The 5 Element Palm Technique was a simple but destructive technique that, once mastered, was among the best in its class.
Heaven Grade techniques were only supposed to be learned by those in the True Soul Realm and above, but this did not prohibit those with lower cultivation from learning them; however, the potential of the technique will be limited until you reach the required realm due to insufficient knowledge and strength.
But even with its capped potential, it was still better than Earth-Grade techniques.
'The 5 Element Palm is a versatile Martial Technique that, when used correctly, can mean the difference between victory and defeat in difficult battles. The technique is divided into five stages. The first stage is all about learning about each element and how to use it effectively to attack and counteract other elements.
Earth, for example, is a good defensive element against Fire. Against Wood, Fire is an effective offensive element. Metal is poor defensively against Fire, and so forth.'
Vasari summarised the first stage of the 5 Element Palm and thought it made sense.
He brought out four nail-sized stones of different colours and placed them on the floor. These little stones were Elemental Essence Stones that he bought during the week. Since they were all Elemental Essence Stones of an advanced element, they cost Vasari quite a bit of money.
He realised why so few cultivators owned houses and mounts and why disciples continuously went on missions even at the risk of dying.
Cultivation was expensive.
A single Elemental Essence Stone for an advanced element cost him 250 Cloud Points. He remembered purchasing a Water and Wind Elemental Essence Stone for 110 Cloud Points each. Now he spent 1000 Cloud Points on Elemental Essence Stones, and there was a chance it wouldn't be enough to help him comprehend that element.
"Oh well, what's done is done," Vasari said before putting away 3 of the stones inside his spatial ring, leaving only the Wood Elemental Essence Stone on the ground in front of him.
He poured some of his mana into the stone, and it erupted with Wood Essence, filling the room with its energy.
Vasari took a deep breath before beginning to comprehend the Wood Element's properties.
'What are the characteristics of wood? Growth and Renewal? Vitality and strength? Adaptability? Wisdom? Or balance?'
Vasari identified these seven wood element properties after interacting with the Wood Essence for an hour. He felt them all to be right, and his knowledge of these properties earned him Basic Wood Will, but that's not what he wanted.
Vasari wanted to break all cultivation conventions and dive straight into the Advanced Will level. And to do this, he needs to focus on 1 or 2 particular properties and base his Advanced Will around that.
His Advanced Earth Will was built around endurance and strength. His Advanced Wind Will was built on freedom. His Water Will was built around flexibility and fluidity, and his Fire Will was built on a combination of aggression and power.
He needed to balance out his elements while also considering the elements he still needed to learn.
'Let's focus on growth and renewal.' Vasari concluded that these two properties were the way forward regarding the Wood Element.
Trees and plants have extraordinary regenerating abilities, and some can grow indefinitely if given the appropriate conditions and enough time. Vasari wanted that to be the basis of his Advanced Wood Will, for it to be evergrowing and difficult to destroy.
An hour passed, then another, and when Vasari opened his eyes in the third hour, he had a look of accomplishment in them.
"Advanced Wood Will..." he mumbled, pulling a single seed from his spatial ring and holding it in his fingers.
He Willed the remaining Wood Essence in the room into the seed and watched how the seed miraculously sprouted and turned into a seedling before his very eyes.
"Amazing!" Vasari exclaimed before throwing the seed out the window.
He had no time to waste, he also launched the depleted Wood Essence Stone out the window and took out another stone. This stone was metallic in colour.
Vasari went through the same motions as before, inserting Mana into the stone, which filled the room with Metal Elemental Essence.
Due to obtaining and refining Talia's Primal Yin, Vasari had an easier time comprehending Basic Metal Will. She, however, was taking the path of Strength and Durability, while Vasari planned to take the path of Sharpness and Precision. So, although her insights into the metal element helped him reach the Basic Will level, he still had to comprehend his own path to reach the Advanced Will level.
After another 3 hours of comprehension, Vasari opened his eyes again. If anybody knew that in just 6 hours, Vasari comprehended not 1 but 2 advanced elements from scratch to the Advanced Will Level, they would rather bite off their tongue than believe that nonsense.
Even Vasari was shocked at how simple it was for him to understand these elements. He was aware that cultivators could take weeks, months, or even years to comprehend an Element to the Advanced Will level, thus accomplishing so in a matter of hours gave him a tremendous sense of accomplishment.
'Maybe my Physique helps me?' He thought to himself, but he had nobody to answer his questions, so he put it to the back of his mind.
Vasari made his way down to the kitchen with a spring in his stride. He took a large chunk of meat and set it on the counter. He then went through the drawers looking for a spoon. He found one and positioned it directly above the meat. He then used his Advanced Metal Will to sharpen the edges of the spoon like a knife and pushed down on the meat.
Vasari smiled as the sharpened spoon easily cut the meat in two, then he cut the meat again so that it was evenly sliced into four before sending the meat in his eyes sub-space for the little dragons.
He decided to take a break from cultivating for the rest of the night and went to the lounge where the Nakata girls were chilling.
"Hey Vasari, are you finished cultivating?" Hozumi asked when she saw Vasari walk into the lounge.
"Yeah, I wanted to spend some time with you girls before I leave tomorrow," Vasari said while he squeezed into the small gap between Hiromi and Kurumi. He then put his hands around their waists and lifted them onto his thighs.
