As it turned out, someone had told these women about Angelica.

''Her Majesty did...?''

Unexpectedly, it was August. Angelica initially thought that her master had gotten lazy again and tried to dump work on her, but it was actually her master's ex instead.

'No, they got together again, right?'

Either way, the proposal was certainly attractive. As far as Angelica was concerned, these women were either masters or super masters at cultivating. If she had to teach them magic, it wouldn't be too presumptuous to ask for guidance back, would there?

So, Angelica replied positively, which made the women feel relieved.

'I've taught a lot of students, so it's probably fine. They all quit after a bit, though. I wonder why.'

Nevertheless, with both the master and the disciples happy, the first class, one held on the breezy plain near White Lotus, soon started.

''Ahem.''

The five eagerly waited for their new master's lesson.

''First of all, I want to look at your mana regulation, mana capacity, and mana efficiency.''

The disciples nodded like baby chickens. Seeing this, Angelica got even more enthusiastic.

''Let's do a warm-up at the same time.'' She said. ''The first one should be light, so each of you can shoot ten waves of mana bullets, each wave containing a thousand projectiles. Now, go.''

'''' ... ''''

''Go?''

'''' ... ''''

Before she knew it, her disciples were staring at her weirdly, some even frowning in confusion. Before long, Tian Yun spoke up.

''Um... do you mean ten? Maybe a hundred?''

''No, a thousand. One zero zero zero.''

(・∀・)?(・∀・)?(・∀・)?(・∀・)?(・∀・)?

Excuse me?

It was at this point they realized... that something was seriously wrong.

Angelica, who had so naturally pitched the idea of shooting seas of mana bullets as a warm-up, was actually tilting her head as though she was the one who got trolled.

Usually, one wouldn't go past a few dozen as conjuring too many projectiles at once could cause lots of problems. Replacing that number with a thousand would definitely screw something up.

Even Kierra wasn't so oblivious like this!

After raising such concerns, the five cautiously observed Angelica, who seemed troubled.

''Hm... but that was how I trained...'' She muttered.

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''No, didn't Kierra teach you different ways...?'' Yu Chen interjected. ''She taught us less... torturous than this.''

''T-Torturous...?? No way, right?''

''What did you originally plan after this 'warm-up'?''

''Er... a twelve-hour binge meditation session, an eight-hour magical stamina course, then I'll teach the absolute mental endurance technique, which would take around five hours...''

'''' ... ''''

''And then we'll take a break.''

'''' Only after all that?! ''''

''For around ten minutes.''

'''' ... ''''

Speechless.

Somehow, they could sense that this person was an addict—a training addict. Nevertheless, when they remembered their resolve, things went from 'absolutely not' to 'negotiable,' which was actually an impressive feat.

''Um... we can decrease the load if you like. I'll also guide you whenever I can.''

The five nodded at one another before finally accepting their fate. Thus, Angelica's hellish training regime began. For cultivators, doing strenuous activities for an extended period of time was definitely possible, but it didn't mean that it was pleasant.

Their celestial bodies could handle the lack of sleep or anything of a physical nature, but when it came to mana, the mental stress was no joke.

''Come on, please pay attention!'' Angelica clapped her hands, shouting at the group, who were looping a multitude of mana rings.

So, it was crucial to do stamina training before anything else. Of course, Kierra had also taught them the same thing to some extent, yet there was a thing Kierra couldn't teach—mental stamina.

Born as a prodigy, Kierra's brain was more adept at running magic than anyone else's. So, rightfully, she couldn't understand the frustrating feeling of mental fatigue when casting, nor could she understand the possible solutions to that problem. As the five would soon find out, there were many things they could learn from Angelica, who wasn't nearly a genius like Kierra.

Fueled by Kierra's incredible silhouette as she fought the Heavenly, their training continued for days and nights. There was hardly a time when their mana circles weren't burning, which impressed Angelica, who was used to seeing trainees giving up midway.

When they needed rest, at least one or two would stay up to teach Angelica about cultivation, making it fair for both parties.

While this alliance was thriving, Kierra herself was largely stuck in her house, either having some romantic time with her lovers or legitimately resting.

Casting [Astral Oblivion] was undoubtedly an achievement, yet the archwizard had also realized the sheer incomplete nature of it. A newly developed magic would have to pass through many rounds of testing before it reached a usable proficiency. However, with [Astral Oblivion], that would take too long and could possibly put her in danger.

'After all, my energy is all drained...'

Both her mana reserve and qi reserve were depleted. It took all of herself just to step on an equal footing with one of those Heavenly Venerates.

Of course, she could keep injecting herself with various elixirs to replenish her mana and continue fighting, but at the end of the day, that wouldn't be perfect.

She desperately needed a breakthrough.

If, at that time, Diamante wasn't present, someone would have died. Be it August, Cosmos, or herself.

'The waves...'

The waves.

They contained something far more powerful than what Kierra was familiar with—divine power.

The power of gods.

''...''

Slowly, Kierra reached into the air and pulled out a small, silver-tinted jar. Inside, a sparkling body of water resided, morphing freely as she shook it.

This was Yuwei's water.

That somehow sounded quite wrong, but in any case, it was a piece of the Heavenly Venerate's divine waves. Kierra had discreetly collected it in a type of absolute containment jar, one that was often used by wizards for experimenting.

If she could somehow realize the properties of this power and the way to harness it...

gulp—!

It was apparent how much her power would skyrocket.

''Hm...? What's that...?''

''Dia. Are you awake?''

''Mhm...''

Clinging to Kierra's right side was Diamante, whose fluffy pink hair got ruffled during their intimate moments. With sleepy eyes, the phoenix princess nuzzled into her beloved's chest, but before she could accomplish that—

''Oh... Au.''

''Come here, darling.''

On the other side, August, who was a tad taller than Kierra, easily pulled the archwizard into her embrace.

Diamante's eyes snapped open, burning with an undying flame of jealousy.

August's golden eyes narrowed, piercing an overwhelming aura toward her rival.

''...''

Being in the middle of this, Kierra could only sigh.

Really, women fawn over me!