Lind whirled his staff as a whip tried to snag it from him. It was nearly impossible to predict where the whip would go as it was so fast, but he had begun to anticipate it based on wrist movements a lot better.
Even so, a dark whip snagged his foot and sent him sprawling on his backside. Sweat slicked hair entered his eyes and Lind was heaving breath as he lay on the stone ground. Gentle laughter greeted his defeat but it was better than a crack of the whip to get up.
"You are doing much better, Lind." Shoti stood over him but Lind was too tired to appreciate the view. His whole body was sore, but he welcomed it as he was improving. His resolve to stop being passive had come with the price tag of combat training.
Shoti had been thrilled to be his teacher as despite his guest elder status, he was only in the Soul Realm. Something that bothered him, however, was that his tempering was still at a snail's pace no matter what he did. While he was in tier 8 tempering, he had not felt it move one iota from the mid tier where it rested.
Conversely, his issue with elixirs seemed to have vanished. Lind realized his mental state was critical to making elixirs. The more complex, the more of his mind needed to make them work. Aside from tempering low grade 3 elixirs, he now figured out a few more.
They were mostly healing or Qi restoration still, but at least he had broken free of the tempering despite how popular they were. The Heavenly Maiden Sect was thrilled for the elixirs but the Sapphire Auction House continued to set up sales for a handful of his grade 2 peak elixirs.
All were agreed that selling grade 3 would be practically suicide. There were powers in the Floating Isles that would send tier 1 Sky Realms enmasse to take Lind away no matter the cost.
"Are you 2 finally done for today?" Qing called out from the edge of the training ring and LInd smiled as Shoti helped him up. They both waved and Lind walked off to enter the male bath. It was a feature he was pleased to have since the Lotus Empire only had baths in the quarters of students.
The oils and herbs mixed into the baths soothed his muscles and invigorated his body. It was a huge benefit to have access to the Elder baths. It was a low grade body tempering but it was effective over time.
Lind had been debating looking into elixirs in grade 1 to 2 for body tempering and meridian tempering. It was possible he could come up with both but the ingredients for the pills were already very rare for high grade versions of either. Still, he would put some thought into it.
He donned new robes and made his way to his courtyard. As a guest elder, he was issued with a spacious courtyard in the inner disciple area of the sect. The reasoning given was his special status as a grade 3 elixir master, although the specifics were withheld from the general population, the Sect Mistress had informed the disciples of his status.
It was no longer a secret really, but Darkmoor Kingdom has stayed silent on his identity. The power of the Sapphire Auction House was not to be underestimated. Lind did miss his old contacts in the Lotus Empire, but he was adapting.
Before he even got close to his door, he began to smell something heavenly. Lind was drooling before he even knew it and picked up his pace. Just inside the doorway was a sitting room to greet guests. Off to the right was his newly established herb garden. To the left were his actual bedroom and cultivation room. Lind walked past the herb garden but noted a few ripe plants to be picked and headed for the kitchen.
He smiled as he saw Shoti staring at Qing as if she was a goddess. While Lind could cook very well, his ability to manipulate World Realm food was near pathetic. He just did not have the Qi to prepare it properly. Even so, all 3 gathered most evenings to eat together.
Lind would usually eat his breakfast alone as both Qing and Shoti had duties to perform, but lunch was a mix depending on their schedule. Lind welcomed his plate of meat and vegetables that smelled wonderful. He missed Earth food often, but Qing's cooking was very much above and beyond anything he ate in his first life.
"How is your progress, Lind?" Qing began the conversation but Lind would be lucky to speak. Shoti jumped right in.
"He still lost but lasted a lot longer this time! He did not lose his staff and fended off the whip unlike those slow disciples of mine!" Both Qing and Lind rolled their eyes. Shoti was an Outer Sect Elder, but all the disciples loved her. Lind knew both of them were enjoying this time of recovery and peace.
The higher ups of the Heavenly Maiden Sect had ordered all involved with his trial to be given 2 months to recover and be fully evaluated. Senior Tyr had been top of the list as a Sky Realm tier 1 was a treasure of the sect.
Shoti and Qing had been fine, much better than the wiped out Maidens running the formation. Lind suspected they had strained themselves maintaining the formations from what he had heard from Tyr. The power of his miasma was far beyond what they expected, but it had finally ended after nearly 2 days.
Lind had no idea how much time had passed but he remembered vividly all that happened. He had nearly lost. It would have been so easy to give in to either heart demon, but the last one had nearly taken him if not for the mark on his right cheek. He had asked Tyr about it but she assured him that the formations never broke until the very end.
Lind wondered how Cyntilla got through to him, but since that day he had noticed the mark stopped burning. Had something happened that could overcome the formations? She was alive, but that was all he knew. Shoti had been unable to confirm more than that either with her contacts.
