Paul was in the final stages of transformation, doing his best to achieve perfection once again.
He watched as his mana pond expanded bit by bit, forming a mana lake.
The process was slower than a standard breakthrough since he purified every bit of mana his body was absorbing.
It was the same process he accomplished with his Qi cultivation a few days prior.
From his experience, he knew that the purer the energy was, the more beneficial the breakthrough would be, and the chances for a perfect transformation would rise.
Suddenly, he felt a massive wave of mana entering his body, filling his expanded mana pool at an astonishing rate, enlarging it by a few times.
At the same time, he felt that the bottleneck finally broke like a dam full of cracks, giving way under the enormous pressure of the water it was holding.
The mana filled up his newly formed mana lake and then spilled over, filling his mana channels to the brim, but it didn't stop there, as the pressure of the power expanded these channels and his mana lake as well.
It lasted for a few minutes before coming to an end, returning to the slow and calm rhythm of mana flowing through his body.
Then a giant orb of mana manifested over his mana lake and began trickling mana into it continuously, without shrinking even a bit since it absorbed mana as it released it into his mana pool.
This was a sign of perfect transformation.
All the ladies in the mansion and the soldiers felt a powerful wave of mana emanating from his room, and they all knew what it meant.
Anna and Irine rushed to Paul's room immediately.
The last time Paul had a breakthrough, he lost consciousness right after, and this time it not only took longer, but the surge of power they sensed was also many times more powerful than the last time.
-Are you alright?
Anna asked the moment she busted through the door.
-Yes, but I need some rest.
Paul answered, before falling to the ground.
A moment later, he was out like a light.
-Why does he do this every time?
Anna asked no one in particular.
Her breakthrough was also exhausting, but it was nowhere close to what she saw both times when Paul did it.
-It's simple.
The reincarnation soul manifested startlingly in both women.
-You only have one cultivation to advance, he has two, and on top of that, he is much more powerful than he realizes, making each breakthrough much more exhausting for him.
Moreover, the technique he had chosen not only slowed down his breakthrough speed but also empowered his cultivation, which is a slow and tiring process.
The soul explained.
-So will it always look like that whenever he goes up a stage?
Irine asked.
She was surprised to see the soul again, but was getting used to seeing strange things happen in this world, so it didn't faze her like it did in the past.
-It's Hard to tell, but if everything goes well, it will end after he goes to the upper realms.
There, the mana and Qi are more abundant and purer, which will lessen the burden of purifying them all the time.
This made a lot of sense, considering what they heard about the upper realms from Fei Fei.
-Alright, I got sidetracked.
The soul shook his head.
-Irine, call Natalie over.
The woman didn't hesitate and went to find her daughter immediately.
-Why did you want to see the two of us?
She asked when she returned with Natalie in tow.
-To help you before you get yourselves into trouble.
If you were Paul's slaves, there would be no need for me to intervene, but since you're not, and he will be sleeping for a while, I decided to step in before anything happens.
-What do you mean?
Natalie asked, not understanding the soul's meaning.
-These eyes of yours, as beautiful as they are, are also a dead giveaway about your bloodline, and the enchanting nine-tailed foxes were always a very sought-after commodity on the slave markets.
He explained, shocking the three ladies.
-To prevent any problems before you are strong enough to defend yourselves, I'll hide them for you.
The soul said and sent two beams of light into Irina's and Natalie's foreheads.
It was painless, and soon after, their eye colors returned to normal.
However, there were now marks looking like tattoos on their foreheads.
The marks were the size of a cherry and shaped like a flame.
-These seals will hide your true eye colors from everyone and should keep you safe for a while.
But they won't be able to do so forever, so I advise you to become stronger as fast as possible to avoid future trouble.
The Reincarnation soul said and vanished a moment later, getting back into Paul's body.
This reminded them that they would only be safe if they were strong enough to make everyone afraid of causing trouble for them.
They knew that Paul and the other ladies would do their best to protect them.
But as great as it sounded, they both wanted to be able to protect themselves, to not be a dead weight to others.
As soon as the ladies placed Paul on the bed to let him rest, Anna went to the officer of the soldiers sent by Xiao Han to inform him that Paul had successfully reached the third stage.
-That's great news.
The officer said.
He wished it lasted longer, but his duty was done, so within an hour the soldiers left, with regret, as they had a great time on this assignment.
Not only did they have tasty food, which made them praise Rina's culinary skills.
They could also relax when they were off duty and live a life of luxury, their comrades at the barracks could only dream of.
This short glimpse of the wonderful life inspired them to cultivate and train more diligently, in hopes of someday living in such a mansion and allowing their future children the life of young masters and misses that they didn't have themselves.
At the time, no one even suspected that this simple task assigned to them by the province lord would result in the creation of the ten powerhouses within the Storm Wave City a few years into the future.