Authors Note: Enjoy another long chapter. I really do want to thank everyone for the love and support this story is getting. I enjoy creating this world, and it's only at the beginning stages. Remember to comment if you see any mistakes or just to show your love for the novel. I also read all of them. :)

“Cesar, take this sword. It's made from fine tempered iron, and should be good enough for Ferocious Beasts.” Said Calix casually as he handed a 4 feet long sword to Cesar.

Calix wanted Cesar to have a normal sword meant for Houtian Realm Cultivators. He didn't want him to get something better because it would hurt his training. He wanted him to rely on his own strength, techniques, and battle perception. It would be disastrous if Cesar started to rely on the strength of a weapon.

When it came time for the Exhibit however, he planned to give him something extraordinary.

Because Cesar didn't have a weapon, he thanked the old man.

“The sword makes you look heroic Cesar.” Lily evaluated.

The old man continued “You two also need some armour and new clothes. You'll be killing Ferocious Beasts and training the entire day and cultivating the entire night. Your simple and torn clothes need to be swapped with better quality clothes that can handle the stress. Go to The Armour Association and order them. Tell them to send the clothes and armour to me and make the military foot the bill.”

“Cultivate at night? Does it matter what time you cultivate?” Cesar asked. He had been absorbing Yin energy at night and Yang during the day.

“During the day, you torture yourself. During the night, you cultivate to reflect on your training or torture yourself. You can sleep when you're dead. Capeesh?” The old man playfully said.

“I'm talking about Yin and Yang energy old man. Wouldn't most men cultivate during the day since they are attuned to Yang energy?” Cesar scowled.

“Hmm... Some do, only those who don't have resources. But it's better to just consume Dan herbs or elixirs with Yang energy when you have free time and use that energy for cultivation. People can only absorb a pitiful amount of Yang Energy from the sun. At least with Dan, you can absorb some of the concentrated energy inside them. The most gifted people can absorb 30% of the energy they consume. But in our village, we'll be lucky to have a child who can absorb 5%.” Calix said.

Cesar was once again thankful to the mirror. With it, he could absorb 100% of the energy!

“The difficulty in Cultivation is that to breakthrough to the next Realm or stage, you need to gain insights into the truths. It doesn't matter how many resources or energy you consume, because without high perception and talent, you'd be stuck at the same realm your entire life. That's why there are so many people stuck at the last stage of The Houtian Profound Realm in our village. At the same time, resources are paramount. With them, you can get better techniques and actually have the chance to break through.”

Cultivation techniques are used to absorb energy, whichever one it may be. They are used starting in the Xiantian Realm and the higher grade the technique, the faster the cultivation. With Lilys talent and strength, I was very sure she had high level techniques at her disposal.

There are countless techniques in this world. Usually, the strength of the person is determined by their techniques. This is usually why certain families and powers rule over all others, because they have superior techniques and resources.

“You also don't need to care about it to much right now since you're in the Houtian Profound Realm. All you need to do is torture and temper yourself during the day and absorb energy from Dan and reflect at night. Your perception is high enough that you shouldn't have any trouble advancing to the Xiantian Profound Realm. So work hard Cesar.” Calix said.

What happened next made my eyes constrict. Our of nowhere, several scrolls showed up in the old mans hands. My expression made him smirk. Seeing his reaction, it made my eyes twitch. I could tell the scrolls appeared out of nothing, and it wasn't slight of hand.

“Here's the techniques that I promised you. Look through them and give back what you don't want. Lily, I don't think these will be useful for you but you're welcome to look through them.” Calix casually said while still smirking at me.

“Cesar... He's using a storage device. Probably the ring on his finger.” Lily said.

And my body froze, and then started trembling.

With a loud gulp, I said “Old man. Tell me how the ring is made and I swear I'll give you my firstborn child.”

He started laughing. Laughing so hard that tears started coming out of his eyes. His reaction made my face go red and return to reality. Lily was the same, laughing her ass off with her melodic voice.

“Haha. Your expression was priceless kid. Keep your firstborn, I'm sure Lily would want to raise em. These are made with Space Gems. Don't know how they are made but they are super rare. I got mine because I'm a noble of Knight rank. They give you a golden buckle with a sword carved in it and a storage ring. This one only has a meter of space inside it, but it's still damn useful. It's connected through blood and spiritual energy so only one person can use it until they're dead.” Calix replied.

With energy powering my eyes, I was able to see that the ring was slightly glowing white.

He handed me the techniques and I put them in our hut.

Once I collect the Dan from the forest, I was going to have Jasmine analyze the techniques using 100% of the energy from the Dan. I was already collecting more energy than I used. I didn't need the extra energy from the elixirs that the old man would give me. I also had some theories I wanted to test with the Dan around the forest. If I was correct, I could help out Lily.

Once I came back, Calix said “Anyways, you two better get going to the Armour Association. Afterwards, go torture yourselves. That means go kill Ferocious Beasts. I'll give you guys Dan at night to cultivate with. I gotta check out the soldiers to make sure they're not slacking off.”

He got up and became a blur with his weird movement technique. Lily and I did the same and left.

