Calm Wanderer
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(AKJ)Chapter 76 - A trace of Water Elemental Energy
🕑 Added 2024-09-03 11:10:56 +0000 UTCMolvograd, Molkovia, Earth.
Demian's P.O.V.
The feeling of getting closer and closer to the right answer brought a smile filled with excitement to his face. However, he did not allow himself to be distracted. While his attention was all on his ponderings, he failed to notice that, as time passed, his Cultivation Technique’s previous Circulation Routes were progressively switched to new ones as he grew closer to the answer he was looking for.
‘Water Gliding... Water Element... Could the problem be about that...? But then, how should I...?’ Only a thin barrier separated him from the right answer, that much was clear to him. Unfortunately, he could not break it. It was extremely frustrating. ‘I wish I had a teacher... Forget it! Wishing for something impossible is useless. I might as well spend that time trying to find the right answer myself.’ He pondered for a while longer before following another train of thought. ‘Since it’s about Water... What does Water inspire me? The sea I guess. Peace and beauty.’ Feeling slightly amused at his random ideas, he suddenly stopped as a vague memory began to surface in his mind. ‘Wasn’t there a video with Bruce Lee...? I think he said something about being like water...’
After a few seconds, those words he heard in his previous life came back to his mind. ‘Empty your mind. Be formless, shapeless, like water. If you put water into the teapot, it becomes a teapot. Water can flow and it can crash...’ As those words formed in his mind, he felt the instant disappearance of that thin barrier blocking him. At that point, he felt stunned, as if his mind was struck by lightning, as a wave of comprehension washed over his consciousness. The amount of information was huge, but with his Perk, he was able to adapt easily and start digesting his new comprehension.
At the same time, his Cultivation Technique finalized its evolution. Then, the previous ‘normal’ circulation speed started increasing to a point that would be impossible to replicate normally, even for Demian. Indeed, an overwhelming amount of Spiritual Energy was attracted to his body before being absorbed through his Acupoints. The consequence was the creation of an Energy whirlpool around the young man, the latter, however, was too busy to notice the phenomenon.
Besides the massive amounts of Energy that kept improving his Cultivation Base at a breakneck pace, his superhuman physique also started evolving. Previously, his facial features exuded an air of sharpness while his massive muscular frame radiated power. After the ‘transformation’, his face acquired a touch of softness, balancing his features, and increasing his attractiveness even further. Along with those changes, his muscles were also altered slightly to a slightly leaner form, although their sizes were still impressive for any normal human. If one added his usual smile, then most women would have their hearts skip a beat under his gaze.
Nonetheless, Demian felt plenty satisfied with his previous handsome looks, so the improvement in that aspect was of no interest to him. Instead, while still digesting his new comprehension, the little attention he could spare was on the constant increase in every aspect of his power he was experiencing, whether it be in Strength, Speed, Stamina, etc. Of course, the greatest increase was in his Flexibility and his Defense, or more specifically in his Damage Absorption.
However, only a few hours later was Demian able to dedicate his full attention to his progress. Indeed, at that point, the flood of insight gradually stopped and his mind returned to normal. As his eyes fluttered open, he could feel the massive jump in power he just received in the last few hours. The sensation was exhilarating, almost as good as those ‘normal’ orgasms he experienced in his past life. Thankfully, the ones he experienced with Sera were much stronger, making it easy for him to resist howling in pleasure like a weirdo.
Instead, he simply decided that those urges would be satisfied that night. After all, Sera would surely be delighted to help him deal with those. In the meantime, he began to inspect himself. The first thing he noticed was the massive improvements in his physique. ‘Although my body cultivation only increased by one Level, I’m sure I can crush any Body Cultivator at the Mid Chi Gathering Rank. Can their physical attacks and Spells even hurt me? As for High Chi Gathering Rank Cultivators? I should be able to defend myself without too much problem.’ From the strength coursing through his body, he felt that it might even be too conservative. However, he had never fought against someone with that Cultivation Base, so he could not tell for sure. ‘I’ll have to spar with Anna tomorrow.’
Then, he switched his focus to his Dantian, instantly noticing the jump in his Cultivation Base. ‘Low Fifth Level! My God! I can’t believe how fast my cultivation speed is. And that’s when I only have four Main Spiritual Channels activated. Granted, the majority of my gains come from Epiphanies, but still. Uh?’ While feeling exhilarated from the increase, he continued checking his Dantian’s situation and that was when he spotted something strange among the Inner Energy floating in his Dantian. It was so small that he did not notice it before checking everything thoroughly.
