Personal Comprehender.

—

[Two years later.]

Looking at her master fondly, Yelena couldn't help but reflect on the past two years during which he had personally taught her the Dao of Concealment, or Yin Ni. Although she didn't know what motivated her master to become so involved, she liked it nonetheless and hoped it would continue. But…

Turning toward Ying Yue, who was meditating in the corner of the room with black lines on her forehead, Yelena shivered, knowing that her dream of more personal teaching might just be a delusion. Especially when she remembered how Ying Yue had been treated over the past two years, which made her shudder just thinking about it.

No more sharing fruit, no more playing; it was task after task, like free labor to meet her master's demands. Despite always saying she would do anything her master asked, the reality still made her have goosebumps as she realized what her master truly wanted.

Seeing her master reading the comprehension results with the detached demeanor of a merciless boss, Yelena shuddered again before taking a deep breath to steel herself. She knew that even though this home of hers required such high maintenance, it wasn't because of extreme demands, but because the cost was something she was very reluctant to bear, as it made her feel as if smoke was literally coming out of her ears.

Not wanting to dwell on the bleak future, she closed her eyes to meditate on her master's previous teachings and focused on sensing the Wuxing Dust, or matter particles, that interacted with her body and the entire ship.

Recalling her master's words that the five senses, when combined, create a sixth sense that enters the mind, Yelena controlled her Dao to make the Wuxing Dust pass through her body and the ship without interacting with her Wuxing Phase. She first made the Wuxing Dust of Fire, or photon particles, pass through her body without interacting with her atoms. Next, she made the Wuxing Dust of Water, or air molecules, pass without creating any sound. She then prevented the Wuxing Dust of Earth, or particles produced by her body, from leaking out, so her odor could not be detected. For the Wuxing Dust of Wood, she ensured no particles were detectable by those with sensitive tongues like snakes. Finally, for the Wuxing Dust of Metal, she commanded the force fields of her atoms to avoid interacting with the world's force field, preventing herself from being touched by the earth or anything else that came close.

By cycling through this process repeatedly, Yelena created Yin Ni Dao, or Dao Concealment, making her sense of self invisible to others. Even though this method was already a hundred times better than her subconscious behavior when helping Ying Yue erase her tracks, her master had told her this was just the beginning. The true art lay in using the Wuxing Cycles to affect the sixth senses, enabling her to do ten thousand things with this method, far beyond mere Concealment.

Remembering her master's use of Wuxing Cycles to Conceal karma from afar, Yelena attuned herself to an example of karma created for her exercise. She entangled her own Wuxing Phase with that of the karma and used the cycles to conceal it from everyone but herself. Knowing she could not maintain this concealment indefinitely with her Jing energy alone, she ensured that the entangled Wuxing Cycles drew energy from the Qi in the air.

Although she had mentioned to her master that her Yin Ni Dao was inferior for erasing karma because it required constant energy, unlike her master's method that needed no additional energy after the initial performance, Yelena remembered his words that there was no inherent superiority or weakness between Dao methods. Each Dao had different functions and uses. Her Dao was good for personal spying on karma, while her master's Dao was more focused on giving instructions or mandates on karma. Thus, she should not judge a Dao solely based on power, knowing that each has its own capabilities.

"Congratulations. It seems my Yelena has improved so much that she no longer needs my personal teaching," her master said.

Dread filled her as she realized where this was going. Yelena then heard her master continue, "So, because of that, here is a task for you to comprehend. I am sure my Yelena will be able to handle it."

Shivering at the sight of the Shen energy resembling a Jade Slip in his hand, Yelena protested, "B-but master, why don't we just dual cultivate to increase our cultivation instead of comprehending something again? You said earlier that it is still important to increase our cultivation rather than become enlightened so we are not easily struck down like ants."

Shaking his head, fully aware of her thoughts, Tian Xing replied, "No, we don't need to dual cultivate again because we already have the same level of cultivation. It would not be as effective as before since our Yin and Yang are already balanced. It is better to focus on increasing our comprehension first, as resources for cultivation are not available right now."

Remembering they needed about another five years to reach the Celestial Phoenix Kingdom, Yelena had a visible look of concern. She then accepted her master's Shen energy to place on her forehead. Seeing the daunting and challenging content her master deemed easy, Yelena cried, realizing this was the life of misery her master often spoke about. It was far different from what she had imagined, where she thought she might be doing something that could require her life in exchange.

The reality was that her master wanted her to be his personal comprehender, or in other words, his personal research assistant, where the only payment was his kisses and affection, which were no longer readily available since her master was now focused on speeding up their progress to not be left in the dust by the rapid advancement of the Heaven Chosen. Cursing the Asura bastard in her heart for making her master more ruthless, Yelena simply nodded at her master's words and proceeded to try to comprehend the specific idea he had assigned to her.

—