As she diligently traversed the forest, the memory of that gross thing from the previous night was naturally forgotten.
But when she returned to the palace after finishing her work and tried to sleep, the memory of it revived as if by magic.
"..."
Several days passed like that. The Elves who served her said with worried faces:
"Your Majesty. You look tired."
Eve irritably waved her hand.
"I'm fine."
It was right then that her brother came to visit.
"Eve. How have you been?"
A handsome man with light sky-blue hair greeted Eve in a cheerful tone. It was Akio, the thirteenth among the brothers and sisters.
"Akio. What brings you here?"
"Some of my higher nobles died recently. So I'm planning to have more, and I came to ask if you'd like to create some together."
In Elf society, nobles referred to the direct children of the king or queen. The noble Elves, who were direct children of High Elves, were born with magical force far superior to other Elves.
"I heard you haven't created any nobles at all so far? Because of that, you're personally dealing with hordes of magical beasts of just a few thousand in size."
At Akio's suggestion, Eve silently stared at him. Akio maintained a relaxed smile under her gaze.
Eve sank into her own thoughts.
The Elves she currently had were those shared by other brothers and sisters when she became independent. So there weren't many Elves with strong magical force.
If she wanted to create Elves with strong magical force, the most reliable method was for a High Elf to have children directly.
The magical force a child is born with was greatly influenced by the parents' magical force.
Therefore, higher nobles, whose parents were both High Elves, were born with tremendous magical force, and lower nobles, with only one High Elf parent, were also born with considerable magical force.
Furthermore, when these noble Elves had children with ordinary Elves, those children could also be born with that much stronger magical force.
'If there are more Elves with strong magical force, I would indeed have an easier time.'
The reason she hadn't created nobles so far was simply because she had no interest in such matters.
Although work was troublesome, it wasn't to the point of being difficult, so she hadn't felt the need to create nobles.
"..."
Suddenly, a thought crossed her mind. It was a thought about someone's very gross body.
Thinking about that gross body while looking back at Akio, suddenly Akio seemed too plain.
His tall stature and radiant face, his beautiful sky-blue hair, his refreshing voice—all of them felt insensitive.
"Not interested."
"What? Why?"
"Just because."
Eve waved her hand, indicating she didn't want to talk further.
Akio left, grumbling.
※※※
The heated body glistened with sweat. Muscles, sleek and firm like a leopard's, rippled.
Wind naturally blew in from outside the window. When the cool wind touched his skin, his heated body cooled down, emitting wisps of white steam.
As usual, after finishing his Tai Chi Fist practice, Xu Xin took a deep breath while concluding his posture. And then he sat down in place.
His sculptural body, honed through eighty years of martial arts training, comfortably settled into a full lotus position.
Following this, his spiritual sensitivity, which had become much more refined than when it first awakened, moved his spiritual body. His spiritual body, which had absorbed the spiritual energy of heaven and earth, expanded according to the formula of the Three Talents Energy Cultivation.
Spirit is yin and flesh is yang, and yin and yang share prosperity and decline.
When spirit prospers, flesh prospers, and when flesh prospers, spirit prospers—Xu Xin's strengthened flesh and expanded spirit created a virtuous cycle through mutual nourishment.
The virtuous cycle was the right path, and the right path was the kingly way, which was leading him to boundless achievement.
Although it was a very distant and vague path, it was a path worth walking precisely because of that.
The endless lifespan of a High Elf. If one were to step on a path that would end quickly, wouldn't that be a pity?
'It's been eighty years since I started practicing Tai Chi Fist. It's been sixty years since I started practicing Three Talents Energy Cultivation...'
It had been eighty years since he was born as a High Elf. Though it felt like not much time had passed, he had already spent more time in this new world than in his past life.
'Including my past life, I've dedicated 150 years to cultivation. Yet I still don't tire of it.'
Having practiced the basic of basics, Tai Chi Fist and Three Talents Energy Cultivation, for eighty years, one might expect to get bored. But Xu Xin was still amazed by the profundity of Tai Chi Fist and excited by the mysteriousness of Three Talents Energy Cultivation.
'It would be fine to continue mastering these two, but it would be a waste to leave other martial arts untouched. Since I've trained my spirit and flesh considerably, should I start trying new martial arts?'
Through eighty years of youth's diligent training, Xu Xin's foundation was unprecedentedly solid. However, he did not indulge in excessive desire when choosing new martial arts to learn.
Trying to get full with the first spoonful would only lead to choking. Xu Xin found a life devoted to martial arts so enjoyable that he wanted to proceed safely and steadily.
'True Martial Seven Star Daoist Formula, Combined Five Elements Kung Fu, Nourishing Intent Divine Kung Fu. These seem too advanced still. Rather than those...'
Despite the passage of not a short time, the martial arts manuals from the Scripture Pavilion were still preserved in his mind. Xu Xin chose a suitable martial art with a prudent and humble mindset.
'Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu, Pure Yang Secret, Dark Yin Treasure seem appropriate. So let's start with Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu.'
If Three Talents Energy Cultivation was compared to doing push-ups on one's knees, then Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu and others would be like doing regular push-ups.
It was at a level exactly between True Martial Seven Star Daoist Formula and Three Talents Energy Cultivation, so if he practiced these sufficiently, there would be no problem in moving on to True Martial Seven Star Daoist Formula and others.
'And I can't skip the training of lightness skill. Let's start training Cloud Ladder Lightness Skill.'
Wudang Sect's Cloud Ladder Lightness Skill was an outstanding lightness skill considered the best in the martial world.
The threshold for entry was not high, yet future achievements were not low. Learning just this one was enough to make other lightness skills unnecessary.
Just as Xu Xin finished thinking and was about to enter Primordial Unity Breath Kung Fu, Eve came to see him.
It was the first time seeing her face in ten years since her sudden visit and departure last time.
"...I see you're doing that martial arts thing today too?"
Eve asked. For some reason, she spoke without making eye contact with him. Only after he put on the upper garment that he had taken off for training did she make eye contact.
"Yes, Lady Eve. What brings you here this time?"
Xu Xin knew that Eve didn't particularly like him. So he was careful to maintain an appropriate distance.
Being overly friendly might make her uncomfortable.
As a guest who was indebted to her, he showed politeness but never added any personal remarks.
"You felt it too, right? Mother Divine Tree has given a sign."
"...?"
"A new brother or sister will be born. We need to go and congratulate them according to custom, so follow me."