‘What’s that blue trace? It looks a bit similar to normal Spiritual Energy but its aura is clearly more powerful. It’s almost as if... As if it was some kind of Water Attributed Spiritual Energy...’ His confusion was understandable as he saw no mention of that particular situation in any of the Jade he perused earlier. Of course, he had not gone through every single Jade available in the Library, but what he did go through covered an extremely wide range of subjects. ‘Since it appeared after my Cultivation Technique evolved, the two are definitely related... I’ll need to ask Roman about it later. He might know something...’
Knowing he could not find out much else by himself, he instead switched his attention to investigating that trace’s effect. With a thought, he mobilized it very carefully, expecting that special Energy to be hard to use. Surprisingly, it was pretty much the opposite. Indeed, it was so easy to move it that Demian briefly felt that he was hallucinating. After all, if his normal Spiritual Energy could be compared to a sludge, then this blue trace would be akin to clear water, completely incomparable.
Not only that but by triggering it, he could feel that his perception of the Water Element around him increased exponentially. Every single droplet of humidity in a radius of tens of meters was visible in his perception, even through the Formation Array. Unfortunately, that supernatural feeling barely lasted a second before disappearing along with the shred of blue Energy previously floating in his Dantian. With a slight frown on his face, he pondered for a second before an idea came to his mind. He thus acted on it, closed his eyes, and started circulating his Cultivation Technique.
As soon as he started, an Energy whirlpool almost as big as the one during his recent breakthrough appeared around him, pulling in a massive amount of Spiritual Energy through his Spiritual Channels to his Dantian. Not only was the quantity multiple folds greater than when he used his non-amended Technique. Unlike previously, every single bit of the absorbed Spiritual Energy was converted to be 100% compatible with his body which removed any wastage. While noting those effects, he could not help himself from letting out a small grunt of pleasure. ‘Cultivating now is like getting some sort of heavenly massage... God! I feel like I’m in paradise.’
After an hour, he decided to stop cultivating. The most important reason was that he knew that cultivating in his Cultivation room would be much more efficient due to the Chi Gathering Array that should be installed there. Of course, the existence of the Array was Demian’s educated guess. It came about because of the higher Spiritual Energy density present in the room when he cultivated in the morning. As for the name, it was something he learned from the numerous Jade he perused that day. To be honest, he also had another reason for stopping his Energy Circulation. ‘Cultivating is all well and good, but I also want to spend some time with the girls, even if it’s only dinner time. After all, if I get to a very high Rank, but my relationship with them suffers because of it, then what’s the point? Isn’t that exactly what happened with my Dad in my previous life? Too busy earning money that he had no time to spend with Mom and us...’
Shaking his head slightly, he turned his focus on the few things he noted from this short cultivation session. ‘From the way it’s been restored, the blue trace’s definitely been completely integrated into my Inner Energy. It’s good that I won’t have to re-cultivate it. It’s just...’ He felt a bit conflicted as he observed the special Energy swimming in his Dantian. Although still scarce, compared to before his cultivation session, it definitely grew a bit. There were two problems, however. The first was that the quantity of Energy he used to get that small growth was mind-boggling. The second was based on a preliminary observation and could turn out false. What he noticed was that any growth in his Cultivation base would most likely be through that blue Energy, which increased his need for Spiritual Energy by an untold amount in a place that was not exactly bursting with it.
All was not doom and gloom, however. Indeed, it was a fact that his cultivation speed would take a big hit. At the same time, though, his Cultivation Technique allowed him to wolf down Spiritual Energy at a speed that would make a normal Cultivator explode in seconds. Not only that, but as he noticed earlier, that blue trace seemed to be multiplefold stronger than normal Spiritual Energy. The strengthening effect on his Inner Energy was thus massive and since his Perk made every attribute of his match his highest one, his physique would definitely improve along with his Energy. The evidence for that was the very obvious improvement his body previously received. The last benefit was obviously the fact that if he were to use that blue Energy in his Spells and Techniques, the boost in power would definitely be extraordinary.
In any case, it was no use crying over spilled milk, especially with all of those benefits. ‘I’ll just take longer to reach Foundation Building... Who knows, maybe I’ll be able to fight against those at that Rank when I reach the Eighth or Ninth Level?’ Since he was not sure of the exact strength of someone at the Foundation Building Rank, he was merely speculating, but with how much stronger he was than someone at the same level, that speculation may not be as far-fetched as it seemed.
