Compression Rate 2000%

Through their joined hands, spiritual energy as vast and blue as the ocean came surging in.

After somehow guiding the energy thrashing through her meridians as if it owned the place, the moment she combined it with her pure black spiritual energy—

The two forces that had been fiercely repelling each other as they crossed suddenly amplified several times over into the purest Water-element energy and settled into her dantian.

"Ugh."

"Kh."

Natural groans slipped free.

Dual cultivation through yin-yang union.

Nain's spiritual energy, carrying the nature of yin, tangled with Geumhae's spiritual energy, which carried the nature of yang. The intertwined energies clawed through their qi and blood, and pain followed in their wake.

But the effect was certain.

Absorb worldly qi, refine it into spiritual energy, then amplify it through dual cultivation. Store that amplified energy in the dantian. They had been repeating this process once every six minutes for 1,200 minutes now—a full twenty hours.

It was an absurd speed.

A horrifying achievement that would make ordinary Qi Condensation cultivators cough blood and spit curses if they saw it. Normally, just breaking through from Qi Condensation Stage 1 to Stage 2 took a full two to three years.

Nain had compressed that time by more than two thousand times.

Evolved Four Spiritual Roots, the Talisman Path Sacred Body, and the formidable Heavenly-grade cultivation method known as the Five Spirits Ascension Guidance Canon. On top of that, dual cultivation with Geumhae and the automatic cultivation acceleration provided by the Technique Diagram.

Even Geumhae of Geumhae Changcheon.

Something she had learned while training together this time: Geumhae could use the status window's functions right alongside her. Not only could she see the proficiency system's effects, but Nain confirmed that Geumhae's own technique practice raised proficiency as well.

That means technique training alone is four times faster.

It was the result of stacking multiple cheat-level abilities, each of which would have been broken on its own. If anything, failing to produce results of this caliber would have been the more absurd outcome.

Even after pouring every opportunity into this, she had only barely caught up to the training speed of an ordinary Dual Spiritual Root cultivator. She still had a long way to go before matching Decia or her mother's pace.

She hadn't even properly arranged her environment yet, and she hadn't consumed any pills. She had no artifacts to aid cultivation, and her Spirit Gathering Formation was the lowest grade available. In cultivation, talent mattered—but so did the training environment and money.

Those two are monsters in more ways than one…

"Hah…"

Clearing away the thoughts that had briefly surfaced, Nain exhaled softly and refocused. Training wasn't over yet.

Compression 200%…

A figure from the status window she had glanced at. She could break through at any time, essentially. But that was never going to happen.

Back when I broke through to Qi Condensation Stage 2 before, 100% was the compression limit.

Even that alone had been a massive amount—twice what a peer cultivator would hold. But after sweeping her inner vision across the interior of her dantian, Nain was certain.

My dantian has gotten much wider.

It had been a small dantian that filled to its absolute limit at a mere 100%. Now that same dantian had expanded like an ocean, grown so vast she couldn't even gauge its boundaries.

Is it because of the Five Spirits Ascension Guidance Canon?

It was a Heavenly-grade method of an entirely different caliber from her previous technique. The way it refined worldly qi into spiritual energy, the method of compressing and storing that energy—everything ran on a completely different track from what she had known.

The density of her ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠spiritual energy had naturally become extremely high as well, drastically reducing the volume it occupied.

So her dantian still had a long way to go before hitting its compression limit. Nain smiled.

A solid foundation is always good.

The foundation built in Qi Condensation led into Foundation Establishment, and Foundation Establishment's foundation led toward Golden Core. The lower the realm, the cleaner you polished that groundwork, the better. Especially since last time's compression amount had left her a little unsatisfied.

My compression rate during Qi Gathering was 3,000%, so…

Even half of that this time would be enough. The total spiritual energy capacity between Qi Gathering and Qi Condensation was incomparably vast.

Nain looked straight into those white eyes. Geumhae was staring back at her as well.

"Geumhae. Let's start again."

"Yes, Sister."

Geumhae nodded. They closed their eyes at the same time and focused.

Through their tightly interlocked fingers, Geumhae's deep blue spiritual energy came flooding in. Now somewhat accustomed to it, Nain skillfully guided that energy and united it with her own.

