Time flies, three months later.
Early in the morning, Xia Changsheng broke free from the gentle embrace of his wives and headed to the martial arts arena alone.
Host: Xia Changsheng
Rank: Tier 1 Elemental Apostle
Elements: 30/100
Laws: Wind Law I, Water Law I
Wife: Liu Qingyue - Talent: Grade 8 Wind Spiritual Root 52/500
Concubine: Zhang Yuwei - Talent: Grade 9 Water Spiritual Root 6/100
For three full months, his elemental points had increased by a mere 5 points. Xia Changsheng had finally figured out the pattern of his golden finger: Liu Qingyue still provided 1 point every month, while Zhang Yuwei required two months to yield a single point.
Today, he had finally accumulated 30 points.
What also caught his attention was Zhang Yuwei's talent attribute, which had increased by a full 6 points—equivalent to half of Liu Qingyue's growth rate.
He guessed this was likely due to the gap between Grade 9 and Grade 8 spiritual roots.
The newly acquired elemental technique was different from the wind element. According to the elemental knowledge he had obtained, this belonged to another system—the water element system.
Water Veil.
This was a spell biased toward defense.
With a slight thought in his mind, Xia Changsheng felt moisture suddenly surround his body, swirling and arranging itself in an unfathomable manner. Seen from afar, it looked like a curtain of cloth hiding him within the mist, making everything hazy and its trajectory unpredictable.
"Finally, I have one more life-saving means."
After savoring the feeling carefully, the moisture around him dissipated, and Xia Changsheng's figure reappeared, a genuine smile of delight on his face.
His Dao of Elements did not lean heavily toward physical attributes, so he had always lacked in physical defense.
If he were caught at close quarters during a battle, his physical strength at the Xiantian Realm would make it difficult to withstand attacks from genuine Qi cultivators, especially sword cultivators like Liu Qingyue.
Sword cultivators specialized in offense and were the category of cultivators with the strongest single-target attack power on the Cangyuan Continent.
During this period, whenever he sparred with Liu Qingyue, he would first rely on the Levitation Technique to put distance between them, and then use Wind Blades for ranged output in an attempt to exhaust the true Qi within Liu Qingyue's body.
Now that he had an additional defensive means, he could hardly wait to have Liu Qingyue come over for a sparring match.
Over these three months, Liu Qingyue had also made breakthroughs.
Under his diligent cultivation, she had reached the Qi Condensation 4th Layer. Although she had only advanced by a single minor realm, this was a breakthrough from the early stage to the middle stage of Qi Condensation, representing a massive leap in strength.
Of course, Zhang Yuwei's improvement was equally significant, having reached Blood Moving Realm Perfection. Before long, she would be able to condense her Xiantian seed and step into the Xiantian Realm. What concerned him most was that Zhang Yuwei's talent was also steadily improving. Although her growth rate wasn't as fast as Liu Qingyue's, it was simply because Zhang Yuwei wasn't particularly interested in the Dao of Cultivation.
And this was merely the result of settling down in Liucheng for a single year. Given time, Xia Changsheng believed their strength would reach even greater heights.
A year ago, after the great battle at the city gates concluded, an inexplicable sense of crisis had lingered in his heart, causing him to keep a close eye on the winds within the city. Fortunately, after strengthening defensive measures both inside and out, Liucheng experienced no further unusual movements, and the Hehuan Sect made no moves either, which finally set his mind somewhat at ease.
Lately, the most momentous news was that Commander An Qisheng of the City Guards had forged his Golden Core yesterday, officially stepping into the ranks of Golden Core Real Persons.
For a time, the situation was turbulent and shifting like the wind and clouds. Many families, big and small, moved at the news, and an endless stream of visitors went to the Commander's Estate to offer congratulations.
Following the general trend, Xia Changsheng had also sent servants to deliver a gift so as not to be remembered unfavorably.
After all, in Liucheng, a Golden Core Real Person was already a pinnacle figure. Since he was still in his phase of keeping a low profile and growing, he must not rashly offend such a person.
Although Liucheng was a vital hub in Jiangzhou with prosperous commerce and trade, its overall strength was not actually formidable. Even Yu Luosha, the City Lord with the highest strength, was only at Golden Core Perfection, slightly inferior to other major cities.
