Yin Mania

[!Status!

Name: Saint Supremacy Pills (x4)

Grade: Mortal

Quality: Consummate (100% Refined State)

Description: A near-perfect batch of specialized Body Cultivation pills. Despite only four out of the possible five total pills forming, all of them are of Consummate Quality. The pills themselves all but ensure a smooth breakthrough through to the final Phase of the Mortal Realm.

Effect 1: Consumption of a Consummate Saint Supremacy Pill guarantees the opening of at least 12 Meridians and 99 Acupoints.

Effect 2: Depending on a Saint Stage Cultivator's foundation, additional Divine Meridians and Heavenly Acupoints may unlock.]

"Hahaha..." Mateus couldn't help but start laughing as he was struck with fantasies of himself swimming through piles of Spirit Stones. Not only had he finally managed to produce Consummate Quality Pills, but he had done so for one of the most coveted types of pills by the strongest Cultivators in the Mortal Realm.

Saint Supremacy Pills weren't regular cultivation pills. They were made specifically for breakthrough events; specifically for a breakthrough into the Peak Phase of the Saint Stage — the final step before a Cultivator could tackle the Spirit Realm. Given the highly specialized nature of the pill's use, even affluent Cultivators would only be able to use one such pill before they broke through and lost their chance.

Such special pills, only usable by the strongest, wealthiest population of Cultivators in the Mortal Realm… Even if Mateus kept one of the pills for himself, he could see himself selling the other three pills for thousands upon thousands of Spirit Stones.

Danger!

Mateus nearly threw away the pills in his hand as he shot up to his feet and shuddered at the sudden feeling of death encroaching upon him.

Eyes darting around the room as he uncoiled his Fractured Spirit Wire defensively, Mateus nervously sought out the source of his seemingly random bout of dread. When his eyes landed on Lunabelle, they narrowed in confusion, before...

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," Mateus mumbled to himself in partial understanding.

He couldn't be sure as he had yet to consume the Heart's Embrace Heavenly Sutra. However, from what he remembered of his own transcription of the Dual Cultivation's Methods, he could faintly recall two extremely relevant facts pertaining to his current situation.

First, in the Kurao Dimension — the universe he was currently inhabiting — the dominating elements were of Major Yin and Minor Ice. That fact more or less explained why Mateus had been so casually given the Strict Yang Dual Cultivation Method in the first place.

After all, with the composition of the universe itself favoring Yin so heavily, hardly anyone would be born with an Affinity for Yang to even cultivate; to hope for not just anyone, but a man to be born with both aptitude for Dual or Triple System Cultivation and Yang Affinity was less than wishful thinking.

The other relevant fact, which Mateus was rapidly losing hope in it not being the cause of Lunabelle's rapidly deteriorating state, pertained closely to the first. Because of the Major Yin composition of the universe, those hailing from it would almost never be born with or develop Yang Affinity.

Conversely, those that were born with Yin Affinity — a rarity in and of themselves, that while couldn't exactly compare with the number born with Yang Affinity, still numbered in the less than a hundred-thousandth of a percent of the population — tended to manifest extreme innate abilities.

Mateus blanched as he felt his own Yin and Yang Affinities react with Lunabelle's. Compared to her overwhelming pressure of Yin, his Trash Tier Yin felt like submitting; to say nothing of his Trash Tier Yang that compelled him to run away as if he were confronting a predator. It did not help reassure him when he noticed Lunabelle's eyes had glazed over with visible lust…

She jumped at him, unable to control herself.

Fortunately, it ended up being in his favor as he managed to sidestep away, when he wouldn't have even had a chance had she been in her right mind and opted to teleport.

"Ah, Senior Apprentice Brother," Lunabelle slurred her words as he slowly turned to look at Mateus. Her face, still holding an almost tangible air of desire…

"Why don't we just calm down and talk things out?" Mateus said with a brave face, hiding the internal panic that consumed him.

He was so far removed from having a chance at defending himself by being pitted against a Spirit Realm Cultivator, someone who was more than five Stages ahead of him, that he didn't even want to think of how much worse his chances of escaping were when he considered their current location.

"Why must you run away?" She tried to jump him again, but still failed despite moving faster than the average Cultivator in the Mid Stage. "Can't you see I love you?"

"Are you insane? Even if you were an estranged yandere disguised as a kuudere, there's no possible way you would get obsessed with someone you've only known for hours!" Mateus ducked the rapidly escalating attempts at restraining him as he continued, "What could you possibly love about me that you'd be willing to jump me over?!"

"Honestly, I love your good looks," Lunabelle said as she reached Peak Phase Pawn levels of Agility.

"I love how good you are at Alchemy," Lunabelle, getting absorbed in her mania, broke through to Beginner Phase Soldier levels of Agility.

"I love your potential and what it means for your future," Lunabelle neared the extent of what Mateus was capable of defending against as she moved on to Early Phase Soldier levels of Agility.

"I love your personality…" And that was when Mateus knew she was too far gone to reason with.

Now moving too fast for him to directly dodge her, Mateus hoped to give himself an opening when he used his Fractured Spirit Wire to wrap around the joints in Lunabelle's arm; the three in her shoulder, elbow, and wrist.

To his dismay, his wire might as well have been cotton candy for how effortlessly she broke through them with her raw physical strength. With them broken, Mateus could only wait for his imminent defeat and the consequences of losing out to the deranged alter ego that had taken over Lunabelle.

Mateus closed his eyes, bracing for whatever horrifying pain he imagined being caught would entail...

Crash!

...Only to open them up to the sight of an unconscious Lunabelle being held by a woman who looked almost identical to her, sans the spiral eyes and relatively long wavy hair. Next to her, Head Butler Kingston was shaking his head as Aiden said, "And I was just starting to like the kid, too… Ah, what a shame."