Hello, dear readers! Here's chapter 143 part 2! Enjoy!
Just a heads-up: I added a twist in the story, which I will keep to myself. But, if you're interested in getting some clues, you can reread chapter 3 since I modified it slightly.
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Bright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Omniscient P.O.V.
Before she could say anything else, Sera's teasing remark reached their ears. "Sis, the longer you keep hugging that Playboy, the longer you'll have to wait until he finally goes through his Tribulation and bonds with you and Mom. Of course, if you don't mind waiting, I won't stop you..."
Those words were clearly Bryn's and Liya's kryptonite.
Before her mother could even interject, Bryn immediately let go and distanced herself from him, avoiding his irritating smirk while commenting 'off-handedly'. "Sis is right. You should go train instead of wasting time here standing like a fool."
She then went toward Seraphine and Adeliya's direction before the three started chatting about cultivation topics while leaving Demian standing speechless on the side.
'Women, I swear...! And they say I'm shameless. The pot calling the kettle black, I'm telling you...' He complained inwardly, though he was more amused than really annoyed.
After all, a woman with a bit of personality, as long as basic respect was maintained, added a bit of color to one's life.
Interestingly, though Liya and Bryn had become... Softer when it came to him, they did not become meek and obedient.
No, instead, they leaned into the seduction play, sometimes taking charge, sometimes letting him take charge.
Softness without power is fragile, power without softness is brittle.
Both were needed to keep the spark in a relationship, and Demian was glad that the three women thought the same thing, if their recent flirting was any indication.
Having been entrusted with their 'romantic' happiness, he had vowed to bring them as much love, care, laughter, and joy as he could for the rest of his life, which might be touching on forever, so the vow was not light.
Shaking his head to remove the random thoughts traversing his mind, he joked. "Since you don't want me anymore, I'll be practicing over there."
He then walked a few tens of meters before finding a spot on the lush green grass and sitting cross-legged.
Closing his eyes, he started mentally reviewing his gains from the last few days of practice.
First, the Spells.
'Mmhh... barely a few days, and I'm done integrating my Water intent into every one of my Elemental Spells, upgrading all of them to Tier 3, though they barely reached that level... I guess it's better to consider them Half-Step Tier 3, since the average Core Formation cultivation wouldn't stay at the 'barely-entered' First Level. In the end, it's because the Lotus upgrade was for my Soul Power, not my Mana or my Physique. My Soul Skills did reach Tier 3, though, so that's nice.' He contemplated.
Elemental Spells were basically the manifestation of one's understanding of one or multiple Elements, shaping them into a certain form, which created the Spell in question.
The lower one's cultivation, and consequently, one's comprehension of one's chosen Element, the more rigid the Spells were, and vice versa.
It was inevitable, as due to the weaker senses, one had to follow the path of others before being able to trail their own.
Each Spell was different, and, even among cultivators following the same Elemental Path, some Spells could match certain people more than others.
Of course, for geniuses like Demian who had already comprehended a high-level Intent, not to learn a particular Spell was a choice, not a constraint.
As always, higher talent meant greater choice.
That being said, it only applied to those Water-related Spells and not those from the other Elements.
After all, although he had not yet broken through to the Foundation Building Rank, his Mana had already been transformed into Water Elemental Energy.
Thus, it could be said that his foundation had already been set and could not be changed unless he dispersed his cultivation completely.
Actually, even that might not be enough, as his Special Physique was clearly Water-related, which would hinder his cultivation of any other Element, at least at a low level.
'Well, not that I'm complaining. Whether it's those support, attack, or defense Water Spells, they're all incredibly powerful. I guess there's no such thing as a trash Element, just trash cultivators who can't use them well.' He pondered, not too surprised.
Honestly, his extraordinary progress when it came to magic Spells, or the few Soul Skills he had practiced, was expected.
Indeed, whether it was his Heart cultivation, Immortal-Grade talent, Special Physique, Perks, or the Chaos Ring floating inside his Soul Space, learning Spells or Skills of his own Tier or one Tier above was ridiculously easy.