While Lily and Cesar were talking with Calix, news spread about them like wildfire. The rumour was that General Calix had taken in two prodigies. The kids had sold Elite Ferocious Beast Bones to the Alchemist Association. This meant the pair had the power to kill an Elite Ferocious Beast! The boy fought with 7 Houtian Profound Realm Cultivators and utterly decimated them! It was suspected that the heavenly beauty was even stronger than the boy because the boy was submissive towards her!

When the news reached the powerful families, they decided to make sure to have good connections with the pair. It was because they knew who General Calix Armstrong was. He never took in disciples, he took in killing machines. He took in mundane soldiers, hunters or mercenaries and turned them into powerful Protectors that the city worshiped. The General title Calix had obtained wasn't for show or to be taken lightly. If he had taken in two geniuses, they must be astronomically talented. Even the branch of the Imperial Family had made such plans. Position, power, or wealth didn't matter. Every single person in the village respected the brilliant General Calix.

Not privy to such information, the couple made their way to The Armour Association. Since they didn't want to waste time, they ran to it. When they entered, they immediately said that they were sent by General Calix. When the employees saw their God like beauty, they connected them to the rumours. The ladies took measurements of Lily while Lily did the same with Cesar, much to the other girls disappointment. Lily asked for specific designs, the ladies agreed and even gave their own suggestions and ideas. Soon afterwards, they had ordered a mountain of clothes and some Ferocious Beast armour.

Cesar, being practical, made sure everything used was the best quality possible, including the armour. He also made sure that most of his clothes were a few sizes bigger, because he knew he was still growing at an extreme rate. He knew he would outgrow his current clothes in a week, most likely less.

They took home already completed outfits the Associate had in their sizes and changed into one of them. They threw away their tattered and plain clothes. Lily still wanted to make some clothes for Cesar with her own hands so she ordered some high quality silk along with the clothes.

Lily had on beautiful green clothes with golden cloud patterns on them that complemented her silver hair and eyes along with her emerald short sword. The clothes fit well and hugged her inhuman body curves that made Cesar take a second look at her.

Cesar had on black clothes with a golden dragon on them. They fit perfectly with his black hair and black/brown eyes. With the iron sword on his waist, he looked majestic. When Lily saw him, her breathing became quick and she was drawn to him.

At the same time, both Lily and Cesar said “You look majestic/beautiful.” And both blushed at the same time. Than Lily started giggling with her angel like voice.

When Cesar realized they had been on the same frequency, he joined in the laughter.

Lily looked around and saw they were alone. When she was sure they were, she planted a quick kiss on his lips because she couldn't help herself, not that Cesar complained. They both enjoyed each others soft lips for a few moments before they parted with contentment in their eyes.

Since they were going to hunt Ferocious Beasts, they made their way out the village hand in hand. Lily wanted to be careful since this was Cesars first hunt.

5 minutes later, they spotted 2 Ferocious Beasts hunting each other. One looked like a deer and the other a fox. With Yang Energy powering Cesar, and Lily close enough to step in at any moment, he started using his precise and fast movements to intercept the two beasts at the crucial moment of their fight. The beasts didn't even realize they were being flanked and with lightening speed, Cesar pieced them both with his sword. They both instantly lost the light in their eyes and fell to the floor.

When I saw the dots of light escape their dead bodies, I started my first experiment.

“Lily. I'm trying something. Protect me!” I yelled and she instantly responded. She pulled out her green sword and went into mama bear mode, watching our surroundings with hawk like eyes.

I focused my mind and imagined controlling the energy with the pulse the mirror. When the mirror pulsed and the dots of light followed my thoughts and started to circle around me, I knew the first part was a success. Next, I started focusing them into a single place, imagining them becoming compressed, combining together.

What happened next was magical. The lights came together and started forming a shape. Slowly, the lights gathered and started glowing brighter. The shape that came out of the bright light was a shiny, transparent bone... and there were 2 of them! But I felt like it wasn't enough. I felt like the shapes wouldn't hold, that there wasn't enough energy to form the bones.

Than I remembered! Most of the energy and lights was in the diamond like bones of the beasts! Carefully, slowly, as I focused on the lights, I went over to the dead bodies and touched the corpses. I imagined the energy leaving the bodies and joining the rest of the lights. It happened. Like glowing fairies, they left the bodies and danced their to their group of lights. The lights slowly merged together with the bone and they the lights seemed to reach a threshold and the bone became real! It went from an energy form that only I could see something real, something physical! I could tell, because only 1 of my eyes was in the energy state, the other was normal! With my normal eyesight, I could finally see the bone!

There still seemed to be 50% of the energy left after the bones were physical. Slowly, I started adding in the rest of the lights. They were making the bone stronger, less transparent, and making it look more like a bone. When the last 10% of the energy went into the bone, the energy seem to coat the bone with colourful luster.

The two bones completed, they dropped into my hands. I was glad this worked. I didn't know what would happen, but I combined a few clues to do it.

