After their breakthroughs, and once the girls had grown familiar with their new powers, Elder Xuan Zhen of the Formation Pavilion returned.
After congratulating them, he gathered the tokens and escorted them back to the sect, sealing off the breakthrough site as they departed.
Thus, the prairie that had only appeared normal from the outside finally became truly ordinary once more.
A little over twenty minutes later, Aotian and Rihai were back in their cozy cave within the sect.
Xuan Zhen and Jian Huiyin had already bid them farewell earlier and returned to their respective dwellings.
At that moment, back in the cave, the couple stood in front of Rihai's room, talking.
"Well, go get used to your cultivation first. In two hours, I'll come visit you so we can celebrate your breakthrough." Aotian smiled, wrapping his arms around the waists of both women and pulling them close.
Rihai placed her hands on her husband's chest and rolled her eyes with a smile.
"I think this plan is more about you celebrating than me." She laughed teasingly, tapping her slender, beautiful finger on his chest.
"Of course. I'm always happier than my wife when she achieves something." He puffed out his chest proudly.
"Heeh... Tian'er, you don't even blink when you deceive your little wife. Fine, then—I'll go to my room and get used to my new realm with the little time I have left." Rihai laughed playfully, giving her husband a quick peck with her blonde body.
Just as she was about to turn and return to the cave with her two bodies, Aotian quickly stopped her.
"Hey, hey! I can't show favoritism. If one gives me a kiss, the other has to kiss me too." Aotian said seriously, with an air of justice, raising his brows suggestively toward the blue-haired Rihai.
Both girls rolled their eyes at the same time, amused.
"Pff!! Tian'er, you're taking advantage again, aren't you?! Aren't you afraid I'll get jealous of myself?" The blonde Rihai laughed out loud and shook her head, but still made her blue-haired body lean in to kiss her husband.
She knew that if she didn't, that scoundrel wouldn't let her leave.
Aotian laughed shamelessly. Of course, he knew there was only one Rihai, just with two bodies, but without an ounce of shame, he took her lips under such a ridiculous pretext.
Slowly, the kiss deepened, and his hands began wandering over both of his wife's bodies.
Helpless, feeling where things were heading, Rihai had to grab her husband's mischievous hands and slip away from him, fleeing.
It wasn't that she was against being with him at that moment, but she felt he had something important to do when he mentioned waiting two hours. Otherwise, knowing him, he wouldn't have waited even a minute.
Thus, she quickly ran back to her own room. But before closing the door, with her main body, she turned to him and winked.
"Two hours, don't forget!" she teased, for it wasn't only her husband who enjoyed being with her—she longed for it too.
"You think I'd forget?" he joked back, not minding that his prey had escaped.
"Heeh... Of course not haha!" With her beautiful and melodious laughter, the door to her room closed, and the formations rose.
Aotian blinked a few times, standing there, before turning around, scratching his head and suppressing the fire that had ignited in his stomach.
'Well, let's take care of business first and leave the celebration for later.' He consoled himself and returned to his own room.
As soon as he sat down on the floor, a figure emerged from the void, but Aotian reacted without surprise to the presence.
The one arriving was the ancestor Bao Wuji, who immediately pulled a large black lotus from his storage space and placed it gently before the main body, then vanished.
Aotian gently stroked the petals of the lotus, which was so large that he could sit in its center — and that was exactly what he did.
Standing up, he stepped onto the flower without fear, for being a Void-Tier herb, it was anything but fragile.
The faint spatial fluctuations the lotus emitted had already been restrained by the avatars, preventing them from harming the main body during use.
Now, sitting in the middle of the lotus, legs crossed, Aotian couldn't help but feel strange.
'Should I shave my head, gain a bit of weight, stretch my earlobes, and start chanting Buddhist prayers?' He joked to himself, amused as he looked at the lotus beneath him and imagined becoming a Buddha.
Shaking his head, still amused, he ignored the thought, closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and calmed his mind.
The herb beneath his body was without a doubt a Void-Tier Transcendent Sky-Lotus, cultivated by him twenty days earlier. And now, twenty days later, all his avatars had already used one—only the main body had yet to use it.
'This will probably be the last Transcendent Sky-Lotus I'll ever use. Not even Equivalent Exchange should allow me to create a superior version that helps me condense a Spiritual Physique. From everything I've studied so far, this must be the limit of this plant's potential.'
He thought, releasing a faint, regretful sigh.
Equivalent Exchange was miraculous, but not omnipotent. There were limits and restrictions to what it could create, and surpassing those limits was not simple.
The biggest obstacle, in truth, was Aotian's lack of knowledge.
