He slowly ascends the mountain heading towards the first peak, this time he emptied his mind, and just focused on the earth around him
Cultivation wasn't just about increasing the amount of qi within your body, it is to understand the laws or the energies in theworld that surrounds you
This is a slow process that never truly ends, it begins the moment one starts to use qi
Their emotions connect with the energy, and they can potentially learn things,
As Arc walked it seemed as though he blended into the world around him, the ground and him were one
It felt warm, inviting; this was the energy of life.
Each element has a gateway into understanding the higher forms of energies that exist in the world
Arc's connection to life energy was formed due to his highly pure earth mana,
connecting with spirit energy is a process that is unique and ever changing no one can do it at will it just happens
Arc had no knowledge of any of this yet as this wasn't widely spread, he calmly continued on his walk and enjoyed the process he was experiencing
When he arrived to the first peak, he opened his mouth and began coughing, a black gas kept escaping his mouth
This experience while Arc saldy didn't develop a new ability, it did wash his body with life energy, cleaning his body of many impurities
"You stink"
Arc turned his head and found Mia standing next to him holding her nose attempting to block the smell of the impurities
Arc laughed lightly before he burned the impurities with flames, he then spoke
"My bad"
Mia nodded after realizing the bad smell went away, she then remembered why she walked up to Arc
"Hey Arc, wuji said he was looking for you"
Arc asked somewhat surprised
"Where is he?"
"He has been waiting outside your door so i told him, that i would find you"
"Okay, thanks, i'll go see what he needs then"
Mia nodded her head before taking her leave
Arc headed towards his room and saw Wuji standing there pacing around the door,
"Did you need something"
Arc asked curiously
Wuji looked around before speaking
"Yes, i want you to forge the swords"
Arc tilted his head before responding
"How many, and what's the deadline?"
"9 swords, and I want to be finished before we head to the demon crow valley sect"
"Very well hand me the materials and i will begin forging the weapons"
Wuji handed over a spirit ring to Arc and as Arc looked into it he couldn't help but be surprised
"How the heck"
He spoke quickly as he thought to himself
'These materials are extremely rare, how did he get his hands on them?'
Arc laughed lightly as that wasn't any of his concern, he turned to wuji and spoke
" I will have them ready soon"
Arc headed directly to the forge, he was excited to get to work with these rare materials
Arc saw the bone radiating yin energy, he couldn't tell from what kind of creature it came from but he knew it was powerful
Arc saw abyssal silver, purple gold, and even some orichalcum. His mind began wandering as he thought of the many ways he could make the set of swords
At the same time wuji and the old man were having a conversation
"He has become even stronger than before"
The old man muttered
"What do you mean? His cultivation regressed"
Wuji asked confused
"Condensed, not regressed his energy is much denser and more pure"
"I even saw a glimmer of life qi, so it seems he already has begun extending the range of his aura"
"What does that even mean?"
Wuji asked confused
"You will understand when you do"
The old man said cryptically
'That doesn't mean anything'
Wuji muttered annoyed
A short time after that Arc arrived at the forge and was prepared to begin, making the swords
First thing first, he took the bone he was going to sandwich it with the other metals
the bone would be only on the blade, the other metals would be to strengthen its effects
Arc took the bone and began extending its size, by hammering it. Arc wondered as he continued to strike the bone
'Why do the bones of power creatures move like metal'
Arc's hands never stopped moving while he thought, he continued to hammer the bone until it was long enough to make 18 billets
He cut the bone into 18 pieces and took the abyssal iron and purple gold,
Mixing them into an alloy, he then hammered it into a canoe shape, with opening on both the front and bottom,
he then heated both the bone and the canoe, and placed it between, normally a double sided canoe weld is just asking for problems
But due to Arc's high purity mana, he is able to prevent impurities or inclusions to form with the blades
He took the metal and place on the anvil, and using a large hammer he pressed down on the blade setting the welds
After finishing that, he had to repeat it 8 more times, then all the billets would be prepared and ready
After finishing that, Arc took one of the completed billets and place it with the forge to heat up, after getting it to heat he began hammering it to shape
A long single bladed sword took for, it has a slim grip and no hand guard. arc took out some iron snake wood,
no real reason other than its color match nicely with the sword's appearance
He attacked the handles with 2 pins, and glue to make a strong connection
Wuji didn't have any strict requirements for the appearance of the blade,
Other than the fact that it must not have a cross guard which is common for flying swords, it is more aerodynamic without one.
