"... this way, I could reach for even greater strength!"
While my words my sounds pompous, there are not far from the truth. The session with Stella and encounter at the gate withing the sect showed me the difference between raw strength and proficient use of techniques. If I don't even out this difference, I might encounter some problems in tomorrow's duel, no to speak about the tournament later on!
"Hmm… It's not that I don't want to help you, but am I even capable of doing so? From what I saw back in the forest, you are already way stronger than me, what could I help you with?"
Apparently, she isn't conscious of my problem! That only makes it better. If I can make her help me in a real way, not only will I get stronger, it will boost her confidence in her own abilities as well! And if she binds her rise of confidence with our relationships, my benefits will only surge!
"While I might be strong, I lack proper techniques. I'm able to defend myself if it comes to life and death situations, but I can't use this approach in a 'friendly' duel. While I might be a valuable addition to the sect in the master's eyes, I can't kill Baxhar just like that. I need to learn how to limit my strength and use my cultivation properly, instead of relying on my raw potential!"
While it might be stupid to lay my cards out in the open, with the exception of my father, Eve is someone who showed the most love and cares for me in this world so far. If I won't be able to rely on her right now, I will only be able to get things by a trail and errors method. Asking for Stella's training right before the duel could potentially affect her reputation as well, so I would refrain from doing so.
"If you put it like that, I would love to help you! But if we are going to train, there is no way I can let you fill your belly! Not only will it affect your focus, but it will also be harder for you to move swiftly! Stand up!"
As soon as she made up her mind, her attitude took a 180 degrees turn. With my cute and amiable Eve replaced by a stern trainer, I couldn't help but follow her orders.
"The most important thing, for now, is to work on your cultivation. I can't help you much if I don't know what your current phase is, so we will start with that. While it might feel arousing, please, bear with it till the night!"
Ugh. Did she just say until night? If her way of helping me train my cultivation is even remotely close to what Stella showed me before, I don't think I will be able to hold back for the entire day! As a matter of fact, the sun didn't even manage to rise properly! It's well over fourteen hours before the day will be over!
But what can I do? I asked for it myself, so now I have no other way but to be patient. Maybe I should just pretend that everything that will happen will be just another form of bullying by my former oppressors back from earth? But I can't close myself if I'm supposed to actively seek improvement!
Well, it's no use worrying or ranting about it now. I don't even know if my assumptions are right. Maybe there is actually a different, real method to help someone with his cultivation? Wait, what am I even thinking! It's hardly possible that everyone here is sleeping with their masters all around this sect, not to speak about the vast disproportion of genders with the males advantage here. I won't believe that most of the cultivators that I'm passing on the streets are all licky with each other!
As Eve guides me through the mansion, we exit the building only to arrive at a vast courtyard behind it. While it's not the size of the golf field, the small wall that surrounds it is more than half of kilometre away! With that much of empty space, we don't have to worry about anyone bothering us or being bothered by my training.
"Take your clothes off, leave only your undergarments."
Wow, things are escalating rather quickly! If I think about it now, I didn't clean myself after having my way with Stella! If Eve tries to push the topic forward, I will have a hard time explaining my current state!
Even if I'm worried about this, I obediently follow her instructions. I guess that's the type of situation when a background satiric friend of the main character in some niche novel would say - You asked for it yourself!
"What are you standing for? We are not at the exhibition! Sit down and cultivate!"
Her current, harsh voice contrasts with her petite figure and cute face. Even when she tries her hardest, her 'stern' expression only shows the potency of gap moe! While I can't get enough of it, I still sit down but do not start circulating.
"I think you should know that I can cultivate both internally, externally and do both at the same time. Does this make any difference?"
Turning my head around, I managed to see her wide-open eyes. As her bottom lip starts to tremble, I can see her attempt to say something. Somehow, she manages to recover her state of mind before embarrassing herself with some kind of muttering.
"I can't help you with external cultivation. From what I heard, you need to reach the middle ranks of the spirit realm to be able to circulate your energy in this way… Let's stick with internal circulation. I can only hope that what I can teach you can be applied to external type as well."
"Got it!"
With my legs crossed, while I sit, I close my eyes in my half-naked state and push my energy forward through my inner paths. As soon as I start, I can feel my mana oozing out of my dantian and acupoints. Like a metal pulled by a magnetic force, the energy starts forming a stream in a very specific order. Since I'm focusing on my internals only, I can feel my mana starting to circulate through my acupoints and attracting more and more of it from my dantian.
The faster I move it around my body, the more power leaves the dantian to join the flow. Wait, using magnetism and physic from the earth can prove helpful here. If I were to put it in technical terms, it feels like the speed of my circulation works similar to a pressure! The faster it is, the stronger the pull on my energy. The difference here lays in fact, that with every bit of energy more in the flow, the pull only grows stronger!