Thankfully he still had his pills otherwise the chance to meet up with their contact would have been missed. Osilliaice was most surprised when he tossed off his sheet and had her one of the pill jars to fix her arm. Xing Lei paid it little mind, his thoughts still swirled over the course of events. Alustriea's demonification had bothered him, from a cultivation stand point, nothing should have resulted in her being so over whelmed, which left the one risky element.
Magic.
To be honest, while he had access to spells to call him a mage would be a gross disservice to the practice. His spells were more like natural abilities, effects that occured cause he willed them to, not because he studied ancient texts and learned complicated chants. He had always meant to get Alustriea to teach him about the power she excelled at but the hectic bustle of life had denied him all but the most basic of introductions to spellcraft.
The other side of the problem was a concept he had underestimated. Gods. To an immortal, Gods were merely high level existences that learned the worlds laws, they were still very much mortal, just rather difficult to kill. Yet Loss seemed something else. She had been there when he initially struck out, his spear did indeed pierce her chest... yet at the same time it was like fighting a treasure spirit, they were sorta of there, yet not. They could effect the world but the world was challenged greatly to touch a spirit.
Yet she couldn't effect him.
Loss had reached out and tried to strangle him, she had played it off like her inability to crush his throat was part of her game but he could feel her bloodlust. She had had every intention of killing him, but for some reason she was blocked and it came to the possessed Alustriea to strike him down. Gods in this world were more than accomplished mortals, they were tied to laws, he well expected, but there was a higher law in place that forced them to work through 'helpers' rather than direct interaction.
Lost in thought, Xing Lei started when Osilliaice touched his shoulder. The lizardess looked at him with concern, finding his distance now more than a little offputting. "What now my mate, the pills are mending my body but it's still a blizzard out there. Will we contest for the ship and look for our sister?"
Xing Lei shook his head slowly glancing to his mate, "Other than allowing Alustriea to cultivate I had more good news, that day, I made contact with the tribe. I convinced Kah to speak on our behalf, we just have to reach the contact spot. Though with the abduction of Alustriea, it no longer matters if Destorianaxe allows us back, we're going."
Osilliaice was surprised but Xing Lei could tell she was happy about the news, her tail was shifting, much like a canines might, it seemed to be a trait that even his own tail shared from time to time. Glancing at it he sighed though, he could still feel the pain of Alustriea's yin qi digging into it, when they made for the tribe he'd have to take the time to purge the invasive cold energy. That was bothering him as well. This was a technique he'd not even shown Osilliaice, how did Alustriea know about it?
As Osilliaice was getting her things prepared Xing Lei looked to his spatial ring, his supplies were low, his wealth even more so. The blizzard shouldn't be too bad unless it was Alustriea feeding it with her qi, if such was the case both he and Osilliaice were in for a hard journey from the start. Spirit storms were nothing to trifle with, especially with limited reserves. Even if his wife was inexperienced a storm infused with ones qi and element could still prove deadly.
Watching Osilliaice move about he had resolved himself to start teaching her the more intricate methods of their cultivation. For the dragon and Lizardfolk war, they'd both have to be focused, especially with this new trouble stirring in the darkness. When she was ready he pulled her to one side to explain, "Cultivation is not just about making you a better fighter my mate. There is many uses for your power, and one we need to use right now. Rather than use the sewers we're going through the blizzard."
Osilliaice looked at him curiously, "Even if we are stronger the cold out there will eventually just get to us will it not?"
Xing Lei shook his head and focused, his gaze was steady on his mate as he let his Spirit Pressure unfold on her. For Osilliaice it felt like a massive boulder was pushed down upon her shoulders, yet Xing Lei was just looking at her, his gaze was a little focused but otherwise there was not noticable intent. "What is this?"
"Spiritual Pressure. With cultivation you gain access to it, it can be a force with which you intimidate foes or protect yourself. Focus on your dantian, cycle the energy you've been gathering and training with and focus your will to push back against that pressure."
Osilliaice nodded, her back creaked softly as Xing Lei did not remove his pressure, instead he seemed to bring even more pressure against her. Setting her jaw she looked into her mates eyes and tried to focus, tryingbto lash back, but suddenly he side stepped, the pressure was still on her but she heard a crack as a splintered hole appeared on the wall behind Xing Lei. Shaking his head he stated, "Wrong! While you can focus your spirit pressure into a strike like that, you need to use it first to protect yourself. While the best defense is an outstanding offense you would actually need to hit me with such for it to matter. Again."