"I am more confident in my ability to fight but my progress with tempering has become very slow. Making elixirs is more effective than the staff technique anymore. I think having divine cores is the problem." The technique was not bad, but it was constructed on an assumption that the 6 elemental in question had at most heaven cores.
Immortal Cores and divine cores were too high of a quality to benefit as much as they did early. Tier 8 and 9 will need help to temper through while he suppressed his foundation. His World Touch had broken through to Sky Touch. What was once difficult to manipulate was now much easier. Below Sky Realm, all essence and Qi was his to control.
Both women nodded at his words but then glanced at each other. Lind saw it and sighed. It would seem they wanted to talk at last about what he had seen. There had been no time as everyone had to focus on recovery and fulfill duties they had put off while helping him face the trial.
Now, it was time to discuss, but it was a deeply personal thing. Qing would have ample justification to talk to Lind about it as she had helped him with the first heart demon back in the Lotus Empire. Lind waved and had them join him in the herb garden. Lind wanted to distract himself a bit as he talked.
"My heart demons were far more powerful than we thought." Lind began there and outlined both of the worlds he had lived in. The revenge vision was simply a variation of what happened at the Frey Clan but Lind was fully grown to see it happen. A part of him wondered if that girl existed anywhere but he let it go.
The last heart demon took longer to explain. He told everything about Earth that was relevant and quickly found that explaining American corporations were a little difficult as any sane cultivator in the current world would smash them long ago if not take them over. Hospitals were a bit easier but Qing scoffed at the cost of procedures and medicine.
While healers did charge for stones or resources, they did not break the person as no one would come if that became known. Lind smiled tiredly that if he explained governments, both women would claim he lived in some kind of insane asylum. Cultivators could never accept a world without Qi.
When it was all done, Lind was not surprised to see tears on his face. The deep pain was not gone, but it was now a part of him and he could face it. Two sets of arms encircled him and Lind allowed himself to feel at peace.
"You are going into isolation soon, aren't you?" Lind knew that had to be what drove them but he was surprised at the confusion on their faces.
"Isolation, why would we go into isolation?" Shoti could tease with the best of them, but Lind knew she could not act that well. Qing was even less inclined to act as part of her trust building was being forthright. Lind was now confused until a sharp thought passed through his mind.
'I may have modified some memories.' Lind felt shocked. What happened to not changing the past?! He then realized his older self would not have done that unless it was done before. It still reeked of risky behavior, but there was little he could do about it.
"Nevermind, I might still be a little confused from the trial." Both nodded and they brewed some tea to chat before they left. Lind did not ask the price for the mirror now as it would reveal he knew things he should not. Hopefully, it would not be worse than isolation.
Lind looked over his garden and carefully finished collecting what he needed. He made a few elixirs for his quota before he finally settled down. His meditation was more of a polishing technique at this point but his foundation was already near perfect due to his talents. It was tempting to let himself breakthrough to tier 8 but he held back.
"I need to do something else." Lind had the greatest advancement in near death or harsh conditions. He was not alone in that respect. Many cultivators only truly advanced going out into the world and risking themselves.
He began to plan and remembered his trip down from the sky 2 months ago. He had debated between the Divine Sword Sect or Indelia, but he had heard that Indelia was a heaven for production. No matter the expertise, there were masters to learn from. Lind needed to broaden his horizons and that sounded appealing.
It may seem like he was not facing conflict but mastering elixirs was a painstaking process of trial and error for him now. When he succeeded in the healing and Qi recovery grade 3 elixirs there was a small improvement to his tempering.
The more variety, the more he could do. Also, the Stardust Emporium was the headquarters of the Sapphire Auction House. If there were rare ingredients, they would be found there. Lind laid out a simple plan he would review with Shoti and Qing the next time they all met up. He was in no hurry yet.
Lind blew out the candles around him and was about to rest when his pocket vibrated. He had been issued a communication jade on arrival. It was very convenient. Lind pulled it out and sunk his senses into it.
"Guest Elder Lind, 2 people have arrived to see you at the main gates." Lind was confused. Anyone looking for him was turned away out of hand unless they were a Heavenly Maiden. If it was, they would just come over and ask to see him. Who would the main gate relay to him?
"Please identify them for me." Lind was very polite as it might be someone important he had not known about before. There was a pause for a long time then the jade vibrated again. Instead of the gate guard's voice, however, a man's voice he knew well came through.
"Has that Vixen gotten around to my messages yet?!" Lind smiled wider than he could believe was possible. Solon! It was Solon! He quickly relayed he would be on his way. What brought him all the way over here? Lind made his way through the sect to see who all had come.