The experience from the Silver Furred Wolf was the cornerstone for this. When I absorbed the lights, I was placed in a hallucination, a very strong one. But only later did I realize I was going through what this world calls 'insights'. The reason I wanted to compress the Essence in the bones was because alchemists compressed and compounded the energy of Dan. The lights I saw were exactly that! Essence and energy! In the beasts, it was Essence. In Dan, they were energy!

“How...Cesar...You...” Lily stumbled and was completely focused on the bones in my hands and gulped. I smiled because it seemed like she knew what they were. I tossed her one of the bones. She pounced on it like she saw an absolute treasure and held it to her chest.

“Hahaha Lily. Look at yourself. You look like I did when I saw the old mans storage ring. Are you going to offer your first born child to me?” I laughed.

That brought her back to reality and she turned beat red. Even her eyes started watering. But I saw her face, and it was filled with sadness. It seemed like the bones had a very special connection with her. But when she realized what I said, something broke within her and she started laughing with all her might and the tears came out of her eyes. Her laughter wasn't one of sadness, but pure happiness and excitement.

“The heavens are fair. They are fair. Hahaha. You were right Cesar, completely right. With you, I will experience a better world. I bet you don't even know what you just did. If anyone else saw you doing this, in a week, the entire world would find you and covet you like a priceless treasure. The real powers of this world would grovel and beg you to make connections with them.” She howled and laughed.

Then she turned completely serious, in an instant. I'll never get used to that quick personality change she goes through in my entire life.

“Cesar. I don't know how you performed the impossible but consume the bone. We'll talk afterwards. Hurry!” She said at light-speed and the bone instantly entered her mouth.

I quickly did the same.

And I fell into another hallucination which were my gateway to insights. This time however, the hallucination seemed perfect! I didn't feel like a fox, I was the fox. This time, I was a 4 tailed fox that was hundreds of feet tall. I was entirely made of fire and I was soaring the heavens. I saw mountains that seemed to go into the sky and didn't appear to have an end. I saw beasts fighting on a scale that didn't seem possible. I burned entire oceans with my all powerful flames. When other beasts saw me, they would treat me with respect and awe.

After an unknown amount of time, I woke up and was in a familiar situation. I had black sludge all over my skin and smelled horrible. But this time, I was extremely happy! I had entered the 2nd Houtian Profound Realm! The energy in my blood was substantially less, but my body was many times stronger! I was even a few inches taller!

I looked over and saw my sister smiling at me. Her skin was slightly more glossy and that was all. I guessed that normal Ferocious Beast Essence wasn't enough for her.

With a perfect smile on her beautiful oval face, she said “Lets take a bath to get you cleaned up. You had told me the truth years ago, I just didn't believe you. I'm not ready to tell you everything Cesar but since yesterday, since I cried, I had let go of my past. But we need to get rid of the bodies.”

And that's what we did. He took the bodies and threw them at random Ferocious Beasts and they were consumed by them. When we saw that their bodies were in the bellies of the Ferocious Beasts, we went back to our house. Calix wasn't there, neither was anyone else, Lily made sure. I didn't know whether she knew the real truth or not, but I would tell her regardless.

I trusted Lily enough to put my life in her hands. She wouldn't hesitate and sacrifice herself if I got in harms way, and her feelings of infinite love and care towards me captured my heart. If she's going to accompany me for the rest of my life, she'll need to know the matter with the mirror. I also have to experiment if I could do this with Dan. I was confident that I could. This was how I had planed to help her. With Ferocious Beast Essence, and when I was capable, Desolate Beast Essence. I could also compress Dan and let her consume them. But I still needed to care of Jasmine, and most of the energy I would get from Dan would go towards her.

“Let's get you cleaned up.” She said as she threw me into the pond. Caught off guard, I went flying into the pond with the sounds of Lilys carefree laughter in my ear.

With my dexterity, I easily took off my clothes in the water. I came back up and looked at another situation I would never get used to in my life. Lilys naked body was truly a sight to behold. As I was admiring her, she entered the water. We were now the same height. We looked eye to eye and she made her way to me. Most of the black sludge had washed off my skin when I was thrown in the water.

Lily, in all her natural beauty, said “You had told me about your mirror years ago. When you could barely talk, you would want to go out in moonlight because you said it would feel good. You would sometimes go into the forest and come back with someone rare and say 'shiny' and smile your cute smile. You would regularly play with your necklace and I thought you were just pretending. You weren't, were you.” She stated more than questioned.

With my own smile, I said “It's real. I can't feel it, can't take it off, but I can touch it. It looks like a black thread around my neck with silver mirror is attached to it. During the night, I absorb the moonlight as Yin energy. During the day, with certain conditions, I can absorb Yang energy. I can freely control energy like the bone essence and I think most others.”

She nodded as she accepted the information. “It seems like I'm not the only one with the extraordinary background. Yours might even be greater than mine. I knew you special since the moment you appeared in front of me, my little Cesar.” she smiled.

She overlooked my naked body, each and every inch, she giggled and said “I guess you're not so little anymore. But you'll forever be my little Cesar.” I caught the innuendo and accepted the compliment. She came over and hugged me. With our naked bodies pressed together, we both didn't feel any lust. With pure and total love, we enjoyed each others bodies as a connection between each others love and melted.

