A silent and brightly lit night passed calmly within the Divinestone clan. In their homes, all the young cultivators in the Qi Gathering Realm slept peacefully, as they weren't much different from regular mortals when it came to sleep.
The cultivators in the second realm, the Foundation Establishment Realm, could go a week without sleep without any issues. It was precious time they gained for studying and cultivating, increasing the speed at which they advanced.
In the houses near the clan's main building, some important clan members lived. Only the most important clan leaders and their families resided within the gigantic main building. And in the shadows of the night, out of sight and perception of everyone, Bruno explained a bit to the disinterested Alm about the clan's general structure.
Denil was a privileged individual who lived in the main building, alone in a spacious and isolated room; he received plenty of resources from the clan before being punished by the patriarch. This seventeen-year-old had a father who was very important to the patriarch and the clan, but Denil had never seen his father or mother, which was a mystery to them.
"They must have died in some random ditch, in an inconsequential place. I don't need to know about useless stuff. What's the house?" Alm asked as he looked at several houses near his residence.
"The girl who was the leader of the idiots lives in that tallest house, obviously. The other five are the ones around her," explained Bruno, who knew exactly where they lived because Denil had been their target several times before. In his memories, even though he was also bullied, he was too cowardly to attempt anything.
Inside a dark room, a white cloth fluttered in the wind coming through the window. A young man slept soundly on a stone bed.
Unbeknownst to him, the wind stopped entering through the window, and a strange sound of something breaking resonated. However, the sleeping young man merely turned to the side without fully waking up. Seconds later, suddenly, the sound of something heavy hitting the stone floor echoed, but it was more muffled than the previous sound.
Alm was furious. "This fatso!"
"We don't have the Qi or cultivation to use concealment techniques. The only solution is to use the shadows to move, but you almost broke the window..." Bruno replied.
"How do you expect me to move silently with this lard bucket? Try doing better," grumbled Alm.
"He hasn't woken up yet. Luckily, we chose a heavy sleeper. After him, we'll have some Qi to spend, and it'll be easier," Bruno replied, taking careful steps toward the stone bed. However, no matter how hard they tried, their weight made a strange noise on the floor.
When they were just a step away from him, they mentally sighed and thanked their luck that the idiot had led a carefree and safe life. "He wouldn't survive even one night in a forest," Alm said.
The long-haired boy with a wild face suddenly froze. His consciousness tried to return to reality, but he couldn't even open his eyes. Instead, he felt a sharp pain as if a thousand needles were piercing him, and his mind shut down completely, entering a kind of coma.
Wild winds now blew out of the window, gusting out of the room. Two rune tattoos on the palms of Alm and Bruno's hands glowed softly. They worked together, separating and absorbing all the Yin and Yang Qi.
Quickly, Bruno and Alm felt a strange connection as the rune tattoos operated. They realized that, due to their souls being split into two poles, they had a transcendental level of control over this Yin Yang Supreme Qi Collector Technique.
"All the energy within the bodies of living races possesses a mixture and variation of Yin and Yang. Races that split into men and women, in particular, have a more homogeneous mixture."
"This Technique... seems much more efficient and useful to use than our Yang life-refinement technique," Bruno commented.
The technique they created in their original universe basically involved refining Yang's life and turning it into Yin of death in the bloodiest way possible. In contrast, the Collector technique works with both poles simultaneously in a harmonious manner, without any waste, converting them into usable Qi for them.
"At least this manipulating system chose to give us something really useful with infinite potential to explore," Alm replied.
The process didn't last long, as the boy was only a few levels above Alm and Bruno. "He didn't have much to take, but it must have taken about five years of cultivation and various resources. After becoming a mortal again, the clan will never give him even a scrap again. His future will be splendid, hahahahah!" Alm mentally laughed.
"Stop getting distracted by other people's misfortune. Now that we have accumulated a significant amount of Qi, I've also taken his spatial ring. Let's take a look at his memories since he's a mortal now; we're unlikely to kill him in the process," Bruno said.
Half an hour passed, and the boy's body trembled violently while he remained unconscious. Finally, Alm and Bruno removed their hands from the boy's forehead, but their gazes were heavy and strange.
The boy didn't have much useful information that was worth the effort, and Alm and Bruno were on the verge of interrupting the process halfway when a peculiar memory surfaced before them, causing them to continue.
"A cultivator of the divine realm..." Bruno commented.
"Yes, no doubt about it. His father is a vassal of a counselor; it can't be a lie," Alm replied.
About two years ago, during a heavily drinking celebration, this young man's father told him that less than a hundred years ago, a divine realm cultivator visited the clan. The visit was short and lasted only a few days, but the divine realm cultivator stayed within the clan's innermost part the entire time and then left swiftly. Too bad that was all they found.
They quickly turned and leaped out of the window, now without making any sound. In less than two hours, they visited the other four young members they encountered in the library. The Qi accumulated within the rune tattoos was overflowing, but they paid no attention to it because they hadn't received any other useful information.
It was when they went to the last house, the one belonging to the girl who was the leader of the young members. It wasn't difficult to enter because the stronger cultivators were not inside the house but elsewhere studying and cultivating.
When Alm and Bruno activated the rune tattoos and began the process, an even greater shock than before appeared on their faces.