"It's been about a century already, hasn't it?"
With an excited smile on her lips, Xie Mei turned to face Han Junqiao, who was walking next to her. There was a hint of fond nostalgia sparkling in her eyes and great zest in her steps.
"Yes. We really took far too long to get here."
Shaking her head with a pained sigh, the golden dragon-horned young lady lamented her lacking aptitude. If she and her sister hadn't spent all of these years stuck in the Dawning Numen Stage, then they could have had the opportunity to listen to Theodore's explanation significantly earlier.
"Well, there's no use crying over spilt milk! We always knew that we weren't as extraordinary as Yeonnie, Vigi and Navya. But that won't stop us from doing our best!"
Encouragingly patting Han Junqiao's shoulder, Xie Mei shot her a bright smile. Both of them had dearly missed those days when their lover would pull them aside to teach them about cultivation. Today, it was finally time to revive this tradition.
"Yeah, you're right."
Reciprocating with a sweet expression of her own, she felt much of her sadness vanish, replaced by anticipation. And not long after, the two of them arrived in front of the room that Theodore had reserved for their lesson.
"Wait, why is she here?!"
As they were at home, the girls usually didn't spread out their perception too much, in an effort not to intrude upon everyone else. It simply felt awkward to do so. That was also why they were completely taken aback when seated opposite of their lover, at the spot that should have been theirs... was Cadi.
"For the same reason as you are, I would wager. Mr. Winter here very graciously introduced the Dawning Numen Stage to me. I will have to cultivate normally from here on out, so being clueless is no longer an option."
Locking eyes with Xie Mei, who was glaring at her, the Succubus was unbothered. Having been invited here by Theodore himself, she had nothing to be ashamed of! Heck, even in the realm of beauty, she was no longer suppressed. At the thought of this, a somewhat dangerous smile stole itself on her lips.
"... fine! I get it. But can you please leave already? I'm afraid that our advanced studies will be a bit too much for you."
Narrowing her eyes, Xie Mei knew that making a fuss would be useless. Still, she didn't want this ex-slut around during their treasured quality time.
"Don't look at me like that! I never planned to get in your way to begin with. Mr. Winter, I'll see you again next time!"
Not denying the fact that she was lagging behind at all, she dropped the confrontational act entirely, before rising to her feet and bowing respectfully towards Theodore. As she left, her amorous, infatuated gaze continued to linger on his face all the while.
"... Theo, explain. What's this all about?"
Once the interloper was out of earshot, Xie Mei glared and pouted at her lover in an accusatory manner. Her sister evidently wasn't all too happy either, judging by her silent, yet judgemental stare.
"She didn't lie to you. I invited her here to teach her about the Dawning Numen Stage. But if that's all that I wanted to do, then I could have left it to Vigi, or many others. I didn't have to go out of my way to do it personally–or now, and right here. So, why did I do that? Any guesses?"
With an amused smirk on his lips, he accepted their criticism unabashedly. The ball was back in their court, therefore now it was up to them to figure out his true intentions.
"You want us to grow accustomed to her, because you intend to make her your lover?"
Directly stating her biggest worry, Xie Mei's gaze transformed into a pleading one, hoping for this not to be the case.
"... you're wrong. I haven't even truly considered it. Did you forget that a Losta heiress is connected to her? Do you seriously think that I'd disregard that danger entirely in favour of some carnal pleasure?"
Rolling his eyes at her, he heaved an exasperated sigh. It had been many, many decades since he had last entered a romantic relationship with anybody, so why was this the first thing that she thought of?
"You're right, you wouldn't do that."
Muttering these words under her breath, Xie Mei obediently took a seat, her heart yet in turmoil. Her intuition kept telling her that this Cadi spelt trouble. But even if her gut feeling wasn't warning her, then she would still want to avoid sharing her man with that woman. Their first encounter truly hadn't been a pleasant one.
"Did you ask her to come here to motivate us to work harder?"
Interrupting her sulking sister's thoughts, Han Junqiao finally voiced her guess. She had pondered for quite a while, but this should be the sole possible reason that made any sense.
"Well done, Qiao'er! Yes, that's exactly it. You two have begun to grow a bit complacent recently, so I decided to ignite a proverbial fire underneath your lazy butts. I wouldn't be all too surprised if Ms. Owain is at least as talented when it comes to cultivation as you two are. Heck, considering her connection with the Lostas, she might even surpass you. And you wouldn't want her to first catch up to and then overtake you, right?"
His radiant smile caused a shiver to run down their spines, then they sat up straight, eager to listen to today's lesson. Losing to their treasured companions was all well and good, but to that random harlot? That could absolutely not be allowed!
"Fine, fine! You win. Let's get started, pronto!"
Finding their change in attitude to be adorable, a small chuckle escaped his lips. Everything was back on track, exactly as it should be. Once he was certain that they were listening properly, he began his explanation.
"Just like how the Body Refinement Stage is a preparatory step that will allow someone to become a proper cultivator, the Holos Acclimation Stage serves a somewhat similar purpose. But this time, what it will pave the way for is one's eventual ascension to become 'divine'. Of course, the prerequisite for all of this is the Divine Will that you've recently acquired."
