Crude Middle Dantian Rank 1. The Middle Dantian, the Crimson Pace, is a cauldron that amplifies and stores spiritual strength, magnifying Elemental Qi and spiritual fortitude. This Dantian is currently empty, and requires charging with an Accumution of Elemental Qi to show its true power. This Dantian has been paired with a Crude Lunar Chakra, and while the es are far from stable, the resonant effect offers further ste of and growth of Elemental energies aed Unique Elements.

  Daiyu blinked, a smile on her face as she let her Qi Perception loose inside herself. I was smiling too, and sensing my mood, Shiro let out a quiet chuckle. “Guessing it went well, Aki? Tan’s very eager to know how it went… of course I’ll tell him, I mean, he knows anyway Tan, no point hiding it.” She paused, her own grin wicked as she obviously talked out loud so we could hear, rather than unig with Taally. “So, what’s the verdict?”

  I expihe Middle Dantian, and Daiyu spoke up. “Calling it crude is rather an insult. I believe it to be quite funal. Though it is currently empty. It does make me wonder. It seems much as the Lower Dantian, the Golden Stove, retes to the Foundation Realm, this Crimson Pace surely has a corretion with the Accumution Realm.”

  “Of course it does.” Tan spoke up, her toher…petunt, almost. “Such is basiowledge within the Sects of the Pantheons. I am more curious about the jun, however. Akio, how I wish I had your Eye.” She licked Shiro’s lips, gazing at me with a hungry gleam in her ruby eyes. “My perception is kee even I have limits. Seeing how this… lunar… Chakra coexists would be elucidating. We have no Fae in our Pantheon. How vexing.”

  “Be careful what you wish for, Tan.” Shiro warned, amused. “If you want to eat him I don’t mind lending you my mouth, but I don’t think you have the bravery for that.” Shiro cracked an obse joke, and for a moment her eyes turned back again, Tareating. Feeling that, Shiro wi me. I ughed, as did Daiyu, though most of her attention was inwards.

  “I am Ta?hā, the Thirst, eldest daughter of mighty Mara! My favour is not given so lightly.” Tan snapped, her usual calm rather absent. Shiro ughed, and when she was doa out a long-suffering sigh. “Enough with your tired japes, princess. This is a serious matter. The interpy between aspects of the subtle body is a fasating and dangerous matter. There are many pos to a spiritual body. Some are universal. There must be Chakras to draw iher and gee aether. The main branches and capilries spread and circute this energy. There are seven primary tres, and their locations are generally well uood. Creatures of myth and different form to you humans may have different sites, but generally… root, heart, third eye are the three primary which will never be absent, and above them the rules.”

  Shiro and I exged a gnce as Tan talked. Yeah, Tan’s iuring mode again. Not that I mind, it’s always very informative, and it is addressing some questions I have.

  “If I may interrupt?” Daiyu asked, and Tan nodded, so she tinued. “Then, the Dantians are simir. Lower, built around the root and surrounding Chakras, then Middle, around the heart, and I assume that the Upper Dantian shall enpass the third eye Chakra, as well as the others around it?”

  “You assume correctly. Cultivation is a … foundational… system. Mortal nguage is so… imprecise.” Tan pined. “I do not mean as in the Foundation Realm. Merely that it is a system reduced to first principles, theed upon smoothly, until its existence is an accepted… no, that goes beyond what I say. My point is thus. All are built from the same beginnings, though then there be many variations. Though a foundation built upon carelessly, too much piled upon it, will surely be unstable and colpse. You must not be reckless.” She g me warningly, and I uood.

  “Don’t worry, I am not suddenly going to try and bine everything together. But… Daiyu wao take the risk, and it was calcuted. With g’e’s Favour and Chirurgery, I was fident that I could put her back to her inal state, or close enough, with the help of Shiro’s buffs, should the worst happen.”

  “Yes, the princess is perfectly suited for such a Favour.” Tan agreed. “And it does drive your Skill to impressive heights. At our level, each step forward is a major breakthrough, plete with both terrible requirements and iurn, signifit efficacy. There are certainly those above you in terms of ability to manipute subtle bodies, even with the princess granting you further knowledge. But again, you have advantages most do not. But do not allao grow. Cultivation is not something easily trifled with. The Heavens are jealous.”

