Zahar spent the time mostly cultivating, while Sana was able to return to her normal duties. After that day, her mother pulled her to her room to talk to her about 'the nighttime duties', a conversation which left her entirely beet red, and unable to focus. After the talk with her mother, Sana wondered when he would consummate their relationship as master and concubine, but since he didn't do anything beyond touching and feeling up her body, she wasn't sure whether she should take the lead.
Her mother strongly suggested she do so. In her mother’s words, to do so is to latch onto the rising dragon as he rises through the world.
What her mother said bothered her, though she did not resist Zahar’s request. She read the missives and explained what news came from the lands beyond their city walls. In that short time, she realized he had absolutely no knowledge of this world.
It’s as if he never grew up here.
The week passed quickly, and on the fifth day, the entire city felt it when the City Lord broke through to the 5th realm. His 5th realm power could be felt in the entire city, and momentarily, the entire city experienced a minor heatwave.
His subjects and servants all came to pay their respects, and Sana as the dutiful daughter naturally did so as well. Sana knelt in the waiting hall outside of her father's chambers, waiting for her father to emerge from secluded cultivation. The door slammed open, and they all saw a bright, smiling City Lord.
"Ah. 5th realm!" He stretched. Power coursed through his veins. "Truly worthy of a high grade Flawless Bloodfire Pill."
His eyes surveyed his subjects, and all of them congratulated him. "We congratulate the city lord for his amazing breakthrough!"
He laughed heartily, his laughter echoed in the entire hall. Then his eyes darted to Sana. "Ah, my daughter! The one who made this day possible! Have you consummated your relationship with that fine, talented young man?"
Sana's face turned absolutely red. How was she supposed to answer her father in public like this? "Father!"
"No worries, no worries. I know you are nervous." The City Lord walked over, clearly elated as his own breakthrough. The rest of the subjects just eyed Sana warily, they were unsure what to say. "Has your mother spoken to you?"
She nodded. "-yes."
"Good. Your mother's got the skills. That's why we have four of you kids. Learn from her."
Sana was so embarrassed she wanted to die. Her father looked at the rest of the subjects. "Alright, the rest of you can withdraw. Let me speak to my daughter. Ah wait, before that, let's have a feast to celebrate my daughter's union and my breakthrough!"
"Father! Please don't. That won't be necessary." Sana absolutely didn't want a feast. She didn't want to feel like a prize or a trophy that was being handed away.
"Ah. Alright then. No feast, no feast. But maids, please have the cooks make a nice dinner tonight. I want everyone in the family to come. Sana, my dearest daughter, would you invite your man to come join us for dinner?"
Sana gulped. "I'll- I'll try."
***
"Not a problem! I will write a recommendation letter to the Roaring Dragon Sect!" The City Lord said with a laugh.
Zahar smiled, and looked at the family of six. He was the 'outsider', but he was seated with them in the round table, Sana next to him. There was some funny tension in the dining room, as her mother kept asking Sana to serve food to Zahar.
Zahar naturally didn't miss the whispered conversation between mother and daughter. "He's your master, and you're his concubine. Serve him food, daughter. Feed him. Win his heart."
"Okay." Sana whispered back, and awkwardly took food from the dishes at the center of the round table and placed it in Zahar's bowl. Zahar grinned, and ate it. Food did somehow taste better when served.
City Lord Eshtar smiled and asked. "Has my daughter served you well? Was her performance in bed satisfactory?"
Sana was beet red, and Zahar merely nodded. "Yes, her service has been good. But we have not done the deed yet. But in time, we will."
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"I was hoping we would be expecting grandchildren soon." The City Lord said with a laugh.
Sana didn't know where to put her face, and was absolutely red. "Father!"
Zahar thought for a moment, and answered honestly. "She is not yet ready to bear my children. Perhaps in another five, or maybe ten years. She should be at least in the late fourth realm before she starts bearing my children. For now, she will be my companion to the sects and follow me on my adventures through this world."
The City Lord's eyes darted to her daughter, and then realized the subtle shifts in her cultivation. "Daughter- you just broke through to the 3rd realm?"
Sana nodded. "Yes."