As far as he knew, Liucheng originally had four Golden Core powerhouses. Aside from the City Lord representing the imperial court, the other three were antique elders of Liucheng's three ancient families—existence-like foundations that rarely showed themselves. Now, counting An Qisheng, it still only amounted to a single hand's worth.
"Husband."
A sweet and tender voice drifted over from afar.
Xia Changsheng turned his head to look and saw two beautiful figures walking over from not far away. Liu Qingyue, dressed in a green skirt, walked in front, while Zhang Yuwei, wearing a red skirt, lagged slightly behind.
Both women wore no makeup, yet possessed natural beauty, so bright and stunning that they were beyond compare.
"Yue'er has come at just the right time. Your husband has just gained some insights and was hoping to test them with you."
Xia Changsheng laughed heartily. Whether it was the newly learned spell or seeing beauties early in the morning, his mood at the moment was extremely joyful.
"Oh?"
The two women exchanged glances, both seeing surprise in each other's eyes.
They already had some understanding of their husband's miraculous nature. That magical dual cultivation technique had vastly increased their cultivation levels, and those techniques entirely different from this realm were even harder to guard against. However, both women were smart people; they would neither ask about nor probe into their husband's secrets. As long as their husband was sincere toward them, that was already enough.
"Since Husband has such elegant interests, this concubine will naturally accompany you."
Liu Qingyue possessed a moving grace. With a point of her sword incantation, her flying sword was already in hand.
As usual, there was no superfluous nonsense.
The next instant, she had already vanished from her spot. Amid flashing sword light, she resembled a long snake spitting out a cold gleam, charging straight ahead. She held nothing back, displaying her Qi Condensation 4th Layer cultivation to the fullest.
"Well-come."
Xia Changsheng neither dodged nor evaded, intending to test the newly learned 'Water Veil'.
Just as the distance between them closed to less than three chi and Liu Qingyue was still wondering why her husband hadn't increased the distance today, an invisible resistance came from the tip of her sword.
Before she knew it, moisture gathered and mist billowed around Xia Changsheng's entire body, shrouding his whole person within and giving people a dreamlike, illusory sensation.
"This is..."
Liu Qingyue was surprised, feeling as though the long sword in her hand had plunged into a quagmire, leaving all her strength nowhere to be applied.
She couldn't help but withdraw her sword and retreat, pointing her sword consecutively to unleash several robust sword qi. The sword qi resembled a long rainbow, sometimes gathering and sometimes scattering, swarming to suppress the mist with truly astonishing might.
A few days ago during their sparring, Xia Changsheng could only rely on the Levitation Technique to forcibly evade such a move, hiding far away to counterattack with Wind Blades. But now, he still showed no intention of dodging, planning to take it head-on and test its strength.
Boom!
After a muffled sound, the sword qi and the Water Veil collided. Yet, to the shock of the two women, this immensely powerful strike merely battered away a single corner, revealing the smiling-yet-not-smiling face of Xia Changsheng within the water mist. Soon, the power of the sword qi dwindled and completely dissipated, and the water mist vanished as well.
"Not bad. It should be able to withstand two or three frontal attacks."
Xia Changsheng was extremely satisfied. Upon careful sensing, he discovered that as long as it was used properly, it was sufficient to block three frontal attacks from Liu Qingyue. To break the 'Water Veil' in a single decisive strike would probably require Foundation Establishment Stage cultivation.
Next, the two sparred for a good while, only stopping when the sun reached its zenith.
Both parties gained something from this session, and even Zhang Yuwei, who had been watching from the sidelines for a long time, seemed to vaguely comprehend something, actually showing signs of a Xiantian breakthrough—truly a happy outcome for everyone.
Just a few days later, following a thoroughly satisfying session of dual cultivation, Zhang Yuwei finally broke through to the Xiantian Realm as she wished.
Time passed like a white horse galloping past a crevice, vanishing in an instant.
Everything in the Xia Estate was developing in an orderly fashion. All major and minor household affairs were managed by Zhang Yuwei, who cut the figure of a great housekeeper, while Liu Qingyue usually busied herself with cultivation and ignored mundane matters. As for Xia Changsheng... he took charge of lying flat and taking it easy.