"Ugh!" Aotian groaned as he lifted his torso from the bed, bringing a hand to his head to ease the intense migraine.
The blankets covering him slid onto his lap, revealing his immaculate torso.
As the pain subsided, he began to reflect.
'I'm so clean… Rihai must have cleansed the impurities my body excreted.' He lifted the blanket and observed his equally clean little brother, which made him smile in amusement. '...my whole body.'
He then got up and dressed. As he opened the door to leave, he came face to face with Rihai, who was just about to enter.
She was surprised and didn't react for a second.
"How did you hide your Qi?" The question slipped from her lips unconsciously, reflecting her astonishment. She hadn't sensed his presence until the moment he opened the door.
Aotian was momentarily taken aback but soon realized he had been concealing his Qi unconsciously, just as he used to do with his avatars.
He simply smiled, and Rihai understood. That was their silent code: when something involved a secret, a smile was enough to end the discussion.
"Well, mister mysterious, how does it feel now that you've stepped onto the path of immortality?" Rihai teased, smiling.
Aotian looked at his own arms and felt the energy now flowing naturally through his body—something he could now detect as well. He felt completely different.
"I feel great."
Although he was accustomed to this sensation due to his avatars, it only emphasized the contrast with the time when he lacked spiritual veins, which had made him feel extremely limited in his real body. Now, that imbalance was finally gone.
"And now? What are your plans?" Rihai asked, curious.
Aotian pondered for a moment, then shrugged.
"Now? It's more of the same, but this time, I just sit down and don't eat rice."
"Pff!" Rihai couldn't hold back her laughter and covered her mouth with her hand.
But his thoughts were different from what he had just said.
'After synthesizing the techniques, it will be time to find disciples and summon new avatars.'
…
Thus, a month passed quickly.
During this time, Aotian remained at the same level, as he was focused on synthesizing the thousands of techniques he had acquired.
[Host: Long Aotian
Cultivation: 1st Level of Qi Refinement
Physique: Mortal
Aptitude: Five-Element Spiritual Root (Low Qualification)
—---------------
Sect: No Name
Level: 0 (Not qualified as a sect)]
[Sect Leader: Foundation Establishment Perfection → 1st Level of Golden Core]
[Elders Lie and Bao: Qi Refinement Perfection → 1st Level of Foundation Establishment]
With both sides acquiring techniques—his avatars on one side and himself on the other—a total of approximately 7,000 Qi Refinement techniques, 114 Qi concealment techniques, and 45,000 spells had been collected.
This vast collection of knowledge was enough to synthesize countless skills, but the biggest challenge was that most of the techniques were with Aotian. As a result, he spent an entire month with jade slips pressed against his forehead.
During this time, his forehead became red from all the impact.
Although it took only a few seconds to absorb the content of a jade slip, they couldn't simply be activated in sequence. His mind wouldn't withstand the sheer volume of information, not even with the help of his avatars. Furthermore, absorbing too many techniques at once could cause him to miss important details.
For this reason, after receiving each slip, he spent a few minutes processing the information with the assistance of his avatars, separating what was relevant from what was disposable. Only then would he pick up the next slip.
Even so, processing 53,000 jade slips would take months, so he prioritized the most essential ones: the 7,000 Qi Refinement techniques, along with a thousand spells from each of the five elements out of the pile of 45,000.
He also synthesized the Qi concealment techniques first.
With so many techniques at his disposal, he was able to create an exceptionally high-quality ability in the Refiner-Tier.
Now, a Qi Refiner using it could hide their cultivation from an early Foundation Establishment cultivator, a Foundation Establishment cultivator could conceal their strength from anyone within the same realm, and a Golden Core cultivator could mask their Qi from any cultivator below their level.
The fact that a Refiner-Tier technique allowed a Golden Core cultivator to hide their strength from another Golden Core, even if only one at a lower level, demonstrated the quality of a synthesized technique.
'But this is the limit of Refiner-Tier. If I want something more advanced to hide my Qi from Nascent Soul cultivators, I'll need Founder-Tier or higher techniques.'
According to what he learned from Rihai, techniques are classified by quality, and the more advanced they are, the more complex and powerful they become.
The classification of techniques is tied to the level of the cultivator. The classifications Aotian learned from Rihai are:
Refiner-Tier → Founder-Tier → Core-Tier.
