Spirit Cultivation (Web Novel)

By the time Xuefeng and Yiren walked up to the ladies, they were all done with the first challenge just as he expected. Yi and Princess Shan were also experienced with fighting so they didn't have many problems. Only Yiren and Tianshi were the least used to it which required his attention.

"I guess I will test my limits too," Xuefeng muttered as he grabbed his own plate and walked a bit further away,

The girls stopped what they were doing and immediately cheered for him, "You can do it!" There was no doubt in their voice that he will succeed.

He felt as if he had a personal cheerleading squad. Ling who was staying inside Xuefeng the whole time left her space, joining the others in cheering.

He created an earth pillar on the ground and attached his plate onto it. He wanted to start slow so he pulled out his Black Flames Slayer instead of trying out from his Elements. He buffed it to the limits by sharpening the blade with the addition of both Air Qi and his ability before slashing at the plate.

Ding!

The sound of a metal hitting metal resounded throughout the Training Grounds as the blade bounced off the Plate, leaving a small mark on it. Too bad, the plate didn't break. Xuefeng didn't stop at that, slashing at the same spot and only after a third time, the plate finally broke.

"I guess it takes me three attacks to break through the plate without using any skills," Xuefeng muttered to himself, already expecting such a result. "I guess I will need to study some better skills before we depart."

Even though Elements provided him with immense power, it didn't necessarily equate to better penetration. It would naturally work against an opponent who has a whole body he needs to protect but once he has to face a protective shield, it doesn't matter how much Elemental Qi he has, it would be useless without proper skill.

This whole time Xuefeng used all elements crudely, creating his own skills and combinations which naturally improved his power output but at the same time created a false image and limited him. There is only so much he can do while shaping his Qi randomly.

"Why don't you visit my family's Treasury? We have many great skills of rank 8 or 9. You will find both sword skills and elemental skills as well, though those are much rarer," Xiao Wen suggested kindly, seeing Xuefeng was struggling. "You are strong but that's all thanks to the number of Elements and your endless Qi. You should work on your skillset too."

"Auch, that hurts. I guess I relied too much on it," Xuefeng lamented as he caught his chest, pretending to be in pain.

"Don't you still have your old set? If I'm correct, all your skills are rank 6 or 5 if not lower. Even your sword seems to be only rank 5. It has a great function of converting any Qi into flames but the blade itself is weak. With a better sword, you would be able to break this plate by only using a simple skill as the sharpness of the blade would do the work for you," Wuying called out sweetly, glancing at Xuefeng's Black Flame Slayer.

"Ugh, another arrow shot in my heart," Xuefeng grunted but the girls didn't seem to be done.

"You can see Xiao Wen. She broke her plate with just one casual swing yet you needed three. You really need a good Spirit Sword Art first. I would give you mine but it was tailored for me so it won't match you," Princess Shan added, siding with the rest. "You know that we want the best for you."

"Ah, I feel like it turned into an intervention," Xuefeng commented, hiding his beloved flaming sword in case they plan on stealing it from him. He was already attached to it after such a long time of using it.

"I agree with them. You need a better sword, one that can represent you better. As for the skills, how about, we visit the Inheritance Grounds? There is one for each element and for a Sword Art you can follow Xiao Wen advice." Yi shared her opinion too, smiling gently at him.

"Sigh… I know already… I will get it done as soon as possible," Xuefeng replied defeated, knowing he didn't stand a chance against them all.

Now that Drakos left him, he wouldn't have a way to counter Fate Qi anymore so his power diminished greatly. He could only improve quickly else he would be the one who lags behind his wives. Even if he mastered all Elemental Domains, he couldn't always battle a small fishing boat with a big flagship every time.

Just as he felt a bit down, Ling suddenly dove into his arms, hugging him warmly. "Xuefeng, I'm here for you to help. We will help you get the best skills we can," Ling assured him, looking deeply into his eyes.

'I will also help!' Little Ming called out in his mind, making him much warmer.

Before he spoke, others also walked up and hugged them, created one big hug.

"We all love you and want the best for you. We will push each other to work even harder," Xiao Wen stated officially, saying what everyone thought in their minds.

"I know…" Xuefeng muttered, his smile returning to his face. "Let's do it all together."

Drakos who was left alone wrapped his hands together and called out sarcastically, "Yeah, I knew Xuefeng would be the weakest. Maybe we should postpone this trip? I was worried about the girls but it seems you are the main problem."

Xuefeng didn't fall for Drakos' provocation and replied while enjoying the warm bodies hugging him, "There is no need. I will handle it within a week, don't you worry."

To his surprise, someone else jumped in to defend him.

"Little Blue!" Yiren cried out angrily as she let go of Xuefeng and walked up to Drakos.

"Yes?" He replied without fear but then stepped back when Yiren approached him. "What do you want…?"

"Didn't I tell you something earlier?" Yiren asked with a stomp as if she was throwing a tantrum. "I told you to be nice to Xuefeng, didn't I?"

"But I was ni—" Drakos tried to protest but Yiren cut him off.

"No. You were making fun of him. Apologize now," Yiren demanded, glaring at the small blue dragon.

Drakos remained stubborn and shook his head. "Nah ah, I'm not going to apol—"

"Apologize now." Yiren cut him off once again, this time even more sternly, her voice having a weird vibrating vibe in it.

As if she threw a magical charm at Drakos, his eyes suddenly changed from arrogant to submissive as he looked at Yiren pitifully, "Fine… I'm sorry."

"Pffft, Yiren, what did you do to him?" Xuefeng burst out laughing, not expecting Yiren to tame Drakos so fast.

Yiren gave Drakos a pat as a reward and called out to Xuefeng, "It's part of my new ability. I found out I can somehow influence Spirit Beasts after I activate it. I think it's because of my Bloodline. Little Blue becomes a nice pet when I use it."

"Hey! Who did you call a pet!?" Drakos complained as he woke up from his daze only to get scolded once again.

"Be nice!" Yiren warned with her finger and Drakos looked down, defeated once again.

"Okay…"

"Hahaha, nice!" Xuefeng laughed, not feeling any bad for Drakos and the girls finally let go of him. "That's a nice ability that we can use in the near future."

"Yes! I thought so too," Yiren nodded, grinning to herself.

"Anyway, I know my shortcomings. You guys continue testing your limits and meanwhile I will go check on Tianshi. When you know you can't break any stronger plates, you can finish for today."