To obtain something through Equivalent Exchange, first of all, everything that would exist in the result must in some way exist within the offering. For example, if he wanted to create glass, he'd need sand and the other materials that compose it, and then perform the exchange.
Likewise, he had to know that glass existed and understand its components to sacrifice them; otherwise, he could only toss a bunch of things into the exchange and hope that the materials that formed glass were among them.
That was precisely Aotian's greatest challenge when trying to condense superior treasures with that ability.
At the moment, he didn't know what lay beyond a Void-Tier lotus, nor what materials or laws formed it that could allow something like a Spiritual Physique to be condensed.
Even if he tried to continue as before—gathering an absurd amount of lotuses and using his ability while imagining a superior version—Aotian was almost certain he would fail. Not that he would give up trying, but deep down, he already knew the outcome.
He believed he would fail mainly because he felt that what was required to condense a Spiritual Physique simply didn't exist within the sacrifice.
'Enough lamenting!' he thought seriously. 'My absorption technique has also reached near-perfection during this time. There's no reason to hesitate anymore.'
Without delay, he extended his energy toward the herb he had been using accelerated growth techniques on several times over the past few days.
Since this would be the last lotus he would ever absorb, even if enhancing its medicinal power didn't make much difference, he had still decided to strengthen it further for his main body in the days prior.
Guiding his spiritual energy through his feet, he activated the herb, which began to disintegrate and flow into his body. Aotian then took control and began the process of integration.
He absorbed it directly, not because he hadn't considered creating pills from the lotus—because he had—but because this herb was far too special. It seemed to be bound by some law of heaven and earth, prevented from surpassing a certain limit.
After countless attempts, he discovered that the best way to utilize it was through direct absorption, using his own body as a cauldron, refining it internally into a pill and consuming it without losing even a trace of its medicinal power.
Being the ultimate lotus, the absorption and assimilation process was not quick. About an hour later, Aotian was already sitting on the ground, with no lotus in sight. By that point, it had been completely integrated into his body.
Even then, he continued meditating.
Only an hour later—two hours after the process had begun—Aotian finally opened his eyes, and a flash of light crossed his gaze.
"Haah…" A sigh of relief echoed through the cave, and Aotian felt an unprecedented sense of peace.
After adjusting for a moment and exploring his own body, he finally sensed the full results.
Pulling up his status, he smiled faintly, overwhelmed by a strong sense of accomplishment.
[Host: Long Aotian
Cultivation: 3rd Level of Golden Core
Body Cultivation: 2nd Level of Golden Core
Physique: Mortal
Qualifications: Perfect-Grade (Supreme) Five Element Spiritual Root]
'If my previous natural cultivation speed was 6, a normal Perfect Root's is 8, and a Spiritual Physique's is 16… then my current speed is 15.9.'
Aotian clenched his fists, feeling unprecedented excitement.
His natural cultivation speed was now only slightly below that of someone with a Spiritual Physique like Jian Huiyin or Mu Luyin.
With that, he finally stood on equal footing with talented geniuses, which left him deeply satisfied.
He couldn't help but grow emotional as he remembered the path he had taken—from someone without spiritual roots to this point.
And that was only his natural speed. With his multiple minds and mastery of the cultivation path, he could push his roots to their maximum potential, effectively doubling his cultivation speed.
Thus, his actual cultivation speed jumped from 12—which was already high—to directly 31.8! Nearly 32, which was the speed of a Sacred Physique.
'Hai'er also advanced to the Nascent Soul stage. Her endurance should've increased a bit. Let's say she can now last six hours, but I can't push her that far every day. Better to keep the usual four hours.'
'Then, with triple cultivation, my average speed reaches 35. Surpassing even a Sacred Physique. Although nowhere near a Divine Physique's 64, it's still unbelievable.'
Aotian felt his body tremble slightly with excitement, deeply satisfied, clenching his fists again as he felt the added power.
'Besides, I was already on the verge of breaking through, and with the use of the lotus, I accidentally crossed that threshold. I finally reached the 3rd level of the Golden Core. Even if the disciples had their epiphanies and are still ahead of me in cultivation, with my current speed, I'll surpass them soon enough.'
Feeling confident, he stood up, stretched his back, and, without hesitation, left the room.
He had an appointment with his wife—and he wouldn't miss that for anything.
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Author's Note:
Just a reminder: the speed values, such as 6, 12, 16, 32, or 64, were devised by Aotian himself to simplify his calculations.
These values are based on the idea that each higher level of root quality doubles the cultivation speed:
Low Quality - 1; Medium Quality - 2; High Quality - 4; Perfect Quality - 8; Spiritual Physique - 16; Sacred Physique - 32; Divine Physique - 64.