  “Point taken.” I agreed. “But holy, I think the lunar Chakra, and to a lesser extent the parts of the Yōkai work, are all patible, with some work. We’ve proved that humans hold the Fae work, and even a hybrid between Fae and Yōkai, Eri has that. So… yeah.”

  “Indeed. Bang differing powers and making them our own is the essence of Cultivation.” Daiyu agreed. “Besides… Ta?hā, we are not aiming to merely be powerful. We wish to be the best we be, for beyond our world, lies realms beyond imagination. You know this well, better than any of us.”

  Tan made an indelicate sound, but agreed. “Yes, I respect your uanding. Arrogance will not serve you. Were I able to exert my full might, I would be able to triumph over you all easily enough.” She looked at me then, her ruby eyes intense. “And even I ething fual. I may be a Goddess, but even so… I decided to remain here on the ce of it. I am powerful, but pared to my father, or the strong of other Pantheons… yes, calcuted risks are worthy. But never let greed blind you to the risks, assume you will succeed.” she warned, and I couldn’t help but smile. She’s certainly mellowed since our first meetings. I guess she ’t share a body and spirit with Shiro so deeply and not be influenced? Or is it something else…

  Shiro, perhaps guessing what I was thinking, rolled her eyes. Before she could speak though, Daiyu frowned. “Shiro, I believe I ute these new parts of me. It has disrupted the smooth flow of Qi within me. I shall meditate a short while to grasp it. For now…” She gnced down at my naked lower body. “…it may be my birthday, and I am not yet satisfied, but…”

  “Got it.” Shiro ughed. “I ’t say I’m not all hot and bothered, seeing Aki like that. It’s ahing that surprises me. I hought I was such a lewd woman. Guess I was all repressed a-up over the years. But…” Shiro wi me, her eyes back to bck, Tan clearly having severed her sciousness, anticipating. “…since you two are having an evening together, us girls are pnning to as well, having some fun of our own. And I don’t want to be oozing all evening long. So…” Shiro brushed her long silver hair behind her head, bending over, lips pursed. “I’ll just get a quick taste of it. Keep you strong for Daiyu.” She let her tongue delicately peek from her lips, her face close enough to my gns for her breath to tickle me softly. As she gently pped at it, she giggled as Daiyu, despite her meditating state, still flushed.

  “I apologise. Perhaps Akio should have ed off first…” Daiyu muttered, and Shiro swallowed my cock, her mouth warm, toeasing at my shaft, while her hands tickled my balls gently. As I shivered, running my hands through her hair, stroking her head, Shiro opened her mouth wide, speaking, though her words were muffled by my member stuffing her.

  “Don’t worry. Nothing to be ashamed about. We’re all Aki’s haremettes. Still makes me ugh saying it…” She dabbed her to my oozing precum, using both sides, each feeling unique, and then blinked, surprised. “Getting bigger, huh? I ’t say I’ve any i in other dicks, but I’ve always thought you’re pag, Aki. Must be because you’re a half…” Her cheek bulged as she moved her head bad forth, using her mouth like her pussy, her delicate lips tightening and loosening alternatively.

  “I don’t think I’m that big…” I muttered.

  “Big enough.” Shiro snorted, suddenly g her mouth shut, sug on my gns, and I groaned, barely able to keep an ejacution in. Shiro narrowed her eyes, seeing that as a challenge, and she intensified her oral assault. “You like it here, right?” Her hand squeezed my balls, as if to force my cum out.

  “Shiro, I’m… I’m going to…”

  “Let it out. I’m thirsty!” Shiro giggled wetly, sighing lustily, and as her head slid forwards, my cock hit the back of her throat and spasmed, warm liquid surging. Gripping her head I held her close, hugging her, ahroat worked, though even as she drank my sperm she made sure to tinue lig and sug at my shaft.

  “Just how much… bluh!” Shiro tried to pin, only to gag as I tio cum, and she desperately swallowed. Her cheeks bulged, and then finally my flow ceased. Pulling free, I patted Shiro’s head, and her smile broadened. She opened her mouth to show she was still holding a rge puddle of pearlest liquid oongue, before swallowing, making sure I could see. As she licked her lips , she spoke. “How is it? Like making me swallow? I know guys dig that. It’s the domihing, right?”

