She nodded; the qi in her chamber was much stronger and denser than outside. This was because she possessed a treasure—a plant that produced and purified qi, practically doubling a cultivator's speed. She allowed me to enter at any time, but I could only stay for about 24 hours.
We flew back to the kingdom and castle. She tossed me a golden token with a dragon symbol, saying, "This will grant you access to the fourth floor of the Scripture Pavilion." Her voice remained aloof. She then left, needing to sell a mana crystal to fund the kingdom.
I returned to my room to retrieve the divine fruit. After greeting some maids in the hallway, I entered the Empress's chamber. I sat, ate two bites of the fruit, and felt an immediate surge of energy. The power was overwhelming, but once it subsided, my body was significantly stronger, and my cultivation speed quadrupled. Combined with the old technique and the dense qi in the chamber, my cultivation speed increased roughly sixteenfold.
I cultivated day and night, nonstop. After 48 hours—exceeding her 24-hour limit—I shrugged it off and left. Two days of intense cultivation further enhanced my strength and qi. My qi reached the 9th stage, denser and purer than that of a typical 9th-stage cultivator. I was comparable to a peak 1st-stage Foundation Establishment cultivator.
Testing my strength at the training ground, I saw Clara, a wave of fear washing over me. I tried to hide, but she spotted me. Her angry, annoyed expression preceded her attack. With my newfound strength, I blocked her blow, mockingly asking, "Is that all you've got?"
She was surprised; my resilience to her usual strength was unexpected. Annoyed, she said, "You've gotten cocky with your newfound strength, haven't you?" Her seemingly playful smile hid a dangerous intent. She usually used 10% of her power without mana; now, to teach me a lesson, she used 30%, augmented with mana.
In our exchange, I struggled to keep up. She landed a punch to my face, sending me reeling. "Did you miss it, my disciple?" she taunted, a pleasurable smile on her face. Her smile sent goosebumps across my skin, even though I found it beautiful. "I really miss beating you up," she said, before stopping mid-fight. "Ah, right. My emotions got the better of me. I forgot I was going to teach you new skills." She effortlessly caught my fist. "Since you can now imbue your body with mana, I'll teach you 'Mana Intent.' It can repel weaker enemies and weaken stronger ones, but it's useless against vastly superior opponents."
She demonstrated, focusing her mana, creating intense pressure that made my skin crawl. The pressure, even though brief, felt like hours. She explained that strength of will and mana were key.
The rest of our training focused on the Blink skill and Mana Intent. My proficiency soared; I could now use Blink with 10% of my mana.
Later, I visited the Scripture Pavilion. I found several interesting techniques including "Extreme Healing Technique," beneficial despite my already fast recovery. Also, "One Sweep," a sword technique enabling one-hit kills, perfect for my Shallow Grabbing technique. I borrowed both, extending the loan with my new token.
On my way back to the castle, I overheard rumors of a duel between a commoner and a prince. While surprised, I remained composed. His rapid growth was to be expected. My cultivation, knighthood, and new techniques were enough for now, but future challenges would require greater strength. The Prince, a genius, was likely around peak 1st-stage Knight. My cultivation routine needed improvement I needed to find a pond rich with Qi to accelerate my cultivation, but the one in the novel required two weeks and Clara's company.
Returning to my room, I didn't sleep instead, I focused on comprehending the two techniques.
The Extreme Healing Technique multiplies and reverses the flow of qi within my body, regenerating it. Qi consumption depends on the severity of the injury; the expelled qi is black and dissipates. I smiled; my comprehension reached the beginner level. I placed the technique on my desk and picked up One Sweep.
Comprehending One Sweep took much longer. By night's end, I had only reached a beginner level of understanding. It requires not only speed but intense concentration; without it, the speed is unstable.
I went to the training grounds in the middle of the night. The wind was cold. Using Shallow Grabbing, I collected twenty swords. Through practice, I discovered that better focus increased precision and sharpness.
After several hours, my qi was at 65% and my mana at 50%. Satisfied, I decided to inform the Empress about the Elder who planned to betray her; his breakthrough to the Broken Void Realm would be highly troublesome.
i will tell her today about the Elder plan though i think the Elder is in cultivation seclusion
Well that Elder named Chiyan which about 1900 Years old nascent realm only lives about 2000 years old but if he breakthrough his lifespan will increase to 5000 years which is alot of time in Earth
But in this World it's mostly normals licking my lips i think about the things i will do if he got captured
The Empress still have bad reputation in our kingdom and the people here are still wary about her
But if i tell them the things she did and The act of The betrayal of a Elder Her reputation will Be much better
i would definitely torture that Bastard in the past memories he treated This guy body like a slave just thinking about his face seems trigger my anger