Eris couldn't wait to try out the new cultivation method and had been bothering her mother and father about it every day, arguing that since she had already done so successfully and safely, there was no harm in her continuing.
Naturally, both Charles and Sasha resolutely refused, which led to several bouts of pouting and sulking on the young girl's part. Eventually, the two parents, who despite trying to be strict were still rather doting, allowed their daughter to at least learn the modified Forms together with Sasha as they prepared for the upcoming test.
As such, Eris had fully memorized the new Forms which were to accompany the Flowing Flame Art, and the moment it was proposed that the problem might be her mother's higher cultivation, the young girl leapt out and began using the new cultivation method before anyone had a chance to stop her.
An hour or so later, Eris stopped her movements and let out a long breath. When she opened her bright green eyes, there was almost a glow to them, so it was hardly necessary to ask whether she had been successful or not.
Still, someone had to speak up, so Sasha took the responsibility to inquire, "How was it?"
Instead of answering her mother though, Eris turned to her little brother and cheered, "Lucas! These new Forms are amazing! When I was cultivating using the old Forms, it wasn't nearly as smooth, but now it's as easy as breathing! Not just that, I can feel my cultivation increasing even faster than before! These definitely work!"
Of course, Eris' excitement had made her exaggerate slightly as there was no way moving around and cultivating with such focus was 'as easy as breathing'. Evidence of this fact was that the young girl was sweating and her breathing was a bit hurried.
While Eris celebrated, everyone else in the training room fell into their own thoughts, trying to understand exactly what had happened; however, it wasn't long before the adults let out sighs and Charles voiced what they were all thinking, "It seems that this new method is really only effective for those in the Body Tempering Realm."
"That's not exactly true," Sasha commented, "I did experience a boost in cultivation efficiency, it's just that it was nowhere near as much as Eris did."
"True, we shouldn't look at this result with such disappointment," Drake spoke up, "A 30% increase in cultivation rate in the Body Tempering Realm, and a 5% increase in the Vein Opening Realm is still a significant boost. On top of that, this is just an initial experiment, we might be able to further develop this method over time."
Anna nodded in agreement with her husband and added, "Even if this is the upper limit off this technique, we shouldn't be acting dismissive. If we had possessed such a method from the beginning, both Sasha and I might have reached the peak of the Vein Opening Realm or even broken through to the Core Formation Realm already."
Lucas remained silent the whole time, still feeling that he was missing something, but he simply couldn't tell what it was. In the end, he decided against voicing his opinion right now as he had no way to put his doubts into words.
"Now, all that's left to do is see if this method can be applied to other Cultivation Techniques," Anna commented, glancing at Charles for a moment before following up, "I'll work with Lucas on my Cultivation Technique next."
Not missing this subtle glance, Charles shook his head and objected, "That won't be necessary. Even if I can't gain any benefit from this new cultivation method, we still agreed that after Sasha, it would be my turn to share my Cultivation Technique."
"But…"
"It's fine, over the past few days, I've really come to realize just how much less valuable my Newton Family's Solid Body Art is compared to the Balfour Flowing Flame Art. If given the choice, no one would choose my Art over Sasha's, so teaching it to all of you now won't make any difference," Charles declared in an easy-going tone.
At first, the idea of sharing his Cultivation Technique with anyone outside his direct family had been a major stumbling block for the man, but after carefully studying his wife's Flowing Flame Art, he deeply understood that his High-Rank Mortal Grade Tier Three Solid Body Art was essentially trash compared to the former.
If Sasha was willing to teach them all her Balfour Family's hidden inheritance, there was no reason for him to conceal his Newton Family's 'treasures' now.
Seeing Charles being so adamant, the others didn't try to object again.
It took 10 days for Charles to explain the details of the Newton Family's Cultivation Technique, and then another 10 for Lucas to pair its Mantra with Forms from the Unarmed Foundations Art.
The Solid Body Art's Cultivation Mantra was simpler than that of the Flowing Flame Art, and with prior experience, it took far less time for Lucas to complete the process.
Lucas, who was the one actually trying to marry the two Arts together, realized quickly that because there were fewer details involved in the Solid Body Art's circulation method, it actually allowed more freedom in the Stances, Figures, Motions, and Forms. This greater flexibility allowed him to complete the process more quickly
In the end, Lucas paired a total of 9 Forms, two with significant modifications and the others with minor changes, with the Solid Body Art's Mantra. As for whether this was the optimum configuration for the Forms, Lucas wasn't certain; that would require far more time and analysis to determine.
Back in the private training room of the Town Lord's Manor, a familiar scene was playing out, but this time, instead of Sasha or Eris, Charles was the one moving around the floor while executing his Cultivation Technique.
During the first hour, Charles movements were smooth and relaxed, though there was a slight frown on his face. It wasn't until the second hour, after several rounds of circulation, that his brow unfurled and he seemed to enter an almost meditative state. When the third hour ended, Charles let out a light breath, turned to the waiting crowd, and nodded.