  I cut her off with a kiss. Grinning, we taongues, and when we parted, she touched her lips softly. “I knew I got you all hot and bothered. But you nearly got my clothes dirty. Ugh, better brush my teeth a few times, or I’ll have Aki-breath outside.”

  “To answer your question, I’m a man. Of course I like it. But I also want t you pleasure.”

  “Nope.” Shiro crossed her arms. “Not today. Like I said, I’ve not got a humiliatioish, I don’t want you dripping all evening long. Especially when you bst it out like a damn hose.” Her accusation was mog yet kind. “Besides, I’ll leave this…” she gently tapped my dick. “…for Daiyu. How’s it ing along?” Shiro asked, a trace of jealousy in her voice.

  “The Crimson Pace is quite remarkable. I believe I have discovered how it funs. Yes, it bes Accumution, but…” She swallowed, perhaps remembering her Sect, her family. “…just as the Golden Stove supports a Foundation, so too this Pace. The Invincible Jade Yang Teique, the legay Sect… I no longer have to set it aside for the Spiritually Pure Physique. I finally have a way to ie both without flict.”

  “Won’t it be harder to run two at once?” Shiro asked shrewdly, and then nodded. “Oh. Tan says of course it is, four times the difficulty for twice the strength. But… you get it, right Aki?”

  “I do.” I patted Shiro’s head for o time before settling down beside Daiyu on the bed, hugging her naked body against mine. “It’s not a case of power. It’s a case of remembrance. Does that mean that you could hold a third Foundation in the final Dantian?”

  “Such is greed.” Tan spoke up, and a strahought crossed my mind. Hang on a minute… no, it doesn’t matter right now. “Few are those who establish the Muddy Pellet early enough to take advantage of such. Thrice the strength for imes the challenge. I have heard it requires a strong grasp of spatial element and a fortified Chakra as well. Be satisfied with what you have.”

  “I am a Cultivator.” Daiyu decred proudly. “I am never satisfied. Except with you.” She snuggled into my grasp, and I found her exceptionally cute. The diy between her usual aloof ess and her openness when we were in each other’s arms was endearing. “So knowing it be done, I must do it. Otherwise how I walk alongside everyone? Even you have advantages I do not, Shiro.”

  “I’m only borrowing from Taually I’ll have to walk on my own.” Shiro demurred. “Anyway… Tan, she do it?”

  “I am not an expert. I know much, but… I spent muy time isoted in my pace, running errands for father. I read and I drink.”

  “Damn. I’m ughing out loud. Ell oh ell!” Shiro chuckled. “Looks like it wasn’t just me who was a shut-in, Tan was too! This was definitely all meant to… okay, I’ll shut up now.” Shiro promised, miming zipping her lips.

  “I have thirst, of course I drink.” Tan said, and I detected some defensiveness ione. “But unlike my sisters, I was not merely wasting my time drowning in pleasures. So I may not be an expert, but I know enough. You must establish it before your spirit reaches Nascy, should you wish this path, and it will make your road rocky and difficult, but… you do not fear it, do you?”

  “I do not.” Daiyu agreed. “No road walked with those orusts ever be sidered too harsh. At least this does relieve me of one burden. I start my Accumution, finally. Indeed, I should, to truly utilise the Crimson Pace.”

  “Even so, sooner is better than ter. In building strong roots, always this is true.” Tan warned, and Daiyu thanked her.

  “In that case… how’s the lunar Chakra?” I asked, and Daiyu looked uain.

  “It is stra does not easily accept Qi. To use it in jun with my Cultivation I shall have to experiment. But... I believe it funal enough.”

  “My work here is done.” Shiro said grandly. She dispelled her Berserk Blessing, and made to leave. “The pns for your date night are all ready for you. Don’t worry Aki, we may be out having fun, but we’ll not pick up strange guys!” With one final wink she strolled out, clearly ial unication with Tan, but I found a small hand gripping my , turning me, and Daiyu pressed her lips against mine. We kissed deeply, and as we parted, breaths hot and fast, she reached down, grippiightly.

  “I know you enjoyed Shiro’s ministrations, but… I wish for you to crave me so.”

