Aimless Ascension

Gale found Wang Li ogling at him furiously, a bit of redness on her cheek and neck.

"For the record, that wasn't my fault." Gale was too quick to refute any blame that was coming his way.

Wang Li glowered at him.

"Master, what are you talking about?" Xiaolin asked, discovering she clearly missed something in this interaction.

"Nothing!" Both Wang Li and Gale said at the same time.

Xiaolin blinked.

"Glad that we agreed on that," Gale said, earning another glare from Wang Li. He probably should have stopped himself from blabbering on.

Wang Li scurried to the kitchen, giving him a last glare, as his disciple continued to give him curious glances.

"So where were we?" Gale said, completely overlooking how he left his disciple lost on the matter. "How to learn Coercion? Hmm. When you cycle in the beginning, what do you visualise to calm yourself?"

"Water ripples on a pond, or drifting mist," Xiaolin answered, forgetting the little exchange between Gale and her elder sister.

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"Okay," Gale said. "Now, whenever you start visualising, think deliberately about those emotions and try to channel them through the energy. Honestly, everyone is already doing it subconsciously. You just need to be aware of that and be required to let it come under your control. When you gain control, it would be even easier for you to enter deep meditation. This is as far as you can train with coercion currently."

Emotions played a big role in Qi accumulation, or anything related to the practitioners. Honestly, the nature and emotions of a person reflect on their Qi and Aura. So the best way to have a delicate hand at controlling Qi or aura was to have a full grasp over your emotions.

Gale never liked things other practitioners tried to achieve, something like severing their emotions or practising only a particular one of emotions.

However, a practitioner who can't control their emotions is worse than a savage beast.

***

Wang Li left the next day in the morning. Gale found none of this to be his fault. The incident that happened yesterday was totally by coincidence, though it probably urged her to leave sooner rather than later.

Well, the familial presence was pleasant, but most of the time, it was alone you have to tread the path. Xiaolin had much of the road to cover, she could be stranded just by this.

As always for safety, Gale sent Vale along with Wang Li, leaving him and his disciple alone on the farmland. Well, he was mostly alone, since his disciple was busy with her training. Gale had work to do as well, but they would just need a couple of hours of his time, as he had enchanted all the ironwoods by now.

As for the defensive formation, he was still missing a few of the important ingredients to proceed with them. So he decided to check on the state of the workers the Han Family sent him. It was five days since they were working, and the carving of the cave was probably done by now.

Gale needed to sit with Master Crafter and ask him to make a blueprint for it. He needed to be careful though, lest he let out his secret. Well, about seven people other than him knew about it, so it wasn't apparently a secret. Then again, the labourers didn't count.

Gale just needed to find a way to make sure Twilight kept her mouth shut. Well, she was the silent type, still . . .

Gale was just about to fly away towards the waterfall, to his secret lair when he found a familiar figure creeping towards his farmland.

It seemed like Sun Ziang had gone to venture into the mountain on his own again. This time too, his adventure ended fruitlessly as he returned in battered shape, his iconic silver hair tangled, bearing a few injuries that needed better care. He was wearing a new robe, though that could also be because the old one got ruined.

Gale changed his direction to fly towards the noble scion. Sun Ziang noticed his arrival from a respectful distance away and gave him a good-natured smile as he stopped.

"Looks like you haven't found what you're looking for," Gale remarked, landing a few paces away from him.

"This trip had been more eventful than I had assumed it would be, but I won't call this fruitful," Sun Ziang replied with a wry smile. He was definitely exhausted as his body went through relentless combat for a period of time. "I wasn't aware there were so many silver-ranked beasts on this mountain. I wasn't in the mood for training, but they put me in some challenging situations."

Gale frowned after hearing about silver-ranked beasts. Only a couple of them shouldn't be a challenge for the noble scion. Considering his shape, a pack of silver-ranked beasts should have charged after him.

"Interesting," Gale said. "It shouldn't be possible, though, considering how low the density of energy is. Even reaching iron is tough for most people."

"That is true, but I come across places full of rich herbs in the mountains," Sun Ziang said. "Of course, most were iron rank and lower, but I did come across some higher grades too, though not in high numbers. That is to say, I haven't gone much deeper. Nobody of Tianhui probably isn't aware, but this mountain range might be a treasure trove."

"Hmm, that is interesting."

They moved towards the farmland, conversing with whatever Sun Ziang discovered on the mountain. That reminded Gale to go on a little expedition on the mountain with his disciple to give her more perspective and experience.

Gale was saving that until she reached Copper, but that was still half a year away. It wouldn't be a bad idea to give her a change of perspective, though.

"Anyway," Gale said, addressing the noble son, "it seems like you haven't taken my advice of forming a band seriously, seeing how you're now."

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Monthly Privilege chapter Goal: 640/1000

It isn't growing, though.