In the Weapons and Armaments Hall.

…

Whoosh!

Auslen looked up calmly to see a small wooden sword flashing in front of him.

The spear shaft resting in his right hand trembled slightly before stabbing forward fiercely to meet the incoming sword strike.

Boom!

The white spear shaft collided ferociously with the wooden sword, blasting the latter backwards from the forceful collision in sharp recoil, dragging the frustrated Nathaniel along with it.

After tripping several steps back, the boy refused to give up. He charged forward in childish anger to swing his small sword towards Auslen once more, circulating Profound Qi within his arms in blatant disregard for the previously set sparring rules.

Noticing the difference in sound the sword made as it tore through the air, Auslen immediately understood that Nathaniel could no longer help himself, seeming to forget that both of them were practitioners with Profound Qi.

However, Auslen did not use his own Profound Qi in retaliation, only dodging to his left with a light sideways step as the sword slid beside his figure, just missing him by centimeters.

“Enough!”

Auslen retreated from his increasingly agitated cousin at his father’s sudden call. He dropped his spear shaft slowly in an effort to de-escalate his cousin’s intense emotions brought about by their sparring match.

The fat on Nathaniel’s cheeks trembled noticeably, as if he didn’t know if he wanted to swing his practice sword again or burst out in tears.

Eventually he chose the latter, tears running down his face as he accused, “No fair! You gotta let me win one, Auslen!”

Auslen sighed once again in his heart before stepping forward to rub the boys back, saying his usual words of comfort to the crying Nathaniel.

Did Uncle Jaime and Aunt Sophia ever discipline this child until now, or were they conveniently leaving that duty for me? Does Grandfather want me to perform a miracle or something?

While Auslen was seriously considering adjusting his “friendly” approach with his cousin, Cedrick began walking from the edge of the arena as he spoke in calm rebuke.

“I told you before that you were not to use Profound Qi, Nathaniel. This spar was to help in training your Foundational Weapon Art, and you cannot do that if you alter your equilibrium with Profound Qi. You have to control yourself, otherwise you’ll find yourself continuing to struggle with your martial ability.”

At his father’s slightly reprimanding words, all the hard work Auslen had put into calming Nathaniel down had gone up in smoke as Nathaniel burst into pitiful tears, throwing his arms around Auslen as he cried loudly into his shoulder.

Auslen had to close his eyes to keep his emotions in check.

Cedrick waved his hand in the air, and a manservant came over quickly, separating Nathaniel from Auslen before leading the still-crying child out of the Weapons and Armaments Hall to wash up.

After regaining his calm, Auslen smiled brightly at his father who was staring at him in silence.

It had been nearly four months since his grandfather came to visit.

Four months had passed since Auslen was informed that his parents were quite aware of his hidden personality.

Unexpectedly, neither of his parents ever brought up the topic in front of him, acting the same as they always had during every interaction.

In response, Auslen continued to perform his childish act for them, waiting until they were comfortable enough to broach the topic themselves.

It seemed that today was not that day.

Cedrick suddenly turned around and began walking away from Auslen. It wasn’t until he made it halfway down the stairs of the raised arena that he spoke.

“Follow me. It’s time for you to advance your cultivation.”

…

Auslen began his cultivation in an excited and anticipatory state.

From his previous lessons, he knew that he was about to step into a new division of the Qi Refinement realm. The nine stages of Qi Refinement was split equally into three separate divisions, each of which being Early, Mid, and Late-Qi Refinement.

The 4th Stage was the entry point into Mid-Qi Refinement, and the changes that would occur upon successful advancement should be substantially greater than the previous advancements!

Minute after minute elapsed as Auslen absorbed Profound Qi from each droplet of Elixir.

It took nearly two hours before Auslen had finished absorbing the fifth and final strand of Profound Qi.

He watched patiently as the strand settled into his Dantian, adding up to a total of 11 strands of Profound Qi!

Auslen was enraptured as the strands started to behave somewhat differently in comparison to the previous advancements.

Each of the incandescent strands began gathering together, as if they were attracted to each other magnetically. After just another moment, the stands were flowing together as one long unit, vaguely reminiscent of a tiny stream of glistening water.

Boom!