  “I do.” I firmed my words with another kiss. Everyone’s different, from the more mature women like Asha, Tsukiko, Shiro, down to the impish Shaeu and Hinata, with those like Daiyu iween. Every day I realise how lucky I am. No, it’s not all luck. Fortune pyed a part, certainly, but we have to work at it too, to keep what’s ing from stealing away our joy. “Don’t keep beating me over the head with my past failings. I’m fully onboard with you now. Asha and Tsukiko too! I’ll not shy away from my problems or feelings. Looking at you… bravely deg that you walk any difficult road with us…” I was deadly serious now. I wao express what was in my heart. “…I realised again just how much a hard worker you are. To me you’re not a prodigy, you’re the epitome of striving. For what you want, despite hard times, despite impossible odds. You survived an o, drifting aloo wash up in my arms after all. So… I promise you this. It’s not much of a birthday gift, but…”

  Daiyu watched me early, bck eyes shimmering, and she nodded. “I have had many gifts. One more, whatever it is, I will love, I assure you.”

  That’s just like her. No, like everyohe only thing I have to absolutely do is never fall for someone who will ruin the happiness of everyone else. “Don’t worry. I take responsibility for everything within my arms. It may be a hard road to walk, making you all as happy as you deserve, and I’m only going to make it harder. I’m weak in some ways. I never noticed, but… when someone worms their way into my heart, I ’t ever get them out of it. But… be it four times, imes, sixteen times, a hundred or a thousand… I’ll find a way to make it happen.”

  “Bold words. And I do indeed love them.” Daiyu agreed. “Though… you do not see me as a prodigy, I see. I must try harder to breach your expectations then.” Daiyu snuggled in close, our bare skins toug, hot and pink. “Fortunately I believe I . This… lunar Chakra…” She was trating now, serious. “If Qi is aether, then…” Sweat beaded on her bare body, and I gently wiped her brow, before cheekily mopping her breasts and belly. She gave me a reproachful look but no more than that, allowio tinue.

  “…Yin and Yang, dark and light, one tains the other… in that case… the Crimson Pad the lunar Chakra, there be erce between them… and to use it…” I fell silent, seeing Daiyu scrambling for an epiphany. We y like that for nearly an hour, which sidering the speed Daiyu’s thoughts worked at due th stats, was quite a while. I prepared by charging my own lunar Chakra, ready to see if we could blend them together, but Daiyu suddenly let out a cry of triumph.

  “Of course. That is how it works. Everything is a duality!” With a smile she raised one hand, and a bright shard of shimmering jade appeared on her palm. It was merely the size of a needle, and the effort made Daiyu shake with fatigue, but her excitement made it pin she was ecstatic.

  “I am not a prodigy? Y me, my Akio!” She exulted. “I dare say even the Heavens aowledge me.”

  Since she was clearly angling for praise, I ughed, stroking her hair and kissing her, while my Eye g her. Yeah. But that doesn’t ge my thoughts. “You’re right. But I’m right too. It’s just like the famous manga with the brightly injas. There’s a quote I think fits. You’re a genius. But a genius of hard work!”

  Indeed, she did now possess the Prodigy Of The Lower Worlds Css, and she had achieved it by f her Qi Refining to traverse the fourth horizon and reach Rank 11.

  Spiritually Pure Jade Qi Refining Rank 11. This advanced Qi Refining teique vert Aether into pure Earthly Qi, and will raise the quality of such Qi by up to several ranks. Qi iing with and accumuting Water, Earth, Yang and Light Elements as well as their posites will be further increased in rank, emp these Elemental Teiques. Heavenly Qi is not inhibited due to the high purity of the Teique. The Refining rate for Ether ihly Qi is now nigh perfect, with less than a part ihousand wasted. Earthly Qi be restored to its Aetheric state, though this is less effit, wasting one part in ten. Cultivation Teiques be powered by unrefined Aether, though the effectiveness of such Teiques will be signifitly reduced. [Css: Imperious] [Type: Principle]

  “I like that. I am the prodigy of hard work.” Daiyu giggled. “Though as Ta?hā says, I must not grant. Everyone is w hard. But…this is crude, and it will take me likely weeks of hard training, meditation and effort to truly master. Using two Foundations is challenging, but…”

  “But there’s this.” I squeezed, and the jade in my palm shattered. The energy flooded into me, and it ure elemental energy not Qi! It was still far too meagre for me to learn the element, but I could now see the path to it.

