Placing Daiyu on her bed, Yvette examined her body. Realizing that she only received a light injury, she sighed in relief.

But she could not help but be troubled by the black impurities that has discharged out of every pores on her body. She could clean her bed by herself, but to carry Daiyu to the bath and wash her, with her height and strength, she could only think about doing it. With no other choice, she could only go out of her room and find the nearest servant.

Fortunately, a middle-aged servant was coincidently passing after noticing the abnormalities around her room, so she requested her to give Daiyu a wash before returning Daiyu to her own room.

Once she saw the middle-aged servant carrying Daiyu away, she glanced out towards the window and noticed that the sky has been covered in the curtain of night. Seeing this, she stepped out of the room and walked out of the mansion, out into the garden.

Standing there, she felt the cold, night wind blowing against her. Looking up, she saw the night sky illuminated by the stars and moon.

Reaching out into a pocket inside her clothing, Yvette took out the Void Steps Technique Book and started reading it.

The Void Steps Technique has four stages,

First Stage, Shifting Void,

Second Stage, Void Movement,

Third Stage, Flickering Void,

Fourth Stage, Void Realm.

The first stage, Shifting Void, requires the user to become the void, allowing the user to shift into the void and unable to be damaged by any form of attack for a few moments.

But this technique requires no Qi, hence why it was placed in the Third Floor of the Technique Pavilion.

Instead, this technique requires a large amount of stamina and comprehension of the Void.

The first stage requires them to comprehend how to turn into the void. But the only hint the book gave is that one must empty their mind and make their presence completely disappear, turning themselves into a void. This state was also called as the state of being one with the void.

Without being told, Yvette realized that this is the point which made others unable to train in it.

To empty their minds and fully erasing their presence at the same time, it is easier said than done. If someone is told to fully erase their presence, with years of training, a talented assassin might be able to do so. And to empty their mind is even easier, almost every experienced cultivator should be able to do so in minutes.

But to empty their minds and fully erasing their presence together, that is truly hard. Not only that, they must also be able to enter the Void and return in that state.

If they cannot return from that state, they will forever be stuck in the void, unless someone with a high comprehension of the void saves them.

Even so, Yvette was still determined to train in it.

And so, sitting in the lotus position, she proceeded to forcefully comprehend the void.

But even after sitting there for an hour, she could not make any progress, realizing this, she shook her head as she thought.

‘Enlightenment truly cannot be forced…’

With that thought, she decided to cultivate instead.

But when she was absorbing energy, she noticed that the Yin energy seems to be far more abundant, causing the original balance of Yin and Yang to be shaken slightly. Realizing this, Yvette tried to expel the unneeded Yin Qi from within her, but as more and more Yin Qi was expelled, the air around her started to turn colder and colder.

At one point, the coldness of her surroundings caused her mind to turn sluggish until her eyes glazed over, as if to prove how empty her mind currently is. Not only that, but because of the coldness in the air, her presence was also covered, making her enter the threshold of being one with the void.

But at that moment, the Yin energy of the surroundings instantaneously disappeared, as if being devoured by the void.

A moment later, Yvette came to her senses, but she felt nothing different, only as if a moment of time passed without her realizing it.

The last thing she remembered was the moment when the coldness of the Yin Qi covered her mind and body, but in contrast to the past situation, she could not feel as much Yin Qi from the surroundings anymore.

Even when she closed her eyes and tried to remember that moment when her mind entered the state of void, not even a hint of it appeared in her mind. Unlike the memories transmitted by her bracelet, the memory she lost completely disappeared, as if that moment in time never happened at all.

Realizing how futile her efforts are, she could only bitterly smile and give up on trying to remember the feeling of that moment.

But after pondering over the things she could remember, she drew out a conclusion.

‘So currently, I can only use Shifting Void by instilling my mind and body with Yin Qi? With my current amount of Yin Qi, this only qualifies it as a last resort move.’

Reaching such conclusion, she could not help but be confused as to how no one could even reach the first stage all this time. But after pondering for a moment, she realized that if normal people tries to leave their mind be so blatantly covered in cold Yin Qi, their mind would not be able to handle it and quickly turn them into a vegetable.

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Even then, she sighed in disappointment, unsatisfied with the results she garnered.

But after that moment of disappointment, her face turned serene as she walked back to her room for a rest.

Unbeknownst to her, moments after she left, a person covered by the night’s darkness appeared at the place where she was before.

“This was where the massive Yin Qi appeared, but why did it disappear so suddenly?”

Taking a sweeping glance at the surroundings, the person covered in darkness could not find any hint of what it was looking for, so after a final, careful look, the person turned around and disappeared into the darkness of the night.

Morning, the first ray of light appeared over the horizon, illuminating the land. But even before dawn came, in the Aasmany clan, many servants could be seen moving around to do their chores. Not only the servants, but many clan members, especially the young ones, have already proceeded on training themselves.

But an exception to this would be a certain fox girl who is currently sleeping serenely under the illumination of the morning light. When the light finally arrived at her face, her eyelids faintly trembled before it slowly opened, revealing a pair of eyes looking around in a tired manner.

“Good morning, my lady, please forgive this servant’s intrusion.”

Hearing the voice coming from her side, Yvette glanced towards its source with her drowsy eyes. She could see a blurry silhouette of a person, after blinking a few times, her eyes finally focused, allowing her to see the true face of the silhouette.

