: 2 (1) Current Experience: 763670 (529432) Level Up at Experience: 767186 Active Effects: Stats Physique: 37.3 Finesse: 32.5 Spirit: 37.5 Qi 101.2/110.4 Traits Calm Lucky Primal Instinct ?? Immortal Monk's Prospective Disciple ?? 1st Seal - Primordial Marrow 2nd Seal – Behemoth's Hide Manuals and Scriptures Sublime Qi Manual (1st Realm, 10th Layer) Divine Vajra Body Scripture (2 seals, 1 moves) Aura Fist Manual (+) (5th Layer) Primal Vajra Aura Scripture (*) (1st Layer) Spells and Techniques Primal Thunder Reinforcement (Master) Fire Serpent (Perfection) Wind Blade (Perfection) Elementary Qi Barrier (Perfection) Frost Chains (Perfection) Aura Fist (Perfection) Phantom Aura Steps (Perfection) Concealing Mist (Perfection) Minor Illusion (Perfection) Telekinetic Hand (Perfection) Call Clouds (Perfection) Static Web (Perfection) Acid Splash (Perfection) Lion's Roar (Perfection) Floating Leaves Step (Perfection) Aura Blast (Perfection) Thunder Sparrow (Perfection) Blood Thorn Whip (Perfection) Aura Sacrifice (Perfection) Directed Discharge (*) (Basic) Codexes and Tactics Tantric Yang Codex

'While I didn't get any increases in stats, I got a whopping 124,000 xp and 9 skill points for successfully condensing nine sets of the Four Qi Seals and Six Spiritual Sense Seals. The skill point game is meh compared to grinding skills for couple of years, but the xp bonus is actually humongous. The xp gain probably increases exponentially with further set of seals I suppose. I guess upgrading Directed Discharge to Intermediate Proficiency will level me up.' mused Fang Hao.

Fang Hao looked at the Titles Section with disdain as he noticed his brand new title “Privileged Glutton”.

'Tsk. Tsk. Looks like a significant amount of people are talking behind my back. Eh, who cares. I think I should pick up some spells, or evolve some spells now after I level up to Foundation Establishment Third Level.' decided Fang Hao.