  “Yes, there is that.” Daiyu agreed. “Now… more to the point, our time is wasting. I wish to make the most of the day.” She clutched my hand, threading her fihrough mine. “Do you think… we ow?”

  “I think so.” I nodded. “We give it a try at least. The worst that happens is we’re simply making love.”

  “Not such a terrible failure.” Daiyu agreed, skin flushed again. “Now, you shall have to lead. I am your teacher in Dual Cultivation, you guide me in this.”

  “I . Well, I’ll do my best.” I amended. “First…” I reached dowly teasing her clit and pussy. She was already damp, and it didn’t take more than a few moments before her pussy was making lewd, wet sounds, leaking love ar and dribbles of my sperm. As she rexed, flesh pink and hot, her legs spread, her slit opened, and I pushed my gns against her. Aether and elemental energies were boiling within me, f a stream to my lunar Chakra, and I traced my fingers along Daiyu’s body, encio circute what aether she could along the pathways. It was hard for her, and the majority of it was Qi, simir but not the same, but soon she was geing at least a small vortex of energy, spinning in the opposite dire to mine.

  “Ready then?” I asked, and her answer was a kiss, her small teeth digging into my lip sensuously. With that I tightened my lower body, and I slid inside her, parting Daiyu’s dripping body, sliding through her warm, damp insides. She bit harder, her tongue seeking mine, so I obliged. With one of our hands tangled, my other was still toug her body, allowio focus on the energies. With one final surge, my cock reached deep into her filling her up, and her womb shuddered, eager, the unfamiliar feeling of the current of aether and Qi leaving her body and spirit almost too sensitive, my every touch makiremble.

  “Stop, do not move for a moment…” She gasped breathily, but that only infmed my own passions.

  “All right. I won’t move, but I will…” elling out my surging tide of elemental energies through my sacral Chakra, where out bodies were pressed together, Daiyu moaned, now biting her own lips. Her pussy tightened, as if seeking to crush me, and she shed sparkling tears of pleasure.

  “What… is this? You are peing me, body and spirit at once!” She seemed almost delirious by the shock. “It is like Dual Cultivation, but… no, I shall… not be… outdone.” Her legs ed around me, and she pressed her forehead to mine, her free hand pressing my heart. Her own feeble flow of aether was uo beat my weightier one, leaving my thoughts, emotions and pleasures to flood her, but I was uo get more than fragments of hers.

  “Go, bee oh me the way we know, any way we !” Daiyu invited me, and I needed no sed invitation. I started to move, gently at first, my motions tender, my dick sliding through her sopping pussy. But as she flooded me with Qi, the streams that normally cycled between us instead diverged, being a mirror opposite to the current that was overwhelming Daiyu as I made love to her. My arousal increased, and I shifted, my coow rubbing against a particurly sensitive spot, and Daiyu gasped, drooling a little. She was wide-eyed, yet despite her seeming fusion and vat, pleased stare, deep within dark sparks of insight were burning. Even now, she was fasated by the process, so like yet unlike Dual Cultivator as she k.

  “I see.” She moaned. “Yes, there, there!” I obliged by speeding up, moving like a gentle piston, poking and teasing her hole, her pussy wriggling as if it wished to suck me in. “It is… ahn, oh my… uh, ahn… again, two sides… ahn… uh… to the same… ahn… !”

  “I feel your thoughts aions.” I agreed. The swirling vortex of Qi was soaking into my lunar Chakra. There was certainly resistance, and it wasn’t anywhere near as clear as when I performed this act with Shaeu, Hyath or even Eri, but even so, it resent. “So how are mine?” I struggled to speak calmly, a hot, stilted feeling rising inside me, as if I wished to explode into her, both body and spirit.

  “So sweet, so very, very sweet and… ah!” She gasped, her turn of phrase odd. “Now, give me your… love!”

  She tightened up, legs suddenly g me, making it hard for me to move. Despite that, I was more than capable. My free hand strayed to her clit, which was already enged, and as I softly polished it, finger vibrating, her legs spasmed, and with her impossible strength, if I was an ordinary man, she would have snapped me in two. As she moaned and twitched, I rolled back a little, her stiff legs resisting me, just enough that I could get some fingers around my shaft. With a few strokes, the heat that was building within me boiled over, and with a final forward motion, I stabbed my dick deep into Daiyu, even as I spshed her insides with anushing torrent.