From the names, it wasn't hard to understand which realm they were related to. There were also some facts about the use of different techniques that Aotian had learned from Rihai:
Techniques below one's own realm do not allow the cultivator to utilize their full potential.
Techniques of the same level are the standard, as they allow a cultivator to extract the maximum strength from their realm.
Techniques above one's own realm are rarely used, but they significantly increase power within the same stage. However, they consume a large amount of spiritual energy, put a lot of physical strain on the user, and are extremely difficult to learn and utilize.
Rihai knew of more classifications but didn't think it would make a difference for Aotian to know them now. Even though he had surprised her by generating real spiritual roots, the cultivation world was vast and full of wonders. In the end, she didn't take it too seriously and considered it a miracle if Aotian even managed to reach the Golden Core stage with his low qualifications.
Aotian didn't insist. For now, this information was enough. If he encountered something more advanced in the future, Rihai would likely be by his side to explain it. As for the avatars, that was even less of a problem—Bao Hui could use his appraisal ability to find out.
'Well, now that I've fed Tian Zhu's "database," it's time to start the syntheses. With so much content, it will be much easier to simplify.' Aotian thought, excited. He could finally put everything into practice.
Knock! Knock!
A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts.
"It's unlocked, as always. You can come in, Hai'er!" Aotian called out helplessly.
Ever since she saw him naked on the first day, Rihai always knocked before entering, even after he told her it wasn't necessary. It left him somewhere between amusement and exasperation.
The door opened, and Rihai's lovely blonde head peeked through the gap.
"Aotian!" She smiled excitedly. "I have a surprise!"
"Oh? What is it?" He asked, confused, scratching his head.
Rihai just smiled and stepped in, keeping her hands hidden behind her back.
"I was rummaging through my storage ring because I remembered having something useful for you. But it took me forever to find it—everything was such a mess in there!" she said, complaining a bit at the end.
Aotian understood the hint—she wanted to be praised for her effort.
Smiling, he approached and ran his fingers through her silky hair.
"I don't know what you're up to, but… thank you for your hard work." He said playfully before giving her a light kiss on the lips.
"Uhm!" Rihai nodded in satisfaction, feeling that all the effort was worth it.
Then, she pulled out a small, exquisite jade slip from behind her back and handed it to him.
"I noticed you haven't trained at all this month, so I figured you might be having trouble with your technique. Normally, when choosing a technique, the more compatible it is with your root's affinities, the better. If you train only one affinity, the others will still be pulled along without working directly—like trying to run while several people pull you back."
Aotian, during his month of studies, had already learned the basics of this.
Nurturing spiritual roots was a constant process of strengthening. To advance levels, it was necessary to raise the elemental affinity of one's root to a certain extent.
If there was only one element, the process was simple—which was why single-element roots were the most valued. But when multiple affinities were involved, the growth of one inevitably dragged the others along, causing an exhausting effect. The more affinities, the harder it was to balance them. That's why multi-element techniques were essential for those with composite roots.
But the solution wasn't as simple as just using multiple-element techniques. There was a much bigger problem, and Aotian knew exactly what it was.
"Remember when we talked about roots? I said the biggest problem with a five-element spiritual root was the techniques? I wasn't talking about the lack of techniques, but the difficulty of training them. The real issue is that any technique involving more than one element requires the user to control each affinity separately while keeping their mind divided."
Aotian nodded. This was a real problem for him as well.
Even with avatars, he would need to dedicate part of their attention to balancing his own technique if he wanted to cultivate all five elements simultaneously.
"Rihai, what kind of techniques do most people with composite roots use?" he asked, curious.
His knowledge came from the techniques he had studied, but those rarely provided information about the common sense of the world.
"As you can see from the techniques you bought, most belong to a single element. Very few involve more than one. So the answer is simple: most cultivators choose to train only one element."
She sighed, somewhat dejected.
"After all, not everyone can keep their mind divided among multiple elements while maintaining focus all the time."
After tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, she gave Aotian a gaze full of expectation.
He then remembered the jade slip Rihai had handed him just moments ago.
Amused by her anticipation, he slowly brought the slip to his forehead.
And the moment its contents were transmitted, his expression shifted to one of surprise.