One thing worth noting was that Mikael's learning speed was surprisingly 'normal'; he wasn't absorbing everything at an insane pace, and for someone of his comprehension, that was abnormal!
The reason behind this 'slowness' was that Mikael wasn't blind—he clearly saw how much Kiara enjoyed the moment they were sharing, especially as she taught him more about her passion for music.
Seeing her like that warmed his heart, the joy lighting up her visage a spectacle he could never tire of, which was why he restrained his own comprehension to the level of a mortal.
In this way, they could both savor the 'teaching process' without Mikael ruining it by grasping everything she had to offer in an instant. After all, he wasn't there to master music but simply to be with her, to be with Kiara…
Diing… tiiingg… liiing.
The sounds of the harp being plucked resounded in the room for hours on end as both lost track of time and simply basked in their shared musical moment.
A shared musical moment they both came to truly enjoy, and as a result, in the following period it repeated itself multiple times whenever Mikael spent some alone time with Kiara and the other girls.
Moments where he relaxed and enjoyed life, because while he certainly loved training and growing stronger, he loved no less the time he passed with his beloved women.
And so, he did not feel guilty about neglecting his newly acquired Physique, for instead he spent his days in a leisurely manner without training an iota, like a heretic to the sacred Grind!
At the place he 'wasted' his days in this leisurely fashion that he found truly wonderful…
In this way days blurred into each other as he spent nearly every moment in the presence of one or multiple of the girls, but who it was and what type of things they did… it varied…
He spent time with all the girls he could, but unfortunately this 'girls' didn't include Senior Sister Lian'er, as the lively and mischievous beauty was still in her seclusion, trying to integrate the insights she had grasped and successfully comprehend Sword Intent.
A seclusion that seemed to never end, but fortunately, as he passed by her Cultivation Abode he was able to sense the fluctuations she emanated and infer that she should be out within a year at the latest…
Some other fairies he didn't see were a pair of girls, and more precisely a pair of sisters 'named' the Bai Sisters, Yulan and Lifen!
As both of them weren't in the Sect but at the Stillwater Palace, they were far from the Wandering Sword Sect and consequently far from him.
Because of that he didn't see them even after a couple of days since he was back from the Thunder Vein Dew ordeal, and if he was to be honest with himself, he was beginning to seriously miss his lively ball of airheadedness that was Yulan and the cute tsundere that was Lifen!
And taking into account that he had promised he would come to visit them soon enough when he had the time, and that it had already been a while…
Yeah, Mikael decided to go see them!
Swish.
After a short flight he arrived at his destination.
The Stillwater Palace was a Sect nestled in the middle of a large lake, and consequently all of the Sect buildings were built in such a way that they seemed to 'float' upon the water, giving the location a certain 'immortal' charm that would awe any mortal who stumbled upon the place.
Which was especially so when combined with the natural beauty of the lake, with its crystal-clear waters and the way the Sect's buildings were naturally integrated with it, making it so that they did not merely look as if they floated upon the surface but truly seemed a part of the lake itself!
After taking a moment to appreciate the natural beauty of the place he headed into the Sect, and after a short procedure where he showed both his identity and the Token the Bai Sisters had given him, he was able to easily enter and make his way toward the residence where Yulan and Lifen lived, the two sisters dwelling beside each other.
"Mikael!!" Yulan joyfully cried as she saw him appear just as she and her sister were talking.
She then leaped to her feet before throwing herself into his arms, a wide smile on her visage.
Mikael caught her midair before twirling with her in his embrace.
"Hehehe." Yulan's joyful laughter resounded in the beautiful courtyard where both sisters were.
After Yulan's enthusiastic greeting, Mikael separated from the airhead beauty and walked to Lifen before, without giving her the time to react, pulling her into a hug.
"Hmph! What are you doing, hugging me like that…" Lifen snorted and complained, but she didn't make any move to leave her Taoist Couple's arms!
Which showed her real feelings, no matter what her mouth was saying, her heart was far more honest.
After this greeting all three of them took their places at a low table in the Bai Sisters' courtyard, where they began to talk with each other, making up for lost time.
"A-and after that I used my Water Arts to blow her out of the ring, and I won like that!" proudly declared Yulan.
"My Yulan is awesome, isn't she?" Mikael fondly said as he listened to her recount the story of how she won an internal tournament of the Stillwater Palace.
"My Yulan…" the airhead blushed as she brought her hand to her cheeks, "hehehe, it's true, I am your Yulan~" she declared while giggling foolishly to herself.
As she was lost in her thoughts, Mikael turned his attention to Lifen, "And you, L~F~I~E~N~, something that you want to brag—I mean tell me about?" he teasingly asked.
"...Hmph!" Lifen was momentarily stunned by how he spoke her name and blushed, but then she snorted as she sharply eyed him, "I don't need to brag! But—"
She looked away, her cheeks reddening slightly, "if you really, really want to know, I have brought my Movement Technique to Mastery, maybe… I could show you? Just the two of us…?" she spoke the last words in a lower tone.