After a few moments, she started washing me. I relaxed to enjoy the sensations of her love and care. “My family name is Storm. It's true that I'm an orphan, but it wasn't always like that. My family was one of the major powers in this world. Cesar, you are a Heavenly Desolate Master. What you made, was called a Ferocious Relic. If you used Desolate Beasts instead, it would be called a Desolate Relic. They are made from the Essence of the beasts.” she said with excitement I've never heard out of her.

I took in the information but enjoyed her touch. She stopped washing me and took me into a hug and I suddenly felt tears fall down my back.

“My mother was a Heavenly Desolate Master Cesar, an unprecedented one. She could keep 85% of the essence intact. She was the hope for humanity you know. She was the hope we had against the true monsters out there Cesar. The beasts you saw when you took the Relic are real. Our family was one of the few who were able to defend humanity against them. With my mother, humanity could finally step into a new Realm and have an actual chance at fighting them. Do you know what happened Cesar?” Tears uncontrollably started falling from her eyes towards the end. I just held her. It was all I could do.

“We never had a fighting chance.” She said while a dam of water broke from her eyes and spoke with a depressing, fatalistic tone.

But she seemed to realize something, and looked up to me. She pieced my soul with her silver eyes filled with hope and said “But you, my little Cesar, are like my mother. An unprecedented genius. You are capable of keeping intact 100% of the essence. If the human powers finds out, so will the True Powers Cesar. Then you'll also be taken away from me, like my mother. You have to promise me to never use your full potential in public Cesar. The maximum you're allowed to use is 30% of the essence when you're in the Xiantian Profound Realm. You will be treated as a true genius. For now, we'll keep in hidden.”

After absorbing the information, I thoughtfully replied “I don't have to make them into Relics Lily. I can absorb the Essence without doing all of that. That was just an experiment so I could help you in the future. And I achieved that goal. In the future, I will only make Relics so you can gain insights. Also, even when it's a Relic, they are still energy in my eyes. I can still take back the energy, degrading them. So even if there is 50% essence in the Relic, I can sell them at 10%, 20% or whatever you want. I wasn't able to hold the physical shape of the bone under 50% essence, but I think that was my fault and I used the wrong technique. I will have to refine the process to get to the percentages we want. Shouldn't take too long. I might even be able to change the shape so it doesn't even look like a Relic. I could also try making in your mouth so no one can see. We have options, some that we don't even realize. And I'll be able to experiment to get the results we want.

I also have plans to do the same with Dan. I don't know if Heavenly Desolate Masters are able to do the same with Dan, but I am almost certain I can. So don't worry. We have to focus on getting stronger. All I have is great potential but no actual strength.”

I didn't want her to cry anymore because of me, it breaks my heart. So with her in my arms, I take her beautiful face and wipe the tears from her eyes and kiss her lips one again for a few moments.

“We need to experiment with Dan. I can see them as energy and they are hidden over the forest. If I'm able to turn them into Dan Relics, elixirs, or whatever their called, than we can progress very quickly.” I said.

“Hmm. It's fine if we keep it hidden for now, but we'll need to reveal them later Cesar, they are too valuable and useful for humanity. But you need the knowledge of the professions Cesar. That means you need to become a real alchemist and a Heavenly Desolate Master. That includes all the information and techniques they use. It will keep your real methods hidden and when a fellow peer looks at your work or wants information, you'll be able to answer and show them. Right now, you're an open book. Go become an apprentice for the Alchemist Association. Even through you're able to condense the energy into an elixir, alchemy is much more than just that. It's a world of countless poisons and medicines. You might enjoy it because you'll actually have to use that high perception of yours.” Lily thoughtfully said.

She's right. Being able to create Relics is important to humanity. Insights are needed to advance Realms and certain stages. She said I'm one of the few Heavenly Desolate Masters in this world. We'll have to be careful though. I don't want clans, families and other powers enslaving me or Lily. The best way is to keep it hidden and only use them for Lily or people whom I could trust with my life. I won't have a lot of time to learn alchemy. Maybe I could spend an hour or two a day to learn. I also need to spend time in the library. For these two months, I'll don't think I'll get much hands on experience with alchemy, I'll mostly be reading.

I need the rest of my time to become stronger. We only have 2 more months before we leave for the Exhibit. Going through the forest will be deadly, and people will die. I need to become strong enough and have enough resources so I don't need to reveal my powers midway through. I need to turn some of the Dan into 100% concentrated Elixirs, and take the rest of the energy for Jasmine. I'm sure she's been up to stuff, even in Power Saving Mode. I need her to have enough energy to analyze the techniques I got from the old man and optimize them. I also want her to be able to talk whenever she wants and have fun again.

“My mother taught me her techniques Cesar. They are only useful for females so I can't help you out. I'm sorry.” She pouted.

“Haha. Don't worry about me. With my future status as a Heavenly Desolate Master, I won't have to worry about them. We'll also be wealthy so I could just buy them. We'll also be learning at The Desolate Wilderness. With my status, they'll make sure to give me the best techniques. Just having you coach me right now is helping me tremendously.” I said.