"That is amazing! That means your time as an Outer Disciple will be cut short, and you can begin to challenge some of the trials for the Outer Disciple rewards." Her father looked absolutely delighted, and then looked at his two younger daughters, wondering whether that good fortune could spill to the rest of the family. "Young man, do my younger daughters interest you?"
Zahar laughed. "No, thanks. Sana will be sufficient for now."
"I know it's a tall ask for a man as talented and busy as you, but please care and look after my daughter in the Roaring Dragon Sect. It is a competitive place, and she may have bullies." The City Lord asked.
"Ah. Certainly. My partners will be well cared for, and they will have the strength to protect themselves." Zahar said.
The rest of the dinner was mostly idle chatter, as the family talked.
***
"We have about two months before we need to depart for Roaring Dragon Valley." Sana said as they walked back to their own chambers. Sana was already undressing, she had gotten comfortable being naked around Zahar over the past week. "I'm sure my father's letter will get you in."
Even if it didn't, Sana didn't see how Zahar could fail any kind of test. Just from that day alone it was clear he had a comprehension of cultivation and alchemy beyond even great masters.
But her thoughts went back to one of the words he said when they fought. "I- I have a question."
Zahar stopped what he was reading, and looked at his fully undressed concubine. "Oh? Come sit here and let me hear it." Zahar tapped the space next to him on the bed.
Sana nodded and crawled onto the bed, and sat obediently.
"Call me, Master." Zahar teased.
"Yes, Master." Sana said with a slightly upset pout.
"Good." Zahar wrapped his arm around Sana's waist. "So, what's your question?"
"You said my cultivation lacked density or weight, just appearances. What- what did you mean?"
Zahar laughed. He subtly cursed his tastes, he had always found the women he liked all had some spark of intelligence that always found ways to bite him one way or another. "Ah, that. Unfortunately, unless you have an innate sense of the energy structures around you, and you are willing to start from scratch, that's not something you can fix. Each time you cultivate, you just add the collected energy to your soul, correct?"
"Yes."
"What if, it's possible to pack more energy into a single spot, before adding it to your soul. Compressing multiple bits of energy to occupy the same space. Stitching large quantities of energy together into a single particle, then only fuse it into your soul. Forming the layers with these dense bits of energy."
Sana paused as she digested what it meant. "That means even with just a single layer-"
"I'm many times more powerful than any regular cultivation, because each mote of cultivation is way more dense, with way more weight." Zahar cultivated all the time, absorbing the energies from his surroundings and compressed them into tiny, tiny blobs. It did also mean he was slower, but the compressed cultivation was just way more powerful.
"Why can't I do so now?"
"Your soul must know how to do it. You must know how to compress and stitch energies together. And, you can't pack iron on top of fluffy cotton. Your previous cultivation will collapse. It is only something a person who has lived multiple lives will know how to do, unless you happen to be a generational genius. I can't teach you how to do it, because each of our souls senses energies and manipulates differently."
Sana cursed. "Ah. You could- uh. Guide me? Do to me, what you did that time?"
"No. Guiding a horse to drink is different from turning water into ice. All I did then was direct it to your body, letting your bones absorb it. I can only prevent the energy from leaking out, I can't do it for you, and help you take that energy in. I could explain the theory, but you must do it on your own." Zahar said.
"Oh." Sana looked at him, wondering how he knew it. "Who are you, really?"
"As you guessed. An ancient." Zahar said. "I also happen to have a taste for fine women."
Sana ignored the teasing. "How ancient?"
"That's relative, isn't it?" Zahar laughed. "But I am old enough that there's probably nothing in this world that I fear."
The young mistress paused, and then her face turned red. She seemed to be thinking something dirty, before she shyly asked. "My mother said I should consummate our relationship as soon as possible, so that we can-” Sana wasn’t sure she wanted to say what her mother told her, but ultimately decided not to. “-I've never done it before."
Zahar laughed. "Is it something you want, or is it just your parental pressure getting to you?"
Sana wasn't sure. Zahar pulled her close, and this time, they shared their first passionate kiss. She had never kissed a man, so Zahar's sudden kissing made her body twitch and her nerves go crazy in ways that she didn't expect.
It lasted about two minutes, and Zahar stopped. "Don't worry, my dear concubine. We'll be physically united before we leave for the Roaring Dragon Sect. Give me a month, this body is not yet ready for our bodily union."
She blushed.