Mikael instantly saw through her and understood that she was indirectly asking for a date, but he didn't call her out and simply played along, accepting her request.
After this short reunion, days passed as Mikael stayed at the Stillwater Palace with both sisters.
During this time he would occasionally go on strolls through the Sect while being accompanied by one of the sisters.
Actually, these 'strolls' were only called that when he was with Lifen, while they became 'dates' when he was with Yulan. And this wasn't because the content changed but simply because it was easier for Lifen to accept when it was called a stroll—the tsundere part of her wouldn't die this easily, after all.
As the days passed, their relationship grew closer, with both Yulan and Lifen enjoying showing him their Sect and the life they had before they met him.
Through small daily interactions and them showing a side of their life, their relation kept growing closer. Earlier they had been at his 'home,' now it was his turn, and through this experience they became closer than before.
One thing of note is that obviously Mikael and the Bai Sisters' strolls through the Sect attracted attention.
After all, with both girls' beauty and status—with their 6th layer Spiritual Foundation Realm cultivation, both sisters were at the absolute top of the Core Disciples in this Sect and were considered extremely talented.
This, coupled with their beauty, made them extremely popular through the Sect, Yulan for her natural airhead charm and kindness, and Lifen for her cold and sharp beauty.
So seeing both of the Sisters, who were never seen with a man—at least not in a romantic sense that's for sure—acting all intimate with Mikael…
With Yulan making it painfully obvious what her relation with this handsome cultivator was, while Lifen was more reserved, the signs were still clear as day for anybody who knew her.
With both sisters seemingly having fallen for the same man it obviously caused a stir, a stir only amplified by Mikael's unreal handsomeness and his status as a Core Disciple of the Wandering Sword Sect.
This situation caused the hearts of numerous male cultivators who fancied one or even both of the Bai Sisters to break into thousands of pieces, as they were obviously angered to see their 'goddess' with another man.
Fortunately, Mikael's status was really high and consequently nobody dared to bother them during their outings through the Sect, or at least… that was the case until the fourth day of his stay at the Stillwater Palace.
That day, as he was strolling through the Sect with Lifen, who was showing him some locations of the Sect that she and her sister particularly loved—
The ambiance was good and both enjoyed this stroll/date, but at that moment a Core Disciple at the 3rd layer of the Spiritual Foundation Realm emerged and began proclaiming his love toward his 'Senior Sister Lifen,' while 'righteously' declaring that somebody weaker than her didn't deserve her!!
Lifen obviously wasn't happy with this situation; she frowned and was about to make a move toward the thing ruining the mood of their outing and questioning HER choice of a partner, but Mikael beat her to it.
Not by instantly killing the Core Disciple, not that he didn't want to, but it would have instantly attracted a lot of hostility from the Stillwater Palace.
After all, killing one of their Core Disciples in the middle of the Sect… yeah, this was the kind of move that a Sect really, really didn't like, this was the classic slap in the face of the Sect and all that…
Which consequently would have brought a bunch of trouble, and while he was strong, he probably wasn't strong enough to wipe out the Sect by himself.
And while his status, his strength, and his relation with the Bai Sisters could protect him, it was too troublesome for nothing.
Because of that Mikael restrained himself, and instead of vaporizing him he goaded the 'righteous' Core Disciple with a couple of words, and in no time the Core Disciple threw out a Life and Death Duel.
Mikael, having subtly guided him toward this choice, obviously accepted and decided to take care of it right here, right now.
The Core Disciple accepted—after all, he was stronger… right?
Flash.
At that instant the Core Disciple exploded in a shower of blood and gore, and then Mikael took Lifen's hand and left under the stunned gaze of the crowd, not caring in the slightest about their opinion.
At that moment some Core Elders of the Stillwater Palace, who had heard the commotion, were ready to save Mikael the moment he fell into danger, because no matter if this was an 'official duel' or not, they couldn't afford the fallout of him dying here!
If a Core Disciple of the Wandering Sword Sect was killed in broad daylight in the middle of the Stillwater Palace… the consequences would have been unimaginable, and so they had been prepared to intervene.
But it seemed their actions were unneeded, as the Wandering Sword Sect Core Disciple was monstrously strong and had crossed realms to kill their Core Disciple, and while this was a slap in the face for their Sect, it was still better than the other alternative.
So after some sighs and some rage from these elders at the stupidity of the Core Disciple and the face they just lost, they dispersed the crowd.
Lifen's gaze toward Mikael had slightly changed compared to before, she looked at him with a new appreciation.
After all, she wasn't Yulan, who was far too naive and innocent; Lifen understood a lot more about cultivation and how the real world worked.
Author Note:
EnjoyingAscension Through the Records?
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In this chapter I tried to write in a 'Cultivation Novel Style mixed with…my style?' I tried to mix Cultivation Novel type rapidly passing time with my own writing style in a way that we are show events rapidly happening without taking too much chapter.
I didn't want the Stillwater Palace to last six chapters when it clearly wasn't needed, what do you think of that? I would be curious to know.
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— End of Chapter —