Her arms around me tightened. With the smile on her perfect face, and the soft feeling on my chest, I became enchanted.

“You need to get to the Xiantian Realm as fast as possible Cesar. The Desolate Wilderness is not a place where you can currently survive, even with my help. Even though I can't teach you my mothers powerful techniques, I can teach you general techniques and give you information in general that will help you.” The goddess said.

I was still enchanted so I could only nod. Seeing my reaction, she giggled, giving me a kiss on the cheek, and let go.

“I want to hold you forever in my arms Cesar, but we need to get back to training. Let's go kill Ferocious Beasts and sell them. We also need to go find Dan so you can try your experiments. The techniques that the old man gave you, we'll look over them and I'll help you choose something decent.” She said.

I was clean and we got out of the water. We both dressed while we talked to each other and went back to hunting. My clothes barely fit me anymore, but since I didn't have any that did, I put up with them. As we went back to hunting, I noticed my senses were now sharper, and I had even more control over my body.

We left our adobe and with my energy eyes, We went over to a Dan. The experiment with the Dan was a success. We were able to find a Houtian 2nd Grade White Berry with my energy vision. I was able to condense it with 100% of the energy intact. I could also change it back into energy anytime I wanted to. I could even change the shape to a limited degree. The colour would remain the same, but I could make it into a stick or a bead. The physical Dan, which was a berry plant in this case, would remain the same even with the energy taken away from it.

With the experiment called a success, we went back to killing Ferocious Beasts and I would absorb the Dan nearby.

After a few hours, we killed 35 Ferocious Beasts and I had absorbed 13 Houtian Grade Dan for Jasmine.

I made 10 of the Ferocious Beasts into Relics, to experiment and give them to Lily.

I used 50% of the essence to create the Relics, while I kept the rest of the essence close to me. When I experimented with the Relics, I found out that changing it's shape, size, and density would determine it's quality. I just had to make the relics smaller and try to form a rough shape that wasn't properly filled in and I was able to get it to 20% essence. I could also degrade their quality after they were made, because they were still energy in my eyes. If I had the essence around me, I could also add to it's quality. I also got faster and more efficient at making the Relics. I could now make them in about 1 minute if I had the right image in my mind.

The ones I didn't make into Relics, I absorbed 100% of the essence. The visions that I would get from the Relics were amazing. They would always be different but I was understanding how the Desolate Beasts operated, as well as this world. The insights I would get from the Relics wasn't from the vision itself, but what could be learned from them. It also seemed that a small amount of the Essence would improve certain parts of my body. It depended on the Beasts but I also seemed to have some influence. The Relics made from normal Ferocious Beasts would give me visions of less powerful versions of their ancestors, would improve my body less, and I would gain less insights from them compared to Elite Ferocious Beasts. With my perfect memory however, I was able to get more insights. I could replay the memories over and over again, gathering whatever information I could.

What I learned shocked me. Information and understanding, in this world, was the key to gaining power! The visions from the Relics could teach you how to control energy like the Desolate Beasts could. You could learn from the strongest beings in this world. Now I realized why Relics were even more coveted than other treasures. From the knowledge that you gain from Relics, you can create your own techniques or adapt them from Desolate Beasts! Not to mention they improved your body.

Relics, after all, were made from the Essence of the beasts.

It made me realize that I should go quality over quantity. Each Relic was of immense importance, and I needed Jasmine there to help me catch whatever insights I miss. She could also make a compendium from the knowledge I gained. This meant that I needed power to hunt Elite Ferocious Beasts, as soon as possible.

I also needed to go to the private Library, and gain knowledge from this world. I need to know the strengths and weaknesses of Ferocious and Desolate Beasts. That will help me fight against them. I also hope there's important information on the human anatomy and how this world worked. I also needed to know the size. From the visions I had, I knew this world might as well be endless, but it'll be nice to have numbers.

Everything came down to information, one way or another.

We took vines and wrapped the dead Ferocious Beasts to take them back to the village. When we took them into the village, it seemed like everyone would look at the small mountain of corpses we were dragging. When they saw our age, and that we were responsible for killing them, they would see us with eyes full of hope. Even though we could sell them to whoever we choose, Lily and I both thought it would be better to sell them through Calix. We even wanted to distribute some of Ferocious Beasts to the poor or children with potential that couldn't afford them. For us, Elixirs and Essence were more important than the meat and skin. Lily wanted to help people now that we didn't need to hide our strength, and that meant mostly help people who were less fortunate. But it seemed some powerful had taken notice of us, and were waiting.

There were two people waiting for us, and they were strong. One was a women. She was beautiful, and had red hair flowing down her back like fire. I could tell, with her aura and the amount of energy inside her, that she was in the upper Houtian Profound Realm.

The man was also the same. He also had red hair and was in the upper Houtian Profound Realm. I didn't sense any danger from them so I knew they wanted to talk, and didn't mean us any harm.

