Chapter 173: Birth of a cultivation technique

But he didn’t mind.

Everyone had their own path.

He went straight to his Stardust Sanctuary.

The air inside the Stardust Sanctuary was fresh and filled with soft rays of starlight. Moon sat down in the center and closed his eyes.

He wanted to break through to Apprentice Two-Star.

But first, he needed to feed the two little beans living inside him.

If he didn’t, they would greedily take most of the qi for themselves again. Last time he had almost been drained dry before he even noticed.

He took out a large number of spirit stones and scattered them around his body in a neat circle. The stones glowed faintly under the starlight, releasing pure spiritual energy into the air.

Then he slowly began to draw the pure qi into the two sphere chambers in his dantian, carefully feeding the little lives that had been growing quietly inside him.

The process was gentle, almost tender.

He could feel the two small existences stirring, greedily absorbing the energy he offered. One felt warm and restless. The other was quieter, but just as hungry.

Moon’s lips curved slightly.

’Greedy little things.’

He continued feeding them without rush, making sure they were satisfied before he started his own cultivation.

.

.

.

Inside the Lupine Palace, the air felt strangely suffocating.

Lupine looked left, then looked right.

He could not find anything unusual, yet the atmosphere was unnaturally still. Something lingered in the space, something he could not quite put his finger on.

Everyone was busy with their own work.

Nox sat on his usual platform, still studying his offensive arrays. He rarely lifted his head and focused on the glowing jade in his hands.

From time to time, there was a flicker of golden glow, and some inscription flashed around him.

Ugo was meditating not far away, just like Moon.

Lupine could sense a strange light surrounding him. It felt close to spiritual qi, yet it was not quite the same.

The old spirit became curious.

He knew very well how werewolves worked by now.

They did not have spiritual cores. All their strength and power came from the soul sea, and that soul sea was extremely powerful.

But this fellow was clearly not using any of that.

’Is he a wolf or a plant spirit?’ Lupine thought, stroking his beard thoughtfully.

After watching for a while, he grew bored and turned toward Axe, his favorite disciple-to-be.

What he saw made him pause in surprise.

Axe was not tinkering with metal.

He had not even fired up the furnace. Instead, he was sitting on the floor, writing something carefully on a piece of paper.

Lupine leaned closer and squinted.

AWAKENED

ARMOR + Elemental Defense

↓

VANGUARD

Ranged Elemental Attacks

LEVEL 1 — AWAKENED

[Elemental Infusion]

Infuses claws, sharp fangs, and physical strikes...

wolf’s natural elemental attack...

The words were messy and jumbled, but that did not matter.

The content immediately caught Lupine’s eye.

"What attack?" he scoffed, sitting down right in front of Axe. "Do you think sharpening your fangs is enough? Are you a dog?"

Axe lifted his face and knitted his brows.

"Claws and fangs. That’s what I have."

"You can’t just sharpen fangs. Will you go around biting people?" Lupine slapped the back of Axe’s head.

"You have to be agile. Agility and speed matter more than fangs."

Then he turned his attention back to the paper.

"Wait. What do you mean by elemental infusion? Can you actually do that?"

Lupine looked at Axe strangely.

He knew werewolves could not draw qi. How could they possibly infuse elemental energy?

Axe’s shoulders stiffened. The tips of his ears flushed slightly.

Even Lupine rolled his eyes.

’Is the iron blooming? This must be the wrong side of the bed today.’

"Master," Axe said slowly, "I noticed that after the soul contract... I can actually manipulate some natural elements. It’s..."

He searched for the right words.

"It’s hard to explain. But my soul power has increased, and my claws became sharper. When I cut through a branch earlier, I felt something extra. It wasn’t just the force I used. There was more than that..."

The more he tried to explain, the more incoherent his words became.

He wanted to describe the feeling clearly, but the sensation was still too new. His brows knitted tightly, and his body grew rigid from the effort.

Lupine finally spoke up to help him.

"It’s intent, your weapon intent and will of nature," he said seriously.

"We have sword intent. You may be forming weapon intent. Show me your claws."

Inwardly, Lupine was excited.

If Axe could already form an intent, that meant he was close to planting the seed of a weapon and nurturing it into a true soul weapon.

Axe opened his palm, then clenched it into a fist.

The air around him shifted. It compressed and swirled. When he opened his hand again, five sharp silver nails sprang out from his fingertips.

Sharp. Lethal.

They emitted a faint silver light.

Just by looking at them, Lupine could tell those claws were desperately searching for power in the air, ready to devour it.

They were also clamoring for blood.

Lupine’s eyes shone brighter.

"That’s it!"

He slapped his thigh.

"My disciple is the most talented! Hahahaha! I knew it!"

He slapped Axe’s shoulder proudly, then carefully pushed the young man’s hand aside so the claws would not accidentally cut him.

"Keep it up. So you can already draw your soul power into a weapon and even manipulate the air around you."

He rubbed his beard thoughtfully. "You were making a plan? How to step up from here?"

Axe nodded.

"Yes. I think I should write down a proper plan before I practice more."

"Isn’t this the birth of a cultivation technique?"

Ugo had approached at some point without them noticing.

Earlier, he had been trying to meditate and practice the method RuYi taught him — guiding soul power to increase plant affinity.

When the air shifted, he immediately noticed and abandoned his meditation to come and watch.

He smiled at Axe.

"You’re great, Axe. You’re even writing a practice manual now."

"Hm. So respect me and call me Master from now on. Hahaha!" Axe laughed.

"Keep dreaming," Ugo retorted without hesitation. "Even if you conquer the entire Monalis Celestia one day, you still have to call me big brother and obey me."

Lupine chuckled at their banter, then suggested,

"You should discuss this with Moon later. See if you can turn it into a complete guide. Maybe all of you can work together and adjust it so everyone can use it."

He turned his head and called out,

"Hey, Nox! Don’t just bury yourself in that jade. Come here and look at what Axe is doing."

Nox did not lift his head.

"It’s his matter. Not mine."

His voice was low, but everyone clearly heard it.

"..."

"..."

"..."

The air grew a little awkward again.

The three men’s enthusiasm suddenly died down with his words.

"What’s with the ’not mine’?" Lupine frowned.

"Maybe you can also adjust it and practice to raise your own power. Going without direction is not good practice."

Nox lifted his head this time.

"Hmm. But I can’t draw power and use elemental essence like him. I don’t have any intent."