- Antony Hall -

Antony stood outside the boys' tent, impressed by what he had just witnessed. At first he stepped over to their tent, because he felt Junior Werner's chi becoming erratic. If it weren't stopped, he would have exploded, so Antony was simply going to draw out the excess chi, until the boy could handle the cultivation on his own. It wasn't an ideal strategy, as it would risk causing permanent damage to boy's chi pathways, but it was the best he would have been able to do.

Then Junior Platt intervened. He was ready to stop the boys, but he was curious what Junior Platt would try. There was still time for Junior Werner, so he thought he would let the other boy learn from the experience. He was pleased when the young boy began injecting some chi in the other child. He had been priming all of the children by having them inject chi into various spiritual rocks, herbs, and seasonings. He had even made sure the children would have to stay in pairs. It was inevitable that some of the children wouldn't be able to handle their first experience with spirit meat. His hope was that some of them would be able to help each other out, and they could learn something from the experience, while also developing some important friendships. Building relationships early was important for future success. And of course, the adults were monitoring all of them to make sure nothing went wrong.

He hadn't expected Junior Platt, who was his youngest trainee, to be so quick to step in. The boy was decisive, which was a good quality in a cultivator. He was no genius, but he wasn't an idiot either. Antony wondered if the boy would figure out the next step. After he injected chi into the other boy, he should have opened a pathway for the excess chi to drain out. Antony didn't expect the child to figure that out, but what did happen he never would have guessed.

The boys had dual cultivated. It was a form of dual cultivation preferred by twin cultivators, but also commonly used by siblings, or even friends who had compatible spirit pathways. There was danger in this particular dual cultivation method. It caused the two cultivators to share memories, which could easily lead to severe insanity. However, the boys quickly overcame this risk by using the Basic Intense Focus Breathing Technique. While he had forbade them from using it under any circumstances, this was actually the perfect time to use it. Not only that, but they managed to keep their consciousnesses separate enough to have one of them use a different breathing technique.

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As soon as Junior Platt had sent his chi into the other boy's spirit root, some of Junior Werner's chi moved back into Junior Platt, and circulated towards his spirit root as well. Antony doubted the younger boy had noticed, since it was such a small amount, and he was struggling to keep his mind together. He probably should have stopped them before it went this far, but if they were successful, it would be a great boon to their future cultivation. It was too late to stop them now, anyway. The connection had formed.

It was called the Two Bodies, One Mind technique. It usually wasn't practiced due to the risk, but the children's youth might reduce that risk. He didn't know much more about the technique, except that it was preferred to teach it early, and it was difficult to determine compatibility with the exception of twins. As impressive as it was that they had discovered the technique by accident, the boys were very lucky that they had been compatible.

It looked like they had gotten the chi flow under control. The danger had passed, so now they would just have to cultivate for a few more hours. Antony went back to checking on the other children. He rescued a few whose bunkmates hadn't figured out how to help. Nothing else particularly interesting happened the rest of the night. Nobody else spontaneously discovered any techniques they'd never been taught.

Which wasn't to say that nobody used any techniques that HE had never taught them. Seven of the children were practicing demonic cultivation techniques. They must have thought the adults were asleep, and the other children wouldn't notice. Nobody would bother saying anything about it. It didn't matter. Even the Grand Ancestor ignored it.