Collective Meditation

Since their group had flown to the gate on an artifact, it was obvious that there was at least one Earth Realm cultivator among them. Although Henon didn't lack Earth Realm cultivators, they could still command enough respect to skip ahead to the front of the gate and pass through after a quick inspection. After making it past the gate, Reinhart asked one of the guards for an inn they could stay at and they made their way towards his recommendation. 

The buildings and structures in Marto seemed to have a greater focus on beauty than other cities, but they had all experienced a rough time while outdoors so they were in no mood for sightseeing. The inn recommended by the guard wasn't far from the gate, at least from a cultivator's perspective, so they reached it before nightfall. Like the rest of the city's architecture, the inn's design could be considered fine art while still emanating a pressure felt only by cultivators. The interior was even more so. Every piece of furniture and decoration held nature energy, and there was also a spirit gathering array present in the entrance hall.

Although he had money, Shui didn't have many chances to stay at luxurious inns, so he was impressed by what he saw. On the other hand, Reinhart came from a rich background so he was used to sights like this.

"How many rooms shall we get?" Reinhart asked.

"If we can get ones that are close together then individual rooms should do. Otherwise, three."

"Very well."

Serina and Sef felt the most out of place, so they silently followed the group to the reception desk. This inn was fairly popular so they weren't able to get close individual rooms, and opted for two twin rooms and one single. Although Serina and Sef were siblings, Reinhart argued that she was still a young lady and gave her the single room. She felt reluctant as it was at his expense, but found it hard to argue against Reinhart and there was no one who thought he was wrong. Reinhart and Shui took one room while Sef and Fatty occupied the last.

Although they weren't next to each other, Serina's room was one floor above the two twin rooms, which were both on the same floor. Even Serina's single room was almost as big as the residence she had at Storm Sky Manor, so there was no worry that they wouldn't have enough space. After bringing Serina to her room, the remaining men took the stairs to their floor. The inn was built with the same technology used to make space expansion bags, but it was only used on the rooms so they didn't have to walk long to reach their destinations. 

Once they parted ways in the corridor, Reinhart and Shui entered their room. Behind the door was the living room, which was painted in cool colours and was lightly decorated. It wasn't as opulent as the bottom floor, but there was an air of elegance.

"I'll be resting in the meditation room. Don't bother me unless something urgent happens."

"Have a good time, senior brother."

Reinhart looked back at Shui with a frown, but he didn't say anything about his form of address and went to the meditation room. As this was a twin room there was another meditation room, but Shui chose to meditate in the living room. While the meditation room would have a better environment, he thought that he would be more comfortable in the living room, especially since Reinhart would stay in a meditation room. Still, as a precaution he set up a concealment and a protection array around his position. He had gained many insights during this trip, but before further study he focused on consolidating his energy and soul cultivation.

Similar to Shui and Reinhart, the other three were also cultivating or resting in their rooms. After her surface refinement of Double Lightning, Serina could sense that she would be able to make a breakthrough soon and made preparations towards that end. As they were spirit-rank artifacts, it was easier for her to gather nature energy with them and since Shui had forged them with the Revolving Metal Art in mind, it was also much easier for her to comprehend it. The more she learnt about the artifact, the more indebted she felt to Shui, but she couldn't consider returning them anymore.

'Just like he said, I have to become someone that won't shame this artifact.'

While Serina worked towards her new goal, Fatty also intended to make progress with his cultivation. Not only had Shui gone ahead of him while he was unconscious, but Serina now had the power to beat him in a fair fight so he was afraid of the growing possibility that he would be the weakest among them. He might not have acquired a treasure or obtained an opportunity, but in terms of pure cultivation talent, he was superior to Serina so he felt confident that he would be able to stay ahead of her if he put in the effort. 

As for Sef, his talent was poor so he had been afraid that he would never reach the Soul Realm and be able to forge true artifacts, but after watching Shui forge, he had gained enlightenment. He wasn't able to describe it well, but he could tell that Shui's technique touched upon the core laws of blacksmithing. While he was far from reaching such a height, he knew that if he reached a similar level of insight into forging, he would also be able to forge an artifact. This was something Shui had already proven was possible, though Sef was unaware of the fact.

Additionally, his trance to the end of the cave had left him with hidden gifts which he discovered while in the meditation room. He discovered that his energy capacity had increased and the path forward seemed clear. As long as he accumulated enough energy, he would be able to reach the peak of the Mortal Realm and possibly beyond. However, Sef swore that he would remain at the Mortal Realm until he was able to forge an artifact. 

After two days, Shui had consolidated his energy cultivation and had a stable control over his soul. He considered finding new techniques to utilize his enhanced soul cultivation, but before that he chose to complete the manifestation stage of the Four Elements Technique using his recent insights.

After witnessing the qilin's miracle, Shui wanted to study more on the elemental natural laws. His main path was still the blade, but he would be able to fuse his insights into his blade techniques and unfortunately it would be difficult to achieve practical improvement in his Ethereal Blade Method without an opponent strong to push him to his limit. 

First, was water. Water vapour gathered to form a water orb that rotated around Shui's head. He manifested water by commanding all fluids to bend to his will. Whether it be the clouds or living beings, all could serve as a source of water. 

Next, was fire. Scant traces of the four elements were sacrificed to birth the void flame above Shui's head. Even this tiny spark even smaller than a candle flame, produced a minor fluctuation that spread across the world, only briefly noticed by the most sensitive existences. This flame almost embodied the laws of destruction and would devour endlessly if released into the world. 

After fire, was earth. The air solidified into a transparent cube in front of Shui's chest. Shui viewed the earth as referring to all solids and at the same time, one solid. The transparent cube slowly became ice, and then glass. All things could become solid, and all solids could become the same.

Finally, there was wind. The air around him grew dense until the cloudy image of a certain woruse could be seen. The shape of the air held no meaning, it was merely to show the omnipresence and versatility of air. At his command the wind could take any shape and bring him anywhere he pleased. 

Once the cloudy wolf became a ring around Shui's waist, Shui recited the Four Elements Technique while maintaining the elements.