The Profound Qi strands exploded with blazing white energy as they vigorously moved as one, exiting Auslen’s Dantian to travel around his Dao Root system.

As the brilliant light traveled throughout Auslen’s body, extraordinary changes were beginning to occur.

Auslen’s bones started to release constant snapping sounds, causing Auslen to frown slightly from the persistent sharp pain.

His blood began to ignite, blood vessels visibly rippling underneath his fair skin as they assisted in transporting the transformative energy to every crevice of his musculature and organ system.

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Fuck, this hurts!!

Beads of bloody sweat began to spill out of Auslen’s pores before dripping onto his meditation cushion. Soon, his entire trembling and twitching body was painted in a vibrant scarlet-red color.

Holy shit! Holy shit! Holy shit!

Auslen felt as if his entire body was ripping itself apart and piecing itself back together again. It was the most torturous, mind-breaking pain he had ever experienced!

Thankfully, the nearly unbearable experience was quickly overshadowed by a truly unbearable sensation, starvation!

However, Auslen was prepared this time.

With a shaky wave of his right hand, piles of deboned cooked meats from various sources littered the floor in a wave. Most of it had barely touched the floor before Auslen began to devour everything he saw.

Time continued to pass as Auslen continued to stuff his face, feeding his body through the unbelievable transformations occurring within.

Eventually, his stomach signaled surrender as Auslen fell off his cushion and onto the floor in an exhausted heap, losing consciousness before his body could even hit the marble floor.

…

Auslen’s eyelids twitched briefly before slowly fluttering open.

The first thing he saw was his familiar white and gold ceilings, indicating that he was back in his bedroom within his palace.

Feeling much better than before he had passed out, Auslen slowly lowered his head to observe himself closely.

He could see that he was completely clean, and his long hair was combed carefully. Thin white robes covered his body underneath his soft linen comforter and his feet were now bare.

Gingerly lifting himself to a seat, he was getting ready to take stock of his inner condition before he was interrupted by a startling deep voice.

“How are you feeling?”

Auslen’s head whirled to his left in surprise to see his father observing him from the comfort of Auslen's couch.

Auslen's startled brain took a brief moment to remember how he was supposed to act before a smile slid back onto his small face once more.

“I’m okay, Father! More than okay!”

Auslen truly meant his overly exuberant words. He could feel dense waves of energy moving through his body on command. Each of his breaths were long and gentle to match the excessive smoothness of his blood flow.

Inside his Dantian, each of his eleven strands were still flowing as one. However, Auslen could feel that, with a singular thought, the strands would separate with ease and travel separately through their own circulation routes.

This stream-like movement was Auslen’s first glimpse of his Pure Water Elemental Affinity at play, as his Soul Force was passively, but constantly interacting with the Profound Qi strands.

All cultivators experienced this, as Profound Qi behaved in different fashions from person to person in relation to their Soul Force.

The behavioral quality of the Profound Qi strands marginally correlated to properties contained within certain elements.

This behavior was the determining factor of the Elemental Affinity and was why choosing a suitable Cultivation Method was so important for talented cultivators, as Cultivation Methods at the Earth and Heaven Tiers only accommodated specific Elemental Affinities. Not choosing the correct Cultivation Method would greatly impede future cultivation.

Cedrick nodded at Auslen’s response before speaking.

“You have one more week before we depart. Have you chosen the method that you'll use to obtain a suitable Heaven Grade Cultivation Method?”

Auslen lowered his eyes as he confirmed his choice to himself.

Once he entered the Five Profound Elements Sect, it would be impossible for him to be provided with a Heaven Tier Cultivation Method. No sect would give that sort of thing away. And if they did, it certainly would not be for any virtuous or kind-hearted reasons.

At least, that was what his father had said.

Since that was the case, the only way to obtain such a thing was to earn it by collecting a specific currency known as Merit Points.

As Auslen had learned over the past few months, there were many methods of obtaining Merit Points, such as completing tasks for the Sect or providing the Sect with valuable items in exchange.

However, none of the methods were simple, and purchasing a Heaven Tier Cultivation Method with Merit Points would be an incredibly tedious process, regardless of the method chosen.

As a matter of fact, his father had offered in the past to simply provide him with enough materials in order for him to immediately have the purchasing power to obtain a Heaven Tier Cultivation Method from the Sect.