They came over to us with a smile. The women came took the initiative and said “We won't waste much of your time because we know your busy. We represent the Flame family. More people will be doing the same thing we are, making connections with you. If you sell a portion of your kills to us, we will give you our families techniques on Fire as well as give you good prices. Our family also runs the Alchemy Association, so you'll get favoured treatment. The reason we were the first to approach you is because our family had seen you sell the Elite Ferocious Bones to us. You are also welcome to our household to spar and learn from our elders and with your peers.”

Lily and I looked at each other and smiled. This was a good opportunity for me. I wanted to become an apprentice there anyway. They also only wanted only a portion of the kills. The conditions were good, and since we had Calix behind us, we don't need to be too wary of traps.

So Lily said “We'll need to ask General Calix, but it sounds like a good deal for us. Cesar already had an interest in Alchemy and was going to meet you guys, but since your family runs the Alchemy Association, I'm sure he could come in and learn for an hour or two a day for 2 months as part of the deal. Also, there will be no deal if there is a soul binding contract, or something similar. I know your family would want to include one since you're giving away your families techniques, but that's not an option for us.”

I gulped. A soul binding contract. A contact that binds the soul. That means there's no breaking it, or one that has dire consequences for breaking one. Thank God I found about this type of contract now, and not later, when someone traps me with it. No wonder they can have slaves in this world, there are using soul binding contracts. That also means that I need to know how these work. Can they be applied by verbal acceptance? Do you even need someone's acceptance or can you just binds someones soul. If people can, than my worst realities could come true. Thank God Lily knows about them.

The women nods. “Since you're disciples of General Calix, we will trust you with our families techniques. As for learning in the Alchemy Association, we already have apprentices, so you can join them. How much you will learn will depend on your own ability. Thanks for listening to us. Come by and spar with our students at our families home sometimes. If you are going to sell the corpses through General Calix, than let him know and we'll send people to buy our portion. See you two later.”

They left as soon as they came. We made our way to the military compound where we saw soldiers fighting each other and training. Calix saw us with the mountain of Ferocious Beast corpses behind us and smiled. The soldiers also saw them but they didn't seem to care. We left the corpses there and went to him. These weren't the corpses that we used as experiments for Relic making or the ones I already took the Essence of, we wouldn't be that stupid. Those were in the bellies of Ferocious Beasts.

So I said “Old man, sell these for us. The Flame family wants a portion so sell them some. They gave us some good conditions. It seems like other families want to make connections, so we'll leave you to get the best conditions for us. If anyone comes to us, we'll send them over to you. Also, do you have some solution to our problem. I don't want to come back to the village every time we kill some beasts.”

Calix nodded. “I will do that. The Flame family are a good, respectable family, so they must have given you good conditions. You can just take some of the Tamed Beasts with carriages and use them to carry the Ferocious Beasts back here. Make sure to not get them killed. Also, you two need to spar with each other more than you kill Ferocious Beasts. The Exhibit will put you against humans, with different techniques, not Ferocious Beasts. When you get to The Desolate Wilderness, both will be your enemies. So Cesar, go challenge different households. Tell them I sent you so they don't go too far. Also, make sure not to severely injure anyone. Lily, tomorrow, go fight an Elite ranked Ferocious Beast. I'm sure it's been a while since you've done some serious killing. There aren't many people in this village who can be your equal, but I'll ask some to spar against you.”

Lily and I both nodded, even though Lily seemed reluctant. I knew the normal Ferocious Beasts weren't her enemy, and neither were Elite Ferocious Beasts. Maybe only the King Ranked Ferocious Beasts could come close to challenging her, but even then I would doubt it. Her cultivation wasn't that monstrous, but her families techniques were.

So we made our way back to our hut. I wanted to look over the techniques the old man gave me and Lily wanted to help me choose something decent.

The energy Jasmine absorbed from the Dan was quite substantial. She now had 11% of her Reserve Battery. I smiled because I knew it was our time for us to reunite.

So in my mind, I said “Jasmine. Turn off Power Saving Mode.”

[Power Saving Mode turned off. Switching to Optimization Mode.]

“Welcome back Jasmine, how are you doing?”

[Not the right question my love. What was I doing is a better question. Cesar, the pendant is really useful. I was finding ways to use the control it gives you over energy. Even though you're not in the Xiantian Realm, you have perfect control over energy and can even absorb it. You can use your energy like the old man. You could just coat your blade with the energy and slice beasts in half. You won't even lose the energy because it'll come back to you. There are infinite ways of using energy Cesar, you should know that. You have a 25 meter range to become God. It was 20 meters in the 1st Houtian Profound Realm, meaning the range is increasing. You already know you can condense energy into a physical form, and there's no loss of energy Cesar. The laws of conservation of energy still apply in this world, but energy isn't even wasted in Kinetic energy. The energy you have in your control, becomes a closed system, even when you're adding energy into it. You have perfect control over that energy, and you haven't been using it to it's full potential.

You also don't need to keep the energy inside your body. How about coating your skin to make it into armour that you can perfectly control? Imagine the energy restricting your movements and it will do it. Imagine it increasing pressure applied to your body, and it will do it. You can constantly train and improve your body that way. When you're in danger, remove the pressure and you'll improve your speed and strength with a sudden burst. Imagine increasing the input of energy into the armour. It would make you very hard to injure. You could also make that armour into a weapon because you have perfect control over it.