Following the principles of yin and yang, the massively amplified spiritual energy rode the profound principles of the Five Spirits Ascension Guidance Canon and naturally seeped deep into her dantian.

Another ten hours or so passed that way. In that time, she poured dozens of low-grade spirit stones into the Spirit Gathering Formation that could no longer withstand the absorption volume. It was an expenditure of ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠over a hundred thousand credits, but her account was flush enough that it didn't matter.

She had the generous allowance her mother had given her. She felt nothing but gratitude.

Just one more time.

The moment she finished the final process of guiding the refined spiritual energy through her meridians into her dantian—

BOOM!

With the sensation of a wall shattering open, the enlightenment contained in the technique washed through her body.

Tremble!

Nain and Geumhae's bodies shook simultaneously, and their interlocked hands came apart. Regardless of their will, the enlightenment of the technique upgraded to 3-Star was engraved into their trembling flesh. Feeling the aftershocks of the upgrade throughout her whole body, she quietly collapsed and leaned back against the bed behind her.

"Haaaah…"

Her entire body was being remodeled to suit the technique. She was changing to sense and control spiritual energy a little faster, a little more sensitively. She was becoming a body perfectly suited to practicing the Five Spirits Ascension Guidance Canon.

"Ugh."

Unlike Nain, Geumhae was maintaining her elegant lotus position without leaning against anything. But she apparently couldn't suppress the cold sweat beading on her forehead. Her neat face twisted slightly with a groan.

The Five Elements whatever technique wasn't this intense…

As expected of a Heavenly-grade method. She could only marvel again. To produce this much change from a mere one-star upgrade. Her passion for training burned without cooling even a fraction.

"Geumhae, again."

"…Yes, Sister."

Once more, they joined hands at the center of the Spirit Gathering Formation. Geumhae's eyelids trembled as she interlocked her fingers with Nain's.

"……"

Honestly, Geumhae desperately wanted to rest. Between the banquet and the trip to the demon realm beyond the gate, three full days had passed. After returning home, she hadn't even gotten proper rest and had been continuing cultivation for a full day straight.

And yet she couldn't open her mouth. When she looked at Sister's face—so purely delighted, so close that the slightest movement would bring them into contact—she wanted to lend even a little more strength. She wanted that joyful emotion to keep lingering on Sister's pretty face.

In the end, Geumhae buried her fatigue deep in her heart and poured out spiritual energy with everything she had.

About forty hours had passed.

The Five Spirits Ascension Guidance Canon had risen another grade, and the spiritual energy compression rate had reached a full 800%. The training that had been racing forward without pause stopped when the technique reached 4-Star.

She turned on her terminal and checked the time.

Because Geumhae had completely collapsed from exhaustion and fallen into a dead sleep.

"Hiyuu…. Hiyuuu.."

Stroke, stroke.

She stroked Geumhae, who was sleeping soundly with her head resting on Nain's knee. It was admirable how she had followed along without a single complaint through three days of training.

"At 2-Star, one Small Circulation took six minutes, but at 3-Star it took five."

She indulged in a happy fantasy. Then at 4-Star would it be four minutes, at 5-Star three minutes, at 6-Star two minutes, at 7-Star one minute? What would happen if she raised it all the way through 8, 9, and 10-Star Great Completion? Back when she didn't know about this world, she would have dismissed it as impossible without a second thought.

"Heavenly-grade really is… incredible."

A vague thought arose that maybe the Five Spirits Ascension Guidance Canon could actually make it possible. And a cultivator's intuition was usually not wrong.

If the Five Spirits Ascension Guidance Canon, which has barely set foot in the Heavenly grade, is this good—how incredible would a true Immortal-grade method be?

Nain looked up at the ceiling and sank deep into the sofa. Fatigue seemed to have piled up heavily; her eyes naturally drifted shut.

With the Crimson ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Sword True Lord's single declaration, the gate that had swallowed the sky and the sun beyond the world were both cut down—and with ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that scene, the dawn documentary came to an end.

Click.

She turned off the holographic TV through her terminal. And Nain's mind, eyes closed, slipped into sweet dreams.

Five days later.

Nain and Geumhae simultaneously began their breakthrough to Qi Condensation Stage 2.