Lucas, Eris, Anna, Drake, and Sasha all cheered as their experiment had proven to be a success. Not only had they discovered a new, more efficient method of cultivation, they had proven that it could be adapted to multiple Cultivation Techniques.
Of course, the only one capable of doing so right now was Lucas, but given enough time, that would change.
With a great sense of eagerness, Sasha asked the question on everyone's mind, "Dear, how much more efficient was it?"
As everyone fell silent, Charles took some time to think and examine himself before speaking, "At first, I didn't feel anything at all. While I could cultivate using this new method and draw in more World Qi than before, the rate at which I could refine it into Spirit Qi and absorb it remained basically unchanged. After some time, though, I could definitely feel more Spirit Qi flowing through my meridians and into my Core, but the effect was still minimal, perhaps a 1% boost overall, 2% at most."
"It seems this method really does fall off in usefulness the higher one's cultivation becomes," Anna commented, before adding, "Still, for Charles, who's in the Core Formation Realm, to see any improvement in efficiency at all is still worth celebrating."
Nodding along, Charles added, "I suspect that my body wasn't used to the new method at first, which made it harder to use in the beginning. As I got used to it, things went more smoothly. Regardless, I'd still consider this a success."
Almost everyone in the training room nodded in agreement.
As far as they were concerned, this experiment had been a huge success. The only exception was Lucas, who still had a nagging feeling that he was missing something, one that was only reinforced by what his uncle had just said.
It was as if the answer was right at the tip of his fingers, but he couldn't grasp it.
Uncle said he wasn't used to the new cultivation method, but he seemed to have no problem executing it. What could be the issue? The young boy wondered, feeling that while they might have achieved a satisfactory result, this whole new cultivation method was still just a partial success and there was more that could be improved upon.
Noticing that Lucas was lost in thought, Drake quickly asked, "Son, is there something wrong?"
Lucas looked up and realized he had been frowning while everyone else was smiling, so it was only natural he had drawn attention to himself. Still, the only thing he could come up with to say was, "I'm not sure."
"You're not sure?" Anna asked with some concern in her voice.
"It's really nothing, Mom. I just feel like there's still a lot of room for improvement in this method," Lucas smiled and waved his hand casually, brushing the matter off as something insignificant.
While his parents scrunched their brows slightly, they didn't press the matter since Lucas had gone so far as to say it wasn't a big deal.
Perhaps because she felt the atmosphere had become slightly heavy, or perhaps because she simply wanted to, Eris spoke up at that moment, "We should celebrate! Why don't Aunty Anna, Uncle Drake, and Lucas stay for dinner! I remember mom saying she got something good from the merchants who just passed through town."
"That's a wonderful idea! Now that I've acquired that thing, I was planning on preparing a certain dessert I was fond of when I was growing up," Sasha immediately agreed, seemingly eager to share her latest acquisition with her friends and family.
"Wait, that thing you bought is for cooking?" Charles immediately asked in a flabbergasted tone. While he wasn't a miserly man and never really objected to his wife using their funds on things she wanted, the amount of money Sasha had spent yesterday was eye-popping, even for him.
Shooting a slightly disdainful look at her husband, Sasha scoffed and declared, "Of course it's not just a tool for cooking, it has many, many more uses! Do you really think I would have spent so much on something that wasn't worthwhile?"
"Alright alright, I believe you," Charles beat a hasty retreat.
Seeing this all-too-familiar scene, Anna and Drake had to do their best to hold back their laughter.
Meanwhile, Eris and Lucas were still focused on the word 'dessert'. Sasha might have come from a wealthy background, but after leaving home, she had to quickly learn to survive on her own, and one of the skills she had picked up particularly well was cooking.
Before the 4 friends had become 2 couples, while they were still off adventuring, Sasha had almost always been the one cooking meals or arranging for food when they were in towns and cities. When Anna had asked her best friend about this one time, the response she got from Sasha was 'the food everyone else makes is awful, so I decided to make it myself'.
After settling down in Redwood Town, Sasha's cooking talents only blossomed further. This was the main reason that while there were some attendants in the Town Lord's Manor to take care of accounting, housekeeping, and other miscellaneous chores, there was no head chef. There was only a pair of kitchen helpers who would assist Sasha when she was preparing meals or who would make simple foods when the Town Lady was busy with other duties.
Needless to say, the one most looking forward to eating his Aunty Sasha's food was Lucas, who on normal days had to endure his parent's rather lackluster culinary skills. That wasn't to say that Anna and Drake were helpless in the kitchen, they were both perfectly capable of producing edible meals, it was just that his Aunt Sasha's dishes were much more diverse and flavourful.
This kind of feeling had only become more apparent after the young boy inherited his new memories. While mostly quite vague, Lucas would occasionally recall some exquisite tasting foods and exotic meals 'he' had eaten in that other life.
He didn't have the first clue what ingredients those dishes were made from, or how they were cooked, but just the faint memory of such delectable food would make Lucas salivate at times. It had also inadvertently made his palette pickier, causing him to subconsciously seek out better tasting foods while making bland meals seem worse than before.