‘Forget it! I’ll just focus on cultivating and I’ll deal with things as they come.’ He decided before his attention, which was previously almost entirely focused on observing his body’s interior, was grabbed by someone uttering his name close by. Instantly, his focus turned toward the voice’s location, a few meters away. The owner was, without too much surprise Seraphine who was sitting cross-legged while wearing a fascinated expression on her face. Adeliya and Brynhild were both sitting on one of her sides and the three were chatting merrily about him, something he understood very quickly as Adeliya exclaimed in disbelief. “How did he become even better-looking than before?”
To which Brynhild responded ‘thoughtfully’. “I think he’s doing it on purpose... He’s always flirting with Sis in front of us, so I wouldn’t be surprised if he found a way to make himself more handsome to seduce us...” That statement was immediately followed by Seraphine bursting into laughter after that stupid comment. She then exclaimed. ”How come you sound like you’d wish for it to be the case?” Following her words, Demian instantly noticed her light-golden cheeks darkening while she retorted in a tone laced with embarrassment. “Tss! As if!”
Her reaction betrayed her true feelings, however, prompting Adeliya to join her youngest daughter with a few chuckles. Despite her amused reaction, his superhuman senses clearly told him that Brynhild was not the only one with conflicting emotions in her heart. That brought something to his mind, something he was starting to notice. As his strength kept increasing, his reluctance toward Seraphine’s previous idea was progressively disappearing. With his mind more open, some things became more and more obvious to him. Or was it that his subconscious stopped ignoring what was in front of him? Things like the look of loneliness and exhaustion that appeared on Adeliya’s face when she thought that no one could see it. Or the way Brynhild looked at him with her eyes filled with a mix of desire and frustration. ‘Why is Life so complicated?’ He thought briefly before suddenly realizing that he may actually be the one making everything complicated.
While letting out a wistful sigh, he noticed a knowing smile appearing on Sera’s face, the latter’s gaze being directed to his face. Coupled with what was transmitted through the Bond, he understood that she teased her big sister knowing that he was watching them with his Spiritual Will. Knowing her like he did, she might even know what just went through his mind. ‘Thank God she’s my woman and not my enemy...’ He thought half-jokingly before opening his eyes and looking toward the three. His sudden movement made the two oldest a tad flustered, especially Brynhild.
Before they could say anything, however, he used the most corny line he could think of while wearing a playful smile on his face. “The three Ladies over there. Could you tell me if I’m in Heaven? Because you three definitely look like Angels.” The ridiculous statement stunned the three for a brief moment, after which they instantly burst into uncontrollable laughter, which instantly dissipated the awkward atmosphere. Chuckling along, Demian felt pretty satisfied with himself. After all, despite feeling more and more intrigued by the proposition, he also knew that the two other women were not him. ‘Not everyone is as perv... Open-minded. Not everyone is as open-minded as Seraphine. So, I’ll need to approach it slowly.’
His train of thought was interrupted by Adeliya’s playful comment. “I don’t know if I should be happy about your compliment or awkward at how corny it sounded.” Shrugging his shoulder, he replied with his usual mischievous grin. “Up to you. I’ll stand by it, though.” His eyes seemed to transmit his true feelings as the oldest redhead broke eye contact while a slight blush appeared on her fair cheeks. ‘Or maybe I’m underestimating how handsome I am... Let’s not become too narcissistic, or I might end up punching myself in the face from cringiness.’
While moving his gaze away from his Aunt’s face, he exclaimed. “I’m guessing that all of you have questions about what exactly happened.” The three nodded, although he was pretty sure that Seraphine’s Soul Sense allowed her to discover most of his current changes. Nodding as well, he started his explanation. “It started when I practiced the...” It took him around 15 minutes to share everything he just experienced with the girls, from the discovery of his Elemental Affinity to his new comprehension of the Water Element which led to his Cultivation Technique evolving to a point that he could now condense a sort of Water Elemental Energy instead of the normal Spiritual Energy he had previously.
The three seemed fascinated by his tale, with none of them speaking a word until he finished talking. At that time, Brynhild started mumbling. “Comprehend your Element to condense it in your Lower Inner Space...” As those words left her lips, Demian could feel some strong fluctuations coming from her body, rendering him speechless.