How easy?
Read once to reach Entry-Level.
Practice a few times to reach Minor Achievement.
A day for Major Achievement and a few days to reach Great Achievement.
As for Perfection?
Well, from what he gathered, it should take him around a week.
At most, a week and a half should be enough to master all those Spells completely.
Honestly, even he felt that his pace of learning was ridiculous.
Then again, he was the one enjoying the benefits, so it would be hypocritical of him to say he did not like his current situation.
No, instead, what fascinated him more was the Martial Art previously given to him by his teacher, called 'Flood Dragon Fang Arts'.
To be more exact, it should be called Elemental Physical Fighting Art since the focus was more on physical combat than the Martial Art cultivation he had read in novels in the past.
Still, the name was too much of a mouthful, so Demina would stick with calling it Martial Arts.
Speaking of physical combat, he was not sure if it was because he started with physical practice, sparring many times with Bryn before he knew that cultivation was a real thing in this world, but he had really grown fond of using his body to fight instead of using Spells like 99% of other cultivators.
Of course, he would still use Spells in his future fights.
Ignoring such an incredibly versatile 'tool' would truly be reckless and frankly suicidal.
However, even if he put aside his preference, it was a fact that his Physiology Perk made him more suited for hand-to-hand or armed combat, though it also benefited his Magic and Soul System to a slightly lesser degree.
Not only could he bear an extraordinary amount of damage without losing much fighting strength, but his Perk seemed to absorb the foreign Energy left inside his wounds when injured by his enemies.
At least, that was what he had observed during the Danilov fight a while ago.
In other words, the heavier the injury, the greater the growth in his own cultivation.
'I know I shouldn't complain, but that's clearly something only someone with some very particular tastes would enjoy... I guess Sera might be fine with it, right? On second thought, it's not during sex and with me, so probably not...'
Shoving that ridiculous thought aside, he then refocused his attention on his new Martial Art.
'I've reached the Peak of Minor Accomplishment, but breaking through to Major Accomplishment is much harder than I thought... Who would have thought that my 'weakness' would be Physical Arts instead of Magic Spells or Soul Skills...?'
Shaking his head slightly, he started to review the previous spar with Bryn, trying to find a way to break his bottleneck.
'Flood Dragon Fang Art'.
The Flood represented rushing water, overwhelming the enemy with a flood of crushing attacks.
The Dragon was there for both power and agility, fierceness and majesty.
They say: 'A fish swimming in water, A Dragon flying through the Heavens'.
In other words, while a fish was the master in water, a dragon was the master everywhere under the Heavens.
The last word was 'Fang', which symbolized a few concepts like piercing, killing, and even the dual Yin-Yang, as dragons had two main fangs, like humans had two canines.
Thus, two symbolized the endless transformation, with each containing the other.
One scimitar to defend, one to attack.
One fist to block, the other to stab.
One leg to advance, one to retreat.
From movement to stillness, from stillness to movement, everything fell under the cycle of Yin-Yang.
Well, that was the theory at least.
When it came to practice, it became beyond difficult.
Indeed, with his foundation, he had been quick to master the postures, also called Forms, pushing him to the Minor Accomplishment level.
However, applying them in live combat, melding them into his body, an achievement that would mark his attainment in the Major Accomplishment level, was something that kept eluding him again and again.
With him being used to lightning-fast progress with the other two systems, it was frustrating for him to be stuck on something that should have been easy to comprehend.
Letting out a sigh, he mumbled. "Then again, anyone else would have only reached the Entry-Level by now, so saying I'm struggling would be acting like a spoiled kid."
Slapping his cheeks to stop himself from getting distracted again, he contemplated how to reach Major Accomplishment.
'To reach Major Accomplishment, the Jade Scroll mentioned melding the Flood Dragon Aura into the body, stimulating it further, and perfecting its refinement. Flood Dragon Aura... How the Hell am I supposed to do that...?'