Sketching an anatomically perfect human figure in mid-air with his Energy, he had a golden light pervade it in its entirety from its very core, until it shone brightly, appearing transcendent compared to before.
"This time, the goal is to let every part of oneself–the whole, also known as the 'Holos'–adapt to one's Divine Will, transforming minutely but entirely in the process. This will lay the foundation for the next five stages, which will altogether represent the path towards the 'divine'. Like usual, the Holos Acclimation Stage consists of six realms: Suffusion, Soul Dousing, Core Connection, Dantian Consecration, Physique Sanctification and Apex Mortality."
Noticing the two's intrigued glances at the very end, he chose to expound upon this pertinent matter first, so that they wouldn't be too distracted.
"Until the ultimate peak of the Holos Acclimation Stage, one can still technically be considered a mortal–even with a Divine Will. Only once one begins the true transformation to the 'divine' will a truly transcendent state be achieved. Nonetheless, the aforementioned next five stages can all be thought of as a period of transition, where one is neither mortal nor 'divine'. Some lesser developed worlds call those people 'demigods', but in the great scheme of things, they're definitely not worthy of that title."
In all honesty, those who had reached the Celestial Stage weren't qualified to be referred to as 'gods' or even 'demigods' either. Maybe sometime in the unfathomably distant past, they would have been–yet the Heavenly Court and Heavenly Dao had developed a lot since those days.
"But enough about that. The Suffusion Realm isn't complicated, but it can be challenging if your control over your Numen is lacking. The sole goal of this realm is to let your Divine Will permeate you in your entirety. And yes, even your soul. Once that is achieved, you can continue on with the next step."
He conjured up another figure in mid-air, but this time, it was seated in a meditative pose. From above, the same golden light poured down, akin to a waterfall washing away any impurities.
"The Soul Dousing Realm is extremely straightforward, too–just like the vast majority of this stage. All that you'll have to do is to focus your Numen on your soul, allowing it to ever so slightly transform towards the 'divine'. It is very simple to monitor your progress, and you can't really harm yourself by letting this go on for too long either. There is a natural limit as to how much you can refine your soul in this manner, and once that is reached, nothing else can be done."
Letting the Energy-created image transform into a Golden Core, he 'cut' it in half to show the internal workings of it. Then, he zoomed in on the central part.
"Somewhat surprisingly, the Core Connection Realm sticks out from the rest. This time, the aim isn't to simply drown all of your Golden Cores in your Divine Will until they grow accustomed to it. No, you'll have to locate the parts of your soul that are housed with the cores and let these alone experience a baptism via your Numen. Needless to say, it won't be easy to achieve this, so ensure that your Divine Will Proficiency is at least at Apprentice-level before trying your hand at it."
Shooting Xie Mei and Han Junqiao a stern gaze, he made sure that his warning got internalized. Within the entire Holos Acclimation Stage, this was the only step that could possibly go wrong. Although it was rare to permanently damage oneself, even a 'mere' time loss would still be a shame, as by simply being sufficiently careful, this entire hassle could be avoided.
"On the bright side, the Dantian Consecration Realm and the Physique Sanctification Realm couldn't be any simpler if they tried. Do exactly what you did during the Soul Dousing Realm and everything will be fine. No, I'm not kidding. As long as both your Dantian and your body successfully adjust to your Numen, you will automatically break through."
Once more showing that human figure from earlier, all parts were now glowing golden–just like they had been before he had begun his detailed breakdown.
"As soon as you're in the Apex Mortality Realm, you can theoretically attempt to go further on the spot, but I would advise against it. Please come and see me as soon as you've made it there. The Deiform Soma Stage will need a lot more thorough preparation than the Holos Acclimation Stage. But even with the best resources at hand, it will still be tremendously painful."
It would be ideal for them to learn about this now. That way, they could mentally ready themselves for it. The very first time that he had gone through this ordeal, he hadn't exactly enjoyed himself either.
"Don't worry, we wouldn't miss these little get-togethers for the world! Still... is it really that bad...?"
At first optimistic, Xie Mei soon felt a hint of worry. Other than that freak Satoru, nobody else who she had ever met actually enjoyed pain. Obviously, she wasn't a fan of it either!
"It is. But the agony isn't the biggest issue–rather, it's that it can easily serve to distract you during your cultivation. If that happens, severe mistakes could occur, which would take quite long to make up for. However, I'm sure you two will manage just fine now that I've warned you in advance."
Giving them a reassuring smile, he walked over to them and wrapped them into a gentle hug. Although he wanted them to grow stronger more quickly, he didn't wish to rush them to the extent that they would be slipping up.
'Mei'er at least has other Origin Lotus' Petals which she can fuse with, but I haven't come up with a good way to help Qiao'er yet. Figuring out what exactly went wrong with Long back then is above my pay grade for now, I fear.'
As they were enjoying each other's presence in peace, he was deep in thought. He felt that both of them had a lot of untapped potential, but he had no idea when any progress on these matters could possibly be made.