Osilliaice growled feeling the pressure increase again, once more she gathered her qi to push back against Xing Lei, his yellow eyes watching hers seemed to sparkle a bit. Yet as she applied her qi, the kobold before her didn't so much as flinch, he was like a stone in a river, the water crashed around and against him, but he stood resolute against the rushing current. "Closer, but not enough Osilliaice. I am not pushing you down my mate. You must fight spirit with spirit, so using your own disordered pressure to try and shove me is not going to work. Again!"
Osilliaice felt her legs shudder her eyes closed as she tried to think about what to do. The pressure had almost doubled again, it was through sheer stubborn willpower that she still stood, but even the bones in her legs were starting to protest. Even with the tempering, Xing Lei's qi felt like solid metal anvil pushing against her shoulders baring her to the ground. Growling, both at Xing Lei and herself she focused her qi and instead of targeting her mate directly she tried to target the pressure itself, treating it as a separate force.
Xing Lei watched with approval as Osilliaice's body erupted with qi, there was alot of leakage, the fact it had erupted like a geyser was the most telling that it was still unrefined but he could feel her pushing against his pressure, each push getting stronger as she refined how to attack his qi with her own. He nodded, "You're getting it my mate, just focus, try defending yourself before pushing back and trying to contest pressure with pressure, that's the next lesson."
Osilliaice nodded withdrawing her own scattered pressure and revolved it around her body, her minds eye saw her naked scaled body wrapped in armor, from crest to tail in qi armor. She felt her power shifting, a warmth spreading across her body as she felt the pressure ease a bit, though the pressure itself didn't change, rather her qi armor was resisting its push, the weight no longer seemed as oppressive. She still felt it, and it was still taking her concious effort to maintain that armor, but it no longer felt like an elephant's fat arse was pressing down on her shoulders.
Osilliaice had a look of victory on her face as Xing Lei quickly withdrew his pressure. His mates eyes rolled back and she crumpled, only to fall into his arms. Supporting his larger mate he stroked the back of her head. These were lessons he should have been giving her since the start, and now he had to cram it into her mind in a short window. Sighing at himself, he turned Osilliaice over and popped a pill into her jaws, the pill turning into a stream of energy to nourish her body as he lightly massaged her chest, working the energy through her body.
They really didn't have the time to make it to the meeting but he hoped whoever Destorianaxe or Kah sent was patient while he prepped Osilliaice for traversing the storm. As he continued cycling the energy through her body he thought about what else they needed. Well right off the bat, they'd need to dig out the ruins of their house for their weapons. Both his mithril Spear and her elven spear were likely under snow and rubble, his would be easy to find, most cultivators pushed a wisp of their qi into their weapons so they could be retrieved easier.
Osilliaice however would have to point out where she had most likely dropped it when she was tossed. While, strictly speaking, he doubted they'd find overt resistance now in the snow choked jungle. The shifted weather had likely killed most of the dinosaurs by this time, or at least, driven them to find distant shelters to cope with the freezing temperature that was so drastically different from the humid warmth of the jungle. Still, without a weapon in hand, Xing Lei knew they'd feel naked.
Acquiring new weapons were possible but they were both so use to their spears, no sense grabbing random replacements. Osilliaice slowly awoke with a groan, rubbing her forehead. To her it felt like she'd been beaten around the head with a club. "Thanks my mate."
Xing Lei nodded helping her up but stood close to support her, "Sorry to drive you hard in short notice my mate, we'll need to continue your training if we're not to be left behind."
Osilliaice nodded shaking away the weakness that threatened to fell her again, "Is this how you felt back in the tribe?"
Xing Lei glanced at her, "What? When I used my tricks before I cultivated? Yeah about the same, though I have more experience, I knew what I could do, for how long or what degree. Was uncomfortable but it beats driving yourself unconcious. Less risky too, need to manage yours a bit better. Passing out and getting a headache is the least of a cultivators worries in that situation. If you pull too much qi you can overload your meridians, essentially crippling yourself. Even now I would rather let you rest but time is of the essence so can only risk it and do my best to make sure you can recover."
Xing Lei pressed his hand against her navel, a pulse of qi barged into her body and danced through her veins like liquid fire. Osilliaice tensed, while she knew her mate wouldn't hurt her, it didn't change the fact this invasion of qi stung a great deal. Mentally she watched what he was doing, his qi spreading out to reinforce her body so it wouldn't overtax itself. Gritting her teeth she hissed, that really stung! "Okay what's next?"
"Next is forming the shield as thin as possible, using as little qi as possible. We'll need to maintain the pressure as we travel so having it as strong as possible while not gutting your reserves is the next big step. After that, we'll head out and reclaim our weapons along with any of our things from our house." Xing Lei replied withdrawing his hand, "Now pressure armor, let's see how stable you can make it and as thin as possible, looking like an armored war elephant is not gonna cut it."