“Good morning, Daiyu.”

Saying that, she propped her body up as she asked her.

“I do not mind your intrusion, has something happened?”

“The mistress has arrived not too long ago, but the mistress has instructed this servant to allow my lady to sleep longer.”

Hearing that, Yvette was confused at first, but then she realized that there is only one person she would call mistress, hence she nodded as she moved down from the bed.

“Tell mother that I have awoken and is currently preparing myself.”

“Understood.”

Daiyu said with a bow before walking out of the room.

Outside, a pair of people could be seen in front of Yvette’s.

“Madam, are you not being too lax to the mistress? She might turn pampered in the future.”

Hearing the reminder of her old servant, Esfir did not lash out like how most people would towards their servants, instead, she calmly replied.

“I believe that she is not such a weak minded child.”

After she said those words, the door to Yvette’s room opened, revealing Daiyu who has just notified Yvette.

“My lady has just woken up and is currently preparing herself.”

Saying those words, she positioned herself next to the room’s door, as if she is guarding the room from anyone her lady has not permitted to enter.

Her actions, as a servant, could be considered to be quite rude, but instead of being mad, the pair of master and servant smiled instead, complimenting her loyalty internally.

But Esfir did not miss the moment to compliment her daughter.

‘My daughter truly has a good eye for people.’

As she thought happily, the door suddenly opened as Yvette stepped out of the room.

“Forgive my tardiness, mother.”

Saying that, Yvette bowed slightly. Seeing this, Esfir shook her head.

“Lift your head, it doesn’t matter whether you are late or not, you are my daughter and I don’t want my daughter to bow to me for something as irreverent as this.”

After a moment of thought, she continued.

“But even to others, you shouldn’t bow down so easily. As a woman, you must have etiquette, but at the same time, I also want you to keep your pride and confidence intact, even more so as my lovely daughter. You can think of this as my first lesson on etiquette.”

Saying that, an oppressive, prideful aura could be felt radiating from Esfir, as if proving her status as the wife of a clan’s patriarch.

Hearing her words, Yvette lifted her head up. Nodding in satisfaction, Esfir continued.

“Now as I said before, I will teach you about etiquette today. We will be doing it inside your room. And then tomorrow, someone will come to teach you about formations before you learn about inscriptions the next day. After that, you will once again learn about etiquette with me. While you are learning, Daiyu will be trained by my old servant here.”

With those words, the old servant behind her stepped forward and bowed slightly towards Yvette before leading Daiyu away.

Seeing this, Yvette stepped to the side and said.

“Please come in, mother.”

“It is good that you know a few basic etiquettes without me needing to teach you.”

Esfir said with a smile as she stepped into Yvette’s room.

Inside, Esfir sat down with legs folded under her as she motioned Yvette to sit.

“In a formal gathering, while you are sitting on the floor, always sit with folded legs and straight back as a basic form of etiquette. But during other times, you can freely sit in any way you wish.”

Acknowledging her words, Yvette sat down in front of Esfir with a similarly folded legs and straight back.

Seeing that she was able to sit down with folded legs and straight back fluently, Esfir smiled lightly as she continued.

“During any moment, always mask or suppress your emotions. But I am sure that without me needing to tell you that, you can do so easily. It will help you in taking the lead during every talk. You must also never allow yourself to fall for the deception of others, instead, try deceiving them without being able to realize it themselves.”

Saying that, her smile turned sly and menacing, as if she is a fox toying with a prey.

But Yvette was not scared of her smile, instead, her eyes shone with a faint light, as if those words has enlightened her and filled her with interest.

Seeing this, Esfir’s smile returned to her usual charming yet elegant smile as she continued.

“Now, I will teach you about how you should act during fights.”

Hearing the unexpected words, Yvette looked weirdly at Esfir for a moment, but after she gave it some thought, she decided to consent with a nod.

“First, before a fight, conversing is fine to help you gain a higher mental ground. But if it is useless chatter, you should directly fight,

Second, never go easy on any kind of foes,

Third, never have mercy on dying or pitiful enemies, they might even be trying to fool you,

Fourth, unless you have no other choice, never take risky moved, safety is most important,

Fifth, do not let your impulse lead you by the nose, always keep a clear mind during fights,

Last but not least, never fight like a barbarian, do not reveal your full strength unless you are forced to, plan every move and make no mistakes.”

When Yvette heard of the six teachings, she gave a look towards Esifr.

“This is included in etiquette?”

But even though she doubtfully asked, she still did her best to engrave those teachings into her mind, because she knows that in the future, those teachings would be useful for her.

“Yes, it is rude to you and to your enemies to not follow these rules. It is also a form of etiquette to your life, for it is rude to have it waste away from ignorant mistakes.”

Pondering for a moment, Yvette thought that her words are reasonable, so she kept quiet and continued to listen.

“Patience is a must have during any event, if you allow yourself to fall to rashness, you will be the first to fall. In a fight, if you can patiently wait for the moment your enemy forms a gap, you will naturally emerge victorious. And during discussion, patiently wait for the chance to turn the tables to gain advantage. Falling once is fine, but never allow yourself to stay down forever, use your fall to push yourself higher.”

Saying that she once again continued to teach Yvette of various basic common knowledge and forms of etiquette.