Meanwhile, as this 'chaos' unfolded, Mikael remained in the clearing, his gaze fixed on the spot where Lian'er had disappeared, his expression pensive as though his mind had sunk deep into thought.
A faint flicker passed through his eyes, 'I see… now that I take the time to think about it, her outburst somewhat makes sense. After all, everything I revealed could easily be considered extremely shocking—especially when we take into account the potential repercussions…'
As Lian'er had said, what he revealed that day could effectively bring him a lot of troubles, let's not even talk about him seeing the Flame Sovereign Team before they were wiped out and even more so the presence of the Thunder Vein Dew as this was another can of worms, but even his 'genius' alone could bring him immense problems.
You see, geniuses were appreciated and revered but only up to a certain point, past this point they weren't geniuses anymore but monsters, and monsters were hunted in fear of what they could become…
This wasn't to say that simply revealing his 'adventure' outside the sect, even while ignoring the Flame Sovereign Sect team or the existence of the Thunder Vein Dew, would have him hunted, it wasn't that extreme… yet.
But—
The least that would happen is that it would place him directly in the spotlight, and this could have terrible consequences.
After all, sects with bad—or worse, hostile—relations with the Wandering Sword Sect wouldn't simply wait for a supreme genius to emerge.
No, certainly not, they would give their all to smother him before he could grow into a massive threat, and considering that if word of his true power spread…
They would know of his real level of strength, which wasn't at all representative of his Cultivation Realm, and consequently, unless they were totally brain damaged, the methods they would use to 'smother him,' whether assassins or others, would be adapted to his level of strength, which could quickly cause the situation to take a drastic turn for the worst.
And that was only one of the possibilities; there were numerous other things that could go badly and bring him potential problems, all because of his wonderfully intelligent decision to tell her what he did outside of the Sect.
'Considering all that, I understand the source of her outburst, it's simply her worrying for me more than anything!'
Mikael had already more or less understood this earlier, which was why he responded gently in the way he did to somebody who was 'essentially' screaming at him.
But even then, he still felt a flicker of annoyance and irritation at the situation—after all, who actually likes being screamed at?
Mikael certainly didn't, which caused those emotions to be born, yet both quickly dissolved as he reaffirmed to himself that it was simply her worry erupting in a clumsy outburst.
Of course, another important point behind his gentle reaction was that it wasn't a stranger having this outburst, but his soo dear Senior Sister Hua Lianyu, for whom his emotions and feelings were… special?
Or else, the end result would have been… marginally different.
Mikael's gaze wandered to the place where Lian'er had last been, "She really escaped like that…" he murmured to himself while shaking his head, the hint of a smile still lingering on his lips.
Step, step.
His footsteps echoed softly in the peaceful clearing as he began to leave, the image of Lian'er's blushing face and her panicked stammer just before she fled replaying in his mind, deepening the smile on his visage.
In that moment, his expression carried the quiet certainty of a man who had just confirmed something… and with the light bounce in his steps, it was clear that whatever he had confirmed was a source of joy.
On that note, Mikael left the clearing behind, tucking the memory of their exchange into a quiet corner of his mind—not forgotten, but left to rest for now—as his focus shifted to what awaited him next: training.
Swish.
Without further hesitation, he rose into the air, the wind tugging at his clothes as the forest, mountains, and peaks blurred beneath him, and before long, his Cultivation Manor came into view.
He passed over it without slowing, continuing for a short while until a familiar expanse of green opened below, nestled along the Azure Peak.
It was the same beautiful clearing where he had recently trained with Sangrelia, relearning to fight in perfect sync with her. His flying speed slowed unconsciously as he took in the sight, and after one last glance, he dived sharply, landing on his feet in the center of the clearing.
'Alright… time to work on the third thing on my list: 3. Train in Energy Control, especially Qi.'
The thought settled into him with quiet determination, the earlier warmth still lingering faintly in the back of his mind even as his reasoning turned sharp and focused.
The reasoning behind his decision to place this point in third position was simple—having higher Qi Control would grant him a comprehensive boost in nearly every aspect.
This boost would be extremely inclusive, encompassing things such as faster cultivation speed through better absorption of the surrounding Qi, 'more Qi' by wasting less when using it, and stronger techniques by being able to channel greater amounts of Qi into them… and the benefits continued on, seemingly without end.