  “See? Wet!” Daiyu moariumphantly, free hand slipping from my heart, flow of Qi diminishing, and she hugged me, legs and arms shuddering as she came, my spurting cock rubbing at the entrao her womb. She squirted, the smell of my cum mixing with the sour tang of her love ars, and she stuck out her tongue, seeking me. I obliged, while also tinuing to scrape my weakening dick against her entrance.

  Soon only the sound of our moans could be heard as we kissed frantically, the heighteions Daiyu was feeling from my attempt te our lunar Chakras overwhelming. Her attempt iurn had been rather less intense, but I still had experienced a trickle of her spirit. There was definitely a little Jade elemental energy within too…

  As Daiyu calmed down, the feeling deeper than mere Duel Cultivation, we y in each other’s arms on the soiled bed. After a moment, Daiyu spoke ptively. “I uood something as we joiogether. For a moment it was drowned out by our pleasure, but…everything has two sides. Dual Cultivation is more a process to share and strengthen each other through mutual transfer of Qi, but also extrag the essence of female and male, the Yin and the Yang. This Fae way… it is intense.” She shuddered in remembered ecstasy. “But it is not intetheangible, Qi, but to… strehe intangible, boions, experiences.”

  I hinking the same. While doing it often strengthened Lovers’ Link, and occasionally led to breakthroughs, it wasn’t really a strengthening teique. My Eye fred, and in satisfa I noticed that Daiyu’s Lovers’ Link had also increased, as expected. Perhaps she’ll be the after Eri to reach Rank eleven? No, she’ll have stiff petition from Shaeu and the others. It’s not easy traversing that horizon. “Yeah, it’s almost a religious experieo the Fae, in a way.” I agreed. “Though it certainly does have some bes in prehension, as well as some risks. Fae of opposing types… well, it get messy, so I hear.”

  “In that case…” Daiyu said softly, determined. “I shall definitely experie properly. It was as if I was drowning in you. It was sweet, like sinking in honey, but I believe it would be sublime if both sides were banced, like Yin and Yang.”

  “Yeah, I want to experience you properly.” I agreed, kissing her sweaty forehead. Despite all our increased Fortitude, we still seemed to get tired and sweaty during sex. I suppose that’s for the best, otherwise the joy would be gone. “Even beihough, I ehe closeness.”

  “You were far from weak.” Daiyu chuckled. “But then, I am a traditional woman, as well as a Cultivator. My Dao panion should be forceful and strong. It is reassuring.” Her face ink, but she seemed serious. “I am the Matriarch of the Incorruptible Jade. It is a great, almost unbearable responsibility. I owe my father, all those before him, all those who died… so I must be as strong and unyielding as jade itself. I must shed no more tears, and I must triumph. And I will.” she swore. “But I need a pce I be me. Zhao Daiyu. Not the prodigy of hard work, but simply Daiyu.” She looked at me early. “Where I y down my burden for a while. For I know the truth. Even jade shatter. I apologise, pg this burden on you, but… huh? Why did you do that?”

  She looked fused as I rapped her forehead gently with my knuckles. Shaking my head, I sighed, before kissing the spot I struck. “Because you’re being foolish. A burden? I’d carry Mount Tai on my back if it was for you. Like I said earlier, I’m a new me. No more looking back. I chose you, you e. How and why doesn’t matter. And me… I just want those I love to smile, and to reach their full potential. So, just as you washed ashore to Japan and came to me, let me be your harbour iorm.”

  Daiyu blinked, before her smile widened. “That is rather embarrassing to hear, and worse to say, no doubt. But…” She bent over and kissed me once more. “…I am thrilled to hear it. Now, we must make haste. We both o bathe before we enjoy the rest of my birthday. As Shiro says, it would not do for me to be reeking of our love and leaking everywhere.”

  “Want a hand?” I grinned, and she was the oo knuckle my forehead now, her smile softening.

  “Of course. But any further love shall have to wait. So hold yes back.”

  “You make it sound like I’m a lustful beast!” I protested, and as she replied that I surely was, I stretched, feeling drained yet fulfilled. All right then. Time to make this evening memorable…

  ShipTeaser