Chapter 217: Life 73, Age 32, Martial Grandmaster Peak
With the competition between the Disciples over, I returned to my courtyard with Liang and Mo, my newest recruit. I gave Mo the same rundown about severing ties with the Su Clan that I had given Liang, and he readily agreed to accept me as his new patriarch. After that, I took both boys on a tour of the house and showed them the new rooms I had prepared for them.
First, I took them to a room that contained nothing but six granite discs. Three of these discs were lined up against the left wall, and three were lined up against the right wall. These discs were roughly five centimeters thick and had a diameter of one meter. Each disc had a single word carved into the center of its face.
I looked at the boys and gestured to the discs.
“These are formation plates that will allow you to raise your affinities.” I pointed to the one with the character for lightning engraved into it. “All you need to do is sit down on that disc, and your lightning affinity will slowly increase over time.”
I had decided not to recheck their affinities. Instead, I wanted them to choose whichever element they felt suited them best without worrying about what element they should cultivate based on their initial affinities.
However, I also didn’t want them to raise their affinities too quickly. I wanted to try and force them to improve their talent for cultivation by making them struggle at every step. So, these Essence Gathering Formations were only Rank 1, and they would only be actively gathering essence while one of the boys was sitting on them. This would allow them to steadily improve a nine-star affinity, but it wouldn’t let them immediately jump to an eight-star affinity or higher.
Still, any formation that could allow them to raise their affinities was like magic to the boys. They were both more than eager to sit on their respective plates, but I had up a hand to stop them.
“You are not allowed to use this place freely. You must earn the right to come here.” I gave the boys a slightly evil grin. “Once both of you have reached Martial Disciple 2, you may both come here for one hour. After you both reach Martial Disciple 3, you will be allowed another hour. The same will be true for Martial Disciple 4 and so on.”
I looked at Mo who was already nearing the threshold of Martial Disciple 2.