Did you even think about combining energies? I had given you hints that Lily had combined Yin and Yang energy and that's really good at healing. You could also do that Cesar. Imagine, if there is one way of combining energy, there are others.

You might even be able to do stuff with Essence and energy together.

You also need to experiment to see if you can change the properties of the energy in your control, though I doubt that it's possible.

I'll improve your body but it will take an immense amount of energy to do so. When I have the energy, I think I'll improve your nervous system first. The black goo that came off your body was the defects in your body Cesar. That meant some of the bad DNA and some of the mutations were gotten rid of, not just the bad blood. With your nervous system becoming better, that means electrical signals are sent faster throughout your body. You can react faster, move faster, have better control and use your body in ways you've never done before. It'll also give you better control over your body when your in 'fight or flight' mode.

But for now, I'll use it to analyze information just help you in general when you're Cultivating.

Hmm... Actually, I shouldn't bother using my energy to change your body, unless you need to. Cultivation and Essence is already doing that. I should help you with overall analysis, and use it when you're in danger, slowing down your perception or stuff like that. I think that's a better option.

You can even try to increase the gathering of Yuan or Yin energy. So what if the mirror regulates it. You have control over the mirror. Just imagine the mirror increasing the absorption of energy, and it will do it. Imagine that all the Yang energy inside the 25 meters forming a ball of fire in your hand. I bet you could do it. You can even take that energy and give it to me.

I feel your emotions Cesar, and feel what you feel. You can harness Lily as something good in your life. She can become your support, and your motivation. But don't let her restrict you. She's also hiding information from you, important information, and gave you an incomplete story. But she did say she wasn't ready to tell you everything. Poor girl, she has a deep, nightmarish trauma inside her heart. I already accept her as a spiritual sister and a fellow wife Cesar, so you better make her happy.

Also, don't let Yang energy change your personality. You need to keep control over your emotions.

Treat the mirror as a part of you, because it is. It's not the mirror that's gathering energy, but you are. It's not the mirror controlling the energy, you are.

That's all the advice I have for you. Now, let's go see these martial arts techniques we've heard so much about.]

I internalized the enlightenment Jasmine gave me while Lily and I made it to our hut.

“You're amazing Jasmine.” I said with complete sincerity.

[I am indeed perfect. But my love, I'm proud of you. You've come along quite a lot in the past few days. Now that you have me, you'll progress even faster! Though I must say, the memories that came from the Relics were quite interesting. There's no way that this is a round planet, but some sort of really big flat plane. I would love to meet the entity who made this place, so we can compare notes.] She casually said.

And I laughed. She wants to meet a God like being, so she can compare notes. I had forgotten that she simulated actual universes, with living beings and all.

That's when we reached our hut. We over over to the techniques and we looked them over. The first we saw was the Hellsing Body Tempering Manual. It was an Internal Arts manual.

The Internal Arts were made for the body. It involved breaking down the body, and building it back up again. This involved a lot of pain, blood, and sweat. These were for people who didn't have much talent in Cultivation or people with an iron will.

But I saw an opportunity. I wanted to build my body. With my healing energy that was a mix of Yang and Yin energy, it would help my body evolve. I wanted to do this type of training anyways, and so did Jasmine. It involved restraining the movements in the human with weights. This meant that taking every step was a battle.

That was just the first part.

I needed to test how much will I had over my energy, so I could do what Jasmine suggested with the energy armour. Weights were to be worn during all time, and when the body gets used to them, add more.

The second part was hellish training. This meant climbing, fighting, and working yourself close to your limits.

This training was meant for the body to be pushed to its limits, over and over again. It was truly an incremental type of training.

Lily, along with Jasmine and I, took the best parts of the manual that were useful for my situation, and put in our own ideas and created my own version of hell. My version was basically involved me using my vast amounts of energy to train my body.

When Lily heard some of that ideas Jasmine had, through my mouth, so she thought that they were mine, she nearly had a heart attack. She thought I would torture myself to death. After we finished with that, I finally realized that even if I didn't end up dying, I had some very painful few months ahead of me.

The second technique was a cultivation technique. Lily wanted to skip it, but I wanted to read it and gain information. Cultivation was taking qi and moving it throughout the body, or storing it into the Dantian. It started by taking in qi through the mouth, either with the breath or through an elixir, and moving it into the stomach. From the stomach, it goes into the heart to start circulation. From the heart, the qi can go into two separate places. It could go to the meridians, and follow a pathway throughout the body, nourishing each part of the body, or into the Dantian, for storage to use later. The energy can still go into the meridians from the Dantian, but it's just an extra step.

In the first path, the energy moves through the meridians, through pathways, into energy channels, than going into the organs or back into circulation or the Dantian. These were the energy channels were located in different parts of the body. This technique, called the 9 heavenly breath meditation technique, was able to open 5 of the channels in the human body, which Lily thought was quite pathetic. The more channels open in the human body, the more benefits there are.

