As Chang Yu followed behind Meilin, he couldn't help but feel exceedingly out of place. Meilin's clothing was a vibrant burst of colours, immaculately clean and radiantly alive, while Chang Yu was dressed in worn, faded, and somewhat soiled attire. The stark difference in their appearances only magnified the unease that Chang Yu was feeling.
Lord, why don't you use me to take over one of the sect elders?
If an elder suddenly begins to favour me, the other elders will get suspicious, even if they don't realise my true identity they'll still try to kill me to get a piece off of the board.
The exchange with split-soul Kang Shan came to an end at that point. He still had the task of implanting it into the real Kang Shan, which brought a heaviness to his sigh and caught the attention of the two elders. Though they masked it, he could feel their disappointment. It was evident that she could have selected any member of the sect for this role, yet she chose Chang Yu instead.
As Chang Yu let out a deep sigh, his thoughts turned to the mysterious marked location. He couldn't shake off the hope that it might be an ancient inheritance ground, holding untold treasures and secrets. However, he knew that he couldn't investigate on his own until he had achieved the Qi Condensation realm. According to his knowledge, disciples were required to attain this level of cultivation before they were considered ready to undertake any missions.
As he was thinking, the group stopped in front of Xiao Meilin's dorm room. Meilin excused herself from the elders as she pulled Chang Yu into her room.
"Alright, Chang Yu, take off your shirt"
She spoke, taking a deep breath as she pointed toward Chang Yu.
"Wh-"
"Just do it!"
Having been denied an answer, Chang Yu sighed and did as he was told, removing his shirt before Meilin, whose cheeks appeared to be rapidly reddening. Chang Yu didn't quite understand what she was blushing about, he had inspected his body before and found it to be nothing special, it was thin with the smallest hint of musculature.
"Alright, n-now sit on my bed, l-lotus position as well!"
Chang Yu, feeling frustrated, let out a sharp breath through his nose before settling onto Meilin's soft bed and crossing his legs into the lotus position. Meilin silently followed his lead, gracefully climbing onto the bed and positioning herself behind Chang Yu, her eyes reflecting understanding and compassion.
"Listen, Chang Yu, as you're aware, your cultivation has been progressing at a snail's pace and if you want to acquire that inheritance of yours, then we have to speed up your cultivation."
Chang Yu was filled with a sense of relief. He realized that the original Chang Yu had little to no experience in romantic relationships, much like Pale Soul Monarch, who had devoted his past life to pursuing power rather than seeking love.
"I'll just inject my Qi into your body, hopefully, it should force your body into the Qi Condensation stage, with my Upper Realm cultivation, I should be able to produce enough to get you there."
"Alright, let's start."
Meilin placed her palms against Chang Yu's back, and for a few moments, he didn't feel anything. Then, he felt a light chill against his back, followed by a burning sensation as if hundreds of white-hot needles were being jabbed into his back. The sensation and resulting pain forced his posture to straighten, and against his better judgment, Chang Yu inspected his inner world. The process he observed was nothing short of fascinating.
The crimson rift he had seen at the bottom of the void that would become his inner world grew spanning into the distance at either end, the red grow becoming ever more ominous, the corona of light that surrounded his 90 Man Soul grew ever more brilliant forming it into something more akin to the sun, meanwhile, Split Soul Kang Shan orbited it like the moon, or like the wealthy but untalented would orbit a much wealthier and slightly less untalented young master.
As he continued to observe he'd noticed stars beginning to flicker into existence within the void, if he had to guess, he had been forced to take in enough Qi to push him into Upper Stage Body Awakening, whatever technique Meilin was using to do this, it was certainly impressive. Back in his heyday dual cultivation techniques like this were significantly less efficient, bordering on actively detrimental, than doing it the conventional way.
After the stars appeared they would shoot upward, far above the "sun" that now surrounded his 90 Man Soul, as Chang Yu looked downward, although he couldn't make it out, he felt as though the red rift was sinking downward to create a canyon. He could feel the environment of his inner world take shape as he advanced to the Peak Stage. Finally, he felt a sharp pain across his entire body as red Qi began to emanate out of the rift the land began to take shape it wasn't as verdant as Chang Yu had hoped, it was a rather barren and desolate steppe, only interrupted by the massive canyon the rift had sunken into.
Chang Yu finished observing his inner world as he got up, kowtowing to Meilin with immense gratitude.
"Meilin."
"Huh? Yes, what is it?"
She gingerly retracted her hands, setting them in her lap as she looked down at Chang Yu's prostrating self.
"Thank you for advancing me to the Lower Rank of the Qi Condensation Stage!"
Xiao Meilin just sighed to herself, she soon got off the bed and pat Chang Yu on the head, finding this display somewhat cute.
"We can go report your progress to the elders in the morning…"
Meilin stopped speaking as Chang Yu glanced at the window, realizing that the room was only lit by a nearby candle and the shimmering moonlight coming through the window.
"Then I shall return to my room."
He got up, bowing to Meilin as he left. Once he was out of the room, Meilin put her head in her hands, letting out a groan of frustration. She felt a mess, even after all she had done was speed up his cultivation, she put her hands back in her lap, grabbing at the cloth, only a few words escaping past her lips.
"How do I tell him… that I love him?"
Chang Yu decided to take a longer route back to his dorm room, lost in thought about the contents of the inheritance. Anything could be an immense boon. Despite having met only once, Chang Yu could immediately tell who the head belonged to: Kang Shan.
Chang Yu looked around, noting there were no observers, he would rush at Kang Shan, leaping forward as he pressed his hands against Kang Chan's back, injecting Qi and the split soul into Kang Shan's body. He collapsed on the ground as the split soul was introduced and, not too long after, he stood up, a use of Soul Inspection would show that 'Kang Shan' now possessed a 15-man soul. 'Kang Shan' turned around, looking Chang Yu in the eye before bowing, placing his finger in his palm.
"Subordinate Kang Shan greets Lord Chang Yu"
"Alright, Kang Shan, we should probably create an organisation, seeing I now have a subordinate."
"Of course, Lord, what shall it be called?"
"How about Abyssal Court?"