Arc repeated this process 8 more times and the 9 blades took shape, they were almost ready, all he had to do next was sharpen the blade
Sharpening each sword took much time, he did so while the handles were still drying from the glue, as to save time
When Arc finished the blades he felt extremely exhausted, but he felt excited as these swords came out perfectly
Arc placed them within a spirit ring and headed towards the 1st peak, to deliver them to wuji
After Arriving Arc wandered around for a bit before finding where Wuji lives, it was a cave…
It seemed that while Arc and his "senior sisters" were living nicely in Aurora's house other core disciples didn't get that treatment and lived in various caves around the first peak
Arc walked into it and found a makeshift door, which he proceeded to knock on. Wuji answered quickly and was relieved that it was Arc
"You were really cutting it close, it been 2 weeks"
Wuji spoke emotionally
Arc's eyes opened wide, he had no realized so much time had passed, all that was in his mind what forging the blade
It felt as though minutes had past for him, yet it been 2 weeks, Arc handed over the spirit ring as he thought about this
He decided to head to his room and prepare his things, they would soon take off to the devil crow valley sect, so he must be ready at a moments notice
Namely he did routine maintenance on all his weapons and equipment, especially his armor and flag as he would most probably have to fight
After confirming that he completed his preparations for departure, he headed towards Aurora's room and gave a quick knock on the door
Seeing Arc looking at her lovingly; Aurora invited him in with a large smile on her face,
They sat together on the bed and just talked, usually they are quite busy and don't get an opportunity to just chat
But they are currently in the calm before the storm giving them a short breathing room to be lovey dovey
After a while of just chatting they began discussing their next steps and the plan once they arrive to the "party"
"What if they ask Iris to fight instead of me since my qi condensation is only stage two"
Arc asked somewhat worried
Which caused Aurora to giggle slightly she then spoke
"I'm a body cultivation, so naturally they will expect my students to also pursue that path"
"They won't look at your realm at at they will attempt to sense you ki, which anyone foundation establishment or higher can tell by looking at you, that you have reached the innate level"
Arc's head nodded slightly as this was a point he overlooked, Aurora specializes in close quarters combat, just like him
"Then why do both Iris and mia appear to be qi cultivators they have both reached later stages of qi condensation"
Arc asked inquisitively
"The body tempering Art i developed is different from the mainstream style, the basic premise of the technique "
"Is that once they reach foundation establishment they will use every drop of liquid qi within their bodies to strengthen their meridians"
"Allowing them to reach body tempering stage 15 instantly, and their body already capable of liquefying aura would have little to no trouble doing the same to their ki"
"Making the advancement to innate a cake walk, well you still seemed to have a easier time breaking through innate than they will though"
Aurora said proudly then lightly grinning at that last part
Arc's head shook softly as he began describing the exact process he used to break through into innate
He also detailed the amount of research and development that was required for his "foundation establishment plan"
Due to the fact that at the time he didn't yet have a physique and was only slightly better than average
Aurora nodded slightly listening to him, she found the process very calculated
In her opinion It seemed as though he individually added and calculated the technique in the same way a formation expert would do in his works
The long and tedious way yet none could doubt it's effectiveness, but he did burst his bubble on one portion
"Theoretically it would increase the talent and awaken a physique, but doing so is against the "heavens"
"The fact you were able to do it without backlash means you had an unawakened physique that was modified and evolved through this process"
"What do you mean backlash"
Arc asked somewhat confused
"Sometimes like being struck by lightning or developing inner demons or error's in the body"
Aurora said before placing her hand on Arc's head
Arc felt a rush of energy, as it searched his body for any form of problems
Aurora shook her head as she spoke once more
"I am not able to find anything and you haven't shown any signs of inner demons yet"
Arc then remembered,
"i vaguely recalled that it began to rain after i advanced but no lightning struck me"
This caused Aurora to laugh slightly as she figured out the reason he was unaware of the backlash
"Your advancement was in a place with no spirit energy by the time the cloud would form a lightning bolt you had already left"
"It is kinda a shame though, had you been struck and lived your physique would have evolved further"
Arc nodded before asking
"So does that mean I missed out on an opportunity?"
"Yes, but simultaneously you saved yourself from a lighting bolt that was probably half golden core in power"
Aurora said causing Arc to shutter as the thought of being struck by that
Arc was somewhat shocked even after years of research there was still a massive gap in his knowledge
This alone showed him the distance between him and Aurora when it comes to theoretical cultivation knowledge
Seeing Arc go silent, Aurora exhaled slightly as she realized that Arc just like her was prideful, and she unwittingly trampled upon his pride by finding such massive faults in his long research
Aurora got up and sat next to Arc as she wrapped her arms around him bringing him into a kiss
Arc melted into her arms as she ran her hands through his hair pushing him down onto the bed
Arc looked deeply into her eyes as their lips separated he was currently below her as she laid on top Aurora's voice entered his ears,
"Are you feeling better?"
