Chapter 394: Nascent Foundation At Last
It was really quite unreasonable that someone as talented as Kai had taken this long to leave the Body Refinement stage. Zae Zin Nim waited and watched, hoping that fate would not manage to ruin his advancement. It did so try to get in the way.
Of course, he had been severely limited by the lack of quality qi on Deadwaste, and his unique nature absorbed much of the qi he cultivated. Even given all those considerations, she felt as though she should have been able to help him advance sooner than this, given his tenacity. On Cloudspire, where many considered cultivation alone, they considered him lower class as a mere Body Refinement stage, which led to many strange looks when they were together.
Well... perhaps that wasn't the only reason. No matter what stages of cultivation they reached, everyone would be surprised to see a jade maiden of Cloudspire with an enormous hairy barbarian. But there was nothing they could do about that, and nothing she really wanted to do.
Zae Zin Nim sat on the opposite side of the airship cabin, watching closely as Kai sat down and swallowed the qi pills that had been prepared for him. Years ago in Deadwaste he had been so awkward in the cultivation position, but now he took the pose easily, placed his hands on his knees, and began to circulate his cultivation base.
In theory, nothing would go wrong. But given how many irregularities there were in Kai's soul, she could never be sure, so she remained alert to help if necessary.
The biggest thing she had done to help him had been the night before, and Zae Zin Nim still flushed when she thought about it. Instead of purchasing a Heavenly Maiden Pill for herself, Zae Zin Nim had selected one of the Pureflower Sect's rarest arts: a dual cultivation technique called the Great Unity Chalice. It was meant to be used to soothe raging or injured men, but its fundamental purpose was to solidify a cultivation base.
Once, the idea of using such a technique would have horrified her, since it just turned her into a dutiful servant of another male cultivator. But she trusted Kai with her life, and he had slowed his own advancement in order to find this mana pit for her. So she was glad to use her own cultivation to strengthen his.
As for the technique itself, it had been as intimate as usual, except that Kai began to change as the power interacted with his Savage Heart technique. His hands on her body had transformed into claws... and yet they had still been so gentle. Despite the unexpected change, everything had worked as intended, so in theory his dantian and body were fully attuned, ready to advance.
Kai circulated the qi in his dantian as it welled up and began to flow through his body. It wasn't like her transition from the Body Refinement stage, instead becoming far more aggressive and violent. His body began to change again, taking on monstrous traits, but it was all under control, so Zae Zin Nim held her breath and waited.