In truth, there were so many aspects that improved with higher Qi Control that it was far quicker to list the few that didn't compared to the one that did.
Which was why Mikael found it aberrant that almost no cultivators took the time to train their Qi Control.
The overwhelming majority simply never bothered, letting it increase passively as they engaged in other activities such as cultivation, alchemy, battle, and more—but of course, their pace of progress was laughably slow compared to what could be achieved through dedicated training.
'Seriously, skipping this vital part of one's strength just because it doesn't bring instant and immediate results is stupid beyond belief…' he thought, feeling disdain rise before it was swiftly extinguished, as he didn't care about the stupidity of strangers enough to give them more than a stray thought.
Ssshhk.
Without wasting any further time, he let himself settle into a meditative position in the very middle of the beautiful clearing, ready to begin training his Qi Control.
As for why he didn't plan to train his control over his other energies—Aura, Mana, Vitalis, Mental Force, and Anima—it was simple. Not only would the gains be lower than those from Qi Control, which offered a far greater boost to his overall strength, but even if the benefits to one's power were equal, he would still choose to focus on Qi.
After all, his Qi Control was relatively weak and therefore far easier to improve compared to the five other energies he had trained extensively during the three years before entering the Akashic Records Universe.
And considering the principle that the higher one's control is, the harder it becomes to advance it further…
'Yeah… it's just a better choice to train my Qi Control, no comparison!' he thought to himself before shrugging, pushing those distracting thoughts aside and beginning his cultivation.
He directed his focus inward, concentrating entirely on his Qi, and then began to suppress it.
Under his steady control, Mikael's aura and presence diminished by the second, the unconscious aura of power he radiated quickly weakened as the 'leash' he placed on his Qi tightened further.
Quickly, his 'Cultivation Realm' began to drop; previously, it had been at the 1st layer of the Spiritual Foundation Realm, but anyone who took the time to truly sense his presence and aura would notice that the energy he released was somewhat special and different from that of other cultivators in the same realm, as if he were somehow different… more powerful.
But this 'special' aura continued to diminish, suppressed further and further until it dropped to:
1st layer Spiritual Foundation Realm.
Peak of the Body Forging Realm.
19th layer of the Body Forging Realm.
18th layer of the Body Forging Realm.
…
Until finally settling at a level equivalent to the 8th layer of the Body Forging Realm.
Drip.
A drop of sweat slid down Mikael's visage before colliding with the ground, his expression at that moment one of extreme concentration and strain as he continued to try suppressing his presence further and further.
Sadly, the 8th layer seemed to be his current limit, as even after several minutes of giving his all in the attempt to push it lower, he made almost no progress.
A mad glint lit his eyes, "Oh, so I take it that this is supposed to be my limit!?"
He murmured in a low voice, feeling his Qi lash out like a caged beast desperate to regain its freedom, one that seemed dangerously close to succeeding if his dantian was any indication, considering that even with his full attention and effort, some of his Qi still leaked, making his aura momentarily surge to the 9th–10th layer of the Body Forging Realm.
"I don't fucking think so!" he murmured before redoubling his effort to suppress his Qi.
And so, amidst this relentless tug-of-war, time began to pass quickly.
After a little more than an hour, Mikael's presence fell to the 7th layer of the Body Forging Realm, yet contrary to the joy—or at least neutrality—that could be expected on his visage, a frown was present…
A frown that only deepened as the hours passed; even though by the two-hour-and-thirty-minute mark he had reached the 6th layer, and by the sixth hour the 5th layer, his expression stayed the same and grew heavier, until—
Author Note:
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Mikael didn't appreciate being yelled at, surprise surprise…
For real, in the last chapter we were more following Lian'er pov so now it Mikael pov and we can see what Mikael is feeling and with Lian'er emotions and feelings that are…changing I wonder how this will go?
After this emotions heavy/romance chapter we are back in the training(I was wondering if you like to see training scenes or do you find them boring and would rather see 'summary' like in a cultivation fashion?)
I am currently trying to do a mix of the two while showing some of his training but not all and sometimes showing him training but in a time skip with a couple of lines to show his rapid progress but I don't know if I am doing it right?
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— End of Chapter —