Unexpected request

The headmaster was terribly surprised when he noticed that Guihu Luixing's cultivation realm had changed.

"Yes, father. I broke through just earlier today." answered Guihu Luixing.

"Why didn't you tell me? Or your mother? Or even your instructor Niko?" the headmaster was clearly angry about something.

His mother already dashed to him to look at his body. Seeing his injuries, she sighed, hugged him and started sobbing in relief.

"Gau!"

Her actions were so fast and sudden, the fox pup in Guihu Luixing's arms had no chance to escape, becoming traped between the boy and his mother's chest.

"I didn't think there was any reason to do so." Guihu Luixing answered, not understand why his parents was so worked up.

The headmaster took a deep breath to calm himself and started explaining.

"Luixing, as you know, in order to breakthrough to the Qi Gathering Realm, a cultivator needs to internalise the Qi equivalent to ten Qi Stones."

Guihu Luixing nodded in agreement.

"That being said, it's not like someone would go and simply start absorbing Qi from Qi Stones." The headmaster continued. "After all, the Qi inside a Qi Stone is very stable. If you absorb them, you first force them to become unstable, making them much harder to control, for a long period of time."

This was news to Guihu Luixing. He now understood that he might have chosen an inadequate method.

"Especially for you, Luixing." The headmaster was not done. "You probably absorbed many elements, each having a different behaviour pattern, making it even more difficult tp control simultaneously."

It seemed the headmaster thought that Guihu Luixing didn't absorb every element Qi, but only absorbed some elements. After all, Guihu Luixing had multiple perfect and great compatibility elements. Just absorbing those would prove a great challenge to normal people.

"How would a person normally go through this breakthrough then?" asked Guihu Luixing, obviously curious.

"They would use this." The headmaster waved his sleeve and a machine appeared. "If you put a Qi Stone in this Qi Enricher, it will transform the Qi from the Qi Stones into a much more easier to absorb and control Qi fog. Obviously some Qi would be lost in the process, but the Qi Stones I gave should be more than enough for a successful breakthrough."

Right now Guihu Luixing wanted to slap himself. There was such a method available for him to use and his father obviously had already made his preparations and was waiting for him, but he was in a hurry and almost killed himself. He felt really stupid.

"I see. I'll be more careful next time." Guihu Luixing properly reflected and apologized.

"Luixing, you are you mother's and mine most precious treasure." Said the headmaster "Even if the cultivation world is a place where trust is rare, I want you to trust us. Both me and your mother would gladly put down our lives for you."

Still hugging him, his mother repeatedly nodded, agreeing with her husband.

"It's okay. It won't happen again." Guihu Luixing once again reassured his parents.

It took some time for his mother to finally free the boy and pup duo from her hug, before they sat on the dinner table.

During the dinner, Guihu Luixing thought about the future.

When he 'faded into the shadows' as the system instructed, his parents certainly wouldn't allow it, and would do everything in their power to bring him back.

He would need to do it without them knowing before it was too late. However, this would probably heavily affect them emotionally.

Even though the Heavens, when creating Guihu Luixing's soul, made him a little bit too racional and emotionally detached, he still had emotions and could care for others.

He didn't want his actions to hurt his parents deeply.

Eventually, he hatched a plan.

"Father, mother... I want a little brother or a little sister."

*Puuuufff....Kufff, kuf, kuf, Kuf*

"Eh?"

This sudden and unexpected request clearly caught his parents by surprise.

The headmaster choked on the wine he was drinking while Antonietta, who had already finished her meal, made a astonished expression.

Even though Guihu Luixing had an advanced intellect and calm demeanor when compared to the other children, in the end of the day, he was still a five year old child. The plan he made was simply distracting his parents with other children.

"The sooner the better. I want to teach them many things." he continued.

Antonietta's face went red while the headmaster looked completely gobsmacked. They felt very awkward in this situation.

Guihu Luixing, however, cared not about that. He didn't know how children were made and he didn't really care. He knew a couple would make babies and right now he needed them to make some.

Guihu Luixing quickly finished his meal and returned to his room, Dark Moon being carried by him, as usual. His parents stayed at the table, still feeling a bit awkward.

"That kid. Suddenly saying things like that." complained the headmaster.

"I-I wouldn't mind having more..." shyly said his wife.

The headmaster looked at his wife with a surprises expression.

After some time he carried her to their room. What they did after, is something that only they knew.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The night was uneventful for Guihu Luixing.

He had to rest in order to heal his injuries, so he went to bed early. Soon after he slept, Dark Moon left the room to continue her pursuit for knowledge.

She only returned to Guihu Luixing's room shortly after the first morning bell rang. She didn't feel as tired as she felt before, but still slept on Guihu Luixing's arms.

As usual, Guihu Luixing carried her with him to the breakfast table.

This morning his father seemed to be in a really good mood.

"Ahh, Luixing. How are you feeling? Are your injuries better?" asked the headmaster.

"Yes, father." Guihu Luixing answered "Tomorrow I should be at perfect condition."

"Good."

The breakfast ended as usual except for the headmaster being in a better mood than usual.

Returning to his room, Guihu Luixing placed Dark Moon on his bed and proceed to the cultivation mat.

He thought about hiding the mantra from Dark Moon, but after thinking she already heard it anyways, he discarded the thought.

After taking a deep breath and discarding every unnecessary thoughts, he began to chant the mantra.

Immediately, Dark Moon woke up, found a comfortable position and started to intently listen to the mantra Guihu Luixing chanted.

Serana, who was still trying to absorb the Qi Stones, as soon as she heard Guihu Luixing's chant, also discarded every other thought and began to concentrate on his words.

Time slowly passed.

Guihu Luixing realised his soul became much more resistant. The amount of time he has been chanting on this session was equivalent to the time that had passed wheb he was forced to give up in his first session. The thing is he wasn't feeling any trace of discomfort yet.

This also made him a little bit worried.

The method was effective. The results were good. But it seemed that the time it took from one level to another, the required time increased exponentially.

He only broke through once. He was still on the second soul cultivation realm, but an hour of cultivation didn't show any result.

When he was in an even more advanced realm, just how much cultivation would he need to progress.

If any cultivator heard Guihu Luixing's worries, they would either beat him up or laugh at him.

Many cultivators could only dream of cultivating the soul and wouldn't care at all how much time it would take them to advance. And here was Guihu Luixing complaining about it.

He was just too used to breaking through the realms quickly. He still didn't seem to understand just how time consuming cultivation really was.