"I will write a recommendation letter to the Roaring Dragon Sect after this!" The City Lord said with a laugh.
Zahar smiled, and looked at the family of six. He was the 'outsider', but he was seated with them in the round table, Sana next to him. There was some funny tension in the dining room, as her mother kept asking Sana to serve food to Zahar.
Zahar naturally didn't miss the whispered conversation between mother and daughter. "He's your master, and you're his concubine. Serve him food, daughter. Feed him."
"Okay." Sana whispered back, and awkwardly took food from the dishes at the center of the round table and placed it in Zahar's bowl.
City Lord Eshtar smiled and asked. "Has my daugher served you well? Was her performance in bed satisfactory?"
Sana was beet red, and Zahar laughed. "Yes. But we have not done it."
"I was hoping we would be expecting grandchildren soon." City Lord said with a laugh.
Sana's didn't know where to put her face, and was absolutely red. "Father!"
Zahar thought for a moment, and answered honestly. "She is not yet ready to bear my children. Perhaps in another five to ten years. She should be at least in the late fourth realm before she starts bearing my children. For now, she will be my companion to the sects and follow me on my adventures through this world."
The City Lord's eyes darted to her daughter, and then realized the subtle shifts in her cultivation. "Daughter- you just broke through to the 3rd realm?"
Sana nodded. "Yes."
"That is amazing! That means your time as an Outer Disciple will be cut short, and you can begin to challenge some of the trials for the Outer Disciple rewards." Her father looked absolutely delighted, and then looked at his two younger daughters, wondering whether that good fortune could spill to the rest of the family. "Young man, do my younger daughters interest you?"
Zahar laughed. "No, thanks. Sana will be sufficient for now."
"I know it's a tall ask for a man as talented and busy as you, but please care and look after my daughter in the Roaring Dragon Sect. It is a competitive place, and she may have bullies." The City Lord asked.
"Ah. Certainly. My partners will be well cared for, and they will have the strength to protect themselves." Zahar said.
The rest of the dinner was mostly idle chatter, as the family talked.
***
"We have about two months before we need to depart for Roaring Dragon Valley." Sana said as they walked back to their own chambers. Sana was already undressing, she had gotten comfortable being naked around Zahar over the past week. "I'm sure my father's letter will get you in."
Even if it didn't, Sana didn't see how Zahar could fail any kind of test. Just from that day alone it was clear he had a comprehension of cultivation and alchemy beyond even great masters.
But her thoughts went back to one of the words he said when they fought. "I- I have a question."
Zahar stopped what he was reading, and looked at his fully undressed concubine. "Oh? Come sit here and let me hear it." Zahar tapped the space next to him on the bed.
Sana nodded and crawled onto the bed, and sat obediently.
"Call me, Master." Zahar teased.
"Yes, Master." Sana said with a slightly upset pout.
"Good." Zahar wrapped his arm around Sana's waist. "So, what's your question?"
"You said my cultivation was lacking density or weight, just appearances. What- what did you mean?"
Zahar laughed. He subtly cursed his tastes, he had always found the women he liked all had some spark of intelligence that always found ways to bite him one wy or another. "Ah, that. Unfortunately, unless you have an innate sense of the energy structures around you, and you are willing to start from scratch, that's not something you can fix. Each time you cultivate, you just add the energy to your soul, correct?"
"Yes."
"What if, it's possible to pack more energy into a single spot, before adding it to your soul. Stitching large quantities of energy together into a single particle, then only fuse it into your soul. Forming the layers with these dense bits of energy."
Sana paused as she digested what it mean. "That means even with just a single layer-"
"I'm many times more powerful than any regular cultivation, because each mote of cultivation is way more dense, with way more weight." Zahar cultivated all the time, absorbing the energies from his surrounding and compressed them into tiny, tiny blobs. It meant he was slower, but the compressed cultivation had way more benefits.
"Why can't I do so now?"
"Your soul must know how to do it. You must know how to compress and stitch energies together. And, you can't pack iron on top of fluffy cotton. Your previous cultivation will collapse. It is only something a person who has lived multiple lives will know how to do, unless you happen to be a generational genius. I can't teach you how to do it, because each of our souls sense energies and manipulates differently."
Sana cursed. "Ah. You could- uh. Do what you did that time?"
"No. All I did then was direct it to your body, letting your bones absorb it. I can only prevent the energy from leaking out, I can't do it for you, and help you take that energy in. I could explain the theory, but you must do it on your own." Zahar said.
"Oh." Sana looked at him, wondering how he knew it. "Who are you, really?"
"As you guessed. An ancient." Zahar said. "I also happen to have a taste for fine women."
Sana ignored the teasing. "How ancient?"
"That's relative, isn't it?" Zahar laughed. "But I am old enough that there's probably nothing in this world that I fear."
The young mistress paused, and then her face turned red. She seemed to be thinking something dirty, before she shyly asked. "My- my mother said I should consummate our relationship as soon as possible, so that we can- uh- have leverage. Uh- I've never done it before."
Zahar laughed. "Is it something you want, or is it just your parental pressure getting to you?"
Sana wasn't sure. Zahar pulled her close, and this time, they shared their first passionate kiss. She had never kissed a man, so Zahar's sudden kissing made her body twitch and her nerves go crazy in ways that she didn't expect.
It lasted about two minutes, and Zahar stopped. "Don't worry, my dear concubine. We'll be physically united before we leave for the Roaring Dragon Sect."
She blushed.