"What are you up to?" He asked.
"We were looking at these Knights&Fairies Rankings on the Mananet. We noticed there are 12 men from the Cloud Haven Sect inside the top 100 Knights and 16 women in the top 100 Fairies." Hiromi answered while resting her head on Vasari's chest.
"We also saw Chelsea on the Fairies list. She ranks 379th. They also published a story about her injury causing her rankings to drop slightly." Kurumi added while making herself comfortable on his lap.
Hozumi, sitting on the couch opposite, smiled at the sight of her daughters snuggling on Vasari. She was grateful Vasari had come into their lives and brought them to this advanced cultivation civilisation. Not only that, but her girls had never had a male figure in their life since their father abandoned them, so seeing Vasari treat them so well made her happy.
"Vasari, why didn't you tell us that you and the Number 1 Fairy had a thing, mhm?" Hiromi asked while pinching and pulling his cheeks. Witney had mentioned that Vasari had another woman named Hannah Coldwater, but imagine Hiromi's surprise when she saw that exact name ranked first on the rankings that only geniuses amongst geniuses could enter.
"And she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. How did you meet her."
Vasari chuckled before telling them how he and Hannah Coldwater met.
"Wow, she even came looking for you in the sect, but you were already on Planet Voxotis when she arrived."
"Really? Why didn't Witney tell me about that?" Vasari asked in surprise but just received a shoulder shrug as an answer.
"Maybe she just forgot."
For the rest of the night, the 4 cultivators chatted and spent some quality time with each before heading to bed. Vasari and Hiromi enjoyed one last steamy session together, only stopping when Hiromi couldn't take anymore and passed out in his arms.
The next morning, Hozumi prepared breakfast for everyone and once again, Vasari asked her to feed him, this time however, Kuromi was on his other lap instead of Hiromi, who was too sore to get out of bed.
After thanking them and saying his farewells, Vasari went to visit his wolf cubs and told them not to cause too much trouble while he was away.
With nothing else left to do, Vasari and Otis left for the City centre to meet up with Miss Covington.
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In the City centre of Outer Haven, there were plenty of small cafes with various themes catering for all types of preferences.
Inside a chill and mellow cafe with not many customers, a beautiful lady with long black hair tied into a ponytail, clear crystal blue eyes, and a pair of glasses resting atop her head was peacefully drinking a cup of coffee when she heard a ringing sound come from the cafes entrance door.
She lifted her eyes to see who was entering the cafe. This was a café reserved for Elders of the sect, so it was bound to be someone she knew, but when she saw who it was, her eyebrows furrowed in irritation.
"What are you doing here?" Her tone was frosty and unwelcoming, but the recipient of her coldness didn't seem to mind and approached her anyway.
"What? Can't I visit my bestest friend in the whole wide world?"
"Tsk!" Looking at the woman taking a seat opposite her, who was not a bit inferior to her in the looks apartment, made the woman with blue eyes even more annoyed.
"Come on, Samantha, are you still upset with me from that one time? You know it wasn't my fault."
Miss Covington and the Elder opposite her stared at each for a long time, her crystal blue eyes locked with the stunning silver eyes of the Elder opposite.
"Sigh…seriously, what are you doing here, Lana?"
Elder Lana smiled coquettishly and tucked a few strands of her dark brown hair behind her ear.
"Elder Equus has assigned me to assist you in looking after Vasari."
"What!" Miss Covington slammed the table in disbelief, instantly destroying it into thousands of bits.
"Why must you always do this, Lana? Every single time I like a boy, you come along and ruin everything."
Elder Lana seemingly had no reaction to Miss Covington's words, but hidden deep in the depths of her pupils was a pang of hurt.
"Samantha, you know I never meant it." Elder Lana replied, and the two women entered an uncomfortable silence until Elder Lana spoke again.
"After Elder Equus found out that Vasari was unaffected by my scent, he asked me to assist you and I agreed since that boy is the first one I've met that is entirely unaffected by my scent."
Returning to her coquettish expression, Elder Lana explained why she was joining them on the trip to the Scented Fjord, but her reasoning made Miss Covington even more annoyed. However, since it was Elder Equus who assigned Lana, Miss Covington couldn't do anything about it.
"Sigh...fine, you can come with us, but only because your mount is more suited for long-distance travel."
"Aww~ look at my Samantha being a tsundere. I know you miss all the times we went on missions together, this will be just like old times."
"Sure, whatever you say."
Elder Lana's Phoenix-shaped eyes narrowed playfully and her thin eyebrows sank in amusement. Although her friend might act like she hated her and wasn't excited about her joining the trip, Elder Lana knew Miss Covington better than anyone and could tell she was hiding her true feelings.
The duo sat in silence for an hour, the smashed table had returned to perfect condition, and both gorgeous women enjoyed a warm cup of tea while they waited for another to join them.
As the clock on the wall struck 09:00, the entrance door of the cafe swung open, and the ringing bell sounded throughout the cafe.
The Outer Haven Elders' eyes brightened when they saw the tall and muscular figure of Vasari walk into the cafe with his usual confident smile.
Elder Lana licked her lips in desire while Miss Covington smiled sweetly as she remembered the time they spent together in the hotel a few days before.
"Vasari, over here!"