Lily said that there are 54 of these points/channels/entrances in a males body. If one was able to open all of them, they will have a Celestial Body or a Gods Body. When she started point some out, both Lily and I realized they were the major acupuncture points in the human body! In this world however, they had a much more important role!

The more profound entrances were opened, the more qi could be absorbed from the atmosphere. The more that were opened, the faster qi can be circulated around the body. That meant that it would take less time for qi to reach from the Dantian to the body part one needed. It could end up saving someones life! The more points that opened, the more pathways were available. Each time qi would pass through these points, it would be further purified! There were countless benefits for opening more of these profound entrances.

This is where Jasmine reigned supreme. With a quick search of my body, she not only found the 54 profound entrances that Lily mentioned, but found a total of 80! But that was not all. She said she could make 20 more and put into several places! That was over 100 major point or profound entrances!

People had to use qi to break though the first profound entrance to start cultivating in the Xiantian Profound Realm. The more profound entranced that were opened, the higher one could Cultivate! But with Jasmine and my perfect control of energy, I knew I could open all of them!

Qi, was an energy without any attributes. That also meant it was the most mysterious. But to me, it just sounded like an energy that was meant to be used however one wished! One would be able to add attributes, changing in into other types energies. For a person like me, who came from another world, with the knowledge of the different types of energies, this meant I had the ultimate weapon in my hands! But I knew the rules and laws of this world were different. If there was Yin energy, one that wasn't in my old world, there had to be even more unknown types of energies in this world! Some were made from mixing energies, like the Life energy made from Yin and Yang energy. I needed to find the other energies in this world. I knew it wouldn't be simple, but it was another goal!

But I knew, I had lucked out. My potential, my limit, was completely beyond the normal people of this world. It might even go above Lilys family!

I still didn't have enough information to confirm my beliefs however. I knew that I just had a good chance in being correct.

All this showed me just how complicated this world was. It also made me wonder about the entity that Jasmine talked about. Just what does it expect out of me? I could already understand that with Jasmine, Lily, and the mirror, I will go very far in this world. Just how far, I didn't know.

The rest of the techniques didn't have any appeal to us. Overall, even though the techniques were utter garbage, we had made use of them the best we could. I had noticed that none of these techniques were the weird movement technique that the old man used. Was it a high level movement technique that only Xiantian Realm Cultivators could learn? I would get the technique out of him.

Not once did I consider that the old man had a soul binding contract in place so he couldn't reveal that technique to others.

When we finished, it was already turning night outside. I now understood the old mans word. The day is used to torture and tempter yourself, while the night is used to reflect and cultivate. Daytime is used to gain insights and strength while the night is used to reflect on those insights and internalize them, gaining even more strength.

We went out to see the old man eating on the grass, with the moon reflected in the pond, the waterfall creating a relaxed atmosphere, and the moonlight making the moment picturesque. He saw us and smiled.

"Bet you guys thought the techniques were bad, but it's the best we have. I can't give you my movement technique because I'm under a soul binding contract. It's the only decent technique I've got. But with your perception, I don't think it'll take too long before you can imitate it. I'll show you the technique as much as you want. Come sit, enjoy the food and I've got your elixirs and Dan on me." He said.

We walked over and sat down. I picked up some of the meat and said "Those were pretty bad techniques, but we made use of them the best we could. I also gained vital information from them, so thanks for the techniques. Didn't know you were under a soul binding contract. I already have a rough understanding of your movement technique old man, so you don't need to move your cranky old bones too much. Gotta say though, with those bad techniques, it's a wonder you even made it into the Xiantian Profound Realm. I gotta ask though, why didn't you just move to the capital to get better techniques? Why didn't you join the military in the capital to raise your strength?"

The old man gave me a small chuckle.

"You always strike the heart with your questions brat. But some things are better left unsaid." Was his reply.

Lily and I could only nod.

We enjoyed our food in tranquility as Lily and I prepared to Cultivate. I had a lot of information to internalize, a lot of memories to replay, and needed to analyze the insights I've gained with Jasmine. I also needed to test the advice I've gained from Jasmine.

We both were given elixirs from Calix. Surprisingly, they were quite good. Mine were Upper Houtian Grade Elixirs while Lilys were Lower Xiantian Stage! The elixirs that he gave Lily were quite valuable! Even though they didn't contain more energy than the 100% pure Houtian Grade Elixirs I had made, they still contain pure qi! I had found Dan with qi, but they were deeper in the forest. I knew these must have cost quite a lot for the old man, but we'll give the money back from the Ferocious Beasts we kill. Lily will start killing Elite and even King ranked Beasts, while I'll go for Elite Ranked.

We gave our thanks but stayed outside to cultivate. There was no way I wouldn't take advantage of absorbing the Yin energy from the moon as well as the elixirs. The old man took his leave and entered his house. Lily took a seat beside me and consumed the elixir. She started to meditate and Cultivate, reflecting on her day, internalizing the insights she gained, and absorbing energy in the elixirs.

Going deep in my mind, I did the same. This was my first day of being a Cultivator.