She asked lovingly
Arc realizing this was his opportunity to be spoiled spoke
"No, i want you to not let me go ever"
He didn't seem to realize how embarrassing that line was but Aurora's reaction was immediate she spoke strongly and possessive
"No one or nothing could ever take you from me"
She started kissing him once more as her hands started to run down his body as she thought to herself
'He is so adorable'
Aurora and Arc were still together several days later being lovey dovey it seemed as though they would stay there until someone else interrupted
As they cuddled in bed a knock was heard at the door, causing Arc to jump slightly
As both him and Aurora were in a compromising state by being in bed together
Aurora didn't seem to mind though as she threw a blanket over Arc before answering the door right after her robes materialized on her body
"What do you want"
Her tone was less than polite when realizing it was Luton
Luton froze slightly not knowing how he pissed off Aurora, he coughed slightly before speaking
"The departure time has been confirmed, we will leave in five days as to arrive with a week before the party officially begins"
Her eyes rose slightly as she spoke
"Why would we leave so early?"
Luton turned his head seemingly trying to sense whether anyone nearby could hear
Aurora blocked his divine sense that almost shot into her room,
Luton didn't say anything about that seemingly understanding her privacy,
Though Aurora she still found his attempt annoying after confirming no one was around he spoke
"They invited us for some negotiations apparently something big is happening soon"
"since in their words we are sister sects than we have a right to know"
She nodded speaking
"i will begin preparing me and my students, you can go no"
Seemingly shooing him away
Luton while confused decided that it was be best to just leave her in peace and talk to her once she calms down from whatever pissed her off
Unaware that he ruined the good time she was having with Arc, then almost found Arc in her bed
After he walked away Aurora robes disappeared and she slumped into bed wrapping her arms around Arc as she spoke
"We have to get go work soon, how much i wish we could stay like this forever"
Arc's arms wrapped around her as he kissed her neck and chest and cheeks
He kissed everyone part of her body that was before him realizing this would be their last opportunity until they returned to the sect
Aurora's hand was through Arc's hair as he did this, and Aurora's thoughts began to wonder remembering their meeting
It was only a short time ago, hardly any time has past yet it was clear that neither of them wanted to be without the other
After a short while they stopped lazing around as it was time to prepare, they might very well be walking into a warzone
Arc left the room leaving Aurora to continue her preparations, since he had already prepared
Arc headed back to his room to begin cultivating, since his technique is much slower than normal
He will have to start dedicating more time to meditation to increase his realm
At this time wuji was walking by on the first peak and his eyes went wide and turned to the direction of Arc's room
He could see seemingly endless amounts of spirit energy flooding in, he felt as though that amount of energy could make him explode
Yet Arc seemed to be cultivating with relative ease
Wuji muttered quietly
'If this the gap of talent, how can one bridge that'
He the heard a old chuckle in his ear as the old man in the ring spoke
''Do not dismiss all the hard work that went into that by labeling it all as talent'
''That is not a human cultivation art, i can tell by the flow of energy it seems as though he has a strange physique that formed him to make a cultivation art for himself''
Wuji eyes opened wide
"He made his cultivation technique?"
The old man spoke again,
"I don't know for sure without asking but the technique seems to be tailored specifically for his body so thats my best guess"
"Let me tell you the honest truth wuji, your effort will never fail you, for cultivation is about conquering oneself not for comparison''
Wuji muttered
"Conquering oneself"
He eyes formed a glint and he seemed more determined than ever
"Yes that is what we are supposed to do"
Arc was oblivious to this, as he continued to cultivate and develop more mana within his dantain
Sweat began pouring down his face and he felt his meridians shake slightly,
he realized that he was at his limit and stopped cultivating as to prevent injury
Arc couldn't help but think of what Luton said to Aurora even though he wasn't supposed to know he couldn't help but wonder
Why would they invite us to go early and what do they want to negotiate?
The black mountain sect was missing some important information and the crow sect would be leveraging that for an advantage
Arc muttered to himself
"Man i wish i could at least understand politics maybe then i could help Aurora''
He thought to himself
'I need to advance quickly if I Stay this Weak,
i will never be able to help Aurora, all i'll be is a liability to her'