But before Auslen could even get excited, his father explained that it could be very dangerous to easily allow others to affect his cultivation journey excessively, as it may have an undesirable influence on his condensed Dao Path. Especially for a significant ordeal such as obtaining a highly coveted Heaven Tier Cultivation Method.

Cedrick gave him the option, but only Auslen himself could make the call.

Auslen inevitability refused, not because he didn't value his luck of being born into such a affluent family, but because he was truly afraid of any outside source that could unknowingly affect his Dao Path!

Besides, he could always change his mind if it seemed too difficult to accomplish by himself. He was not that obstinate.

Therefore, Cedrick had introduced him to many different methods so that he could make an informed decision early on, allowing Auslen to leave the Royal Palace fully prepared.

After another moment of consideration, Auslen raised his eyes towards his father with a nod.

“I choose to become a Spirit Botanist!"

“Explain.”

Auslen took a deep breath before he began. “Plants can’t cultivate on their own normally, so they need Profound Qi from somewhere! My greatest talent is my Soul Force, which allows me to absorb Profound Qi quickly. I can raise a lot of Spirit Plants faster than any other Qi Refinement cultivator!”

Cedrick slowly asked, “And what happens when you proceed to exchange a large number of Spirit Plants for Merit Points? Raising Spirit Plants in abundance is not typical for a young Qi Refinement practitioner, and they will immediately suspect your Soul Force.”

“I know! I know! That's why I won't exchange the Spirit Plants.

"I'll become an Alchemist too! That way, I can make Elixirs with the Spirit Plants and then exchange the Elixirs for Merit Points. As long as I keep my farming hobby secret, they will think I bought the Spirit Plants!”

Cedrick fell silent as he scrutinized Auslen closely.

“Are you confident in learning two professions simultaneously? It will be no easy task.”

Auslen bobbed his head up and down to silently communicate his self-assuredness.

Cedrick did not argue with his choice, only choosing to provide some advice.

“Your two choices are fine and will provide you with sufficient Merit Points, so long as the Sect does not find out about you raising Spirit Plants in private. Otherwise, your plan will fall apart rather quickly.

“However, after you successfully obtain a Cultivation Method, I would advise you to swap out the Alchemy profession with another, as you lack the most favorable Fire Elemental Affinity.

“Without this Elemental Affinity, you’ll never be able to successfully create Pills and will only ever be considered a subpar Alchemist.”

Auslen nodded at his father’s advice. However, he did not care much about the ability to create Pills.

Although they were highly sought, the only real difference between the two was that Pills degraded far slower than Elixirs, drastically increasing their shelf-life, as well as allowing the cultivator to save resources for their cultivation.

Despite this, the vast majority of cultivators only ever consumed Elixirs, due to the difficulty of obtaining Pills. Even Auslen had never consumed a Pill before, not that it would have changed anything for him regardless.

While others may need a full bottle of Qi Refinement Elixir to absorb one complete strand of Profound Qi, Auslen only needed one droplet to do the same.

He would only need one singular bottle of Qi Refinement Elixir to reach the very peak of Qi Refinement!

Even if he was only ever known as a “subpar” Alchemist, Auslen was quite happy with that, as he would never have to worry about his cultivation resources or his finances in the future.

Cedrick chose to wrap up the conversation.

"I will provide you with the necessary materials that you will need to begin learning Spirit Botany, as I am also a Spirit Botanist and have sufficient understanding of the subject. Regrettably, I’ve never researched the subject of Alchemy myself, so you’ll have to explore that profession on your own once you reach the Sect."

After knowing Auslen’s final decision and saying all that he needed to say, Cedrick stood up from his seat slowly.

But after standing up straight, he had yet to move away.

He continued to stare silently at Auslen with mixed emotions that were visible in his eyes, as if he was thinking quite hard about what he wanted to say.

In the end, he just shook his head and walked towards the exit in refusal to confront what both of them clearly knew.

After he left the room and closed the door behind him, Auslen couldn’t help but bend forward, clutching his bed sheets as he laughed aloud at his father’s dithering behavior, knowing full well that his father could hear his unrestrained laughter very clearly through the stone wall separating them.